Digital Commons Network^™

Dating During Covid-19: Initiating And Negotiating Romantic Relationships, Maggie C. Brock, Ashley M. Arsenault, Sheena A. Brown, Jeremy T. Miner, Elizabeth M. Sholey

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Dating During COVID-19: Initiating and Negotiating Romantic Relationships

This study contributes to the understanding of how individuals initiate and negotiate romantic relationships through pandemic circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed daily human interactions. The social distancing guidelines put in place by the Center for Disease Control and the lockdown mandates initiated by local governments have impacted interpersonal communication on various levels, including face-to-face interactions and dating initiation. In this study, relational turbulence theory was used as a framework to understand the ways in which COVID-19 has negatively impacted dating relationships. This theory explains how partners negotiate and manage turbulent …

Bitterroot, Bitter History: Heritage Along The Nez Perce National Historic Trail, Emory Chandler Padgett

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Stretching along more than 1,000 miles of dense forest, mountain passes, meandering rivers, and open prairie, the Nez Perce National Historic Trail (NPNHT) catalogs the events and impact of the Nez Perce War of 1877—a war that was transformational for the Nez Perce (Niimiipuu) people and white settlers across the inland northwest. The war’s history, which remains relevant today, is interpreted primarily through informative roadside signage. This signage, developed over decades, has accumulated in a confusing muddle of different narratives, values, and perspectives that is harmful to public learning and conceptions of heritage throughout the region. Heritage, which is the …

Mindfulness Among Practicing School Psychologists, Emily Ann Hattouni

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Title: Training and Utility of Mindfulness among Practicing School Psychologists

Purpose: School psychologists work with students, teachers, and parents to address issues such as learning, social development, and emotion regulation. Unfortunately, there has been a shortage of school psychologists within the field for the past two decades, and this is projected to continue until at least 2025 (Castillo, et al., 2014). Research has shown up to 90% of school psychologists report experiencing high levels of burnout (Schilling et al., 2018). However, research indicates that mindfulness is counter to experiences of burnout among classroom teachers (Jennings & Greenburg, 2009) and …

Social Influences And Social Desirability On Recollections Of Childhood Bullying, Jaynee L. Bohart

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Parents and peers play important roles in shaping attitudes toward a variety of matters during adolescence. However, little research has investigated parental and peer influence on developing attitudes toward bullying. To address this gap in literature, the current study recruited college students from a mid-sized public university in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States to complete a survey about their past bullying attitudes and perceptions of their parents’ and peers’ influence on their attitudes. Resulted indicated that while participants reported both their parents and peers as influential on their past attitudes, they perceived their parents as more influential …

2020 Lgbtq+ Specific Substance Use Services Survey: A Study On The Availability And Perceived Helpfulness Of Treatment Programs, Chonghui (Gabriella) Ji

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Health disparities researchers have identified elevated rates of difficulties among gender and sexual minorities (GSM). In addition to a higher rate of general mental health issues, there is also a higher prevalence rate of substance misuse among GSM individuals when compared to the general population. Specific issues, such as stigma and oppression faced by GSMs, might have a direct linkage with the higher prevalence rate and might also impact treatment outcomes. To understand the specific factors that lead to substance misuse, as well as to understand the unique patterns of treatment-seeking and adherence among GSM clients, the development and dissemination …

Utilizing The Swot Analysis Method To Evaluate Forest-Based Collaborative Groups, Shauni Seccombe

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Forest management on public lands is inherently complex due to multiple resource objectives coupled with diverse, and at times competing, stakeholder interests. One approach to address these complexities is to incorporate forest-based collaborative groups into forest planning and management. In general, collaboration focuses on inclusive participation, civil dialogue and shared commitments, all within a fair and transparent process. In application, collaboration has become a valued approach for incorporating a diversity of interests, knowledge systems, experiences, and resources, into well-informed and effective management plans.

Collaborative approaches to natural resource management have increased significantly across the Intermountain West, with Idaho seeing a …

Destroying And Creating History: Butte, Montana’S Model City Program, 1968-1975, John C. Stefanek

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed the “Model Cities Act” into law. A part of Johnson’s Great Society, Model Cities was a national urban renewal program that sought to renew all aspects of society and included anything from the creation of parks and recreational facilities to increasing funding for senior citizens’ programs. My research examines the implementation of Model Cities in Butte, Montana. Whereas Model Cities was most visibly seen in metropolises like Detroit and Baltimore as a means to curtail riots and racial strife, the Butte program, in the words of the program’s director, James Murphy, wished to drag …

“The Statue Must Be Removed!”: Debates On Statues And The Memorialization Of Daniel Webster And The Great Compromisers, 1852 – Present, Michael J. Larmann

