Sociology Commons^™

Indigenous Perspectives: The Struggle For Land, Culture And Education In Rivas, Nicaragua, Jeremy Harrison-Smith

Capstone Collection

The domination of Western educational systems and the capitalist market over indigenous social economic structures has been detrimental to communities all over the world. The search for foreign investment and development opportunities, along with local government’s educational structuring has spread these systems to communities in Central America. This research explores first-hand accounts surrounding these influences through the perspectives of two Nahua indigenous communities in Rivas, Nicaragua. First, a history of indigenous struggles in Nicaragua along with U.S. economic influence on land rights, tourism and educational systems are explored. Then, the indigenous communities’ perspectives are presented to understand the effects of …

An Analysis Of Women’S Participation In Peace Negotiations; 1992 - 2010, Tuohy Ahern

Capstone Collection

This paper will present an analysis of several women’s peacebuilding movements and describe their efforts to participate in formal peace negotiations. This analysis includes the design, development and implementation of the female and community-based initiatives as well as the strategies, tactics and approaches used by these women throughout the peace negotiation process. It is important to consider the central role women’s organizations have played in ensuring women’s involvement when examining peace negotiations. Despite a lack of formal invitations to participate in negotiations, many female community-based initiatives have gained entry through efforts outside the political realm.

To provide a framework on …

Sustainable Development Projects For Refugees Case Study: Measuring The Scope Of Sustainability Of Sustainable Development Projects And Microcredit In Eritrean Refugee Camps In Eastern Sudan, Khalid Alssardiyah

Capstone Collection

Sustainable development projects are a vital modern method in fighting poverty and in reducing unemployment; they provide the main motivation for communities to become involved in the decision-making process of building their lives in their society. International institutions focus on establishing sustainable development projects for many communities, but this concern has yet to reach those in the greatest need, such as the refugees in eastern Sudan.

This capstone paper identifies sustainability of sustainable development projects and microcredit, as well as the challenges facing these efforts. A case study was conducted on Eritrean refugees in Shagarab camp in eastern Sudan where …

Is Mine Risk Education (Mre) Having A Significant Effect And Long-Lasting Impact On Attitudes Towards Uxos At The Community Level?, Phounsy Phasavaeng

Capstone Collection

For over 30 years, UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) contamination in Laos has affected the ability of the population to maintain suitable livelihoods in a number of provinces. This constraint is a significant challenge to community development as well affecting National Social Economic Development. UXOs are the cause of many accidents in Laos, the casualties are often children and farmers who are involve in agricultural activities and scrap metal collection.

UXO-LAOS is the key UXO clearance agency in Laos. Other UXO clearance agencies have also tried to address the problem by providing the clearance work as well as Mine Risk Education (MRE) …

Fighting Fire With Flame: Visual Storytelling As The Antidote To Negative Media Imagery, Léna Sulpovar

Capstone Collection

This paper is an examination of the power of art in building bridges between groups of people in conflict. Through two complementary case studies where theater and film are utilized as catalyst for dialogue, the paper highlights the impact of visual storytelling on the hearts and minds of participants entering the experience with certain prejudices towards and fear of the “other” group. In particular, it shows that complex visual stories and empathetic characters have the ability to increase understanding of other perspectives, transform perceptions, and even instill narratives that are contrary to the ones dominant within the given culture. Interviews …

The Role Of Youth In Post-Conflict Reconstruction (The Case Of Liberia), Marit Woods

Capstone Collection

African youth today no longer want to view themselves as future leaders; instead they want to be viewed as leaders of today who have the ability to shape their own future. Despite the limited opportunities available to youth in the developing world, they strive to become contributors to their communities. Once the world realizes the importance of empowering youth, young Africans will have more opportunities to excel. The purpose of this inquiry is to answer “What opportunities are available for Liberian youth (15-35 years old), and how can these opportunities enhance youth participation in the National Reconstruction Process?” Utilizing qualitative …

Immigrant Women Organize For Justice: A Listening Project, Sandra Catalina Nieto

Capstone Collection

Over nineteen million immigrant women live in the United States. Each one of those nineteen million women carries with her a powerful history. Immigrant Women Organize for Justice: A Listening Project is an attempt to capture a breath of those histories, in particular the histories of four mujeres luchadoras: immigrant women who are organizing communities surrounding them and devoting much of their life and their work to the lucha (struggle or fight) for a more just and equal society. Immigrant Women Organize for Justice: A Listening Project is a two-part project. The first section is devoted entirely to remembering the …

Mind The Conflict: Mindfulness And The (Israeli-Jewish) Conflict Mindset. Dis-Covering Psychological Barriers To Peace, Shiri Barr

Capstone Collection

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is regarded as an intractable conflict – a lengthy, violent and seemingly insolvable conflict. Social-psychologists assert that individuals and societies entrenched in intractable conflicts develop a problematic psychological infrastructure, which is here termed the Conflict Mindset. Made up of certain attitudes, beliefs, and emotional inclinations, the Conflict Mindset serves as a double-sword: on the one hand it helps the society endure the difficulties of the ongoing conflict; on the other hand it feeds an ever escalating cycle of violence, by promoting narrow and rigid perspectives that block possibilities for change. The Conflict Mindset is only part of …

Funding The Fundamentals: A Peace First Teacher’S Recommendations For Increased Quality Sixth Grade Curriculum To Effectively Engage And Educate An Increasing Quantity Of Students., Pamela Gonzales

