Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Role Of Cultural Capital In Access And Equity For Female C-Stem Learners Of Color, Tiffany L. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine the impact of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1973; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) on the access and equity of C-STEM learners of color under the following four tenets of Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth model: aspirational, familial, social, and navigational capital. A theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT; Crenshaw, 1988) was utilized to frame the study. Research questions explore the impacts of cultural capital upon the perceived access and equity of female C-STEM learners. Qualitative methodology guided the study under the integrated approach of Quantitative Ethnography (QE) which examines qualitative data with the support of statistical …

I Am New But Social: How And When Different Types Of Social Networks Influence Newcomers' Organizational Socialization, Yihua Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of various types of social networks on socialization among newcomers in organizations. First, it determined how horizontal networks impact relationship morale among newcomers. The study discovered a positive relationship between horizontal networks and newcomers’ relationship morale. When newcomers successfully build positive social connections with existing employees, they actively contribute to achieving organizational goals. These horizontal networks also foster the self-efficacy necessary for newcomers to effectively carry out their duties. Since newcomers often lack knowledge of the organizational culture, these networks provide valuable insights, enabling quick and effective assimilation into the organization. The study also examined …

Immigrant Mothers: A Testimonio, Brenda Garcia Castro

Theses and Dissertations

International immigration creates economic, demographic, and cultural shifts worldwide. The process of migration entails steps beginning from the decision to migrate, the migration journey and experiences upon arrival to the host country. Factors such as age at time of migration, traditions, and beliefs of those who migrate inform various aspects of their lives, such as parenting practices. Once in the new country, immigrants face various challenges and stressors such as discrimination, acculturation, language barriers and lack of opportunities due to legal status. These stressors are often compounded with existing pre-migration trauma that result in higher risk of mental health concerns …

Promoting Interaction In The Hybrid Learning Environment: Challenges And Solutions For International Students In Higher Education, Yi Lu

Theses and Dissertations

In the years 2020 and 2021, a total of 1,142,352 international students pursued their higher education degrees in the U.S. (SEVIS, 2022), many learning in English for the very first time. International students benefit from interaction in the classroom to support their learning and continued English language development (Loewen & Sato, 2018). The interaction hypothesis (IH) is a helpful lens to consider language interaction in a variety of learning environments (Long, 1996). More specifically, the IH suggests that modifications and negotiations made during conversational interaction help language learners process input. Although the IH has traditionally focused on the traditional face-to-face …

Using Geographic Information Systems To Examine Unmet Healthcare Needs Among Transgender And Non-Binary Young Adults In Florida, Nino Franklin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study explored healthcare utilization among the Transgender and Gender Non-Binary (TGNB) population of Florida using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize and analyze the spatial distribution of unmet healthcare needs. The aim was to provide a clear comparison of unmet healthcare needs across various regions, highlight areas with the highest and lowest levels of unmet needs, and understand the demographic factors influencing these disparities. Utilizing survey data from the NIH-funded U=CARE study, which involved TGNB participants aged 18-26 from diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, the data were cleaned, geocoded, and analyzed within ArcGIS. Geocoded survey responses were linked to …

Opportunities And Insecurities: Discursive Power And The Neoliberal Transformation Of Work In The Great Resignation, Caroline Austin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This study explores the Great Resignation—a mass wave of voluntary job departures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic— through a Foucauldian lens, exploring the intersections of neoliberal labor practices, worker subjectivities, and discursive power. Using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) 25 interviews with individuals who resigned during this period were analyzed to explore how workers engage with neoliberal discourses in making sense of their work-related attitudes, experiences, and decisions as well as the broader discursive constructions used to interpret the Great Resignation as a societal phenomenon. Participants’ narratives reveal varying degrees of alignment, negotiation, and resistance to neoliberal subjectivity, shaped by …

An Intersectional Examination Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Educational Outcomes In Children In The U.S., Josalie C. Condon

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Background: Research has found that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been shown to lead to a myriad of issues including struggling in school. The more ACEs a child experiences, the worse their outcome tends to be, including school outcomes. However, critics of ACE research have argued that not all ACEs weigh the same and intersectionality needs to be considered. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship between ACEs and school outcome issues. These school outcome variables are analyzed, first with a binary ACE variable, then with ACE scale variable, to test whether more ACEs lead to worse outcomes. And, …

