Undergraduate Scholars Program

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/404

The Undergraduate Scholars Program (USP) is one of the largest multidisciplinary undergraduate research programs at MSU. We are here to help undergraduate students in all disciplines pursue research, scholarship, and creative projects.

The Undergraduate Scholars Program (USP) facilitates, supports, and promotes undergraduate research and scholarship by providing funding and logistical support directly to students.

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 20

Understanding Emerging Stressors and Adaptations in Generational Ranching Operations through Participant Visual Ethnography
(2013-07) Carter, Christopher; Bertagnolli, Ann
Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork with sheep ranching families in Sweet Grass county Montana this research explores emerging stressors and adaptations influencing the decision making process of rural emigration. While this research focuses on a uniquely Montana way of life, urbanization, migration and subsequent loss of rural identity are phenomena that are beginning to be recognized and studied through qualitative methodologies. Through this research I have sought to collaboratively understand, why people choose to stay, why some leave, and the forces at play influencing this process. In doing so I utilize a combination of unique methodologies including Photovoice, Community Based Participatory Research and Participatory Visual Ethnography, as they emerged as the most appropriate means of understanding this community. During fieldwork issues of generational property and social capital transfer, new skilled migrant labor, land management and agricultural subsidy for small scale ranches surfaced as themes that speak directly to debates of food security, urbanization and agrarian identity in the American West. As rural emigration affects societies and economies beyond this Montana community, this USP funded research suggests an integration of participatory and qualitative research methods into the understanding, planning and policy making of sustainable futures in agriculture and society.
Khwisero
(2013-03) Stewart, Justin; van Coller, Ian
The book Khwisero was created over the 2011 summer as I traveled to Khwisero, Kenya as a member of Engineers Without Borders (also known as EWB). This book is a documentation of all the work EWB has done with schools in the Khwisero district. It contains portraits of all the head teachers of the schools where EWB has implemented projects at. It also contains pictures of all the projects as well as the history of EWB’s work in Khwisero. The club can use the book for many purposes. They’ve already started to use it as a teaching tool for new members. The book was created in a platform that allows for additions to be made to the book by future members, and the book can continue to be a valuable resource for the club as long as they see fit.
Elderly of Gallatin Valley
(2013-03) Spray, Terri; Pike, Alexis
My project is to photograph and collect stories from elderly residents of Gallatin Valley rest homes. I plan to go into the homes, offer to take a portrait that I will provide a copy of for them, and then sit down and ask questions about their childhood memories, early adult life and families that will spur them to share stories that make up who that person is. I am also, interested in what they can add to the knowledge of the history of the place they are from. I would especially like to focus a good many of the stories on people from our local area of Montana. If they are not from here originally, I want to get the story of how they came to live in Gallatin Valley. I will then take the stories and portraits and make them into a displayable print form, as well as a book that I will either hand-make or have made by a publishing company. I want the information and photos in the book to be accessible to the subjects, as well as their families, in addition to the general public that will find the stories entertaining and informative. My goal is to include a minimum of 10 subjects in the final project, but hopefully will have time to add several more. The project is a research into the recent past that is oftentimes overlooked until it is too late to get first hand accounts. I want to share with people the stories of everyday, ordinary people that have lived very long rich lives. This project is also my senior seminar project for this fall term in the school of Film and Photography.
Still a Family
(2013-03) Spray, Terri; Anderson, Christina Z.
My project will consist of taking photographs to document the phenomenon of a single parent raising a large family and going to school at the same time. I intend to show how our life is different than the average family but also show how it is similar. I will include photographs of each of my 6 children that are still living at home as portraits, as well as capturing everyday life and what that consists of for us. My project will record the struggles, time constraints and benefits of having many children. It will bring light onto the single parent and the absence of the other parent. It will show the impact that going to school is having on our family. I will include as much of our daily life as is possible to make a comprehensive study into large single parent families. The photographs will be the main documentation of the project and will probably be made into a book or slide show to archive the project.
