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“Creating And Maintaining Black Life-Worlds”: The Black Aesthetics Of Bernardine Evaristo’S Blonde Roots And Girl, Woman, Other, Sharanya Dg

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Black Aesthetics is the philosophical inquiry into the objects and practices of expressions coming from people who have been racialized as black. These expressive practices then lend to the creation of the life-worlds of people subjected to racist discourses. One such author in the contemporary English society, Bernadine Evaristo, responds to anti-black racist discourses by exploring the cultural plurality of British black life-worlds. This paper is a textual and formal analysis of two experimental novels of Evaristo to study how they distinctly present the quotidian lives of various characters in their racialised bodies to reflect on the sociocultural and political …

Beyond "His Native Town": Travel And Alienation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Erin G. Quinn

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein features a surprisingly extensive variety of locations through which Victor Frankenstein travels, ranging from the vibrant cities of London and Oxford to the isolated Orkney islands and Arctic lands. Scholars have analyzed the roles which some of these settings, namely, the Alps and the Arctic, play in the novel, and many have noted the importance of travel to the text. However, little scholarship exists assessing how Victor’s travels as a whole impact him, as well as their collective purpose within the story. Given the prominence of travel in Shelley’s text, as well as the fact …

From "Pictures Of Perfection" To "No Ideal Expression": How Jane Austen Reimagines And Reinvents Eighteenth-Century Heroines, Gretchen Picklesimer Kinney

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

Gender And Orality In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon, Nessa Ordukhani

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

This essay explores the intersection of postmodernism and multiculturalism in Toni Morrison's novel, Song of Solomon. It delves into the destabilization of historical metanarratives by postmodernism through the theories of Jean-François Lyotard, which challenges the notion of a singular truth and questions who constructs popular historical narratives. The essay discusses the role of the victors, particularly white males, in shaping history and the process of legitimation through which historical facts are determined. It examines how Morrison's novel offers an alternative history that highlights African American perspectives and challenges the dominant white narrative. Additionally, the essay explores the tension between multiculturalism …

School Psychologist's Tiered Social-Emotional Recommendations In Response To Data Gathered From Social-Emotional Screening, Audrey Anita Andersen

Theses and Dissertations

Universal school-wide social-emotional screeners identify at-risk students with social-emotional behavior problems (Romer et al., 2020). Identifying such students alone cannot prevent these social, emotional, and behavioral concerns from becoming problematic. However, data gathered from social-emotional screening can guide the development of strategies, supports, interventions, and progress monitoring students at risk across all tiers (Yates et al., 2008), leading to the prevention of social-emotional and behavioral problems from turning maladaptive (Humphrey & Wigelsworth, 2016; Walker et al., 2004). A school district in the Mountain West area of the United States developed a screening survey that addresses school climate, culture, and connectedness …

On Sensible Limits Of Love: Implications Of Moral Failure In Loving Relationships, Macy West

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, I aim to establish the groundwork for an account of love that is sensitive to serious moral failure, both descriptively and normatively. I attempt to articulate not only how love is compromised by abuse, but also by serious moral failure that is not directed at the relationship participant. I first refute two popular accounts that argue for the compatibility of moral failure with love, Vida Yao’s permissive love and Eric Matthes’s dismissive love, on the grounds that they fail to adequately respond to more serious moral flaws. I then propose my own conception of practical identity as …

Silicates As An Explanation For Discrepancies In Atmospheric Modeling Of L-Type Brown Dwarfs, Zacory Shakespear

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Forward retrieval modeling is a powerful method for classifying brown dwarf atmospheres and their physical parameters. However, the results of this method are only as good as the models compared against the data. Silicates in the atmospheres of L-type brown dwarfs have been shown to cause model overfitting around $10 \mu m$, but it is not known what impact, if any, these silicates have on other portions of brown dwarf atmospheric spectra. I report a preliminary negative correlation between model overfitting at $10 \mu m$ and model underfitting from $3.5-4.25 \mu m$ using spectra from two L-dwarfs from JWST and …

Effect Of Evening Vs. Morning Exercise On The Appetite Hormones, Penny Akre

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the potential impact of exercise timing on appetite hormones and metabolic outcomes, aiming to enhance understanding of the complex interplay between exercise, appetite regulation, and weight management. A randomized trial involving premenopausal women investigated the effects of morning versus evening exercise sessions over an eight-week intervention period. Participants underwent comprehensive screening and a supervised exercise regimen, with pre-and post-training laboratory sessions assessing body composition and appetite hormone levels. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences in appetite hormone levels between morning and evening exercise groups, but notable correlations were observed between appetite hormones and body composition measures. Despite …

