Since the 1990s, the Internet has blossomed into a platform designed to provide access to an unlimited amount of information at the click of a putton. It did not take long for this technology to become an integral part of our social interaction. In recent years, as a pernicious consequence of the Internet's "faceless" communication, the internet has become an ideal space for cybverbullying. This research focuses specifically on the problem of "body shaming" in online spaces. The essay explores causes of cyberbullying and online body shaming in order to better understand strategies for creating mroe empathetic online spaces and to promote an culture of positive body image.

Video Segments: How did you first learn about honors colloquia? 0:04-0:52 What classes have you taken? 0:52-1:13 Do you have a favorite? 1:13-1:54 What have these classes taught you? 1:54-3:05 What is the most challenging part of these classes? 3:05-4:03 What are the benefits of these classes? 4:03-5:05 Advice for those choosing between departmental honors or colloquia? 5:05-5:55 What’s your advice for students going into colloquia? 5:55-6:45

This article will show how empathy can be used to alleviate the stress and anxiety many people feel when going to the doctor, as well as argue why empathy should be taught in medical and nursing school to counteract the diminished levels of empathy many students face and, by extension, improve the quality of care these students will be able to provide as they transition into the medical field.  It is not only the job of the patient to accurately describe their symptoms, but it is also the doctor’s responsibility to alleviate any stress or discomfort his or her patient may be feeling, as well as making an appropriate diagnosis. Empathy is an integral part of healthcare. If nurses and doctors are better able to understand the feelings of their patients, they will better be able to care for their patients on a physiological level as well as an emotional level. Because many Americans suffer from fear about going to the doctor, as physicians learn to employ empathy in their practice they can more easily lessen any stress or anxiety that their patients are feeling.

The purpose of this study is to observe the impact of celebrity endorser authenticity and product congruence on brand experience, brand evaluations and celebrity evaluations. Celebrity authenticity is defined by the celebrity’s ability to demonstrate rarity and stability, or their ability to maintain unique characteristics and talents consistently across time and situation. Congruence is how well a celebrity endorser matches with the brand’s product or product category. Previous studies suggest that both of these constructs independently enhance brand evaluations, such as brand loyalty, positive word of mouth, and emotional connection. In this case, authenticity and congruence were observed together. To test whether authenticity and congruence jointly impacted brand experience, brand evaluations, and celebrity evaluations, an experiment was conducted. In order to ensure internal validity, known brands and known celebrities were not used. Instead, a vignette approach was utilized. I found that, overall, authentic and congruent endorsement independently produced the strongest brand experience and the strongest evaluations. Authenticity and congruence together did not produce a synergistic effect but independently, when a celebrity endorser was authentic versus not authentic, evaluations were better and when a celebrity was congruent versus incongruent, evaluations were better. Therefore, in conclusion, if brand managers are looking to enhance brand experience or brand evaluations through celebrity endorsement, it is best to hire a celebrity that is authentic and a celebrity that is aligned with the brand’s product or product category. Additionally, if looking to enhance the evaluations of their currently contracted celebrity endorsers, perceived authenticity significantly impacts these evaluations. An overarching insight this study demonstrates, however, is that in an age of excess use of technology and social media where information is more readily available, it is important for companies to look beyond just profession when determining the best endorsement candidate to hire.

Katie and Addyson’s work is primarily centered around the question: Why did Russian trolls want to interfere with the United States presidential election of 2016? They worked with Dr. Tricia Jenkins and were sponsored by the John V. Roach Honors College. Their role in the research consisted of research and an immense amount of coding pertaining to tweets during the time of the election. They sorted tweets with both extreme right and extreme left content. Their findings were presented at a global conference at Oxford in the United Kingdom where they learned of the impact of Russian interference in many international cases.