Digital Commons Network^™

Population Decline And School Closure In Puerto Rico, Jennifer Hinojosa, Edwin Melendez, Kathya Severino Pietri

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

According to the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates, Puerto Rico’s population is 3.1 million, having declined 4% since 2017 (3.2 million).1 This is the first official estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017. Since Hurricane Maria, migration has intensified, especially among adults and the children accompanying them (family units), and this pattern shifted the Island’s demographic structure. This declining population has had a series of social and demographic impacts, such as increasing vacancy rates for housing units, lower growth rates in child population, and school closures throughout the Island. In …

Worcester Chamber Of Commerce: Recruiting Minority Business Owners, Ryan Dimaria, Alexander Hull, Xikun Lu, Haopeng Wang, Jiacheng Hou, Danning Zhao

School of Professional Studies

Our capstone project was to help the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce identify how to re-frame their marketing so it would be appealing to immigrant and minority owned businesses. Based on interviews and external research, our group was able to create a tangible and resourceful data set that provided justified recommendations and ideas on how the Chamber could make adjustments to their marketing plan to attract more businesses of this particular demographic in the city of Worcester. By implementing these recommendations, we believe the Chamber has the opportunity to create a more diverse group of Chamber members, add value to …

“Being Able To Breathe Publicly:” Trans And Gender Nonconforming People Healing Through Embodied Activity, Kp Blake-Leibowitz

Sociology Honors Projects

Sociological research on transgender and gender nonconforming (gnc) people has emphasized the interplay between identity and institutional contexts as constraining through hegemonic norms and dominant ideologies on sex and gender. Research in feminist trauma studies focused on insidious and embodied trauma has demonstrated numerous prospects for healing. In bridging these two fields of study through a socio-phenomenological lens, this paper shows how consciousness emerges in ways that facilitate the development of a type of bodily agency. Empirically, the paper examines whether trans and gnc people can use movement-based activities for healing, and how that healing occurs in particular spaces. In …

Pilot Study Of Empathy In Bilingual Adults, Libby Moberg

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Empathy is of critical public health importance due to its association with relationship satisfaction and well-being (Davis & Oathout, 1987; Davis, 1983). There is growing evidence that bilingual individuals may have higher levels of empathy (Javor, 2016). One potential mechanism for this relationship is that bilingual individuals tend to have higher levels of executive functioning (Costa et al, 2008), which is linked to higher empathy because individuals are able to more easily adopt others’ perspectives. Previous studies examining this question have largely relied on self-report questionnaires assessing empathy as a general tendency (i.e., trait). No studies have examined differences in …

A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Exploration Of A Sense Of Safety In Three-Generation Low-Income Families, Kaitlin Brigid Mulcahy

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Despite a wide body of literature that suggests safety as critical to human development and individual well-being (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bowlby, 1969; Fosha, Siegel & Solomon, 2009; Marvin, Cooper, Hoffman & Powell, 2002; Porges, 2011; Tronick, 2007), a comprehensive review of the literature found a paucity of research that addresses the phenomenon of a sense of safety within family units. This study sought to fill this gap through an entirely strengths-based design that made use of post-intentional phenomenological methods and arts-based analysis. The research question that guided this study was: How is the phenomenon of a sense …

Race, Threat, And Firearms: : Analysis Of State-Level Self-Defense And "Stand Your Ground" Laws, John-Michael Simpson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the expansion of state-level self-defense laws between 2005 and 2010 using a threat theory framework. Unlike prior historical changes in self-defense law, which were largely made through judicial avenues and were localized at the state-level, the recent expansions of self-defense have been driven by state legislatures to produce notable patterns of change, including protections of criminal immunity and codifications of presumption of reasonable fear. Threat theory would predict that the strengthening of informal social controls to use violence in self-defense is a response by the dominant group to perceived threats to power from a subordinate group. In …

Roads To Resettlement: A Global Analysis Of Refugee And Migrant Integration Policies Through Education-Based Non-Profits, Dina Eldawy

