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Articles 1 - 30 of 41
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Empowering Diversity: Unveiling The Impact Of Affirmative Action Policies On Intersectional Identities In Indian Village Councils, Auroshree Pani
Empowering Diversity: Unveiling The Impact Of Affirmative Action Policies On Intersectional Identities In Indian Village Councils, Auroshree Pani
Honors Theses
This study investigates the intersectional effects of affirmative action policies within the con- text of rural local councils in India. Utilizing the natural experiment provided by the randomized implementation of reservation policies in Uttar Pradesh’s gram panchayats, this research exam- ines how the intersectionality of marginalized identities—specifically gender and caste—affects policy outcomes. Employing data from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guar- antee Act (MGNREGA) and gram panchayat elections from 2015 and 2021, the impact on job demand and public asset creation is evaluated. The findings reveal that while female leaders gen- erally improve job demand and public asset creation, …
Community Interventions To The Food Insecurity Crisis Inuit Currently Face In Nunangat, Alyssia R. Getschow
Community Interventions To The Food Insecurity Crisis Inuit Currently Face In Nunangat, Alyssia R. Getschow
Honors Theses
Inuit living in Nunangat, a northern territory in Canada, are facing unprecedented rates of food insecurity. The increasing impacts of anthropogenic climate change are rapidly changing the Arctic landscape in Nunangat, posing challenges to Inuit hunters who hunt and live completely self-sufficient off of the land. This lack of access to country foods and the impacts these conditions are having on Inuit communities are forcing Inuit to consider aid propositions from the Canadian government. Due to a long history of conflict with white settlers during the colonization of Canada, there is a feeling of distrust and cultural distaste between Canada …
"Nice, Quiet Hand": The Creation And Navigation Of Feeling Rules In A Second Grade Classroom, Avery Munns
"Nice, Quiet Hand": The Creation And Navigation Of Feeling Rules In A Second Grade Classroom, Avery Munns
Honors Theses
Emotions are largely viewed as individual and internal, but in reality, emotions are socially situated. This project aims to use a sociology of emotions framework in order to explore how emotional expectations are created, maintained, and navigated within a classroom environment. Through a series of observations over the course of a month, I set out to answer questions surrounding which emotions were encouraged, which emotions were discouraged, and how both teachers and students created and navigated these feeling rules. Overall, I found that emotions were largely discouraged, especially through the overarching feeling rules of “be quiet” and “control your body.” …
Ethnicity And Education: College Attendance Patterns Among Early 20th-Century Maine's Immigrant Community, Jacob M. Nash
Ethnicity And Education: College Attendance Patterns Among Early 20th-Century Maine's Immigrant Community, Jacob M. Nash
Honors Theses
I examine the college attendance patterns of second-generation Russian-Jewish immigrants in Maine in the early 20th century relative to other ethnic groups using individual-level Census records. I employ the Abramitzky, Boustan, and Eriksson (ABE) algorithm to track second-generation Jewish, Italian, French Canadian, English Canadian and European immigrants from the 1910 Census to the 1940 Census. My logistic regression analysis indicates that second-generation Jewish immigrants in Maine attended college at significantly higher rates than their peers of similar background in every other ethnic group. While I cannot evaluate them, I also discuss potential explanations for the disparity in college attendance …
How Race, Socioeconomic Status, And Gender Shape Feelings Of Competition Within The Pre-Med Department At A Small Liberal Arts College, Amanda B. Deming
How Race, Socioeconomic Status, And Gender Shape Feelings Of Competition Within The Pre-Med Department At A Small Liberal Arts College, Amanda B. Deming
Honors Theses
This study aims to understand how students of color navigate feelings of competition in the pre-medical (“pre-med”) track at a small liberal arts college. I argue that there are differences in navigational strategies by race, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender. Respondents in my sample (9 women and 6 men) were interviewed for 30 to 60 minutes about their relationships with fellow pre-med students, mentors, alumni, advisors, and professors. The primary findings of this project were that students who are more competitive dominate the culture among pre-med students; less competitive individuals persist through the pre-med track by forming study groups with …
La Pma Pour Toutes : Comment L'Histoire Et La Société Façonnent La Médecine Et La Bioéthique En France, Lauren A. Ruddy
La Pma Pour Toutes : Comment L'Histoire Et La Société Façonnent La Médecine Et La Bioéthique En France, Lauren A. Ruddy
Honors Theses
