Digital Commons Network^™

Health Of Indigenous Orphans And Carers In Perú: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Hogar De Niñas Virgen De Fatima, Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek, Aparna Datey

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a devastating blow to the social fabric of Perú, with the highest orphans per death (OPD) ratio of any country in Latin America. Therefore, 260,000 orphans now require care because of 216,000 parent, custodial grandparent, and caregiver deaths between 2020 and 2022. The purpose of this research is to examine whether the practice of Transcendental Meditation, an established technique for improving the mental and physical health of children, can reasonably be expected to alleviate the symptoms of trauma associated with this surge in orphanhood.

Adolescent indigenous female orphans and their carers at Hogar de Niñas Virgen …

Putting A Slam On Alcohol Violators Through Dram- How The State Of Ohio Can Improve The Day-To-Day Safety Of Its Residents Through Dram Laws, Steven Iwanek

Honors Projects

In the realm of legal frameworks governing the service and consumption of alcohol, Dram Shop Liability Laws play a pivotal role in holding establishments accountable for the consequences of alcohol-related incidents. These laws, known as dram laws, vary across states, delineating the responsibilities of alcohol servers and establishments in preventing the overconsumption of alcohol and the resultant harm. This examination delves into a comprehensive background of dram laws, particularly focusing on their historical evolution, their present implications, and the imperative need for refinement.

As societal dynamics and patterns of alcohol consumption evolve, so too must the legislative mechanisms designed to …

Returning, Exploring, And Developing: A Threefold Cultural Program For Third Culture Kids, Early Adolescents, And School Staff, Natalie Dignoti

Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural & International Education Plan II Graduate Projects

This program takes a threefold approach to addressing the unique needs of third culture kids, early adolescents, and school staff through repatriation support, cultural awareness and exchange, and professional development. An introduction describes the specific characteristics of both third culture kids and early adolescents and defines the purpose of each component of the program. A thorough literature review provides background information and justification for the gaps that the program seeks to fill. For each of the three components, theoretical frameworks illuminate the issues addressed by the program, as well as guiding principles for navigating the target population’s needs. Following each …

Mindful Education: Strategies For Promoting Body Positivity Through Literature Works In The Classroom, Ellie Kronberg

Honors Projects

This project presents a comprehensive guide with a structured, yet flexible framework for educators to adapt into their curriculums, and is aimed at assisting in facilitating meaningful discussions about body image and diversity through a study of literature. Using mentor texts, this guide provides educators with practical strategies and resources to promote positive body image in their classroom. These mentor texts have explicit themes of body representation, positivity, and self-acceptance, which emphasize the importance of promoting body diversity and challenging stereotypes. This guide offers insights into how literature can serve as a powerful tool for addressing body representation in a …

From Pantry To Palate: An International Cookbook Unveiling Cultural Comforts Amidst Food Insecurity On Campus, Victoria M. Main

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

Food insecurity among international students in higher education is a pressing issue often overlooked by universities. This project addresses this gap by exploring food insecurity among international students at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) through participant narratives, cultural connections, and recipes collected via interviews. Diverse international students were purposively sampled, reflecting various academic disciplines, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds. Semi-structured interviews facilitated the sharing of personal stories and cherished recipes, which were analyzed to identify recurring themes and cultural commonalities.

The project resulted in the creation of the Falcon Food Pantry International Cookbook, compiling culturally resonant recipes to empower students and …

Autonomy Relation To Student's Motivation In Stem, Halle Patton

Honors Projects

The purpose of this research project is to investigate how giving students autonomy can affect the way they learn and participate in a STEM environment. Autonomy-Supportive Teaching occurs when students take ownership throughout the entire learning process, becoming more actively engaged and motivated due to the personal responsibility that they feel to learn. Our education system is primarily made up of teacher-centered environments. However, the change to student-centered learning could be revolutionary. By making educational environments geared towards student interest and choice, it could increase both motivation and internalization– two factors that make a successful student. Research was conducted in …

The Effect Of Natural Light On Mental Health, Gianna Arquilla

Honors Projects

All students have experienced low motivation at one point in their academic career, but what are the factors that can affect this? Is it solely based on their personality and work ethic, or can the environment have an effect? This study discusses the effects on mental health through architecture. Can the amount of natural light in a building affect the motivation of students? Natural light is something that is often overlooked, mostly considered as a perk rather than a necessity. How can students truly feel passionate about their work sitting in a dark place? To evaluate this data, this study …

Censorship Of Lgbtq+ Books: Causes And Consequences, Merrick Glass

Honors Projects

Censorship in the United States of America has accelerated over the past four years. LGBTQ+ books are specifically being targeted and banned within high school classrooms. Banned books are nothing new--court cases today are influenced by Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) plurality decision on censorship. Students and professionals alike have power in their rights and voices. In the framework of bell hooks, the classroom can be perceived as a site of resistance in order to take power back into students' hands. Without a diversity of books, students will lack cognitive development and community.

