Digital Commons Network^™

Methods Of Memorialization: Holocaust Commemoration In The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Kylee Bolinger

University Honors Theses

Memorials, both formal and informal, both private and public, have long participated in the pursuit to honor the victims of tragedy, disaster, or genocide. Memorial museums serve both to memorialize victims and to foster an environment conducive to reflection and education about these stories. Such memorial museums have especially made their mark after one of the most notable and devastating genocide events in history: the Holocaust in twentieth-century Europe. This thesis examines how memorialization methods utilized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) make up the American interpretation of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, the concept typically applied to how Germans deal …

Reducing Transphobic Attitudes: A Cross-National Investigation Of College Students In Japan And The United States, Kazusa Seko

Dissertations and Theses

Transgender people routinely experience discrimination and mistreatment. Although transphobic attitudes vary from country to country, a more in-depth understanding of these attitudes is needed. Using a semi-structured online survey, this study investigates college students' attitudes toward transgender people in Japan and the United States, a cross-national comparison that aims to deepen our understanding of how transphobic attitudes are shaped and what opportunities exist to reduce transphobia amongst college students. Results show that Japanese students express more transphobic attitudes than U.S. students do; and that U.S. students had more experience with gender-based educational content and were more likely to know someone …

Fulfilling A Wish List: Creating An Oer Beginning Spanish Textbook And Curriculum, Jenny Ceciliano, Lisa Notman

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report discusses the experience of creating and implementing a new open educational resource (OER) first-year Spanish textbook and curriculum at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. The project began with a long wish list of features. We hoped for a program that would be structured enough to support graduate teaching assistants with little teaching experience, but flexible enough for experienced instructors to make adjustments based on their own expertise, current events, or their unique group of students. We wanted the program to be inclusive and centered on diverse, authentic voices. We wanted to focus on topics that would be …

Being Against The Black: Bad Faith And Anti-Black Racism (Guest Editors' Introduction), Amir A. Gilmore, Latoya Brackett, Davida Sharpe-Haygood

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

As a special journal issue, the guest editors continued their study on (anti)blackness within K-12 schooling and teacher preparation programs. Through the introduction’s white space, the guest editors attempt to theorize and center (anti)Blackness. Moreover, they existentially critique the “ordinary” assumptions about who can be a human and explain why Black existence continues on despite their collective suffering. The introductory article is organized as follows: (1) a thorough explanation of bad faith and antiblackness, (2) an illustration of antiblackness’ manifestations in K-12 schooling, and (3) the importance of using jazz as an analytic frame to curate the contributors’ scholarship.

Using The White Space To Center Blackness--A Conversation With Guest Editor, Dr. Amir Gilmore, Amir A. Gilmore, Maika Yeigh

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In anticipation of the NWJTE Antiblackness Special Issue, the Editorial Board interviewed guest editor, Dr. Amir Gilmore.

Beyond Brutality: Addressing Anti-Blackness In Everyday Scenes Of Teaching And Learning, Karen Zaino, Jordan Bell

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

While scenes of incredible and troubling violence, such as that of Black children handcuffed or brutalized by school security officers, have sometimes been leveraged to highlight the anti-Blackness endemic in schools, Saidiya Hartman’s (1997) book Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America suggests that we must also attend to scenes in which terror can hardly be discerned to identify and unravel the subtle threads of anti-Blackness that pervade contemporary schooling. That is this paper’s aim: to look beyond the scenes of spectacular suffering and to locate the pervasiveness of anti-Blackness in the mundane routines of teaching and …

Not Suspended But Not Protected: Challenging School Discipline Reform In The Name Of Restorative Justice For Young Adult Black Girls, Iesha Jackson

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This interpretive case study examines the impact of one high school’s mediation process, which is intended to be a restorative practice, on the schooling experiences of three “overage, under-credited," young adult Black girls. Using critical race theory, this study explicates how the school’s approach to mediation fails to protect these students from both physical and structural violence. While it is important that the findings lay a foundation for understanding the contexts of anti-Blackness in restorative practices in schools, insights from this study can also help establish culturally and contextually specific approaches to mediation for young adult Black girls in high …

Zero Tolerance Policies Are Anti-Black: Protecting Racially Profiled Students From Educational Injustice, Jonathan Lightfoot

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

When students are tracked from their schools into the juvenile and adult criminal justice system, primarily because of zero-tolerance policies, they fall victim to a practice that is now widely known as the school-to-prison pipeline. President Obama urged educators to abandon severe disciplinary policies that criminalize students for offenses that could be handled without law enforcement (Du, 2015). A review of the literature indicates a disproportionate number of Black students are at a greater risk of being adversely impacted by such policies thus increasing their chances of having a negative educational experience. Research shows that Black students receive higher rates …

