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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Gender Roles And Gender Stereotypes In Four Newbery Award-Winning Books, Alex P. Brower
Gender Roles And Gender Stereotypes In Four Newbery Award-Winning Books, Alex P. Brower
Honors Theses
This research project examined the presentation of traditional gender roles and representation in four books that were awarded the Newbery Medal. The four books that were examined are the award recipients from 1922, 1923, 2014 and 2015. It was predicted that as gender equality has become a more prominent issue, and men and women have become more equal, one would expect this change to be reflected in children’s literature. A close reading was performed of these works, and special attention was paid to how the authors present the genders of the main characters in terms of personal interests, the roles …
Giving Back To The Military, Lauren Martin
Giving Back To The Military, Lauren Martin
Honors Theses
This paper will cover the development and growth of the non-profit student organization Broncos for Heroes. The mission statement of Broncos for Heroes is to support our servicemen and women both past and present. This paper will cover the main event for Broncos for Heroes: Care Package Drives.
Fear Of Campus Mass Shootings: Media Consumption And Attitudes Toward Campus Firearm Policies, Elizabeth Weltman
Fear Of Campus Mass Shootings: Media Consumption And Attitudes Toward Campus Firearm Policies, Elizabeth Weltman
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel
Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel
Honors Theses
Existing literature has long been divided over whether the gaming world fosters violence and misogyny or provides a space for people to explore diverse identities. Not enough is known about how women experience videogames, especially the hypermasculine environment of first-person shooter (FPS) games. Competition, violence, and war, are dominant features of these games. The following thesis explores what harassment and discrimination women playing FPS games face, how they respond, and in what ways they find games to be empowering. A survey was distributed online to an international sample of 141 female FPS gamers. This research finds that women who play …
Environmental Education In New York State, Laura Schad
Environmental Education In New York State, Laura Schad
Honors Theses
Environmental education is vital to the sustainability of our society. It is often through programs and classes that citizens learn about processes that are harming the environment and how they can be remediated. This thesis explores two different, 501(c)3 organizations in New York State that aim at increasing public awareness regarding environmental pollution and degradation. The first study presented in on Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. This nonprofit offers class to the general public as well as to local schools aimed at increasing awareness of environmental problems. It has miles of trails dedicated to helping people develop a love and …
Culture Of Conflict: Watching The End Of The 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg
Culture Of Conflict: Watching The End Of The 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg
Honors Theses
The 1960’s was a complicated time in American History. The decade started with Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” and concluded on “The End” by The Doors. The explosion of a youth counterculture is captured and preserved on film; a medium that was rapidly becoming more mobile, personal, and artistic. The expansion of the documentary field coincided with a unique cultural blossoming centered around rock music and the results of these films leave us with an audiovisual history of extraordinary moments in time. This thesis closely examines the development and issues of performance or rock documentaries to better understand the violent demise …
The Smiling, The Sick, The Suffereing: Snapshots Of Syrian Displacement, Karlee Anna Bergendorff
The Smiling, The Sick, The Suffereing: Snapshots Of Syrian Displacement, Karlee Anna Bergendorff
Honors Theses
Photographic images of Syrian refugees - smiling, sick, or suffering - on the news and in the ads of human rights organizations have been employed to mobilize governments, armies, or businesses. These images are effective in mobilizing various forms of support or intervention because they have a strong emotional impact on the mass public. The emotionally driven connection between spectator and refugee, however, raises some troubling questions about whose interests the images serve, and how they are used for various efforts. Is it possible to depict the suffering of Syrian refugees without violating their dignity, agency, and autonomy? I argue …
Public Opinion And Regional Differences In Death Penalty Policies, Alicia Blecich
Public Opinion And Regional Differences In Death Penalty Policies, Alicia Blecich
Honors Theses
