Digital Commons Network^™

The Experiences That Most Affected The Political Socialization Of Us Undergraduates, Dan Ha

Anthós

Most articles about the Gen Z’s political beliefs focus a lot on what they believe, but not so much on how they came to or why they hold those beliefs. Through a series of interviews and one focus group meeting, I investigated what events or experiences were most instrumental in shaping the beliefs of some current US undergraduate students. I found that experiences with very strong personal impacts were the most influential in shaping the participants’ current beliefs; experiences in which they or those close to them were negatively misrepresented or in which they began to distrust certain authority figures …

The Vestal Virgins And The Transition From Republic To Principate Under Augustus C. 30 Bce - 14 Ce, Jamie R. Ditzel

University Honors Theses

For centuries, ancient historians have been intrigued by the Vestal Virgins, a priestess order older than Rome itself that was dedicated to Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth. From our ancient sources we can glean that the cult, though shrouded in mystery, was regarded as playing an invaluable role in the prosperity of Rome and notions of what it meant to be Roman. Scholars such as Mary Beard and Ariadne Staples have been pioneers in studies of the Vestals, proposing the widely accepted theories that the Vestals served as physical embodiments of republican values, Roman people, and the city of …

Neuroscience-Informed Self-Advocacy For Individuals With Psychiatric Disorders, Britta Harbury

University Honors Theses

Self-advocacy is an effective way to foster improved quality of care for people with psychiatric illnesses. By understanding their conditions and needs they are better able to collaborate with their clinicians and form effective treatment plans. Introducing basic neuroscience to individuals with mental illnesses equips them to navigate the American mental healthcare system, which relies on neuroscience to create diagnoses and medications. This thesis aims to create neuroscience-informed mental health resources so that individuals with psychiatric disorders can access information that may help them better advocate for themselves in the future.

Policing By Proxy: Interrogating Big Tech's Role In Law Enforcement, Claire Elizabeth

University Honors Theses

Predictive policing, sometimes referred to as data-driven or actuarial policing, is a method of policing that uses a risk-based approach to law enforcement. For-profit technology companies market proprietary risk assessment algorithms to law enforcement organizations as tools meant to proactively mitigate crime. Using data collected from a vast array of sources, both personal and public, police are able to "predict" the likelihood of criminal activity in a given area using these algorithms. Proponents claim that risk assessment tools have the potential to fight crime with unbiased accuracy and speed by predicting when, where, and whom to police by relying on …

Working Paper No. 59, Cultural Imperialism And Hegemony, Maria Zavala

Working Papers in Economics

While the traditional colonial imperialism of France and Great Britain ended after World War Two, it can be argued that a new form of imperialism replaced it. What is known as “cultural imperialism” includes the art of inserting a covert idea into person's mind by use of popular culture. Herein, Antonio Gramsci’s ideas of cultural imperialism are contemplated. This paper explores the topic by focusing upon some of the effects that popular American music has had on Latin music and the changes in culturally acceptable trends that have followed. Then, American beauty standards and the Eurocentric beauty standards of Latin …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet June 2022 (Special Meeting), Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

This is the agenda for a special senate meeting to complete unfinished business from the June 6, 2022 meeting.

Autofluorescence Microscopy: Identifying Bacterial Signals On Rock Samples, Noel Case

University Honors Theses

One common method for identifying microbes present in fluid and non-fluid samples is fluorescent dye staining, in which samples are stained with a fluorophore - a molecule excited by an external light source that re-emits energy as higher-wavelength light. The excitation wavelength used greatly impacts the observability of microbes in the resulting fluorescence images, and deep ultraviolet excitation (200-280 nm) seems to provide the highest signal-to-noise ratio of any excitation range. By inoculating rock samples (gypsum and marble) with B. subtilis, staining with SYTO 9, Acridine Orange and FM 1-43 dyes, and imaging with deep UV (275 nm), near …

The Daughters Of The Fronde: French Aristocratic Women And The Subversion Of Bourbon Absolutist Culture, 1661-1727, Jordan David Hallmark

Dissertations and Theses

The turbulent events of the Fronde des Princes (Fronde of the Princes), which saw the French nobility stage a failed rebellion against the monarchical administration of France's chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, between 1650 and 1652, have been portrayed in the existing historiography as the swan song of a pre-absolutist nobility seeking to preserve its feudal identity as the king's partner in governance and military affairs. Indeed, as many historians of early modern France have observed, the policies pursued by Cardinal Mazarin following the monarchy's victory over the rebel princes of the Fronde, and subsequently expanded upon by Louis XIV after …

