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  Delinquency and Psychopathy in Juveniles

  Lauren Kathleen Moore, Darian A. Ramirez

  Although prior research has shown that there is a correlation between psychopathic traits in youth and the propensity to commit delinquency, there is very a lack of research linking it to aggressive offending. The current study aimed to understand the association between specific psychopathic traits such as callousness and grandiosity and aggressive offending among adjudicated juveniles. Data used for the study was the Pathways to Desistance Study that followed 1,354 juveniles from their adolescence into their young adulthood years. The sample consisted of 86% males, 41.4% African American, 20% White, and 33.5% of the rest of the sample consisted of other races, who had been found guilty of at least one serious violent crime, property offense or drug offense. A bivariate correlation was conducted to test the relationship between these two specific traits and aggressive offending. Findings show that only callousness was statistically significantly correlated with aggressive offending. Implications of the study will be discussed.

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  Design and Creation of PB1-Peptide Fusions to Solubilize Recombinant Influenza PA Protein

  Sara M. Hubbell

  Preliminary data estimates there were about 60,000 deaths and 800,000 hospitalizations due to the influenza virus for the 2017-2018 season (CDC.gov). With the ultimate goal of alieving some of this disease burden, current research in our lab focuses on developing a new antiviral treatment for influenza, since there are very limited options for battling influenza infection besides seasonal vaccination and non-ideal medications like Tamiflu. The Polymerase Acidic (PA) influenza protein is an appealing target for drug design due to its low genetic drift and requirement for influenza replication. The first step in designing a drug to inhibit PA is to isolate and purify a soluble version of the protein to enable structure-based drug design. Recombinant PA expressed in bacteria in our lab has demonstrated very low solubility. We hypothesized that by protecting a hydrophobic binding site, a fusion of PA and its natural binding partner, Polymerase Basic protein 1 (PB1), would be more soluble than PA alone. Mutagenic PCR primers were designed and used to attach the sequence coding for a PB1 peptide to the 5’ and 3’ ends of PA’s coding sequence, resulting in two different protein fusions in cloning vectors. Golden Gate Assembly was then used to insert this recombinant DNA into expression vectors containing fusion partners to increase the solubility of PA even further. A collection of eight expression vectors with varying protein fusions have been successfully designed and cloned. Small-scale solubility testing of these constructs is underway.

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  Determine the Effect of Propionate on the Interactions Between Macrophages and Listeria monocytogenes

  Stephanie Marie Johnson

  Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic and intracellular food-borne pathogen that can be deadly in high risk populations. During infection in the human body, L. monocytogenes may encounter macrophages, a type of white blood cell that is critical in innate immune response both by directly targeting invading pathogens and by eliciting adaptive immune responses. During intestinal as well as peripheral infections, both L. monocytogenes and macrophages may encounter propionate, a common gut microbiome metabolite. Although propionate is shown to have various regulatory and nutritional functions, its effects on infection outcome is not well understood. Therefore, the goal of this research is to determine how the exposure to propionate by L. monocytogenes and macrophages may affect subsequent infection outcomes. Specifically, the effects of propionate on phagocytic activity of macrophages have been quantified by measuring macrophage uptake of fluorescently labeled L. monocytogenes after exposure to different propionate concentrations. Additionally, the effects of propionate on the bactericidal activities inside macrophage phagosomes was determined by quantifying the number of intracellular L. monocytogenes mutant deficient in listeriolysin O remained inside phagosomes instead of escaping into the cytoplasm. The findings of this research will provide more information on how the immune response is regulated by propionate and offer a mechanistic insight into the vast role of the gut microbiome.

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  Determining Macronutrient Needs Among Insects in UD’s Environmental Research Area

  Peter Butterfield, Brigid Morgan

  Different compositions of nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat are important to sustaining insect life and maintaining functions such as moving resources or structure, building nests, and regulating pheromones. Knowledge of limiting nutrients in certain environments for different species of insects is crucial to understand further the makeup of the habitat and what could be done to mitigate a potential lack of nutrients in other similar environments. To observe how different dilutions of nutrients may affect species of insects, GUD (giving up density) vials were used. GUD vials are a method used to capture insects using various baits to attract them. We had 4 different treatments: tuna (protein rich), strawberries (carbohydrate-rich), 10% sugar dilution, and a 20% sugar dilution. These different treatments allowed us to test which nutrients the insects in the area are lacking or which substances they are attracted to. The vials were placed in 4 different areas of interest within the Old River Environmental Research Area. We picked up 1 vial of each treatment at different time intervals (1, 5, and 10 minutes). These trials were run in locations twice, and at the end of each trial, each vial was snapped shut to capture the arthropods inside. We sorted insects to order, and determined how different baits affected insect abundance. We predict that the strawberries and sugar vials will be most attractive to insects as this is a very efficient energy source to produce ATP quickly. Some grasshoppers, beetles, and insects that mostly eat plants may prefer the tuna vials however, as they may need more protein than surrounding plants can give them. The correlation between nutrient deficiency and location is important for ecological management and research, and this study should help in building the link.

