Digital Commons Network^™

The ‘Girl Student’ And Modernity: Imagining A Place For Women In The New Nation, Kayla Fish

University Honors Theses

The modern Chinese 'girl student' was born in a context of great upheaval and redefinition within Chinese society. The ability to produce a generation of educated and civic-minded young people was integral to various reform projects at the turn of the twentieth century--doing so would develop a widespread sense of belonging to the cause of national salvation. This meant introducing a modern education system and engaging with the general population of China in unprecedented ways, including extending opportunities previously unavailable to large portions of the population. I situate my research within this phenomenon, where the young female student takes on …

Racial Capitalism And Expropriation In American Welfare Reform, Sam A.G. Bruns

University Honors Theses

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or PRWORA, is a major act of US welfare legislation that was signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. Under the program it authorized, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, welfare recipients can only receive benefits for up to 60 months lifetime and must maintain full time employment as soon as required by welfare administrators. As a result, welfare enrollment and the quantity of benefits distributed have decreased significantly since PRWORA was passed. The implementation of a welfare work requirement was a key goal of an anti-welfare policy position that became …

Our Lips Are Sealed: A Social Constructionist Approach To Understanding Menstrual Concealment At Menarche, Olivia S. Agrusa

University Honors Theses

At menarche, menstruators receive messages from various sources that urge them to conceal evidence of their menstruation. Concealment refers to the notion that menstruation is to be hidden, especially from men. This belief is often exploited and/or expressed in interactions between menstruators, mothers, and peers, in advertisements, educational materials, day-to-day conversation, and personal disciplinary actions. Themes of concealment are analyzed within a social constructionist framework to understand how narratives develop over time to guide human behavior and maintain social order. This paper argues that the menstrual concealment taboo is a social construction that has been institutionalized into the fabric of …

Political Queerness Against Reproductive Futurism In J.M. Coetzee's Life And Times Of Michael K., John J. Caufield

University Honors Theses

In J.M Coetzee's Life and Times of Michael K., Michael interacts with political apparatuses and individuals invested in what Lee Edelman terms "reproductive futurism." As both queer sexually, and queer in that he elicits a persistent opposition to the political bias towards reproductive futurism, Michael figures the possibility of a queer resistance to the political ideologies that underwrite state power in the postcolony. He figures what Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri dub the "biopolitical event." As he interacts with bureaucrats and others, his incomprehensibility to those characters conjures the biopolitical event via his incomprehensibility to the logic of biopolitics …

Equitable Academia For Students With Disabilities, Mia Cremer

University Honors Theses

Higher education has been historically ableist based on the exclusivity of academia. This qualitative study describes how the identity of students with disabilities changes through academia. The study included semi-structured interviews with four students with disabilities who are registered with the Disability Resource Center at PSU University. Narrative inquiry revealed how the students’ experience in academia revealed the infrastructure, ableism, accessibility, and classroom climate. The social model of disability provided the theoretical framework throughout the study. The social model of disability identifies how the environmental, social factors, and attitudes towards a person with an impairment prevents them from achieving equity. …

Insta-Identity : The Construction Of Identity Through Instagram An Extended Literature Review, Bailey Seibel

University Honors Theses

A person's ability to curate, communicate, and perceive their identity through the exploration and sharing of selfhood has never been easier thanks to social media applications that promote user-generated content and encourage self-promotion through computer-mediated communication within a social network. This paper analyzes the role Instagram has in the construction of identity by reviewing existing literature on identity theories, with a focus on communication theory of identity, as well as the methodologies behind representing self to see how they apply to the features and frameworks of Instagram. Based on the review it is argued that social media applications such as …

Simultaneous Bilingual Middle School Students Becoming Biliterate: What Do Students Think About Their Biliteracy As Taught Through The "Bridge" Strategy In A Humanities Dual Language/Immersion Class?, Alma Lucinda Diaz-Philipp

Dissertations and Theses

In response to the increasing number of United States school students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds at all grade levels, often called "simultaneous bilinguals," the U.S. school districts are opening schools that offer bilingual instruction. One instructional strategy that seems promising is the "Bridge," where students contrast and connect the literacy skills learned in one language to the literacy skills in their other language. An underlying component of learning a language is student attitude and motivation to learn. Research also seems to indicate that student attitude and motivation toward biliteracy can affect their achievement. There seems to be a …