How Fundamental Epistemic Limitation Impacts My Human Experience, Matthew Mcnairy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

My thesis examines different ways that I am ignorant through a philosophical lens. Through examining my ignorance, I gain insight into myself and the world. However, the kinds of ignorance that interest and irk me the most are fundamental to life. I explore two major sources of ignorance and reference many more. The first source of ignorance is myself. Myself includes my body, my emotions, and my actions. I can partially control each of these, but they also are not fully understood by me. I explore who I am as a self and what my moral responsibility is in the …

Using Lean Six Sigma Methodologies To Improve The Patient Experience At A Local Health Center, Marshall S. Butler

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Lean Six Sigma is a methodology originally designed for a manufacturing context but has process improvement applications that can be used in many fields including medical and business. These tools were applied to addressing issues at a local health center with the aim to help patients receive better medical treatment and have a more positive overall experience. Initial baseline data was collected to identify the core problems patients were experiencing with the health center. Adjustments were made in the survey process to capture more accurate results about the patient experience, which led to the creation of a patient-focused action plan …

The Implementation Of Transformative Learning Theory And Immersion, Kelsi Niepraschk

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Through this creative project, Transformative Learning Theory and immersion are implemented into the redesign of a core business class in Brigham Young University’s Experience Design and Management discipline. Experience design principles of empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test are discussed and used to map out the redesign of EXDM 415, Experience-Centric Management. Empathy data was collected through course evaluations, emailed correspondence, and word of mouth. The data was then used to define underlying needs of students and potential concerns from previous iterations of the course. The class prototype consists of newly developed learning outcomes/objectives, immersive class simulations, and an employee …

Leaving Home: Loss And Restoration In Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" And "Housekeeping", Zachary Stevenson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The concepts of restoration and reconciliation are central to Marilynne Robinson’s first two novels, Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004). Housekeeping structures itself around the narrator Ruth Stone’s thirst for familial wholeness, and Gilead tracks the aging Congregationalist minister John Ames’s growing realization that there are rifts in both his town and his personal life that demand healing. The books are also united in their ambivalence towards the possibility of achieving total wholeness, as in each novel the movement towards restoration is undercut in important ways. However, the books ultimately diverge in the scope of the restitution that they allow. Whereas …

Explainable Ai Using Assumption-Alignment Tracking On Multiple Algorithms, Darien Campbell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Autonomous robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives. In order for humans to effectively take advantage of automated systems, robots need to understand their limitations across different environment states, recognize when they need user assistance, and effectively communicate their assessments to human users. The ability of AI systems to communicate their decision process is referred to as Explainable AI.

Research has already been done on how a robot should evaluate its proficiency to predict how well it can perform a task [1]. This thesis explores current Social Science research on how humans explain their own behaviors. These insights …

Improving Human Recognition Of Deepfakes, Jeremy Mumford

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis is focused on deepfakes, a new term given to fake videos and images generated by deep learning algorithms and models. Deepfakes pose a considerable threat to society by raising the bar for quality in misinformation while also lowering the amount of skill and effort required. Deepfakes threaten to undermine democratic societies by swaying public opinion through misinformation. While many researchers are working hard to develop automated tools to combat deepfakes, this thesis used a 10-item IRB approved survey to examine whether two separate interventions could successfully improve an individual’s ability to recognize deepfakes. Demographic differences in recognizing deepfakes …

The Abuse Of Greatness: A Comparative Study Between A Leader's Recognition Of Remorse And Their State's Economic, Political, And Social Success, Joleah Long

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the year 1599 William Shakespeare penned a line for his new political drama The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: “The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.” This thesis investigates if and how this claim is mirrored in reality. Utilizing the literature and philosophies of two historic political figures, Marcus Aurelius and Machiavelli, a spectrum of remorse in leadership is defined. On one end Aurelius articulates the necessity of remorse while Machiavelli argues the opposite on the other end of this spectrum. The research then takes us to sub-saharan Africa to explore differences in the leadership styles …

Visual Thinking Strategies (Vts) In The Clinic: How The Humanities Affect The Way We Make Visual Diagnoses Within Medicine, Mitchell Smith

