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The Challenges Of Navigating Feminism In Nigeria: A Case For Third Space Feminism, Pearl Osibu

Theses and Dissertations

This project features two parts: a critical portion discussing the feminism landscape in Nigeria, and a creative portion—a work of fiction titled “Glued together”. This abstract only concerns the critical aspect of the work, to which the creative part will only be tangentially related. In Nigeria, the largest country in Africa sited in the Sub-Saharan hemisphere, the very mention of the word, feminism is anathema. There is a lot of resentment towards, and pushback against the very idea. This lack of trust can be linked to certain voiced concerns that feminism is some “white man’s invention from the west” to …

Replicas Of Social Change: Examining Reflections Of Religious Shifts In Japanese Society Through Literary Depictions Of Kitsune Characters, Sophia Pressler

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the roles of female kitsune (fox) characters in Japanese literature in different historical eras: the Heian period (794-1185), the Edo period (1603-1868), the Meiji period in addition to the period before the end of World War II (1868-1945), and the modern day (late twentieth to early twenty-first centuries). The goal of this analysis of kitsune folk tales, legends, and stories is to reunite the ‘folk’ with their folklore - providing evidence of how the content of folk tales, legends, and other stories are shaped by their contexts and thus serve as valuable historical records of the lives …

Ani-Kitu Hwagi Center Places: A Study Of Survivance, Tyler Michael Mantia

Theses and Dissertations

Ani-Kitu Hwagi (Cherokee) settlements across the Southeastern United States have been intensively studied to evaluate how social dynamics, gender roles, and economic disruption came to impact levels of stability and variability within both domestic and public structures or spaces during the seventeenth to eighteenth century. Some studies characterize this period by using the term “Shatter Zone” to describe a historical model for the US Southeast that emphasizes a landscape of disruption characterized by population displacement, widespread disease, increased levels of slavery, and economic disruption. I reorient analyses of archaeological evidence of this timeframe in terms of center places, a conceptual …

A Qualitative Inquiry Of The Body Project On College Campuses In Illinois, Maria Ross

Theses and Dissertations

Negative body image is a social and psychological concern that plagues many young women in the United States and has a strong relationship to the onset of eating disorders. One outcome of past research done on body dissatisfaction and eating concerns has been the implementation of peer-led prevention programs such as The Body Project and More Than Muscles that address negative body image and disordered eating. These programs target the sociocultural factors that contribute to eating and body image issues on college campuses. This study uses interviews supplemented by ethnographic fieldnotes and content analysis to describe and evaluate the implementation …

British Colonial Strategies To Control The Influenza Epidemic Of 1918 To 1919 In Ashanti, Dennis Baffour Awuah

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to examine the strategies and policies that were employed by the British colonial administration to control the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 in Ashanti. I argue that the varying philosophies of both the colonial administration and the Native population in Ashanti on health and medicine influenced the response trajectory to the disease. It also explores the aspects of Indigenous medical practices which are largely concerned with the religion or beliefs of the people. Before the outbreak of influenza, the colonial administration started a campaign to promote Western medicine while antagonizing Indigenous medicine. To an extent, this made the …

Aiming To Please: Navigating Intersectional Realities, Priscilla Kar Yee Lo

Theses and Dissertations

As a product of a Chinese immigrant family in North America, I was perpetually reminded to be practical about my future. But after over a decade as a health care professional, I began to feel dissatisfied with the direction of my life. I turned to creative outlets to find a voice and to explore my identity as a female of colour. To create work as an act of remembrance of the collective intersectional adversity minority women continue to face. I was drawn to glass because it is inherently paradoxical, constantly in a state of fragility and permanency. This mirrors the …

Bombazo Epistemology A Syllabus Of Survival: Dismantling Settler Colonialism's Philosophy In The Stolen Land, Armen Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations

Eurocentric educational philosophy has functioned as an anticipatory regime creating racial, economic, historical, sociopolitical, and intellectual separation and imposing dominant knowledge systems. In 2021, American and Hispanic empires rejected organic movements from scholars and academic activists for embracing a vision of the world outside the boundaries of Eurocentrism. A trend that has shaken the foundations of Eurocentric Academia. More than ever, the Bomba Ceremony has emerged as a tradition that substantiates Puerto Rico's identity, awakening the consciousness of TransIndigenous and Transcolonialism intersubjectivities. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), I conceptualize the logic of white supremacy through the lenses of white settler …

Nothing For Us, About Us, Without Us, Dream Action Niu: ( Re ) Formation Of Undocumented And Mixed-Status Students’ Identities Of Resistance, Sandra Watson López

Theses and Dissertations

Undocumented and mixed-status students often find themselves resisting in contested spaces at institutions of higher education. This project focused on how nine Latina leaders, whose advocacy spanned a little over a decade, produced identities of resistance at their predominately white college campus. This study captured the testimonios of the former Latina presidents and leaders of an undocumented student organization named DREAM Action NIU. Braiding together figured worlds, undocumented critical race theory and Nepantla this study observed how las mujeres were agitated to action while residing in the figured world of their student organization. Their interactions in this space led to …

An Other Word For It Is Us, Aca Carle

Theses and Dissertations

I am contemplating language and animacy; their enmeshment with each other and their connective fibers between beings. My art follows from the belief that animacy is inherent in matter and that language is inherent in animacy.