Despite the 1976 affirmation by the Supreme Court that the death penalty does not violate the Constitution, some states have moved away from this practice due to a variety of reasons to the point that there appears to be regional differences in policy on this issue. The objective of this study is to determine which factors influence public opinion on capital punishment and how they account for the regional discrepancies in policy. I identify a number of demographic factors that have been found to influence this opinion on a national scale, for reexamination at the regional level. Six states are …
Japanese Neet And Freeter: A Representation Of The Relationship Between Social Changes And Youth's Employment Pattern, Linh Hoang
Honors Theses
My paper attempts to analyze the existence of NEET (No Employment, Education or Training – ニート) and Freeter (Freelancing part-time worker - フリーター), two common groups of young unemployed people and irregular workers in Japan. Throughout the study, the relationship between Japanese social changes, modernization process and Japanese NEETs and Freeters is thoroughly examined. The first social change related to the establishment of these two groups is the transformation of employment system. The combination of a seniority-based system and performance-based system as well as their contrasts has increased the competitiveness in the job seeking war while eliminating some of the …
German And The European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration Of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack
German And The European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration Of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack
Honors Theses
Since 2014, conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East have brought large inflows of asylum-seekers streaming into Europe. Germany has not only accepted the greatest number of these asylum-seekers, but it has additionally pushed for other European Union member states to accept more asylum-seekers as well, thereby earning an international reputation as a leading proponent of human rights in the European Union. While images of German citizens crowding train stations in Munich and other cities to welcome refugees have dominated news cycles, there is an increasing anti-immigration sentiment in Germany, which at its most extreme has manifested itself in …
Uncharted Territory: Critical Social Artistic Practices In The 21st Century, Kyra M. Detone
Uncharted Territory: Critical Social Artistic Practices In The 21st Century, Kyra M. Detone
Honors Theses
Since the early 1990s, the American art world has witnessed the rise of critical social artistic practices that are largely collaborative projects driven by participatory experiences between artists and community. With its roots in the activist, protest, and public art movements beginning in the late 60s, socially engaged art steps out of traditional viewing spaces like the museum and directly confronts society’s object-based and monetary understanding of art. Driven by process and dependent on coalition building, creative problem solving, and public service rather than profit, socially engaged critical practice is complex and demands a new vocabulary through which to critique …
The Privilege Paradox: The Effect Of Affluence On The Adolescent Experience, Darcy Berger
The Privilege Paradox: The Effect Of Affluence On The Adolescent Experience, Darcy Berger
Honors Theses
The purpose of this research is to identify and discuss the pressures of adolescents who come from affluent families in American society. This is an important group to study, because recent studies suggest there are misconceptions regarding how “privileged,” or isolated from psychosocial maladjustment, these adolescents may actually be. 21 qualitative, in-depth interviews with college students were conducted at a private institution in order to analyze possible areas of distress and mental health concerns. Findings suggest that upper class youth have a unique set of stressors that can potentially lead to mental health problems. High achievement pressures, excessive parental criticism, …
El Paralelismo Entre Los Cambios Demograficos Y Los Medios Sociales Y Su Impacto En El Activismo En America Latina, Ashley Beccia
El Paralelismo Entre Los Cambios Demograficos Y Los Medios Sociales Y Su Impacto En El Activismo En America Latina, Ashley Beccia
Honors Theses
En la segunda mitad del siglo XX, los avances sociales, especialmente en los ámbitos tecnológicos y médicos, cambiaron la manera en que viven los seres humanos. Los sectores demográficos empezaron a experimentar grandes transformaciones debido a la reducción de la tasa de mortalidad infantil y el crecimiento de la expectativa de vida (Saad 240). Como consecuencia, ha emergido una nueva época de vida, que se llama la edad de adulta emergente, que es caracterizada por la exploración y construcción de la identidad y creencias personales (Smith y Snell 6). Las nuevas estructuras sociales alrededor del mundo han requerido que los …
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo Y Los Medios Sociales: La No Desaparicion De Los Desaparecidos, Matthew Christal
