Digital Commons Network^™

Labor Unions In The United States, Argentina, And The United Kingdom: A Comparative Study, Jake Mozeleski

College Honors Program

Since major neoliberal financial reforms occurred during the 1980s and 1990s, labor unions’ membership numbers and political influence have waned. While this is true of labor unions in most countries, these changes are incredibly notable in the United States. Scholars from a multitude of disciplines and with varying critical lenses have attempted to understand this phenomenon, but some arguments seem much more convincing than others. This thesis analyzes the validity of various proposed hypotheses, especially the influence of corporatist traditions, the formal and informal links between labor unions and political parties, and the fundraising sources of political parties, using the …

Spanish Culture Club, Emily Taylor

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

The Case Of Santiago De Chile: Pedestrian Deaths, Neo-Liberal Urban Design, And Insufficient Traffic Policy Reform, Olivia Maurer

Honors Theses

Chile’s rate of road fatalities and pedestrian deaths, in particular, has remained a global outlier, even as comparable states have reduced occurrences. Santiago, one of the most urbanized cities in Latin America and Chile’s capital, serves as a unique product of competing urban design ideologies put forth by democratic and authoritarian governments throughout the 20th century, and the social and economic stratification created has continued to present challenges for solving urban planning issues in modern Santiago. Recent adjustments in traffic laws have begun a reduction in road fatalities, but they still do not account for the discrepancy between Chile and …

To Be Or Not To Be: An Assessment Of Latin American Airport Infrastructure And The Creation Of An Airport Infrastructure Index, Jess Elisha Cooley

Honors Theses

Latin American transport infrastructure underperforms the global standard across the board, and previous research indicates that deficient infrastructure deters economic and social development (Fay 2007). Using multiple research methods, this thesis explores how transport infrastructure relates to the economic global competitiveness of a nation. More specifically, the quantitative research includes regression analyses with quantity of varying infrastructure types (airports, roadways, railways, and navigable waterways) and the creation of an airport infrastructure index. The index attempts to determine what dimensions of airport infrastructure truly reflect “good infrastructure” because Latin America has a relatively large quantity of airports. As infrastructure mechanisms are …

Neoliberal Economic Policies: Implications Of Structural Adjustment Programs (Saps) And Free Trade On Small-Scale Farmers And Agricultural Production In Latin American Developing Nations, Alaynah Mowjee

Anthropology Undergraduate Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

"We're Like Ghosts, But We Have To Be." Invisibility & Liminality Among Kentuckiana's Undocumented Population, Sophie Amaya

Undergraduate Theses

The controversial topic of illegal immigration has repeatedly and deeply divided the United States. There has been, in recent years, a spotlight on immigrants from Latin America, and impersonal claims are being spread in news articles everywhere. For this research, survey questionnaires and ethnographic interviews were used to facilitate a sample of undocumented immigrants from the Louisville, Kentucky, and Southern Indiana (An area known as “Kentuckiana”) to provide insight on their experiences. This thesis aims to examine the effects of this uncertain status on the well-being of Latin American immigrants in this region, where not much research is done on …

Mental Disorder Symptoms During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Latin America – A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Stephen X. Zhang, Kavita Batra, Wen Xu, Tao Liu, Rebecca Kechen Dong, Allen Yin, Andrew Yilong Delios, Bryan Z. Chen, Richard Z. Chen, Saylor Miller, Xue Wan, Wenping Ye, Jiyao Chen

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Aims There is a lack of evidence related to the prevalence of mental health symptoms as well as their heterogeneities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Latin America, a large area spanning the equator. The current study aims to provide meta-analytical evidence on mental health symptoms during COVID-19 among frontline healthcare workers, general healthcare workers, the general population and university students in Latin America. Methods Bibliographical databases, such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO and medRxiv, were systematically searched to identify pertinent studies up to August 13, 2021. Two coders performed the screening using predefined eligibility criteria. …

Song Of Exile: A Cultural History Of Brazil’S Most Popular Poem, 1846–2018, Joshua Alma Enslen

