Digital Commons Network^™

Preserving The Trauma Narrative Of The Hunger Games: As Based In The Novels, The Films, And Morality, Rio Turnbull

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis discusses both the technical aspects and the moral aspects of preserving trauma when adapting a trauma novel to film, in specific relation to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. The thesis begins by arguing the Hunger Games story as a trauma narrative in its original form, but not so in its film adaptations, and supports this argument by defining the defining characteristics of the trauma narrative–which is voicelessness and an altered sense of self and society, embedded in the internal experience–and applying it to The Hunger Games trilogy, identifying where these occur in the novels and do not …

Dialect And Employability: Human Resource Managers' Perceptions Of African American English, Kimberly Michelsen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis addresses the question of whether different dialects can change the probability of speakers being perceived as employable. It is one of the few that takes this question away from college campuses and directly to Human Resources Managers in the workforce. Using the Matched Guise Technique, recordings of Standard American English (SAE) and African American English (AAE) were presented to forty-two HR Managers from regions across the United States. Using a series of Likert scales, the HR Managers rated the recordings on eight characteristics of employability: four focused on professional skills and four focused on human-relation skills. The study …

Student Motivation In Education: An Intervention In Real-Time, Maddison North

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Motivation and academic performance have been shown to be linked, so improvement in academic motivation or factors that influence it may have the potential to improve academic performance. Academic motivation can fluctuate over a semester or even throughout a day. Even with these fluctuations, some students have the skills to remain motivated to study, attend class, and complete assignments. Yet, some do not, thus, strategies to help these students maintain motivation throughout the semester can have benefits for academic success. The main objective of this study was to understand whether a mobile intervention could be utilized to increase students’ academic …

Associations Between Emotional Regulation, Risk Taking, And College Adaptation, Alexa J. Pellegrino

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Emotional regulation can be best defined as a socially acceptable emotional response to experiences and circumstances of the everyday human experience. Emotional regulation (ER) plays a major role in handling stress, adaptively, in the collegiate lifestyle. This research examined the associations between emotional regulation, risk-taking, and college adaptation among 96 students at a mid-sized university in Colorado. The online-surveying website included five different measures of emotional regulation, college adaptation, and risk-taking. Results showed difficulties with emotional regulation positively correlate more with expressive suppression and negatively correlated with cognitive reappraisal. The adaptive strategy of cognitive reappraisal had a positive relationship with …

Pre-Test Processing Differences Of Test Anxious Students, Michelle M. Garcia

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pre-testing differences in persons with test anxiety (TA) comparted to person without test anxiety. Specifically, the study focused on differences in test preparation and study methods between groups. Further understanding of pretest differences regarding the processing and study methods of TA students may lead to the development of interventions that improve the deficits experienced by those with TA. All participants were administered the Cognitive Test Anxiety Inventory (CTAI) designed by Cassady and Johnson (2002). Persons that scored above the mean of 73.1 were classified as having TA, those who scored below …

People With Mental Illnesses Who Face Coercive Interrogation: The Capability Of Jurors To Consider The Totality Of The Circumstances, Kathryn Derby

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Both coercive yet currently acceptable police interrogation tactics and the presence of mental illness in a defendant have been separately identified as risk factors for false confessions by defendants. Extensive research has been completed regarding each issue individually, with researchers struggling to induce sensitivity in jurors to police interrogation tactics and defendants with mental illness separately. In this study, the researchers sought to examine juror’s ability to understand the totality of the circumstances (mild or severe mental health issues as well as mild or severe police interrogation pressures) when clinical expert testimony was or was not present. Undergraduate psychology students …

The Existing Intersectionality Of Gender And Race Differences In Science, Technology, Engineering And Math Fields, Rachael Carrillo

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will examine the gender differences women and men experience in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields (STEM) in undergraduate education focusing on the binary genders--men and women--and their experiences in STEM. Thus, the research question is: Do undergraduate women in STEM experience higher levels of gender differences compared to men in STEM? This is an important research question because if female undergraduates in STEM are experiencing sexism while their male colleagues are not, this phenomenon may create a large issue of inequalities for women in our society. STEM fields are typically higher paying fields and if women are …

Whose Birthright? Evaluating The Impact Of Birthright Trips To Israel On American Jewish Identity In The #Metoo And #Boycottbirthright Era, Christy David

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis critically examines both the impact of Birthright Israel trips on the formation of Jewish American identity but also confronts disparities in the participants’ experiences and the current evaluation methods being used to judge the ‘success’ of the trips. In 2018, the rise of the #MeToo and #BoycottBirthright movements coincided, and both participants of the trip and female educators called for a change in both the Birthright itinerary and supposed “goals” that were seeped in misogyny and an erasure of the Palestinian narrative. This research brings the two seemingly separate issues together by looking at the issues with the …

