Research, Papers, and Finals -- OH MY!!!

By Lucille Farrell

Hello, hello readers,

Some exciting news from SXU! This past Saturday, our football team beat Saint Francis of Indiana, previously undefeated, (30-6) finishing off our regular season and letting us take title as Mid-States Football Association Mideast League champs! The game was awesome as usual and it was also Senior Day making the win even more exciting for the football players. I’m sure Anthony might have more news for you later this week as well.

Today is another big day for me as finals and break approach at a somewhat alarming rate. I have two papers do on the 18th, which I am both excited and scared for. The first is my final paper for Communication Research. This semester I have been looking into learning about lies and deception in nonverbal communication. I’ll even give a little lesson right now about nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is the whole process of sending and receiving wordless messages. Think about those mornings walking to class when you’re too tired to open your mouth and your friend nods at you. You give a blink and nod right back. Nothing needs to be said because that little movement is all that is needed. That movement can give the message, “Hey, too tired to talk now. I’ll see you for lunch, don’t worry I’m fine.” Of course, it doesn’t even need to say that much. I just know that’s how it works for me sometimes. Most people when they think about nonverbal communication they think about body language, which includes kinesics, posture, gesture, and haptics. Yes, I have just introduced you, my dear reader, to some of the jargon used within the discipline of Communication.

Still discussion nonverbal, there are still nonverbal aspects of communication when an individual is speaking. This falls under paralanguage, something many of you are familiar with. Paralanguage includes tone, pitch, and accent of a voice. Think about a younger sibling or cousin. Do you notice their voice rises in pitch when they’re defensive or lying? You’ve just recognized aspects of paralanguage!
For my research I have been looking closer into the presence of certain gestures, facial movement, and the correlation between eye contact and lies. This current research I plan on expanding on for my senior project, which will look more closely at the actual facial movements and a special area called microexpressions. Microexpressions are involuntary facial expressions that show on the human face when a certain emotion is experienced. These expressions last only about 1/25 of a second. Most microexpressions appear when an individual is trying to conceal the emotion they are currently feeling.

As difficult and time consuming as research can be, when you find an area that you are very interested in, the time and energy is completely worth it.
My second paper is a shorter research paper (only 6 to 8 pages) on the theories that surround Stonehenge. This is for my archaeology class which is always fun. I happen to be an anthropology minor and I am glad I picked it up. It lets me research things that while important make me feel more relaxed and less on edge.

So readers I think I am coming to an end here, although I do have something else to tell you. While I write this blog for fun, I am here to speak to anyone that has questions. Part of writing this blog is to tell you what it is like to be here at Saint Xavier University, but the other part is to answer your specific questions. Don’t be afraid to shoot me an e-mail anytime! I’m always happy to talk and answer questions!

Happy blogging everyone!

Peace, Love, and Cougars

Luci


Lucille Farrell is a junior Organizational Communications major with a minor in Anthropology. She is originally from New Haven, CT and is involved with the Honors Student Advisory Council, Student Government Association (SGA) and Anthropology Club.Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.