Communication Of Mental Health Diversity To The Early Childhood Age Group: “The Adventures Of Anxious Anderson, Distracted Daniel, And Organized Olive”, Jessica Gower

Honors Projects

In this project, I aim to explore various aspects of communication, cognitive ability, and mental health diversity in early child development. The three research questions guiding this project are: What cognitive and language abilities do children in the early childhood stage of development have? What are the most effective strategies for communicating information about mental health disorders to children ages 4 to 7 through storytelling? And lastly, how do anxiety, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) manifest, particularly in children? The storybook's purpose is to create a sense of empathy and understanding of mental health diversity in children …

‘Faults To Make Us Men’: Shakespeare In The Prison System, Hannah Boyle

Honors Projects

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the positive impact of Shakespeare in prison programs on incarcerated individuals, utilizing empirical data, anecdotal evidence, and scholarly insights. It underscores the educational benefits of engaging with literature and performance arts within prison settings, as well as the various social-emotional learning opportunities, especially the ability to reduce recidivism rates and enhance incarcerated individuals' quality of life.

Drawing on the experience and narrative of many practitioners of theatre in prison and Shakespeare in prisons programs, this paper works to show Shakespeare's unique capacity to connect incarcerated populations with those who have gone through the …

A Systematic Review Of The Literature On Sexual Assault And Dating Violence Prevention Programs For Middle Schoolers And High Schoolers, Lauren Gay

Honors Projects

Adolescent sexual abuse and dating violence are serious issues that have life-changing impacts on victims. Sex education in the United States does place an emphasis on sexual assault and dating violence prevention curriculum to be provided for students. These programs have the potential to equip students with the knowledge to lead healthy relationships and prevent violent acts from happening. This review details 25 studies that provided these prevention programs to students and the impacts they had. It was found that the programs had positive impacts on preventing sexual assault and dating violence victimization and perpetration, as well as promoting healthy …

The Effects Of Commercial Media Selling An Idealized Body Type, Emma Horner

Honors Projects

Today’s society is consumer driven. People wake up and check their social media, and they are bombarded with product promotion and brand campaigns. On their commute to work, they may see billboards advertising local businesses. In the grocery store, they rely on the packaging to guide their purchasing decisions. Advertising is weaved within our society. Advertising itself is not a problem. In fact, we rely on advertising to guide our purchase decisions. While an art form, advertisements at their core portray ideals. A travel company may portray an ideal destination, a furniture store may portray an ideal home, or a …

The Decline In Monarch Butterfly, Danaus Plexippus, Populations: An Example Of The Global Threat To Biodiversity, Olivia Sidoti

Honors Projects

Biodiversity encompasses the variety of all life on Earth and how these aspects of nature interact with each other. To have stable and abundant biodiversity, vast amounts of species and organisms are required within an ecosystem. As a result of the increase in negative impacts of human activities and behaviors on the health of nature, biodiversity has been decreasing. An example of the decrease in biodiversity is depicted by the recent decline of the monarch butterfly species. The monarch butterfly is an iconic North American insect that is experiencing a decline in its population due to threats such as deforestation, …

Evolution Of The Human Eye: As Compared To Other Vertebrates, Madison Queener

Honors Projects

There are three different types of eyes, the simple eye, the compound eye, and the camera eye (Cambridge Dictionary) (Myer-Rochow, 2014) (UCL, 2020). The retina of the eye has evolved and adapted to fit the lifestyles of the respective organisms. Because of this part of the eye, organisms are able to see different colors and use light to define the world using photoreceptors. Photoreceptors are rod cells, which are light sensitive and process light, and cone cells, which perceive the different color wavelengths, that pass visual information to the brain (Kazilek, 2010). About 5% of the photoreceptors in the retinas …

"The Grimmest Reversal We Have Ever Faced": Aids And The Hard-Boiled Detective Genre In Joseph Hansen's Early Graves, Seamus Coon

