Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Empathy: Examining The Relationship Between State Political Environment And Social Studies Curriculum, Norman Morris Ellis Iii

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In the age of partisan divide in America, education plays a pivotal role in overcoming social and political barriers––bridging these divides by creating a shared understanding of core values and beliefs that promote the tolerance and acceptance of the diversity of others and the recognition of the inequities that exist in society. Although there are number of factors that have contributed to our nation’s division, this paper specifically investigates how public education might play a role in mitigating social and political tension, and the political factors that might facilitate or hinder the implementation of valuable curriculum goals. The purpose of …

Supervisor-Subordinate Conflict Negotiation: Examining The Core Concerns In Light Of Communication Accommodation And Gender Roles, Piyawan Charoensap-Kelly

Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study examined a supervisor-subordinate negotiation of an emotion-laden conflict from the lens of the core concerns framework, communication accommodation theory, and gender roles research. Results empirically support CCF that, by accommodating or attending to the employees’ core concerns, managers can stimulate employees’ positive emotion and integrative intention. However, under- and overaccommodating the core concerns can lead to distributive intention. Additionally, the employees’ perception of manager goodwill can strengthen or attenuate the positive effect of core concerns accommodativeness on outcome variables especially for male managers. Thus, moderate accommodation is recommended for male managers. For female managers, the results show …

Seduction, Promises And Disneyfication Of Barbuda Post Irma, Sophia Perdikaris, Rebecca Boger, Emira Ibrahimpašić

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Under the guise of post-hurricane development, the national government of Antigua and Barbuda exploited the disasterscape of post Hurricane Irma Barbuda to usher in a new wave of economic development that has left Barbudans separated from their unique culture and identity. In this article we explore what are inhabited vs. uninhabited spaces, the effects of Colonial Christian ideas on cultivated vs. uncultivated lands and the effects of capitalist seduction to traditional landscapes and seascapes. We argue that this neocolonial approach to traditional lifeways increases vulnerability of both people and environment. By wiping out diversity and culture in order to replace …

Inheritances Of Injustice/Transference Of Freedom: An Intimate Project On Black Women's Intergenerational Relationships And The Consequences Of The Punishment System, Whitney Richards-Calathes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project centers the multi-generational familial relationships between system-impacted Black women, mapping and uncovering the ways in which incarceration and practices of punishment impact, shape, hurt, and displace Black femme lineages. Through a qualitative lens and a specific focus on the current social and political landscape of Los Angeles, this dissertation examines the ways Black women are impacted by carceral ideology; from punitive definitions of Black womanhood, to the surveillance on Black femme familial intimacy and the rupture of Black women’s sense of home and place. Understandings of mass incarceration are frequently male-centered and most analyses of Black women’s system …

Promise And Practice: Toward An Expanded, Integrated, Collaborative Narrative On American Indians In Our National Parks, Bethany Hope Henry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Managed by the National Park Service, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, established in 1987, was developed to preserve physical segments of land and water routes, but also sites of memory such as unmarked graves and internment camps. Because the foundation of the national trail was the result of successful partnership of Cherokee grassroots efforts and multiple trail and federal advocates, the evolution of that collaboration merits consideration after thirty years to evaluate the application of standards for consultation, co-management, and heritage tourism. While the national trail preserves and marks the various routes, this study examines how three national …

Editor’S Note, Padraig O’Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

The articles in this issue have their origins in presentations at the “Freedom and Fragmentation” conference at the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict conference at Harris Manchester College Oxford in September 2018.

The Crisis Of Cultures And The Vitality Of Values: A Commentary On Emmanuel Macron’S Declaration Of The Need For Religion, Scott Atran

New England Journal of Public Policy

French president Emmanuel Macron’s claim that society needs religion is explored in the light of rising populism and illiberalism, and failures allied to the forced gamble of globalization. Historical and experimental research indicates that the universal religions have no fixed meanings or essences that drive followers. Religions have adapted to many contexts and cultures because core elements are believed sacred and transcendental, that is, non-negotiable, logically inscrutable, empirically unverifiable or falsifiable and therefore always open to interpretation under changing sociopolitical influences. Recent studies in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe suggest that “devoted actors” committed to transcendental causes are …

"Home" In Peace And Conflict Studies: A Site Of Resistance And Of Reform, Ali Watson

