Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence Of Ethnic Racial Identity On The Critical Consciousness Of Asian American College Students, Aliyah Sukkram

University Honors Theses

Ethical and racial identity (ERI) and critical consciousness play crucial roles in how youth of color understand themselves, contextualize their racialized experiences, and navigate oppressive social conditions. However, there has been a lack of research on both constructs in the lives of Asian American youth. Thus, this thesis aims to study the influence of ERI on the critical consciousness of Asian American college students by conducting semi-structured interviews. ERI was found to influence critical reflection and critical action but not political efficacy. The relationship between ERI and critical consciousness is understood through how youth engage with their ERI and contextualize …

Mindfulness As A Buffer Against Death Anxiety: Implications For End-Of-Life Care, Chad Alexander

University Honors Theses

Death anxiety, defined as the distress associated with the awareness of mortality, has profound psychological and cultural impacts. Western societies often respond to death salience through avoidance and medicalization, reinforcing defensive strategies described by Terror Management Theory. This project aimed to investigate whether mindfulness can serve as a buffer against death anxiety. A structured literature review was conducted using PsycINFO, PubMed, the Portland State University Library, and Google Scholar between January 2025 and April 2025. One study found that mindfulness moderated the effects of death anxiety on health-related quality of life in people living with HIV. Two experiments linked mindfulness …

Cultural Shadows: Vampires And The Shifting Fears Of The West, A Creative Exploration Of Vampire Media And Its Reflection Of Evolving Social Anxieties, Tasha Sayre

University Honors Theses

Cultural Shadows: Vampires and the Shifting Fears of the West is a creative-critical thesis that explores vampire media as a reflection of evolving social anxieties in Western culture. Focusing primarily on film and television, with reference to key literary texts, this study examines how the vampire figure is used to articulate and dramatize recurring societal fears—particularly those surrounding women's sexuality and autonomy, queer identity, and class-based inequality. Through close readings of influential vampire narratives, the thesis demonstrates how these stories mirror cultural tensions and moral panics, transforming the vampire into a symbol of both fear and fascination. Drawing on gender …

The Silk Butterfly Effect: Japan And The United States 1853-1941, Melodee Birlew

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the rise and fall of the silk industry in both the United States and Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. While silk had been a valuable commodity for millennia for royalty, aristocrats, and the extremely wealthy, the opening of Japan's ports in 1853 soon made silk more accessible to lower classes around the world.

Consequently, Japan's newfound wealth catapulted her status among other rich and powerful nations. Japan's military might, financed in large part by the silk trade and displayed by her victory over Russia in 1905, earned her even more prestige on the …

Their Will Is Wealth: American Billionaires, Illiberal Capital, And Their Immunity To Federal Law, Conor Kawika Carroll

Dissertations and Theses

Billionaires are inherently unique political actors. They, and their wealth, are a species apart. This rarity is measurable by quantifying relative consequences for actions made on behalf of that wealth. This thesis explores whether or not a billionaire's political power provides them with immunity to federal laws and regulations that govern wealth and its political use. The objective of this research is two-fold: to illustrate the scholarship gap regarding American billionaires and their relative immunity from federal law, and to instigate academia to study billionaires politically at increasing rates, providing more data for lawmakers regarding the most economically powerful political …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of The Workplace Challenges Experienced By Women, Ahmed Mohammed Almousa

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores the persistent workplace challenges experienced by women through three interrelated studies using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Despite decades of progress, women continue to face structural barriers, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and emotional labor demands that shape their professional experiences.

