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Intergroup Contact Through Study Abroad: An Investigation Of Effects Of Study Abroad On Student Engagement With Racial And Religious Diversity, Rachel Anne Hanson

All Theses

This study examines the effects of participation in study abroad on undergraduate students' engagement with racial and religious diversity to identify outcomes and patterns that support the prominent goals in higher education of promoting global learning and enhancing inclusion and diversity on university campuses. Based on the framework of intergroup contact theory, I use hierarchical regression models to analyze data from the National Survey of Student Engagement collected at Clemson University in 2013 and 2015. Among undergraduate seniors, participation in study abroad is significantly associated with greater engagement with topics related to racial and religious diversity, and engagement with diverse …

Trends In Marketing For Books On Animal Rights, Gloria H. Mulvihill

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Though many of us have heard the mantra that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, marketers in book publishing bank on the fact that people do and will continue to buy and read books based not only on content, but its aesthetic appeal. This essay will examine the top four marketing trends that can be observed on the Amazon listings for books published on animal rights within the last ten years, specifically relating to titles, cover design, and the intended audience. From graphic adaptations of animals to traditional textbook approaches and animal photography, publishers are striving to evoke …

A Radical Idea: Applying Psychological Strategy To Combat Foreign Fighters Defending The Islamic State, David Michael Smaney

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the necessity of psychological strategies to combat the Islamic State’s recruitment of foreign fighters. This thesis argues that psychological strategies are a primary weapon due to the psychological nature of the war against the Islamic State, which is a part of the overall war of ideas. This thesis does not consider psychological strategies for other aspects of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, nor does it reflect the difficulties involved with developing U.S. strategies in the U.S. federal government. Furthermore, this thesis only focuses on foreign fighter defending and supporting the Islamic State, which is the successor of Al …

Phoenix Ink: Psychodynamic Motivations For Tattoo Attainment By Survivors Of Trauma, December Renee Maxwell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tattoos adorn people from all over the world and date back as far as the Stone Age. Tattoos adorn people from all over the world and motivations for tattoo attainment have been studied recently. Still, there remains limited research on the potential therapeutic properties of tattoo attainment, particularly for survivors of sexual trauma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experience of the tattoo process for survivors of sexual trauma and their motivations for tattoo attainment. This qualitative exploratory study interviewed both survivors of sexual trauma (N=10) and tattoo artists (N=7) to gain a wider perspective on the …

Statements In Stone: The Politics Of Architecture In Charlemagne's Aachen, Mary Katherine Tipton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Statements in Stone is an intersectional and preliminary study of the architecture and Social aspects of the palatine complex of Aachen Germany during the reign of Charlemagne approximately spanning from the 790s to 814CE. The interplay between built space and its Social uses inform the larger Social understandings and interpretations of power and authority. Court poetry written by contemporaries and courtiers of Charlemagne allow readers to glimpse the court as it moved through and interacted with the built environment. Architectural precedents inform the connotations associated with the spaces of Aachen, while spatial theory will provide a framework for understanding the …

Wayward Women, Macho Men: Linguistic Construction Of Gender Binaries In Yxta Maya Murray's Locas And Denise Chavez's Loving Pedro Infante, Stephanie Tangman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Language labels and defines in order to enhance meaning and communication, but through these labels and definitions speakers are also conditioned to associate certain connotations with words and, therefore, their referents. While often harmless, linguistic conditioning can at times create unsavory associations with these referents. One of these instances occurs in gendered labels and conceptions of male and female bodies and purpose. Both Yxta Maya Murray’s Locas and Denise Chavez’s Loving Pedro Infante can be read through a lens that applies linguistic conditioning with gender theory in order to examine the reinterpretation of female archetypes in the Chicana imagination. It …

Human Trafficking: A Global Tragedy In Five Acts, Cynthia Rhiannon Knight

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Transnational security is an emerging sub-field within the broader scope of international relations. Human trafficking is a wide-spread but rarely emphasized threat to global security with powerful transnational dimensions. This type of crime threatens security at all levels of society. At the individual level, the victims of trafficking are abused, tortured, and experience incredible trauma. The traffickers themselves exploit weaknesses at the state level, either leveraging lack of political will or corrupt officials into their schemes to make more money, or by circumventing lax laws entirely. States have serious power to affect change at this level, particularly in the realm …

Eastern, Spring 2017, Eastern Washington University. Division Of University Relations.

