Digital Commons Network^™

The Aid Effectiveness Architecture In Africa: An Analysis Of Aid Structures In Kenya’S Agriculture Sector, Daniel Kipleel Borter

International Journal of African Development

This study examines in detail the development aid architecture in Kenya’s agriculture sector. The focus is on the mechanisms in place within the Kenyan government (and ministry of agriculture in particular), mechanisms among and within donor agencies, and overall coordination mechanisms that bring together the donors and the government. Findings show that coordination and harmonization activities among donors are yet to yield the desired outcomes such as the division of labor protocol and joint programming. Weaknesses are also observed on the government side where it appears authorities are yet to internalize PD concepts and interpret them to suit the country's …

Happy Graduation., Joy Zanghi

SURGE

High school graduation is often considered the first step into a life of new beginnings, independence, and quasi-adulthood. It is a time of celebration, a time to recognize that all of those years of hard work have paid off. Of course, there are graduation presents from family members to reward all of that work and congratulate the graduate for beginning of the rest of their lives. My graduation present, though, is something I hope I never find a use for. [excerpt]

Reflection Through Revision: A Master's Portfolio, Laura Hoebing

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This document is a compilation of four essays centered around a theme of reflection and teaching English at a high school level. The essays include pedagogical research on reflective writing, teaching grammar, and standards-based grading in a junior high curriculum, as well as an analytical research essay on the role of the police in two contemporary domestic noir novels.

The Ticker, December 11, 2017

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

Sustaining Autonomous Communities In The Modern United States (The United Communities Of America), Lucas Hester

Senior Theses

America has become industrialized and characterized by social anxiety and overconsumption. The inability to be sustainable has led the once plentiful and flourishing nation into an ongoing sustainability crisis. Even if there is a deep connection between them, this essay focuses on social sustainability rather than ecological. It argues for an intentional community-based framework to keep American life sustainable. Pollution, civil unrest, and intense social anxiety create unfulfilling life conditions for many American citizens. Using examples from modern American intentional communities, I will explain the need for self-directing, close-knit communities. Flourishing community members, as it will be considered from sociological …

Rocky Horror Sublimation: Identity As A Contingency Of Experience, Josh Harper

Senior Theses

Queer theory, as a subfield of feminist theories concerned with revealing epistemic, political, and humanitarian problems of a male-dominated society, has been heavily influenced by its founding thinkers, including Judith Butler, the theorist focused on herein. In critiquing various problems of our western society, Butler preserves the structure underlying such problems: through her approach of a gay/straight framework critiquing a male domination of female, the binary is preserved. This is problematic for many reasons, including its exclusion of perspectives that do not fall cleanly into such dichotomies, namely trans and polysexual ones. By appealing to these, as well as to …

Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study Of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles In Eastern Kentucky, Meg Carter

Honors Theses

This study combines research and oral histories that were conducted with eight individuals in Kentucky who are pursuing sustainable lifestyles through practicing methods such as homesteading, living off-the-grid, permaculture, and natural farming techniques. The paper provides a brief history of homesteading and details how the homesteading of today differs from off-the-grid living. It also provides some of the history of Eastern Kentucky and gives insights into the history of homesteading and sustenance farming in the area. The unrehearsed oral history interviews share information that includes, but is not limited to, interviewees’ reasons for why and how they began their transition …

Arguments Against Amalgamation: The Citizen’S Council Battles Integration By Controlling The Narrative, Evelyn S. Kerns

Honors Theses

In 1954, the Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education eradicated the “separate, but equal” mentality that confined African Americans to the menial state of oppression and exploitation that had plagued their people since they arrived in America. However, this decision did little to neutralize the proclivity to segregation nor did it quell the surmounting racial tensions between black people and the upper echelon of Southern society. Conversely, the federal mandate to integrate public schools roused white supremacists to interpose desegregation through resistance, violence, and fear-mongering propaganda. The most flagrant organization of white supremacists was known as the White …

The Stigma Against Tattoos In The Workplace: San Francisco Versus Kalamazoo Area, Sarah Wroblewski

Honors Theses

Tattooing is becoming a popular way for individuals, especially young adults, to express themselves. This causes a problem with the hiring process for many companies that have policies against tattoos. The following thesis is a creative representation of the stigma against tattoos in the workplace. This thesis looks at how tattoos change perceptions of employability in the Kalamazoo and San Francisco areas. This topic is portrayed by a 30-inch by 20-inch collage of photographs displaying a variety of different tattoos. There is a total of 55 photographs of tattoos in total, 25 taken in San Francisco and 30 taken in …