La diversification des configurations familiales continue à susciter de vifs débats en France, où il existe encore une sorte d’intolérance à l’égard de ceux qui sortent du modèle « traditionnel » de la famille. Ces dernières années, le développement des techniques de procréation médicalement assistée (PMA) est devenu le sujet d’une forte controverse. Plus spécifiquement, la question de l’accès à la PMA pour des mères « non-normatives » telles que des femmes lesbiennes, célibataires et âgées est d’un intérêt particulier. Jusqu’à maintenant, la discussion sur le droit d’accéder à ces procédures se concentre principalement sur les barrières biologiques, éthiques et …
Acoso Visual: Staring Back At The State And Gender Conformity, Juan Luna
Acoso Visual: Staring Back At The State And Gender Conformity, Juan Luna
Honors Theses
A semi-autoethnographic piece that uses a radical transfeminist lens to interrogate hegemonic systems of gender and race in the Dominican Republic through the violence that Trans and Gender Nonconforming people face. While focusing on trans violence, this thesis explicitly turns its gaze away from Trans/Gender Nonconforming people and interrogates the state, cisnormativity, and gender conformity. This thesis explores how acoso visual (visual accosting) is a historically informed process that works to border trans/gender nonconformity out of the idea of Dominicanidad. Ultimately, this text reminds Trans/Gender Nonconforming individuals that they are not the reason for the transphobia that they experience, and …
Painters Of Modernity: A Bourdieusian Analysis Of Manet And Degas, Gillian Wei
Painters Of Modernity: A Bourdieusian Analysis Of Manet And Degas, Gillian Wei
Honors Theses
In this thesis, I utilize the theoretical framework of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to analyze the representation of class ideology in the paintings of French Impressionists Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Using Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and class distinction, I investigate various historical and biographical factors to illustrate how Manet and Degas were simultaneously endowed with significant cultural and economic capital of the old elite, yet predisposed to create reactionary art. I also identify several examples of bourgeoisie iconography within specific paintings created by these two artists. I argue that Manet and Degas, acting as agents within the fields of cultural …
Visions For Waterville's Future: Perceptions Of Its Residents, Alex Wolansky
Visions For Waterville's Future: Perceptions Of Its Residents, Alex Wolansky
Honors Theses
Mills and factories in the United States have steadily been closing down as industry is outsourced in the globalized economy. Cities that were once prosperous face decay and often have no hopeful future outlook. Post-industrial towns face major unemployment and poverty and are not typically places for re-investment. But Rust Belt cities like Baltimore, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Louis are not the only post- industrial hubs that are struggling. Many small towns in rural areas once thrived from manufacturing and are becoming forgotten. Local governments, policy makers, urban planners, developers and scholars are working to figure …
Dear Reader, How Do We Go On? Letters Of Reflection On Community Care In Climate Activism In Maine, Ester Topolarova
Dear Reader, How Do We Go On? Letters Of Reflection On Community Care In Climate Activism In Maine, Ester Topolarova
Honors Theses
Climate activist groups in Maine often see their members become too tired to continue organizing. Thus, I decided to explore how these activists enact community care. I conducted my fieldwork with 350 Maine and its local nodes. I explore community care as a practice and as an aspiration. Community care is practiced through the acts of people taking care of each other. Aspiration, therefore, is a way of living and seeing the self as striving to replicate the world activists are fighting for. I conceptualize care as racialized, gendered, classed, and embedded in neoliberal capitalism. In activist meetings, care is …
Cicig In Guatemala: The Institutionalization Of An Anti-Corruption Body, Greg M. Morano
Cicig In Guatemala: The Institutionalization Of An Anti-Corruption Body, Greg M. Morano
Honors Theses
When is the institutionalization of anti-corruption bodies possible in Latin America? Central America’s Cold War era internal conflicts destabilized the Northern Triangle’s governments and greatly weakened judicial institutions. The legacy of these conflicts led to the creation of parallel corrupt networks that infiltrated state institutions and perpetuated impunity and violence. However, in Guatemala, the institutionalization of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) has improved the country’s ability to prosecute high-level corruption against the threat of powerful and corrupt state actors. A comparative analysis of the tenures of CICIG’s three commissioners reveals …
Negotiating Order In State-Funded Care: Examining The Salience Of Sponsoring Agencies In Maine's School-Based Health Centers, Susan M. Fleurant
Negotiating Order In State-Funded Care: Examining The Salience Of Sponsoring Agencies In Maine's School-Based Health Centers, Susan M. Fleurant
Honors Theses
The rising costs of healthcare and increasing awareness about poor health outcomes in the United States has brought the issue of access to primary and preventative care to the forefront of the national public health agenda in recent years. While still a relatively small part of the U.S. health care delivery system, the integral place of school-based health centers is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in low-income, medically underserved communities. Previous scholarship that using quantitative measures demonstrates that school-based health centers are effective and address the stark racial and socioeconomic health disparities that persist. Yet, this work neglects many of the …