Alumni Publications

This issue contains articles about: Honor Flight, veterans visit military monuments in Washington, D.C., and Giving Joy Day, an Eastern spin on "Giving Tuesday", a day to encouraging generosity and goodwill at the beginning of the holiday season, and From Lacey to L.A., Nate Jackson earns his spot in the limelight, Jackson’s loud, energetic and goofy personality on stage even led him to be a competitor on a season of Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ’n Out on MTV, and Prays Well with Others, alum Skyler Oberst celebrates the interfaith community, and 50-Year Reunion Highlights, classes of '66 and '67 return …

Public Ritual Sacrifice As A Controlling Mechanism For The Aztec, Madeline Nicholson

Honors Scholar Theses

For decades, archaeologists have researched the fascinating finds of Aztec sacrifice. Evidence of their sacrifices are seen on temple walls, stone carvings, bones, and in Spanish chronicler drawings. Although public ritual sacrifice was practiced before the Aztecs, with evidence from the Olmec civilization (1200-1300 BCE) and Maya (200-900 BCE), Aztec sacrifices are among the most extensively documented. How does such a practice survive in different civilizations through different rulers? This thesis will analyze the phases of Aztec public ritual sacrifice (specifically the location, length, and number of sacrifices) and the close relationship to their origin myths, or founding stories. It …

Experiences Among U.S. Students Of Color, Travel Background, And Cultural Attunement To Intersectionalities In Study Abroad Programs., Jessica Norman

Dissertations

This cohort and event-based case study sought to evaluate the cultural experiences and development of cross cultural intersectionalities in U.S. students of culture participating in a study abroad program to Argentina. Current study abroad outcomes consistently show travel abroad experiences lead to improved cultural awareness, knowledge, understanding and competency. Study abroad programming appears to be an overlooked opportunity for creating positive, long-lasting, transformative change, particularly for under-represented students (Milsen, 2005; Mondard-Weissman, 2003; Hadis, 2005; Van Hoff & Verbee, 2005). Over the last 30 years, international educators have reported positive changes in students after learning abroad; improved in self-awareness, respect for …

2017-May-01-Displaying Our Work, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

“The Golden Rule”: A Portable Escape Room Designed To Promote Empathy And Playfulness In Challenging Social Contexts, Isabella Gomati

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The development of a Portable Escape Room (PER) board game aims to promote empathy as one of the key skills that, for a society in constant change, is necessary to face and solve complex social challenges. The development of a PER is a way of addressing the need for both innovative and accessible tools that can be used in different sectors of the economy. The PER not only encourages creative collaboration, but it also introduces the possibility of playfulness as a bridge for learning and problem-solving in a variety of scenarios. The product itself encompasses an excellent example of a …

Who Do You Know: Improving And Exploring The Network Scale-Up Method, Patrick Habecker

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine ways to improve and explore the network scale-up method (NSUM). This dissertation improved the NSUM by proposing a new mean of sums (MoS) estimation process, improving recursive back-estimation techniques, exploring how NSUM design changes effected estimates of personal network size, what predicts having larger personal networks, and the cognitive process used by participants taking a NSUM survey. Data was collected from an address-based survey (n=617) of Nebraskans conducted in 2014 and a series of cognitive interviews (n=19) conducted in 2016.

The MoS estimator better predicted the size of a target group than …

Not Infertile, Can’T Have Children: Non-Reproductive Health Barriers To A Wanted Child, Jennifer A. Andersen

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Non-reproductive health barriers to a wanted baby are an understudied population in the field of infertility research. This is a concern for fertility, public health, and family scholars as the lack of information can have affects the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of couples with non-reproductive health barriers. Using the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) and Survey Driven Narrative Construction, I was able to identify thirty-two women and their partners who have confronted a non-reproductive health barrier. These women did not self-identify and were grouped as such by the author. I found that the majority of the couples do not …

Nowhere To Go : Informal Settlement Eradication In Kigali, Rwanda., Emily E Benken

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Following the new world order of the post-Cold War era, the rise of developmentalism stressed the moral necessity of installing capitalist models of growth in the global south. The reproduction of narratives of modernity and teleological progression were reproduced in numerous African cities and actualized in policies related to urban development. The consequent trend of urbanization has been the systemic eradication of informal settlements and large-scale displacement to make way for modern, productive urban areas.

