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The Conventional Emptiness Of Human Beings: Reviewing Archer’S Theory Of Agency Through Nagarjuna’S Looking Glass, Federico Podestà

Comparative Philosophy

Margaret Archer is probably the critical realist who has most significantly affected the debate around the relationship between social structure and agency. In the volume, Being Human: The Problem of Agency, she aims to better define what is meant by the properties and causal powers of agency itself, i.e., self-consciousness and reflexivity. In this paper, this theoretical attempt is reviewed through the critical standpoint of Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna’s philosophy appears to be a particularly compelling tool for criticizing Archer’s theory. Claiming the emptiness of everything, the founder of the Buddhist Madhyamaka school provides a critical perspective for revising the distinctiveness of …

Reassessing The Deontological Undercurrents In Mo Zi’S Ethical Thought, Nuno Miranda

Comparative Philosophy

This article reexamines Mo Zi’s ethical philosophy, challenging the dominant interpretation of Mohism as a purely consequentialist or proto-utilitarian system. While Mo Zi’s emphasis on social utility—such as material welfare, population growth, and aversion to warfare—aligns with outcome-oriented reasoning, I argue that his invocation of the will of Heaven introduces a deontological dimension. Heaven’s will serves not merely as a heuristic for maximizing benefits but as an absolute moral standard, demanding adherence to duties like universal love and non-aggression, irrespective of immediate practical gains. Through a close reading of the Mo-Zi corpus, this study reveals a hybrid ethical framework that …

How Theravāda Buddhism Enriches The Language Of Thought Hypothesis: Beyond Syntax, Juanjuan Cheng, Sumanasara Sandamadulle

Comparative Philosophy

The Language of Thought Hypothesis (LOTH) posits that mental states operate through a language-like representational system physically implemented in the brain. However, this purely symbolic approach faces a significant limitation: certain mental phenomena—such as intuitions, emotions, and intentions—lack the syntactically compositional structure required by LOTH and therefore cannot be adequately explained within its symbolic framework. To address this theoretical challenge, we turn to Theravāda Buddhism (TB), an early Buddhist tradition that integrates rigorous philosophical inquiry with meditative practice. Remarkably, TB began to prefigure a solution to LOTH’s limitations over 2,300 years ago. Although LOTH and TB differ …

The Impact Of Early Life Experiences On Math Confidence, Nhu X. Hin

Master's Theses

Students form beliefs about their academic abilities through a combination of emotional experiences and early learning environments. While prior research has documented how math anxiety can undermine performance and how early experiences with math-typed activities can foster positive attitudes, less is known about how these factors collectively influence students’ math confidence. The present study investigates how math anxiety, engagement in childhood math-typed activities, and perceived support for math-related learning contribute to college students’ confidence in their math abilities. Participants (N = 102) completed self-report measures assessing each of these constructs. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the three predictors collectively …

International Collaboration To Explore Elements For An Effective Residential Childcare Workforce, Justyna Siemionow, Patrick M. Tyler, W. Alex Mason, Deogratias Musoke, Maia Ordonez, Jaime A. Gomez-Blaya, Joseph G. Grzywacz

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Residential childcare workers provide critical support to vulnerable children around the world. Building and maintaining a qualified residential childcare workforce is challenged by myriad forces, the foremost of which is recruiting and retaining staff for valuable work often misaligned with available compensation; making individual qualifications at hiring; ongoing training; supervision; and data support systems to monitor performance critical for quality care. This study explored the similarities and differences among these essential elements of staffing across distinct programs: Youth Education Centers (YEC) in Poland, CiudadEscuela Muchachos (CEMU) in Spain, and the Boys Town Family Home Program (BTFHP) in the United States. …

Varona, Federico, San Jose State University

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies

USA:

University of Kansas, Major: Organizational Communication. Minor: Intercultural Communication, 1991 Ph.D.