Lgbtq+ Congregants Navigating Identity In The Context Of "Welcoming But Not Affirming" Evangelical, Pentecostal, And Non-Denominational Religious Institutions: A Queer Narrative Analysis, Sarah E. Rasmussen

University Honors Theses

Welcoming but not affirming Evangelical, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches invite LGBTQ+ people to attend their church, but do not affirm their identity as a gender and/or sexual minority. Because of this, they restrict LGBTQ+ attendees from participating in leadership, paid staff positions, and ministry work. LGBTQ+ attendees are often not aware of these restrictive policies initially. The current study aims to examine how LGBTQ+ people navigate their faith and identity within welcoming but not affirming church spaces through narrative analysis. Fifteen participants engaged in an interview, where they were asked about their experience within welcoming but not affirming church spaces. …

Situated Agency: How Lgbtq Youth Navigate And Create Queer(Ed) Space, Anita R. Gooding, Bobbi Ali Zaman, Sam J. Harrell, Sam Collins, Miriam J. Abelson, Ben Anderson-Nathe

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research on LGBTQ + youth often portrays them as either as victims whose lives are defined by violence and discrimination, or as inspirational success stories whose ability to thrive is attributable to external interventions and policies. Drawing on theories of situated agency, minority stress, and queer monstrosity, this participatory qualitative interview project with LGBTQ + young adults illustrates instead how LGBTQ + youth actively shape their coming-of-age experiences and develop unique strategies to survive and thrive in the spaces they occupy. Rather than wholly traumatic or ecstatic, most participants reported mixed experiences with varying support from the people and spaces …

Honey Tree: A Neo-Soul Album, Artist & Musical Development Through The Electronic Press Kit, Raine Welterlen

University Honors Theses

This paper describes the process of preparing a Neo-Soul album for public release including monetization, marketing, arrangement, and production.

Examining Probation Lengths In Philadelphia, Pa, Madeline Grace Davis

Dissertations and Theses

One out of every 22 adults in Philadelphia, PA is under community supervision which is more than double the national average (Schiraldi, 2018). Even though probation has been seen as a more lenient alternative to prison it actually serves as a net-widener (Phelps, 2020). Probation can result in increased punishments for low-level offenses when failure to meet probation conditions results in jail or prison time when there was never a possibility of long-term incarceration at the time of sentencing (Phelps, 2020). This study uses public court information data from Philadelphia to analyze the effects different dosages of probation have on …

What Happened To The “New Middle Class”? The 2016 Borp (Brazil’S Once-Rising Poor) Survey, Benjamin Junge, Sean T. Mitchell, Charles H. Klein, David De Micheli

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research note provides a detailed account of the development and implementation of a household survey conducted in 2016 as part of a larger investigation into the lifeways and political subjectivities of Brazil’s “once-rising poor,” the demographic sector comprising poor and working-class people who experienced various forms of socioeconomic mobility in the early twenty-first century. After reflecting on the challenges of maintaining a critical perspective on class labels and relations that were intensely contested at the time, the article introduces the survey sample (n = 1,204), highlighting variables captured. It then establishes the demographic profile, mobility experiences, political values, attitudes, …

"I'M Very Enlightened:" Assisting Black Males Involved In The Criminal Justice System To Deal With And Heal From Racism, Darnell Jackie Strong

Dissertations and Theses

Black Males who have offended face major challenges stemming from their involvement in the Criminal Justice System. Once involved it is hard to get out, as exhibited by high recidivism rates and mass incarceration, issues that have plagued Black Males since slavery. There is little research on interventions to ameliorate the effects of racism on this population.

The aim of this research was to: a) create a training to help Black Males who have been involved in the Criminal Justice System deal with racism and b) evaluate the intervention. This mixed methods research utilized Constructivist Grounded Theory and Afrocentric theory …

The Mechanisms Connecting State Marijuana Policies To Parent, Peer, And Youth Drug Perception Leading To Youth Marijuana Use, Eunbyeor Sophie Yang

Dissertations and Theses

Youth marijuana use, which can lead to numerous health problems, is significantly associated with youth drug perception, which is greatly influenced by state marijuana laws such as medical marijuana legalization and penalty severity. The mediating impact of social drug perceptions on the association between state marijuana laws and youth drug disapproval is not well known. Based on theory of change and primary socialization theory, this study examined the impact of state marijuana laws on youth drug disapproval, the mediating factors of parent and peer drug disapproval, the direct effect of youth drug disapproval on youth marijuana use, and the moderating …