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo Y Los Medios Sociales: La No Desaparicion De Los Desaparecidos, Matthew Christal
Honors Theses
El diccionario Merriam Webster define "desaparecer" de varias maneras: dejar de ser visible: pasar fuera de vista: dejar de existir: morir o desaparecer por completo: perderse: ir a un lugar que no se conoce. En el caso de las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, estas definiciones son referencias a sus hijos e hijas que desaparecieron durante la guerra sucia. Normalmente, cuando pensamos en periodos de historia muy oscuros, pensamos en eventos como el holocausto. La guerra sucia fue el “holocausto” para los argentinos entre 1976 hasta 1983. Las madres de los desaparecidos han sido la razón por qué las memorias …
Constructing A Narrative Of Irish Republicanism 1913 - 1921, Christopher Graff
Constructing A Narrative Of Irish Republicanism 1913 - 1921, Christopher Graff
Honors Theses
The Easter Rising of 1916 and subsequent Anglo-Irish War were two seminal events in contemporary Irish history, and are especially pertinent as the 100th anniversary of the Rising approaches this year. In this thesis, I examine the underlying causes of the Easter Rising, specifically the growing influence of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and an increase in Irish Nationalism. I then trace the planning, preparation, and execution of the Easter Rising, which was not a popular uprising, but rather an armed insurrection led by a small group of militarized radicals. I also analyze the political, social, and economic consequences of the …
The Price Of Democracy: Hong Kong's Identity Crisis In The Umbrella Revolution, Jen Keung
The Price Of Democracy: Hong Kong's Identity Crisis In The Umbrella Revolution, Jen Keung
Honors Theses
Most past research on the democratization of Hong Kong has been generally concerned about on the ramifications of institutional power dynamics, and aimed to inform an audience whose primary interests were in China. Accordingly, understandings of the culture and society of Hong Kong becomes limited, as they serve to support an argument for or against Chinese regional despotism. From public media coverage to scholarship articles, very little attention has been paid to the transformations of Hong Kong at the individual level. In a society that has been through constant social, economic and political transformations in the past decades, Hong Kong …
New Refugees - Old Rules: An Analysis Of Jordanian Refugee Policies And Their Effects On Humanitarian Relief, Sarah Kader
New Refugees - Old Rules: An Analysis Of Jordanian Refugee Policies And Their Effects On Humanitarian Relief, Sarah Kader
Honors Theses
Over 1.4 million Syrians have fled to Jordan since 2011 as a result of the brutal, ongoing conflict in Syria. Just as the Palestinians fled Israel these last 67 years, the newly arrived Syrian refugees are an ignored actor in a cruel game between the Jordanian state, the United Nations Agencies, the United States and interested non-state actors. The resulting human rights violations, including denial of rights to work, healthcare, education, and movement, are not accidental but are sanctioned by the Jordanian state. This thesis analyzes Jordan’s history with the Palestinian refugees; the motivations and implementation of policies excluding Palestinians …
Democracy And Citzenship: A Counterintuitive Relationship Examined Through Ancient Athens And The Contemporary Crisis, Shivangi Mehta
Democracy And Citzenship: A Counterintuitive Relationship Examined Through Ancient Athens And The Contemporary Crisis, Shivangi Mehta
Honors Theses
Ancient Athens is often valued for being the birthplace of democracy, a form of government that is often believed to be “by the people, for the people.” With democracy came the emergence of citizenship. In ancient Athens, citizenship was created to outline the political community by defining who belonged to the community and who was excluded from it. Through time, as countries have been claiming they are becoming more democratic, more restrictions have been imposed. These restrictions have created boundaries, thus excluding individuals from citizenship status causing them to lose their rights and abilities, specifically in areas such as political …
Love Shouldn't Hurt: Akrasia As An Explanation For The Perpetration Of Domestic Violence, Elizabeth Murad
Love Shouldn't Hurt: Akrasia As An Explanation For The Perpetration Of Domestic Violence, Elizabeth Murad
Honors Theses
Domestic Violence (DV) is a prominent issue that affects people of all demographics, and can be defined as the perpetration of psychological, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse against (typically) an inferior other. A dear friend, Alex, lost her life at the hands of her boyfriend of almost two years, and I still struggle to understand how one could do such an atrocious thing to a loved one? The Perpetrator, Clayton, claimed that he “just snapped” when he “killed [his] girlfriend.” It is from this case, and more specifically the statement: “I just snapped,” that I have based my research; I …
Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Care Choices A Home-Based Palliative Care Program, Katherine Pouliot
Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Care Choices A Home-Based Palliative Care Program, Katherine Pouliot
Honors Theses
Background: There is a growing need for home-based palliative care services, especially for seriously ill individuals who want to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and remain with their regular outside care providers. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Care Choices, a new in-home palliative care program provided by the Visiting Nurse Services of Northeastern New York and Ellis Medicine, a community healthcare system serving New York’s Capital District. Design: A prospective cohort study tracking patient outcomes over the course of one year. Subjects and setting: One hundred twenty-three patients (49 men, 74 women) with serious illnesses who were new enrollees in Care …
Baby Cribs In Prison Cells: Assessing Opinions About Prison Nursery Programs By Humanizing Incarcerated Mothers, Erin Ostheimer
Baby Cribs In Prison Cells: Assessing Opinions About Prison Nursery Programs By Humanizing Incarcerated Mothers, Erin Ostheimer
Honors Theses
Through my research, I analyzed prison nursery programs in the United States. Prison nurseries are programs that exist in nine states that allow mothers who are pregnant when they are incarcerated to keep their infants with them in prison for a finite amount of time. Previous scholarship on the topic has shown that prison nurseries are effective in reducing rates of recidivism and fostering a bond between mother and infant. My research explored the question of why these programs are so rare given their success. I assessed Union College student and professor attitudes about maternal incarceration to better understand how …
Remember The Holocaust And The Killing Fields: A Comparative Study, Ilan Levine
Remember The Holocaust And The Killing Fields: A Comparative Study, Ilan Levine
Honors Theses
Why is the Holocaust almost universally remembered as the most horrific event in the modern age while the Cambodian genocide is hardly remembered both in and outside of Cambodia? Do the two events share similar aspects despite their differences, and what implication does that have on a wider understanding of both genocides? This thesis explores these questions by examining how the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide (killing fields) have been remembered over time. Examining both shows the respective roads of memorialization that each have taken and reveals where the two catastrophes share major aspects: notably, the tactics used by the perpetrators, …
Statelessness And Human Trafficking: A Case Study Of Haitian-Dominicans, Anabel Reyes-Ovalles
Statelessness And Human Trafficking: A Case Study Of Haitian-Dominicans, Anabel Reyes-Ovalles
Honors Theses
This thesis explores whether stateless persons are more vulnerable to human trafficking and why. My primary example will be the 2013 Dominican Republic Supreme Court ruling, which rendered Haitian-Dominicans stateless. To understand current Dominican Republic-Haiti relations, this thesis addresses contentious historical accounts of these countries’ relations, particularly from the 1960’s to 2015. This case study will focus on the vulnerable relationship of citizens to a state, specifically the vulnerability of defacto statelessness versus dejure statelessness. I argue that dejure statelessness is a particularly severe condition that contributes to human trafficking. This thesis draws upon both primary and secondary sources including, …
Voter Identification Laws: In The Name Of Reform Or Suppression?, Melissa Rodriguez
Voter Identification Laws: In The Name Of Reform Or Suppression?, Melissa Rodriguez
Honors Theses
Voter identification laws have been at the center of controversy in political discourse for some time now. Proponents of voter identification laws claim that they are necessary in order to curb public opinion regarding voter identity fraud. Even if there were no evidence of fraud in the system, they would still be necessary to protect the integrity of the system. Opponents counter back that due to the lack of evidence of voter identity fraud, these requirements are a part of partisan politics in which the right wing is attempting to disenfranchise groups that tend to vote democratic. These attempts are …
Making It: The Role Of School-Based Intervention In Shaping Educational Aspirations Expectations And Achievement Among High School Students, Maeve Williams
Making It: The Role Of School-Based Intervention In Shaping Educational Aspirations Expectations And Achievement Among High School Students, Maeve Williams
Honors Theses
