Building Collaborative Capacity For Coexistence With The Montana Beaver Working Group,
2026
University of Montana, Missoula
Building Collaborative Capacity For Coexistence With The Montana Beaver Working Group, Shane Randle
Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects
Despite beavers’ recent surge in popularity, prevailing negative attitudes and the persistence of beaver removal practices remain obstacles for those advocating living with beavers. The Montana Beaver Working Group (BWG) advances beavers’ role in ecological and community resilience through members’ collaborative efforts, including beaver-related restoration and conflict resolution projects. Bringing together people with diverse values and perspectives, the BWG builds collective understanding, develops a holistic vision for beavers in Montana, and supports members in pursuing it. As the group’s impacts and membership have grown, so too has their need to adapt. For my Civic Engagement Project, I strengthened the BWG’s …
The Unwritten Legacy: Native Americans, Slaves, And Women In The Life Of Thomas Jefferson,
2026
Pittsburg State University
The Unwritten Legacy: Native Americans, Slaves, And Women In The Life Of Thomas Jefferson, Anthony C. Hudson
Electronic Theses & Dissertations
This thesis examines the influence of Native Americans, slaves, and women on the Founding Fathers and provides a way of study for future historians of early American history. By using Thomas Jefferson as the case study, this thesis will show how these three people groups shaped the culture and political decisions of America’s Founding Fathers. Though many historians have looked at this relationship in the past, there are two main things that set this thesis apart from the work of previous historians. First, this thesis attempts to separate itself from the moral questions surrounding the placement of Native Americans, slaves, …
Beyond Tacit Consent: Rethinking Immigrant Membership In Locke’S Social Contract,
2026
Bates College
Beyond Tacit Consent: Rethinking Immigrant Membership In Locke’S Social Contract, Claire A. Orfield
Bates College Undergraduate Law Review
This thesis considers the tension in Locke’s writings between universal natural-rights obligations required of a state and the exclusion of foreigners from the potential to become express consenters, thereby becoming permanent members of a state and receiving more than just baseline legal protection. Although other scholars certainly acknowledge this tension, most of them utilize it to support the abandonment of Locke’s framework of tacit and express consent altogether. This thesis, on the other hand, conducts an immanent critique of John Locke’s theory of consent by demonstrating that his own conceptual framework contains the resources for a more expansive understanding of …
Aggression And Fish Welfare: Challenges And Opportunities,
2026
University of Oxford
Aggression And Fish Welfare: Challenges And Opportunities, Christine M. Soper, Peter D. Dijkstra
Animal Sentience
Oldfield & Bonano’s (2024) [O&B] target article discusses the wellbeing and sociality of bony fishes. Many fish species, such as cichlids, are not only social but territorial. Aggression is normal, but territorial aggression in a captive environment can have a negative impact on welfare. Aggression-related injuries and deaths are prevalent in pet stores as well as research settings. We discuss the need to develop effective methods to minimize the negative consequences of aggression.
A Harmonious Legal System: True Justice Through Modernized Platonic Marxism,
2026
University of Mary Washington
A Harmonious Legal System: True Justice Through Modernized Platonic Marxism, Cian R. Batarla
Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects
The Marxist theory of the law is underdeveloped compared to the rest of Marx and Engels works. This can be chalked up to legal systems merely being part of the superstructure, by which the ruling class use to maintain power. In this essay I push back on this notion that the rule of law can be dismissed, arguing that if Marx's true community is to be as such then the addition of a just legal system is not an issue. However, Marx's true community on its own is not enough to satisfy the inclusion of a legal system. Thus necessitating …
Competition And Community In Marx’S Alienation Theory: Addressing 21st Century Social Isolation Through A Laclauian Lens,
2026
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Competition And Community In Marx’S Alienation Theory: Addressing 21st Century Social Isolation Through A Laclauian Lens, Brett J. Zimmerman
Theses
Capitalism reorients human priorities by necessitating socio-economic competition and tying the preeminent priority of survival to the rate at which one accumulates material resources. The orientation of wage as the only means to survival has replaced the need for the working class to form tribes, build inter-group solidarity, and engage in their communities, resulting in a less fulfilling society. Marx is traditionally conceptualized as a political or economic thinker, and while much of his political and economic thought will be useful supplementary material, in Section I, I will be viewing Marx through a more interpersonal lens. The section will take …
The Story Game: Dissuading The Abolition Of Man With Narrative Intellectual Virtue & The Hunger Games,
2026
Harding University
The Story Game: Dissuading The Abolition Of Man With Narrative Intellectual Virtue & The Hunger Games, Camille Bewley
Harding Undergraduate Research Conference
Relativism in modern America is leading society toward the fruition of C.S. Lewis’ warning of the abolition of man. This nation once founded on freedom inches closer to the dystopia which Suzanne Collins depicts in her Hunger Games series. This paper recognizes the growing need for humanity to realign with truth and universal values, first by reorienting itself to narratives. Through intellectual virtues of understanding and prudence as defined by Aristotle, society can translate stories into their inherent purpose; seeing truth and reality within the bottle of imagination. Stories contain the answers, narratives are the way humanity subscribes to reality. …