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

“The Statue Must Be Removed!”: The Memorialization of Daniel Webster and the Great Northern Compromisers, 1853-Present

Michael Larmann

University of Montana, History Department, Doctoral Student

860-235-7881 | [email protected]

The removal of statues has become a controversial topic in American society over the course of the past decade.Although statues of Confederate figures in the South have attracted the most attention in recent years, in the mid-nineteenth century, statues of Northern “compromisers”—those who sanctioned slavery rather than joining the abolitionist cause—also created controversy. Northern politicians such as Daniel Webster and President Millard Fillmore are two such figures who are historically notorious for …

Coordination Of Transboundary Marine Protected Areas In The Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape, Lindsey Ellett

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Transboundary protected areas consist of clearly defined protected areas which are connected across one or more international boundaries and involve cooperation between multiple countries. The number of transboundary protected areas has experienced a dramatic increase in recent decades, and there are currently over 200 transboundary conservation initiatives worldwide. However, relatively few transboundary protected areas have been established for marine environments. Transboundary conservation approaches are integral to managing marine areas due to migratory species and issues like marine pollution and over-exploitation often crossing political boundaries. The development of transboundary marine protected areas (TBMPAs) may strengthen management and conservation by facilitating increased …

In The Shadow Of The Megadrought: Opportunities And Challenges For Addressing Loss And Damage From Climate Change In Central Chile, Elizabeth Tobey

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

The accelerated pace of anthropogenic climate change in recent decades has been accompanied by pressing questions, including many concerning responsibility and liability for the worst impacts of climate change on human populations. Greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations, which dwarf those from the developing world, have been causally linked to slow-onset trends such as sea level rise and increased incidences of acute climate-related disasters, both of which disproportionately affect poor and low-lying developing nations. This grim reality is central to the concept of Loss and Damage, a developing “third pillar” of international climate policy aimed at addressing the residual impacts …

"Its Own Little City": Service Work In Truck Stops, Michelle Williams

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Montana truck stops act as a meeting place for long-haul truckers, vacationers, local commuters, and the workers simply trying to earn a living. Today, the employees at such truck stops operate at the intersection of customer service, the trucking industry, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Although each of these has been studied individually, the research I conducted during the summer and fall of 2020 offers a unique view of how customer service employees fared during political unrest, global health concerns, and financial struggle. Additionally, this study highlights the power dynamics that exist in the service industry by examining how such dynamics …

Examining The Residual Effects Of A Great Power Leaving A Civil War, Dillon G. Sarb

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

There have been numerous occasions when a great power has become involved in another country’s civil war. Whether induced by the invading great power or caused internally, the balance of power in civil wars can be shaped by the presence of a great power. However, the purpose of my question is to redirect the attention away from the great power leaving and focus on the domestic and regional impacts of such events. To answer this question, I examine two case studies of when the United States withdrew itself from a civil war, namely Iraq in 2011 and Vietnam in 1973. …

Who, Me? Yes, You!- Consultation And Collaboration In The Museum As A Form Of Crisis Remediation, Micaela E. Connolly

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Museums face what has been named the “curation crisis” in a variety of manners. The crisis itself ranges from lack of personnel, funding, depleted storage space, etcetera. The question then presents itself, how do we, as museum professionals, remediate the effects of the curation crisis and prevent it from growing and occurring in new institutions. One such manner must include an increased level of consultation between museum personnel and outside sources. Here, I analyze the uses of consultation in the museum setting, ranging types of museums, and the benefits that may or may not occur in remediation efforts using this …

Emotional Appeals In United States Advertising That Were Directed Towards Women: 1940-1950, Tyler Sparing

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Tyler Sparing

University of Montana

[email protected]

Emotional Appeals in Advertising Directed at Women: 1940-1950

The 1940s were a transformative era in the history of American advertising. At the beginning of the decade the industry adapted to the needs of the war effort, while pivoting after the war to epitomize the growing consumer culture. Increasingly throughout this period marketing campaigns used emotional persuasion techniques to sell their products. In effect, this was the beginning of the era of “keeping up with the Joneses,” and emotional appeals in advertising served to help the new consumer-minded citizens identify personally with the products they …

Open Letter To The Victims: An Analysis Of Risk And Crisis Communication, Julia G. Bezio, Rebekah Neulinger

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Early in 2020, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed for bankruptcy to establish a trust for victims of sexual assault while in the organization. To announce the trust and offer a sincere apology for the trauma BSA’s National Chair Jim Turley wrote and published an open letter to the victims. This letter provides useful examples of crisis communication and provides a basis for a fantasy theme analysis. In this paper, we examine the letter's rhetorical situation, with emphasis on the constraints of encouraging sexual assault victims to come forward and reputation management in the message. Further, we examine this …