University of Kansas, Major: Organizational Communication Minor: Intercultural Communication, 1988, M.A. [M.A. Thesis: A Comparative Study of Communication Satisfaction in Two Guatemalan Companies]

FRANCE:

Center AudioVisuel Recherche et Communication, Lyon, France, Audiovisual Communication.1977 Diplome

SPAIN:

Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain, Major: Theology, 1976 Licenciado [Thesis: De Carl Rogers a la Pedagogía de la Fe]

Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain. Major: Psychology. Minor: Clinical and Educational Psychology, 1976 Diplomado

GUATEMALA:

Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala, Psychology, 1972-1974

Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala, Theology, 1972-1974 …

The Anti-Work Attitude Scale: Conceptualizing And Measuring The Resistance To The Institution Of Work, Alayna Del Rosario

Master's Theses

Recent shifts in labor discourse have drawn attention to rising burnout, declining organizational commitment, and diminishing job satisfaction, which challenge traditional assumptions about the centrality and desirability of work. These tensions have given rise to the concept of anti-work, a growing discourse that questions the moral, economic, and psychological foundations of work itself. Despite its cultural relevance, anti-work remains largely undertheorized and unmeasured in empirical research. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, this study defined anti-work as a negative critique of work as a social construct, questioning its value, purpose, and impact on individuals and society. Anti-work was operationalized through two higher-order …

The Relationship Between Hindrance Demands And Work Engagement: The Moderating Role Of Resilience, Adoré Davis

Master's Theses

The coronavirus pandemic decreased work engagement globally due to increased hindrance demands. Many organizations were motivated to increase work engagement, which is positively correlated with beneficial organizational outcomes. The intention of this study is to examine if personal resources like resilience moderate the relationship between hindrance demands and work engagement. Hindrance demands are refined from job demands and hindrance stressors, which are stressors that impede progress in employees. Resilience is a personal resource correlated with pro-social behavior, internal locus of control, and higher levels of empathy. Resilience as a personal resource has mainly been studied as a predictor of work …

Working Memory In Major Depressive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis Of Structural And Functional Brain Differences, Eunji Back

Master's Theses

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders in the US and is characterized by depressed mood and loss of interest. Many MDD patients also experience difficulties with executive function, including working memory. Neuroimaging studies reveal structural and functional brain differences between MDD patients and healthy controls that may underlie these working memory difficulties, but findings have been mixed. A quantitative synthesis of neuroimaging data through a meta-analytic approach offers a promising avenue to identify commonalities across studies. We conducted separate meta?analyses of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, with the latter focused …

Coloring Outside The Lines: Factors Facilitating Divergent Thinking, Michelle Baca Reinke

Master's Theses

Divergent thinking involves producing a multitude of unique and diverse ideas. The ability to “color outside the lines” is crucial to business, education, and social domains. The flexibility, originality, and fluency dimensions of divergent thinking are commonly assessed using the Alternative Uses Task, which involves generating uses for common objects. Prior research suggests that high identification (first-person perspective) with schema-inconsistent experiences increases flexibility, while semantic density (degree of conceptual associations) impacts originality and fluency inversely. However, their combined effects across multiple divergent thinking dimensions remain unexplored. The present research investigated the interactive effects of identification (high, low), schema consistency (consistent, …

Evaluating Demand-Responsive Scheduling In Public Transportation Service Offerings To Retirement Communities, Steven D. Silver

Mineta Transportation Institute

This project addresses alternatives to fixed schedule local transportation service offerings to members of retirement communities. The project design measures the effects of the contrast between fixed schedule (Fixed) service and demand-responsive services (DRT) in retirement communities in Santa Clara County that are closely matched in demographic profiles and geographic location. The research team investigates the effects of scheduling alternatives in a diary format with a within-person variable of four recent trips. The measure of public transportation usage under the Fixed schedule and DRT service offerings is supplemented by a measure of subjective well-being (STS) for each trip—in other words, …

Seeing Bias Through Eye Movements: Investigating Empathy And Engagement With Authentic And Altered Refugee Imagery, Reem Albaghli, Akshay Sunil Gurnaney, Nada Attar