One site of this pattern is Kigali, Rwanda. Since the turn of the century, official “vision projects” released by the Rwandan government have reimagined the …

Cross-Cultural Investigation Of Birth Experience : A Comparison Between Mexico And The United States., Alice J Darling

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This study investigates the maternal birth experience through a cross-cultural lens. While the field of medical anthropology has researched birth practices of many cultures, few cross-cultural studies have been performed and no recent studies have suggested a transition in birthing. Ethnographic interviews with women and practitioners in Yucatán, Mexico and with women in Kentucky, United States allowed for a better understanding of the respective birthing environments. Grounded theory was then employed to develop a birth transition theory explaining changes occurring when society transitions from traditional birth practitioners to allopathic birth practitioners. The themes of knowledge, expectation and power were isolated …

2017 Spring Undergraduate Commencement, Lindenwood University

Commencement Programs

Lindenwood University Commencement program.

People Read As Muslim: A New Framework For Understanding Anti-Muslim Harassment, Hanna Niner

Sociology and Anthropology Honors Theses

This paper analyzes 172 interviews collected in the summer of 2016 in San Antonio about how the religion of Islam was being talked about during the presidential election. Eighty-six out of the 172 respondents identified as a person of color and/or Muslim. Of those, 19 experienced anti-Muslim discrimination. However, I demonstrate that the people who experienced discrimination were not in fact always Muslim. Black men and non-hijab wearing White women, were able to avoid discrimination by passing or covering as non-Muslims either naturally or through altering their appearance. Sikh men who wear a turban, non-Muslim Arabs and Indians, were read …

The Inevitability Of Conformity: Ideology In Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Edward Pomykaj

English Undergraduate

In lieu of an abstract, here is the paper's first paragraph:

In Tom Wolfe’s 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Wolfe follows author Ken Kesey and his group the Merry Pranksters as they develop as an American counterculture in the mid to late 1960’s. In a key moment of the book, Kesey is asked to participate and give a speech at an anti-Vietnam War rally at Berkeley in 1965. He shows up, but instead of joining the political movement he shuns it, saying, “you know, you’re not gonna stop this war with this rally, by marching… That’s what they …

A Bridge Over Troubled Water: Induction Teachers' Perspectives Regarding Their Efficacy Towards Meeting The Needs Of Diverse Populations Of Students, Lacresha R. Byrd

All Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to explore the perceptions of 13 first-year teachers as it relates to their readiness to meet the academic needs of their minority students. The findings provided information on their readiness, teacher preparation programs, and support needed from school leaders during their Induction year of teaching. The study was designed to explore the academic needs of the diverse population of students in a rural county school district in the Upstate of South Carolina. A triangulated study was conducted to include face-to-face interviews and an analysis of the transcripts to explore and examine the …

Review Of The Social Life Of Forensic Evidence By Corinna Kruse, Sameena A. Mulla

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

How Many More? Sample Size Determination In Studies Of Morphological Integration And Evolvability, Mark Grabowski, Arthur Porto

School of Medicine Publications

1. The variational properties of living organisms are an important component of current evolutionary theory. As a consequence, researchers working on the field of multivariate evolution have increasingly used integration and evolvability statistics as a way of capturing the potentially complex patterns of trait association and their effects over evolutionary trajectories. Little attention has been paid, however, to the cascading effects that inaccurate estimates of trait covariance have on these widely used evolutionary statistics.

2. Here, we analyze the relationship between sampling effort and inaccuracy in evolvability and integration statistics calculated from 10-trait matrices with varying patterns of covariation and …

Curating Curiosity: The Evolution Of Museological Theory In The Late Seventeenth Century At The Bibliothèque De Sainte-Geneviève, Erin L. Anderson

Honors Theses

The evolution of museological theory at the Bibliotheque de Sainte-Genevieve marks a transition in the history of collecting during the early modern period. Although the contents of the collection remained largely unchanged from earlier Wunderkammern, the acquisition, display, and organization of artifacts within the cabinet had evolved tremendously by the end of the 17th century and one can begin to see the collection as a predecessor of modern museological methodologies.