In an age when higher education has become increasingly channeled as a means of gaining access to an information-driven economy, it is important to note who does and does not enroll in postsecondary courses. The American ‘achievement’ ideology touts education as an opportunity equalizer, and attributes lack of achievement in this system to individual failing. An extensive body of literature, however, points to systemic barriers which create a gap in achievement, primarily along the social fault lines of early development and family characteristics, peers and community, school environment and locational setting, and the demographic factors of race, socioeconomic class and …
The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging The Racial Gap In The City Of Brotherly Love, Rachel Wyman
The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging The Racial Gap In The City Of Brotherly Love, Rachel Wyman
Honors Theses
This thesis seeks to examine African American activist Octavius Valentine Catto's social and civic contributions to the African American community in Philadelphia and the nation during the Reconstruction era. Catto's militancy, courage, and devotion to the black cause, as a result of major religious and secular revolutionary ideology, offers an alternative view of the black experience in the North which was overshadowed by the myriad of research on Reconstruction in the South. Octavius Catto is part of a long tradition of black activists who led a wave of antislavery reform rooted in the secular political ideology of the American Revolution, …
Voices Trapped Within The Portrait: Annetje Kool Pieter Vanderlyn And The Expectations Regarding Gender In Public And Private Spheres In A Burgeoning Nation, Abigail Hollander
Voices Trapped Within The Portrait: Annetje Kool Pieter Vanderlyn And The Expectations Regarding Gender In Public And Private Spheres In A Burgeoning Nation, Abigail Hollander
Honors Theses
The main subjects of this study, Pieter Vanderlyn, the attributed artist of “A Portrait of Annetje Kool” (c.1740), and Annetje Kool, the sitter, both had subversive identities relative to the sociocultural expectations of New Netherland, a Hudson River Valley based settlement. The oil portrait on canvas depicts a young woman in an elaborate dress with lace and gilt embellishments. To understand this portrait’s historical context, this thesis examines how male and female voices functioned on the margins of the moral boundaries that shaped expectations of gender appropriate thought and action during the colonial, revolutionary, and post-revolutionary eras in New York …
The Cult Of Cultural Consumption In The United States: How Class Stratification Shapes The Social Realms Of Consumer Brand Perception, Nelligan Rose Boff
The Cult Of Cultural Consumption In The United States: How Class Stratification Shapes The Social Realms Of Consumer Brand Perception, Nelligan Rose Boff
Honors Theses
An individual’s social position shapes taste culture as it pertains to fashion and branding. The purpose of this research is to develop more knowledge on who or what social factors are driving consumer’s perception of the brands they want, or don’t want to buy. The perspective of consumption seems to transcend self-interest alone and this thesis aims to analyze the extension of that transcendence. Brands are not merely relating to consumers through a relationship of functional need, but also interfere and are driven by social relationships between consumers. There is evidence that suggest that consumers might interact with brands that …
The Endless Long Hot Summer: A Study Of Urban Riots And The Kerner Report, Taylor Anderson
The Endless Long Hot Summer: A Study Of Urban Riots And The Kerner Report, Taylor Anderson
Honors Theses
This thesis examines the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders’ (Kerner Commission) investigation from 1967 to 1968 of the urban violence that occurred throughout the late 1960s in the United States. The study focuses on the process by which the Kerner Commission’s research and investigation became the conclusions and recommendations found in the Final Report they produced. For purposes of analysis, three sections of the commission’s research and findings were examined—the relationships between urban violence and racism, the police and minorities, and the press and urban violence. The commission’s methodology was a combination of investigative fieldwork that included interviews and …
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Domestic Violence In The Legal System: The Importance Of Victim Advocates, Joanna Chalifoux
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Domestic Violence In The Legal System: The Importance Of Victim Advocates, Joanna Chalifoux
Honors Theses
Domestic violence is an aspect of the legal system where there typically is a lack of communication among the institutions involved. Therefore, the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach to domestic violence in the legal system is assessed by emphasizing the importance of the presence of victim advocates in the courtroom. In this dissertation, the issue will be evaluated through a feminist point of view— with the belief that domestic violence is a gendered phenomenon in which the majority of the perpetrators are male and the victims are female. In order to research this, several judges, lawyers, and victim advocates who …