Digital Commons Network^™

Paving The Way For Recycled Roadways: Are Plastic Roads The Solution To Our Global Plastic Waster Crisis?, Reese Van Osdel, Katheryn Austin, Libbie Pepple, Soledad Stevanov

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, spring 2024

A poster titled Paving the Way for Recycled Roadways: Are Plastic Roads the Solution to Our Global Plastic Waster Crisis? for client South Sioux City, nebraska.

The Associations Between Pornography Consumption And Domestic Violence Attitudes, Angela R. Nanayakkara, Jenna K. Rieder, Phd

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Introduction

Pornography is a billion-dollar industry with harmful societal implications, such as human trafficking and exploitation of minors (Humphreys et al., 2019).

Research shows links between pornography usage and hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes toward women (Hald et al., 2013; Wright & Bae, 2015).

Pornography consumption also correlates with sexual objectification and pro-violence attitudes toward women (Wright & Tokunaga, 2016).

Studies show that the consumption of violent pornography is correlated with pro-rape and other sexually aggressive beliefs. (e.g., Demaré et al., 1993).

A meta-analysis shows that in nonexperimental studies, there is a significant relationship between exposure to pornography and beliefs …

Naturalist Thomas Hardy's Inadvertent Support Of The Gospel Narrative When Portraying Sexual Abuse And Shame In Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Hannah Carmichael

Master of Arts in Classical Studies

In his novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the naturalist author Thomas Hardy attempts to critique the 19th-century Christian perspective on sexual abuse. Instead, he inadvertently critiques legalism, exposing it as the antithesis of true Christianity. Secular scholars believe that Hardy’s novel is blaming the Victorian era’s sexual ignorance for the stigma and shame surrounding sexual abuse. Christian scholars believe that Hardy’s naturalistic worldview simply lacks a moral standard. However, I believe that Hardy’s novel exposes an issue far deeper than sexual ignorance and lacks something far more substantive than a moral standard; his novel addresses the devastating consequences of …

The Bloodless Period: A Transfeminine Experience, Rin Nguyen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is limited research exploring menstruation in transgender and gender diverse (TGD) populations, and studies have primarily examined the relationship between menstruation and gender congruence. Findings revealed menstruating TGD people experienced distress related to decreased gender congruence (Eisenberg et al., 2021), and 88% of TGD people expressed interest in menstrual suppression to manage the distress (Schwartz et al., 2022). By contrast, Lowik (2020) highlighted a transfeminine person who wished to menstruate to achieve womanhood and commented on the “bloodless period” (i.e., menstrual-like symptoms in the absence of bleeding) upon receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy. To the author’s knowledge, there is no …

Between Pages And Politics: An Interdisciplinary Exploration Of Book Bans, Hannah Morrison

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Across the United States, school boards are being inundated with requests to ban books. While these conversations are often localized, what the rise in censorship across the country suggests is that there is a fierce movement behind censoring young adult literature. What is frequently erased in these campaigns are stories of people of color and queer communities, alongside topics such as sexuality, drugs, or violence. The presiding conclusion within childhood studies on how we have reached a point where censorship is abundantly common in American schools is that public discourse views children as less than or not fully formed, thus …

Teacher Roles In Correction: Understanding Disciplinary Alternative School Programs In Nebraska, Philip Thomas White Iii

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Through semi-structured interviews with teachers and semi-structured interviews-turned-testimonios of students, I have sought to understand the purposes and consequences of Disciplinary Alternative Programs (DAP). Four different locations from across the state of Nebraska were utilized with 16 teachers and two students participating. Research questions considered the purpose of DAPs to better understand how these programs fit into broader systems of schooling. While highly cautious IRB oversight limited the number of students who could be participants in this study, their insights were substantially augmented by the sixteen educators from such environments who were also interviewed. Participant responses offered nuanced and …

Community Engagement Newsletter, April 2024, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- Community Engagement Celebration Day
--- INSPIRE Conference
--- Cedar Valley Nonprofit Awards Luncheon
--- Become a Conversation Partner

Plath Fostered It, Women Are Nurturing It: Cycles Of Existential And Confessional Women's Writing In The Mid-20th Century And Beyond, Sophie Elisabeth Conrad

Senior Theses

During the mid-20th century, a wide-ranging yet topically focused genre of women’s writing began to emerge in earnest, currently categorized as existential and confessional. Works like Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) offer explanations of why an ineffable feeling of malaise permeated the lives of 20th-century women and led them to adopt these methods of writing and thinking. However, existential feelings akin to that of the 20th-century female malaise have returned to stake their claim on the minds of 21st-century women, evidenced in popular contemporary works such as Otessa Moshfegh’s My Year …

Informal Family Archives & Oral History, Nichole M. Shippen

Open Educational Resources

Informal Family Archives & Oral History was modeled on and meant to complement the Oral History in Interdisciplinary Community College Pedagogy Funded by NEH for 2023-2025. Therefore, the description is taken from the NEH description except I modified my class to be focused on informal family archives. Students picked a family member they wished to interview for this project. They started with a cultural object exercise and built from that starting point. The class was inspired by Nairy Abdelshafy’s Informal Archives: Capturing Family Memories.

