The annual Undergraduate Research and Creativity Colloquium offers students the opportunity to present their outstanding projects to the campus community. Sponsored by the Honors Program, the Colloquium is organized into concurrent panels that take place over four sessions. Each panel includes multiple student presenters.
Each year, students present their senior theses, academic essays, science experiments, business plans, art works, teaching internships, musical talents, engineering projects, and much more. This celebration of academic excellence is attended by classmates, family members, faculty, and administration.
2025 Spring Undergraduate Research & Creative Colloquium
Wednesday, April 9, 12:45-6:15 p.m.
Club 1877, University of Hartford
Applications are open now for undergraduate students to submit their proposals for presentation. Presentations are to be between 10 and 15 minutes.
Please note that there are 2 applications: an individual and group application. If submitting a group application, please only have 1 person submit a proposal. Both forms can be accessed via the buttons below.
Creative and research proposals are welcomed from students in any year on any topic, though they need a supporting/supervising faculty member. Proposals do NOT need to be a senior thesis or non-thesis project.
When filling out the application, be prepared with the following information:
- Co-author names, majors, and graduation years (if any)
- Presentation title
- Presentation description (no longer than 300 words)
- Faculty supervisor/sponsor’s name and email address
Applications are due Friday, March 7th, 2025.
Please direct any questions to University Honors Director, Professor Schoenecker, schoeneck@hartford.edu
Colloquium Schedule
Please see below for a list of presentations taking place during the Undergraduate Colloquium.
Harry Jack Gray Room A
Well-Being I
Moderator: Dr. Paola Sacchetti
- Aysiaa Wujcik: Loneliness and its impact on life satisfaction among college students
- Olivia Wolk: CBD as a Therapeutic Treatment in Aging
- Dawn Warne: How Reactive Oxygen Species are Regulated by Antioxidants and its Correlation with Cancer and Alzheimer's Disease
Harry Jack Gray Room B
Issues in Film
Moderator: Professor Dakota Nanton
- Jack Anderson: How Do You Make Long Movies Palatable For A Modern Audience? A Study of the Film Oppenheimer and Attention Driven Media
- Kyle Lavitt: Women and the Films of Akira Kurosawa
- Finn Stigliano: The Difference Between Narrative Sex and Pornography: Brokeback Mountain
Harry Jack Gray Room C
Improving Healthcare
Moderator: Dr. Colleen Muñoz
- Madison Carangelo: Can the simple act of drinking water influence blood coagulation?
- Jenna Rusiecki: Improving Sepsis Care and Nursing Confidence though Simulation
- Akosua Adu: Analysis of the Dominican Republic’s Healthcare System and the Role of Medical Missions
Harry Jack Gray Room D
Current Topics in Climate Change
Moderator: Dr. Laura Enzor
- Tyler Mendela: Microfibers: From the Loom to a Looming Threat to Estuarine health, the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica, and Public Health
- Sean Isaac: The Impacts of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Ocean Acidification, and Increased temperature on Feeding and the use of energy reserves in Easter oyster, Crassostrea virginica
- Tifa Talovic: Vector-Borne Diseases in a Changing Climate: Economic Implications for the United States Drawn from Developing Countries
Harry Jack Gray Room A
Contemporary Political Issues
Moderator: Dr. Jilda Aliotta
- Khyarah Manice: Constitutionality of Preventive Detention
- John W. Piercey III: Does the Right to Travel Ensure Protection From States' Efforts to Criminalize Abortion Post-Dobbs?
- Leslie Li: An Economic Study of Sri Lanka - The Pearl of the Indian Ocean
Harry Jack Gray Room B
Current Issues in Engineering
Moderator: Dr. Song Wang
- Elia Bllani, Katherine Boehme, Jack Gouveia: Conductive Filament Project - Multiscale Metamaterial Research Laboratory
- Spencer Beane, James Ladino: Accelerated Construction and Rehabilitation Using Precast Concrete Blocks and Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Laminates for Steel Structures
- Nicholas Krupa, Thomas Yonkers: A Compact Sensor for Measuring Material Properties Using Reflected Microwaves
Harry Jack Gray Room A
Improving Health & Healthcare Education
Moderator: Dr. Claudia Oakes
- Paige Gagnon: Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality in Ocular Care: Applications, Considerations, and Limitations
- Rhoddean Shanny Opinya, Amara Agosto, Christopher Kokko, Olivia Dossias: Creating CRISPR Prime Editing constructs to understand disease pathologies and develop therapeutics
- William Downey: Physiological Responses to Bouts of Rowing at Various Intensities in Resistance-Trained Males
Harry Jack Gray Room A
Contemporary Issues in Physics
Moderator: Dr. Brian Wells
- Frank Villani, Anthony Williams, Gavin Van Nest, Parker La Framboise, Kyle Eckert: Design and Development of an Affordable Automated Microwave Optics Scanning Table
- Andrew J. Rittenberg, Alexandros C. Cooke-Politikos: Transformation Optics in Flat Lens Design and Development
- Alexandros C. Cooke-Politikos: Martian Atmospheric Loss Through Foreshock Transient Events
Harry Jack Gray Room B
Well-Being II
Moderator: Dr. Ben Berger
- Hilary Bareiss: The American Loneliness Epidemic: Examining the Decline of 'Us' in the U.S.
- Alexis Boulanger: The Impact of a Comfort Dog on Test Anxiety Among Undergraduate Nursing Students
- Indiana Pellegrino: When the Mind Jokes, the Unconscious Speaks: Analyzing the Cathartic Function of Humor and its Potential in Psychoanalysis
Harry Jack Gray Room C
Educational Innovations
Moderator: Dr. Wes Younts
- Lilyan Hunt: Hartford Public Schools' Implementation of the Full-Service Community Schools Model
- Rosa Shanes: A Tale of Two Cities: The Impact of School Context on Perceptions of School Support Staff
- Jalynn Maia: Baccalaureate Education’s Effect on Radiologic Comprehension & Apprehension