The first study analyzes GSS data to examine the impact of the #MeToo movement on self-reports of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Results show an increase in reporting sexual harassment among White men and Women of color. With respect to men of color and white women, the results were not significant or did not show an increase. …

Navigating Sovereignty And Human Rights: A Legal Analysis Of Palestinian Detention Under Israeli Jurisdiction In Comparison To International Law, Amani Nidal Odeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines whether Israeli detention practices of Palestinians conform to or contravene Israeli domestic legislation and international legal standards using a doctrinal legal analysis. This thesis evaluates six key areas through four hypotheses: the detention of minors, geographic disparities (particularly Gaza), administrative detention procedures, the use of military courts, due process violations, and detention conditions. While Israeli domestic law formally authorizes these practices, the analysis finds they routinely violate crucial international legal norms, including the ICCPR, CRC, CAT, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The use of secret evidence, prolonged administrative detention without trial, and discriminatory legal frameworks undermines the …

"I'M Strictly T4t": Trans For Trans Connections In The Contemporary, Madi Lou Alexander

Dissertations and Theses

Trans for trans relationships, referred to as "t4t", are a relationship type specific to trans individuals. Linguistically originating from Craigslist personal ad spaces, t4t indicates a trans person seeking out and engaging with another trans person. The scope of relationships under the t4t label are often largely associated with sexuality and dating scenes due to their conception in online cruising spaces. Through qualitative analysis, I assess the range of what t4t relationships are through 30 in-depth interviews with participants identifying as trans. This work moves away from focusing on the deficits of holding a marginalized identity, instead aiming to center …

Retention Intervention Program Success: An Inquiry Into Learning Organization Structural And Cultural Elements In California Community Colleges, Paul Vernon Wickline

Dissertations and Theses

Community colleges serve a diverse, underrepresented, and economically disadvantaged student population, yet most students fail to complete their academic goals, with students from marginalized groups facing even more significant disparities. Some colleges have implemented Early Alert and Intervention (EA&I) programs to improve retention and completion rates. However, colleges may face organizational challenges in implementing and sustaining these retention programs. This qualitative study examined structural and cultural elements in community colleges that have successfully implemented EA&I programs, focusing on student services and student affairs practices that support a learning-centered environment. Findings suggest that effective EA&I programs are grounded in inclusive, collaborative, …

Book Review Of, Participatory Engineering Of Algorithmic Socialtechnologies: An Extended Book Review Of David G. Robinson's Voices Inthe Code, Rajesh Venkatachalapathy

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

David G. Robinson’s Voices in the Code, reviewed here, approaches the issue of governance and regulation of algorithmic social technologies with a case study orientation that offers a grounding in the details, illuminating the fundamentally sociological and processual nature of modern governance issues that are mostly missed or left implicit in academic, regulatory, and legislative discussions. This important book urges us to design adaptive, malleable, and evolvable participatory organizational structures instead. Accepting the author’s invitation to carry the torch forward, this review builds on and extends the book’s arguments by presenting broad and transferable insights on regulation and governance …

"This Revolution Been Televised": Media As A Tool Of Justice And An Apparatus Of State Violence, Nahal Rastegarpour

Dissertations and Theses

This study utilizes case information from an online database called Fatal Encounters, which has over 30,000 incident reports of civilian deaths involving a police officer. From this larger population, a sample of 415 cases is used to run an additional mixed method research design, which integrates quantitative data analysis and qualitative content analyses. The quantitative analysis sample includes all 415 cases, and the qualitative content analysis uses a subsample of 34 cases. Using demographic data provided by Fatal Encounters, this study expands case information to create new data sets. Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected, developed, and then analyzed. …

The Effects Of Family Cohesion On The Relationship Between Trauma And State-Level Social Policy Provision In The United States, Brandon Kendall Ross Fielding

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines how childhood trauma and family cohesion interact to shape state-level social policy generosity in the United States. The study begins with a multilevel quantitative analysis using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health and the State Safety-Net Generosity Index to assess how individual-level experiences of trauma and family support relate to state-level welfare generosity. Two trauma indices--one focused on adverse childhood experiences and bullying, and the other on food-related hardship--are used to explore how trauma influences attitudes toward public assistance, and whether family cohesion moderates this relationship. Results from marginal effects analyses indicate that family cohesion, …

