The Hastings College annual Celebration of Excellence will be honoring the high achievements of students and faculty on Wednesday, April 27. All events are free and open to the public, and additional details can be found at hastings.edu/as. Classes are canceled for the day, so all students can participate in the events.
Celebration of Excellence opens with Academic Showcase, which includes more than 30 research, academic and other presentations by students. Most presentations are about 30 minutes in length and will be located in Morrison Reeves Science Center, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 3:15 p.m. Additional demonstrations will be in the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Specific presentation titles, times and locations are listed below.
Academic Showcase is sponsored, organized and managed by Hastings College Alpha Chi, a national college honor society.
Honors Convocation, the second portion of the day, will be held at French Memorial Chapel at 3:30 p.m. During Honors Convocation, students and faculty are recognized for their accomplishments from the academic year, with awards being kept secret until the event. Honors Convocation will be streamed on the College’s YouTube channel — youtube.com/user/HastingsCollege.
Honors Convocation is also when the Who’s Who and Bronco Award recipients are announced. Established in 1924, the Bronco Award is the College’s highest non-academic award granted to students. Recipients of the award and the accompanying Who’s Who list are determined through a vote of their peers and a student-faculty committee.
Academic Showcase Presentations
Note: The schedule with abstracts can be found at hastings.edu/as.
9:00-9:30 a.m. – Morrison Reeves Science Center (717 N. Ash Avenue)
- Room 219 – “Doing Justice to Doing Gender” by Natalie Watson of Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee
- Room 148 – “What are the Best Educational Practices for Special Needs Children?” by Courtney Manahan of Strasburg, Colorado
- Room 213 – “Cultural Diplomacy and the Korean Pop Movement” by Savanah Ellis of Beaver City, Nebraska
- Room 131 –- “A Legacy of Love: Learning More About Grandpa Larry Through Interpersonal Communication” by Rachel Hinrichs of Glenvil, Nebraska; and “Leaving a Legacy: An ethnographic report of my great-grandmother, Lillie Hester Barnes” by Landry Hinkson of Bazaar, Kansas
9:45-10:15 a.m. – Morrison Reeves Science Center
- Room 219 – “Constructing a Superconductive Race Track” by Skylar Balent of Grand Island, Nebraska
- Room 148 – “Ethics and Euthansia: A Philosophical Approach to Contemporary Issues” by Claire Hubbard of Highlands Ranch, Colorado
- Room 213 – “Fool Me Twice: Recidivism, Restorative Justice and Rural Juvenile Offenders” by Elizabeth Miller of Arlington, Kansas
- Room 131 – “If we conquer them and take it, it does not put forth anything: A Look into the Wealth of Mansa Musa and the Mali Empire” by Max Griffel of La Vista, Nebraska
10:30-11:00 a.m. – Morrison Reeves Science Center
- Room 219 – “Remember This Too: Eastern European Memory of the Holocaust and the Ramifications of Antisemitism in the Pre- and Postwar Period Soviet Union” by Olivia Perez of Lincoln, Nebraska
- Room 148 – “Diverse Requirements: Examining Required Courses in English Programs and the Effects” by Brendan Kachnowski of Rock Springs, Wyoming
- Room 213 – “We don’t know what we have until it’s gone: attitudes and beliefs about the natural world among Protestant pastors” by Sam Johnson of Hastings, Nebraska
- Room 131 – “The One Month Novel and Dystopia’s Relevance Today” by Emily Nevins of Littleton, Colorado
11:15-Noon – Jackson Dinsdale Art Center (700 E. 12th Street)
- Glass Studio – Glassblowing demonstrations with Avery Muff and Christian Hessler, both of Hastings, Nebraska
- Room 101 – “Writing, Designing and Directing a One-Act Play: A Theatre Capstone” by Kai Marshall of Omaha, Nebraska
- Room 107 – “Hot Off the Press: New Books from Hastings College Press” by Lyette Erin of The Bahamas and Lilly Nelms of Overton, Nebraska
1:00-1:45 – Poster Session in Hazelrigg Student Union (914 N. Elm Avenue)
- Hospital Architecture and Wellbeing – Melbourne Palmer of Lynchburg, Virginia
- Picturing the Early History of Photography – Melbourne Palmer of Lynchburg, Virginia
- Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy – Emma Severson of Hickman, Nebraska
- Synthesis of Imidazolium Chiral Ionic Liquids – Julia Reimer of Hastings, Nebraska
- Magnetic Susceptibility of Lithium Bismuthate Glass – Skylar Balent of Grand Island, Nebraska
- Let’s Talk About Sex: Examining Attitudes Towards HIV/AIDS – Natalie Watson of Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee
- Sonder: A Solo Exhibition presented by Savanah Ellis of Beaver City, Nebraska
2:00-2:30 p.m. – Morrison-Reeves Science Center
- Room 219 – “The Importance of Multicultural Children’s Literature” by Grace Sinsel of York, Nebraska
- Room 148 – “Weeds to Riches” to Rags: An environmental history of White and Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus and Melilotus officinalis)” by Sam Johnson of Hastings, Nebraska
- Room 131 – “Beyond the Admission Letters: A Poetry Examination of Operation Varsity Blues and Racism in Higher Education” by Brendan Kachnowski of Rock Springs, Wyoming
2:45-3:15 p.m. – Morrison Reeves Science Center
- Room 219 – “Long Skirt Hullaballoo: How the New Look Reflected Changing Gender Roles in 1950s America” by Hailey Moore of Juniata, Nebraska
- Room 148 – “Making the Limelight” by Emma Maline of Bellevue, Nebraska
- Room 213 – “An Investigation Of The Way Coaches Communicate With Athletes About Their Bodies” by Nikki deSeriere of Westminster, Colorado
- Room 131 – “Worth of the Womb: Analyzing the Whitewashed Slave Narrative in The Handmaid’s Tale” by Natalie Watson of Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee
3:30 p.m. – Honors Convocation in French Memorial Chapel (800 N. Turner Avenue)