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article aims to examine one aspect of the "local" that has been little considered in IR: the concept of home and its significance as a place of meaning and as a site of resistance. Existing studies of the concept of home in other disciplines include their study as "profound centers of human existence" in human geography and as the place of "many cultural practices that forge social memory." More recently, the plight of refugees has thrown into sharp relief both the need for an examination of home and its current under-theorization. After a wider examination of the meaning of …

Crusaders, Sellswords, And Separatists: The Russian State’S Use Of Paramilitaries, Separatists, And Irregular Armies, Bruce Schlesman

Masters Theses

Russia currently supports various paramilitaries around the world whether in the guise of separatists, mercenaries, or irregular armies. Using their own military and intelligence operatives and different tactical and religious-ideological means of asserting control over these paramilitaries and the territories they inhabit, Russia seeks to expand the scope of its global dominance and regional influence. Consistent with its long-term goal of weakening NATO and the EU, Russian strategy under Putin has sought to exploit Russian Orthodoxy and the Russian culture as instruments of solidarity binding many of these paramilitaries to Russia in a kind of pan-Slavic religious-nationalist mission. No passive …

Cosmopolitan Democracy: Re-Evaluation Of Globalization And World Economic System, Muhammad Dalhatu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines cosmopolitan democracy theory as a method of addressing the problems of globalization. I begin by introducing the concept of “cosmopolitan democracy.” I then proceed to discuss contemporary political climate and its relation to critiques of globalization. Finally, I conclude by examining the elaborations of cosmopolitan democracy by various theorists as a way of addressing these problems. Chapter 1 introduces the work of David Held who introduced the concept in his book, Cosmopolitan Democracy and the Global Order: Reflections on the 20^th Anniversary of Kant’s “Perpetual Peace.” Cosmopolitan democracy refers to global governance through democratic theory. Held …

How Black Lives Matter Has Influenced And Interacted With Global Social Movements, Arelle A. Binning

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a chapter-based and member-led organization created out of grief by three queer black women. This thesis examines the international impact of BLM. I conducted telephone interviews with activists and advocacy organizations who have organized activist networks and/or won struggles against institutional racism outside of the United States. These activists are located in Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, India, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Paris. I conclude that BLM has inspired the creation and supported the continued development of organizations advocating for national and transnational social and racial justice on a global scale. BLM in spite …

Resisting Industrial Food Systems On The Web: How Non-Profit Organizations Use Digital Technology For Sustainability Education, Aleksandr Segal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the link between how community-based organizations use digital tools with the fundamentally resistance-based philosophy that these organizations have at the core of their mission. It aims to uncover how non-profit organizations (NPOs) that work in community development through food and agriculture use digital tools, and how their digital communication strategies relate to issues of resistance to neoliberalism and industrialization in the food and agriculture sectors.

Using a foundation of existing literature on food and agriculture, climate change and waste management, critical theory, and technology in pedagogy, this thesis will contextualize how non-profits resist neoliberal regimes of de-traditionalization …

Cultural Heritage Preservation In The Context Of Climate Change Adaptation Or Relocation: Barbuda As A Case Study, Martha B. Lerski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study introduces an arts camp methodology of engaging communities in identifying their key cultural heritage features, thus serving as a meta study. It presents original research based on field studies on the climate-vulnerable Caribbean island of Barbuda during 2017 and 2018. Its Valued Cultural Elements survey, enabling precise identification of key tangible and intangible art forms and biocultural practices, may serve as a basis for further studies. Such approaches may facilitate future research or planning as climate-vulnerable communities harness Local or Indigenous Knowledge for purposes of biocultural heritage preservation, or towards adaptation or relocation. I report on findings …

Communication In Stormwater Utility Fees Across Michigan, Hailey Olson

Honors Theses

Stormwater Utilities (SWU) ordinances are gaining wide popularity in municipalities throughout the Great Lakes region of the United States. A SWU creates a fund to maintain and update stormwater infrastructure, which in turn helps to reduce destructive flooding, and also results in higher quality waterways. This study examines two SWUFs in the State of Michigan: one in the City of Jackson (COJ), which implemented a SWUF in 2011; and the second in the City of Ann Arbor (COAA), which implemented its SWUF in 1984. These two case studies offer important contrasts and lessons. For instance, as a result of resident …

Changing The Guards: Expanding Cultural Diversity Training In Correctional Officer Basic Training, Herman Ayers

