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The Value Of Education: School Policy Decisions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elika W. Somani Apr 2022

The Value Of Education: School Policy Decisions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elika W. Somani

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lacking national U.S. policies, wide variation and conflict over chosen public school policy decisions emerged. What factors and guidelines informed the decision-making process in K-12 public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and who were the key stakeholders? This study examines three school district types – a large city, medium city, and small-town – across Minnesota as case studies to unpack how policy decisions were made during the pandemic. Stakeholder interviews uncovered that the school decision-making process was a) connected to a district's political opinions, b) made by the superintendent and school board, c) primarily influenced by …


Plague! Public Health, Community Memory, And Hiv/Aids, Aidan M. Williams Apr 2022

Plague! Public Health, Community Memory, And Hiv/Aids, Aidan M. Williams

Sociology Honors Projects

How does individual trauma influence collective memory? Within queer communities, key social institutions are responsible for communalizing experiences of suffering, forming group narratives of trauma that are shared across vast spatial and generational gaps. These narratives continue to influence individual behavior years after the initial trauma, informing ideas of collective identity within the queer community. In my analysis of 10 interviews, I examined how experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were influenced by understandings of HIV/AIDS. My interviewees were self-identified members of the queer community spanning many age groups; some of my participants were old enough to remember the height of …