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Last Updated: Mar 19, 2026, 10:45 AM
Ashli Bonner – MFA Art Exhibition in Fine Arts
Title: Operating Playhouse
Major Professor: Erika Palmer
Committee Members: Haley Farthing, Najjar Abudl-Musawwir
Date: March 19, 2026
Location: Glove Factory Surplus Gallery
Time: 2:15 p.m.
Abstract: Thesis exhibition showcasing mix media artworks of abstracted animal anatomy.
Sean TE Maulding – Ph.D. Dissertation in Communication Studies, with concentrations in Gender and Sexuality, and Performance Studies
Title: Til Death Do Us Part: Adapting Drama Therapy Techniques for Solo Performers
Major Professor: Jonathan Gray
Committee Members: Rebecca Anderson, Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, Christina Ivey, Jacob Juntunen
Date: April 1, 2026
Location: Communications Building 2005
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Abstract: Jen Helms will be designing costumes for the SIU School of Theater and Dance production of Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts in Theater. Set in Charleston, South Carolina in 1918, Wedding Band is an unsparing tale about the consequences of a decade-long romance between a black seamstress and a white baker. Julia and Herman have loved each other devotedly, enduring harsh disapproval from whites and scorn from blacks. As they confront the impossibility of ever living a normal married life, and as Herman falls ill, Julia gradually reaches out to forge affirming bonds of solidarity with her community. The play will be produced in the Moe Theater, opening on November 30 and running two weekends.
India Hagen-Gates – Ph.D. Dissertation in Communication Studies, with concentrations in Rhetoric and Society
Title: Reimagining Belonging - The Rhetoric of Nature and Bodies in Outside Magazine and Unlikely Hikers
Major Professor: Jonathan Gray
Committee Members: Dustin Greenwalt, Christina Ivey, Cinzia Padovani, Rebecca Walker Anderson
Date: April 2, 2026 Location: Communications Building 2010
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Abstract: In this project, I focus on the visual representations of nature and bodies, unpacking rhetoric from different locations. By evaluating the construction of nature and bodies, I can explore how these constructions are self-sustaining, as the construction of nature is created and reified through visual rhetoric, it in turn strengthens the construction of the “natural” or “outdoor” body. To explore the constructions of nature and the body, I turn to two collections: Outside magazine and the group Unlikely Hikers. Outside, founded in 1977, is a leading magazine in outdoor recreation, featuring all sorts of activities outdoors including hiking, camping, climbing, and cycling. Unlikely Hikers, created in 2016, is an online community focused on featuring more diverse bodies in outdoor spaces.
Lauren Benedict – Master’s Thesis for M.S. in Forestry
Title: Impacts of Prescribed Burning and Midstory Thinning on the Abundance of Eastern Whip-Poor-Will and Chuck-Will’s-Widow in Southern Illinois
Major Professor: Brent Pease
Committee Members: Charles Ruffner
Date: March 17, 2026
Location: Agriculture Building 209
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Abstract: The Chuck-will’s-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) and Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) are nightjar species that inhabit southern Illinois during the breeding season. Both species are thought to benefit from open woodlands, which are often a result of natural disturbance or active forest management. However, due to a lack of significant disturbances and active management, this forest structure has become rare. Like many disturbance-dependent species, the Chuck-will’s-widow and Eastern Whip-poor-will have experienced range-wide declines over the past 50 years. Despite this, few studies have examined the impacts of forest management and the resulting forest structure on these species. We evaluated the impacts of burning and midstory thinning on nightjar abundance in upland forests during May–August 2025 in southern Illinois, USA. Fourteen of the 28 sites were managed with varying intensities of midstory thinning and prescribed burning, while the remaining 14 sites were not actively managed. Overstory conditions were measured using variable radius plots with a 10BAF Cruz-All, and 40m2 fixed radius plots were used for the midstory and understory. Nightjar surveys were conducted by deploying autonomous recording units on nights when lunar illumination was greater than 50%. Vocalizations were identified to species using BirdNET, and abundance estimated using time-to-detection n-mixture models. There was no significant difference between basal area and overstory density on managed and unmanaged sites, but there were significant differences in midstory density and ground cover. Eastern Whip-poor-will was detected on 25% of the managed sites and 32% of unmanaged sites, while Chuck-will’s-widows were detected equally across management histories at 7%. Eastern Whip-poor-will abundance significantly declined as the percentage of deciduous overstory increased, while a non-significant positive trend with overstory density was documented. Due to low detections, models were not fit for Chuck-will's-widow. Ultimately, this study indicates that overstory conditions are likely more important than midstory and ground cover characteristics in territory selection for Eastern Whip-poor-will, and that, in the southern Midwest, Eastern Whip-poor-will prefer mixed forests over pure deciduous stands.