Finding Safe Haven: Church-Centered Communities And Cultural Persistence Among Central American Migrants In Los Angeles, Elmer L. Castillo-Recancoj , '24

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

'Man's Forgotten Friend': Dogs Appointed As Domesticated Companions And The Coronavirus Pandemic, Rebekah Gregory

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The metaphorical confinement of national lockdowns saw the egocentric adoption of dogs appointed as domesticated companions. While public approval of ‘animal’ welfare legislation and the growing popularity of ‘green’ theory and industry has grown, ‘animals’ are still victim to the consumer and the anthropocentric cultures which promote individual, economic, social, and specifically ‘human’ advancement at all costs. Even though the reasons why ‘animals’ are victimised has been researched, how the pandemic has impacted upon this treatment and consumer culture’s/anthropocentrism’s influence has been somewhat absent within academic discussion. In fact, how the global events of COVID-19 have impacted upon dog treatment, …

Graduate Portfolio, Addy Kaune

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Alcohol Consumption On Cognitive Decline, Ashley Highland

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol use and cognitive decline among young adults. This study is a quantitative study in which secondary data was used as a means to gather information from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) database. In this study, the researcher analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, such as independent sample t-test, correlations analysis, ANOVA, and Chi-Square test. The findings in this research revealed that there is a significant relationship between cognitive decline and binge drinking in young adults. Meaning, young adults who binge drink are …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Alcohol Use In Adulthood, Callie Franzen

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and alcohol use in adulthood among individuals who responded to the BRFSS 2022 study. Secondary data was used to gather information on adults. The BRFSS 2022 survey was a national survey conducted by the CDC that utilized stratified sampling to create two groups of participants based on phone number type. The final number of participants used in this sample was 445,132 adults aged 18 to 80 with 209,238 males and 235,894 females, and the races consisted of 333,514 Whites, 35,876 Blacks, 20,607 Asians, 42,977 Hispanics, …

The Impact Of Alcohol Use On Dating Violence Among Adolescents, Kaygen Kay Deitrick

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between alcohol use and increased rates of dating violence. Additionally, the study proposed potential differences in experienced dating violence rates for sexual minority youth compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This current study utilizes secondary data analysis of the national 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YBRSS). In this study the researcher analyzed data through the use of descriptive statistics that include frequency, mean, standard deviation. The researcher analyzed data through the use of inferential statistics which include independent sample t-test, correlations analysis, ANOVA. The results of this study indicate a …

Exploring Group Behavior Through Evolutionary Game Theory: Disease Dynamics, Cooperation, And Reputation, Alina Glaubitz

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Cooperation is fundamental in the natural world and crucial to modern society, particularly in managing public health crises such as infectious diseases. This thesis investigates the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation, focusing on its role in com- bating infectious diseases, exemplified by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. We first examine the social dilemma posed by non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing and face covering. We integrate these interventions into models of disease dynamics, revealing an oscillatory tragedy of the commons: as infection rates fall, public adherence to social distancing wanes, leading to subsequent infection surges. Expanding the model to include less effective …

From Instagram To Infowar: The Weaponization Of Social Media And Its Consequences, Grayson Shade Walker

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Inhibition Development In Young Children, Ai Thi Thanh Hoang

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Child inhibition can be learned consciously and unconsciously, and it is highly dependent on the quality of interaction with adults (i.e., parents and teachers). However, little is known about the impact of teachers’ emotional management and sensitivity on the development of inhibition skills among students in early childhood classrooms. This dissertation takes an integrative approach to explore whether teacher-child relationship and teacher self-efficacy have a bidirectional connection and how they work to impact child inhibition, directly and indirectly. The present research utilizes the large nationally represented Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 2010-2011, sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics in …

Power Dynamics And Oppression: Analyzing Structural Control In Suzanne Collins’S The Hunger Games, Hannah Micciolo

