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  • Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
    Vol. 2 No. 1 (2022)

    After a spring and summer of planning, the editorial board is happy to announce the publication of the second issue of the the newly imagined Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review (PUR)! The PUR, sponsored by the Frederick Honors College, is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal with over 30 years of history. Our journal focuses on research and creative scholarship done by students throughout the Pitt community under the mentorship of Pitt faculty across disciplines. The PUR strives to build a community of undergraduate scholars through schowcasing student work form all fields.

    This second issue of the open access version of the PUR comes at a special time for the university and our journal. In the summer of 2022, Pitt's University Honors College became the David C. Frederick Honors College, due to the support of the University of Pittsburgh Honors College alumnus, David Frederick. A renowned attorney, and Pitt's first Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Frederick was one of the founding Student Editorial Board members of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review. Mr. Frederick is one of many esteemed honors college alum to serve as an editorial board memeber over the years and, through their effort and support, we are proud to carry on the PUR tradition.

    The editorial board of the PUR wants to thank the Frederick Honors College, University Library System, our peer reviewers, and copy-editors who helped produce this issue. 

    Thank you and we hope you enjoy this issue!

  • Cover image for PUR Vol. III, No. 2

    Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
    Vol. 3 No. 2 (2024)

    Dear Readers,

    It is our distinct pleasure to bring you Vol. III, No. 2 of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review. On behalf of our dedicated editorial team and the talented authors who contributed to this Spring/Summer 2023-2024 edition, we are thrilled to share the remarkable diversity of thought, creativity, and research represented in this issue.

    To begin, we are excited to showcase a special editorial feature on Frederick Honors College Electus Faculty Fellow Michael Meyer. Meyer's career, beginning in rural Minnesota, spans to the far reaches of China, where he has written extensively on cultural and social transformations. We are fortunate that Professor Meyer has since joined the University of Pittsburgh, where he continues to shape and inspire a new generation of writers and thinkers.

    Our second and third articles review innovative work within diverse disciplines, highlighting the interdisciplinary spirit that fuels our publication. Disha Jain presents a historical analysis of how ancient art influenced the cultural and urban development of cities like Amarna and Zhengzhou, exploring how art reflects societal values. Aditi Choudhary bridges neuroscience and computer science, drawing on Jonas and Kording's work to advocate for computational approaches that contribute to understandings of intelligence and consciousness.

    In the realm of creative writing, we are thrilled to present Love Tree by Derek Graf, an imaginative re-envisioning of Judas Iscariot's life and legacy from his own perspective. Graf's masterful storytelling explores themes of identity and redemption, inviting readers to reconsider the narratives that define historical and religious figures.

    Finally, we are proud to highlight four innovative research articles that capture the possibilities of undergraduate scholarship. Bastiampillai et al. investigate mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii, demonstrating insights that could inform future treatment strategies. Aliana Rao examines synaptic loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, offering a fresh perspective on cognitive decline. Goodwin et al. analyze the role of social identity in driving affective polarization, a timely study that examines the deepening divides within American society. Finally, Su Bin An and Andrea Tovar explore decision-making dynamics, revealing that while message framing and social closeness independently affect willingness to donate organs, these factors do not necessarily interact.

    Our publication would not be possible without the support of our readers, authors, peer reviewers, and the editorial team. We extend our deepest gratitude to the University of Pittsburgh Library System for their logistical and technical assistance; to Dr. Brett Say, Dr. Joshua Cannon, and Abby Chen for their guidance, enabling the journal to remain both student-run and autonomous; and to Dean Nicola Foote, Assistant Dean Dave Hornyak, and the entire David C. Frederick Honors College for their unwavering support.

    We are honored to share these outstanding works with you, our readers, and hope that you find inspiration in the pages of this edition.


    Richard Fang and Abhay Sheeri
    Editors-in-Chief

  • Cover image of issue 1. View of Cathedral of Learning against a night sky, with PUR logo. Light appears on on the 36th floor.

    Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021)

    After a year of planning and drafting, we are happy to announce the publication of the first issue of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review (PUR)! The PUR, sponsored by the University Honors College, is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal that focuses on research and creative scholarship being done by students at Pitt. PUR strives to build an integrative community of undergraduate scholars to showcase the work they have done under the mentorship of Pitt faculty.

    The editorial board of the PUR wants to thank the University Honors College, University Library System, our peer reviewers, and copy-editors who helped produce our first issue. 

    Thank you and we hope that you enjoy this issue!

  • Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
    Vol. 3 No. 1 (2024)

    The Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review (PUR) is happy to announce the publication of the third volume of the newly-imagined PUR! The PUR, sponsored by the Frederick Honors College, is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal with over 30 years of history and tradition at the University of Pittsburgh. Our journal focuses on research and creative scholarship conducted by students throughout the Pitt community under the mentorship of University faculty across disciplines and departments. The PUR strives to build a community of undergraduate scholars by promoting and showcasing student work from all fields. The Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review is pleased to present this Fall/Winter 2023-24 volume, highlighting exceptional student scholarship from across the University of Pittsburgh.

    I am deeply grateful to the many people who have made this publication possible. The Editorial Board has worked tirelessly since Spring 2023 to revise author guidelines, streamline article submission and review processes, and breathe new life into this storied Pitt tradition. I offer my special thanks to the students who have reached out in the last few months to inquire about opportunities to serve on the Editorial Board, leading to the creation of new positions and initiatives that will enhance the visibility and impact of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review throughout the University community. Furthermore, dozens of fellow University of Pittsburgh undergraduate students have volunteered their time and efforts to serve as peer reviewers, ensuring a rigorous blind review process while gaining experience in the academic publishing process. The University of Pittsburgh Library System has offered invaluable help in the logistics of publication. Dr. Brett Say, Director of Honors Research Programs, and Christina Prado, Research Program Assistant, provided critical institutional and organizational support while allowing the journal to remain entirely student-run. Dean Nicola Foote and Assistant Dean Dave Hornyak, along with the entire Frederick Honors College leadership team and staff, have created an intellectual environment in which students from all backgrounds can pose, investigate, and answer challenging questions, offering unswerving support for the PUR and for undergraduate research more broadly.

    Most importantly, I am grateful to the authors whose work inhabits the pages of this edition. Their work is rigorous and conveys not only an understanding of, but also a passion for, the themes of their research. We occupy an age in which communication is increasingly reduced to quick emails or text messages, while interpersonal feedback is expressed through emojis and quantified in ‘views’ or ‘likes.’ Simultaneously, American public life and discourse appears dangerously fractured, from the streets of college campuses to the halls of Congress. The two phenomena are not unrelated. Adjectives such as “unprecedented” are employed far too lightly in today’s 24/7 news cycles, but the United States faces an identity crisis of rather unprecedented proportions. A nation that cannot agree on the definitions of fundamental terms, the purpose of government, or the virtues which permit self-governance cannot begin to have a meaningful conversation about downstream policy, social, and personal implications. The authors of the articles that follow illustrate a commitment to engage seriously and substantively--in keeping with the University of Pittsburgh's Year of Discourse and Dialogue--on major issues in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Their work offers hope that the rising generation of scholars takes seriously its obligation to promote good-faith, fact-first dialogue with an eye toward the common good. It has been a pleasure working with these authors, and I am confident that their work in this journal represents just the beginning of highly successful academic and personal journeys.

    Thanks also to our readers--we hope you enjoy this volume of the PUR. To our student readers, we encourage you to get involved in research and consider submitting your work to the PUR in future semesters! Feel free to reach out to pur@pitt.edu at any time with feedback, questions, or interest in getting involved!

    - Mike Sobol, Editor-in-Chief