Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum

Check Out Joy's Experience in Panama City: 

Check Out Evan McRae's Experience from the GameSound Conference 2024: 

What happens a Gaming Sound Conference:
Sessions featured game audio professionals covering a range of beginner to advanced topics in game soundtrack design (unique compositional challenges for non-linear media, implementation details, dynamic mixing tools and techniques, impacts on gameplay experience, etc), including examples and demonstrations of the techniques in practice and how they are achieved.

What did you learn at the conference?

My particular focus was on Audiokinetic Wwise, a leading middleware solution in the game industry for integrating dynamic soundtracks into game engines, for which I watched the majority of my session replays. These conference resources have gone hand in hand with Audiokinetic’s online Wwise certification course series, which I have also individually pursued over the winter session. In addition, I have bookmarked sessions on other popular audio frameworks, such as Unreal Engine’s MetaSounds and FMod, which I intend to review on my own separate from my primary goals in Wwise.

My access to Game Sound Conference recordings has helped me achieve my learning objectives to become a more versatile and technically proficient soundtrack designer for video games.

How do you plan to use what you learned?
I intend to apply these skills towards my INDS Capstone Project, which will involve composing, producing, and implementing a dynamic soundtrack for a video game I have also helped develop in the UMBC Game Developers Club. In the future, I hope to attend Game Sound Conference events in person in order to take full advantage of the networking opportunities with industry professionals, but this was perfect timing for my current needs.

Thanks to INDS:
I am very grateful to the INDS department for funding my remote attendance of the 2024 Game Sound Conference. Though I did not have time to attend sessions live due to the conference dates overlapping with my busy Fall semester, I was fortunately able to watch through replays of several presentations during the winter session in order to gain an equivalent experience.

Thank Evan for you experience!

Dionne Cole is a double major in Biological Sciences and Social Work who will graduate in May 2025.

Title of your project: Evaluating the Impact of Retriever Essentials on UMBC students  

How did you find the research opportunity?

My mentor is Dr. Laura Ting from the School of Social Work. The semester before I applied for the URA, I took a class called Social Work Research with Dr. Ting where I fell in love with the concept of research in a social sciences setting and grew in curiosity about its application. I expressed my interest of doing research to Dr. Ting and she placed the Undergraduate Research Award (URA) on my radar, however I did not have a specific research topic until my involvement with Retriever Essentials. At Retriever Essentials I learned about the prevalence of food insecurity on college campuses. I became invested in examining Retriever Essentials impact on combating food insecurity at UMBC and decided to focus my research on that.

What was the hardest part about your research? 

Prior to beginning research, I didn’t anticipate the variability in timeline for research. I thought I knew how much time it would take to get all the different steps done (such as proper training, getting all my materials together, IRB approval, etc…) but everything took longer than I expected. At first this was very frustrating for me due to my perfectionist tendencies, but thanks to my mentor and a friend in research, I have learned to embrace changes in my timeline and be flexible. In fact, I have found that things not going as planned gives me an opportunity to reassess and revaluate my methodology before I am too entrenched in the process.

What is the most rewarding part of your research, and how do you plan to disseminate it?

 With every qualitative interview I conduct where a student shares with me their personal experience with Retriever Essentials or an idea they have to improve the program, I get excited because I anticipate that their contributions are going to have a profound impact on the provision of Retriever Essentials services and food insecurity at UMBC. Oddly enough, I am eager to get to the end because I want to see the fruit of my labor and everyone’s contributions. The plan is not just to present the findings at URCAD and to Retriever Essentials leaders but also, as a joint project with a friend who is conducting similar research on food insecurity, but also to UMBC administration. Our hope is to create lasting change in eliminating food insecurity at UMBC.  

How does this research experience relate to your work in other classes?

Currently, I am taking a class called Medical Case Studies where I, along with my group members, integrate our knowledge of our respective disciplines to design and present our own novel case studies. Specifically, I am integrating my social work and public health knowledge surrounding the topic of food insecurity. Our case follows a middle-aged man who contracts a food borne illness due to living in a food desert. The end of the case uses the evaluative research I have conducted from Retriever Essentials to suggest sustainable practices and outlines the roles various levels of society can play in addressing food insecurity and eliminating food deserts.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research?  

I think a good approach to beginning research is finding a topic that you are interested in or passionate about and then exploring undiscovered aspects, knowledge gaps, or potential research benefits for those connected to the topic. In my opinion, this initial approach is beneficial because it will foster a genuine interest in your research, increasing your commitment to its success. It also gives you an opportunity to not reinvent the wheel and explore new areas of research which could have significant implications.

 Abstract:

Food insecurity is a socioeconomic condition of having limited or uncertain access to enough food. For college students, food insecurity can lead to poorer psychosocial and physical health, lower grade point average, and a higher dropout rate. UMBC’s Retrieval Essentials is a free food access program whose mission is to address college food insecurity by developing a comprehensive program of nutritional food resources for students who are experiencing food insecurity, such as a food pantry and the farmer’s market. Their hope is that by providing various food secure services, the academic retention and career success of UMBC students will improve. The research aims to understand the type and frequency of Retriever Essentials services being used by students and to learn how satisfied students are with the services, what additional needs students have, and any improvement that can be made to current services for these students. In hopes of enhancing the provision and planning of Retriever Essential services.