Digital Commons Network^™

Milner Library Annual Report, 2021, Milner Library

Reports and White Papers - Milner Library

Annual Report for Milner Library, Illinois State University.

Today And Yesterday, Vol. 45, 2021, Illinois State University, Department Of History

Today and Yesterday

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of History

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 46, 2021, Department Of Geography, Geology, And The Environment

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Sixty-First Annual Commencement, December 2020, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Sixty-First Annual Commencement
December 2020

Privacy And The Digital Divide: Investigating Strategies For Digital Safety By People Of Color, Denavious Hoover

Theses and Dissertations

People of color are becoming increasingly concerned with digital privacy. They are concerned about the obfuscated data collection and sharing practices of major social media plat- forms and the strong entitlement of other users in the online space to their content. This study examines how people of color conceptualize and behave to produce safety in the online space, or, in other words, digital privacy. This study challenges notions that people are not purposeful about privacy in the online space and highlights the voices of people of color, whom are not of- ten included in theorizing or decision making about the …

The Nature Of Primary Source Instruction In Social Science Methods Courses, Judith Loraine Bee

Theses and Dissertations

137 Pages

Teachers are the key to shifting the way learning happens in the classroom. However, teachers are not always skilled in inquiry, critical thinking, and historical impact. Teaching with primary sources provides a context from which to educate preservice teachers in these essential skills. This dissertation focuses on the nature of primary source instruction in preparing preservice teachers to teach social sciences at the K-8 level. This qualitative study explores education methods professors’ practices for educating preservice teachers to use primary sources in their classroom instruction. Social Science methods professors in Illinois were observed, interviewed and an analysis of …

Dance And Know You Are A Part: The Instrumentality Of Performative Politics And Dance In The Configuration Of Local Social Memory And Afro-Brazilian Identity And Agency In Pelotas, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil, Triston R. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The arts have been a refuge from perpetual repression and omission, and, a platform for social activism for Afro-descendants in the Americas. In Brazil this is very much the case. With performance serving as a social barometer or a looking glass, dance becomes a source of cultural knowledge, acts as preservative, and negotiates individual mobility within a given context. The Afro-Brazilian dance company, Cia de Dança Daniel Amaro in Pelotas, Brazil grants its members a means of activism and agency to challenge entrenched national narratives and reinterpret local social memory.

Most academic writings about dance or performance in Brazil, focus …

Comprehensive Plan To Promote Equity, Inclusion, And Anti-Racism At Illinois State University, October 2020, Illinois State University

Master Plan

This report represents a 12-month overview of benchmark accomplishments and plans currently underway to further promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism at Illinois State University. The report is organized by “priority action items” that were developed to address concerns raised by student representatives from #AntiBlackISU and other campus constituencies. Those action items focus on policy and practice changes that increase student access to culturally responsive resources and services, best practice strategies to close the opportunity gap among underrepresented students, and strategies to recruit and retain diverse faculty and staff at Illinois State University.

Signs & Symbols, Vol. 20, Fall 2020, Illinois State University, Department Of Sociology And Anthropology

Signs & Symbols

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Redbird Scholar, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Fall 2020), Illinois State University, Office Of The Vice President For Research And Graduate Studies

Redbird Scholar

No abstract provided.

Men, Women And Witchcraft: The Feminist Reclamation Of The Witch In The Modern Horror Film, Brian Joseph Hadsell

Theses and Dissertations

The witch as a figure possesses a powerful and enduring legacy in Euro-American culture; she is both a victim of patriarchal persecution and the natural enemy of a deeply-gendered society. Recent horror films that employ the witch, however, have generally done so in the form of reclaimed feminist icon: a violently retributive figure avenging the wrongs done to women both past and present. The purpose of this research is to provide insight about our acutely gendered society and culture in the times during and preceding the #MeToo movement through a semiological analysis of three recent horror films that center on …

The Role Of Microfinance Workers In Financialization: Negotiating The Meaning Of Development In China, Xue Ma

Theses and Dissertations

Microfinance is an attempt to alleviate poverty through offering collateral-free small loans to poor borrowers, especially women in developing countries or rural areas. Though it is indeed an actual economic activity, usually engaged in through some type of bank, there is much that is informal and context-bound in these transactions, making microfinance a kind of “social business.” While the impact of microfinance on women borrowers has been discussed many times, only a few studies have looked at the significance of the other members of the interaction: the microfinance workers, who are instrumental intermediaries between the women-borrowers and the microfinance institutions …