“Only by affirming the animateness of perceived things do we allow our words to emerge directly from the depths of our ongoing reciprocity with the world.” (Abramb 56)

Edi Leaders Circle Symposium Program Booklet, 2022, Illinois State University

EDI Leaders Circle Symposium

We are pleased to offer a full-day event that inspires you in your EDI journey and empowers your entire team. Based on fall 2021 survey feedback from the EDI campus leaders, the spring 2022 Symposium includes specialty sessions aligned with Illinois State University’s “10 EDI Pillars of Progress”. These sessions will provide you and your team members with the skills, strategies, and ideas needed to effectively implement your EDI goals in your units, schools, departments, and colleges. Additionally, the day will offer ample opportunities to exchange concrete ideas to move your EDI committees forward with colleagues. On behalf of our …

Illinois State University Salaries Fy2022, Illinois State University

Illinois State University Salaries

Includes two sections: non-tenure track, tenure track, and faculty associate salaries, and administrative professional and civil service salaries.

Water Disconnection And Billing Policy In Central Illinois, Melissa Heil, Rebekah Bollin, Luke Gallagher

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Over ten percent of American households face unaffordable water bills. When households have overdue bills, they are usually subjected to service disconnection by the water utility. Water disconnection policy is set at the local level, which can result in spatial variation with respect to how lenient or strict disconnection policies are. Examining the case of the central Illinois region, this paper introduces a methodology for 1) chronicling this variation and 2) analyzing which populations are most affected by strict billing and disconnection policies.

Beyond Debt And Equity: Dissecting The Red Herring And A Path Forward For Normative Critiques Of Finance, Aaron Z. Pitluck

Faculty Publications – Sociology and Anthropology

A recurring theme in academic, moralizing, and religious discourses laments the individual and societal perils of debt and praises equity. Contemporary Islamic banking and finance is one conspicuous example. Th is article recontextualizes this conversation by demonstrating that since the 1980s financial practitioners have been interpreting debt and equity as increasingly illegible cognitive schemas that nonetheless retain their historical and moral connotations. Th is line of argumentation suggests that normatively contrasting debt and equity is a red herring— a literary device and theoretical construct that misleads and distracts from the fundamental discussion of what constitutes salubrious or odious finance. Little …

Admissions Viewbook, 2022-2023, Illinois State University, Office Of Admissions

Admissions Viewbook

Recruitment booklet created by Illinois State University's Office of Admissions

Research And Graduate Studies Annual Report, 2022, Office Of Research And Graduate Studies, Illinois State University

Research and Graduate Studies Annual Report

No abstract provided.

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Sixty-Second Annual Commencement, December 2021, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Sixty-Second Annual Commencement
December 2021

Corruption And Coordination In Russia’S Economy, Peter Kalev Elias

Theses and Dissertations

This project seeks to bring a deeper understanding of non-western, authoritarian economies to the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) literature. Many of the most stunning practices of post-Soviet Russia, such as corporate takeovers, the virtual economy, and informal sector jobs find their roots in Soviet practices that were originally implemented to avoid an inefficient and overcontrolling centralized government. Culturally, some of these institutions have roots in historical institutions of patronage and self-interested giving. As such, Russia’s particular version of capitalism as it presents today makes sense historically when the evolution of its institutions are taken into account. Further, instead of characterizing …

Aid Worker Burnout As Injury: Policy Implications For The Aid Sector, Melissa Lynn Quimby

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Aid work is a valuable service provided to the world’s most vulnerable people, and it can often be dangerous, exposing workers to such security concerns as isolation, contagious diseases, and trauma. The chronic stressors that often accompany aid work can result in the debilitating effects of burnout, the symptoms of which are defined here as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal achievement. There is a gap in the literature describing how aid organizational culture contributes to the prevalence and severity of aid worker burnout that this research intends to fill. Applied research focus: I investigated the concept of burnout …

Literate Activity Research And Narrative Analysis As Frameworks For Educational Change: An Examination Of Writing Instruction In Two Alternative Education Programs, Leslie Rae Hancock

Theses and Dissertations

How are narratives, as mediating cultural tools within activity systems, influencing or shaping the ways in which alternative high school teachers are designing, developing, and implementing their writing instruction? This thesis seeks to answer this guiding research question by investigating the writing pedagogies and praxis of two Illinois alternative school teachers. Using literate activity research and narrative analysis as guiding frameworks for the research, a qualitative study was conducted to examine participants’ activity systems and their uptake of two broader cultural narratives: the “at-risk student” and “general writing skills instruction” narratives. Data was collected over the course of the study …

Perceptions Of Masculinity And Femininity In Online Dating Profiles Of Men: Intersections With Race, Luke Alexander Ploessl