This Ain't Yo' Mama's Composition Class: Addressing Anti-Blackness By Implementing Anti-Racist Pedagogy, Sharanna B. Brown

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Kyoko Kishimoto writes that those who practice anti-racist pedagogical practices are not only required to teach about race, but instead "teach about race and racism in a way that fosters critical analytical skills, which reveal the power relations behind racism and how race has been institutionalized in U.S. society to create and justify inequalities" (541). This is the work. And I have chosen to do it.

Steeped in anti-racist pedagogy “This Ain’t Yo’ Mama’s Composition Course” aims to explore the ways that writing classrooms can affirm students’ autonomy while simultaneously equipping them with skills that equate to “cultural capital.” Anti-racist …

What’S Left Before Participatory Modeling Can Fully Support Real-World Environmental Planning Processes: A Case Study Review, Beatrice Hedelin, S. Gray, S. Woehlke, Todd K. Bendor, Alison Singer, R. Jordan, Moira Zellner, Philippe J. Giabbanelli, Pierre D. Glynn, Antoine J. Jetter, Multiple Additional Authors

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In environmental participatory modeling (PM), both computer and non-computer-based modeling techniques are used to aid participatory problem description, solution, and decision-making actions in environmental contexts. Although many PM case studies have been published, few efforts have sought to systematically describe and understand dominant PM processes or establish best practices for PM. As a first step, we have reviewed a random sample of environmental PM case study articles (n = 60) using a novel PM process evaluation instrument. We found that significant work likely remains for PM to fully support participatory and integrated planning processes. While PM reports systematically address knowledge …

Time To Re-Evaluate Taniguchi Jiro's Pace In Manga, Natsume Fusanosuke, Jon Holt, Teppei Fukuda

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Natsume Fusanosuke is Emeritus Professor of the Graduate Program of Cultural Studies in Corporeal and Visual Representation, Gakushūin University. Despite his recent retirement from Gakushūin in March, he is still very active in manga criticism and scholarship. Originally a manga artist himself in the 1980s, by the 1990s he began doing more writing about manga, although he often still employs his cartooning skills to assist in his analysis and explanation of his subjects, much like his American contemporary Scott McCloud. It is not a stretch to compare the latter’s Understanding Comics to Natsume's work in the classic How to Read …

The Functions Of Panels (Koma) In Manga: An Essay By Natsume Fusanosuke, Jon Holt, Teppei Fukuda

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Natsume Fusanosuke presents in this essay the core ideas of his formal ‘theory of expression’ (manga hyōgen-ron) that focuses on three basic elements of manga: words, pictures, and frames. In the 1990s, Natsume emerged as a seminal scholar of Manga Studies, whose influential works include Manga no yomikata (coauthored, 1995) and Manga wa naze omoshiroi no ka: sono hyōgen to bunpō (1997), where the present essay is found. Here, Natsume describes the central aspects of panel constructions in manga: creating a sense of order for the reader by segmenting time; shaping the reader’s mental perceptions by panel compression (asshuku) and …

North American Expatriates In Mexico: A Discourse Analysis Of Facebook Groups, Liliana Carolina Brock

University Honors Theses

North American expatriates in Mexico often live in enclaves or affluent communities at a fraction of what it would cost in the US or Canada. Despite living in Mexico for years, many expatriates are poorly integrated into Mexican culture and society. This integration is made more difficult because many are unable to speak Spanish fluently. Instead, expatriates rely on English language Facebook groups to help them navigate life in Mexico. While scholars have explored the intersections of communication and interculturalism in expatriate communities, comparatively few have explored how the internet and the presentation of self on social media (specifically Facebook) …

A Student Led Assessment Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Environmental Science And Management Department At Portland State University, Aneesha Gharpurey

University Honors Theses

In the summer of 2020, the world watched as Black communities and allies responded to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. An intensification of social and racial justice awareness provoked many entities like higher education institutions (HEI) to evaluate how they support marginalized people and update their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans. In an attempt to maintain excellence, many HEIs implement DEI plans through top-down methods where high-level administrators target recruitment and retention, campus climate, community engagement, and curriculum. These plans rarely incorporate students as co-collaborators and administer DEI changes that have little effect on students' self-belonging, …

The Significance Of Christian Iconography In Communist Mexican Muralism Of Diego Rivera, Rachel Renee Amaro