International Theory Tests On Global Refugee Policies, Rachel Willcockson

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

International Theory Tests on Global Refugee Policies

Throughout the world there are millions of people displaced from their homes, awaiting a host country to let them in so they may start a new life. Unfortunately, states have let politics stand in the way of helping these refugees. Displaced persons are stuck in desolate areas, with little hope or idea of what will happen to them. Those that are seeking asylum have fled for their life, with little to no time to prepare for their displacement. There are many important international relations theories; however, classical and structural realism are two of …

Protecting Life And Lung: Protected Areas Impact On Respiratory Disease In The Brazilian Amazon., Derek Michael Sheehan

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Protecting Life and Lung: Protected areas impact on respiratory disease in the Brazilian Amazon.

By Derek Sheehan, M.A. Candidate Economics

I am assessing the impacts of changes in upwind protected area coverage on local respiratory health within the Brazilian Amazon. One key mechanism is the legal prohibition of human ignited fires within protected areas, may reduce particulate matter pollution, which impacts downwind respiratory health. The connection between fires and respiratory diseases in the Amazon is well established (Smith et al. 2014; Rangel and Vogl 2019; Rocha and Sant’anna 2020). What is not well understood is the potential that government policies …

Public Places, Intimate Spaces: An Archaeology Of Prostitution In Missoula, Montana, Kate Gonzales

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

My research examines artifacts recovered from Cranky Sam Public House (CSPH), a brewery located in downtown Missoula where, in the summer of 2019, construction uncovered a significant amount of archaeological evidence related to Missoula's historic red-light district and Chinese community. This red-light district began operating in the late nineteenth century and continued to grow significantly until its closure in 1916. While many perceptions of early sex workers in American West towns focus on the vice activity associated with their employment, I hope to shift toward a narrative that provides alternative perspectives of these diverse women's lives. My thesis questions how …

College Success Is For Foster Children Too, Ashlyn M. Kincaid

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

In 2016, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System reported that 437,465 children were in foster care. Removal of a child from their family typically happens for reasons that pose immediate safety risks, such as abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, unsuitable living conditions, parental mental illness, family violence, or the absence of parents (Lohr & Jones, 2016). For these reasons, children who are or have been in foster care are at risk of experiencing a variety of negative health and behavior outcomes. One domain where foster children face specific challenges is the education system. Frequent placement changes often result …

The 2016 Paris Accords: Does Structural Realism Or Institutional Neoliberalism Best Explain Why States Have Signed Onto The Accords?, Ashli Dare Jaschke

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Why did states ratify the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement? In this paper, I answer that question by testing two international relations theories: structural realism and institutional neoliberalism. I have chosen to use these two theories because they are diametrically opposed in their explanations of international relations. Structural realism says that due to the lack of a one-world government, conflicts will always be present in the world system. Conversely, institutional neoliberalism states that through inter-governmental institutions, such as the United Nations, the world system is working toward obtaining perpetual peace and prosperity. To test structural realism, I examine if weaker states …

Classroom Language Socialization: Language Acquisition, Educator Beliefs, And Intercultural Communicative Competence, Rebekah M. Skoog

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Classroom Language Socialization:

Language acquisition, educator beliefs and intercultural communicative competence

Language and culture are intricately intertwined. In the past, language structure was thought to be the “purist” form of culture, but then the work of Dell Hymes (1972) on communicative competence and the relationship between language and culture brought a shift to the way language systems were understood. Rather than being studied separately from their communicative act, Hymes argued for the need to understand language through context. With the help of Canale and Swain (1980) these ideas about language brought a shift in educational literature and consequently the design …

Understanding Students’ Immediacies And Integrative Arguments In Collaborative Reasoning Discussions, Rebekah Skoog, Sisilia Kusumaningsih

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Collaborative Reasoning (CR) discussion, as a form of a dialogic learning, has been proven to enhance children’s reasoning skills (Clark et al., 2003; Nguyen-Jahiel, et al., 2007; Sun et al. 2015). In CR, students are presented with a story that contains controversial issues and are asked to present evidence to support their stance towards the issue. In addressing the main question in CR, children challenge their peers’ arguments and encounter cognitive conflicts, which facilitate the development of their thinking to a higher level (Kim et al., 2007). This is significant as it can lead to discussants partially accepting the counterargument …

Montana Voices: Military, Congressional, And Popular Resistance To American Intervention In The Chinese Civil War From 1945-1949, James Robert Compton