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a system of humanistic critical analysis that was developed in the 1990’s by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine, affords viewers of art the opportunity to have an increased level of interaction with artwork through the use of questions posed by an instructor. For viewers, such a process of critical analysis affords greater visual literacy. The same is arguably true of medical personnel who have trained to use said process in the making of medical observations and diagnoses. The purpose of this study is to understand if VTS has direct application within the realm of medicine, and …

Blue Moon: Exploring The Complexities Of Human Love Through A Werewolf Romance Novel, Kayla Lafroth

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Blue Moon is a werewolf romance novel that emphasizes the heartbreak and triumph of human love through a cast of non-human characters. This story is written to explore the complexities of love, acting as an intersection between werewolves and romantic tragedy. In Blue Moon, Luna’s perfect world comes crashing down when her soulmate, Aspen, rejects her as his mate, something unheard of in werewolf culture. In a desperate attempt to win his affection, Luna feigns a soulmate bond with Kodiak, an alpha werewolf who is looked down upon for having no mate. As the layers of Luna’s relationship with …

Gt-Ches And Dycon: Improved Classification For Human Evolutionary Systems, Joseph S. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to rethink the process of learning in human evolutionary systems. We take a sober look at how game theory, network theory, and chaos theory pertain specifically to the modeling, data, and training components of generalization in human systems. The value of our research is three-fold. First, our work is a direct approach to align machine learning generalization with core behavioral theories. We made our best effort to directly reconcile the axioms of these heretofore incompatible disciplines -- rather than moving from AI/ML towards the behavioral theories while building exclusively on AI/ML intuition. Second, this …

Rapid Discovery Of House-Keeping Genes In The Bacterium Kushneria, Using A Slalom-Library-Based Crispri Forward Genetic Screen, Andrew Jenkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Rising soil salinity levels worldwide have resulted in the loss of millions of hectares of viable cropland. Several solutions to this problem have been posited, including looking into the properties of salt-tolerant plants. Recent research into salttolerant plants in southern Utah has found a host of microorganisms isolated from the soil, plant surfaces, or plant tissues that stimulate salt tolerance in alfalfa. Leveraging a Mobile-CRISPRi system to repress a library of genes created through the recently developed sgRNA Library Assembly by Ligation onto Magnetic Beads (SLALOM) protocol, we induced genome-wide repression of genes in Kushneria spp. grown under optimal and …

“The History Of Every Country Begins In The Heart Of A…Woman”: Willa Cather’S Reclamation Of The Female American Immigrant Through Edenic Western Narratives, Emma Fox

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes Willa Cather’s Great Plains Trilogy—O, Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918)—in the context of the immigration boom of the early 1900s and the myth of an “American Eden.” This concept was born of cultural portrayals of the West as dominated by white, male pioneers who subdued the landscape, but Cather’s novels, centered around immigrant families, significantly revise this popular myth. Nativists saw the West as the source of American virtues such as democracy and diligence and viewed sending immigrants West as an essential tool for “Americanization,” the process by which …

Ecological Validity Of Simulated Ethical Situations In Therapy Part 2, Melissa Chavez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Psychotherapy recipients seek optimal treatment, emphasizing the importance of therapists undergoing evidence-based training for effective outcomes. Deliberate practice (DP) is a proven method for systematic improvement. While still evolving, DP shows promise in various domains, including psychotherapy, with effective implementation requiring goal setting, feedback, and persistence.

This study introduces videos simulating ethical dilemmas in therapy. To assess the ecological validity of these videos, a survey examines participants' perceptions of realism, difficulty, and anticipated anxiety across 11 ethical scenarios. Participants include undergraduate and graduate students, as well as licensed professionals. This research aims to provide empirical evidence supporting the validity of …

The Effects Of Diesel Exhaust Particle Exposure On Adipos Mitochondrial Bioenergetics And Inflammation, Cali Elizabeth Warren

Theses and Dissertations

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) constitutes a significant component of ambient air pollution that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Among PM2.5 constituents, diesel exhaust particles (DEP) are prevalent particulates that infiltrate the bloodstream to drive systemic pathologies. The purpose of this study was to characterize the metabolic response of adipose tissue to DEP. We aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding by exploring mitochondrial bioenergetics, characterizing the inflammatory marker profile, including adipokines, and conducting a detailed histological analysis of adipocytes to provide valuable insights to the evolving understanding of the intricate …