Symbolic Leverage: Nominating (Non)Veiled Women As An Electoral Competition Strategy In Polarized Turkey, Elif Sari-Genc

Politics and Global Affairs Faculty Publications and Presentations

Do party elites strategically nominate (non)veiled women? While research exists on Muslim-minority countries, little is known about the dynamics of such strategies in Muslim-majority contexts, where the interplay of Islam, secularism, gender, and veiling is complex. To address this gap, I examine electoral competition in Turkey, investigating whether parties strategically nominate (non)veiled women for mayoral seats in opposing party strongholds to capitalize on the political symbols associated with women's identities — a strategy | term "symbolic leverage." Using an original dataset, elite interviews, and electoral discourse analysis, I find that parties leverage the symbolic value of veiled and nonveiled women …

An Exploration Of Holistic Admissions Protocol In Graduate School: Implications For Access And Equity, Kelly Doherty

Dissertations and Theses

Historically, graduate admissions policies at higher education institutions have heavily relied on standardized testing, which limits access to graduate and professional degrees for underrepresented demographic and gender groups. Recently, movements toward holistic graduate admissions processes and strengths-based evaluations of applicants have shown promise in equitably recruiting and admitting candidates. However, the field currently lacks common best practices and strategies for enhancing equity in the evaluation of applicant credentials. Furthermore, recent federal challenges to campus diversity and inclusion efforts have complicated these initiatives. To address these issues, this qualitative comparative case study examined five university graduate schools that are implementing holistic …

Institutions, Indigenous Peoples, And The Structure Of Power In Columbia River Basin Salmon Governance, Christopher Michael Page

Dissertations and Theses

As broad patterns of behavior influenced by norms and rules, institutions structure many aspects of modern society through coordination and the distribution of power. Due to the importance of common-pool natural resources to many aspects of society, they usually involve competition and lie at the intersection of multiple institutions. This combination of institutions, power disparities, and a competitive interest is what scholars have referred to as a "field." Fields can be complex, and the coordination among interests is generally done through a form of governance involving a wide array of laws, regulations, and actors. When at least one of these …

"Significant Bodily Intrusions": Investigations Into Law Enforcement Phlebotomy, Anne Kathleen Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

This three-paper dissertation explores law enforcement phlebotomy, the ability of law enforcement officers to draw blood. Phlebotomy is both a ubiquitous, invasive diagnostic tool as well as a social site with complex relational dynamics at play between phlebotomist and patient. Through law enforcement phlebotomy, the blood draw is co-opted from the medical field into the policing field, and the normative framework through which it is used changes: whereas medical edicts instruct providers to work with patients through an ethics of care--respecting consent and refusal--policing is not similarly bound, instead operating through a prioritization of security and efficiency. In the articles …

Documenting The Effects Of Laboratory Sorting In Zooarchaeology: Lessons Learned From The Cixwicn Project, Kristine M. Bovy, Virginia L. Butler, Michael A. Etnier, Sarah K. Campbell

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Zooarchaeologists routinely analyze assemblages that were initially sorted into major animal type (birds, mammals, fish, invertebrates) by students or lab technicians with varied backgrounds in zooarchaeology. Sorting errors are probably made in this initial phase, which can affect taxonomic representation and understanding of human–animal relationships. Recent study of the immense faunal assemblage (over 1 million NSP [Number of Specimens]) from Čḯxwicən (45CA523), a 2,700-year-old Lower Elwha Klallam village located on the coast of Washington (USA), allows us to systematically analyze trends in sorting errors. For example, 22.6% of the bird bones included in our sample were initially missorted into other …

Overt Representation And Subtle Clues A Study Of Queer Book Descriptions In English, Croatian, And Serbian, Rachael Phillips

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Most commonly, a book description is the first contact one has with the contents of a book. It is the elevator pitch on the back of the book or the Amazon page that tries to sell you your next read among literally millions of competitors. In book publishing terms, a book description is a piece of metadata that follows the book throughout its marketing life. It is usually a one to three paragraph description of the book, including the setting, main characters, and some (spoiler-free) plot summary, but also usually includes themes and tone, comparative titles, and potentially author background …