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

This research examined the effectiveness of cultural diversity training in state basic correctional officer training programs. In recent years, the demographics of the U.S. prison population has become much more culturally diverse. This shift is noted by recent academic literature from scholars who have experience working in correctional settings. The growing diversity of the inmate population puts a new emphasis on the importance of cultural diversity in correctional officer basic training programs. This exploratory study uses original data collected from a survey of correctional officers and a sample of state correctional officer basic training programs in a cross-sectional design to …

Foundation For Measuring Community Sustainability, Pamela A. Mischen, George C. Homsy, Carl P. Lipo, Robert Holahan, Valerie Imbruce, Andreas Pape, Joe Graney, Ziang Zhang, Louisa M. Holmes, Manuel Reina

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In order to understand the impact of individual communities on global sustainability, we need a community sustainability assessment system (CSAS). While many sustainability assessment systems exist, they prove inadequate to the task. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature on existing sustainability assessment systems; offers a definition of a sustainable community; provides a multi-scale, systems approach to thinking about community; and makes recommendations from the field of performance measurement for the construction of a CSAS.

Challenging The Politics Of The Teacher Accountability Movement: Toward A More Hopeful Educational Future

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Local Democracy And Education Policy In Newly Federal Nepal, Jack Shangraw

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 2017, Nepal held its first local elections in twenty years. These were the first elections held under Nepal’s new constitution, ratified in 2015, which transitioned the country from a unitary state to a Federal Democratic Republic. This case study analyzes the effect of the transition to federalism on decision-making and community representation in local governance in Annapurna Rural Municipality in West-Central Nepal. This study focuses specifically on education policy, one of the more public and contentious policy responsibilities devolved from the federal level to the local units under the new constitution. This research is based on interviews with government …

"Root Causes Not Symptoms": Sustainable Organizational Structures, Réseau De Lutte Contre La Faim: The Decision-Making Process In Combatting Systemic Issues, Ambar Deleon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper attempts to understand the basis for how an organization structures itself and their vision. This research draws its focus to the civil society sector in Cameroon, particularly looking at Reseau de Lutte Contre la Faim (RELUFA) and their organizational structure in the battling against systemic issues. The main research question for this study looked at how RELUFA reflects and monitors its performance to keep the organization sustainable in the long-term. For this research the methodology included interviews, observations and secondary resources along with tertiary resources that offered the context for the analytical part of this research. The interviews …

What Can Anthropologists Do?: Applied Anthropology In A Conflict-Ridden World, Emma G. Dorshimer

Student Publications

This work examines the role of anthropology in conflict, post-conflict studies, and conflict resolution. Present research has asserted that Anthropology as a discipline must move forward with greater involvement in domestic and international conflict resolution, but no scholar nor activist has taken that leap. All anthropological research in conflict has pertained to forensic anthropology, expert witness testimony, and post-conflict ethnographic research— all completed after conflict has already ended. Many anthropologists have recommended involvement in actual conflict resolution, and many have advocated for further Ethnographic Peace Research. However, the role of anthropology continues to be questioned by the discipline itself as …

Book Review: Forced Confrontation: The Politics Of Dead Bodies In Germany At The End Of World War Ii, Christiane K. Alsop

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Humanitarian Assistance In Protracted Emergencies: Rethinking The Role Of Food Aid In Adjumani, Victoria Puglia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Humanitarian food assistance is incredibly susceptible to funding cuts, which reduces the quantity of food available to refugees. If refugees depend solely on food aid for survival, the implication of reductions is increased food insecurity at a household level. The Government of Uganda champions a self-reliance strategy that has failed to support refugees to the desired extent, especially when food rations are low. This study aims to assess the impact of humanitarian food assistance on the socioeconomic structures of refugee settlements in Adjumani, Uganda to understand the consequences of unstable food aid. The research was conducted over a four-week period. …

“Todos Somos Trigueños”: La Presencia De Los Pueblos Indígenas En El Arte Urbano De Perú, Aubrey Parke

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Con una base en teorías de las ciencias sociales, incluso sociología, antropología y estudios urbanos, este proyecto investiga la representación de los pueblos indígenas en el arte urbano de Perú. Mi objetivo es entender como artistas urbanos en Lima conceptualizan a los pueblos indígenas a través de sus murales. Hice entrevistas con siete artistas urbanos en Lima durante un periodo de dos semanas, y también discutí con ellos ejemplos de su trabajo. Analizo las entrevistas y los murales dentro del contexto de la globalización, la historia del indigenismo en el arte peruano y las historias personales de cada artista. Encontré …