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This project is an international comparative study of migration patterns and integration models, spanning global case studies of refugee and migrant communities in Latin America, the United States, and the Middle East through personal research and experience. Using participant observation and interviews, I observed and worked with three different nonprofit ecosystems in Syracuse, NY; Santiago, Chile; and Tyre, Lebanon. This paper situates all three cities in the context of our globalizing world, where global conflicts or economic conditions that affect one country have an extremely crucial impact on other countries surrounding it and beyond. I observed three host countries that, …

Between Somewhere And Nowhere: Navigating The Liminal Space Of Prisoner Reentry, Shatira Woods

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Prisoner reentry has been an ever-increasing topic of investigation as communities work to reduce recidivism and mitigate the negative consequences that mass incarceration and release from incarceration has on individuals and communities. This qualitative, interview-based study of a reentry program in a Northeastern City centers the experiences of formerly incarcerated persons who are currently in various stages of the reentry process over those of program staff. I use these experiences as well as existing literature on prisoner reentry, reentry programming, and labor to evaluate and understand the shortcomings of such programs from the perspective of those directly involved in and …

Villains, Morality, And Redemption: A Content Analysis Of Children’S Movies, Iqra Ishaq

Senior Honors Projects

Research on children’s movies has yielded important findings on messaging about gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, (dis)ability, mental illness, aging, and even death. All of this research has recognized the important role children’s movies play in children’s upbringing and informal education. Not only do children’s movies reflect the commonly-held values of the time, but they impart these values to their audience. Children, as the target audience of these movies, are extremely susceptible to absorbing these values and messages.

My research examines what messages children’s movies impart about villains. It includes a content-analysis of 80 full-length animated movies released by Disney, DreamWorks, …

Social Class And Social Networks: How Sociocultural Upbringing Affects Organizational Social Networks, Jacqueline Tilton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizations are a key venue where individuals from different backgrounds have the opportunity to interact and yet we know very little about how social class background shapes interactions within the workplace. There is reason to believe that the differing value systems of social class groups influence their attitudes and behavior towards workplace connections and relationship formation. This article considers how social class background affects organizational social networks as well as the class-distinct values and attitudes that shape networking behavior of employees. To study this phenomena, I analyze a sample of 490 employees from a broad range of roles and organizations …

İbne, Gey, Lubunya: A Queer Critique Of Lgbti+ Discourses In The New Cinema Of Turkey, Azmi Mert Erdem

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In my thesis, I examine the intersections between liberalism, neoliberal globalism, and LGBTI+ visibility and identity politics, through films that present “openly” non-normative sexualities through cis/transgender male, female, or non-binary characters in the new cinema of Turkey. First, I survey existing scholarship on how liberal capitalism impacts the formation of LGBTI+ subjectivities and identity politics. Furthermore, I trace how non-normative sexualities, practices, and discourses evolved along with socioeconomic and political shifts in the Turkish Republic following the Ottoman Empire. Accordingly, I review Turkey’s adoption of neoliberal ideologies in the 1980s and how these ideologies engage with its local, heterogenous gender …

Queerness, Witchcraft, And Embodied Presence: Aesthetic Knowings Of What A Body Can Do, Megan Bigelow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Taking as a point of entry the critique of representation and affirming the limitations of the cuts that language makes, this capstone project explores the imbrications and assemblages between Foucault’s concept of subjugated knowledges, witchcraft and other body-based ways of knowing and being, and the consciousness of non-human forms such as plants and through the framework of non-representational theory, process philosophies, aesthetics, queerness, and the concept of difference itself.

Since such theories themselves are living, breathing entities, this capstone project explores the ideological split that has occurred between sacred and secular beliefs, moving through different figures such as nuns and …

The Untapped Potential Of Ethnic Community Networks: Urban Resiliency And The Chinese Commuter Van System In New York City, Alexandra Diane Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Community resiliency begins at the local level. This explores the intersection of urban resiliency with the strength of community transit networks by evaluating the extensive Chinese immigrant inter-borough commuter van system in New York City. How should the city better empower and utilize existing immigrant transit and support networks in its strategic planning in response to disaster relief, recovery, and resiliency? More broadly, how can cities harness the realities of the 21st century - migration and climate change - and realize their potential to improve accessibility and reach in disaster relief? Better understanding the way the van system works within …

Why Study Language? Discussing Language And Its Influence On Gender Discrimination, Katelyn Eisenmann

Honors Projects

An applied research project, with the culminating piece being a panel discussion that focused on the ways in which language use and structure contribute to attitudes and perceptions of gender within our society, and the politics that surround concepts of gender.

