Elements Spring 2015 Thanks elemenTs sTaff We would like to thank Boston College, the Institute for the Liberal Editor-in-chiEf Arts, and the Office of the Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences Marissa Marandola for the financial support that makes this issue possible. Managing Editor QuesTions & ConTribuTions frank a. diRenno If you have any questions, please contact the journal at Deputy Editor [email protected]. All submissions can be sent to elements. EllEn WhitE [email protected]. Visit our website at www.bc.edu/elements for updates and further information. layout Brandon BaviEr, Senior Editor Cover BEtty yunqing Wang, Editor Mosque in Queens, New York KelsEy Xizi zhang, Editor © Michel Setboun/Photononstop/Corbis trEasurEr PeriodiCiTy lydia orr Elements is published twice an academic year in the fall and spring semesters. huManitiEs gracE WEst, Senior Editor patty Owens, Senior Editor The information provided by our contributors is not independently verified byElements. JacoB ciafonE, Editor The materials presented represent the personal opinions of the individual authors and do domenick fazzolari, Editor not necessarily represent the views of Elements or the Boston College community. anniE kiM, Editor Elements, Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 11, Issue 1, Spring 2015 MariE PellissiEr, Editor Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Service Building 103, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 sciEncEs Printed by Flagship Press,150 Flagship Drive, North Andover, MA 01845 corlEonE DelavEris, Senior Editor Copyright © 2015 by the Trustees of Boston College salJooq M. asif, Editor david fu, Editor alex gilligan, Editor MichEllE kang, Editor alEssandra luEdEking, Editor Jingzong yan, Editor nick yu, Editor faculty advisor ElizaBEth chadWick ediTor’s noTe Dear Readers, logical narrative he creates helps the casual CNN viewer to grasp the layered issues underlying a seemingly superficial controversy. This function of re- As an undergraduate research journal, we often confront the question of search is not limited to matters of culture or politics, but also extends to our “so what?” Yes, this article is well written, meticulously sourced, and clearly comprehension of the natural world. In “New Research in Solar Cells,” Mi- developed; yes, it presents an interesting concept about a topic rarely con- chelle Solomon and Alison Johnson explain how recent advances in the sidered in depth, but why should I read it? How is it related to my life? Why study of urbach tails open a wide range of possibilities for innovative forms is this research significant in any sense beyond the purely academic? The of alternative energy. The potential implications of her work present dy- “so what” problem presents a challenge to publications like Elements that namic options for how we will think of fuel and power in generations to gather work done by students in a wide variety of disciplines without a clear come. benchmark for “real world” applications. We find ourselves carrying an in- dispensable obligation to justify the relevance of research to our fellow stu- The articles we publish make critical connections between events and is- dents. This issue of Elements seeks to meet that burden by presenting a sues past and present, tracing threads of intellectual and popular life unique collection of pieces that clearly articulate why original research is through the centuries to their contemporary iterations. If Elements features more important in our increasingly complicated, globalized 21st century a student’s work that provides analysis of the legal and technical nuances world than ever before. behind the Comcast-Time Warner merger, as Harrison Tune’s “Positive Law vs. Good Intentions” does, or unravels some of the complex historical In our cover article, Saljooq Asif tackles the endemic post-9/11 problem of strands that inform our ongoing debates about race in America, a task at- “Muslim Identity in 21st Century America” through the lens of author Ayad tempted by Danielle Nista’s “A Vigorous Affirmation of Life,” then we con- Akhtar’s works. Given the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) tinue to prove the pertinence of research, of a liberal arts education, and of in the Middle East, the recent shooting of three Muslim students at the the university model itself. A publication like Elements ties together the too- University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the impending trial of alleged often separated fields of research at a university like Boston College. We Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the questions and conflicts encourage you, as you peruse these pages, to look for the ways in which the Saljooq explores hold great importance to present and future efforts to re- diverse disciplines we have highlighted inform each other. solve the problem of radical Islam and to offer full acceptance to Muslim Americans. Rachel Aldrich’s “Trauma, Fear, and Paranoia” further studies Happy