A Comparison Of Ptychography Programs For Lens-Less Imaging With A High Harmonic Generation Source, Aaron Redd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

High Harmonic Generation provides a coherent source of extreme ultraviolet photons. Tuned to the correct energies, these photons can be resonant with electrons associated with the magnetic moment of many magnetic materials. This thesis provides an investigation into performing ptychographic imaging with a high harmonic source as a step towards performing high resolution imaging of magnetic domains. Three ptychography codes (Ptychodactyl, PyNX, and tike), are compared for image reconstruction quality and ease of use. Tike and Ptychodactyl prove more successful than PyNX. These first two programs reconstruct data from a simple helium-neon laser setup with great success, and tike demonstrates …

Tractor Beams And Disease: Probing Repeat Rna Structure Through Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy, Joshua Webster-Ford

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Huntington’s Disease is characterized by an extended (CAG)n repeat found in the huntingtin (Htt) gene. While the typical human contains 6-20 CAG repeats, people with over 36 repeats manifest symptoms of the disease. The extended CAG repeats allow the Htt pre-mRNA transcript to form a hairpin loop structure which can sequester certain vital proteins such as Muscleblind like protein 1 (MBNL1), hindering their functional role. Further understanding the structure of the MBNL1-RNA complex is possible through force spectroscopy, or “optical tweezers”, applied on the single molecule level. Force spectroscopy generates force versus distance plots for individual RNA molecules, revealing the …

Identifying Highly Responsive Locations For Spinal Motion Tracking Sensors, Tyler Hutchinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tracking spinal motion in the lower back serves as a useful tool for aiding diagnostics. This study seeks to determine if a fabric garment with integrated strain sensors may provide sufficient information to identify key spinal motion characteristics typically manifested in skin strain. Sensors adhered directly to an individual’s skin would be the most effective means of capturing such characteristics. However, adhering sensors to skin of the lower back is difficult for frequent or everyday application. This research aims to integrate a sensor system into a more comfortable and readily user-applied device. Here we examine the implementation of such a …

Early Russian-Chinese Relations, Dean William Bennett

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In February. 1654, Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich Romanov dispatched a friendly, if rather pompous, letter on its way across the vast steppes of Siberia and Mongolia to the emperor of China, Shun-chih. In this letter he lamented that the rulers of the two realms had never before established any official contact between themselves, and he expressed a fond hope that the tsar and the emperor might live thenceforth "in friendship, love, and communication." The prospects should have been alluring, promising trade and wealth for both states, and also frequent exchanges of embassies. But less than three years later, the leader of …

Children On The Mormon Trail, Jill Jacobsen Andros

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

While reflecting on her experience crossing the plains in a Mormon handcart company at age nine, Agnes Caldwell, recalled:

"Although only tender years of age, I can yet close my eyes and see everything in panoramic precision before me-the ceaseless walking, walking, ever to remain in my memory. Many times I would become so tired and, childlike, would hang on the cart, only to be gently pushed away. Then I would throw myself by the side of the road and cry. Then realizing they were all passing me by, I would jump to my feet and make an extra run …

Using Eye-Tracking To Examine How Chinese Foreign Language Learners Attend To Chinese Radicals, Yi Hsuan Lin

Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized eye-tracking to investigate 63 intermediate-level university Chinese foreign language (CFL) learners' real-time radical preferences. Radicals are components of Chinese characters and give clues to the meanings and pronunciations of the character. This study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) What type of radicals (semantic/phonetic) do CFL readers most rely on when reading characters? (2) Does reliance on one type of radical (semantic/phonetic) correlate with accuracy in character recognition? (3) Does awareness of semantic/phonetic radicals affect the accuracy of character recognition or reliance on radicals in real-time processing? The results found that participants demonstrated a phonetic …

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Creation Of The Evil Empire: How American Newspapers Molded Perceptions Of The Soviet Union, Mary Dickson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Feelings of apprehension and mistrust toward the Soviet Union were very familiar to those born during the cold war era. However, many baby-boomers were probably unaware that as recently as 1945, the Soviets were considered comrades-in-arms American allies. This drastic change in perception had several causes by a number of ingredients. Predominant among these were media voices that tended to encourage fear of Soviet aggression, promote certain policy positions, reinforce negative stereotypes, and influence consumers' purchases; a review of relevant events covered by the American newspaper media in different areas of the United States revealed the changing attitudes toward the …