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

At the culmination of the Second World War, the United States Marines were preparing for a brutal and expensive assault on the Japanese homeland. With the abrupt conclusion of hostilities in September 1945, Marines would be ordered instead to North China in order to accept the surrender of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces and to repatriate Japanese and Korean nationals back to their respective countries.^[1] The Marines would find an amorphous peacekeeping mission in North China, protecting infrastructure and key terrain during the reemergent Chinese Civil War.^[2] In Montana, its respected Congressman—Mike Mansfield—and concerned citizens, Marines, and parents …

What Does It Mean To Argue Well?, Greg Friedman

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

The process of learning argumentation skills empowers students to think critically and communicate their ideas in a democratic society. When students can understand how to construct and interpret effective arguments, they can better engage meaningfully with others and with content. Effective argumentation entails both cognitive and social domains, as individuals need to consider both the quality of their reasoning and the nature of their interaction with their audience. While some conceptions of argumentation focus on developing strong arguments, effective argumentation also involves a productive interaction with one’s audience. Prior researchers developed argument schema theory (AST) which posits that engaging in …

Appealing Unpeeled: The Layers Of Meaning Of Lemons As Portrayed In Dutch Golden Age Paintings, Amanda M. Barr

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

According to one study, lemons are depicted in fifty-one percent of a sampling of Netherlandish paintings between 1500 and 1650, a time known as the Dutch Golden Age, as opposed to sixteen percent of Italian works made during the same period. Horticulturally, citrus plants flourish much easier in the warm Mediterranean climate, requiring special orangery hothouses to survive the cold Netherlandish winter, leading to the question as to why lemons were such a popular subject matter for Dutch painters. I have used a multivalent historical, socio-cultural, economic, and literary approach to attempt an interpretation of the lemon as object, subject, …

Disposition Of Wwii Vessels Near Okinawa In 1945, Kathryn M. Kemp

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Disposition of WWII Vessels Near Okinawa in 1945

Twenty-seven ships sunk in battle off the coast of Okinawa in 1945 during WWII, of which the locations are unknown to the US Navy and the Japanese government. The purpose of this research was to use archival and historical sources to identify these ships in records and discern the approximate possible whereabouts of these vessels for the use of a US Navy reconnaissance project. This project’s ultimate goal is to repatriate these vessels to the US and study their artifacts and locations, a new venture for the Navy. With this information, the …

Will Our Freedom Be Our Demise?, Annie Elise Berget

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, and Coronavirus are the many names of the threat humanity faces today. In this paper I ask “Why are some countries being more adversely affected by this pandemic than others?” To answer this question I test Marxist and constructivist theories about whether states with more economic freedom (capitalism) or more democratic ideology of freedom have more cases and fatalities. My first theory is that economic freedom (measured by the Heritage Foundation) increases Covid-19 cases given the emphasis placed on the economy rather than human life. My second theory is that more democratic states (measured by Freedom House) have …

Damming Paradise: The Struggle For Wild Rivers, Good Jobs, And Public Power In The Flathead Valley, Jacob T. Schmidt

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

This presentation will examine support of and opposition to the construction of several dams on the forks of the Flathead River in Western Montana between 1944 and 1968. Between the authorization of Hungry Horse Dam in 1944 and the passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968, the federal government proposed six dams in the Flathead valley. Among the proposed dams were Spruce Park Dam on the Middle Fork, Glacier View and Smoky Range Dam on the North Fork in Glacier National Park, Knowles and Paradise Dam on the Lower Flathead and Clark Fork, and a proposal to …

The Reaction To Progressive Education In The Early Cold War: 1945-1959, Ben Yturri

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

The Religious Reaction to Progressive Education in the 1950s: An Intellectual History

Considered the foremost theorist of progressive education, John Dewey challenged traditional pedagogies of rote memorization and advocated child-centered learning methods via sensual observation. By the 1930s, progressive education was the leading pedagogy in education departments at American Universities. A notable opponent of Dewey’s ideas was Robert Hutchins, president of Chicago University from 1929 to 1945. Hutchins advocated re-emphasizing the canon, an approach he called “liberal education.” With the end of WWII and the beginning of the Cold War, many Americans also became concerned that U.S. education lagged behind …

Incorporating The Chilean Experience Into A Theatrical Analysis And Design Of Ariel Dorfman’S Play Death And The Maiden, Hannah Gibbs

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Ariel Dorfman wrote Death and the Maiden in response to his return to Chile in 1990, when the Pinochet dictatorship was replaced by a democratic vote. The play is full of complex issues- democracy, love, betrayal, deception, and justice for past wrongs. In reading Death and the Maiden, it’s hard to not be curious about the past terrors endured by the main character Paulina, and how the society she is in developed around those and other tragedies. Thus, examining the horrors of Pinochet administration inflicted onto Chilean citizens and how it informed this play and its three main characters. …