Honors Projects

Published from 1970–1991, Joseph Hansen’s “Dave Brandstetter” series consists of twelve novels written in the hard-boiled detective style, featuring a relatively-out gay insurance detective as the titular protagonist. Many novels discuss then-contemporary social issues, including the ninth novel, Early Graves (1987), which attempts to address the AIDS crisis. The “Brandstetter” series has not been the subject of much scholarship, let alone individual novels in the series. This project attends to how the “Brandstetter” series typically embodies the hard-boiled genre more than it subverts it, as well as how Early Graves is forced to become subversive as the limitations of the …

Medicine Men: Medicine Match A Program To Increase Male Participation In Targeted Areas Of The Healthcare Field, Anthony Paul Huffman

Honors Projects

The Medicine Men program addresses the imbalance in gender representation in low and middle-level healthcare careers. The program uses a website named Medicine Match to achieve this goal, which offers shadowing, talking, and additional resources with verified medical professionals. Medicine Match provides an engaging platform for individuals interested in exploring healthcare careers. The program's methodology involves creating connections between aspiring professionals, following the path of role models, fostering a sense of community, and educating and empowering target populations. Through a theoretical test and analysis, Medicine Men seeks to demonstrate its efficacy in increasing interest, knowledge, and comfort among male students …

The Effect Of Nutrition Education On Perceived Fatigue Of Collegiate Endurance Athletes, Quinn Murphy

Honors Projects

Background: Based on previous research, athletes have low knowledge when it comes to nutrition. This puts them at a greater risk for poor dietary choices that could ultimately impact their ability to perform optimally, increase fatigue, and increase the risk of injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine if after taking a nutrition education class, the athletes would better fuel their bodies and improve their perceived fatigue levels.

Methods: Initially, five BGSU club runners were recruited to participate. They were asked to track five sequential days of food and drink intake and the level of daily fatigue (consisting …

The Reproductive Politics Of Maiolica: Birth, Abortion, And Gendered Authority During The Italian Renaissance, Rose Brookhart

Honors Projects

In the aftermath of several plagues that decimated the population of the Italian peninsula since 1348, men and women from all socioeconomic backgrounds safeguarded their individual corporeal health and collective societal well-being through a variety of routines and rituals, which were prescribed but at the same time extremely personalized. This increased attention in personal and civic health promoted new trends in both literal and material consumption during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Purgative drugs and medicines were a common facet of medicine during the Italian Renaissance and were ingested regularly to alleviate commonplace bodily discomforts in addition to more serious …

Utilizing Special Interests: Developing A Storybook For A Minimally Speaking Autistic Child To Support Communication, Olivia Fordyce

Honors Projects

The purpose of my Honors Project is to develop a framework for designing a storybook that can be used as a communication tool with minimally speaking autistic children. The project answers two clinically relevant questions within the field of Speech-Language Pathology.

1. What do we know from prior literature about the use of storybooks to support communication in minimally speaking autistic children?
2. What factors are important to consider in designing a storybook for minimally speaking autistic children?

I conducted a literature review exploring adapted storybooks and autistic children’s special interests to answer the project questions. Informed by this knowledge, I have …

Cultivating Excellence: A Literature Review On Harnessing The Power Of The Gut Microbiome For Athletic Performance, Maya Katharine Dean

Honors Projects

The interplay between our gut microbiome and health is immense. This literature review analyzes the current research assessing the interplay between gut microbiome and athletic performance. Knowing how to improve gut microbial diversity via nutrition and supplementation can take athletic performance to the next level; namely improvements in immune, mental, and physical health.

Evaluating Appropriate Participant Training Period For Anuran Auditory Surveys, Evianna Goebel

Honors Projects

Auditory surveys are common in anuran research as they can tell a lot about a species without being intensely laborious or costly. There has not been much research on training periods for those taking part in the surveys. Proper training is necessary and improper training can hinder a project and lead to skewed results. In this study, we took students from several biology 2040 classes and had them study the calls of 11 frog species in NW Ohio. From the data, we can conclude that 2 weeks of roughly 100 minutes of study time is not enough for successful results …

Mental Illness In Modern Media, Grace Smith

Honors Projects

This paper will focus on the way mental illness is portrayed in modern media, specifically psychological thriller movies, as many of them feature main characters with some sort of mental illness. The specific mental illnesses present in the movies discussed in this paper are as follows: borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Psychological thriller movies influence the way consumers view mental illness and those who suffer from mental illnesses. The potential effects of these portrayals will be explored through Stuart Hall’s theory of reception, as it was created based on television media, making it one of …

Effectiveness Of The Law School Admission Test, Sydney Snyder

Honors Projects

Examining the influence and effect of the LSAT on graduation and bar passage rates.