“Oral history is an interactive method and inquiry process on a topic, as well as …

What Can We Learn About Teaching Excellence From Our Students? Lessons From Six Years Of Teaching Award Data, Christopher Shortell, Kris Henning, Carl Christiansen

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching excellence in higher education can be defined and studied in different ways, but research efforts to date have often focused on institutional or instructor perspectives. This article uses a data set of over 500 open-ended comments submitted by Political Science undergraduates as part of a teaching award process to identify themes that matter most to students. We find that being supportive, bringing humor, enthusiasm, and passion to the classroom, and engaging students with relevant, challenging, and exciting activities are what defines teaching excellence from a student’s perspective. Building on these themes and using quotes to illustrate key concepts, we …

3rd Place Research Paper: Cultural Attitudes Towards Ethnic Cuisine In Italy, Rachel Berns

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

Italy has become a common “landing country” for many European and Asian immigrants, creating a perception of invasion that has led to cultural reactionism masked in the reinforcement of “traditional cuisine.” For so-called traditional foods to endure, they must continually be reinvented, bearing different meanings and social values throughout time and space while accumulating rich, cultural baggage that serves as a powerful marker of identity in a given society. This paper explores the role of traditional cuisine in Italian national identity and pride, and the subsequent historical culinary antagonism maintained in widespread attitudes toward ethnic cuisine in Italy. Through an …

Stealth Morph Intervention: A Single Case Mixed Methods Design, Kristen Elise Job

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Students who are considered “Stealth Dyslexics” may use their gifts and talents to mask their disability until the time comes when the rigor of academics peels away the mask and students are identified in middle or high school with dyslexia or reading difficulties. The primary aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate a reading fluency intervention, Stealth Morph, on identified twice exceptional (2E) students with stealth dyslexia. The intervention uses Greek and Latin roots as a morphemic approach to help students access the building blocks of academic words. The intervention consisting of 10 units to be used daily …

On Puar’S “Right To Maim”: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence As An Instrument Of Debility, Jeffrey Camille

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In enacting war and terrorism, armed combatants frequently and deliberately utilize sexual violence to target civilians. This crime is widespread, systemic, and organized, and its perpetration against vulnerable populations is a haunting reality of warfare. Although scholarship has speculated about the motivations behind conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), no one answer is sufficient to grasp a phenomenon whose constitution is complicated by a multitude of variables. Thus, scholars must continue in their efforts to rationalize why this crime takes place. This article does just that. Drawing from Jasbir K. Puar’s book The Right to Maim (2017), I fashion an intervention to …

Independent Study Project: The Impact Of Digitization And Payment On Community Health Promoter (Chp) Motivation And Effectiveness In A Peri-Urban Community In Kisumu, Kenya., Fiona Yohannes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Community Health Promoters (CHPs) in Kenya are the liaison between the community and higher levels of healthcare. As CHPs’ responsibility in the country has grown, stipends started being distributed, and digitization efforts have begun to support them. This ISP paper aims to investigate how recent digitization and payment of CHPs impact their motivation and effectiveness in a peri-urban community in Kisumu, Kenya. The project includes data analysis on CHP performance data from 2016 to 2021 and analyses of interviews with CHPs and CHAs in April of 2024. It was found that time was positively related to CHP performance. It was …

Beyond Blood: Informal Adoption And Family Dynamics In Yaoundé, Cameroon. Examining The Social, Traditional, And Family Values Associated With Informal Adoption, Elizabeth Greenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although formal adoption exists in Cameroon, it is governed by colonial systems that directly contrast with the values and traditions of the citizens the laws are meant to protect. For this reason, informal adoption is the most prominent method of child circulation. This informal movement of children occurs for various reasons, many of which reflect the sociocultural context in which the children live. The intention of this study was to determine how adoption processes demonstrate Cameroonian notions of family, how individuals perceive the concept of family, and how informal adoption impacts family dynamics. Informal observations and interviews informed the conclusion …

Exploring Diasporic And Local Perspectives: Overseas Vietnamese’S Relationship With Their Homeland’S Culture, People, And Development, Amanda Le

