Digital Commons Network^™

Strengths And Limitations Of The Design Of Helen Keller International’S Childsight® Program Based On Lessons Learned Through The Implementation In Vietnam, 2011-2013, Bradley J. Owen

Capstone Collection

The ophthalmology sector in Vietnam currently faces many challenges. The Asia- Pacific Region, including Vietnam, is reported to have the most cases of uncorrected refractive error in the world at approximately 62 million people. A 2009 study implemented by the World Health Organization also concluded that the Western Pacific region, including Southeast Asia, has 3.98% of the population suffering from uncorrected refractive error, with an estimated cost to the region’s GDP of 111 billion dollars, or .86% of regional GDP (Smith, et al. 2009). In Vietnam alone it is estimated that one in five children suffer from some form of …

For The Love Of Music: A Story Of Organizational Culture And Change, Malii Brown

Capstone Collection

For the Love of Music: A Story of Organizational Culture and Change is an examination of culture and possibilities for change at an organization that manages one top-tier, U.S. classical music orchestra. The research was carried out for the purpose of making and refining meaning from collective employee experiences at a canon cultural organization whose practices reflect and influence our society beyond the context of music. The inquiry at the heart of the work is, ‘How does the organizational culture of the subject organization, Orchestra, Inc.[1], affect its readiness for organizational change?’ The research methodology consisted of organizational culture assessments …

The Primacy Of Context: An Exploration Into The Causes Of Food Insecurity In Kitere, Kenya., William O. Aludo

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study was to explore the specific reasons why households in Kitere village, Kenya experience persistent food insecurity every year while the region enjoys the advantage of two planting/harvest seasons in a year. Kitere village lies within the lakeside region of Nyanza Province in Kenya, generally considered to be one of the more agriculturally productive parts of the country. The Participatory Rural Appraisal method was employed to gather qualitative data on the causes of food insecurity in Kitere village. The data sources were focus groups and a self-administered, one-time survey of random and non-random samples of key …

Advocacy For Reproductive Justice In Miami-Dade County Schools: Planning A Campaign To Influence Sex Education Policies, Lisi Lau

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper is based on my professional practicum with Mi Lola, a women’s health justice organization based in Miami, Florida. The paper offers a conceptual framework in which Mi Lola approaches women’s health justice and where Mi Lola identifies within the broader women’s reproductive rights movement. It describes the organization’s emphasis on Latinas and women of color when addressing reproductive health concerns of Miami-Dade County through workshops, leadership trainings, advocacy, civic engagement and collective action. Those activities identified a great community concern: the current sex education policies (including the state of Florida’s “abstinence only” policy) appear to be one …

Access Abroad: A Design In Equitable Access To Education Abroad, Matthew Zielsdorf

Capstone Collection

Access Abroad is an innovative short-term, faculty-led education abroad design that increases accessible, transformative study abroad programming and enhances academic and intercultural program quality for students enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) at The College of New Jersey. The unique design of Access Abroad harnesses key institutional and financial resources at the college to allow 12 EOF undergraduate students to study in La Paz, Bolivia for four weeks in May 2015 with a faculty leader from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The curriculum will foster student exploration of culture, identity, and community and contribute to the development …

Reexamining Cultural Orientation Provided To Newly Arrived Refugees, Sara E. Matchulat

Capstone Collection

The provision of cultural orientation is one of many services required by the contract between resettlement agencies and the federal agencies overseeing refugee resettlement, the Cooperative Agreement. This paper explores World Relief in Moline, Illinois as a case study for how small resettlement agencies can provide meaningful and memorable cultural orientations. In order to accomplish this goal, this research utilizes the Empowerment Theory to explore how recently resettled refugees’ perceptions can be taken into consideration as orientation materials are examined. Research sought to compare Cooperative Agreement requirements to current orientation materials, interviewed service providers and recently resettled refugees, and utilized …

Motivating English Language Learners By Integrating Their L1 And C1, Badequnzhu Badequnzhu

MA TESOL Collection

The subject of this research paper is the use of first language (L1) and culture (C1) of the learners in the process of learning English in an EFL classroom in a specific teaching context. The researcher used different teaching methods and approaches in a Tibetan secondary school context: the Silent Way, Desuggetopedia, Cooperative Learning, Way of Council and Total Physical Response. Implications of this action research can be used in the classroom to raise learners’ motivation to lower affective filters allowing deeper and more profound input of the target language, thus to improve communication and comprehension of the target language …

"Fighting Against Ourselves, Why History Continues To Repeat Itself?", Rysheema J. Dixon