Paranormal Detectives
(2013-03) Rogers, Felicia; Monaco, Paul
As a culmination of my academic education at the Montana State University School of Film and Photography, I pitched and produced a ten-minute fiction film, titled Paranormal Detectives, during this Spring Semester 2012. Part classically-filmed and part gritty-mockumentary, my film revolves around a down and out documentarian, Scott, and his crew who joins a famous team of ghost hunters for a one night investigation at a haunted theater. Scott is determined to prove that their ghost hunting methods are false to save his career but at the end of a night of hilariously inept investigating, a ghost appears that the camera cannot see. Overall, this film underscores that it is the relationships between those that search for the dead that really matter and that, even with our technological advances nowadays, not everything can be captured and explained.
No Limbitations
(2013-03) Quigley, Paul; Savoie, Gianna
No Limbitations is a documentary about Sam Kavanagh, a Paralympic cyclist, who is competing in the London Paralympic Games. This presentation will highlight our pre-production work thus far as well as show our goals towards completing this project. The presentation will be in poster format showing pictures of Sam participating in various athletic events as well as interacting with his day-to-day life. The poster will define a short story summary of the documentary.
Bringing Back My Father
(2013-03) Nettles, Ashley; van Coller, Ian
Addressing the social stigma behind paranoid schizophrenia, Bringing Back My Father is a photographic project that uses my experiences with a schizophrenic father to raise awareness about the disease. It will be a visual representation of the distress felt by paranoid schizophrenics, and the effect it has on friends and family. The goal of the project is to inspire those who are affected by paranoid schizophrenia, both victims and families, to give hope that a life once shattered can become a beautiful and manageable thing. For my project I am taking self-portraits, as many of the things I do in my life are in direct relation to my father. The images are in environments that inspire memories of my father, such as where I grew up or places we liked to hang out. I am using items that are related to my father in each image, my way of metaphorically putting my father back into my life as a healed and healthy person. The images of myself combined with the tangible mementos of my father reflect the piecing together of a life affected by paranoid schizophrenia, and the relation to the real and imagined worlds we live in.
Silence; Senior Film
(2013-03) Miller, Alexander; Maw, Wyatt; Aig, Dennis
I approached producing Silence as a challenge to put myself in the position to coordinate the execution of an ambitious period piece -- one far removed from Montana history and landscape. This involved a number of difficult pre-production tasks, which included extensive location scouting by myself and writer/director Wyatt Maw, casting professional actors that fit the director’s vision, and filling a crew roster with fellow students and local artists -- all to create a small, yet historically rooted tale of violence and sacrifice set in Revolutionary France. This project was made possible through the generous USP grant, which assisted in the costs associated with shooting on location out of town, constructing an elaborate production design, and working with professional actors -- in a sense a full on exercise in real-world film production outside of the small MSU environment. Thanks to the preparation and resources the grant allowed and the generous help of the film department, the shoot went successfully and smoothly. The finished product is a culmination of the hard work and dedication put forth by every person listed in the credits. And I personally learned the importance of diligence, preparation, and resourcefulness that goes into making a successful production.
Silence
(2013-03) Maw, Wyatt; Miller, Alexander; Monaco, Paul
Silence is part of my senior capstone project in the School of Film and Photography. It is a film that depicts the struggle of liberty vs. tyranny amidst the backdrop of the French Revolution. The film centers on a young woman who, ravaged by the events taking place around her, decides to slay the man responsible for the chaos. Filming of Silence took place in the middle of November. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. I have directed many short films in the past but never one of this scope and scale. We brought in actors from New York, constructed a large scale set and ordered most of our props and costumes from Hollywood. Hundreds of hours were spent prepping for the film and shooting the film. I am very pleased with how everything turned out and cannot thank the cast and crew enough for the hard work and determination they put forward to make this film a success.
Mas o Menos
(2013-03) Lynn-Klimenko, Aidan; van Coller, Ian
This project is a photographic examination of the apprehension of aging and the emptiness of memory. These images were taken across South America, from Ecuador down to Brazil.

Undergraduate Scholars Program

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results