Health Care Agency: Statewide Awareness Of Patient-Centered Care In Maine’S Mental Health Care Facilities, Holly Hogan A
Health Care Agency: Statewide Awareness Of Patient-Centered Care In Maine’S Mental Health Care Facilities, Holly Hogan A
Honors Theses
This research project focuses on patient-centered care (PCC) in the context of inpatient acute psychiatric units. Hospitals have been claiming their renewed outlooks on health-care via PCC. It has become an increasingly popular term to use on hospital websites and in presidential statements. The technologies and practices surrounding psychiatric care have evolved in such a way that patients are more welcomed to have an input in their care. This project discusses the discourse around PCC at Mental Health Care Facilities in Maine. There is no consensus on the definition; the meanings ascribed to it are derived from the individual institutions. …
Queering The Production Of Sexual Knowledge: Narrative Strategies, Gender Politics And The Promise Of Feminist Focus Groups, Madeline J. Hunsicker
Queering The Production Of Sexual Knowledge: Narrative Strategies, Gender Politics And The Promise Of Feminist Focus Groups, Madeline J. Hunsicker
Honors Theses
Dominant public discourses structure our interpretations of sexual acts in decidedly gendered ways, shaping our understandings of sexual experiences and embodiment. As a result, current understandings of term such as “virginity” evoke cultural standards of womanhood, whiteness, monogamy, and tradition that both reflect and reinforce contemporary society’s hetero-patriarchal relations of power. The narratives available for girls and women to make sense of the first sexual experiences are policed by dominant sexual discourses that privilege male pleasure (Kozma, 56-59), which can limit the narratives of actual sexual experiences and subjugate gynogentiric discourses of sexual knowing (Medley-Rath 26). In the absence of …
School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer
School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer
Honors Theses
School gardens have existed since the late nineteenth century and today are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world, including where I studied in Maine and Australia (AUS). Multiple organizations support school gardens in Maine, including the Maine School Garden Network, which has over 125 registered school gardens. In AUS, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation primarily supports the school garden movement and has over 800 registered school gardens. While many researchers have studied school gardens, few have compared two countries, focused on environmental sustainability, or investigated Maine in particular. This thesis combines information from literature reviews, and …
Inequality And Involvement: Participatory Trends In The Politics Of A Rural Maine Town, Shelby O'Neill
Inequality And Involvement: Participatory Trends In The Politics Of A Rural Maine Town, Shelby O'Neill
Honors Theses
Interdisciplinary research suggests that participation in most forms of political activity in the United States is stratified by socioeconomic status. People with higher socioeconomic statuses are more able and willing to participate in politics than people with lower socioeconomic statuses. This participatory inequality amplifies the political voice of the upper class relative to the lower class. However, little academic attention has been paid to analyzing the impact of socioeconomic inequality on participation in local politics. By analyzing participatory trends in the politics of the rural town of Belgrade, ME, this honors thesis fills a gap in the academic literature on …
Sociological Effects Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne E. Barthold, Jeanne Barthold
Sociological Effects Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne E. Barthold, Jeanne Barthold
Honors Theses
Renewable Energy is an extremely important topic in today's energy discussions. In Maine, with the motivation of Governor Baldacci, there was a rapid push towards utilizing wind energy, starting with the Wind Energy Act in 2008. While the theory of wind farms and wind energy seems intelligent at a first glance, it is not an energy source that lacks issues. Many of the Maine wind farms constructed in the last ten years have had a large impact on human health, altered the beauty of Maine, created a change in wildlife habitats, and completely torn apart communities. Every new energy source …
We Came! We Stripped! We Conquered! The Sextremist Feminists Of Femen In Ukrainian Historical Context And Contemporary Controversy, Jayeon Kim
Honors Theses
In 2008, Anna Hutsol, an economist by training, founded feminist organization FEMEN (Megginson 2011). Comprised mostly of university-educated women, FEMEN has received international media coverage, encountered controversy, and received death threats for their topless protests. For their activism, French magazine Madame Figaro ranked one of the founding members Inna Schevchenko on the 13th position in their list of Women of the Year (Madame Figaro 2012). They have delivered lectures on their movement at international forums and universities. FEMEN now has chapters in Brazil, Tunisia, France and Germany. FEMEN activists attribute their visibility to “sextremism,” their tactic of using the …