Capstone Collection

My capstone will focus on how self-mobilization among Blacks and Indians can affect change in the United States and India to build a stronger sense of community and improve their rights to education. This paper outlines multiple approaches to fighting against oppressors, combating ethnic to ethnic conflicts and obtaining educational rights. Many cultures have difficulty teaching and learning from one another and it inhibits them from fighting for their rights as citizens. Indians in India and Black Americans have similar background stories in reference to slavery and the caste system but live in two different realities. Identity also plays an …

L’Association "Alliances Et Cultures Nord" : Son Rôle En France Et Mon Rôle Avec Elle, Carolyn Raithel

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Alliances et Cultures est une association dans le quartier Nord en Toulouse. Elle sert du centre social et elle offre beaucoup de programmes différents pour tous les âges et leurs besoins. J’y ai travaillé avec un programme spécifique qui s’appelle « Contrat local d’accompagnement à la scolarité », ou « CLAS » en acronyme. C’est un programme national dont il y en a aux plusieurs centres sociaux en France. Ce programme a le slogan « pour apprendre autrement ! » et il donne une opportunité qui est rare en France aux enfants de recevoir l’aide individuelle à la scolarité au …

Bas D’Immeubles, Emma Benjamin

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Bas D’immeubles est une association loi 1901 à but non lucratif, qui fait des activités et de l’intégration pour les familles de Reynerie. Aux banlieues de Toulouse, France, l’association est située en bas d’un HLM, un Habitation à Louer Modéré. Ces grands bâtiments qui aujourd’hui constituent les banlieues comme Reynerie et Bellefontaine, comprennent pour la plupart des immigrés de l’Afrique du Nord. Les associations comme Bas D’immeubles étaient mise en place pour intégrer les gens du quartier ; les adultes de la première génération, et leurs enfants de la deuxième ou troisième génération qui sont nés en France. Pendant mon …

Illusion Or Ununderstood Reality: Spiritual Or Psychic Healing And Protection In Southern Madagascar, Henri Lucien Sandifer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Far from the hospital room and its doctor, the medicine and philosophies of Lakazy and its Ombiasa pertain to a domain largely untouched by western logic and science. Their practices appear to be effective and unique enough to have survived the advent of compelling new theological and scientific belief systems and the vastly different perspectives on community health and stability which these systems have brought to Madagascar. The prime examples of these new arrivals are Christianity and modern medicine, respectively. Within and without their sacred space, the mission of the true Ombiasa is to support their community and for this …

Le Cap Centre, Lauren Rowse

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Le CAP Centre est une épicerie sociale qui donne l’aide financière pour l’alimentation. Elle permet aux personnes qui ont des difficultés passagères au niveau financier de faire des économies pour réaliser leur « projet de vie ». Projet de vie est un terme utilisé pour décrire un soutien qui permet aux gens d’économiser pour qu’ils puissent faire des choses normales et habituelles de la vie quotidienne. « Normales et habituelles » : à définir dans le contexte culturel français C’est aussi l’idée que tout le monde devrait avoir l’opportunité de participer dans une vie sociale car beaucoup des bénéficiaires des …

Assessing The Senate: Political Opinion Among Cameroonian Youth, Rebeccah Rendall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to examine the political opinions of Cameroon youth in regards to the newly-introduced Senate. Research was conducted with students at the University of Yaoundé I and the University of Yaoundé II over the course of a four-week period. This paper discusses the potential and stated purposes of the Senate within the Cameroonian context. It will also discuss the various particular reasons that the Senate was implemented in 2013. Finally, it will convey the opinions of and the hopes for the Senate as stated by university students. First, I conclude that the Senate’s main role is to be …

Nurturing The Whole Body: The Benefits Of Supplementing Tuberculosis Chemotherapy With Traditional Chinese Medical Practices, Rachel Levine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although modern medicine has found a cure for Tuberculosis (TB), it remains a worldwide health threat. Due to poor adherence to TB chemotherapya multi-drug resistant strain of the TB bacteria (MDR-TB) has been created.It has been found that poor adherence is caused by many factors, two of which include the high cost of treatment and the many uncomfortable side effects. Through a month of research based in Kunming, China including interviews, observations and surveys,this project hoped to compare Western biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to determine the potential benefits TCM holds for TB patients. TCM improves a TB patient’s …

The Impacts Of Education: A Case Study Of Muslim Women In Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, Margo Brookfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is the product of a study on the ultimate impacts that education can have on the lives of Muslim women in the city of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon. Women in the North of Cameroon have been confined within traditional gender roles that have been in place for generations, due to deep ties with culture and religion in the region. This research explores Muslim women’s opinions on the impacts of the modern education system in place in the city. In addition it looks into the impacts that this education can have on different aspects of a woman’s life, including her relations …

