The Language of Toys: Transmission and Circulation of Gender Ideologies

Theo Reinert
Mentor: Jason Loviglio, Media and Communication Studies

This research explores what makes a toy gendered, how it is gendered, and what it means for a material object to carry ideology. Toys are given to children to entertain and educate them on things such as gender roles. For a long time, separate toys were marketed and sold to girls and boys, until large chains such as Target and Walmart, two of the largest toy distributors in the country, removed gendered signage from their toy aisles. Despite these changes, many toys continue to reinforce the gender binary through their designs and marketing. 20 toys purchased from Walmart were analyzed through Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) and ideological analysis to see what gender ideologies they carry and how they are instantiated. Gender ideologies code toys to emphasize certain values, such as mobility for boys and socializing for girls. For example, toys that move, such as a fire engine, are more likely to be marketed towards boys. It is Walmart’s careful marketing that contributes which toys are sold and therefore which ideologies are circulated, affecting the lived experiences of the people who play with them.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

Video Games as Cultural Artifacts: How Pathologic Communicates to Players the Trauma-Induced Nostalgia of Russians

Maria Kutishcheva
Mentor: Mary Laurents, History

Recent global events stress the importance of preservation and analysis of Russian political culture. Historically, Russian and Soviet citizens have had their political culture and civic life repressed throughout modern history, most typically through violence and oppression. However, during a brief time after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian citizens could, for a moment, freely their opinions. Pathologic was a video game released by developer Ice-Pick Lodge in 2006, during this very time of partial political freedom. As such, Pathologic could serve as a cultural and political relic of Russia. This paper explores video games as a storytelling medium that provides a player with a unique and interactive perspective that cannot be simulated with other forms of media. Content-based analysis of other video games reveals their ability to serve as cultural artifacts, such as through the video game Never Alone, as well as political commentary for current events, alluded to in the video game Papers, Please. In Pathologic, the player needs to save a town from a plague through the perspective of two main characters, “The Bachelor” and “The Haruspex”. Analysis of Pathologic would provide insight into the collective identity of the Russian people.

For the full URCAD schedule, see: URCAD.umbc.edu

Math in Music – Solving Rhythm Equations Using Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes

Tim will present his poster from 10-11:30am in the UC Ballroom on April 12th!

Tim Edwards
Mentor: Kimberly Feldman, Education

The ability to recognize rhythmic symbols, as well as add the numeric values that they symbolize, is essential for students to be able to play music and stay in time throughout their performance. This study assessed seventeen 4th and 5th grade band and strings students in a diverse suburban elementary school and their ability to identify various rhythms and their corresponding numerical values. These seventeen students all earned a score below a 59/68 in the pre-assessment, and were expected to have improved their score by 15 points or attain a minimum score of 60/68 on the post-assessment. To aid their progress before the post-assessment, a more hands-on strategy was used to guide students through the work of the pre-assessment, as well as providing elementary-appropriate analogies and visual aids to practice note identification. The mathematical element was included in the assessment itself, using rhythmic symbols in lieu of the numeric values that accompany them. Students were encouraged to label the values under the symbols and show their work to complete the equations. Upon completing the post-assessment, fifteen out of the seventeen students achieved the goal of improving their score by 15 points or reaching the target of 60/68.

For the full schedule, see: URCAD.umbc.edu

Join us on April 12th for URCAD!

Riya will present her poster from 1-2:30pm in the UC Ballroom

Immigrant Attitudes Toward Women’s Participation in Politics in Maryland

Riya Patel
Mentor: Felipe Filomeno, Political Science

Acculturation theory states that immigrants usually maintain some beliefs and values from their homeland during their adaptation process in a new country. Based on this theory, it is plausible that immigrants will hold onto the attitudes toward women typical of their home countries when developing their attitudes toward women’s participation in politics in the United States. Previous literature finds that the country of origin influences immigrant attitudes toward women. Few studies have examined immigrant attitudes specifically toward women in politics across multiple immigrant groups. This study investigates how homeland views on gender roles might influence the perceptions immigrants have toward women in politics in the United States. The study used a survey applied to 163 immigrant adults from multiple countries in Maryland. After conducting difference of means tests, single variable linear regressions, and multivariate regressions, this study finds that immigrants from countries with more egalitarian attitudes toward women are more likely to hold positive attitudes toward women’s participation in politics in the United States compared to immigrants from countries with more patriarchal attitudes toward women. Furthermore, the study also found that gender, political orientation, and age were strong predictors of immigrant attitudes toward women in politics in the United States.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.