"We've Created Cheap Energy Off The Backs Of Salmon": Dam Removal Politics And Alliances In The Lower Snake River Basin, Krista Harrington

Dissertations and Theses

Dams, once considered by many to be good for water development in the Western U.S., might not be a part of a climate resilient future. Dams have come under increasing scrutiny due to undesirable ecological implications. Although dam removal proposals are growingly popular in recent decades, they are controversial since they impact different stakeholders in different ways. In the Pacific Northwest, the Lower four Snake River dams have long been criticized for their negative impacts on salmon. In February 2021, US Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) proposed a comprehensive framework to deconstruct the Lower four Snake River dams as an attempt …

Professional Development For Special Education Paraeducators: How To Effectively Train Classroom Staff To Support Students With Complex Instructional And Behavioral Needs, Cara Olson-Sawyer

Dissertations and Theses

According to data from U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics in 2018, it is estimated that there are 1,308,100 paraeducators employed in public schools in the United States. Despite the prevalence of paraeducators, these employees receive limited opportunity for training. In addition, there is little guidance from the Department of Education or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for effective professional development and there are no standardized job qualifications or job descriptions across states and school districts. This lack of uniformity, combined with vague job descriptions often result in paraeducators entering the education field with no formal education and training, …

Patricia Carpio Whiting: Women, Environmentalism, And The Oregon Legislature In The 1970s, Kim L. Andrews

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the life of one woman, Patricia Carpio Whiting, during the second half of the twentieth century, in an effort to expand the genre of women and environmental studies. It provides context for Carpio Whiting's accomplishments as an elected official in Oregon by describing her childhood in Chicago and her formative years in California, particularly how growing up Filipino American shaped her as an adult. As such, this thesis engages themes of gender, race, and class in historical scholarship. The thesis focuses on Carpio Whiting's life in Oregon and explores the opportunities and challenges facing women as they …

Effectiveness Of Air Pollution Mitigation Systems: Transport, Transformation, And Control Of Ozone In The Indoor Environment, Pradeep Ramasubramanian

Dissertations and Theses

Buildings are critical environments governing our collective exposure to air pollution and energy consumption. While there exist concerns regarding increases in building energy consumption due to indoor air interventions, improvements to the quality of air indoors can improve health, comfort, and productivity. Air cleaning technologies that can improve indoor air quality with minimal energy consumption have become ever more important. These technologies are utilized at various scales; from passive removal of pollutants in the air entering the indoor environment to active cleaning of air within the breathing zone. To better understand the effectiveness of active and passive ozone mitigation technologies …

Masculinity Instability And Ideologies As Predictors Of Ipv Perpetration: The Mediating Role Of Relationship Power, Emma Christine Marioles O'Connor

Dissertations and Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered to be a pervasive and devastating social issue and is disproportionately perpetrated by men (CDC). Masculinity ideologies, which are comprised of male role norm expectations, inform boys and men about what it means to be and to not be "a man" and have been established as a predictive factor of men's IPV perpetration. These ideologies serve to maintain existing social hierarchies that entitle men to seek socially dominant and powerful positions in society, as well as within their intimate relationships. Further, masculinity is considered to be unstable, subject to threat, and in need of …

Governmental Persuasion Strategies On Social Media During Covid-19: A Comparative Study Of The Us And China, Fan Wang

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This study compared persuasive strategies of the governments of the U.S. and China during a public health crisis using social media messages. Collecting data with R and Python from two national public health sectors' official accounts on Twitter (N = 1,630) and Sina Weibo (N = 3,554), the researcher investigated how the organizations' messages reflected Cialdini's seven principles of persuasion and whether other emergent messaging patterns occurred. According to the different phases that the two countries had gone through during the pandemic, the researcher also conducted a pooled times series analysis to investigate the relationship between the frequency of daily …

Regional Growth Concept To Promote Densification And Mixed Land-Use In The Suburbs Of The Portland Metropolitan Area, Sangwan Lee

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This study attempts to address two questions. First, what factors influence the categorization of neighborhoods into regional and town centers under a regional planning framework (the 2040 Growth Concept) for the Portland Metropolitan region? Second, have the regional and town centers fulfilled their goals of fostering densification and diverse land use, as indicated in their strategic plans, or have they fallen short of these goals? The multinomial logit model was used to answer the first research question, and propensity score matching and a paired t-test were used to answer the second research question in this study. This paper found that …