Let Us Reason Together: Female Voices In Religious Deliberation, Rachel Finlayson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines deliberation within ward councils of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My findings suggest ward councils can fall short of the democratic ideals articulated by church leaders. This ideal is captured in Jane Mansbridge’s conception of unitary democracy, which emphasizes friendship, equality, and consensus in decision-making regarding common goals. Ward council members report feeling friendship and unity, but reserve authoritative executive power for the bishop alone. This hybrid dynamic creates potential challenges and tensions with the unitary ideal as participants seek to both express their unique perspectives and defer to one authority.

My interviews show …

Nature And The Poet: A Comparision Of The Poetry Of Joseph Freiherr Von Eichendorff And Kobayashi Issa, Jane Cox

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the bearing that metaphysical philosophy about nature has on two late 18^th century and early 19^th century poets. Although living in different hemispheres and cultures, the works of Romantic poet Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff and haikai Kobayashi Issa both used interactions with nature to illustrate their own personal experiences. However, their differing metaphysical beliefs concerning nature impacted their presentation of their experiences as well as their experiences themselves. Eichendorff viewed nature as a medium through which the divine can choose to communicate. Nature’s purpose is to act as a vehicle for the divine. His descriptions …

Midwifery And Society: A Comparative Analysis Of The Uk And Ussr From 1920-1950, Melissa Scott

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to analyze the changes made in midwifery policy and practices in the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom from 1920-1950. The changes made were essentially the following in both countries: required state certification, standardization of pay and schooling, and combating tradition in rural areas. Although they made similar changes, their political ideology and rhetoric was significantly different from one another. The rhetoric used in the Soviet Union in discussing midwifery policies and responsibilities was nationalistic while the rhetoric used in the United Kingdom was much more functionalistic. There were also additional political and societal …

The Battle Of The Sexes: Montagu V. Swift, Madison Savoie

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Two of the most interesting “guardians” of eighteenth-century sociocultural standards were the satirists Jonathan Swift and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Swift is remembered by scholars as one of the “greatest prose satirists in the history of English Literature,” but Montagu, until recent decades, has been less well-known. This thesis will look at the satirical poetic dialogue between the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Swift and the Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and provide insights into the sociocultural dynamics of gender in eighteenth-century British print life as revealed by the individual texts.

Co-Parental Conflict And Maternal Gatekeeping: The Effects On Parental Media Monitoring Behaviors, Erin Fitzgerald

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the last decade, there has been an onslaught of digital media among adolescents, the majority of whom are ill prepared to self-regulate and critically examine the messages they receive from the media. Unfortunately, parents are often unsure how to help, and may disagree on how to monitor the media in their home. This study was conducted on the influence of conflictual co-parenting behaviors on media monitoring style choice. The results indicated that parents who experience co-parental conflict and maternal gatekeeping may have a difficult time encouraging their children’s autonomy through active and autonomy supportive media monitoring and are more …

Epistasis In Alzheimer’S Disease: Interactions Between Clu-Ms4a4e And Wwc1-Tln2, Omoremi Hamblin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia among people age 65 and older. Because of the complexity of this disease, many studies have taken the epistatic approach to discover underlying genetic disorders. Epistasis is the study of gene-gene interaction in which the effects of one gene mask the effects of the other gene. In this study, we attempted to replicate two earlier studies that identified three gene-gene interactions. We used the 2019 Alzheimer’s Diseases Genetics Consortium (ADGC) dataset and we conducted a logistic regression with and without the interaction terms. The interactions we considered were between CLU rs11136000 …

An Event-Related Potential Study Of Inhibition To Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Hanel Watkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the United States, the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages per capita from 1977 to 2002 doubled across all age groups. One factor that may contribute to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is inhibitory control, or the ability to withhold a dominant response in order to correctly respond to one’s environment. Studies suggest that increased recruitment of inhibitory control resources plays a role in decreasing the consumption of high-calorie foods and that strengthening an individual’s inhibitory control may help them manage their food intake. However, the neural response to sugar-sweetened beverages versus non-sweetened beverages is unknown. Thus, we tested event-related potential …