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Song of Exile: A Cultural History of Brazil’s Most Popular Poem, 1846–2018 is the first comprehensive study of the influence of Antônio Gonçalves Dias’s “Canção do exílio.” Written in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1843 by a homesick student longing for Brazil, “Song of Exile” has inspired thousands of parodies and pastiches, and new variations continue to appear to this day. Every generation of Brazilian writers has adapted the poem’s Romantic verses to glorify the wonders of the nation or to criticize it via parody, exposing a litany of issues that have plagued the country’s progress over the years. Based on a …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder In A Brazilian Context: Treatment Of Three Cases, Luana D. Laurito, Carla Pereira Loureiro, Livi Faro, Rafaela Venâncio Dias, Bianca Torres, Maria Eduarda Moreira-De-Oliveira, Samara Dos Santos-Ribeiro, Gabriela B. De Menezes, Leonardo F. Fontenelle, Carter H. Davis, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Previous research indicates that a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is an effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there are no studies to date of ACT for OCD in Latin American populations. Because socio-cultural context influences OCD symptomatology, it is worth adapting and testing ACT for OCD in such cultures. Three patients seeking treatment for OCD at a public health center in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil were treated with 16 sessions of ACT and ERP. All participants showed decreased OCD scores from baseline to post-treatment that remained lower at follow-up, suggesting …

Development And Structural Organization Of Mexico’S Mangrove Monitoring System (Smmm) As A Foundation For Conservation And Restoration Initiatives: A Hierarchical Approach, María Teresa Rodríguez-Zúñiga, Carlos Troche-Souza, María Isabel Cruz-López, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy

Faculty Publications

Mangroves provide ecosystem services worth billions of dollars worldwide. Although countries with extensive mangrove areas implemented management and conservation programs since the 1980s, the global area is still decreasing. To recuperate this lost area, both restoration and rehabilitation (R/R) projects have been implemented but with limited success, especially at spatial scales needed to restore functional properties. Monitoring mangroves at different spatial scales in the long term (decades) is critical to detect potential threats and select cost-effective management criteria and performance measures to improve R/R program success. Here, we analyze the origin, development, implementation, and outcomes of a country-level mangrove monitoring …

A Comparative Analysis Of The "Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism And The Logic Of Cruelty" And "The Rise Of The Narcostate (Mafia States), Daniel Argomedo Weisz

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Votes, Drugs And Violence: The Political Logic Of Criminal Wars In Mexico. By Guillermo Trejo And Sandra Ley. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Isbn 978-1-108-79527-2., Howard Campbell

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Voting And Corruption In Latin America, Jonathan Dumdei

Senior Honors Theses

Among modern democracies, compulsory voting (CV) is institutionalized most prevalently in Latin America. Latin American politics have a long, turbulent history, and governments in the region have some of the highest rates of political corruption in the world among democracies, especially electoral fraud. This study investigates the connection between these two phenomena. Secondary empirical quantitative and qualitative research of political and cultural behavior are analyzed according to a rational choice theory decision paradigm. Demographic, experimental, and theoretical data regarding the effects of CV laws are considered in light of possible incentives and disincentives for engaging in vote-buying. This study inductively …

Estimation Of The Optimal Nitrogen Dose In A Brachiaria Humidicola-Corn Rotation System In The Colombian Eastern Plains, K. Enciso, S. Burkart

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency by optimizing the N fertilizer application dose is one way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture and livestock production, especially in higher demanding crops such as corn. Taking a Brachiaria humidicola (Bh)-corn rotation system in the Colombian Eastern Plains, we seek to determine both the optimal economic dose (OED) and the optimal technical dose (OTD) of N, which allow to maximize income at producer level and minimize environmental impacts. This particular rotation system was chosen as research subject given the presence of the residual effect of Biological Nitrogen Inhibition (BNI) in …

From Theory To Practice: What Should We Have In Mind When Building Effective And Sustainable Payments For Ecosystem Services (Pes) Schemes For Silvo-Pastoral Systems? Evidence From Colombia, M. Díaz, K. Enciso, N. Triana, S. Burkart