The Trajectory Of Warwick Junction As A Site Of Inclusivity In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Kara Van Schilfgaarde Van Schilfgaarde

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Warwick Junction, a thriving trading hub in the inner city of Durban, has long been considered one of the best examples of collaborative urban management practices between the local government and informal traders. In a post-apartheid South Africa, there was a national desire to transform the old systems of governance, which in Warwick translated to city government institutions making an effort to include informal traders in the policymaking and management processes. This paper tracks the history of Warwick Junction, using its oppressive past to frame common perspectives of informal trade. It considers the legacy of the post-apartheid era South Africa, …

Interpretaciones Entretejidas De Justicia: Estudio De Caso De Los Talleristas Bolivianos En Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rebecca Mendoza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

All over the world, so called, “sweatshops” have become a talking point on the social justice soap box due to some key incidents that have caught the public eye. These sweatshops are known for being informal labor subcontracted by large brand names, paid unsustainable wages – the brands score big as consumers indulge in the cheap fashion clothing. However, fires, disasters and recent discoveries of dangerous slave-like conditions have brought new debates to the surface about what is to be done. Initially one might desire to end the injustice in a rapid sweep of the poorest parts of the world, …

El Estigma De La Depresión Y Cómo Está Influenciado Por La Percepción De La Enfermedad En Santiago, Chile, Elena Michaels

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the past century, as a greater understanding has been developed regarding the brain and mental health disorders, a stigma surrounding the field of mental health has emerged. The goal of this study was to analyze how the public perception of depression relates to the stigma surrounding mental illness and define the relationship between the two. This investigation took place at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago.

In Chile, one of the consequences of the stigma regarding mental health disorders is usage of the mental health services offered. Not uncommonly, a medic would give a mental health evaluation …

Where No Man Has Gone Before: A Critical Roadmap For The Use Of Drones In Targeted Killing, Valerie Heinmets

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the ongoing War on Terror, the Obama Administration has relied heavily on a new form of military technology: the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, more popularly known as the drone. While the program has remained largely a covert operation, gradually more information about its effects, especially concerning civilian casualties, has begun to come to light. As a result of allegations over their allegedly indiscriminate use in Yemen and Pakistan, countries the U.S. is not at war with, a few questions arise. When do drones stop becoming a military precision tool for taking out Al-Qaeda senior command and move into a field …

Más Allá De Las Fronteras: Pasos Hacia La Educación Intercultural Basados En La Experiencia Con Alumnos Migrantes En 6 Escuelas Primarias En Buenos Aires, Argentina Y Santiago, Chile, Kendra Layton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación explora los efectos y los beneficios de la inmigración en Chile y Argentina en el ámbito escolar al tomar como foco seis escuelas en Santiago y Buenos Aires. Situadas en tensión con culturas que prescriben al paradigma de la asimilación, el objetivo general es indagar sobre la presencia de programas interculturales que se adapten a los alumnos migrantes, una modalidad basada en la apertura, reconocimiento y enriquecimiento de culturas distintas. Para indagar que tanto las escuelas emplean el enfoque de interculturalidad, la investigación analiza el discurso del personal, observa su práctica en el aula y explora los alcances …

Beyond Ramaluk: Towards A More Inclusive View Of Identity In The Tibetan Diaspora, Shani Shih

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is an investigation of identity in the Tibetan diaspora in India, informed by the oral histories and narratives of Tibetan diasporic youth living in the capital city of Delhi. By documenting, comparing, and analyzing the experiences of Tibetan youth growing up in India (both Indian-born and Tibetan-born), and attempting to understand their varying notions of Tibetan identity, as well as perspectives on its role in their community, it seeks to answer the following: Why and how do dominant notions of Tibetan identity and/or “Tibetanness” become dominant? What are the unintended consequences of affirming these notions of Tibetan identity …

Effects Of Ocean Acidification On The Behavior Of Two Marine Invertebrates: A Study Of Predator-Prey Responses Of The Molluscs Conus Marmoreus And Strombus Luhuanus At Elevated-Co2 Conditions, Jennifer Fields

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ocean acidification has been affecting the world’s oceans since the introduction of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. An increase in CO2 uptake from the atmosphere to the ocean has had a profound impact on not only the water chemistry, but marine organisms as well. Ocean acidification is known to have significant impacts on marine invertebrates in terms of calcification and reproduction; however, effects of increased CO2 on marine invertebrate behavior are vastly unknown. Marine conch gastropods have a modified muscularized foot that allows them to escape quite rapidly when faced with a predator cone shell. Utilizing …

Modernization And Its Effects In Loma Bonita: A Leap From Historical Subsistence Agriculture Into The Precarious Commercial Market, Piper Halpin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation studies the modernization effects on Loma Bonita and how these changes will ultimately shape the community in the future. By performing of series of 50 interviews and surveys, I used anecdotal and observational research to my make conclusions about the effects of electricity installation, road construction, and foreign influences on the town. Although it is recognized that there are an abundance of factors contributing to modernization, the scope of this paper only focuses on the three components mentioned above.

