As a Loyola student, you have the opportunity to work alongside our talented professors to partner in collaborative research. Learn more about some recent research and projects currently underway.
Faculty research to be published in Mexican Math. Society journal
Dr. Michael Kelly is currently working on research in the area of topology known as Fixed Point Theory. A collaboration with Professor D. Goncalves of the University of Sao Paulo, Brasil has lead to a research article which will appear in the journal Bulletin of the Mexican Math. Society. This collaboration is ongoing and also involves a research project which is related to the graphic on the left.
Student research project exploring idempotents
Second year mathematics major Linda Hexter is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Kelly. She is working on a project exploring idempotent matrices and implications to a problem in fixed point theory regarding homotopy idempotents.
Professor and Student Collaborate on Mathematics Investigation
Professor Thibodeaux and senior student Savannah Logan '14, worked on a project to investigate relationships between derivatives and algebraic structures called zero divisors. They first derived a formula for the number of zero divisors in the set of upper triangular matrices whose entries are from some subset of the whole numbers. They then determined the rate at which this number grows as a function of the size of the matrices and the size of the subset of whole numbers.
Humor in the Bible, a textbook for undergraduates
Having recently obtained a publisher’s contract for her manuscript “Humor in the Gospels: A Compendium of Scholarly Research on Humor Rhetoric (1863-2014)” Dr. Bednarz is planning to develop a textbook to be titled, “Humor in the Bible” with the assistance and input of her Honors students in a class of the same name. Under her guidance, students will be producing chapter materials, discussion questions, bibliographies, art, and digital quizzes. Dr. Bednarz already has a publisher interested in the results of the collaborative research project.
Men at the Crossroads: Understanding the moderating effects of racial identity on the relationship between race-related stress and hyper masculinity
This ongoing project looks at both the protective and maladaptive effects of racial identity adherence in emerging adulthood African American males. This demographic's exposure to racism and discrimination and the subsequent stress associated with it can lead to specific coping styles such as the adoption of hypermasculine attitudes and behaviors. This can have deleterious effects on the individual and those around them. The preeminent research question for the study is do different racial identity profiles buffer or incite males to adopt hypermasculine attitudes.
EnviroCommentary on WGSO 990 AM
On the first Saturday of every month, radio listeners in the New Orleans area get the chance to listen to a different kind of talk radio show. This show is hosted by a combination naturalist-biologist-professional communicator who believes in explaining today’s hot button environmental and “green” issues in a way that hits home for people. Host Bob Thomas, Ph.D., director of Loyola University New Orleans Center for Environmental Communication, kicked off “EnviroCommentary” Saturday, Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. on WGSO 990 AM. The radio show airs the first Saturday every month at 8 a.m.
The Intentional Troubadour: Woody Guthrie's Travels Through the Twentieth Century
Woody Guthrie bore witness to most of the significant historical changes of the twentieth century. Born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, he entered a world where most people got around on foot or on horseback. His parents, Charley and Nora Belle, however, brought the first automobile to the tiny western town launching Guthrie along the way to becoming, like most Americans of the century, a fully mobile human being. By the end of his life Guthrie had travelled on just about every type of conveyance available from the horse and buggy to the airplane.
Forensic Medicine and Death Investigation in Medieval England
England has traditionally been understood as a latecomer to the use of forensic medicine in death investigation, lagging nearly two-hundred years behind other European authorities. Using the coroner’s inquest as a lens, this book hopes to offer a fresh perspective on the process of death investigation in medieval England. The central premise of this book is that medical practitioners did participate in death investigation – although, not in every inquest, or even most, and not necessarily in those investigations where we today would deem their advice most pertinent.
Zero Divisor Graphs for Commutative and Noncommutative Rings
Zero divisors are objects that arise in one of the most abstract areas of mathematics. Surprisingly, investigators are able to study zero divisors using computational and geometric techniques. One of the geometric techniques involves diagrams called zero divisor graphs. Since 1988 there has been a plethora of articles on this topic. Dr. Thibodeaux and Dr.
Making a better world: A project examining motivation to improve collective well-being
This project seeks to better understand the correlates, causes, and effects of wanting and working toward collective betterment. Caring about and helping close others and even complete strangers can provide strong psychological benefits for the helper as well as the helped. However, some surveys suggest that individuals may be becoming more selfish and less other-focused in recent decades, potentially undermining overall well-being. This project employs survey and experimental methodology to explore what leads people to care about and act to help others.