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  Determining the Comparative Efficacy of Adenosine Analogues in Reducing Coronavirus Replication by Interfering Viral RNA Dependent RNA Polymerase Activity

  Juliano V. Aquilino

  Vaccines against infectious viral diseases are good in preventing those illnesses, however their application is not recommended in curing the ongoing infection. Antiviral drugs such as nucleotide analogs have been successfully used in treating various viral infections. Taking this background, current study is designed to evaluate the antiviral efficacy of adenosine analogues such as Remdesivir, Galidesivir, and 2-Chloroadenosine in inhibiting the human (HOC43) and animal coronavirus (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus: Colorado strain) replication by interfering viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity. Molecular docking was performed to determine the interaction of adenosine analogues with viral RdRp. While In vitro efficacy for these adenosine analogues in reducing RdRp activity will be performed using affinity purified, mammalian expressed recombinant RdRp protein. The antiviral efficacy for these adenosine analogues will also be measured by determining their effect on virus titer and virus plaque assay along with their effect on cellular toxicity.

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  Developing Cancer models to study signaling interactions in Drosophila

  Matthew T. Bilotti, Karishma Sanjay Gangwani, Nathan J. Holthaus, Kathleen Theresa McCaslin

  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, with an estimated 147,950 new cases in 2020 (Siegel, 2020). Some of the most common mutations found in patients with CRC are Ras, APC mutations, p53 dominant negative mutations. We plan to develop a Drosophila CRC model by combining mutations in the Ras/MAPK, Wnt and p53 pathways in Drosophila intestinal stem cells. The goal is to generate multiple models (one-, two- or three-hit) that can help understand the interactions between the direct pathways affected by the mutations (e.g., the MAPK and Wnt/Wingless pathways) and also on other tumor promoting pathways like the Hippo and PI3K pathways. These particular mutations do not respond effectively to chemotherapy or radiation, so this study attempts to create a genetic model using Drosophila to identify better therapeutic targets for treatment. Drosophila are an effective genetic model due to their combination of quick repopulation time, ability to ingest cancer drugs in vivo, and the similarities they share with humans in regards to their molecular pathways make them a practical tool. To create this model, we will (a) develop a CRC model in flies (b) test the levels of Hippo, Wnt and other pathways in this model, and (c) use drugs to find inhibitors of these pathways. Our progress and review of current published models will be presented.

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  Development of an Expungement Clinic in Dayton - From A Community Engaged Perspective

  Livia M. Billen

  This presentation provides an overview of a community-engaged senior capstone project in Montgomery County. I have worked with the Montgomery County Jail Coalition since early October. Throughout my time with the team, we have brainstormed, and with the help of the Public Defender's office, developed a warrant clinic for Dayton. The clinic will be launching tentatively in the month of June. I had the opportunity to listen, reflect and give input during these meetings and have formally developed an outline for the clinic. This process has not been easy, as the team have faced many uncertainties and complications while working on the clinic. In this presentation, I discuss the creation of the warrant clinic and challenges faced during development.

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  Development of Nucleic Acid Aptamers to Inhibit Bacterial Efflux Pumps

  Emilie A. Moses

  Multidrug resistance in bacteria, defined as the ability of a bacterial strain to resist the killing effects of more than one antibiotic, represents a major threat to global healthcare. Every year in the United States, two million people are infected with a multidrug resistant strain of bacteria. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), out of those two million people, about 35,000 will die from their infection. Thus, these multidrug resistant diseases are considered by the CDC to be the most dangerous diseases in the world. While multidrug resistance can occur through several different mechanisms, a major contributor to multidrug resistance are the bacterial efflux pumps. Efflux pumps are transporters that reside in the membrane of a bacterial cell, and they function by pumping out toxic organic compounds, including antibiotics, from the cell. These efflux pumps often lack specificity for the compounds that they can expel from the cell which means that a single type of efflux pump can confer resistance to many types of antibiotics all at once. When bacterial cells produce high levels of these efflux pumps in their membranes, it can give rise to a multidrug resistance characteristic. I intend to inhibit the efflux pump using single-stranded DNA aptamers that I developed using a CELL-SELEX procedure. Any aptamers that can successfully inhibit the efflux pump will be analyzed to determine their potency, their specificity, and to identify their specific nucleotide sequence. These aptamers should either clog the pump opening and/or bind to the Tol C region of the pump, making it inactive so antibiotics are not expelled from cells. This would allow antibiotics to once again be effective and work to their full potential.

