Sunbathers

Sunbathers is a Studio Art Honors project that explores the awkward intimate nature of introspective life through autobiographical, figurative ceramic sculptures. The forms capture the relationship between body and reality. The project consists of seven portraits, varying in size and display, arranged together on pink pedestals. Each figure communicates a part of self, embodying the internal interactions of everyday existence. The sculptures perform as objects yet speak with the specific sense of being seen/presented. Features shift in and out of focus—glossy glazes draw the eye, while matte colors move inward; the exaggerated, slumped forms are adorned with bright, illuminating glazes. Sunbathers depicts the experience of being alive - fully and honestly, with compassion and introspection

Capturing Non-linearity between Household Debt and GDP: A Deep VAR Approach

Household debt plays a significant role in shaping the macroeconomy. The relationship between growth and household debt is nonlinear; however, most research regarding household debt and GDP utilizes linear techniques. Using a Deep Vector Autoregression (Deep VAR) model, a recursive neural network-based approach that has been shown to outperform linear alternatives, I analyze the relationship between household debt and GDP using quarterly data from an unbalanced panel of 39 countries over the past 40 years. The Deep VAR outperforms linear alternatives, further providing evidence that the relationship between household debt and GDP is non-linear. Using impulse response functions (IRF), I find evidence supporting Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis, highlighting the effects of relaxed borrowing conditions. Moreover, I identify a cyclical pattern in household responses to GDP shocks, where households deleverage during periods of economic growth and increase leverage during contractions

Vesicle Analysis of the 1973 Eldfell (Iceland) Tephra: Comparison of the Opening Fissure and Late-Stage Cone

Long manifested as a fissure swarm, Iceland’s Vestmannaeyjar volcanic system is slowly evolving into a central volcano. This study quantified tephra density, vesicularity, and vesicle volume distribution (via 2D image analysis) from the most recent Vestmannaeyjar eruption (Eldfell, 1973) to assess both pre- and syn-eruptive magma dynamics. Tephra from the late-stage cinder cone is dominated by bubble coalescence textures, consistent with the observed shift to a Strombolian eruptive style later in the Eldfell eruption. Tephra from the opening fissure preserves evidence of bubble ripening, which requires long term magma residence at shallow depths, a characteristic of central volcanoes

Who Gets to Have Fun? The Alternative Earmarking of a Memecoin Marketplace

Past research on cryptocurrency has highlighted its sociotechnical aspects, framing crypto projects as community-grounded movements disrupting traditional state and market structures through technological advancements. What happens when these disruptive promises are absent or only playfully invoked? Cryptocurrencies known as “memecoins” have grown their own followings without pledging future legitimacy that would seriously challenge existing institutions, instead linking their value to the meme they brand themselves with and vague democratic promises. That new scheme of valuation is especially evident in coins launched on the site pump.fun, which has lowered the barriers to crypto-coin creation. The platform\u27s accessibility provides a new dimension for analysis, as its content demonstrates what users drawn to these alternative cryptocurrency schemes choose to create and support when technological barriers are reduced. This paper builds on existing research by incorporating literature on memes, economic sociological theories, and social theories of technology and digital structures. Analyzing the pump.fun website, external promotional materials, and a sample of the top coins on the site in a 30-day period, this project argues the site earmarks itself and its contents as a distinct form of legitimacy, rooted not in financial pragmatism or institutional endorsement, but in memetic subcultural performance and the gamified mechanics of its platform. It does so in contrast to previous generations of cryptocurrency through referencing memes and subcultural language and leveraging the social and gamified site mechanics to construct an image of meritocratic success

Breaking the Barrier: Implications of 2024 Ruling Against NAR on Home Prices and Market Quality

On August 17, 2024, a court ruling changed real estate market practices that prohibit the posting of real estate agent commission rates on multiple listing services and mandate buyer contracts that specify agent commission fees. Real estate agent commissions function as intermediary transaction costs, and this ruling aims to potentially reduce these costs. Using data on single family home transactions in St. Paul, Minnesota from Zillow.com, Realtor.com, and Ram- sey County Property Tax database, I utilize a difference in difference model to examine the short-term impacts of the ruling on market dynamics in resi- dential real estate such as home prices, market liquidity, market frictions, and the efficiency of price discovery. Findings suggest that there are no short term effects of the 2024 NAR ruling on home prices and market quality. Robust- ness checks using non-single-family properties, different control and treatment groups based on price range, and a visualization of neighborhood-level effects on single family properties also support these results