An Open Spot For All: Theatre Within Disabled Communities, Kailey Kyle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This essay describes tools for unlocking accessibility in theatre, specifically for those within the disabled community. Throughout my own research in accessible theatre, and the research reviewed within this paper, it is seen that inclusive theatre yields a multitude of positive benefits for those involved, both emotionally and socially. Throughout my experience with OpenSpot Theatre, an accessible theatre company that teaches drama classes in areas throughout the United States, I learn methods to implement accessibility in theatrical settings using devised theatre, affinity therapy, and applied theatre techniques. Within this thesis, I describe my experience with accessible theatre, OpenSpot theatre, and …

Sex Differences In Ethanol Modulation Of Dopamine Release In The Mesolimbic Reward System, Mandy Parsons

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to synthesize previous studies that have shown sex differences in response to drugs of abuse, specifically cocaine and alcohol. These differences have been noted through the study of behavior, nitric oxide levels in the medial amygdala, and dopamine release within the mesolimbic system. Importantly, it has been consistently found that these differences seem to correlate with the changing hormonal environment produced by the estrus cycle in females. Furthermore, this thesis examines new research on how the estrus cycle modulates dopamine release within the reward circuit through the utilization of fast scan cyclic voltammetry and microdialysis techniques. A …

The Negative Impact Of Positive Stereotyping: Relationship Between Positive Stereotypes, Perceived Competence And Perceived Potential For Leadership, Megan Chan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

For many years, Asian Americans have been positively stereotyped as the most successful racial group in America. Yet, very few Asian Americans occupy top leadership positions. This research investigates how positive stereotyping affects managers’ perception towards Asian Americans’ level of competence and potential for leadership. I conducted a scenario study with a sample of 315 people working and residing in the United States. These participants assumed the role of decisions makers and were presented with information about job applicants where the variable data (i.e. race) was manipulated. Based on the differences in ratings on Asian Americans and non-Asian Americans, I …

“‘The Paternal Care Of A Patriot Legislature’: Legislative Instructions, Rhetorics Of Representation, And The Contested Boundaries Of The Political Nation In Revolutionary War-Era Ireland, 1779-1785”, Ian Mclaughlin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper revisits a long-neglected controversy over the use of legislative instructions during the Irish Free Trade crisis and explores its impact on the debate over Parliamentary reform in the first years of Grattan’s Parliament. I argue that the episode exposed significant tension between the Parliamentary and popular wings of the Patriot movement—one that most accounts of this era fail to note—while also leading to a major rethinking of traditional notions of representation. Importantly, Irish constituents went beyond defending their simple right to author instructions (as their American and English counterparts had done before), instead advancing them as a novel …

Attitudes And Perspectives Towards Undocumented Immigration In The United States, Nicole Morgan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Undocumented immigration has been a historically controversial political topic in the United States and is much discussed under the current Trump Administration. The Latinx population, specifically Mexican, has received much negative speculation under the current political platform. While past articles have suggested that prejudice and xenophobia may play a role in attitude and perception of immigration, not many articles look at whether ethnicity influences perception in relation to Haidt and Graham’s Moral Foundation Theory (MFT). MFT looks at moral belief on a multi-dimensional level and reflects scores as more conservative or liberal for five categories. This study aims to look …

Self-Report Participation Of Physical Activity Outside Of School On Rate Of Motor Skills Development In Elementary Students, Maritza Cuevas, Kara Lynn Boynewicz Dr., Brandi Eveland-Sayers Dr.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this research project, the question of why some younger children appear to have better motor skills than older children is investigated. The hypothesis proposed is that children involved in physical activities after school or in the evenings have better motor skills at younger ages than children who are not involved in physical activities outside of school. Young children have very varied levels of motor skills competency that have developed due to living in different environments and having varied opportunity to be physically active. These differences are a result of factors like socioeconomic status, parental influence, climate, culture, etc.1 Sports …

Perceived Effectiveness Of Active Music Therapy For Alzheimer's Language Deficits, Alana Reed

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and can cause mood changes, memory loss, and loss of cognitive function. Musical interventions (known as music therapy) have been shown to effect the behavioral and memory loss aspects of AD. There have been few studies, however, completed to see what effects music therapy has on language deficits associated with AD. This study will look at the perceived effectiveness of active music therapy (MT) on the language deficits associated with AD. Active MT requires the participant to interact with the music either by playing an instrument, clapping, or singing, whereas …

Female Identities Of The Interwar Period: A Feminist Narratological Analysis Of British Literature, Jessica N. Mccombs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the interwar period (1918-1945), women in England were faced with conflicting roles and identities. The men had left to fight in the First World War, leaving the women, who had previously held domestic and, at times, subordinate roles, to take over jobs and leadership positions. Women were exposed to and able to participate in public spheres, which caused social changes to arise. However, at the end of the war, women were expected to return to their earlier subordinate positions. Literature of the interwar period written by female authors represents the struggle of female identities for voice, agency, power, and …