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  DIFF: An Inaugural Year in Review

  Melanie Christine Reindl, Abby Rose Rutan

  DIFF is an event born out of adversity. In 2020, the first inaugural Dayton Independent Film Festival chose to make a DIFFerence by persevering as a socially-distanced, online film festival. Through coordination with a staff made up of University of Dayton faculty members and students, the festival was brought to life. In a year where our community came together like never before, DIFF represented the willingness of Dayton natives to innovate and the resilience of the human spirit.

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  Diversity and Inclusion in Music: The Inclusion of Underrepresented Music

  Trinity Peace Hines-Anthony, Emily Elizabeth Hunt, Cameron Jacob Page, Declan Michael Phelps, Daniel V. Sheldon, Anna Jean Simmons, Dont'e Christopher Scott Stevenson, Alexander Charles Wilhelm

  The University of Dayton Music Performance (MUP) Majors present a showcase of Diversity and Inclusion in Music. This presentation will explore a vast array of genres, composers, and musics that are underrepresented in our culture today. For each piece performed, there will be a brief discussion contextualizing the diverse and inclusive aspects of each. Performances will include music from Ireland under British rule, music utilizing quarter tones and multi-phonics, atonal music, and composers of less represented backgrounds.

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  Does Height Matter? Determining Frugivore Seed Preference by Elevation Level

  Grace E. Oldfield, Christopher Evans Peck, Anna Marie Peterson

  Frugivorous animals are known to drive seed dispersal—an essential ecological function in most ecosystems—and an understanding of these animals’ seed preferences for different types of seeds allows us to identify which types of frugivores are responsible for the dispersal of what seeds.While it is largely understood that seed preference varies by species, we sought to identify if seed preference differed based on elevation. Do tree dwelling species have different seed preferences than those on the ground? We hypothesized that seed consumption would be highest at the ground level, especially for the hard-shelled sunflower seeds, because seeds at the ground level are accessible to all species.Those species that are active on the ground in the spring are known to consume primarily hard nuts and seeds due to their abundance and high nutritional content. To determine the respective consumption rates of the sunflower seeds and peas, we arranged six feeding pans (3 pans on the ground level, 3 pans suspended from low tree branches) at three different locations within the University of Dayton’s Environmental Research Area. Each feeding pan contained equal parts sunflower seeds and peas by mass (5:1 sunflower to pea ratio) and were set out for three-day intervals for each trial, for three trials in March. At the end of each trial, we recorded the remaining amount of each seed type and compared preference between elevation and location.Because the role of frugivores in the dispersal of seeds is significant in ecosystems, understanding their seed preference patterns may help us to predict the ongoing dynamics of seed dispersal and germination within an ecosystem.

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  Does state partisanship affect the level of "strictness" regarding solitary confinement policy?

  Meghan Strite

  I researched the connection between state partisanship and thespecific levels of “strictness” within solitary confinement. This issue is being addressed becauseI intended to discover a pattern between state partisanship and more or less strict solitaryconfinement policies. The methodology being utilized will a secondary data collection method.From what was previously gathered, states that hold a more “blue” or Democratic stance holdless strict rules and regulations in regard to solitary confinement. Partisanship will be accountedfor based on how each individual state voted at the state level in 2012. In conclusion, I hopeto discover a trend amongst state partisanship and solitary confinement policies.

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  Domination and F-Domination

  Noah Jacob Kilps

  This project is for MTH 466, Graph Theory and Combinatorics. A graph is a mathematical object that consists of two sets, a set of vertices and a set of edges in which an edge between two vertices denotes a relationship between those vertices. A dominating set of a graph G is a set of vertices S such that every vertex of G is a neighbor of some vertex in S. The domination number is the minimum number of vertices in a dominating set S. Let F be a graph whose vertex set is partitioned into two sets: blue vertices and red vertices. Let v be a designated blue vertex of F. An F-coloring of a graph G is a red-blue coloring of the vertices of G in which every blue vertex u belongs to a copy of F rooted at v. The F-domination number is the minimum number of red vertices in an F-coloring of G. We will compare the properties of the domination number and the F-domination number.