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study investigates perceptual biases in responses to Syrian and Ukrainian refugee images using human-computer interaction (HCI) techniques. We hypothesized that media portrayals might shape empathy and influence both biases and donation behavior. Participants viewed both authentic and face-swapped images, with eye-tracking data capturing pupil size and decision-making patterns. In Experiment 1, participants' eye-tracking data and donation behavior indicated higher engagement and donations for authentic images, suggesting a preference for unaltered images without ethnicity-based bias. Experiment 2 explored this further by presenting cropped refugee faces alongside neutral or intellectual art, asking participants to choose the art that best matched each …

Understanding User Behaviors: Impact Of A 28-Day Intervention On Screen Time And Problematic Internet Use, Cade T. Campigli

Master's Theses

This thesis examines a 28-day self-monitoring intervention to reduce problematic internet use among undergraduate Instagram users. A quasi-experimental factorial mixed design with a repeated measures component was used, with participants split into an experimental group (daily Instagram screen time logging) and a control group (reporting Instagram interactions). Problematic Internet use was measured using the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2). Results showed no reduction in problematic internet use in the experimental group compared to the control, nor a correlation between screen time changes and problematic internet use. However, the experimental group showed a modest decrease in mean screen time …

Perceptions Of Department Chairs And Program Directors Of Ethnic Studies In The California State University System: A Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Study, Christopher Jarrett Cox

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study is to explore the conditions of Ethnic Studies departments and programs in the California State University (CSU) system nine years after the release of the CSU Ethnic Studies Task Force report released in 2016. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods analysis, this dissertation revisits several questions from the original CSU survey to assess the effectiveness of Ethnic Studies units in the CSU. Respondents to the survey included 13 of the 58 recognized department chairs and program directors for Ethnic Studies units among the 23 campuses of the CSU system, and interview participants included 5 …

All Eyes On Me: Security And Preventative Measures In The Era Of Shoplifting, Clarissa Guevarra

Master's Theses

The passing of CA bills ranging from AB 1779 to SB 1416, and Proposition 36 aims to combat a supposed rise in retail theft, particularly denoting the increase in organized retail theft. This research investigates the accuracy of mainstream narratives surrounding retail theft, focusing on the various security strategies adopted by major retailers—namely, Walmart and Target stores—in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study aims to analyze the different types of security (human and physical), and their efficacy, and to envision alternative strategies to address theft beyond the adoption of punitive security strategies. Using a visual ethnographic approach, supplemented with …

One Nation Under Guard, Everett T. Glynn

Master's Theses

The rise of segments of the labor force devoted to functions other than production has received increased scholarly attention, particularly pertaining to the robust deployment of the police and criminal justice apparat in the neoliberal era. Critical perspectives align the rise of the securitization of society with political and economic transitions that occur within the contexts of changes to social inequality and crackdowns on social movements beginning in the 1970s. In a theoretical construction of the emerging concept of guard labor, this thesis finds that robust societal deployments of a form of functional labor used to entrench social inequality has …

The Relationship Between Psychological Contract Breach And Work Motivation And Attitude Among Tech Employees: The Moderating Role Of Conscientiousness, Rama E. Khoury

Master's Theses

There has been some research on moderating factors of the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and work engagement and affective commitment. However, most studies conducted have mainly focused on situational factors (e.g., job satisfaction, exchange imbalance), not on individual factors (e.g., personality traits). This research gap leaves a question in the role that personality traits play in influencing the negative consequences of PCB. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of conscientiousness on the relationship between PCB and two outcomes, work engagement and affective commitment. Hypotheses were tested using 103 technology industry employees in the …

Replicating Vignoles Et Al. Results On Multidimensional Self-Construal: Comparing The United States, East Asia, Southeast Asia, And Latin America, Jon Lorenz A. Lim

Master's Theses

Contemporary research on self-construal indicates that people define and perceive themselves either as independent or interdependent. Self-construal scales have become the most common method to quantitatively measure both types of self-construal across the United States, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Multidimensional measures of the self tend to be more accurate in defining the self than earlier dichotomous scales. In general, European Americans and Latin Americans perceived themselves as independent and East and Southeast Asians as interdependent. In the current study, undergraduate European American, East Asian American, Southeast Asian American, and Latin American students from San Jose State University …