Choice Mums And Children’S Education. Does Feminism Matter? A Qualitative Study, Ana Bravo-Moreno

The Qualitative Report

The aim of this article is to analyse and compare the experiences of self-labelled feminist and non-feminist women who have consciously chosen to be single mothers. This article contributes to the literature by providing a Spanish context to the experiences of single mothers by choice. Scant research currently exists on the specific characteristics of this type of family and on the influence of gender composition. Furthermore, no research has been conducted on the comparison between feminist and non-feminist single mothers by choice and how their different perspectives may affect their children’s education. The principal argument of this paper is based …

Tribal Gaming Leader Strategies Toward A Sustainable Future, Janie A. Hall, Patricia I. Fusch, Janet M. Booker

The Qualitative Report

One aspect of leadership strategy is the need to account for the core values of the organization.The purpose of this case study was to explore the tribal gaming leader strategies used toward sustainability, an action that leads to tribal economic development and stability. The conceptual framework of situational leadership theory was used to guide the scope and analysis of this study. Six tribal gaming leaders from Oklahoma participated in a focus group session; 7 additional tribal gaming leaders from the same gaming organization participated in individual interview sessions. Member checking was used to strengthen the credibility and trustworthiness of the …

The Amygdala Era: Emotion And Experience In Memoir, Meagan Shelley

Senior Honors Theses

Amygdala Era is a culmination of short memoirs and brief poetry designed to express a stream of consciousness state of emotion over logic. The work utilizes base, primal parts of the mind such as happiness, sadness, and fear, and dissipates into the emotion and memory that is experienced daily. This is achieved through a focus on creative writing theory including stream of consciousness, interior monologue, and free indirect discourse. Amygdala Era synthesizes the techniques, strategies, and methodology of these three theories by examining past literary examples from world history. Analysis of the targeted market for Amygdala Era is detailed based …

So You Want To Do Post-Intentional Phenomenological Research?, Katherine E. Soule, Melissa Freeman

The Qualitative Report

In this article, phenomenology, both in its philosophical and methodological variants, is introduced in the form of a fictional dialogue between a student justifying her interest in using a post-intentional phenomenological approach in her dissertation to her major professor. The dialogue tackles founding philosophers, notably Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty; contemporary researchers, including A. Giorgi, B. Giorgi, van Manen, and Vagle; several phenomenological concepts, such as intentionality, bracketing, and bridling; and provides examples of three distinct approaches to phenomenological research.

Using Cognitive Apprenticeship To Enculturate New Students Into A Qualitative Research, Marisa E. Exter, Iryna Ashby

The Qualitative Report

Acquiring and mastering research skills is essential for doctoral students preparing for a future in academia or research-focused positions. However, they are among the most difficult to teach, and significant practice and enculturation is necessary to attain proficiency. The subjective nature of qualitative analysis often leads students to doubt their own abilities. This paper describes how cognitive apprenticeship was paired with Lincoln and Guba’s Constant Comparative Method for Naturalistic Inquiry, using a hands-on, physical card sort approach to mentor a novice qualitative researcher. Steps followed are discussed in detail, and voices of both the mentor and mentee are shared.

“I Am Whatever You Say I Am”: The Social Construction Of Identity In Rural Drug-Using Women’S Narratives, Amanda Bolton

Dissertations

Previous narrative criminology research has examined how drug users manage their identities through discussions of themselves, while providing little insight into how they manage their identities through discussions of others(McIntosh & McKeganey, 2000; Rødner, 2005; Sandberg, 2009).It is important to consider others because according to many symbolic interactionists (Cooley, 1902; Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934), identity is a social product that is constructed and maintained through social interaction with others and is based on perceptions of others. Cooley (1902) more specifically argued that one’s primary group (i.e., those that are relationally or proximally close to an individual) are even …

A Call For Enhancing Saturation At The Qualitative Data Analysis Stage Via The Use Of Multiple Qualitative Data Analysis Approaches, Amber N. Sechelski, Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie

The Qualitative Report

The analysis of data represents the most important and difficult step in the qualitative research process. Thus, recently, a few authors have written methodological works that contain discussion of an array of qualitative data analysis approaches. Yet, despite the call of Leech and Onwuegbuzie (2007) a decade ago for qualitative researchers to analyze a given set of qualitative data in multiple ways, this practice has been largely ignored. Thus, in this article, we bolster the argument for conducting multiple data analyses. In particular, we use data stemming from an interview to demonstrate how using five qualitative data analysis approaches (e.g., …

Stories Matter: Reaffirming The Value Of Qualitative Research, Samantha Mcaleese, Jennifer M. Kilty

The Qualitative Report

While the social sciences are experiencing narrative and emotional turns that are largely based on exploratory and theoretical qualitative research, the problematic dismissal of qualitative research approaches continues to loom large outside academia. Frequently described as a collection of “anecdotal stories,” qualitative research is dismissed as unscientific and unreliable— comments that limit the perceived usefulness of qualitative findings, especially in terms of policy reform. This article problematizes evaluating qualitative research according to quantitative measures of rigour and explores the richness and value of documenting experiential stories and the process of storying in social science research. Notably, we take up the …

Avatar Kinect: Drama In The Virtual Classroom Among L2 Learners Of English, Robert Bianchi, Byrad Yyelland, Joseph John Yang, Molly Mcharg

The Qualitative Report

This study presents a qualitative approach to exploring classroom behaviour using dramaturgical analysis of student interactions in relation with, and as mediated through, a gesture-based gaming software among L2 learners of English at two international branch campuses in the Arabian Gulf where face-to-face interactions between unrelated members of the opposite sex are generally discouraged. We investigated whether Avatar Kinect might provide a safe way for young males and females to interact while discussing social issues in a composition course. Data were collected through personal observation and survey. Five key themes emerged from the study. First, some participants chose to perform …

How Professional Physical Therapist Education Programs Develop Cultural Competence Within Their Students: An Exploratory Concurrent Mixed Methods Study, Dustin E. Domingo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory concurrent mixed methods study was to describe experiences that shape the factors of cultural intelligence (CQ) as perceived by students of professional physical therapist education programs. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to determine whether any particular factor of cultural intelligence influenced one’s overall cultural competence according to the cultural competence continuum by Cross et al. (1989).

Methodology: Students in a professional physical therapist education program completed a questionnaire, which included Likert scale questions, open ended questions, and a 37-item self-assessment based on the expanded cultural intelligence scale by Van Dyne …

The Other 17 Hours: Valuing Out-Of-School Time

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Exploring Foreign Language Teachers Recruitment Criteria: A Qualitative Study, Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, Seyyedeh Mobina Hosseini

The Qualitative Report

Although qualities of effective language teachers have been well specified and well researched, recruiters may not be aware of these qualities or, in the light of local constraints, they may ignore these qualities and apply their own criteria. To uncover the criteria which are actually applied in recruiting language teachers, this qualitative study purposively sampled 15 supervisors who were in charge of recruiting language teachers in private language schools of Sari, the capital city of Mazandran province and then theoretically sampled their perspectives and analyzed them in line with the principles and procedures of grounded theory. Iterative data collection and …

Falling On Deaf Ears: Social Workers’ Attitudes About Deafness, Hearing Loss, And Deaf Cultural Competence, Esperanza J. Garibay

LSU Master's Theses

D/deaf and hard of hearing people have lower health literacy and higher rates of misdiagnosis of serious illnesses than their hearing counterparts (Sheier, 2009). This is, in part, a result of the inaccessible and culturally incompetent care provided to d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals (Kuenburg, Fellinger & Fellinger, 2016; Hoang, LaHousse, Nakaji & Sadler, 2010 Sheier, 2009). Inaccessible and culturally incompetent care may be byproducts of human service providers’ attitudes towards d/Deaf and hard of hearing people (Ulloa, 2014; Cooper, Mason & Rose, 2005), and providers’ level of competence with properly caring for d/Deaf and hard of hearing clients …

Naccs 2019 Proceedings Complete, Linda Heidenreich

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Linda Heidenreich

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

No abstract provided.

9. “Hemispheric Poetics: Raúlsalinas, César Vallejo, And The Convergence Of Xicanx And Vanguardia Poetry”, Santiago Vidales

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

No abstract provided.