Shannon Borg – MFA Art Exhibition in Art & Design (2D Painting)
Title: Wayfinding
Major Professor: Erin Paler
Committee Members: Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, Alex Lopez
Date: March 5, 2026
Website: Click here to join
Location: Surplus Gallery, 432 S. Washington St., Carbondale, Illinois
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Abstract: Wayfinding is an exhibition of oil paintings and mixed-media installations by Shannon Borg, offering an immersive experience of movement, color, and light, inviting the viewer to explore their own identity as a member of the human family, a descendant with inherited creativity, collective memory, and courage, capturing fleeting images and moods from inner ancestral landscapes. Shannon Borg's work explores the intersection of time, travel, genetic memory, and abstract landscape painting.
T Brown - Ph.D. Dissertation in Communication Studies
Title: Performing Guru - A Performance Studies Approach to the Study of Cults
Major Professor: Rebecca Anderson
Committee Members: Sandy Pensoneau-Conway, Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, Jonny Gray Jaime Gray
Date: March 4, 2026
Location: Communications Building 2005
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Abstract: This project approaches a long-term experience of living in a cult through a performance studies lens. Utilizing autoethnographic methods, it explores personal insights and observations from years within the inner circle of a coercive religious environment under tyrannical leadership. A variety of systems and relationships are narrated and analyzed according to three categories: ritualization, deployability, and occupation. Ritualization explains how a body becomes imbued with the rhythms and mantras of a cultic milieu. Deployability describes how this body is put into action at the service of leadership. Occupation, as a metaphor, illuminates how a cultic subject becomes filled with the needs and desires of the guru. Employing scripts, poetry, song lyrics, and other performance-centered styles, the hidden methods of a totalist religious group are revealed. The project concludes with general observations about cultic groups, and potential areas for further exploration.
Akhila Kambhatla - Ph.D. Dissertation in Computer Science
Title: Intelligent Surveillance for Weapon Threat Detection: Transformer‑Based Detection and Segmentation Using Thermal and RGB Imagery.
Major Professor: Brittany Hopkins
Committee Members: Henry Hexmoor, Bidyut Gupta, Koushik Sinha, Banafsheh Rekabdar
Date: February 18, 2026
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Thanchira "MJ" Suriyamongkol - Ph.D. Dissertation in Agricultural Science
Title: Wildlife Use of Giant Cane Habitat in Southern Illinois
Major Professor: Becky Lee
Committee Members: Jon Schoonover, Jim Zaczek, Brent Pease
Date: March 16, 2026
Location: Agriculture Building, Room 209
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Abstract: Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl. (Giant cane) is a bamboo species native to the United States and was a prominent feature of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley landscape. Over 70 wildlife species are associated with stands of giant cane (canebrakes). However, canebrake cover has drastically declined to < 2% of its pre-settlement extent. The loss of canebrakes could negatively impact many wildlife species that utilize canebrakes as refuge, nesting sites, and foraging habitat. In addition, although anecdotal historical records suggested canebrake importance for wildlife, systematic study and quantitative analyses of the influence of canebrake on wildlife habitat use is lacking. I conducted wildlife surveys for herpetofauna, mammals, and birds during 2022–2024 at 32 canebrakes and 32 forested sites across Jackson, Union, Alexander, and Pulaski Counties in southern Illinois, USA, and examined the influence of fine-scale vegetation structure, particularly giant cane, on habitat use of wildlife using occupancy modeling techniques. At canebrake sites, 17, 12, and 78 species of herpetofauna, mammals, and birds, respectively, were detected. At non-canebrake sites, 22, 14, and 74 species of herpetofauna, mammals, and birds, respectively, were detected. For herpetofauna, reptile occupancy was higher in denser, larger, and shorter canebrakes, while amphibian occupancy was higher in denser, smaller, and taller canebrakes, although the relationships were not statistically significant. In addition, reptiles occupied open canopy areas that facilitated thermoregulation activities, while amphibians occupied areas with high tree density that better retained moisture. For mammals, the relationships between occupancy and vegetation characteristics were species-specific. Although I did not find any significant associations between mammal habitat use and canebrake presence, high species diversity of mammals was observed at canebrake sites. For birds, responses to vegetation structure (tree density and size) and canebrakes varied among species and nesting guilds (overstory, understory, and ground). Occurrence probability of 48% of the bird species increased with the presence of canebrake. Overall, remnant canebrake structure (sparse) and distribution (fragmented) might explain the lack of significant influence of canebrake presence on wildlife communities. However, a high number of species observed in canebrakes emphasizes their importance in enhancing floodplain landscape complexity and the value in further restoring this cover type beyond its presently diminished status. Re-establishment of dense, contiguous stands of canebrakes may improve wildlife habitat quality. In addition, maintaining habitat heterogeneity and managing vegetation diversity, including variations in canopy cover and structure, may benefit a wide range of wildlife species in southern Illinois landscapes.
