During the past year, Arts and Sciences faculty have published 58 books, 93 book chapters and hundreds of articles in professional journals. In addition, they made more than 1,800 presentations at state, national and international conferences, exhibitions, concerts and performances.
The College's active research faculty have brought more than $11.5 million in extramural research funding to the College. This funding has made possible the purchase of sophisticated multi-user instruments and funded conferences on campus in a variety of disciplines. In addition, these funds have allowed faculty to perform research in foreign laboratories and libraries and brought in outstanding foreign scientists to OSU for research visits. Last year, the College received funding for numerous investigator-initiated studies and larger multidisciplinary projects as well.
Scientists in the College of Arts and Sciences are involved in both basic and applied research projects that have important applications. They also often work in collaboration with scientists at other universities, both in Oklahoma and across the nation, as well as with scientists in industry.
A sampling of some of the individual research projects at OSU is presented below. An investigator in the Chemistry Department is conducting research that could have a significant impact on studies of the ozone layer and other climatic phenomena. He is studying the way ice is structured and the effect these structures might have on atmospheric chemistry.
Broad-based research is being conducted in the areas of environmental toxicology and fisheries and wildlife ecology within the Zoology Department.
In the environmental toxicology area, a number of scientists with different areas of expertise are working on overlapping projects in an effort to understand how man-made pollutants are impacting the environment, and they're looking at various end points, such as cancer, birth defects, and developmental and reproductive abnormalities. The integrated bioassessment approach ensures that all toxic materials are detected and that contaminated sites are fully remediated. Applied research on fisheries and wildlife resources in Oklahoma and throughout the nation is the focus of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit. Valuable research information is being gained in areas ranging from fisheries management and economics to endangered and threatened species.
OSU botany researchers perform research from the molecular to the ecological levels. One researcher is studying the proteins in plants as indicators of different types of mineral nutrient stress in plants. Results of this work will eventually help farmers and agronomists do nutritional analyses of plants, such as wheat, and determine remedies for failing crops. Another botanist is conducting research aimed at understanding and monitoring biodiversity, or the variety of life on earth. The study is resulting in techniques to inventory biodiversity in large regions. This type of information is very valuable to organizations such as the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Nature Conservancy.
A mathematical researcher is working on Mirror Symmetry, an exciting new interaction between algebraic geometry and elementary particle physics. Each of these two fields provides new insight into the other. Algebraic geometry provides the only known experiments to verify particle physics' superstring theory. The same scientist has developed a software package already being used worldwide to do intersection theoretical computation. The program is named "schubert" after the 19th Century calculational genius Hermann Schubert. Much of 20th Century math has focused on verifying his work. The problem of justifying SchubertŐs work was one of the "Hilbert Problems," proposed by David Hilbert at the turn of the century. His problems have also had a profound influence on this century's math. The new program facilitates work on this Hilbert problem.
Sociologists are spearheading studies in the new area of sociology concerning the developmentally disabled. They are interviewing developmentally disabled individuals who are receiving services from the state. Interviewers try to determine a subject's quality of life, any problems they are experiencing, and the degree to which they have become integrated into the community in the wake of policies to deinstitutionalize such individuals. This information is provided to the Oklahoma State Department of Human Services, which funds the program.
Other sociologists are studying crime among women and the institutionalization of women, as well as how communities deal with crime.
Physicists continue their work with semi-conducting materials, using lasers to determine their optical properties and to research the possibility of using the materials as optical switches. Optical switches have applications in the communications industry, and scientists hope to someday produce an optical computer.
Physics researchers are continuing to make progress on the development of blue light lasers, which are receiving a great deal of attention for their use in underwater communications, high-storage compact disks and video displays.
A researcher in the Psychology Department is looking at the effects of toxic chemicals on the memory and learning abilities of invertebrates. This research can be significant in determining the effects of pesticides on insects such as honey bees, which are very important in plant pollination. Although a certain chemical may not kill the bees, it might affect their learning and memory and reduce their effectiveness as pollinators.
A Speech Communication researcher is studying the effects of communication anxiety on career indecision, and a grant has allowed a number of students to receive professional career counseling. This work has resulted in four presentations to national and regional associations and two publications.
A major on-going research project in this department concerns compliance-resistance, which is a specialized field that aims to give people techniques for resisting persuasive messages. For example, a researcher has developed techniques for helping elementary school children resist the pressure to take drugs or get in a car with a stranger.
Researchers in the School of Journalism and Broadcasting are conducting a number of studies looking at television and radio through the years. One evaluated the types and amount of coverage given to news, weather, and sports by an Oklahoma City television station. Another looked at coverage of the Los Angeles riots of the 1960s and the need that arose for people of color as journalists to help cover news in minority communities. The study also examined the number of minority journalists who were covering the Los Angeles riot of 1992.
A Statistics Department researcher studied factors contributing to the decline of various prairie bird species. The relationships between land use change and the use of pesticides and herbicides and bird populations were analyzed, and possible relationships were described. Another project operated through the department is a one-month long summer program aimed at exposing junior high students to a variety of disciplines, including math, statistics, philosophy, ethics, biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as to research facilities on the OSU campus.
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is involved with a four-week resident institute in Spanish language and culture for elementary school faculty. Participants increase their skills in Spanish through immersion in language, literature, music, film, and storytelling, and they develop a curriculum plan for their local districts.
The Department of Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology has a multicultural training program in communication disorders. The program focuses on training culturally diverse students in the field of speech-language pathology at the masterŐs level and exposing all students to service delivery with diverse populations.
Scholars in the History Department's Oklahoma Historic Preservation Survey continue to work to identify properties of historic significance and evaluate their potential eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places.
A researcher in the Microbiology Department received funding for a program designed to recruit Oklahoma's Native American students into the biological sciences. The program is working directly with the Pawnee, Ponca City, and Frontier Schools to provide equipment and enrichment experiences for students, as well as scholarships for those who wish to pursue their studies in the biological sciences at OSU.
The Music Department faculty present numerous performances, serve as judges, and conduct workshops throughout the year. Two of their most popular annual musical events are the Run for the Arts Jazz Festival and the PresidentŐs Masterworks Concert.
Faculty in the Art Department also present their works in many exhibitions. This year, one faculty member was awarded a Crafts Fellowship by the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts. The award, is highly competitive and prestigious in the national art community.
Another art professor had a one-person exhibit of his prints and drawings at the Graphic Eye Gallery in Port Washington, N.Y. as a result of winning first place in a national juried exhibition held by the gallery.
Arts and Sciences faculty members have been increasingly successful in their efforts to obtain competitive funding, and their research and creative activities have grown continually over the years.
Without doubt, the College of Arts and Sciences faculty are a dynamic group whose breadth of interests, expertise and excellence represent the very best traditions of American research institutions.