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In most Latin American countries, payment for ecosystem services (PES) can be a useful strategy for restoration and conservation of the environment, increasing productivity and promoting sustainable development in rural areas. Despite these plausible benefits, PES implementation can be challenging due to the contextual framework in which it takes place (e.g. institutional weakness in the implementation and monitoring stages, limited connectivity among stakeholders, low adoption levels of agricultural technology). This study aims at evaluating PES schemes for silvo-pastoral systems in Colombia by considering six dimensions based on an extensive literature review: policy and governance; social context; environmental context; risks and …

Food Parenting Practices And Feeding Styles And Their Relations With Weight Status In Children In Latin America And The Caribbean, Luisa Pérez, Marcela Vizcarra, Sheryl O Hughes, Maria A Papaioannou

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

While a growing body of literature looks at the associations between food parenting practices, and feeding styles, and child's weight status in developed countries, little is known for less developed countries, in general, and the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, in particular. This study systemically reviews and synthesizes existing evidence on the associations between child caregivers' food parenting practices and feeding styles and 2 to 12-year-old child weight status. Keywords were used to search in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Among the ten eligible articles, all of them reported …

Un Enfoque Comparado Sobre Los Regímenes De Bienestar Para El Estudio De Las Políticas Sociales Globales, Geof Wood, Ian Gough

Gobernar: The Journal of Latin American Public Policy and Governance

Beginning from the framework of welfare state regimes in rich capitalist countries, this article radically redefines it and applies the new model to regions and countries which experience problematic states as well as imperfect markets. A broader, comparative typology of regimes (welfare state, informal security, insecurity) is proposed, which captures the essential relationships between social and cultural conditions, institutional performance, welfare outcomes, and path dependence. Using this model, different regions of the world (East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa) are compared. For many poorer, partially capitalized societies, people’s security relies informally upon various clientelist relationships. Formalizing rights …

Dream/Reality, Mercedes Llanos

Theses and Dissertations

Mercedes llanos explores the surreal aspect of dreams as they concern with waking life issues, mainly focusing on power-roles in domestic partnerships embedded in a South American patriarchal upbringing. In her dreams, she subconsciously navigates the repression of freedom firsthand experienced, and that of the transgenerational woman collective.

Barriers To Mental Health Care In The United States And Latin America, Eilis Reardon

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Las Casas On Faithful Witness, Robert Chao Romero, Marcos Canales

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

Many Christians struggle to connect their faith with social justice. If God is a loving God, then why does he allow injustices to exist? What does God's Word have to say about poverty and racism? If God loves immigrants and the poor, then why do so many Christians actually promote injustice? 1.2 million young people are leaving the church in America every year, many because of the broken witness of numerous Christians toward immigrants, the poor, the disabled, and the incarcerated.

The faithful life witness and writings of Bartolomé de Las Casas offer understandings and answers to the many "why's" …

Issues To Publish In Latin America, Fiacro Jiménez Ponce, José Antonio Soriano Sánchez, José Alberto Israel Romero Rangel

Archives of Neurosurgery

Scientific knowledge is essential to the development of civilization, particularly in our case for anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system and neurosurgical practice. In this editorial, we are reviewing three critical aspects of scientific publications: The scientific training of physicians, the impact of publications, and the ethical aspects related to elaborating a paper.

Online Surveys In Latin America: Assessing Nonprobability Sampling Approaches, Oscar Castorena, Noam Lupu, Maita Schade, Elizabeth Zechmeister

Workshop: Survey Design Under Constraints

No abstract provided.

Comparative Studies Of Gender-Based Violence In Mexico And Central America, Daniela M. Buduen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis intends to explore the conditions of gender-based violence in Latin America and how it interacts with government type, crime rates, and religion. Currently, feminicide is perceived at higher rates in countries such as Mexico and Guatemala. A significantly higher indigenous community, Catholicism, and increased crime organizations are also present in these countries. Therefore, to uphold fundamental human rights, there needs to be a change in how gender-based violence, especially feminicide, is reported. The discussion will include a connection between the variables listed.