Daily lives of Loma Bonita residents have already been drastically changed by the electricity, road, and foreigners. The community …

The Need For A More Stable Cacao Industry, Lauren Griffith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The cacao industry is slowly growing in the region of Bocas del Toro, Panama. It is largely populated by indigenous farmers, but there are others who have invested in the business as well. With so many people becoming involved in the industry this study aimed to determine if the system represented a stable model. Through interviews and participant observation the stability of income, steadiness of demand, opportunity for growth, and the effect of organic certification were examined to determine the overall stability. It was found that very few farmers sell only cacao and rely on the sale of other crops, …

Comercialización Contra Capitalización: Nuevas Visiones De Desarrollo En La Lucha Por La Tierra En La Puna, Katherine Luke

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The rise of indigenismo in the province of Jujuy, Argentina led by the Asociación de los Pequeños Productores de la Puna (the APPP) and the Red Puna has transformed the relationship between the “pueblos originarios” and the state. Historically disenfranchised by the political and economic system, a wave of radical activism began with the national constitutional reform in 1994 that for the first time recognized the pre-existence of the original pueblos before the formation of the Argentine state and conferred communal land rights and a right to cultural sovereignty. The protests and petitions that followed over the last …

La Realidad De Comercio Justo: Una Investigación De Las Fallas Y Los Éxitos Del Sistema En El Valle De La Convención, Perú, Desde La Perspectiva De Los Productores, Katy Keisling

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este informe es el producto de mi proyecto de investigación sobre el funcionamiento del Comercio Justo en el cultivo del café en el Valle de la Convención, Perú. El Comercio Justo fue creado hace 25 años con el objetivo de mejorar la vida del pequeño productor a través de un sistema de comercio que valora la democracia y pago justo. Ahora, muchos investigadores han estudiado el tema para analizar sus impactos – pero la mayoría de literatura existente sobre el tema falta la voz del productor. Por esta razón, ubico mi estudio en la perspectiva del pequeño productor. Utilizando la …

The Modern Opinions Regarding Polygamy Of Married Men And Women In Dakar, Hannah Fried-Tanzer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Polygamy is the practice in which a man takes multiple wives. While it is no longer legal in certain countries, it is still allowed both legally and religiously in Senegal, and is still practiced today. Traveling to Senegal from the United States, one might find that the opinions toward the practice vary by country. This study was conducted for three purposes. The first purpose was to define polygamy in a Senegalese context and discover how married men and women in Dakar regard the practice. The second was to determine whether these opinions vary based on gender, length of marriage, ethnicity, …

“We Give Way:” 6 Narratives Of The Academic Negotiation Between English And Afrikaans At The University Of Stellenbosch, Alexis K. Boyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The negotiations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Party in 1992 led to the creation of South Africa’s eleven national languages including English and Afrikaans. This paper discusses the intricate relationship between these two languages at the University of Stellenbosch. This project attempts to understand how undergraduate and postgraduate students have negotiated the rise of English as a universal academic language and the maintenance of Afrikaans as Stellenbosch’s core language of instruction. The project works to determine how students view the changes to the policy and how those changes affect them, looking particularly at the effect of …

Traditional Woodcarving In Elmina: The Creation Of A Fishing Canoe, Bjorn Olsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

1. Objectives: My objectives for this project were three fold:

• To learn the process of carving the dugout canoe base through both observation and participation.
• To investigate the cultural importance of the fishing canoe in Elmina.
• To investigate the trade of canoe carving within the context of the Elmina community.

1. Methodology: My methodology includes observation, participation and interview. I spent a month researching canoe carving in Cape Coast and Elmina, Ghana, while keeping my research focused mainly on the Elmina community. I apprenticed and worked for a week with three carvers from Prampram who were in Elmina to complete …

Socio-Cultural Barriers To Family Planning Access, Aasha Jackson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper attempts to discern barriers to family planning access and use in the Manguier quarter of Yaoundé, Cameroon based on research collected during a three week period. Questionnaires and interviews were used to measure women’s use of and opinions towards family planning consultations and methods. The spread of rumors regarding negative side effects, mistaken beliefs about family planning, husband’s disapproval, and the availability of contraceptives elsewhere were found to be the major deterrents to the use of family planning by women in this study. This research shows the need for campaigns to educate women and men alike on the …