Olivia Slater - Ph.D. Dissertation in Pharmacology and Neuroscience/Medicinal Chemistry Concentration
Title: Targeting Toll-like Receptor 4 with Computational Chemistry Methods and Rationally Designed Glycoconjugates
Major Professor: Maria Kontoyianni
Committee Members: Kenneth Witt, Shelley Tischkau, Randolph Elble, Alexei V. Demchenko, Michael R. Nichols
Date: January 22, 2026
Location: Health Sciences Building, Room 1340; SIU-Edwardsville
Virtual Link: Click here to join
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Abstract: Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4) and protein partners lymphocyte antigen 96 (MD-2), Cluster of Differentiation factor 14 (CD14), and High Mobility Group Box 1 protein (HMGB1) are immune receptors involved in inflammation. TLR4 Agonists include bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), ganglioside GM3, and chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. Our earlier work employed a structure-based design strategy to develop potent amino acid monosaccharides (AM) that bind with TLR4/MD-2 at the protein-protein (PP) interface to antagonize LPS. Compounds 12, 101, and 104 had IC50s equal to 470 nM, 13 nM, and 311 nM, respectively, and 101 was biphasic. Taking into consideration these prior findings, research was undertaken to address questions pertaining to the cause of the biphasic response, chemical features that are important for activity at TLR4/MD-2, feasibility of small molecule design for these receptors, GM3 targeting with glycoconjugates, and whether the power of computational modeling could identify putative binding partners of paclitaxel. These overarching questions established the basis toward the project’s objectives. Rational design, ab initio calculations, docking, and machine learning were employed in order to assess the selectivity of AM conjugates and explore structure-activity relationships. Results show that 101 binds with TLR4/MD-2 and MD-2 alone, charge and polarity on activity and selectivity are significant, and acetyl protection of the amino acid is the best chemical reduction. Computational predictions were confirmed in two experimental labs using different assays. Molecular dynamics, PP docking, and virtual screening were undertaken in order to assess the viability of the PP interfaces of TLR4 and partners, and investigate the feasibility of small molecule binders of CD14. Results show that interfaces between TLRs and one pocket on CD14 are amenable to molecular design. Finally, de novo design, enhanced sampling, and free energy calculations were carried out in order to design glycoconjugates and elucidate paclitaxel’s likely binding partners in metastatic disease. A robust protocol was developed, and results show that a designed glycoconjugate behaves differently in metastatic versus healthy bilayers, and that HMGB1 with TLR4/MD-2 are putative binding partners of paclitaxel.
Scott Jarmon - Ph.D. Dissertation in Communication Studies, with concentrations in Rhetoric and Society
Title: The Crone’s Return - Conjuring Myth in the Golden Girls and Miyazaki
Major Professor: Jonathan Gray
Committee Members: Rebecca Anderson, Nilanjana Bardhan, Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, Heather M. O’Brien
Date: January 14, 2026
Location: Communications Building 2005
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Abstract: This dissertation argues for the resurrection of the crone as a vital mythic figure necessary for understanding contemporary feminist resistance. It contends that rigid methodological frameworks inevitably ignore her messy, disruptive potential. In response, this project develops and practices a “crone-as-method,” an anti-methodological approach that embraces a “vibes-based” orientation (Rowe & Frischherz, 2025). This method is a practice of walking with the crone, framing her qualities as not just objects of study, but as constitutive of inquiry, positioning her as a coproducer of knowledge. The project reviews the crone’s history, tracing her fall from a revered goddess to a persecuted pariah, and into contemporary politics as a new figure of feminist agitation. Sara Ahmed’s figures of the feminist killjoy and willful subject also frame this project’s approach to the crone (2010; 2014). The feminist killjoy—who exposes the unhappy truths behind patriarchal promises—and the willful subject—who stubbornly persists against social pressure—both provide insight to understanding the crone’s disruption. Within the context of the present-day erosion of political rights for women, the dissertation claims that the crone is an instructive guide both methodologically and in present-day political contexts. The crone-as-method is used to engage with The Golden Girls and selected Hayao Miyazaki films, arguing that both sets of texts show the crone as a figure of wisdom, experience, and craft. With The Golden Girls, I use the crone-as-method to analyze how they enact the crone and use their coven as a site of power, attending to their killjoy, willful, and mythological ways. With Miyazaki’s films, I use the crone-as-method to analyze her laborious power through her roles as a Seer, Leader, and Mentor. Together, these texts show the versatility of the crone as a figure in contemporary discourse and her ability to resignify past myths about herself, offering a sustaining energy for feminist world-building.