100% Say Writing Is Important To Their Work, But What Harm Does This Uncontroversial Finding Obscure? Early Results From A Survey Of Scientists And Technical Professionals About Writing And Communication, Sarah Read

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper explores preliminary results from an on-going IRB-approved online survey of workers in scientific, academic, technical and industrial contexts on their attitudes about and approaches to writing in their work. The survey collects samples of language use by scientists and technical professionals when talking about writing and communication in their work and careers in order to document how conventional, or regularized and non-controversial, their language choices are (i.e., “Successful writing is clear and concise”). Coding of survey responses for the construct of the Communication Metaphor reveals a multivalent complex of tacit beliefs, assumptions and learned practices that inform and …

Basic Concepts Of Structural Design For Architecture Students, Anahita Khodadadi

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This book aims to narrate fundamental concepts of structural design to architecture students such that they have minimum involvement with math problem-solving. Within this book, students learn about different types of loads, forces and vector addition, the concept of equilibrium, internal forces, geometrical and material properties of structural elements, and rules of thumb for estimating the proportion of some structural systems such as catenary cables and arches, trusses, and frame structures.

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English Language Learner Labels: Institutions And Identity, Saylor B. Eames

University Honors Theses

In recent discussions of identity work, an underexplored issue has been how different labels impact the self-identity of multilingual students. Critics have argued for new labels and have shown how the ELL label supports a deficit view. However, they have not considered what labels are used by different institutions because they participate in different discourse communities. In my work, I explore what labels are used in the institutions of government, education, and linguistics in order to synthesize the potential identity impacts on multilingual students. I acknowledge that other researchers have contributed to our understanding of labels and identity. I will …

Multiple Identities, Colorblind White Parents, And Persisting Adoption Stigma: Toward An Intersectional Perspective Of Asian American Transracial Adoption, Michelle Y. Leipzig

University Honors Theses

Asian TRAs' experiences are continually shaped by United States policies that were installed to safeguard the current White dominant power structure. The existential threat of COVID-19 imitates the fear-based conditions that historically galvanized the White dominant majority to execute sinophobic immigration laws, imprison hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, and overturn federal abortion rights for women - in a striking display of relevance, the last example occurred during the development of this thesis. Asian TRAs' proximity to Whiteness through their adoption into White families can prevent them from garnering the tools necessary to navigate a racist …

My First Embrace Of The Sea & The Fish Swimming In My Head: A Collection Of Poems, Photographs, And Cultural Artifacts Inspired By My Father And Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Maya Sutriasa

University Honors Theses

This creative thesis reflects the artistic process and influences of Maya Sutriasa's BFA project. This work aims to understand the duality of her biracial and bicultural identity as a second-generation Indonesian-American. This exploration begins with memory, employs time travel, recounts metaphors pertaining to water, and bears witness to her family's cultural hybridity. This paper, and the artwork done for this project, was a means of understanding parts of myself. The artwork shown in this paper mostly takes the form of introspective poetry, journal entries, and textile art.

Ode-Cean: California, Danny-Olivia F. Hanson

University Honors Theses

As a 2D artist from San Jose, California, the overarching themes in this work have been self love, self expression, and interconnectedness. For this thesis project, the author chose to focus specifically on depicting Californian wildlife as a way for them to feel more connected to their home. The hope is for audiences viewing the work to think about the way that they are connected to sea creatures and their ecological impact. Motivations behind the work and process of creation are discussed.

"Untitled Screenplay", Mailyn Salazar Jiménez

University Honors Theses

A young woman moves to Mexico in an attempt to change her mundane and monotonous life.

Trans Men: Precarious Manhood And The Paradox Of Hegemonic Masculinity, Alexander-Lee K. Kinmore

University Honors Theses

This thesis utilizes existing literature on gender essentialism, gender socialization, precarious manhood theory, and transphobic discrimination in order to examine the ways in which transgender men conceptualize their internal male identity and respond to threats like discrimination and violence. Transgender men have an essential male identity that does not depend on their sense of masculinity and develops during childhood while they are living in a body considered biologically female. Their experience of early gender socialization allows them to understand masculinity and femininity as concepts that exist in different levels within us all, and does not rely on hegemonic masculine ideals …