Capstone Collection

In the United States, the top 20% of the population owns 85% of the wealth. This leaves only 15% of the wealth for the rest of the population. This clear disparity of wealth, in combination with the common practice of racial segregation (created by 300 years of inequality) has direct correlations to violence in United States cities. Boston is one of these cities. Impoverished minority neighborhoods are struggling because they exist in a society that is essentially ignoring them. There are fewer opportunities in poor minority neighborhoods, particularly for young people. As a result, a cycle of violence has continued …

Transforming Lives And Communities: A Case Study On Building Partnerships In The Philippines Through Appreciative Inquiry, Rizalina L. Ababa

Capstone Collection

The growing number of poor in the Philippines is alarming. Neither the national government nor any individual organization acting alone has been able to alleviate the rising percentage of poverty. With this prevalent need in the country, networks, alliances and partnerships among several organizations, including faith-based organizations, have been established to help respond to the needs of those living in poverty.

OM Philippines–Cebu Ministries, a faith-based Christian organization was started in 2001. It has worked specifically among the poor through children’s programs in partnership with local Protestant churches. Like many NGOs, OM Philippines has been exploring new strategies to expand …

The Campaign For Bias-Free Policing In Vermont: One State’S Resistance To The Localization Of Federal Immigration Agency, Amanda L. Park

Capstone Collection

There are roughly 1,500 immigrants from Mexico and Central America currently working on farms in Vermont, helping to sustain approximately half of all milk produced in the state. But the lack of adequate visa-to-work options leaves these individuals without proper documentation to be in the US. As such, they are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers, susceptible to harassment from the communities in which they live, and under constant threat of deportation by federal immigration agents. Now, the US Department of Homeland Security—in charge of domestic defense and immigration—is attempting to use local and state law enforcement officers in the …

Paradise Lost, Found Or Created? Expectations Between Teachers And Vulnerable Children: Case Study On Peace House Secondary School, Northern Tanzania, Kelli Bee

Capstone Collection

The orphans and vulnerable children of northern Tanzania are offered a unique opportunity of education if selected to attend Peace House Secondary School. The school selects the most needy of this ostracized demographic and offers high quality education by focusing on student-centered techniques.

This study investigates the expectations between students and teachers using ethnographic methods carried out in 2010 and 2011, including student-wide survey, classroom observations and interviews with both teachers and students. Student perspective was intentionally of particular focus in data collection.

The study found that expectations which were shared by all participants revolve around passing exams. Students are …

Experiences In Coexistence And Anti-Normalization Phenomenological Case Study: Arab Alumni Of The Arava, Lauren Rauch

Capstone Collection

Many Arabs are confronted with the accusation that they are “normalizing with the Zionist enemy” when they participate in people-to-people programs with Israeli Jews. This paper explores the phenomenon of Arab participation in the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies, an academic coexistence program in Israel, and how the participants relate their experiences to the anti-normalization discourse. At the Arava Institute, Palestinian and Jordanians study and live alongside Israelis; Arab participants are often labeled “normalizers” within their society, a term associated with being a traitor or collaborator. From an anti-normalization perspective, people-to-people programs promote a positive public image of Israel and …

Perceptions Of Access To Education: Inclusion And Exclusion For Non-Karen Refugees In Mae La Camp, Matthew Gross

Capstone Collection

Mae La refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border is the largest of the seven “Karen” refugee camps in the area and is considered the center of education for refugees. Continued fighting inside Burma between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the ethnic armies as well as the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008 have greatly altered the demographics in Mae La refugee camp. Perceptions of Access to Education: Inclusion and Exclusion for Non-Karen Refugees in Mae La Camp attempts to understand, through qualitative data, how non-Karen speaking refugees perceive their access to education. Is education in Mae …

Beyond Heard: Young Adults In North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic Of Congo, Their Resilience And Role In Peacebuilding., Cynthia Tarter

Capstone Collection

People in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) have faced decades of direct and structural impacts from conflict and war. Of the many key actors in the peace process of DR Congo, the voice and capacity of young adults is generally left unheard. This study examines the role of Congolese young adults in peacebuilding in conjunction with identifying contextual protective factors of resilience. The role foreign aid workers have in development and conflict interventions is an included backdrop of focus.

Primary research data was gathered from rural communities in North Kivu from July 2010 – February 2011, and …

The Insecurity Of “Secure Communities”: A Case Study Of An Advocacy Campaign To Protect Immigrant Rights In Santa Barbara, Ca, Tina Pia Peirano

Capstone Collection

This case study describes and analyzes the work of advocacy work of PUEBLO, a human and immigrant rights organization in Santa Barbara, California. The paper focuses on the ongoing campaigns of PUEBLO and its allies, including national and state-level organizations and coalitions, to influence one of the most recent federal immigration policies, titled Secure Communities. It also addresses PUEBLO’s advocacy to change local law enforcement policies or practices which have targeted Hispanic residents, including undocumented immigrants, for traffic citations and car impoundments. Based on knowledge acquired through my six month, full-time internship with PUEBLO and through various forms of primary …

The Water Project: A Short-Term Study Abroad Program Design For Alfred University, Caitlin Paul

Capstone Collection

The Water Project is a short term, faculty-led program, which will address the global water crisis by using the strengths of Alfred University (AU). The Water Project will include students from five different disciplines -Engineering, Art, Business, Language, and Anthropology- and have them work in collaboration with each other and the faculty of AU to create low-cost, ceramic water filters for a community in need of a clean water source in a rural area of Burkina Faso. The Water Project is not intended to be an imposing force on the community, but a welcomed collaborator that works to create a …