Mobile Augmented Reality And Language-Related Episodes, Tetyana Sydorenko, John Hellermann, Steven L. Thorne, Vanessa Howe

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Applications of locative media (e.g., place‐based mobile augmented reality [AR]) are used in various educational content areas and have been shown to provide learners with valuable opportunities for investigation‐based learning, location‐situated social and collaborative interaction, and embodied experience of place (Squire, 2009; Thorne & Hellermann, 2017; Zheng et al., 2018). Mobile locative media applications’ value for language learning, however, remains underinvestigated. To address this lacuna, this study employed the widely used construct of language‐related episodes (LREs; Swain & Lapkin, 1998) as a unit of analysis to investigate language learning through participation in a mobile AR game. Analysis of videorecorded interactions …

A Present-Situation Analysis And Needs Assessment Of Latinx Workers In The Portland Fast-Food Industry: A Study Of Their Employment Journeys & Job-Related Language Needs, Livia Z. Lichtenstein-Hershman

University Honors Theses

This case study illustrates the employment journeys and experiences of three Latinx fast-food industry service workers. Analyses of in-depth interviews reveals while participants share comparable employment histories, they also demonstrate differences in regard to the paths to management they have experienced, and their level of language confidence at work. All participants in this study have been offered and have declined management positions. First, this analysis suggests there is a myriad of reasons besides a lack of English language skills regarding why Latinx fast food restaurant workers may not assume management positions. These reasons include participants lacking the following: time to …

Examining Human Behavior And Tool Use Through Experimental Replications And A Technological Analysis Of Ground Stone In The Lower Columbia, Kelley Prince Martinez

Dissertations and Theses

While ground stone tools represent diverse activities, the technology is analyzed at a coarse level in the Pacific Northwest. Conducting more detailed analyses of ground stone assemblages can inform on regional Indigenous raw material knowledge, resource use, and tool manufacturing and maintenance practices.

In this thesis I addressed questions regarding ground stone technology, including manufacturing time investments, tool recycling, and how ground stone tools were used through the application of experimental tool replication, use studies, and in depth analyses. I replicated tools that are common in the region, including a banded and notched net weight, a maul, two bowls, and …

Defining Employer Supported Learning Opportunities, 21cleo Research Team

21CLEO Research Project Blog Posts

The 21st Century Learning Ecosystem Opportunities (21Cleo) research team has been hard at work! In our last two blog posts, we reported on a field review of learning opportunities from a process perspective (how we chose the literature we reviewed) and from a product perspective (what we are learning from this literature).

A Scoring Model To Assess Organizations' Technology Transfer Capabilities: The Case Of A Power Utility In The Northwest Usa, JoãO Ricardo Lavoie

Dissertations and Theses

This research intends to advance knowledge in the technology management field, most importantly in the study of organizations that develop technologies in-house and wish to enhance their technology transfer performance while maintaining adherence between R&D activities and overall business strategies. The objective was to build a multi-criteria decision-making model capable of producing a technology transfer score, which can be used by practitioners in order to assess and later improve their organizations' technology transfer capabilities -- ultimately aiming to improve technology development as a whole. The model was applied to a major power utility organization in the Pacific Northwest of the …

Sahrawi Self-Determination Within Existing Borders: Adapting The Right To Self Determination To Modern International Norms, Alma Ruedas

Student Research Symposium

This paper provides an overview of the attitudes towards the Sahrawi people and the POLISARIO Front in Algeria and Morocco, with a more specific focus on how these latter have impacted their endeavour to establish the former’s own sovereign state. The paper provides background on the political, social, and economic, atmospheres in both countries, to contextualise the modern state of democratic institutions and voter engagement. With this information in mind, several potential pathways forward are presented for Sahrawi self-determination, weighing the pros and cons of seeking political representation within existing states, or through secession.

An Ocean Of Brain Waves: Analyzing Methods To Find Erp Signals In The Noise, Andrea Hamblen, Mallary Owen, Lindsay Robb, Susan Wiggins, Sarah Key-Delyria

Student Research Symposium

Questions:
Will the N400 ERP be observed when participants read word pairs that are either related (semantically, causally, hierarchically, or associatively) or unrelated?

Will a replication of a study using word pairs with varying degrees of relatedness produce similar results to the model study in terms of N400 latency and amplitude?

Can results from a robust, easily-recognizable ERP be used to validate methods for the discovery of more subtle ERP’s?