Pyschosocial Well-Being And Efforts To Quit Smoking In Pregnant Women Of South-Central Appalachia, Brittney Stubbs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A sample of 1,031 pregnant women from five prenatal practices participated in Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS), an expanded 5A’s (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) program. Stress, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating were hypothesized to differ among three groups: pregnant women who never smoked, pregnant women who smoked but quit prior to birth, and pregnant women who smoked and did not quit prior to birth. Smokers who quit were lower in stress and higher in self-esteem than those who did not quit. Non-smokers were lowest in stress and depression, and highest in self-esteem. These findings may lead to …

Trauma-Informed Care: Implementation Efforts In Northeast Tennessee, Kaelyn E. Bishop, Andrea D. Clements, Valerie Hoots

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Trauma has been found to be highly prevalent and associated with many negative health and social outcomes (i.e., heart disease, higher suicide risk, high-risk behaviors) in the general population. Despite these associations, trauma detection is relatively rare in service-providing organizations. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a proposed solution that encourages trauma detection, understanding the symptoms associated with trauma, and treating trauma while actively avoiding re-traumatization to the service user. Although research about TIC efficacy has been fairly limited, there are some promising potential benefits of the practice to the client, provider, and the population as a whole. For this study, we …

Self-Rated Health, Healthcare Satisfaction, Healthcare Adherence, And Medical Mistrust: The Moderating Role Of Rurality, Stephanie Alu

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current study is part of a broader study called the Women’s Reproductive Health Survey (WRHS) which aimed to examine various aspects of women’s life experiences. This study examined the moderating effect of rurality on several factors of healthcare in a sample of women between the ages of 18 and 50. Self-rated health (SRH) was hypothesized to predict healthcare satisfaction, healthcare adherence, and medical mistrust. Furthermore, rurality was hypothesized to weaken the relationships between SRH and healthcare satisfaction and adherence; it was further hypothesized to exacerbate the relationship between SRH and medical mistrust. A survey containing a single-item measure of …

Coercive And Deceptive Predictors Of Sexual Risk: The Moderating Role Of Self-Esteem, Morgan Barker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Risky sexual practices can lead to concerning public health issues, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy. Coercive or deceptive behaviors by one’s partner to engage in risky practices may be one factor contributing to sexual risk. This study examined experiences of sexual risk coercion and deception, including partner sexual infidelity, coerced condom nonuse, and fear of negative partner reaction to condom request, as predictors of engagement in sexual risk behaviors, including condom use, safer sex communication, and lifetime number of sexual partners. Self-esteem was examined as a moderator. College students (N = 216) were recruited through the …

Experience And Awareness Of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Etsu Student And Faculty Visual Artists, Chelsea Getchell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Musculoskeletal disorders are a chronic and debilitating issue; these injuries can result in pain and disability that affect daily life and the ability to work in certain careers. Visual artists are no exception to this reality. However, reliable research is scarce regarding this population. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of experience and awareness of visual artists regarding the subject of musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomics within their chosen career field. The methods employed for this paper involved a survey where participants answered questions about workplace ergonomics, movements, and experience of muscle pains. Further indications of research …

Mindfulness And Religiosity/Spirituality As Protecting Factors For Internalizing Symptoms Associated With Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Moderated Moderation Model, Kayla Heineken, Diana Morelen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events during a person’s early life that can influence their later mental health, physical health, and wellbeing. Internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression are common mental health outcomes associated with these events. Two factors, religiosity/spirituality (R/S) and mindfulness, are possible protecting factors to help lessen the effect of traumatic experiences on later mental health. This study examined whether R/S and mindfulness are protective factors in the relationship between ACEs and future internalizing symptoms. Further, this study examined whether the impact of R/S was influenced by an individual’s mindfulness (moderated moderation). Participants (N = …

Trans Stories, Trans Voices: How The Internet Empowers Transgender Creators To Have Agency In Trans Fiction, Pepper J. Heifner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although many advocates believe that the increased representation of transgender people in mainstream fiction will lead to more understanding for the transgender community, many transgender scholars (Page, Richards) are critical of representation that is created without any involvement of actual transgender people. Some fear that the more radical perspectives of trans lives are being erased and replaced with a homogenous idea of the kinds of trans people who are “acceptable” (cárdenas). To avoid this homogeneity, it is important to allow for a multiplicity of trans perspectives and empower transgender people to have agency over their own narratives.

The goal of …