The Impact Of Experiential Avoidance On Vulnerable Disclosure, Perceived Responsiveness, And Social Connection, Kaylee Church

Honors Projects

Loneliness, comprised of perceived social connection and social isolation, can have a severe negative impact on one’s physical and mental health. Understanding its complexities can assist in addressing these harmful consequences. In particular, the aspect of social connection can be understood through the interpersonal model of intimacy which posits that connection forms as a function of reciprocal vulnerable disclosure and perceived responsiveness. Experiential avoidance may complicate the process of the vulnerable disclosure required to develop social connection as sharing emotional information about oneself can result in discomfort that individuals avoid. Despite this theoretical connection, the relationship between experiential avoidance and …

How The Global Migration Crisis Created Social Change In Europe., Brandon Piehler

Honors Projects

The Global Migration crisis started in 2015, when refugees began arriving on the shores of Europe. Europe had not seen a large-scale movement of refugees from middle eastern countries. This tested long standing agreements that defined relations between European countries. As a result, countries began to seek measures to restrict the flow of migrants across the continent. Migrants were meet with hostility from local populations and not welcomed by communities. The point of this honors project was to explore the social changes that the migration crisis caused. The historical backgrounds of different European countries helped dictate how they responded to …

Coming Out Of The Coffin: The History And Present Of Queerness In The Vampire Genre., Bailey Drummond

Honors Projects

This essay delves into the captivating and lasting influence of vampires on popular culture since their creation. The fascination with vampires can be traced back to literary works such as John Polidori's "The Vampyre" and Bram Stoker's classic "Dracula," which have served as foundations for vampire mythology across different media platforms. Despite the evolution of media and cultural contexts, certain themes surrounding vampires have persisted throughout history. Notably, vampires have been portrayed as symbols of sexuality and queerness, reflecting societal fears and desires from past eras to the present day. These themes have been critically analyzed and dissected in various …

Assessing Social Engagement Differences Across The Continuum Of Sexuality, Ariana Cunningham

Honors Projects

Individuals attracted to more than one gender identity, also known as non-monosexuals, exist in a unique place in the sexuality dichotomy. Often experiencing prejudice from both their heterosexual and homosexual peers, they are prone to increased rates of loneliness. Loneliness has been shown to increase both mental and physical health risks. Due to the dangers of loneliness, the current study set out to examine this relationship between non-monosexuals and loneliness. A two-phase study was created containing an online survey portion and an in-person interview procedure. Due to small sample sizes, no statistical significance was found but data has been trending …

Loneliness As A Predictor For Problematic Social Media Use Associated With Sleep Disruption, Kaylee Mercer

Honors Projects

Social media is growing in popularity and with this new phenomenon could come impacts on a cognitive level. Loneliness is a robust predictor of mental and physical health issues. Loneliness is widely defined as discrepancy between actual and desired levels of social connection. Previous research has found that one impact lonely individuals face may be disruptions to sleep. Loneliness increases the likeliness of problematic social media use, both of which occur in college age and adolescent individuals at a disproportionately high rate. Problematic social media use has been previously found to be associated with less sleep. The current study seeks …

An Evaluation Of The Book Of Hosea And Its Impact For Our Lives Today, Nathan Fulton

Honors Projects

The book of Hosea provides a rich story of the life of the prophet Hosea and the constant woes of the nation of Israel. Through analysis of commentaries from past theologians and modern psychological studies, the contents of Hosea will be reinforced as viable literature to learn from. Despite belief in the historical legitimacy of the book, through research, we find humanity’s deepest desire is to be fully loved and fully known. Analysis of attachment theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs show us that the story of Hosea demonstrates our insecurities and the proper response to them.

Faa Medical Reform, Dana Rose

Honors Projects

This project investigates the challenges and implications of obtaining medical certification for pilots with a history of childhood misdiagnoses, focusing on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Misdiagnoses in childhood can lead to significant obstacles in the aviation industry's medical certification process, posing unique hurdles for aspiring pilots. The study examines the current FAA guidelines and procedures for medical certification, particularly the evaluation requirements for individuals with ADHD. It also explores common challenges faced by pilots, the effects of childhood misdiagnoses on their eligibility, and the impact of the FAA's ADHD evaluation process.

Through interviews with Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs), this project identifies …