Theses and Dissertations

Many people currently find a dating partner online, which at many websites involves viewing the profiles of several users and deciding which to pursue. Considerable social scientific research has studied this new way of seeking dating partners. The purpose of this thesis study was to examine how people believe online dating site users would perceive a man on these sites based on the profile characteristics mentioned regarding femininity and masculinity in combination with a race-based filter (Black or white). These variables were manipulated within a Qualtrics survey with four vignette hypothetical profiles (a white man with a masculine profile, a …

“Never Again Is Now ” Use Of Cultural Frames In A Social Movement Organization, Erik Paul Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

The immigrant rights movement is a social movement that has been active in the United States for many decades and adopted as well as changed focus over time. There are many social movement organizations working within this social movement but one of great interest to my research is Never Again Action (NAA). NAA is a national Jewish protest group, which has called for the end to all deportations and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). NAA is primarily working from a position of an ally to migrants in a social movement with the aim to further rights for …

Signs & Symbols, Vol. 21, Fall 2021, Illinois State University, Department Of Sociology And Anthropology

Signs & Symbols

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of Sociology and Anthropology

2021 Latinx Heritage Calendar, Illinois State University, Latin American And Latino/A Studies Program

Latinx Heritage Month Posters

Schedule of events for Illinois State University's Latinx Heritage Month celebration

Bridging The Divide: Community Centers As A Catalyst Of Socioeconomic Opportunity Cultivation For At-Risk Youth, Grayson Bourke

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

The East Bluff Community Center (EBCC)’s mission is to “foster community engagement and neighborhood stabilization by providing a vibrant place to gather.” This paper seeks to shed light on the role that community centers play in creating socioeconomic opportunities for at-risk youth in low-income, American communities. The author completed an 11-month internship through Illinois State University’s Stevenson Center in which I was placed as a Community Engagement Coordinator at the EBCC. While at EBCC, I conducted a neighborhood needs assessment, strengthened existing and built new interorganizational partnerships, and launched a building revitalization within the context of the Integrated Prevention and …

Creating A Culture Change: Sector Trainings For Dementia Friendly Communities For East Central Illinois Area Agency On Aging, Genesis Marie Buendia

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Regarding dementia, the public usually does not have a clear understanding of what it is and what it entails. People use it interchangeably with Alzheimer’s, which is not the same; and people fear it as it is part of the aging process, which is understandable but not true. Both of these misconceptions and more can be countered by implementing a dementia-friendly community (DFC). DFCs are cities that bring together different sectors (banks, hospitals, libraries, etc.) to create a cohesive network of resources, with their employees trained to interact with and bring awareness to persons with dementia (PWDs). During my practicum …

Alumni Matter, Summer 2021, Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Program

Alumni Matter (2009-2022)

A bulletin of Illinois State University’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, Summer 2021.

Optimizing University Campuses For Learning, Wellbeing And Equity: An Applied Study Of Higher Education Facilities Organizational Systems, Melissa Nergard

Theses and Dissertations

College and university campuses are designed and maintained by experts in facilities management and planning. What is lacking in these processes is expertise in learning environments and creating spaces that are healthy and inclusive. University organizational structures aid in the autonomy of academic freedom and the nimbleness of research endeavors but hinder operational effectiveness of the campus as a learning and research environment. A more integrated approach, which optimizes the knowledge on campus regardless of where it is housed, can mitigate the unintended conflicts that develop through the disparate approach to learning, equity, and wellbeing in the built environment. This …

Social Justice In Cataloging Annotated Bibliography, Jeremy Berg, Cathy Chapman, Gretchen Neidhardt, Stephanie Porrata, Jennifer Young, Eric Willey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This article presents annotations by six authors for seventy-four English language books, articles, and theses and dissertations addressing ethical and moral issues in cataloging practice and theory. An initial list of potential works for annotation was created from the “Cataloging and Social Justice” post in the Research about Cataloging and Assessment and more… blog by Jessica Schomberg, and a Google Scholar search for works which cited Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Headings Concerning People by Sanford Berman. Additional articles which the authors were already aware of or encountered serendipitously were also considered for inclusion. Works and …

The Significance Of Significance: Decolonizing Cultural Resource Management Practices In The Upper Midwest, Justin Allen Woods

Theses and Dissertations

Indigenous communities across the United States were coerced and tricked into signing treaties that ceded significant portions of their ancestral lands. This land holds cultural value to the tribal members, however academics and archaeologists who do not often shared these values analyze these landscapes to determine their cultural and historical significance, a decision-making process mandated by federal and often state law that has important economic, political, and social consequences. This paper analyzes examples from one context, cultural resource management (CRM) projects in the Northern Great Lakes Region of Wisconsin, Michigan, North and South Dakota and Minnesota, as a case study …

Methodological Considerations And Use Wear Analysis Of The Late Archaic Sites Of Duck Lake And Popper From Grand Island Michigan, James William Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This project analyzed use wear on 100 artifacts recovered from two Late Archaic sites located on Grand Island, Michigan, Duck Lake and Popper. I have divided my project into three phases. The first phase involved a simple presence/absence study of microwear on a sample of informal and formal tools from Grand Island. The goal of this phase was to create a replicable methodology and scoring method for the different types of wear identified in the Grand Island assemblage. The second phase involved several tasks. Initially, I reconstructed several tools from quartz, quartzite, and chert from Grand Island and then used …