Voices Unheard: Women And Their Children In Nepal’S Incarceration System, Aune Nuyttens, Mikayla Rose

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project focused on women in Nepal’s incarceration system. Our goal was to hear and share their stories with the hopes of humanize and de-stigmatize perceptions of female prisoners in and outside of Nepal. A central component to these stories, as we learned, was also the story of prisoner’s children and the NGOs who provide assistance to this vulnerable group of women and their children. The researchers travelled to the east and west of Kathmandu to visit rural and urban prisons in Nepal, and visited various children homes, however the research was based out of Kathmandu, where many of …

The Impacts Of Warming Coffee: The Climate Change-Coffee-Migration Nexus In The Northern Triangle Of Central America, Connor Lynch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As climate change continues to threaten every corner of the world, one of the key features of the 21st century is migration, as a response to the myriad of effects related to a warming planet. This paper seeks to analyze the role of climate change as a motive for migration. The climate change-migration nexus is illustrated in this paper by revealing how slow-onset effects of climate change jeopardize the production of coffee in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), a region that is particularly vulnerable to the many effects. Thousands of people who depend on coffee production around Guatemala, …

Perspectives On Community Policing Of Durban Juveniles Living On The Streets, Dena Cheng

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this project is to critically analyze the structure and performance of the South African Police Service (SAPS) at the nexus of juvenile criminal justice and homelessness. Facing issues of social discord, legitimacy, and patterns of corruption following the era of apartheid, SAPS plays a critical role in both preventing as well as eliminating crime. Therefore, this project focuses on a particularly marginalized community, under-aged street children, since the treatment of youth crime and/or criminality in Durban serves as a microcosm of a larger system of practices implemented by SAPS. Through in-depth interviews with local social workers, a …

Where Do We Go From Here?: Two Key Informants' Perspectives On How To Address Conscientious Objection In Top Provision In South Africa, Talia Parker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This perspectives research endeavor examines the barriers to TOP access that arise from conscientious objection through the conflicting network of rights and legislation in South Africa. While previous research has evidenced the demonstrable barriers to accessing TOP care in South Africa, this project aims to push the existing literature and the field as a whole one step further to interrogate how to move forward within the realities of conscientious objection.

To do so, I conducted interviews with key informants in the field of reproductive healthcare provision, research, and activism in Cape Town on their perspectives about the practice of conscientious …

Z4, A Slow Puncture: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Language, Embodiment, And Meaning-Making, Charlotte Rose Samuels

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In my ISP, I explored language as it relates to the ways in which people living in Cato Manor make sense of HIV/AIDS in their community. With 7.1-7.2 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in South Africa, individuals across the country are either infected or affected by illness. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the province with the highest rate of HIV, is also the province that was surveyed with the disproportionately highest internal stigma rates for PLWHIV. High prevalence of HIV, particularly in KZN, calls for a constant contextualization of life in the presence of illness.

Throughout the world, metaphor and symbolism is …

From The American People: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of South African Ngos' Perceptions Of Pepfar, Antonia Asher

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this research was to understand what the ideal partnership would be between United States (US) governmental aid agencies and South African non-governmental organizations (NGOs), specifically concerning HIV/AIDS programs funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), from the perspective of NGOs. PEPFAR is the largest relief fund for a single disease; thus, I additionally sought to deeply reflect upon myself as a US citizen in South Africa, a country that has received trillions of dollars from taxpayers such as myself.

To accomplish this, I interviewed NGO staff about the nature of current partnerships, outcomes …

Characterizing Systems Of Reporting And Mitigating Anthrax Outbreaks Near Mto Wa Mbu, Monduli District, Tanzania, Megan Levy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Northern Tanzania has experienced several anthrax outbreaks in the recent past. In Monduli district, an outbreak in 2016 prompted an organization of district officials to create an updated outbreak response action plan. The pastoralist community is often affected by these outbreaks due to their frequent direct contact with cattle and herds’ proximity to wild species potentially affected by the disease. This characterization of the existing systems of reporting and mitigating anthrax outbreaks was accomplished through structured interviews with ward and village officers, local veterinarians, and members of the pastoralist community in Monduli district near Mto wa Mbu. The purpose of …