Aisthesis Biography Page Aisthesis Editorial Board Delaney Anderson is a graduating senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry and Psychology. She has spent her senior year working with faculty in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the Medical School developing methods to detect bacteria in dog brain tumors. After graduation she hopes to spend her gap year in Seattle working in a lab before attending more schooling. Gracie Bahr is a freshman majoring in Biochemistry, Mathematics, and Chemistry with plans to go into a master’s program in Neuroscience and Music Therapy to study how music changes the brain’s chemistry and its overall healing process. Gracie is currently working with her advisors at UMD to construct a research project to study the effects of music on psychological stressors in the college age population and the elderly population. Cole Bauman is a junior who is studying biology and cognitive science. He is interested in pursuing a graduate degree in social psychology, focused on researching altruism and existential intelligence. Rachal Cross is a junior in the Bachelor’s of SocialWork program. She is also involved with the University Honors Program and is developing an Undergraduate Research Project surrounding corporate solidarity activities. After graduation, Cross intends to pursue her Master’s degree in social work and ultimately become a mental health therapist. Hannah Holmberg is a senior majoring in Communication and Hispanic Studies. She is currently studying proximity and attraction and the connections between the two in an online environment. After her studies she will be pursuing her Juris Doctorate at the Saint Thomas School of Law. Allison Drost is a sophomore majoring in Accounting and Financial Planning. She plans to become a Certified Public Accountant and focus her work in governmental accounting. Her research interests include tax and accounting practices. Kailee Grahek is a junior majoring in biochemistry and minoring in biology. She is currently researching the pharmacogenetics of opioid dosing as well as studying the role of the university in substance use disorder.. She hopes to attend pharmacy school after graduation. Quinn Heutmaker is a graduating senior pursuing writing in the Biological sciences. Her goal is to support a laboratory team through contributing to and managing the writing that accompanies research activities. Mitchell Jans is a junior studying Civil Engineering. He is a research assistant exploring geochemical processes and hopes to attend graduate schools after graduation. Nicholas Kellar is a junior double majoring in History and Psychology. His research interests include Ancient Near Eastern History, Contemporary East Asian History, Mood Disorders, and Social Dominance Theory. He intends on running a research project about the correlation between COVID-19’s psychological impact on undergraduate students and their Social Dominance Orientation. Naomi Leedahl is a junior student who created an Interdisciplinary Studies major titled “Storytelling Arts” out of curriculum from the Theatre, English, and Communication departments. She is a playwright, director, dramaturg in the theatre as well as writer, reader, and filmmaker who has special interest in studying human behavior, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships. Grace Lynch is a freshman. She is a biology and chemical engineering major and is currently involved in entomology research with Dr. Timothy Craig. Her next project is a pollinator study comparing rates of herbivory and pollination in local plant species. Linnea McClintock is a sophomore majoring in Psychology with a minor in Communication. Her research interests include movement/dance therapy in response to depression and anxiety, and hopes to conduct a project on undergraduate students to determine the correlation between dance and mental health. Stine Myrah is a graduating senior and Anthropology Major. She is doing research on elder care, comparing three cultural contexts through studying three small urban cultural contexts across three different countries: Fredrikstad (Norway), Sefrou (Morocco), and Duluth (Minnesota, United States). She hopes to continue researching elder care systems in graduate school. Megan Nelson is a junior. She is studying Communication Sciences and Disorders and aspires to become a Speech Language Pathologist. With the help of a faculty mentor, she is studying the negative effects of noise exposure on children’s health and wellbeing. Tiffani Skroch is a senior who will be completing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in the Spring of 2021. Her research interests include political tolerance and ideologies. In the Fall of 2021, she will be attending Baylor University School of Law for her Juris Doctor (JD) degree. Edward Serrano is a sophomore, studying Mechanical Engineering. His interests include renewable energy applications across the world. Currently he is researching wave energy conversion in coastal areas. Mikayla Sundlie is a junior studying Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her interests include respiratory and voice therapy, as well as hearing and balance. Abby Swanson is a sophomore studying Psychology and Spanish. Makayla Taylor is a graduating senior studying Writing Studies with an English minor. Although she is unsure where she is going next, she plans to become a professional editor and eventually publish her own work. Aisthesis Reviewer Biographies Aisthesis would not function without the researchers, artists, critics, and teachers willing to review manuscripts by undergraduate students across the world. The editorial board of Aisthesis would like to thank these individuals, below, and several more anonymous reviewers. Adam Booker holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in JazzDouble Bass Performance from the University of Texas, Austin. He also holds a MM in Composition and a BM in Jazz Studies from Texas State University, San Marcos. His main focus of research has been double bassists of the early jazz era (1900-1936) and he has presented at the Jazz Education Network, the International Society of Bassists, and the European Double Bass Congress. His research has also been published in Jazz Perspectives. As a life-long student of thedouble bass, he has studied with Francois Rabbath, Eric Revis, and the legendary Milt Hinton, as well as members of the San Antonio Symphony, Austin Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Booker has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Booker is also a proud veteran of the US Navy, in which he served as a bassist for US Navy Band New Orleans until