Hypotheses:

It is expected that our results will mirror the findings of our model study, revealing significant negative-going neural activity between 200 and 500ms after seeing the stimulus. We anticipate …

Bilingual Adults With Tbi And Abi: Current State Of Portland Metro Slp Assessment Resources, Sarah Shellard, Sarah Key-Delyria

Student Research Symposium

This study aims to identify the extent and nature of available resources in inpatient, outpatient, and rehabilitation settings for speech-language assessment and treatment in Spanish-speaking adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and acquired brain injury (ABI) in the Portland Metro area. Identification of lack of resources could be used for future improvements in resources. To investigate this, a web-based survey was answered by 25 participants via Qualtrics. Participants were speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the Portland metro area who have treated bilingual / multilingual clients in the past 1-2 years.

Results are presented descriptively to answer four research questions: (1) Have …

From Mantra To Prose: The Influence Of The Mundaka Upanishad On Western Poetry And Writing, Walter B. Greene

Young Historians Conference

Written sometime between 300 and 100 BCE, the Indian text known as the Mundaka Upanishad contains some of the earliest philosophical inquiries into the concepts of suffering, the self, rebirth, and humanity’s place in the universe. This paper examines the influence of the Mundaka Upanishad and argues for the value of its study, addressing how the text offers historians a valuable opportunity to look into some of the most influential ideas behind Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Indian schools of thought. This paper also examines the cross-cultural influence of the text, tracing its diffusion from India and its influence on contemporary …

Translation Wars: The Influence Of Semantics And Translation On The More-Tyndale Polemic, Annika H. Marshall

Young Historians Conference

The More-Tyndale polemic was one of many debates during the Protestant Reformation, a time of great religious change and conflict. Because of this, many scholars who examine the lengthy debate view it as a pure reflection of the typical Reformation arguments of the century, and assume it to be a debate of ubiquitous opposing religious ideals. This paper, however, argues that while many of these Reformation topics were present, the polemic was primarily fueled by clash over semantics and the topic of Biblical translation. Through this unique approach to a classic debate, one may better understand Christian theology’s inherent struggle …

29th Annual Young Historians Conference, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 2019 Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

Approaches To Contested In-Group Terminology For Mindful Editors, Jasmine Gower

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

In the conversation about mindful editing, a conundrum exists with regards to marginalized groups for whom all possible labels to identify the group contain loaded histories and connotations, and different subsets of these marginalized groups are in disagreement about what terminology is most appropriate. This contested in-group terminology places editors in a position where any editorial choice they make has high risk of offending or alienated members of the very group the editor hopes to represent. How, then, do mindful editors approach the matter of contested in-group terminology in an ethical manner? This study examines the approaches to contested in-group …

Learning Opportunities Available To Frontline Workers, 21cleo Research Team

21CLEO Research Project Blog Posts

In our efforts to better understand the characteristics of learning opportunities available to frontline service workers, we've undertaken a comprehensive review of the work that has been published and distributed in the field. In our last post, we shared that we've collected and reviewed over 50 reports and publications from a variety of sources. This post focuses on our initial findings and insights from this review.

Translanguaging Through Story: Empowering Children To Use Their Full Language Repertoire, Erin E. Flynn, Selena L. Hoy, Jessica L. Lea, Monica A. Garcia

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Translanguaging through story documents the progression of an emerging bilingual preschooler who draws on his full linguistic repertoire to story his experiences with others. Over the course of the school year, Diego progresses in his ability to tell a complete story in both English and Spanish. Repeated engagement in storytelling provides the support needed for Diego to continue and extend ideas in his stories and in his drawing and play. The case shows how opening the space for children to use their full language repertoire enables a child to reciprocally develop named languages like English and Spanish as he improves …

The Discourse And Value Of Being An Independent Publisher, Rachel Noorda

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Publishing did not have independents enter self-discourse until the 1960s when media conglomeration created a need to distinguish other publishers from this network of corporate giants. But rather than decimating the independent publishing landscape, the corporate conglomeration of book publishing has opened a space for independent publishers to thrive (Simon and McCarthy, 2009; Schiffrin, 2001; Hawthorne, 2014, 2016; Kogan 2007, 2010), in part because of the social currency that positioning themselves as independent in discourse affords. In order to analyze the use, purpose, and meaning of independent in publisher discourse, this article conducts a content analysis on mission statements of …

