As the Anthropocene progresses, environmental stressors are becoming more noticeable in their impacts on aquatic ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them. One such organism of environmental and ecological importance is the Pacific oyster, C. gigas. Under climate change, molluscan shells are likely to become weaker due to lowered calcium carbonate availability which may lead to increased mortalities. In Washington state, C. gigas provides 3200 jobs annually and lowers nitrogenous waste concentrations. Our focus in this work was to determine if temperature and pH would affect shell strength in C. gigas as climate change continues to affect their environment. We used C. gigas samples that grew in Puget Sound, Washington, over the summer months. Samples were tested for maximum load of pressure shells could withstand and correlating that to thickness to determine strength. We found that temperature and pH were not correlated to shell strength. We observed that the shell strength of C. gigas taken from Puget Sound did not depend on temperature or pH changes. Previous molluscan shell strength experiments in other settings and locations show contradictory results, but there is little evidence pertaining specifically to C. gigas. These experiments are typically conducted in laboratory settings as well, not in field settings like ours. Going forward, this concept should be reconsidered to confidently identify what the Anthropocene has in store for C. gigas.

The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction (66.052 Ma) is one of the most important events in mammalian evolution as it was the catalyst for mammals to diversify and fill the ecological holes left by the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. This extinction event impacted all groups of mammals, including the multituberculates, one of the longest-lived and most successful clades of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic mammals. The Constenius vertebrate fossil locality is in the lowermost Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation in Garfield County, northeastern Montana, deposited within the first 28,000 years after the K-Pg mass extinction (66.052-66.028 Ma). Constenius is a very rich but understudied fossil locality that provides a snapshot of the immediate aftermath of the mass extinction. In this study, we used qualitative descriptions partnered with linear measurements to identify 44 lower fourth premolars (p4s) to the lowest possible multituberculate taxon. We recognize three genera of multituberculates from Constenius: Cimexomys, Mesodma, and Stygimys. The presence of these multituberculates supports the previous assignment of Constenius to the Pu1 interval zone of the Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (early Paleocene, 66.052-65.820 Ma). Further work on this project will include expanding the dataset to include other multituberculate dental specimens, such as upper premolars, and conducting a geometric morphometric analysis with the lower fourth premolar specimens to further confirm taxonomic identifications.

During the period following the First World War, the Weimar Government arose just as the emancipation of German women began. “The New Woman,” as she was termed, demonstrated liberation and modernity: she voted, worked for a wage, was fashionable, and had fewer children. Dada artist Hannah Höch produced a myriad of works that celebrated the New Woman, especially as she worked in an artist group dominated by men. However, in her collage, Da-Dandy (1919), Höch seemingly critiques this concept, specifically narrowing in on the bourgeois co-option of women’s newfound freedom. Da-Dandy was decidedly not working class; instead, she sported pearl necklaces, high heels, bob haircuts, and fancy dresses, all while being spared from class politics and struggles. In many ways, Da-Dandy is the demonstration and continuation of bourgeois power. This paper first addresses how upper-class women claimed movements and concepts not necessarily meant for them, particularly “The New Woman.” Höch, while known for her critique of the male gaze, focuses on a ‘female gaze’ through a class-derived analysis of the female form in Da-Dandy. Therefore, the paper articulates how her fragmented, deformed, and collaged image centers on the appropriation of the New Woman by the bourgeoisie milieu to call out a new form of fetishization of women.

This research essay delves into the intriguing and unexpected convergence of elements in the Master of Calamarca's painting, Archangel with Arquebus, Asiel Timor Dei, an artwork that introduces an amalgamation of guns, angels, and 18th-century fashion. Produced around 1728 in the viceroyalty of Peru, the painting challenges conventional artistic representations by depicting androgynous angels adorned in aristocratic attire and carrying harquebuses, a type of gun. The central figures, dandified angels with swan wings, lace ruffles, broad-brimmed hats, and ornate coats with gold and silver linings, are unique to Andean painting. Beyond its aesthetic magnificence, the art form served a dual purpose, it is both a theatrical expression and a persuasive instrument. The underlying motive was to induce the Indigenous population to embrace the authority of God and the king, employing a combination of religion and force to integrate them into colonial society. The research contextualizes these artistic representations within the historical framework of the viceroyalty of Peru, a Spanish colonial administrative region that spanned most of South America. It explores the broader implications of these angelic depictions, highlighting their role in the post-missionizing period when Christian clergy orders aimed to eradicate pre-Hispanic religious practices and establish Catholicism. This exploration culminates in a rich understanding of the multifaceted meanings embedded in these extraordinary depictions, shedding light on the intricate interplay between religious symbols and ideologies, cultural synthesis, and artistic expressions in the viceroyalty of Peru.

In 1937, the small Spanish town, Guernica, was bombed by a German air unit during the Spanish Civil War. The bombing gained little notoriety until artist Pablo Picasso created Guernica–a painting that vividly captured the horror and devastation of the incident. The work is composed of a multitude of symbols; however, Picasso never offered a designated meaning, leaving viewers with years of speculation. Therefore, in order to situate the importance of the painting to the Spanish audience, as well as to later contemporary audiences, the paper analyzes the various signs and symbols peppered in the work to navigate the artistic, social, and political circumstances under which Guernica was painted. The socio-political climate of Spain during the time and the fractured alliances and conflicts that provoked the Civil War played a pertinent role. The paper considers how the painting acts as part of the archive, serving as both a historical record and an initiator of political discourse to confront the devastation of war. Such a methodology nuances the motives and views at the time. For example, reoccurring motifs, such as the bull and the horse, take on new resonance in the image, just as other fractured symbols in the work, such as the sun and the broken sword, provide further contextualization and would go on to impact the larger reception of the violent image.