Managing Citizen Engagement: Local Leader Perspectives From A Midwestern Small City, Isabella B. Green

Theses and Dissertations

Small cities, with their mix of urban capacity and small-town charm, are a promising environment for interactive and inclusive citizen engagement. However, small cities have received very limited attention by sociological and planning literature, and even less attention has been paid to the leaders of small city communities. This study contributes to this gap through an analysis of the dynamics of participation between small city leaders and their constituents from the leaders’ perspective. Studying up through interviews with planners and officials of a midwestern small city, this study examines how small city leaders pursue citizen engagement while managing the bureaucratic …

By Your Powers Combined: Heroic Solutions To Climate Catastrophes In The Fifth Season, Avengers: Infinity War, And Horizon: Zero Daw N, Kematat Matthew Medrala

Theses and Dissertations

Popular entertainment has become concerned with addressing issues of climate catastrophe in order to reflect the real concerns of its audience. Because these media narratives are produced by wealthy institutions that reach millions of people, it is vital to understand what these stories say about the causes of existential crises and their presented solutions. This thesis applies an ecocritical approach informed by environmental justice theorists and Marxist theory in order to analyze what a contemporary popular film, videogame, and novel have to say about addressing an oncoming ecological crisis. This analysis reveals that mass death among the disempowered is considered …

As Good As Woke? : Mutuality And Third Spaces In A Guatemalan Volunteer Tourism Organization, Hannah Gdalman

Theses and Dissertations

It is estimated that as many as 10 million individuals participate in international volunteering projects annually (McGehee, 2014). Since its rise in the late nineties and early aughts, voluntourism has drawn the attention of academic and non-academic audiences alike, who have warned of the perils of exploitation, commodification, and white saviorism. This study conducts an issue-focused analysis to examine the extent to which the voluntourism experience has evolved into one of mutuality rather than cultural hegemony. Sixteen semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted at a longstanding Guatemalan voluntourism site. Wearing & Wearing’s (2006) Third Space interactive cultural tourism framework …

Perceptions Of A Small Midwestern Food Cooperative: A Case Study, Rebecca Forsythe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to illuminate how individuals form perceptions of cooperatives, specifically of Green Top Grocery, a cooperative located in Bloomington Illinois, using the Bourdieu-sian habitus and notions of capital as a frame. Green Top Grocery suffers from fiscal instability since they opened in 2017. They also struggle to gain support of lower income individuals, a key demographic they sought to help since their inception based on their stated values. By conducting qualitative interviews of three sample groups: Green Top Grocery board members and leadership, local food access experts, and West Bloomington residents, and non-participant observations, this …

Applying Psychological Reactance Theory To Intercultural Communication In The Workplace: Dealing With Technological Change And Tolerance For Ambiguity, Oumaima Boulhna

Theses and Dissertations

Psychological reactance theory has yet to be applied to intercultural and cross-cultural communication, at least not to a sufficient extent. This study conducted a cross-cultural examination of psychological reactance in intercultural workplace communication situations. Using the theoretical framework of psychological reactance as well as the constructs of intercultural sensitivity and tolerance for ambiguity, this study expanded applications of PRT for technological change messages in the workplace. The present study extended the previous applications of psychological reactance theory and found a significant cross-cultural variation for trait reactance. The results also revealed that tolerance for ambiguity was negatively related to trait reactance, …

Experiences From City Year: A Glimpse Into The Complex Roles Of Racially Diverse Americorps Members And What That Means For The Nonprofit Field, Orsolya Ficsor

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I explore the lived experiences of alumni from City Year, an AmeriCorps education nonprofit dedicated to providing academic and social-emotional interventions to address social inequity in education in disadvantaged schools throughout the U.S. and abroad. Their thoughts and ideas reflect the complexities of working on a diverse team, serving students of color in a nonprofit organization that is limited in its ability to create structural change. Guided by an analysis of historic systems of oppression, whiteness, white saviorism, and the nonprofit industrial complex, I examine how the nonprofit sector operates as a shadow state that is restricted …

Illinois State University Graduate Course Catalog, 2020-2021, Illinois State University

Course Catalogs

Illinois State University Graduate Course Catalog, 2020-2021. Effective May 18, 2020.