University Honors Theses

This study compares two of Rivera's fresco mural paintings; Liberation of the Peon (1923) at the Secretaria de Educación Publica building in Mexico City, Mexico and Agrarian Leader Zapata (1930) located at Palacio de Cortés in Cuernavaca, Mexico to two Renaissance Christian paintings to highlight the similar use of Christian iconography. This analysis argues that although groundbreaking in style, Rivera's art relied heavily on Christian iconography that not only came from his own background of knowledge, but also enabled him to speak to the people of Mexica in a time when they relied heavily on his art to tell the …

Violent Conflict And National Development In Nigeria, Adeleke Adegbami Dr, Julius Olaniyi Adeoye Dr

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Conflict is inevitable in any organization, however, the dimension at which violent conflicts are being perpetrated in Nigeria is unprecedented. It is to this extent that this study examines the causes, the perpetrators, and the effects of violent conflict on the people and national development in Nigeria. This is with a view to establishing development challenges in Nigeria and proffer pragmatic solutions. The data for the study were gathered from primary and secondary sources. The study revealed that violent conflict in Nigeria could not be dissociated from bad governance manifesting in inequality, injustice, unemployment, and poverty among others. Furthermore, the …

Teaching Children Emotional Intelligence: A Closer Look At The Barbie Vlogs, Jillian C. Britton

Student Research Symposium

In 2015, toy company Mattel began a YouTube vlog starring a 3D animated Barbie that featured many vlogs seemingly geared at increasing children’s emotional intelligence. One concern about this promising resource is that previous research suggests that cultural relevance has a notable role in the receptivity of children's media content, and Barbie may not be the most versatile role model for children of all demographics. Using a quasi-experimental matched-groups design, this proposed research aims to evaluate the impacts of the Barbie vlogs on children’s levels of emotional intelligence, and determine whether the children's ethnicity (Black or White, within the scope …

Red, White, And Blue Tartan: Modern Scottish Cultural Preservation In The American West, Felicia Thompson Zaleski

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

Abstract: From the small nation of Scotland has come a world of cultural ideas and preservation—some historically based and others fictional and romanticized. The historical and romanticized ideas of what Scottish culture is have come together to form the Scottish Heritage organizations and celebrations so common in the modern world, specifically the American west. The pinnacle moments of the Battle of Culloden Moor in 1746 to the end of the Acts of Proscription in the latter part of the 18th century stand as a basis for the need to preserve culture. Studying the history of dress, music, dance, and clans …

The Space Between Love And Hate: Coexistence During Convivencia, John Franzwa

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

The period preceding the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Iberia in the late 15th and early 16th centuries was marred by conflict. The extent and degree of the discord has long been fiercely debated amongst scholars in two camps. Many late 20th century scholars have accepted the concept of Convivencia or “coexistence,” which argues that Jews, Muslims, and Christians lived in relative harmony with one another, peacefully blending their different cultures together. Others argue that there was no amicable cohabitation between the rival cultures and that Convivencia is a modern creation of later historians. This study focuses on Christian …

The Influence Of Ursula K. Le Guin, Bailey Potter

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

The aim of this research study was to examine how Ursula K. Le Guin and her oeuvre were influential to contemporary and future writers, as well as what her influence was on the literary and publishing communities. Study was conducted through a qualitative interview process with seven Portlanders who have in some way been influenced by and/or who personally knew Le Guin. Using the transcripts from the interviews, I separated the information into themes and wrote out each section, synthesizing interviewee answers and using supplemental information to build my results. Ursula K. Le Guin influenced the literary and publishing communities …

Uncovering The Dirt On Cancel Culture: An In-Depth Analysis Of Publishing’S Relationship With Controversy, Alix Martinez

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Cancel culture is a social phenomenon that has risen from the massive amounts of online users finding common issues and speaking up about them en masse on social media platforms. In recent years, this has become even more obvious as it is reported that social media users’ consumption has risen up to 72 percent more from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has brought the topic into the forefront of many debates and people are taking issue with it. These issues can vary but one thing is for sure: cancel culture does not appear to be slowing down anytime …

A Corpus Approach Study On The Manzanar Free Press, Danielle Jochums

University Honors Theses

Past studies on the physical environment of the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II have argued that internees were able to express their agency and identity despite the dehumanization of the camps. However, studies on the newspapers circulated in the camps have argued that internees had no agency as they worked on newspapers. In a preliminary reading, it was clear that these newspapers evidenced internee agency in their language. Utilizing de Certeau's theoretical framework of tactics, this study addressed the following questions: What tactics did Japanese-American internees use to take agency when writing and editing camp newspapers? How did …