the end of his enlistment in 2005. As a bandleader and composer, Dr. Booker has released three albums,Unraveled Rival (2015), Seven Last Words (2019), and Lucca Live (2021) under the Minneapolis-based record label, Shifting Paradigm Records. Dr. Booker currently serves as Associate Professor of Double Bass at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Evan Brier is Associate Professor of English at theUniversity of Minnesota Duluth. He is the author ofA Novel Marketplace: Mass Culture, the Book Trade, and Postwar American Fiction (Penn Press, 2010). His teaching and research interests include contemporary fiction, cultural history, and the literary marketplace. Eve Browning is Professor and Chair at the Department of Philosophy & Classics, University of Texas at San Antonio. M. Shivaun Corry is, due to the pandemic, a full-time homeschool teacher attempting to integrate insights from the communicative approach to language learning and critical pedagogy into a tech-positive, child-centered curriculum. She holds a PhD in Communications and Rhetorical Studies and continues to publish and guest lecture on subjects including civil religion, public apologies, and health communications. In “the before times” she was a professional Turkish dancer and adjunct instructor. Rebecca de Souza is Professor of Communication at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Her research is concerned with how political and economic systems impact health, access to food, and social inequalities.Her work has been published in journals such as Communication Theory, Health Communication, International Journal of Communication, and Asian Journal of Communicationas well as in interdisciplinary journals such as the American Journal of Health Educationand Women's Studies International Forum. Kathy Dowell is Associate Professor of PsychologyUniversity of Minnesota Duluth. Her research interests center on the familial and social factors that impact the effectiveness of child psychotherapy, including parent-child relationships, parenting stress, poverty, and trauma. She teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Child and Family Therapy, Ethics, Marriages and Families Worldwide, and Internship Preparation. She supervises graduate clinical counseling practicum students and serves as the Undergraduate Internship Coordinator for the department. Ari Feld is an assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Ryan Hjelle is an instructor in Psychology at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he has taught for 8 years, teaching a broad range of courses with a heavy focus on statistics, research methods, and cognition. He is a frequent mentor for undergraduate researchers and serves as a judge for regional and international high school science and engineering fairs. He also serves as the faculty supervisor for the Psychology Department’s Peer Advising program. Faith King is a Writing Instructor at University Minnesota Duluth. She writes poetry and articles about artwork as well as creative nonfiction. In her work at UMD, she enjoys hearing what students are concerned about and mentoring them on effective communication of their values. Ann Klefstad is an artist and writer in Duluth. Ray Langsten is Research Associate Professor at American University in Cairo. studying the impact of child and maternal health initiatives supported by USAID and the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population. He has worked as a consultant for Family Health International and the Population Council, the Middle East and North Africa Regional Offices of the Ford Foundation, and for the Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Turkey offices of UNICEF; he has also participated in population projects in Bangladesh and Brazil. Kelly MacPhail teaches Philosophy and English as an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Elizabeth Nelson is retiring from a 33-year gig as a professor in rhetorical studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and is an avid quilter, theatre-lover, looking forward to new adventures and opportunities. Ed Newman received his liberal arts degree at Ohio University with an emphasis in the fine arts. He has been freelance writing for four decades, mostly during a career in advertising, marketing and PR. Jessica Peterson is an essayist, playwright, arts administrator and co-founder of Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo, Minnesota. Her first book, Sound Like Trapped Thunder, is published by Seneca Review Books and is the winner of the 2020 Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize. Her essays have appeared in:The Rumpus, Orion, Seneca Review, River Teeth, Anomaly (formerly Drunken Boat), Passages North, Alaska Quarterly Review and others. Jessica is the author of seven full-length plays, two one acts, and one musical, all of which have had professional productions in Minnesota and all over the country. Jeffrey Rop is Associate Professor of History at UMD.His research focuses on the military and political history of Greece and Achaemenid Persia in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. His monograph,Greek Military Service in the Ancient Near East, 401-330 BCE, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. He is the co-chair of the Teaching Committee of the Association of Ancient Historians, and teaches courses on the history of the Ancient Mediterranean, Ancient Near East, and world history. James Shreffler is a licensed Psychologist at UMD Health Services. His professional interest is in executive functioning and neurodevelopmental disorders. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a doctorate in Psychology. He received his undergraduate degree at UMD many years ago. Deondre Smiles is a President’s Postdoctoral Scholar in History at The Ohio State University and an incoming Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Victoria. A citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, his research interests lie at the intersections of critical Indigenous geographies, political ecology, settler colonialism and tribal cultural resource management/protection. Deondre holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography from St. Cloud State University, a Master of Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Global Indigenous Studies from UMD, and a Ph.D. in Geography from The Ohio State University. Scott Vollum is an associate professor of criminologyand sociology and head of the Department of Studies in Justice, Culture, & Social Change at UMD. Additionally, several other reviewers served the journal in 2021 whose biographies we have not included at their request.