The Emerging Civil Society In China And Its Impact On Democratization, Haolu Wang
The Emerging Civil Society In China And Its Impact On Democratization, Haolu Wang
Honors Theses
Recent years have seen an emerging civil society in an authoritarian China. The authoritarian embrace of civil society challenges the conventional wisdom that civil society is closely linked to democracy. In Beijing, the rhetoric of civil society linked less to democracy than to modernization. However, does civil society development have any impact on democratization in authoritarian regimes? The thesis tries to provide a tentative answer by studying civil society and democratization in post-Mao China. As a result of economic development and political reforms, gradual political liberalization has marked a shift of state-society relations that gives rise to a certain degree …
Therapeutic Discourse And The American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship With Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey
Therapeutic Discourse And The American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship With Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey
Honors Theses
I explore the main currents of postwar American liberalism. One, sociological, emerged in response to the danger of mass movements. Articulated primarily by political sociologists and psychologists and ascendant from the mid-fifties till the mid-seventies, it heralded the "end of ideology." It emphasized stability, elitism, positive science and pluralism; it recast normatively sound politics as logrolling and hard bargaining. I argue that these normative features, attractive when considered in isolation, taken together led to a vicious ad hominem style in accounting for views outside the postwar consensus. It used pseudo-scientific literature in labeling populists, Progressives, Taft conservatives, Goldwaterites, the New …
Uncharted Dimensions Of Media: A Map Of The Social Implications Of Geographic Information Systems (Gis), Caitlin Dufraine
Uncharted Dimensions Of Media: A Map Of The Social Implications Of Geographic Information Systems (Gis), Caitlin Dufraine
Honors Theses
I explore how scholars are beginning to understand the social and historical implications of the introduction, development, and increasingly widespread use of GIS. This paper uses an STS framework to evaluate both literature from the early 1990s and more recent literature that examines the influence and social implications of GIS. I provide context for my discussion of the social implications of GIS by commenting on the merits and shortcomings of theoretical frameworks that scholars have used to evaluate the influence of GIS on society. To gain a holistic appreciation of issues surrounding the role of GIS in society I have …
"Contentment In My Heart": Evangelical Women And Spiritual Journeys, Elizabeth A. Doran
"Contentment In My Heart": Evangelical Women And Spiritual Journeys, Elizabeth A. Doran
Honors Theses
This honors thesis is an in-depth, qualitative study of a central Maine evangelical church. My focus is on five women and their religious journeys and experiences as Christian women. I explore a number of issues: the appeal of this church community to contemporary women; the connections and the contrasts between what the church leaders espouse and what ordinary female members believe; the ways in which the women develop their own personal relationships with Christ, the evangelical tradition, and other members of the community; and my own journey as a student of sociology and a qualitative researcher.
"System Of Silence": Philadelphia Orphanages And The Limits Of Benevolence, 1780s-1830s, Brian Sweeney
"System Of Silence": Philadelphia Orphanages And The Limits Of Benevolence, 1780s-1830s, Brian Sweeney
Honors Theses
In 1831, Mathew Carey, a well-known Philadelphia economist, wrote a city official describing the situation of black children in the city. He called for the creation of an orphanage to aid these children and described the motives for this action as not only the “humanity and benevolence” of Philadelphians, but also “personal interest”, as this class could otherwise turn “lawless”. Unknown to Carey, the Association for the Care of Coloured Orphans had been established in 1822 by a group of benevolent Quaker women dedicated to aiding this destitute class in an effort to promote compensatory justice for generations of oppression …
Competition Or Community? Manifest And Unexpressed Functions Of The No Child Left Behind Act Of 2001, Sara Benjamin
Competition Or Community? Manifest And Unexpressed Functions Of The No Child Left Behind Act Of 2001, Sara Benjamin
Honors Theses
Any contemporary discussion of the American education system inevitably includes a discussion of current federal policy as set out in The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Signed into law on January 8, 2002, NCLB has sparked tremendous controversy in the field of education. Although the title would suggest otherwise, NCLB does not aim to make sure no child is left behind. Instead, one might argue that it aims to provide quantifiable measures of comparison so as to allow the U.S. to assert educational and economic dominance in the global community. Thus, we can see a distinction between …