reading! the domestic implications of 9/11 for Muslims in America, while Caitlin Toto examines the international consequences of these sociopolitical phe- Best, nomena in “Behind the Veil.” These three articles, constructed through ap- proaches and views from three distinct academic fields, offer us insight into some of the most pressing dilemmas, on a national and global scale, that our generation confronts. Marissa Marandola Research allows us to better understand the world in which we operate. Editor in Chief David Querusio contextualizes the constant debates about Michelle Obama’s role as “mom-in-chief” within the parallel traditions of black and white feminism in “From Mammy to Mommy.” The historical and socio- ConTenTs 9 MUSLIM IDENTITY IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA: AYAD AKHTAR’S WORKS AS AUTOBIOGRAPHY Saljooq M. Asif Discussing the nature of autobiography and Ayad Akhtar’s contribution to the genre in post-9/11 America. 23 BEHIND THE VEIL: A STUDY OF CHECHEN BLACK WIDOWS’ WEB Caitlin Toto Explaining the possible causes for the high proportion of women in Chechen terrorist cells. 33 A VIGOROUS AFFIRMATION OF LIFE: SLAVES IN THE FACE OF DEHUMANIZATION Danielle Nista Illuminating the role of music and dance in the lives and culture of slaves in the Antebellum South. 45 NEW RESEARCH IN SOLAR CELLS: URBACH TAILS AND OPEN CIRCUIT VOLTAGE Michelle Solomon and Alison Johnson Quantifying the difference in efficiency between quantum dot and perovskite solar cells. 53 FROM MAMMY TO MOMMY: MICHELLE OBAMA AND THE RECLAMATION OF BLACK MOTHERHOOD David Querusio Understanding the complex implications of Michelle Obama’s role as the self-declared “mom-in-chief.” 59 TRAUMA, FEAR, AND PARANOIA: LOST AND THE CULTURE OF 9/11 Rachel Aldrich Reviewing Lost through the lens of its post-9/11 context. 67 POSITIVE LAW VS. GOOD INTENTIONS: THE LEGALITY OF THE COMCAST - TIME WARNER CABLE MERGER Harrison Tune Examining the legal arguments against and in defense of the Comcast - Time Warner Cable merger. 76 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES 78 LIST OF ARTWORK muslim idenTiTy in 21sT CenTury ameriCa Ayad Akhtar’s Works as Autobiography salJooq M. asif rEcipiEnt of thE 2013 pulitzEr prizE for draMa, ayad akhtar has BEEn laudEd as thE dE facto voicE of thE aMErican MusliM in thEatrE and litEraturE. akhtar, a pakistani aMErican, claiMs that all of his Works arE inspirEd By his lifE and pErsonal EXpEri- EncEs; thEy arE, hE adMits, a forM of autoBiography. in a post-9/11 World, howevEr, WhErE thE position of MusliMs in thE unitEd statEs has BEcoME incrEasingly scruti- nizEd, akhtar’s Works purposEly play upon aMErican fEars and anXiEty in rEgard to islaM. indEEd, akhtar’s Works rEly hEavily on MusliM stErEotypEs in ordEr to unsEttlE aMErican audiEncEs and gain artistic rEcognition. By doing so, akhtar not only con- tinuEs thE clichéd dEpiction of MusliMs in aMErican MEdia, But also upholds stEphEn spEndEr’s thEory on autoBiography: that thE pErspEctivE of thE autoBiographEr, his sElf, is forEvEr forcEd to suBMit to that of sociEty, thE othEr. inTroduCTion Akhtar has received worldwide attention nearly thirteen years after the September 11th attacks is no coincidence. “Everything I write is some version of autobiography,”1 Only now, when universal concern over religious terror- Ayad Akhtar claimed in a 2014 interview. A well-estab- ism continues to grow and Islamophobia has become a lished actor, writer, and playwright, Akhtar prefers to see serious concern, can Akhtar rise to success. If Disgraced is himself as a “narrative artist” whose literary works are ex- a combustible powder keg, then Akhtar himself is the one tensions of his existence, his own narrative.2 “It’s often a who set the match at the right time and the right place to deformed version of autobiography,” he insisted in the 10 create the loudest explosion possible. After all, never has same interview, “but everything I write is drawn from per- the position of Muslims in the United States been more sonal experience, whether it’s observed or lived.”3 Born in scrutinized than in the post-9/11 world. New York City, and raised in Milwaukee, to Pakistani par- ents, Akhtar seems to embody the very essence of the Akhtar is in a strange and unprecedented situation as a American Dream: a second-generation immigrant who Pakistani American writer. Until recently, very few Muslim received an Ivy League education, he catapulted to fame voices have dared to speak about their thoughts and experi- upon winning the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his ences, let alone achieve recognition. Akhtar, by default, has play Disgraced. Although the play, described as a “combus- become one of the most significant Muslim artists in tible powder keg of identity politics,”4 has garnered both America today. His works, he admits, are essentially a por- praise and criticism, one fact remains irrefutable: Ayad trait of himself and form his own autobiography. Neverthe- Akhtar is now a star artist in modern-day America.