Movement As Medicine: Dance/Movement Therapy For Individuals With Autism, Parkinson’S Disease, And Cancer, Alessia Zanobini

CMC Senior Theses

Dance/movement therapy (D/MT) is the psychotherapeutic use of expressive, creative movement to support holistic well-being. D/MT views the human being as a single body-mind unit and movement as a manifestation of life experiences. While typically practiced as a mental health intervention, D/MT can be adapted for a variety of populations. This thesis evaluates scientific data for the non-traditional use of D/MT for three conditions: autism, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. For individuals on the autism spectrum, D/MT can strengthen attunement skills, provide creative communication outlets, and relieve harmful physical manifestations of autism. For individuals with Parkinson’s disease, D/MT can simultaneously ease …

La Evolución De La Masculinidad En Las Películas De Alfonso Cuarón, Daniel Martinez

CMC Senior Theses

El cine de Alfonso Cuarón representa una oportunidad nueva y emocionante para entender mejor la identidad mexicana y todas sus implicaciones. En esta tesis, analizaré las representaciones diferentes de la masculinidad a lo largo de la carrera de Alfonso Cuarón en México ya que estas películas tratan con el tema de manera directa. Desde sus principios en Sólo con tu pareja hasta Roma ( su proyecto más reciente), el estilo de Cuarón ha llegado a definir la nueva era del cine mexicano y sus películas representan a la masculinidad con un enfoque en el impacto que ha tenido en la …

Ending America’S “Endless” Wars: Is A Left/Right Coalition On Non-Interventionist Foreign Policy Feasible?, Blaise Malley

CMC Senior Theses

Ever since the end of the Cold War, American exceptionalism and militarism have been ascendant, often resulting in a government that is eager and able to engage in military interventions across the world. This reality has been upheld by a strong bipartisan consensus of liberal internationalists and neoconservatives that, while it often disagreed on means, ultimately shared the same worldview. However, a number of recent global and national trends have led to growing voices on both sides of the aisle—progressives on the left, and populists on the right—to question the assumptions driving this consensus. This growing coalition has convergence on …

Aristotle And Mutual Accountability: A Just Theory Of Punishment, Dina Rosin

CMC Senior Theses

How can citizens of a moral community both be held accountable and be accountable for their actions and their character? What is the role of both the state and the citizen in restoring accountability? In this thesis, I apply Aristotle’s conception of virtue to Stephen Darwall and William Darwall’s mutual accountability framework for punishment. I present a theory of punishment that creates an obligation on both the state and the citizen to uphold virtue and be accountable, and posits rehabituation of character as a necessary component of maintaining mutual accountability. I then apply this theory to a paradigmatic case that …

Populism: An Exploration Into The American Case Through The Academic Literature, Data Analysis, And Fiction, Maxwell Knowles

CMC Senior Theses

The twenty-first century has seen a rise in populist leadership and rhetoric throughout the globe, with the United States standing as one powerful case. This thesis hopes to develop the “story” of populism from multiple perspectives, attempting to not only inform but change the way we approach the populist movement in America, and perhaps, the world. In Part I, I summarize and blend much of the core literature written on populism and economic change, developing the story that populism in America today has its roots in the significant techno-economic and cultural paradigmatic shifts of the 1970s. Social media and an …

The Future Self: Promoting Prosocial Decision-Making Through Motivated Episodic Simulation, Su Young (Kevin) Choi

CMC Senior Theses

Vividly imagining the future self can help inform our present decisions. Given that most attempts aimed at understanding the prosocial effect of imagining future episodes have focused on sensory properties, little is known about how prosocial motivations can explain the link between episodic simulation and helping intentions. Here, the current research investigated whether altruistically and reputationally motivated simulation of helping behavior promote a willingness to help a person in need. The study found that imagining helping episodes increased willingness to help relative to a control manipulation, especially when reputational concerns were made salient. Path modeling analyses revealed that the prosocial …

Examining Protein-Protein Interactions Within The Esx-4 Secretion System Of Mycobacterium Smegmatis, Sophie Boerboom

CMC Senior Theses

Bacteria use secretion systems to export proteins from inside of the bacterium into the periplasm, extracellular space, or host cell. Within the Mycobacterium genus, the type VII secretion systems (T7SS) transport products across the unusually thick and waxy mycobacterial envelope. T7SS are of particular importance because they are involved in the virulence of pathogenic mycobacteria. Mycobacteria have as many as five distinct T7SS called ESX systems. ESX-1, 3, and 5, have demonstrated roles in viability and virulence in certain pathogenic species like M. tuberculosis and M. marinum. Our research focuses on the ESX-4 apparatus, the ancestral system that gave rise …

Effects Of Sleep Deprivation And The Link To Alzheimer’S Disease In Night Shift Workers, Aracelia Aldrete

CMC Senior Theses

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a degenerative neurologic disorder that is often defined by beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques. These Aβ plaques are formed from protein pieces that are incorrectly cleaved from an amyloid precursor protein (APP). These protein segments, cleaved from APP, are toxic due to increased “stickiness”. They cling together to create protofibrils that eventually mature into neuronal plaques. Aβ plaques lead to neuronal cell death causing classic AD symptoms: memory loss, a decline in speech and motor control, and personality changes. One connection between high Aβ plaques levels and AD is chronic sleep loss or disruption. Night shift workers, even …