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  Drosophila Eye Model to Study the Role of NAT 9 in Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementia (ADRD)

  Prajakta D. Deshpande, Emily M. Snider

  Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive form of dementia that presents itself in individuals aged 65 years or older. AD is characterized by a decline in memory and cognitive function. Currently, there is no cure for AD though symptomatic treatments are available. One of the hallmarks of AD is the accumulation of β-amyloid plaques formed in the brain due to improper cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein. The extracellular accumulation of β-amyloid plaques triggers the hyperphosphorylation of tau, a microtubule-associated protein that helps stabilize microtubule structures in neurons. In its hyperphosphorylated form, tau loses affinity to bind to the microtubules and can oligomerize. This results in the formation of tau tangles and the destabilization of axons and dendrites (necessary for cellular communication). We employed the GAL4-UAS system in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster to misexpress human Aβ42 within the developing fly retina. Using forward genetic screening, we found N-acetyltransferase 9 (NAT 9) as one of the modifiers for the Aβ42 phenotype. NAT 9 is an enzyme that acetylates microtubules and supports the regulation of microtubule stability. This study aims to understand the role of NAT 9 in Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration. The overexpression of NAT 9 in GMR>Aβ42 background suppresses the Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration whereas loss of function of NAT 9 in GMR>Aβ42 results in depigmentation, necrotic spots, and a reduction in eye size as compared to GMR>Aβ42 eye. Our hypothesis is Nat9 may play a role in Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration.

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  Effects of State Legalization of Recreational Marijuana on Young Adult Usage Rates

  Hunter Kathryn Soumar

  The research in this presentation is covering usage of marijuana by young adults. It is specifically looking at how usage rates changed from years 2002 to 2018, focusing on young adults ages 18 to 25. From the year 2002 to 2018, certain states included in the research have legalized the usage of recreational marijuana for ages 21 and above. The research question is evaluating if this legalization had an effect on the yearly usage rates. The sample population contains a geographical variety of states across the United States which both have and have not legalized recreational marijuana. The research was conducted using a regression method to evaluate the relationship between variables. The quantitative data used is from secondary sources, looking at values of young adult usage rates from 2002 to 2018 in specific states. The significant findings portray a national trend of increasing usage rates by young adults. However, the consistent increase in national usage rates cannot be attributed to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Both legalized and non-legalized states included in the research show higher usage rates as years progressed. Some possible future hypotheses may explore the generational differences of marijuana usage, as opposed to research focusing on ages 18 to 25. As society changes, trends, beliefs and values will adjust as well. It is important our data stays up to date so we as a society can better understand the past, present and future trends.

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  Effects of Substance Use on Juvenile Delinquency

  Abbigaile A. Ehrenborg

  Juvenile substance use throughout the United States has consistently been an issue. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that are enabling substance abuse among juveniles. The focus of the current study is to examine the link between juveniles’ use of sedatives and shoplifting. The current study used the Pathways to Desistance data, a longitudinal study of 1,354 serious juvenile offenders between ages of 14 years old to under 18 years old from Philadelphia and Phoneix. The sample consisted of 86% males, 41.4% African American, 20% White, and 33.5% of the rest of the sample consisted of other races, who had been found guilty of at least one serious violent crime, property offense or drug offense. The relationship between sedatives and shoplifting was analyzed using a bivariate correlation. Findings show that there was no correlation between these two variables, therefore making them nonsignificant. Findings and implications will be discussed.

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  Environmental Racism, Urban Ecosystems, and the Pursuit of Solutions that Enfranchise Communities of Color

  Niani Brown

  Environmental justice is a social justice issue concerned with equity of protection, involvement, and consideration of all people and communities regarding environmental regulation from development to enforcement. Environmental racism, then, is the idea that historical discrimination has limited access to environmental benefits for some members of the population based on race. This includes access to healthy food options, disaster protection, relief, and greenspace--issues that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. This study focuses on greenspace access, in particular, using the City of Dayton and surrounding areas as a model. I looked at previous research that focused on the uneven distribution in poor and minority communities as a whole and compared this to what is seen in the model system as well as the ways in which access to greenspace benefits the community and the environment. I focused the latter part of the study on community involvement and engagement. This project specifically focused on how environmental injustice has impacted residents in North and West Dayton and the ways that environmental justice initiatives can engage the community and work alongside other social justice initiatives to bring about positive change.