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Given its global presence and decades-long history of migration, the Vietnamese diaspora is a unique cultural, social, and economic phenomenon. Thus, examining the nuances of Vietnam’s diaspora-homeland connections can contribute to broader knowledge about transnational relationships. While past research has delved into the diaspora’s historical contexts, cultural ties, and contributions to Vietnam's development, contemporary studies often overlook the personal interactions and perspectives that are formed between diaspora members and locals. This study compares perceptions from both Vietnamese locals and Overseas Vietnamese on diasporic engagement with Vietnamese culture, people, and development. A mixed-method study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods: …

Perceptions, Attitudes, And Behaviors Of Young Jordanian Women On Their Second-Class Citizenship, Umulkair Mohamed

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study examines the societal impact of Jordan's gender-discriminatory nationality law on the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of young women. Utilizing quantitative interviews with six Jordanian women, aged 21-37, the research explores their perspectives on the law's implications and justifications. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, the 1954 Jordanian Nationality Law disproportionately favors men in citizenship transmission, violating international human rights principles ratified by Jordan. This results in Jordanian women who marry non-national men not being able to transmit their nationality to their children in most cases. Without Jordanian nationality, these children suffer many challenges such as limited employment and …

Darija's Dilemma In Defining Moroccan Identity, Amina Anshasi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The relationship between language and national identity has become increasingly significant in the context of globalization, where nations grapple with the complexities of cultural diversity and collective belonging. Language serves as a powerful tool through which shared values, traditions, and historical narratives are transmitted and preserved, shaping the formation of national identity and influencing government policies. In Morocco, the linguistic phenomenon of Darija exemplifies the intricate interplay between linguistic diversity and national identity, reflecting centuries of historical interactions, conquests, and power dynamics. As a conglomerate of Arabic, Amazigh, French, and Spanish influences, Darija embodies Morocco's multicultural heritage and serves as …

How Can Morocco’S Crisis Management And Disaster Response Be Optimized? Lessons From The Al Haouz Earthquake Response, Clara Normand

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco’s disaster management strategy has evolved in reaction to historical crises. On September 8th, 2023, the Al Haouz region of Morocco was struck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. The area was especially vulnerable to such a disaster due to its underdeveloped infrastructure, remote location, and lack of services. As the last phase of the disaster management cycle is unfolding, seven months after the earthquake, this research assesses the successes and challenges of the response and establishes areas of improvement to implement in national policies to optimize future crisis management across all four stages of the disaster management cycle.

Reflejos De La Injusticia: Narrativas De Estudiantes Mexicano-Estadounidense En El Sistema Educativo, Kiana Montserrat González Montañez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este trabajo examina los relatos personales de integración, discriminación y racismo institucionalizado entre dos estudiantes mexicano-estadounidense del sur de California. A pesar de tener diversas historiales de migración, sus experiencias se encuentran teniendo mucho en común por causa del racismo internalizado y estructuras discriminatorias en el sistema educativo. Mediante el método de investigación cualitativa, que incluye entrevistas semiestructuradas y análisis temático, el estudio pretende ampliar el discurso sobre los polifacéticos factores que influyen las desigualdades y estratificación racial de los estudiantes mexicano-estadounidense. Al centrarse en las voces de los estudiantes, la investigación desvela las complejidades de abordar la identidad cultural, …

Guna Community Perspectives On Attributes, Changes, And Revitalization Of Nainu Agroecological Practices In Isla Tigre, Guna Yala Comarca, Panama, Neshima Vitale-Penniman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Indigenous agroecological systems are gaining international recognition for their capacity to conserve biodiversity while promoting food security and sovereignty. Nainu is the ancestral agriculture of the Guna people of eastern Panama, and it is characterized by a successional growing system that imitates the regeneration of the tropical forest in which it is practiced. This research aimed to (a) characterize how nainu is practiced by farmers in Isla Tigre, a community in Guna Yala, (b) characterize how nainu practices have changed over time, and (c) describe how farmers and community members in Isla Tigre are envisioning and actualizing the revitalization of …

Between Here And There: Vietnamese Identity Formation In The United States, Nancy Vu , '24

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

My thesis looks at the processes of identity formation within the Vietnamese diasporic community, who sought refuge in the United States shortly after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. It draws on semi-structured interviews with Vietnamese community members from Arizona and California, textual analysis of Vietnamese magazines and written work by Vietnamese writers, and auto-ethnography informed by my family history and personal experiences in the Vietnamese community. My analysis brings together insights from different scholarly traditions that explore identity, memory, materiality, and migration. After an overview of the histories of Vietnamese migration and integration to the United States, …

Meridians 23:1 Indigenous Feminisms Across The World, Part 1, Basuli Deb, Ginetta Candelario

Sociology: Faculty Books

No abstract provided.