The Mediating Role Of Positive Emotion Socialization On Maternal Alexithymia’S Detrimental Impact Towards Child’S Adaptive Regulatory Capacity, Madeleine Ding

CMC Senior Theses

The current study examined the relations between maternal alexithymia and child’s negative outcomes in the form of behavioral problems and adaptive regulatory capacity, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). It also explores the main and mediating role of positive emotion socialization. Participants consisted of 155 mother-child dyads within a 25-mile radius of a college in Southern California (Mothers M_age=33.1 years, SD=5.5; Children M_age=42.01 months, SD=4.68; 51% male children). The Toronto Alexithymia Scale-26 (TAS-26) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were given to mothers to report on alexithymic traits and their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, …

Frobenius Problem, Geometry And Number Fields, Yingqi Shi

CMC Senior Theses

We introduce the classical Frobenius Problem in Mathematics.

Cruzando La Frontera: Choreographing The Mexican-American Identity, Chloe Vich

CMC Senior Theses

This dance project explores the consequences of assimilation on immigrants’ cultural practices and identity specifically for Mexican-Americans in Southern California. The dance project explores the crossing of borders through mixed contemporary and Mexican ballet folklorico dance styles in order to tell a story of immigrants trying, failing, and succeeding in crossing the U.S. and Mexico border. By exploring the integration of Western dance styles with Mexican ballet folklorico, this paper will analyze how Mexican identity, as expressed through dance or song, is maintained by immigrants to remain connected their culture, but is changed through the process of assimilation.

Mexican ballet …

The God Collection, Namaste Rosas

CMC Senior Theses

I’m all strung out on Klonopins in the drug store trying to pay for Advil but my card keeps getting rejected.

The Use Of Personality Testing In Personnel Selection, Riya Kumar

CMC Senior Theses

Research has shown that more than 45% of American companies are opting to integrate personality tests in their recruitment processes. Given this surge in personality testing, this thesis examines whether personality testing is a valid predictor of job-fit and performance in the context of personnel selection. A large proportion of this paper is focused upon the Big-Five factor model, its limitations, and derivative tests of the model. The impact of technology upon personality testing is also discussed as an emerging field. By tracing and examining the history of personality testing to current day, I have found that personality tests are …

Disparities Between American And Chinese Perceptions On Chinese Foreign Policy, Zijia He

CMC Senior Theses

There has been a dangerous gap between American and Chinese perceptions of Chinese foreign policy, a gap contributing to acceptance of the Thucydides Trap. With the help of a theoretical framework and empirical evidence, this paper aims to summarize and understand the differences, in an effort to help overcome them and prevent a self-fulfilling prophecy. The author identifies five variables that shape perceptions and then categorizes Chinese foreign policy along several dimensions. Using the South China Sea and the Belt and Road Initiative as case studies, the author finds that US and Chinese interpretations of Chinese behavior along these dimensions …

Predicting The Current Season's Win Percentages In The National Hockey League Using Data From The Previous Season: Can Game-Level Data Help?, Suyash Sharma

CMC Senior Theses

Researchers have tried to predict winning percentages for the National Hockey League (NHL) teams based on their performance in the previous seasons. However, these predictions have not been very accurate. This study hypothesizes that incorporating pair-wise game-level data with season-level data can be useful in improving the prediction of a team’s win percentage. Season-level data and pair-wise game-level data from the 2005-2006 season to the 2015-2016 season has been used to predict winning percentages for the pairs in each of the following seasons. Significant results were not found for any of the pair-wise game-level data variables except for two pair-wise …

The Performance Of Melancholy: Understanding The Humours Through Burton, Jonson, And Shakespeare, Lindsey N. Betts

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to explore the relationships between dramatic texts and the Elizabethan topic of the humours. It covers Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Jonson's plays Every Man Out of His Humour and Every Man in His Humour, and Shakespeare's plays Hamlet and As You Like It. Each of these works provides a glimpse into society and its opinions specifically on melancholy, from its most basic and complex definitions to how it is perceived and addressed.

Practical Paradise: Ethics For A Modern Age, Anthony P. Davanzo

CMC Senior Theses

This play demonstrates an interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy in practice. The main character experiences loss and confusion, however, through this struggle arrives at a discovery of profound truth. If you've ever wondered how to live your life in the best way possible, the main character believes he's found the answer.

Weaving Through Reality: Dance As An Active Emblem Of Fantasy In Performance Literature, Tara Maylyn Frankel

CMC Senior Theses

Literature uses dance to reveal underlying messages of fantasy through the themes of the central narrative of female characters. Examining the original texts with respect to their varying adaptations for film and stage, performance literature reveals how directors relate a three-dimensional story to an audience from a two-dimensional world. Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Red Shoes” shows an underlying semiotic code where transitioning from the black and white of reality to the red of fantasy is only accomplished through dancing. Oscar Wilde’s Salome displays an eroticization of the exotic solo-improvised dance that provides a semblance of control for the main character. …