Cuju: The Ancient Chinese Game That Held An Empire Together, Enzo H. Smith

Young Historians Conference

This paper explores how cuju, an ancient sport known as the predecessor of modern football, evolved from the Han to Song dynasties (206 BCE–1368 CE) as a unifying force in imperial China. Calling upon primary sources such as ancient cuju manuals and various art pieces suggests this sport's importance went beyond a leisurely practice. Using academic journals about Chinese history and the development of cuju from different academic fields and, most notably, the FIFA museum’s online exhibit of cuju, the reason cuju had such a strong place of value in Chinese society was apparent. Beginning as a combat exercise in …

Entheogens: The Hallucinogenic Plants That Shaped Religion, Nicolas A. Michaud

Young Historians Conference

Entheogens have played a pivotal role in religious and spiritual practices across diverse cultures, aiding in the pursuit of divine connection and higher consciousness. Evidence suggests that dating as far as back as a million years ago, early human species such as Homo erectus and Homo habilis experimented with hallucinogenic plants like psilocybin mushrooms, introducing the earliest forms of shamanic practices. As societies became more structured, the use of entheogens expanded throughout various parts of society. In ancient Greece, oracles utilized plants like henbane to communicate with the divine, molding military and political policy. During the Middle Ages, Tibetan Buddhism …

Exposing The Truth Behind The Stanford Prison Experiment, Leo Novack

Young Historians Conference

In 1971 Philiip Zimbardo, a Stanford University professor, designed an experiment to study human behaviors in the prison system. He sought to understand the effectiveness of the prison system, however, the experiment ended early due to the ethical concerns toward participants. It is considered one of the most important psychological experiments, not for what it helped reform, but for what it pointed out about the importance of safety for research participants. Calling upon primary sources from participants and the researchers’ findings, as well as secondary sources primarily from psychologists and research ethics, the research reveals that this study was unreliable …

How The Cheating Of East And West Germany Reveals A Global Trend Of Doping In International Sports, Olivia L. Cheng Miss

Young Historians Conference

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, representing the end of both a deep physical and ideological divide between East and West Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall revealed a state-sponsored doping program in East Germany created in order to compete for the political and economic symbol of strength: Olympic medals. Years later, the exposure of widespread West German doping in competitions shows the capacity of cheating to spread like a pathogen, passed from one nation to another in a pattern still visible today. Though East and West Germany were the epicenter of the doping outbreak, the trend spread globally …

Islands In Motion: The Transnational Ties Between Japan And Hawaii, 1885-1945, Annalise Jones

Young Historians Conference

Native Hawaiians have been joined on their islands by Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, and Europeans in recent centuries. Because of this, Hawaii has generally had a more tolerant attitude towards racial diversity. However, the relationship between Hawaii and Japan is a transnational one that has evolved over generations. In 1941, 37% of Hawaii’s population was Japanese. Beginning with only 150 contract laborers in 1868, immigrants had come from Japan to Hawaii in droves throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, attracted by steady work and wages. Since then, Japanese people and their descendants have had a marked impact on the …

Oregon’S Compulsory Education Act: Americanism, Nativism, And Assimilation, Andrea M. Bell

Young Historians Conference

In 1922, Oregonians voted on and passed the Compulsory Education Act. Often referred to as the Oregon School Bill, this ballot initiative mandated public school education for children aged 8 to 16, creating a de-facto ban on private education in the state. While many states considered passing compulsory public education bills, and several managed to get the issue on the ballot, including Michigan in 1920 and Washington in 1924, only one state actually managed to pass such a bill through the electorate—Oregon. This paper explores how the School Bill and similar ballot initiatives reflected the nativist and anti-immigrant sentiments prevalent …