Human Social Services In Central Illinois: Making Sense Of State Divestment And The State Budget Impasse, Erik William Zdansky

Theses and Dissertations

The state of Illinois underwent an historic budget impasse that lasted 793 days from July 1, 2015 to August 31, 2017. By not signing the budget, the former Governor Bruce Rauner used a form of shock therapy at the state level to implement his reform agenda. The human social service sector was particularly hit hard. I wanted to investigate how an ecology of homeless service agencies in the central Illinois area strategized and prioritized their decision-making in response to an active crisis. During semi-structured interviews of agency executives and program managers, more was revealed about how they responded to state …

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Sixty-First Annual Commencement, May 2020, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Sixty-First Annual Commencement
May 2020

International Marriages: Culture, Identity Formation, Social And Historical Context, Alec Bryan Schaer

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to examine how changes in sociopolitical and cultural landscapes affect the cultural and personal identities of individuals engaged in mixed heritage relationships. I examine relationships between Japanese women and American men to illustrate that the wider socio-political contexts of these individuals play key roles in how they view and portray themselves in relation to others; as Japanese, American, both, or neither.

This research is divided into two distinct periods, one before WWII and a second after WWII. For each of these periods, I examined the relevant socio-political and cultural circumstances which affected Japanese and …

Performing Color: Participatory Photo And Community Based Research In A Modern U.S. Circus, Radiance Campbell

Sociology/Anthropology

This study asks “what is the experience of people of color in a modern U.S. circus?” and is primarily concerned with granting performers of color control over telling their own story. Given that the circus is a visual art, this study produces visual research that centers participants’ perspectives through photo voice, or participatory photo, which is a visual research methodology that uses participant-generated photos as data. Participants were given disposable cameras and encouraged to photograph their own worlds, identifying the assets and challenges of their circus community. Through qualitative photo-elicitation interviews and a focus group, together we created a space …

From Smoke Clouds To Vape Clouds: A Study Of Substance Use And Delinquency, Christian Maynard

Sociology/Anthropology

The 'vaping epidemic' has incurred at least 12 deaths and 805 injuries so far. Overall, research on vaping has been substantially limited, primarily in the context of vaping and delinquency. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations between vaping and smoking and the various kinds of delinquent acts. Using secondary data from Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth conducted in 2017, with a sample size of 21,188 participants, we find that youth 'vapors' were associated with less delinquency than youth smokers(cigarettes); however, youth 'vapors' were associated with more delinquency than …

2020 Online University Research Symposium Program Book, The Graduate School

University Research Symposium Programs

Program book for the 2020 Online Research Symposium.

Stevenson Center Report For The School Street Food Pantry, Erik Carlson, Tessa Lance, Jose Molina, Tobi Oladejo, Jack White

Community Project Design and Management Reports - Sociology

No abstract provided.

Cultural Differences Or Political Differences? Flipping Over The Hofstede's 6-D Model Of Culture In Terms Of Conservatism And Political Views, Han Jung

Psychology

Hofstede’s 6-D model of culture is one of the most widespread taxonomies regarding the cultural differences across the countries, but it has also faced many fierce antagonists. Most criticisms of the Hofstede model include identification of nations and cultures, superficial and narrow theoretical backgrounds, and suggestions of rival hypotheses. Especially, there is some evidence that suggests that the allegedly cultural differences may actually stem from political backgrounds or people’s traits related to their political circumstances; Therefore, I expect that most of Hofstede’s dimensions are associated with political traits of people and most national differences in Hofstede’s dimensions will disappear if …

Redbird Impact, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring 2020), Center For Community Engagement And Service Learning

Redbird Impact

No abstract provided.

The Media’S Response To Vaping: Catch-Up For A Failed Response?, Christian Maynard

Honors Theses

Media coverage on vaping has become more negative and more prolific due to the recent ‘vaping epidemic’ that has incurred over 2,000 hospitalization. Research on vaping has been limited. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations between vape use increase and media publication increase and the specific focus of the articles. Using secondary data from Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth conducted in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and data generated through qualitative coding of The New York Times articles on vaping between 2016 and 2018, we find that media publications …

Department Of Politics And Government News And Views, Spring 2020, Department Of Politics And Government

Department of Politics and Government News and Views

Newsletter of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University