Capstone Showcase

The Hunger Games is a popular novel universe that describes a totalitarian dictatorship through the lens of the oppressed. Through the book, the viewer is given insight into how Panem operates the way it does even though the majority of its citizens are oppressed by the minority in a much more obvious manner. However, within modern society, the tactics used by the oppressors are much more ambiguous and distorted. This essay will explore the structures put in place by the Capitol in tandem with modern examples to mirror each other and increase awareness of the the tactics governments use both …

The Fairness Model Of Legal Institutions, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Books and Chapters

If any group is to endure over time, individual frustrations, while inevitable, must be usually experienced as acceptable, or at least tolerable. Failing that, little would prevent the losers in these conflicts from leaving or revolting, which would be cumulatively debilitating to the group. As opposed to holding law’s job to impose order and police infringers, the second approach suggests that finding the balance between group and individual desires is the ‘major difficulty of all law—the problem of really getting a fresh start in relations between litigants after disposition of a trouble-case. This is the problem not only of keeping …

Disciplining Subjectivities And Sensing Time At A Us University, Amy N. Sojot

Education Studies Faculty publications

Informed by new materialism as well as Stefano Harney and Fred Moten’s concept of the undercommons, this article is a philosophical investigation of the feelings of time upon disciplined bodies and subjectivities in the university. Drawing from the author’s experience while participating in an anomalous reading group, this mode of inquiry is reflective and interpretive, mirroring the personal nature of sensation. The article first turns to Foucault’s analysis of how time disciplines the subject, followed by a discussion of the university’s perceptions of time. Finally, a sense of “useless” time is explored in terms of the undercommons to disrupt temporally …

Reimagining The Costume: The Role Of Fashion In Adaptations Of Euripides’ "Bacchae", Clementine Farnum

Scripps Senior Theses

Euripides’ Bacchae and its reception embody the subversion of identity that codifies my 21st-century understanding of fashion. This project is interested in this subversion and examines how characters’ identities have been portrayed through the costume choices for Dionysus in ’69, The Bacchantes, and The Backanterna. Specifically, I scrutinize the transition of compliance as a physical representation of how this play is a constant struggle of excess vs. modesty, gender binaries vs. gender fluidity, and worship vs. condemnation.

My interpretations of the costumes for Dionysus, Pentheus, and the Maenads demonstrate the vital role costumes play. The costumes I …

Black Maternal Healthcare: The Impact Of Black Doulas On Pregnant Black Women, Andrea M. Siame

Scripps Senior Theses

Pregnancy disproportionately puts the lives of Black women at risk, causing stress, mistrust, and discomfort to be integral aspects of their perinatal experiences. This stress, mistrust, and discomfort is rooted in Black women’s understanding of the structural racism embedded in the healthcare system. In order for Black women’s psyche to be adequately cared for during their pregnancy, they need perinatal support that places Black feminist theories into practice in their support of Black women. This means that it is necessary to provide support that is rooted in reproductive justice, giving autonomy to Black women during their pregnancy. This support can …

Racial Shifting Standards And Educational Punishment, Irene Roman

Scripps Senior Theses

There is a large gap in research on whether students of different races are reprimanded equally for academic dishonesty. Past research shows that ethnic minority students are often punished more severely and frequently than ethnic majority students (Fix et al., 2023; Girvan et al., 2021; Quinn, 2020; Skiba et al., 2011). This proposed study will examine how student race and teacher race influence the severity of punishment a student experiences for academic dishonesty. A 5 (teacher race: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, other) x 4 (target student race: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian) between groups factorial design was used. Participants will read …

Resilience Amidst Barriers: Understanding The Plight Of Undocumented Filipino Tnts Navigating Restrictive Us Immigration Laws From 1986 To The Present, Eileen Linchangco

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the plight of undocumented Filipino immigrants, referred to as “TNT” or “tago nang tago” (hiding and hiding), within the context of an increasingly restrictive US immigration system. I argue that two key factors have driven more Filipinos to pursue unauthorized entry into the US since the 1980s despite heightened risks. First, US immigration policy changes enacted in the 1980s and 1990s implemented stricter numerical caps that severely limited available visas for Filipino immigrants to use legal immigration pathways into the United States. Second, enduring sociocultural constructs propagate the notion that Filipinos represent immigrant desirability for US citizenship. …