In The Shadow Of Justice: How The Mythos Of The Batman Balances Major Ethical Theories In His Pursuit Of Ideal Justice,
2026
Harding University
In The Shadow Of Justice: How The Mythos Of The Batman Balances Major Ethical Theories In His Pursuit Of Ideal Justice, Camille Bewley
Ex Sapientia Loqui
For more than eighty years, the Batman character has exhibited a unique synthesis of major theories of Justice, and through his experiences as a vigilante, exemplified the pursuit of the ideal virtue of Justice. Because virtue requires a lived example to be understood, Batman is one of the foundational stories fulfilling this need for one of collective society’s prominent pillars. Within the horror of Gotham City–a hyperbolic, fictional representation of urban corruption–Batman’s actions as a vigilante, walking a tightrope to maintain morality even above the law might not only be justified, but necessary. The Batman’s nature, balancing ethical theories and …
Inequality And Well-Being,
2026
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Inequality And Well-Being, Sarah E. Boslaugh
Theses
Human well-being has been a topic of interest to philosophers at least since the time of Aristotle, and well-being has also been a core concern of social scientists since the birth of the discipline in the late 18th century. Some theories of well-being include economic inequality as a factor, and multiple ways to measure this factor have been developed; as with well-being, there is no single best measure of economic inequality and the choice of which measure to use may be based on both theoretical and practical reasons. I argue that income inequality should always be included as a …
Patriotism, Philia, And Stereotyping During World War Ii: Correspondence Between Black Composers,
2026
Pepperdine University
Patriotism, Philia, And Stereotyping During World War Ii: Correspondence Between Black Composers, Selise Phillips, Joi Carr
Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium
The 20th century was a monumental time for Black composers, especially for those in the UK. Rudolph Dunbar was the first black musician to perform at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. During this time, correspondence between him and William Grant Still, a famous black composer based in America, exists. Still’s rhetorical choices in these letters demonstrate the attitudes of these composers, specifically Still, and how these choices reflect the success of Dunbar’s career. Still, whose compositions started gaining traction in the 1930s, often praised Dunbar for his achievements. These letters all take place during World War II and during …
The Hypocrisy Of The Wizards—A Proposal To Correct Incentives In Higher Education Loan Financing,
2026
Pepperdine University
The Hypocrisy Of The Wizards—A Proposal To Correct Incentives In Higher Education Loan Financing, Caden Benedict
School of Public Policy Capstones
This paper explores the origins of the student loan debt crisis and proposes tying university incentives to graduates' repayment plans and disclosing median earnings for degrees before students apply. Specifically, while there are numerous factors explaining why the price of education has increased dramatically since the 1970s, this paper proposes solutions that will specifically target university moral hazards by requiring universities fund: (1) the current subsidies to federal student loan repayments under income-driven plans as the House of Representatives intended before the Senate removed "risk-sharing," and (2) bankruptcy law discharge amounts. Moreover, requiring universities to disclose the median earnings of …
What Common Themes Are Challengers Trying To Silence And What Would Be Lost Without Them?,
2026
Ursinus College
What Common Themes Are Challengers Trying To Silence And What Would Be Lost Without Them?, Corrine H. Martello
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
This research paper aims to analyze the controversies surrounding The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, three commonly challenged books that are often found in high school English classes, in order to answer the question “what themes in these books are challengers trying to silence, and what would be lost without them?”. It will be broken into four sections, Alienation, Mental Health Struggles & Trauma, The Loss of Innocence, and Exploring Identity, which are common themes presented in all three books. …
Justice, Autonomy, Beneficence, And Non-Maleficence: The Global Failure To Heed Ethical Mandates In Birth Spaces,
2026
Ursinus College
Justice, Autonomy, Beneficence, And Non-Maleficence: The Global Failure To Heed Ethical Mandates In Birth Spaces, Julia Dees
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Respectful and safe care in all birthing spaces has long been an ideal that global communities fail to meet. Birthing people are disrespected, physically or emotionally harmed, or left to completely fend for themselves during a period of extreme emotional and medical vulnerability. Historically, autonomy especially has been ignored in birthing spaces with medical trends like the twilight sleep, where women were drugged into a state of unconsciousness during birth (Taylor, 2023), demonstrating the desire of western medicine, in particular, to reduce birthing people to bystanders in their own birth. While birth trends and medical treatments have changed throughout time, …
Obscuring Vivian Maier,
2026
Ursinus College
Obscuring Vivian Maier, Caroline Yuratich
Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics
Vivian Maier, despite being unknown during her lifetime, has undoubtedly become one of the most impactful photographers of the twentieth century. Her vast oeuvre has been shown worldwide, her bold and unconventional photographs rapidly capturing the attention of millions. Maier primarily photographed the streets of Chicago in the 1950s to 70s, snapping people and storefronts on her iconic Rolleiflex camera. Her most well-known works are perhaps her self-portraits, and her foreboding upward-shot street portraits have also taken the stage as some of her best work. However, people who knew her during her lifetime state that they knew almost nothing about …
Deportation And Death: Examining The Second Trump Administration’S Immigration Policy Through The Lens Of Just War Theory,
2026
Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois
Deportation And Death: Examining The Second Trump Administration’S Immigration Policy Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Finley W. Snyder
Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest
From day one of the second Trump administration, the White House has treated illegal immigration as an invasion, both rhetorically and, to a lesser extent, legally. The administration has not shied away from the use of force in this campaign, leading to the notable killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti along with countless acts of violence across the nation. This essay seeks to evaluate the ethics of the second Trump administration's immigration policy from within this "war" framing through the lens of just war theory. While there has been considerable attention to just war theory in the context of …
Social Murder,
2026
University of Richmond School of Law
Social Murder, Marissa Jackson Sow
Washington and Lee Law Review
In recent years, variations on Engels’s concept of social murder have been adopted into British legal and sociological lexicons to conceptualize the state’s reckless sacrifices of its most vulnerable populations—people deemed socially undesirable, legally undeserving, and economically redundant. The state allows these populations to die a multitude of deaths by failing to protect them; notably, victims of social murder are relegated to society’s underclasses, if not completely excluded from the body politic, before they are physically eliminated. Social murder is neither genocide nor ethnic cleansing; instead, social murder captures the elimination of groups of people via atrocious events for which …
An Integration Of Care Ethics Into Design Thinking,
2026
University of Louisville
An Integration Of Care Ethics Into Design Thinking, Ellie Bruner
The Cardinal Edge
In An Ethic of Caring, Nell Noddings establishes a humanistic ethical ideal—ethics should be based upon our natural sentiment of caring, not abstract moral law. She differentiates ethical caring from natural caring; ethical caring requires stirring past sentiments and a call to care for others that natural caring may not provoke. Noddings places the ethical ideal above the moral principle because the latter is too general; the ethical ideal applies to specific situations with the universal aim of “maintenance of the caring relation” (Noddings 702). Limits to our ethical responsibilities are relational: there must be “existence of or potential …
Practitioner Ethics And Controversial Advertising: A Qualitative Study Of Moral Reasoning Across Product Categories,
2026
University of South Florida
Practitioner Ethics And Controversial Advertising: A Qualitative Study Of Moral Reasoning Across Product Categories, Teodora Florido Tavares De Souza
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Advertising professionals frequently face ethical challenges in their work, yet the ways they define, recognize, and address these dilemmas remain underexplored. This study examines how practitioners perceive and respond to ethical issues in their work, particularly when it comes to promoting products and services that raise significant public health concerns, such as alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. Drawing on Drumwright and Murphy’s (2004) concepts of Moral Myopia, Moral Muteness, and Moral Imagination, this research investigates how practitioners’ ethical awareness can be shaped by the nature of the product being advertised. Through interviews with industry professionals, the study examines how the ethical …
Artificial Sentience: The Other Side Of The Story,
2026
University of Sheffield
Artificial Sentience: The Other Side Of The Story, Amanda Sharkey
Animal Sentience
There is another side to the story of the account of artificial sentience — one that makes the possibility of artificial sentience unlikely: the fundamental difference between living bodies and artificial systems. Sentience occurs in strongly embodied, living entities, and not in disembodied artificial systems, nor in robots. The appearance of sentience is exacerbated by deceptive behaviour and anthropomorphism. The risks of keeping an open mind about the required underlying substrate are in wasted efforts to protect systems that cannot suffer, and in placing inappropriate trust in their abilities.
Duties To The Self (Body And Mind),
2026
The American University in Cairo AUC
Duties To The Self (Body And Mind), Rasha Essam
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis contends that self-duties are of vital significance, representing the obligations we owe to ourselves, and examines them through different life phenomena. Chapter One defends the existence of self-duties against a challenge raised by an (alleged) paradox. Chapters Two and Three then explore two particular self-duties related to the body and the mind, analyzed through the philosophical notions of self-objectification and moral testimony. Each chapter elaborates on these concepts with detailed real-life examples that illustrate how such experiences can undermine one’s humanity—as preserving one’s humanity is a core duty toward oneself. The purpose of this thesis is not only …