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  Examining the Link Between Community Policing and De-escalation Techniques

  Daniel Joseph Bandelaria, Colby Michael Tuttle

  One characteristic of community policing is the defining role of positive police-citizen relationships. Researchers and police alike have posited that this feature of community policing may influence de-escalation techniques during police-citizen interaction. However, empirical research testing this assumption is lacking. As such, the current study aims to explore the relationship between community policing and de-escalation techniques among one police agency in a Midwestern state. The current study used a cross-sectional online survey to ask a series of questions about community policing techniques and de-escalation. The sample consisted of 15 police officers who were mainly Caucasian (90%) and males (60%) and had served approximately ten years in the service. Due to the small sample size, univariate descriptive statistics were conducted. Findings show that many of the officers (73.3%) believe their department puts a great amount of focus on community policing. Furthermore, 86.7% of the participants strongly agree that community policing includes collaboration, with 66.7% of them believing that community policing includes problem-solving with community members. Out of the 15 participants, 46.7% of them somewhat agreed that community policing techniques increase their use of de-escalation techniques. Approximately, 40% of the participants said that they may feel safer knowing that their community policing techniques are being used to de-escalate situations. Findings and implications will be discussed in the results section.

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  Experiential Learning Reflections From Human Rights Students

  Katelyn Hallie Barnes, Anna Elizabeth Beebe, Bailee K. Boland, Liliana Melissa Busic, Grace Elizabeth Cannon, Morgan Morgan Cox, Lydia Rita Fatime Diabate-Tonne, Grace Elaine Gibson, Hannah Elizabeth Gibson, Bridget Therese Graham, Tongyu Guo, Lauren Marie Higgins, Laura Ann Hughes, Aileen Marisa Hull, Kate Mulvihill Jones, Kelsey Marie Kamil, Samuel S. Laird, Maya Rose Leibold, Kaitlin B. Lewis, Brandy Megan Lynch, Anna Mumma, Cameron Cristina Nowlin, Meredith N. Robinson, Steven Stalnaker Shamblen, Jennifer Ann Sobnosky, Lauren Elizabeth Tobal, Nicole Ann Vanvoorhis, Angela Kay Weiland

  This course involves an experiential learning project with two NGO partners, Counterpart International and Miss Able-Humura. Students, working in teams of 4-5, are engaged in a range of projects from social media and marketing to strategic visioning and fundraising to programming and alumni networking. For this Stander Presentation, students will present their work and will reflect on the challenges and opportunities of partnering with NGOs in the context of a course, particularly one focused on human rights.

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  Explainable Deep Learning for Construction Site Safety

  Ishan Vijay Ghutake

  The construction industry is going through a huge shift toward automation, with safety being one of the major challenges. We always want to take measures through which more accidents resulting serious injuries and deaths could be avoided. Indeed the construction sites are bound with several safety rules, one of the most important is having required personal protective equipment (PPE) based on the worker working environment. The presence of the monitoring camera at construction site provides an opportunity to enforce these safety rules by applying computer vision techniques and algorithms. This study shows capability of the Deep Learning model to classify worker as safe and unsafe and provides logical explanation to strengthen the prediction result. Here we exemplified classification of worker by using five convolutional neural network models with various layer structures. We collect a dataset of construction site scenes and annotate each image scene as safe and unsafe according to the workers working environment. The state-of-the-art neural networks successfully perform the binary classification with up to 90% accuracy. Furthermore, feature visualizations, such as Guided Back Propagation, Grad-CAM and different variants of LRP which is successful in showing which pixel in the original image contribute to the diagnosis and to what extent.

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  Exploring Dynamic Viscosity with Self-Assembly Systems Outside of Equilibrium

  Andrew Peter Lingafelter, Jack Brian Mclean

  All fluids have a characteristic viscosity and fluids commonly studied exist in an equilibrium state. However, some exist outside of equilibrium. These fluids are known as non-Newtonian fluids. Non-Newtonian fluids have a dynamic viscosity, which means that the coefficient of viscosity is dependent on the pressure of the system as well as temperature. Systems that have the ability to self-assemble from surfactant molecules also can express this dynamic viscosity, and achieve a state outside of equilibrium. The making and characteristics of such a system were explored. Copious amounts of energy are wasted in the form of heat ejected into the atmosphere from general to industrial processes. Future applications of self-assembly systems could include harnessing and reutilizing this wasted energy.