Evolution Of Eusociality In Ants Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Michael S. Holm

Honors Theses

Eusociality can be seen in a variety of insect families, including the ants (Formicidae). There is no clear understanding on how it evolved but it is well understood that transitions between social phases must happen. Several theories and hypothesis have been presented but none of them completely encapsulate the whole evolution of eusociality. Several studies on ants focus on different aspects of their evolution in the eusocial context and provide good supporting data. Two major models, Alternate Inclusive Fitness Model and Worker Behavior Model, are good blueprints for future research. As more data is collected and studies were done, more …

Narrating The French National Story: The Role Of Discourse In The Production Of Frenchness, Sarah Quinn Dickshinski

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

At the center of the question of alterity today lies a debate on the role ethnicity, race, religion, and culture each play in the context of multicultural societies. In France the social contract claims to extend equal rights to all of its citizens by simple virtue of their presence in the collective, yet members of minority populations living in France often do not have access to these rights. Arab Muslim immigrants in particular are treated differently than citizens who represent the white, catholic, bourgeois population whose ancestry is seen as being "rooted" in France. While Arab Muslim immigrants are legally …

International Responses To Human Trafficking: A Comparative Secondary Data Analysis Of National Characteristics, Olivia Germaine Tuttle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Human trafficking is a rising international issue that has become a key concern for human rights organizations and governments throughout the world. As such, new policies are being developed and implemented to combat the problem. A guiding standard for these policies is the United Nations (UN) 2003 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which established a formal definition of human trafficking. While the UN Protocol was a significant step in the fight against human trafficking, it is limited by its framework, which focuses heavily on criminalization and punishment of traffickers. Recent discourse and …

The Regis Santos: A Teaching Collection At 50 Years, Tom Riedel

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Father Thomas J. Steele, S.J. (1933-2010), a professor of English at Regis College for nearly 30 years, started the Regis Collection of New Mexico and Colorado Santos in 1966 when, as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Mexico, he bought his first santo (saint) in a secondhand store in Albuquerque. The santo tradition of Christian folk art flourished in New Mexico from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century, then as a revival art in the early 20th century. The tradition continues as a strong and diverse contemporary expression of faith and artistic enterprise. Fr. Steele donated …

The Golden Girls: Addressing Issues Of Gender, Stigma, And Illness On Network Television, Miles Martin

Senior Honors Projects

Over thirty years after its 1985 premiere, The Golden Girls remains an alluring and nostalgic presence in the cultural consciousness of America. In this work, I investigate exactly what it is about this magical show that has caused it to endure across generations, and in so doing, illuminate how television in general can transcend incidental popularity and have a lasting impact on those who view it. I frame this examination within the topic of disenfranchised illness, a subject that, given events such as the rise of HIV/AIDS, the emergence of crack-cocaine addiction, and the discovery of chronic fatigue syndrome in …

Investigating The Genetic Basis For Hominoid Taillessness, Samantha M. Tickey-Mccrane, Holly Dunsworth, Johanna E. Wegener

Senior Honors Projects

Investigating the Genetic Basis for Hominoid Taillessness:

A Comparative Genetic Approach Across Ten Catarrhine Taxa

Samantha Tickey-McCrane1,2, Johanna E. Wegener2, and Holly Dunsworth1

Honors Thesis Abstract Written by Samantha Tickey-McCrane, Departments of Anthropology & Biology

Advisor: Dr. Holly Dunsworth, Department of Anthropology

How did hominoid tail loss occur? My goals are to test phylogenetic and adaptive hypotheses for tail length variation among macaques, and use those insights to reconstruct the evolution of hominoid taillessness. Further, I aim to ultimately uncover which candidate genes or pathways may be responsible for catarrhine tail loss, and what other traits may be affected by …

Reproductive Justice Uri, Jessica L. Mayernik

Senior Honors Projects

There are over 47,000 women enrolled in collegiate institutions across the state of Rhode Island, including 55% of the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) student body. In order to plan for the future, college women need information on the reproductive resources available to them to have autonomy in their decision-making about when or whether they want children. Under the current federal administration, women’s reproductive rights have been threatened, with legislators consistently calling to defund Planned Parenthood. On the state level, Rhode Island has received an “F” from the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). This project seeks to empower college …