21cleo Research Team Introduces Early Work At Coabe, 21cleo Research Team

21CLEO Research Project Blog Posts

21CLEO Research Blog Post No.05

Revolutionärinnen Am Fließband: A Comparative Gendered Analysis Of The 1973 Pierburg And Ford Migrant Labor Strikes, Jordan Faith Norquist

Dissertations and Theses

In the years following the end of the Second World War, the Federal Republic of Germany experienced a "golden age" of economic upturn. Due to the labor shortage in the aftermath of war and the division of Germany, West Germany initially looked to its eastern counterpart, the German Democratic Republic, to meet its labor needs in the immediate postwar years. Once East Germany tightened its border control, the Federal Republic of Germany extended bilateral agreements to Southern Mediterranean countries to meet the nation's labor needs. Italy was the first official nation to have a bilateral work agreement with West Germany …

21cleo Field Literature Review Process, 21cleo Research Team

21CLEO Research Project Blog Posts

The 21st Century Learning Ecosystems Opportunities (21 CLEO) project has embarked on a review of research that describes educational opportunities offered to frontline workers. Throughout the course of this review process, the project has been creating a list and description of the different types of opportunities offered. This field review will help us get a clearer picture of types of learning available and the range as well as their educational reach.

Racial Disparities In A State Based Workers' Compensation System, Caroline Kristine Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority workers suffer higher rates of work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States compared to their White counterparts. Explanations for these higher rates include potential socioeconomic causes (education, income, and wealth) and occupational segregation into more dangerous occupations. What is less studied are the post-injury sequelae for minority workers, which is their experiences in the workers' compensation system, as well as their health and return to paid employment. What is known comes primarily from qualitative literature, which includes themes of racial discrimination (from employers, health care providers, and workers' compensation employees), a lack of information …

The Infrastructural Function: A Relational Theory Of Infrastructure For Writing Studies, Sarah Read

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article theorizes the term infrastructure as a framework for articulating how writing products, activities, and processes underwrite organizational life in technical organizations. While this term has appeared broadly in writing studies scholarship, it has not been systematically theorized there as it has been in other fields such as economics, computing, and information science. This article argues for a four-part framework that incorporates and builds on Star and Ruhleder’s relational theory of infrastructure. Fieldwork from a federally funded supercomputing center for scientific research operationalizes the theory for its contributions to writing studies scholarship and its applications for industry and writing …

Perceptions Of Emotions By Simultaneous Bilinguals Across Various Relationship Contexts, Lisa A. Wickham

University Honors Theses

Currently, a significant amount of existing research on bilinguals does not distinguish between sequential and simultaneous bilingualism. Furthermore, there is a significant gap in the existing research on simultaneous bilinguals. This exploratory study investigated simultaneous bilinguals’ perceptions of emotional expression in their two first languages, within three relationship contexts: professional, family, romantic partners and friends. A questionnaire was administered to simultaneous bilinguals. According to the findings of this study, simultaneous bilinguals have a preference between one of their first two languages when expressing certain emotions. Additionally, participants report that relationship context impacts the language they select to use when conversing …

Incivility As A Veiled Display Of Workplace Discrimination: The Intersection Of Workplace Incivility And Gender-Based Discrimination, Sara M. Grant

University Honors Theses

Workplace incivility is defined as behavior that is rude, condescending, and/or ostracizing. Incivility violates workplace norms or expectations of respect but can otherwise appear mundane. Incivility is low impact but consistent mistreatment that can result in a myriad of negative impacts on employees and organizations. Some organizations dismiss incivility and other forms of subtle mistreatment as inconsequential, despite scientific evidence showing significant costs. A combination of anti-discrimination laws and social norms have drastically changed the dynamics of workplace discrimination over the last few decades. That is, blatant discrimination is no longer socially or legally acceptable, but biased attitudes against women …

Language And Culture As Barriers To Healthcare For Chinese Immigrants, Edwin Leung

University Honors Theses

Immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for 88 percent of United States population growth through 2065. Currently, immigrants make up for about 13.5 percent of the US population. In addition, 65.5 million Americans speak a language other than English at home. Language and culture are the two most significant barriers faced by immigrants seeking health care. These barriers have a significant impact on immigrants’ ability to receive quality care, make them more vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Many resources exist to help immigrants with various needs including health care. However, more effort is needed to strengthen the resources …