“Labor For Love, Labor To Heal:” Human Rights Activism As A Politics Of Refusal, Angela E. Fillingim

Societies Without Borders

The literature on social movements centers demands made on the state and theorizes collective action as rooted in specific times and the nation-state. I ague that this literature is analogous to “the veil,” a concept developed by W.E.B. Du Bois. Indigenous theorizations of a “politics of refusal” provides us with a foundation see beyond the veil. This paper brings together “Du Boisian Sociology,” Latina Feminisms, and indigenous theories of collective action to develop a robust theorization of human rights activism, and social movements more broadly. This paper asks: What can we gain from analyzing movements from beyond the veil by …

Re-Imagining Design For Affordable Housing In Mexico, Kenza Fernandez Dominguez

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, affordable housing developments in Mexico have been produced in a massive, unsustainable scale. The speed at which these developments are produced equates to the carelessness that goes into their planning. At large, the developments’ monotonous design is aesthetically dehumanizing and fails to promote a sense of community. These developments lack basic infrastructure, and their residents have abandoned them, which has incentivized increased criminal activity.

In this paper, I will be looking at successful models of affordable housing globally, exploring the histories of communal living, and function of architectural collages. Based on my findings, …

Re-Imagining Design For Affordable Housing In Mexico, Kenza Fernandez Dominguez

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, affordable housing developments in Mexico have been produced in a massive, unsustainable scale. The speed at which these developments are produced equates to the carelessness that goes into their planning. At large, the developments’ monotonous design is aesthetically dehumanizing and fails to promote a sense of community. These developments lack basic infrastructure, and their residents have abandoned them, which has incentivized increased criminal activity.

In this paper, I will be looking at successful models of affordable housing globally, exploring the histories of communal living, and function of architectural collages. Based on my findings …

Economic Policy And Equality : Neoliberalism And Gender Equity In Latin America Since The 1970s, Donnett Annmarie Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Neoliberalism has been a persistent concern for policymakers, scholars, and the general public in Latin America due to its negative effects on women. This paper examines the relationship between neoliberal economic policies and gender equality from the 1970s to 2003 in the region. I use a mixed-methods approach to test the two major competing theories from the literature that discuss women’s status under neoliberal reform. I find that neoliberal economic policies did not improve the status of women but reduced gender disparity. Neoliberalism led to the worsening of men’s status, which caused the status of women to seem better. Overall, …

A Social Network Analysis Of Mexico’S Dark Network Alliance Structure, Nathan P. Jones, Irina A. Chindea, Daniel Weisz Argomedo, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

This article assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network analysis (SNA) of data from Lantia Consultores, a consulting firm in Mexico that specializes in the analysis of public policies, it demonstrates differential alliance structures within Mexico’s bipolar illicit network system. The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s (CJNG) alliance structure is top-down and hierarchical, while the Sinaloa Cartel is denser, particularly in the broader Tierra Caliente region. Additionally, our analysis found a sparse overall network with many isolates (groups with no relations to other groups) and disconnected components. Further, we identified organized crime networks that …

Mano Dura And Beyond: An Analysis Of Police Reform In Latin America, Ari Moore

CMC Senior Theses

Physical insecurity and high rates of crime plague Latin America. The problem is economically costly, detrimental to physical and mental health, and damaging to political legitimacy, while also fueling a migration crisis and negatively impacting societal views on human rights. The police are tasked with responding to and investigating crime, but have been historically ineffective at doing so. In recent decades, many countries in the region have implemented significant police reforms in pursuit of decreasing crime and insecurity. This thesis will analyze reforms in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico to determine regional themes of reform. The lessons from those case …

More Than De Colores: Expanding Students' Scope Of Spanish Language Songs For Learning And Use Within Music Therapy, Amanda Norman

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Culture is a critical component of a music therapist’s knowledge and mindset. However, undergraduate music therapy students are lacking adequate materials to learn music from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This project seeks to inform current and future music therapists of the variety of music that can be found within a single culture, focusing on music of Latin American, Hispanic, and Latino heritage. This project consists of a songbook of Spanish language songs that will be offered as a resource to current and future music therapy students at Eastern Michigan University.