Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Syllabus: How To Recover A Truly Sustainable Food System: A Look At Food Waste And Recovery, Mary Bell, Angela Roell

Sustainability Education Resources

This course is an introduction to food waste, and the impact waste has on our food system. We will introduces the current food recovery hierarchy, and examines how consumers, producers and distributors waste food. We will explore the environmental and social impact of food waste in our food system, and introduce social and policy initiatives employed to recover food. Students will read, refect and discuss the actionable steps being taken to shift our local food system's food waste into food recovery.

Through The Camera Lens Of Development: An Exploration Of Ngos' Representations Of Africa, Sebastian Lindstrom

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose if this qualitative research is to acquire new knowledge in the African visual representational landscape, a digital space carefully filmed and edited by some of the most celebrated and acknowledged, mostly Western, NGOs in the world. The most watched Africa-related video from 50 NGOs were selected, downloaded and analyzed. After continuous re-watching of a 3.5 hour long set of visual data tree themes emerged. One segment relates around the NGOs intervention, another about the term or statement ‘help’, and the last theme is HIV/AIDS. The findings include the realization that the beneficiary was never explaining the intervention of …

Negotiating Invisibility: Addressing Lgbt Prejudice In China, Hong Kong, And Thailand, Hunter Gray

Master's Capstone Projects

This research serves as a consolidation of information regarding the global response to LGBT prejudice, and in particular, the response of organizations situated in China, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Interviews with activists and researchers from organizations that address LGBT prejudice served as the main form of data. Findings and subsequent analysis point to the ways in which organizations respond to the lack of visibility of the LGBT community, and how this invisibility is related to various manifestations of LGBT prejudice. Strategies that organizations have developed to respond to LGBT prejudice reveal how organizations negotiate contextual variables in their attempts to …

Through A Critical Sociocultural Lens: Parents’ Perspectives Of An Early Childhood Program In Guatemala, Yaëlle Stempfelet

Master's Capstone Projects

The present case study is on an Early Childhood program in Guatemala based on participant parents’ feedback. The Early Childhood program is non-formal, focuses on emergent literacy and nutrition, and takes place in a community-run library in a poor, semi-rural town in the mountainous regions of Quiche, Guatemala. The library was set up by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works in Guatemala as well as another neighboring country.

Using a critical sociocultural lens, this study assumes that the parents’ perceptions reflect the state of the program and that involving their feedback through this research will ultimately help to bolster the …

Ingos In The Mirror: Critical Reflections Of Practitioners Implementing Psychosocial Support Programs, Stephen M. Richardson

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this qualitative research is to learn from the professional wisdom of practitioners involved in implementing school-based psychosocial support in conflict-affected contexts. Practitioners from four different International Non-governmental Organizations (INGO) working in three different contexts—the Congo Basin region, the South Asia region, and the Sudan region—reflect on the concepts and realities of the psychosocial support models that their organizations use. A common theme emerging from these interviews is that the approach to psychosocial support has the potential to do harm. The practitioners provide real examples of the ways in which harm may occur and their possible causes. These …

Rudd Chair Annual Report, 2013, Harold D. Grotevant

Rudd Adoption Research Program Annual Reports

2013 report from the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology. Includes information on community partnerships, goals reached, communications, teaching, mentoring, and service.

Rudd Chair Annual Report, 2012, Harold D. Grotevant

Rudd Adoption Research Program Annual Reports

2012 Annual Report of the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Reports on community partnerships, goals reached, teaching, mentoring, and service. Mentions work being conducted by graduate students and postdocs mentored through the Rudd Program, including three clinical doctoral students at UMass: Quade French, Holly Grant- Marsney, and Danila Musante.

The Behavioral Effects Of Increased Physical Activity On Preschoolers At Risk For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Jasmin L. Roberts

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Physical activity (PA) has many health benefits, both physical and psychological. PA has been linked to improved cognitive functioning, superior overall health, and enhanced emotional well-being in populations ranging from school-age children to older adults. There has been less research, however, examining the benefits of PA in atypical preschool populations.

The present study examined the efficacy of a PA intervention in preschool-aged children at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD symptomatology, response inhibition, and physical activity were measured at three time points over a 6-month period. Results provide support for the efficacy of PA as an alleviative tool …

Rudd Chair Annual Report, 2008-2009, Harold D. Grotevant

Rudd Adoption Research Program Annual Reports

The first Annual Report of the activities of the Rudd Chair for 2008 - 2009