“Even The Hardest Stone Can Fracture:” Racialization, Reproductive Control, And The Wake Of Slavery In N.K. Jemisin’S The Fifth Season, Elsbeth Sanders

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

When the science fiction and fantasy novel The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin won the Hugo Award in 2016, Jemisin became the first Black author to win the prestigious literary science fiction award. A departure from similar novels at the time, The Fifth Season has a strong understanding of systems of oppression and how they are built and upheld. This thesis argues that The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin follows the conventions of the neo-slave/meta-slave narrative to explore themes of racialization and reproductive control under enslavement and oppression. I conduct a feminist literary of the novel, focusing on these themes, …

Somethings Old, Somethings New And A Lot That’S Blue: Political Economic Reflections On Worker Subordination And The Law In Contemporary Capitalism, Eric Tucker

All Papers

Debates over worker subordination are central to discussions of the efficacy of protective labour and employment law whose central mission in a capitalist political economy, after all, is to reduce but not eliminate subordination. When protective labour and employment law seems to be fulfilling its mission discussions of worker subordination seem to ebb, but the topic becomes more urgent as the efficacy of the law declines. Not surprisingly, as labour law’s efficacy has been declining over the past several decades, we are in the midst of a revival of debates over worker subordination, the premise of this special issue. While …

The Climate Crisis And The Class System: An Ethical Analysis, Alia Baig

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Climate change is a concerning subject that more and more people are beginning to care about. The climate crisis is continuing to affect populations across the globe and shows no signs of slowing. While everyone has been affected by climate change in some capacity, the climate crisis disproportionately affects low-income communities around the world and, specifically, within the United States. I plan to research the ethics of the relationship between climate change and the class system and the goal o f this project is to prove the claim that the class system is the reason for climate change's disproportionate effect …

Impact Of Atheist Identity Disclosure On Experience Of Microaggressions In Therapy, Kimaya Khanolkar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Khanolkar, Kimaya. (2024). Impact of Atheist Identity Disclosure on Experience of Microaggressions in Therapy [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1453/

The Pre-Migration Experience And Post-Migration Political Alignment Of Bhutanese Refugee Generations, Anisha Lingden

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Based on Sergio Aparicio's theory of "imported politics," this study examines the pre-migration experiences of Generation 1 and Generation 1.5 Bhutanese Refugees to analyze if a correlation exists between the pre-migration experiences and post-migration political alignment/attitudes. The theory was tested using ten interviewees, five of each generation, who were interviewed about their experiences in the origin and adopted country. This was followed by questions regarding government and politics used to evaluate their political attitudes. Results concluded that for all of Generation 1, the pre-migration experiences contributed in some aspects to how they viewed politics in the U.S. In contrast, the …

Books, Boots, And Beer Halls In Germany: Observations By A Young Nebraskan Studying In Europe, 1876–1878, George Elliott Howard, Michael R. Hill

Zea E-Books Collection

Long before George Elliott Howard (1849–1928) became one of Nebraska’s premier sociologists and was elected president of the American Sociological Association (1917), he was a footloose young scholar who pursued postgraduate education in Germany during 1876–1878. Eager to share his adventures, Howard wrote and dispatched seven insightful essays that were quickly published in Nebraska newspapers. Here, collected together for the first time, are Howard’s firsthand observations on travel in Europe, life and learning in Germany, studying the German language, student beer-drinking societies, and a walking tour in Austria. Edited and introduced by Michael R. Hill, Howard’s essays are placed squarely …

The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997. Part I (1980–1983), Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Zea E-Books Collection

Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill, compilers. The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997, with prefaces and author indices by Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill. 3 volumes: Part I (1980–1983)

The Midwest Feminist Papers was a creative, group-generated initiative that gave voice to the scholarly questions, research interests, and social concerns of a growing cohort of Midwestern feminist sociology graduate students and their feminist faculty mentors during the last quarter of the Twentieth Century. They were active members of Midwest Sociologists for Women in Society, a regional expression of the larger national Sociologists for Women …