Experiences Of Using The Mindset Self-Management Mobile Health App Among Hispanic Patients: Results Of A Qualitative Study, Refugio Sepulveda, Jenny Chong, Ross Shegog, Kimberly Martin, Charles Begley, Robert Addy, Omar Rosales, Tomas Nuño, Shiela Soto, Cecilia Rosales, David Labiner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Interventions focusing on epilepsy self-management (ESM) are vital for promoting the health of people living with epilepsy. E-technology and mobile health (mHealth) tools are becoming increasingly integrated into practice to promote self-management strategies for chronic diseases, enhance care delivery, and reduce health disparities. Management Information and Decision Support Epilepsy Tool (MINDSET), a bilingual decision support tool (available in English and Spanish), was found to be both feasible and effective in facilitating goal-based ESM in the clinic.

PURPOSE: To assess the experience of using MINDSET as an ESM intervention among Hispanic patients with epilepsy to inform future interventional studies.

METHODS: …

Solar Energy Adoption In Unguja, Tanzania: Influence Of Awareness, Socioeconomics, And Technology Knowledge, Maxime Warnery

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looked into the effect of information dissemination on the willingness to adopt solar energy on Unguja Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago. Utilizing an information provision survey, I collected data on demographic factors, personal beliefs, and attitudes towards solar energy. The research focused on determining how information provision affects public perceptions and the likelihood of adopting solar technologies. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between detailed and contextually relevant information and increased acceptance of solar energy solutions. The enhanced intervention was particularly effective in changing beliefs about solar energy's reliability and economic benefits, addressing critical local issues such …

The Impact Of Modernization On Mating Strategies In Iran: A Comparison Across Cities Versus Small Towns, Saeed Koohgard, Kai Lin Lynn Tan, Norman P. Li, Marzie Hashemi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The mating market in Iran has shown an increased rate of relationship formation. In such relationships, the most important pillar is physical attractiveness. We adopt an evolutionary perspective to understand this trend. Through comparing districts with different levels of modernization, this study explores the effects of modernization on mate preferences in Iran. We propose that rapid modernization reduces the preference for long-term relationships and has led to a rise in short-term mating strategies. We predict that the rise of short-term mating strategies will be reflected in higher frequencies of relationships and prioritizing physical attraction in mateseeking in modern versus non-modern …

Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey 2023, Paulin Straughan, Mathews Mathew

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Singapore Management University undertook the sixth wave of the Public Cleanliness Satisfaction Survey (PCSS) with 2,010 Singapore residents providing responses to the survey from November 2023 to January 2024.

Similar to the findings from the 2022 wave of PCSS, the 2023 wave of the PCSS continued to reflect an overall satisfaction with public cleanliness in Singapore. Majority of survey respondents (94%) were satisfied with the cleanliness of public spaces that they had recently visited, which was an increase of 2% from 2022. Satisfaction with the cleanliness of food outlets saw the largest increase (by 3%) among all location types, …

When Mothers Do It All: Gender-Role Norms And Women’S Fertility Intentions In Post-Industrial Societies, Sinn Won Han, Ohjae Gowen, Mary C. Brinton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Post-industrial countries with high rates of female labour force participation have generally had low fertility rates, but recent studies demonstrate that this is no longer the case. This has generated increased attention to how greater gender equality in the private sphere of the household may contribute to a positive relationship between women’s employment rates and fertility. Building on recent scholarship demonstrating the multidimensionality of gender-role attitudes, we argue that conversely, the prevalence of a gender-role ideology that supports women’s employment but places greater priority on their role as caregivers may depress the higher-order fertility intentions of working mothers. Using data …

The Blurry Line Between Corporation And Cult: A Retrospective Autoethnographic Study, Ernst Graamans

The Qualitative Report

In popular management literature corporations are sometimes loosely compared to cults. The comparison is a severe allegation as it implies the transgression of subordinate employees’ integrity. This paper explores to what extent such comparisons with cults are warranted as well as the implications this has for the practice of corporate culture management. On grounds of the author’s unique, first-hand experience in both corporate and cultic environments a retrospective autoethnographic (RAE) approach was chosen to further explore the supposed resemblance. The comparison is structured along Lifton’s eight criteria of thought reform and reveals that although akin to cults in all aspects …

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Learnings From Employing Ipa As A Qualitative Methodology In Educational Research, Christine Robinson, Heath Williams

The Qualitative Report

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is an established qualitative methodology widely adopted within health-based research. However, one gap in the literature is that little has been written about IPA’s employability within educationally situated research. Our paper aims to demonstrate that IPA is a suitable methodology for education research. This paper has two parts. In the first part, the authors utilise the method of exegesis and theoretical analysis to explicate and provide clarity concerning the often-misunderstood philosophical and theoretical background of IPA. In the second part, we advocate for IPA as a suitable option for qualitative research in educational contexts. To execute …