Cultivating Belonging: Empowering Hispanic Parents In The U.S. Education System, Kalpana Galagali

Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the experiences of Hispanic families at Bay Area Middle School and the strategies I employed to create a sense of belonging and support for both students and their families. Key strategies included fostering effective communication through Spanish interpreters, celebrating cultural traditions, and organizing inclusive events like the annual cultural fair. Parents expressed gratitude for the personal attention their children received and noted how these initiatives positively impacted their sense of belonging. The findings highlight that cultural integration and community-building efforts significantly enhanced family engagement, transforming perceptions of the school environment from feelings of disconnection to appreciation …

Healing Circulos(Circles): Putting Our Educator's Mask First, Janet Martinez-Angeles

Dissertations

Educators play a pivotal role in supporting students throughout their educational journeys. In addition to academic instruction, they provide vital guidance for students' social, emotional, and personal development. They work tirelessly to help students navigate the complexities of education and life, often while shouldering multiple responsibilities and roles beyond the classroom. This dynamic contributes to high attrition rates and weakens the educational system. Much like the familiar safety instructions on an airplane, where passengers are reminded to put on their oxygen masks before assisting others, educators must be given the space, resources, and support to tend to their well-being before …

Early Care And Education Systems In The United States Of America: Voices Of The Past, Present, And Future, Timothy Harper

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study centers the voices, knowledge, and leadership of Black and Indigenous women working in Early Care and Education (ECE) while tracing how racism, sexism, and classism have shaped the field from colonization to the present day. Twenty in-depth interviews with sixteen Black and Indigenous educators across the United States are paired with secondary analyses of national workforce data to create a multilayered portrait of their professional realities. Grounded in Black feminist thought and Indigenous desire-based inquiry, the analysis surfaces six inter-locking themes: (a) enduring structural barriers that depress wages and limit advancement, (b) the day-to-day resilience that sustains …

Engagement Of Secondary History Social Science Teachers With Professional Development: A Phenomenological Study, Suzanne Paulazzo

Dissertations

Secondary social science teachers tend to feel disengaged and frustrated with their professional development (PD) experiences. They also feel that recommended meaningful practices appear to be time-consuming, require extra hours of preparation, and rely heavily on collaboration. Using phenomenological methodology, the dissertation research investigated secondary social science teachers' perceptions of their roles as educators, their professional growth, and their motivations for engaging in professional development opportunities. Nine male and one female teacher participants from a History-Social-Science Department in an urban public school in Northern California participated in an interview. This study addressed the following research questions: How do teachers perceive …

Teacher Workplace Bullying: Victim And Bystander Perspectives, Abigail R. Smurr

Dissertations

Workplace bullying is a phenomenon that is addressed within a broad context. This study focuses on teacher experiences of bullying. The focus will examine the impacts horizontal and vertical bullying can have on teacher victims and bystanders within K-12th within California. The purpose of this study is to give administrators awareness of these issues from the victim and bystanders’ lens. The study implemented a mixed methods design to give insight to teacher perceptions on the impacts it can have on their teacher efficacy, teacher retention, and their emotional well-being. By looking at how often PK-12th grade teachers experience workplace bullying, …

Exploring Program Participant And Staff Perspectives On Correctional Education Programs, My Ngoc Nguyen

Dissertations

In this paper, I explored program participant and staff perspectives on correctional education programs. Prior research measured success of correctional education through recidivism, post-employment opportunities, and post-secondary education. However, few research examined the perspectives of staff, program participants, and alumni of such programs to understand factors that aid in important educational experiences within correctional education programs. In this study, I utilized a mixed-methods approach, where I collected close-ended and open-ended survey responses from 10 staff and 5 program participants on their ratings of program principles and characteristics as well as optional follow-up interviews to elaborate on their survey responses. The …