Petrology and Geochemistry of Anorthosite Xenoliths from the North Shore of Lake Superior

Purple and green anorthosite xenoliths occur along the North Shore of Lake Superior. A comparative study was conducted of their mineralogy, texture, and geochemistry to explore color-correlated differences. Samples contain \u3e95% plagioclase and primary Fe-Ti oxides, with secondary minerals indicating hydrothermal alteration. One sample includes trace olivine and pyroxene. Major and trace element abundances are broadly similar among samples. Purple samples on average contain more oxides, some of which have altered to hematite. Green samples contain serpentine that has replaced mafic minerals. The best distinguisher of color difference is the presence and abundance of Fe-Ti oxides (ilmenite, magnetite, and hematite). These most likely reflect differences in the pressure, temperature, or oxidation state during anorthosite crystallization

Risk, Routes, and Media Reports: The Impacts of Perceptions of Crime on Bus Ridership in Minneapolis and Saint Paul

By collecting data on media reports about crimes on or near public transit, I study how changes in perceptions of crime affect bus ridership at the route level in Minneapolis and Saint Paul between 2015-2019. Treating the publication dates of these media reports as events, I perform panel event studies. Based on these models, I find no statistically significant evidence that media reporting about crimes on or near bus routes impacts ridership. With that said, my work points out important gaps in the literature where researchers and policymakers still have the opportunity to more deeply understand a key determinant of public transit ridership

Hearing Caste: Dalit Resistance Through Folk Music in West Bengal, India

Caste—a graded structure of hierarchy—has historically shaped identities in South Asia and persists to this day. In opposition, Dalits (caste-marginalized communities) have utilized diverse mediums to communicate their resistance. In this thesis, I analyze the role of music in Bengali Dalit resistance through the work of Dalit singer-songwriter Smritikana Howlader (b. 1960). Based on ethnographic research, I investigate how folk music becomes a mode of Dalit historiography. In particular, I explore how Howlader aims to transcend caste boundaries through song, evoking shared humanity. I argue that Howlader’s performances combat dominant caste discourse and Dalit erasure, furthering Bengali Dalit resistance

Electro-Optic Detection of Plasma Generated THz Pulses

We implement a technique of generating ultrafast THz-pulses for use in a time-resolved THz-spectroscopy system. We focus light emitted by an amplified Ti:Sapphire Laser in order to ionize a small filament of air, causing the formation of plasma. When laser pulses cross the plasma the Kerr effect produces measurable, ultrafast THz pulses. More specifically, we characterized pulse length and spectral bandwidth of the generated THz-pulses by examining the response by different electro-optical crystals of different thicknesses. This THz spectroscopy system is currently being used to measure the mobilities of photoelectrons in Methylammonium Lead Iodide perovskite materials, which are potential substitutes for silicon solar cells and also to measure their composition

Generational Remigration of the Latvian Diaspora: Tracing the Confluence of Cultural Identity and Economic Opportunity

At just 1.85 million, Latvia’s current population is declining at one of the fastest rates in Europe. This situation is prompting the Latvian government to introduce policies seeking economic, political, educational, and cultural engagement with the country’s diaspora with the hope that some of the approximately 390,000 emigrants and their descendants living abroad will return to live in Latvia. This paper asks whether these government initiatives are successful in their goal of influencing Latvian diaspora members to remigrate, and if the policies acknowledge and reconcile generational differences in the diaspora’s attitudes towards cultural involvement and eventual remigration. Through surveys and one-on-one interviews, it is evident that diaspora members who have returned to live in Latvia display strong links to their heritage and have a desire to strengthen these connections into the future, and that Latvian government-supported programs and initiatives abroad have been instrumental in maintaining the diaspora’s ties to their heritage. However, financial status, educational status, and employment opportunities in Latvia are found to be major factors in remigration since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. A better understanding of the effectiveness of Latvian diaspora policies in light of generational differences in the diaspora, and clarification of what motivates Latvians abroad to return to their native country despite the challenges of doing so, is crucial to curb the sharp decline in Latvia’s population