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  Exploring the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asian and Asian-American Students at the University of Dayton

  Michaela Catherine Kenney

  The overall purpose of this research was to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Asian and Asian American students at the University of Dayton, particularly in regards to racist language surrounding the pandemic. The Asian population is often overlooked in terms of studying racism and prejudice, and since the beginning of the pandemic, hate crimes and reports of discrimination have never been higher. In order to study this at UD, a survey with questions regarding their experience during the pandemic was used with convenience sampling, including participants from various Asian American organizations on campus. Additionally, follow-up interviews were conducted to go more in depth on participants’ experiences regarding prejudice and discrimination. Out of 10 survey respondents, half of the participants reported facing some form of prejudice from other students because of their race or ethnicity as a result of the pandemic. Additionally, 60% of the participants reported facing some form of prejudice from the general public because of their race or ethnicity as a result of the pandemic. 90% of the respondents also reported an increase in stress or anxiety as a result of the pandemic. Although this study draws from a small sample, the implications for this research requires attention to the Asian and Asian American community as hate crime and reports of discrimination continue to climb.

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  Exploring the Relationship Between Parental Warmth and Delinquency Among Youthful Offenders

  Sean Joseph Stull

  The focus of the current paper is to examine the link between parental warmth and delinquency. The specific focus was looking at how both parents’ parental warmth levels impact the adolescents in the study in relation to aggressive crimes. The research question for this paper is, "How does the level of parental warmth from both parents contribute to the possibility of the child becoming aggressively delinquent?” Research was done first to see what past studies and data was found on the subject. Some of the research done was finding out the definition of parental warmth and similar experiments done, all of which will be covered in the paper. The Pathway to Desistance data was used to test the aforementioned research question. The Pathways to Desistance is, a study conducted in Pennsylvania and Arizona that examined 1,354 serious juvenile offenders to assess the factors and experiences linked to their desistance from delinquency as they age out of adolescence. The sample is 86.4% males, 14.6% females, 20.2% white, 41.4% black, 33.5% Hispanic, and 4.5% Other. The educational level of the sample was 87.9% of the juveniles are either in school or skipped the question while 12% dropped out. Results from the study determined there is no correlation between parental warmth and aggressive offending, but the mother variable was close to correlation and could have correlation in other future studies. The policy implication will be discussed in the symposium.

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  Fantasies of TikTok: The Limits of Social Media and Holocaust Advocacy

  Katharine Louise Schreyer

  Over the past decade, Holocaust scholars and museum professionals have debated the value of social media for teaching and commemorating the Shoah. Whether user-generated or created by institutions, native social media content is marginal in at least two senses. First, such content circulates outside the academic and professional venues in which Holocaust history and pedagogy are traditionally discussed. Second, such content is highly ephemeral - subject to sudden removal or alteration by creators or platform-owners.This paper advances these debates by analyzing a recent, and controversial, form of social media engagement with the Shoah: user-generated videos circulated on TikTok. Since TikTok is a fairly new platform populated mostly by young people, it is not seen as a venue for serious education or outreach. News of user-generated videos purporting to take the perspective of Holocaust victims, survivors, or witnesses sparked public outrage and spurred swift removal in the fall of 2020, demonstrating just how marginal such content is. However, the lines between such point-of-view (POV) videos and the multi-modal educational experiences offered by Holocaust museums or sites of destruction are not entirely clear. The first aim of this paper is to identify what features these practices have in common and consider which are distinctive - and distinctively worrying about - TikTok. The second aim of the paper is to ask what legitimate uses TikTok videos might have for increasing public awareness of the Holocaust and aiding human rights advocacy. A comparison between inherently short-form TikTok videos and longer-format digital content (such as podcasts or audio-visual testimonies) shows that TikTok is not an appropriate venue for crafting oral histories or recording the testimony of survivors. But TikTok’s heavy reliance on montage, capabilities for layering text and visuals, and proprietary modes for “stitching” content from multiple users offer potentially valuable resources for advocacy campaigns.

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  Far Out Flower Child: Psychedelic Tourism and the Hippy Invasion of Latin America

  Adam M. Graber

  During the 1960s, the Hippy movement created an environment that allowed a new kind of tourism to thrive. Tourism to Latin America, primarily Mexico specifically, increased during 1960s and 70s as a result of the psychedelic renaissance. The tourism in question here would become known as psychedelic tourism. This provoked Mexico into deporting and demonizing those tourists and creating a new kind of tourism whilst also significantly impacting those rituals and native peoples that partook in highly secret psychedelic rituals that have existed for thousands of years.