Self-Destructive Behaviors Of Adolescent Girls And Boys, Carolyn A. Curtis
Self-Destructive Behaviors Of Adolescent Girls And Boys, Carolyn A. Curtis
Honors Theses
From a social constructionist perspective linked with a feminist standpoint, I examine three forms of adolescent self-destructive behaviors: eating disorders, self-mutilation and substance abuse. The social construction of adolescents’ norms, values, and beliefs, as based upon their interactions with family, peers, and the media, helps explain these self-destructive actions. In addition to a comprehensive literature review, I interviewed five adults who work with adolescents in the state of Maine, and used these professionals’ experiences and knowledge to support the current theories pertaining to these acts of self-harm. To better understand what drives some adolescents to harm their own bodies, I …
Workin’ It Out At Curves – Religion, Gender, And The Body In Contemporary America, Jamie K. Singelais
Workin’ It Out At Curves – Religion, Gender, And The Body In Contemporary America, Jamie K. Singelais
Senior Scholars Papers in Computer Science
I performed qualitative research in the form of participant observation, surveys, and in-depth interviews to examine Curves, a fitness franchise for women found throughout the United States and, increasingly, the rest of the world. I conducted this exploratory study specifically at the Curves in Waterville, Maine, and made several trips to other franchises in the area for comparative purposes. One of my key findings is the importance of understanding Curves’ organization as a business, specifically, its status as a franchise and the effect that this has on its popularity and growth. Additionally, my research revealed the role, surprising to me, …
Workin’ It Out At Curves – Religion, Gender, And The Body In Contemporary America, Jamie K. Singelais
Workin’ It Out At Curves – Religion, Gender, And The Body In Contemporary America, Jamie K. Singelais
Senior Scholar Papers
I performed qualitative research in the form of participant observation, surveys, and in-depth interviews to examine Curves, a fitness franchise for women found throughout the United States and, increasingly, the rest of the world. I conducted this exploratory study specifically at the Curves in Waterville, Maine, and made several trips to other franchises in the area for comparative purposes. One of my key findings is the importance of understanding Curves’ organization as a business, specifically, its status as a franchise and the effect that this has on its popularity and growth. Additionally, my research revealed the role, surprising to me, …
Where Did All These Books Come From? The Publishing Industry And American Intellectual Life, Maro N. Asadoorian
Where Did All These Books Come From? The Publishing Industry And American Intellectual Life, Maro N. Asadoorian
Honors Theses
The American book publishing industry shapes the character of American intellectual life. While the newspaper and television industries have been accused of and investigated for bias and lowering America’s intellectual standards, book publishing has gone largely unexamined by scholars. The existing studies of the publishing industry have focused on finance, procedure and history. “There are few ‘theories’ of publishing – efforts to understand the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘hows.’ Few scholarly scientists have devoted significant scholarly attention to publishing” (Altbach and Hoshino, xiii). There are many possible reasons for this lacuna. First, there is a perception that books have …
Non-Adherence: A Symptom Of The Current Health Care Model, Margaret Duggan
Non-Adherence: A Symptom Of The Current Health Care Model, Margaret Duggan
Honors Theses
This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the discourse surrounding patient adherence in an effort to illustrate the extent of the problem, how it is framed, and how intervention is currently approached. The paper begins with a general review of adherence, to ground the reader in the current discourse. The next section of the paper will focus specifically on adherence through the lens of HIV/AIDS. Since HIV/AIDS treatment and adherence to antiretroviral drugs is pertinent to adherence issues due to the complexity and lifelong duration of treatment. Furthermore, adherence with HIV/AIDS medications is particularly important due to the …
Exploring Opportunity In America: Immigrant Entrepreneurship And Rags To Riches Success, Anna Erdheim
Exploring Opportunity In America: Immigrant Entrepreneurship And Rags To Riches Success, Anna Erdheim
Honors Theses
The United States is, indeed, a land of vast opportunity. A diverse group of individuals continually benefit from the prospects provided by this inherently free nation. Although some constraints in America have prevented people from realizing their ultimate potentials, this nation offers immense possibilities overall to progress socially, economically, and culturally. America allows for people of all socioeconomic, religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds to take full advantage of the various opportunities offered by this mainly egalitarian land. I will demonstrate how various people have emerged from disadvantaged circumstances to succeed in the United States. In America, the majority of successful …