The Outriders, Zak Rodgers

University Honors Theses

The Outriders is a portrait documentary filmed in Saudi Arabia. The film follows David, the head outrider, at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh. An Outrider is a mounted horseman who assists racehorses to facilitate and maintain safety on the track. The primary duties highlighted in the film are that of catching loose horses and escorting non-compliant horses to various stations along the track. The documentary delves into David's history, starting in the US, and the journey that led him across the world to Saudi Arabia. It offers a window into what it takes to be an Outrider in terms …

Experiences Of Shame, Exclusion, & Appropriation In Mindfulness-Based Wellness Culture, Charlotte Grace Starling

University Honors Theses

Yoga, meditation, and other mindfulness practices provide numerous benefits both physical and mental health to their practitioners. There is less research exploring the role mindfulness-based wellness programs and practices fit within the cultural environment of the United States and how the mindfulness movement influences wellness culture and practices. These practices and spaces have been accused of harming folks who don't fit the dominant social narrative of thin, white, upper-middle-class participants. This paper aims to explore how the United State’s commodification of mindfulness practices contributes to experiences of shame, exclusion, and appropriation in wellness culture. This is done by a literature …

Black Magic & White Supremacy: Witchcraft As An Allegory For Race And Power, Nicholas Charles Peters

University Honors Theses

This paper examines dramatic representations of witchcraft in contemporary television, and their roots in stereotypes from 17th century dramas, exploring the function of witchcraft as an allegory for race and power in America. Television is a form of cultural media that can explore these stereotypes and create representation that influences the audience's perception of society, and can function as a call to action for social justice.

Ooligan Press: Building And Sustaining A Feminist Digital Humanities Lab At A R-2, Kathi Inman Berens, Abbey Gaterud, Rachel Noorda

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

How can practitioners outside of R-1s afford to build a DH lab? How to connect a lab’s output to the communities it serves? This essay is a case study of Ooligan Press, a student-run trade press housed within a R-2, teaching-intensive university. Two elements make Ooligan Press distinctive as a DH lab. First, Ooligan is a not-for-profit business folded into a Master’s program in Book Publishing. Profits from sale of Ooligan Press books sustain the lab, which would collapse if its books were steadily unprofitable. Second, the essay uses the DH feminism “M.E.A.L.S.” framework to explain how Ooligan's horizontal management …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Inclusive Pedagogy Increase Retention And Success Outcomes Of Stem Students, Alexander V. Alexiades, Melissa Haeffner, Darryl Reano, Maxine Janis, Jessica Black, Kazuhiro Sonoda, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The i-NATURE (Indigenous iNtegration of Aquatic sciences and Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Undergraduate culturally Responsive Education) is a culturally relevant, project-, and place-based curriculum that included extensive applied research experience contextualized for specific Indigenous communities. The program developed a model for incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into STEM undergraduate education which included direct participation of several Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. After implementation of the i-NATURE model, we tested whether the inclusive pedagogical strategies used in our intervention improved retention and learning outcomes for the students who participated in the i-NATURE program. We report a …

Curriculum Change 2021-2022, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Five Ps (Policies, Practices, Power Structures, Places; And People): A Framework To Analyze Systemic Inequalities, Eva Thanheiser, Lisa Weasel, Idowu Ajibade, Larry Martinez, Gina Greco

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chart is part of a framework to establish institutional equity and is part of the following National Science Foundation grant project:

The Spaces of Empowerment for Equity and Diversity: Advancement Through Access (SEE-DATA) project at Portland State University (PSU) aims to identify, understand, and improve the workplace experiences and retention of faculty in STEM fields who have been traditionally minoritized and marginalized based on gender, race/ethnicity, and other intersectional identities (e.g., sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, national origin, immigrant status). The project will collect, analyze, and map data about faculty’s experiences at PSU to inform programs and policies that …

The Impact Of Effective Leadership In Cross-Functional New Product Development Virtual Teams, Obianuju Obiano

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The emergence of covid-19 has forced a lot of companies to move to virtual remote work. New product development cross-functional teams who meet often or few times in a year are now compelled to transition fully into virtual remote workplace. The question is how they can function effectively with maximum performance as they did in the traditional environment. This paper's main objective of this paper is to investigate and understand how effective leadership management can influence performance, conflict, and knowledge sharing while enhancing cross-functional new product development virtual teams. An in-depth analysis of literature has been conducted in this to …