Law's Haze, Police Ways, And Tech's Maze: Relationships Between American Law, Crime, And Technology, Meghan Peterson

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explore the role of law in policing operations targeting cyber sex offenders in the United States. Specifically, I examine enforcement in this crime arena as part of an ongoing expansion within the carceral, surveillance, risk-based state. I argue that imprecision and lack of clarity within American law – particularly in the evolving world of online interactions – generate hazy, arbitrary applications in law enforcement. On this point, I submit that absence of legal clarity undermines law enforcement efforts to address crimes – both within and beyond the cyber world. Distinctive spaces of online and tech-based socialization, …

Hiv In The Heartland: Experiences Of Living With Hiv In Urban And Rural Areas Of The Midwest, Sarah B. Donley, C. Patrice Lockett

The Qualitative Report

Scholarly research on HIV/AIDS and stigma has largely demonstrated a different experience for people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) who inhabit urban and rural areas. Largely missing from this scholarship are experiences in low prevalence areas. Low prevalence areas typically have fewer resources, social networks, and HIV infection and prevalence is less common. In this paper, we examine the challenges PLWHAs in rural and urban areas of the Midwest face and how these individuals manage, respond, and combat HIV/AIDS related stigmas in their communities. This paper utilizes interview data to understand the lived experiences of 18 persons living with …

Super-Diversity As A Methodological Approach: Re-Centering Power And Inequality, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Super-diversity as a methodological lens calls for a study of dynamics of new and diversified social groups that moves away from more traditional approaches focused on ethnicity. In examining the potential of super-diversity as a methodological lens, I identify a risk of downplaying the effect of “old” categories of difference that are likely to continue to shape social structures as well as space. I propose a re-centering of power and inequality in the study of super-diversity by situating its study within an urban culturalist approach, with sociological tools borrowed from ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism. This proposal is illustrated through the …

A Checklist For Mortals: Preparing For Death’S Arrival, Becky Daniel

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

We learn everything from our parents—how to walk, talk and treat potential life partners. Yet our culture in the United States makes it difficult to talk to our parents about death and those consequences have a real impact. Closing a loved one’s estate can stretch from months to years without proper planning. While death is constant, the death industry is not. It is ever changing. And while all lives have equal value, there are many preparations that one person may need (veteran, parent, lotto winner) while another does not. The best way to prepare for death is to know its …

A Comparison Of The Social-Adaptive Perspective And Functionalist Perspective On Guilt And Shame, Heidi L. Dempsey

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Within the field of guilt and shame two competing perspectives have been advanced. The first, the social-adaptive perspective, proposes that guilt is an inherently adaptive emotion and shame is an inherently maladaptive emotion. Thus, those interested in moral character development and psychopathology should work to increase an individual’s guilt-proneness and decrease an individual’s shame-proneness. The functionalist perspective, in contrast, argues that both guilt and shame can serve a person adaptively or maladaptively—depending on the situational appropriateness, duration, intensity, and so forth. This paper reviews the research conducted supporting both positions; critiques some issues with the most widely used guilt- and …

Lanthorn, Vol. 52, No. 31, December 11, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 52, July 10, 2017 - April 23, 2018

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

From War To Home: The Systematic Issues Operation Enduring And Iraqi Freedom Veterans Face Transitioning With Ptsd, Tiffany D. Ware

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the perceptions of Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom veterans with PTSD, who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, regarding their participation in the Disabled Transition Assistance Program.

Methodology: The methodology for this research study will be qualitative from a phenomenological perspective. When thinking of research as it pertains to qualitative methods, it is appropriate to use when a researcher is trying to study the lived experiences of individuals (Flipp, 2014; Patton, 2015). This method will describe perceptions of Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom veterans with PTSD, who are …

A Way Of Reflecting On Identity: The Five Stories Of The Conflicting Relationships In Nepal, Tomoki Yamanaka

Capstone Collection

Conflict studies show that the components of identity are interrelated to sources and dynamics of conflict in intricate ways. This study self-reflectively explores a way of reflecting on identity from the links between conflict and identity through a qualitative study of the five stories of the conflicting relationships in Nepal. By analyzing the stories collected through in-depth interviews with Nepali peace workers, an element of power in group differences was noted. This illustrated the challenge of having the voices of those being marginalized heard amongst conflicting issues around them. Those that were interviewed also struggled with the challenge of having …