Resilience In Crisis: How Bipoc Educators Navigated The Challenges Associated With Covid-19, Racial Awakening, And The Move To Online Learning, Jannet Galicia Castrejon

Dissertations

An unprecedented number of BIPOC teachers exited the profession since June 2020 largely due to the challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Doan et al., 2024). This study aimed to investigate ways these educators coped with the heavy toll of the converging pandemic(s) by asking what, if anything, sustained them? Participants provided individual and group testimonios and shared snapshots of what it was like to teach and exist during this time via the photovoice methodology and reflected on the challenges and sources of support. BIPOC teachers described the following challenges: difficulty connecting with kids, first-hand and vicarious trauma, increased workload, …

The Relationship Between The Dark Triad And Perceived Career Mobility: The Moderating Role Of Perceived Organizational Support, Julia W. R. Leong

Master's Theses

Prior research on career mobility has found that personality is not a strong predictor of career mobility. However, these studies have mainly focused on the Big Five personality traits and have not looked into other personality traits as predictors. The present study has looked into alternate personality traits and their relationship with perceived internal and external career mobility. These traits were the Dark Triad traits, consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The present study hypothesized that each of the Dark Triad traits would positively predict both perceived internal and external career mobility and that perceived organizational support (POS) would moderate …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Black Female Swimmers' Experiences Of Belonging, Felicity E. Passon

Master's Theses

Although swimming participation has grown in the United States, the experiences of Black female swimmers remain significantly underrepresented in academic literature. This study addresses that gap by exploring the lived experiences of Black women participating in Division 1 (D1) college swimming. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Black feminist thought, the research explored how Black female D1 swimmers experienced belonging in this underrepresented sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine D1 Black female swimmers, and six major themes illustrate the varied factors that shaped their experiences of belonging. Even with racially gendered barriers to inclusion, they identified strategies to foster …

Navigating Multiple Virtual Teams: How Variety In Communication Rules Affects Knowledge Sharing, Valerio Incerti, Kelly J. Fadel, Elisa Mattarelli, Fabiola Bertolotti, Francesca Bellesia, Paula Ungureanu, Katherine M. Chudoba

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In contemporary workplaces, individuals are often members of more than one virtual team at a time, that is, they experience multiple virtual team membership (MVTM), and they are subjected to context variety due to different rules across their teams. The aim of this paper is to understand the relationship between context variety related to communication rules and knowledge sharing in situations of MVTM. We propose that context variety and switching between teams negatively affect the individual capability to acquire and provide knowledge resources in a team, due in part to an increased perception of role overload. Through an experimental study, …

Affective Polarization In Latin America, Juan A. Moraes, Sergio Béjar

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Studies on the determinants and consequences of affective polarization have proliferated in the past decade, focusing mostly on the US and Western European countries. Empirical and anecdotal evidence presented in this chapter, however, suggests that such a phenomenon is also prevalent in many Latin American countries, which may have important consequences for the stability and survival of democracy in a region where partisan institutions tend to be weak. In this chapter, we present a critical review of the scant literature on affective polarization in Latin America. We then carefully analyze levels of partisan affective polarization (PAP) and leader affective polarization …

Effect Of Tai Chi Practice On The Adaptation To Sensory And Motor Perturbations While Standing In Older Adults, Arion Dey, Huiyeong Chang, Laila Shaaban, Armaan Suga, Genavieve Braden, Andres Bustamante, Jisang Park, Shenhua Zhang, Yang Hu, Manuel E. Hernandez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Tai Chi provides an age-appropriate exercise to decrease fall risks in older adults. However, the exact mechanism underlying the benefits of Tai Chi practice remains an open question. Thus, this study examined how aging and Tai Chi practice impact adaptation to sensory and motor perturbations while standing. We hypothesized that older Tai Chi practitioners would exhibit a decreased reliance on visual processes as sensory and motor perturbations increased, relative to naive healthy older adults. Using rambling and trembling decompositions of the center of pressure (COP) and frequency-domain features, we examined changes in low (0–0.3 Hz), medium (0.3–1 Hz), and high …