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 Pathways to Knowledge: A Lecture Series for Undergraduates
Fall 2001
September 25, 2001
The Role of Group Rituals:
How Meaningful Interactions Shape Our Lives
Thomas J. Tomcho
Visiting Assistant Professor (recent Ph.D.)
Department of Psychology
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Ritualized behaviors are meaningful for those who enact them. They have been demonstrated to serve a protective function during transitional periods and are believed to reinforce the shared identity of group members. The purpose of this research was to investigate the utility of studying social groups from perspectives developed through anthropology and family psychology. A discussion of the findings is presented within the context of how the study of rituals in non-family groups may provide information regarding individual adjustment and the importance of family of origin experiences in individual development, as well as providing a call to use ritual theory to understand the study of social groups.
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October 16, 2001
A Surprise at the End:
The Exceptional Telomeres of Fruit Flies
Patrick Maxwell
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biology
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Telomeres are the ends of linear chromosomes. When these ends become too short, cells may stop dividing, and this may be a factor in the aging of organisms. Cancerous cells, which divide continuously, often have long telomeres. Telomere length in many organisms is regulated by loss of some DNA every cell division and addition of DNA by the enzyme telomerase.
Interestingly, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) lack the enzyme telomerase and the sort of sequences usually found at telomeres. I will describe my efforts to examine these unusual telomeres with molecular biology tools and broaden our understanding of chromosome ends.
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November 27, 2001
Unalienable Rights Denied?
Opposition to U.S. Territorial Government in Orleans Territory, 1803-1809
Julien Vernet
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of History
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Louisiana, purchased by the U. S. in 1803, was inhabited by French, Spanish and American settlers. The residents expected to be U.S. citizens who resided in a new state of the Union. However, the system of government designed by Thomas Jefferson for Louisiana resembled a royal colony. He denied them representation in his territorial government. The government bill supported by Jefferson also included a clause that prohibited Louisianians from foreign importation of slaves. Planter/merchants considered this an attack on their property rights.
Louisianians who had expected more from a system of government designed by the author of the Declaration of Independence organized a protest against territorial government and demanded immediate statehood. My research is focused on an exploration of the leadership and goals of this protest movement.
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