The Roots Of Ethno-Political Strife In Ceylon: The Dividing Power Of British Colonialism, Audrey Francioch

Young Historians Conference

A bloody civil war has rocked Sri Lanka for decades, as the Sinhalese and Tamil populations fight each other for recognition, access, and control. Since the 1950s, each group has feared domination by the other, resulting in bitter battles on the ballots and in the streets to assert or retain power and subjugate the culture of the other. Each conflict perpetuates the vicious circle of retaliation and retribution through the generations, and the roots of this divide can be directly traced to the colonial occupation of the island in the 1800s. What began with the Dutch and became refined by …

From Prison Cells To Parliament: How The H-Block Hunger Strikes Transformed Sinn Féin To Enable Peace In Northern Ireland, Madeleine E. Wallenberg

Young Historians Conference

The 1988 Good Friday Agreement signed in Belfast is regarded as a landmark feat of diplomacy. Allowing for a non-violent redistribution of power, the Good Friday Agreement marked the end of a nearly thirty-year period of violence known as The Troubles. The efficacy of this agreement relied on the participation of members of the I.R.A. and Sinn Féin, something that likely would not have happened if not for a 1981 Hunger Strike that changed the public’s perception of the Irish Republican movement and launched the platform for Sinn Féin as a legitimate political organization. This paper explores the development of …

Cuadros De Casta: A Pseudo-Scientific Means Of Control And Racial Taxonomy In Colonial Mexico, Lucita Ocaña Dessen

Young Historians Conference

Casta paintings of 18th century Mexico are a prime example of an art form mixed with political propaganda, as the 4x4 style paintings depicted over a dozen racial mixings in one painting. Created by Mexican artists for the viewing of Spanish elites, Casta paintings helped to establish the racial hierarchy that continues to be embedded into Latin American society. This paper seeks to determine to what degree Casta paintings served as hierarchical means of Christian, Enlightenment-era colonial control.

Part of the panel: Picturesque and Problematic
Moderator: Professor Jennifer Tappan

Do Gun-Purchase Waiting Periods Save Lives?, Grace E. Arnold, Mitchell Blaine Priestley

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study the impact of gun-purchase waiting periods on suicide rates using county-level mortality data from 1991-2019. We find that waiting periods are associated with a reduction in both firearm and overall suicide rates of approximately 5% and 2%, respectively. Novelly, we find that counties that are within 50 miles from a state without a waiting period experience no statistically significant reduction in suicides. Our findings reveal that the decrease in suicides under a waiting period is driven by counties that are more than 50 miles from a non-restricted neighboring state.

The Effects Of School Safety Strategies On K-12 Schools: Armed Civilians, School Resource Officers, And Metal Detectors As Contributors To The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Rebeca Petean

Dissertations and Theses

In recent decades, K-12 public schools have introduced get-tough measures ostensibly to improve school safety through punitive responses to misconduct and delinquency--expanding from traditional security measures to more punitive, zero-tolerance policies and surveillance-based approaches. Academic literature and media accounts highlight that such efforts continue to proliferate and extend across our nation's school spaces. This three-paper dissertation examines how specific safety practices--namely, the presence of armed civilians, School Resource Officers (SROs), and random metal detector checks--influence student outcomes and contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. Rooted in Becker's (1963) and Lemert's (1967) labeling theory, as well as Sampson and Laub's (1997) cumulative …

Woman-To-Woman Marriage In West Africa: A Vanishing Tradition Of Power And Agency, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is an excerpt: Marriage in west Africa has played a central role in shaping aspects of society, and has evolved over time. While traditional heterosexual unions dominate discussions, a lesser-known but significant practice – woman-to-woman marriage – has existed for centuries. In my research, I examined this institution, which allows a woman to assume the role of a husband by marrying another woman. There’s evidence of woman-to-woman marriage in more than 40 societies across west Africa, including the Igbo of Nigeria, the Frafra of Ghana and the Dahomeans of present-day Benin.