Fall 2017 Commencement Program, University Of Alabama In Huntsville

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Beyond The End Line - Putting The Mental Health Of Female Athletes First, Katherine Scholten

Honors Projects

Currently one in five adults are affected by mental illness. Student-athletes are a population that is under diagnosed for mental illness. In the world of college athletics, mental pain is as regular as physical pain. Coaches often push their athletes to suffer in silence for the betterment of the team. The NCAA has recognized the importance of mental health in college athletics, yet there is still much work to be done among universities across the country. This document is to serve as a resource and a guide on the effects of mental health among female student athletes and the best …

Building Globally Accepted Local Brands And Locally Authentic Global Brands, Ellen Schmidt-Devlin

Student Scholarship

In academic literature, brands have been categorized as either global or local, driven primarily by the distance their businesses reach beyond their national borders. This difference is evaporating with the advent of digital marketing and ecommerce. Academics clearly recognize this changing landscape and have researched the impacts to consumer perceptions and identities, but literature has provided less strategic direction for global and local brand leaders as they compete head-to-head in the fast-paced global marketplace. This qualitative study of fifty executives in the global/local sports product industry reveals distinctly different paths taken by global brands toward local authenticity and local brands …

Building Globally Accepted Local Brands And Locally Authentic Global Brands, Ellen Schmidt-Devlin

Student Scholarship

In academic literature, brands have been categorized as either global or local, driven primarily by the distance their businesses reach beyond their national borders. This difference is evaporating with the advent of digital marketing and ecommerce. Academics clearly recognize this changing landscape and have researched the impacts to consumer perceptions and identities, but literature has provided less strategic direction for global and local brand leaders as they compete head-to-head in the fast-paced global marketplace. This qualitative study of fifty executives in the global/local sports product industry reveals distinctly different paths taken by global brands toward local authenticity and local brands …

December Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting agenda.

A Reader's Guide To Intergenerational Ministry And Faith Formation, Dudley Chancey, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The concept of intergenerational ministry and faith formation has gained an increasing number of proponents over the last thirty years. Because of the burgeoning literature produced in this field, we have assembled an annotated bibliography intended to give practitioners and church members an overview of the printed work that addresses this important approach to ministry and spiritual formation.

Practicing Missional Hospitality In A Suburban Church, Kevin Stewart

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The West Houston Church of Christ is typical of many churches in North America that struggle to relate in meaningful ways to the surrounding culture. Over thirty years West Houston changed from a small, vibrant young church with a thriving family-like atmosphere to a large church in a new building, yet mourning its loss of family connections. It was struggling to find a new identity. In this article I discuss the ingrained sense of family that has served as the identity of West Houston and explore both theological and practical ways—specifically those involving missional hospitality—through which a church can navigate …

“No Net Ensnares Me”: Servitude, Love, And The Self In Charlotte Bronte’S Jane Eyre, J. Larae Ferguson

Agora

No abstract provided.

Engaging Collective Embodied Resilience, Enacting Ritual Movement Practice In A Social Change Process, Lauren Rose Milburn

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

Twenty-first century American society requires individual and collective bodies to navigate large and often invisible systems of oppression despite the felt-influence of inequality, injustice, and affective control. Drawing from convergent theories of social movements and dance/movement therapy, collective embodied resilience emerges as a dually activating and healing resource for change making. This qualitative research study utilized a participatory/action embodied artistic inquiry methodology to investigate how arts-activist co-researchers experience collective embodied resilience during participation in collective action. Employing arts-based methods of data collection and analysis, coresearchers explored collective embodied resilience to generate and share an accessible ritual movement practice within a …

Ua45/6 Commencement Program, Wku Registrar

WKU Administration Documents

Commencement program listing graduates.

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Graduate, December 9, 2017, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Honorary Doctor of Engineering and Nursing - Patricia Flatley-Brennan

10 A&S Students Named Margaret Boyd Scholars, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Why The Perfect Being Theologian Cannot Endorse The Principle Of Alternative Possibilities, Samuel Director

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

I argue that perfect being theologians cannot endorse the Principle of Alternative Possibilities (AP). On perfect being theology, God is essentially morally perfect, meaning that He always acts in a morally perfect manner. I argue that it is possible that God is faced with a situation in which there is only one morally perfect action, which He must do. If this is true, then God acts without alternative possibilities in this situation. Yet, unless one says that this choice is not free, one must say that God has acted freely without alternative possibilities.