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Prevalence, Sociocultural Risks And Protective Factors Of Suicidal Behaviors: A Cross Sectional Study Of Middle School Students In The Greater Accra Region Of Ghana, Enoch Kordjo Azasu

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is a serious public health issue with more deaths worldwide than malaria, and HIV/AIDS in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. Almost nine out of 10 adolescents who died by suicide in 2019 were from low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana non-fatal suicide rates are higher among middle school and high school students yet the data we have is about a decade old. Using a sample of 800 middle school students in the Greater Accra Region and applying a theoretical-driven analytic approach, this dissertation seeks to understand the prevalence, sociocultural correlates, risk, and protective factors of adolescent suicidal …

Honesty Is Not Always The Best Policy: Defending Against Membership Inference Attacks On Genomic Data, Rajagopal Venkatesaramani

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Over the last decade, there has been a sharp surge in the collection, sharing and use of genomic data in a broad array of settings - including but not limited to direct-to-consumer (D2C) products such as ancestry and genetic testing kits sold by 23andMe and AncestryDNA, clinical applications including personalized medicine, as well as for broader research purposes in repositories like the 1000 Genomes Project. Further, several open-access repositories where consumers may upload their sequenced genomes, such as the Personal Genome Project and OpenSNP, are becoming increasingly popular. Users of said repositories are motivated either by altruism or by a …

The Politics Of Care: An Analysis Of The Lives And Stories Of Black Birth Workers In New York City, Mayannah Beauvoir

Theses - ALL

“The Politics of Care: An Analysis of the Lives and Stories of Black Birth Workers in New York City'' examines the complex relationship between Black birth workers and the state. Black birth work, traditionally, has existed as resistance to state policies and actors that limited Black women’s reproductive freedom. In New York City, where Black maternal mortality and morbidity outcomes are comparable to the national average, the state has mobilized to produce the Citywide Doula Initiative, a program designed to provide free birth worker support to families in financial need. Considering the violent relationship between birth workers and the state, …

The Geopolitics Of Refuge And Reproduction: Maternal Health And Healthcare Of Congolese Refugees In Flight, Displacement, And Resettlement, Julia Mcdaniel-Bouley

Dissertations - ALL

The purpose of this anthropological research is to examine and analyze the intertwined geopolitical complexities of the lived sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and healthcare experiences of female Congolese refugees in flight. These experiences are examined at three pivotal points of refugee flight: during protracted conflict and violence, in displacement, generally in neighboring East African countries, and during resettlement in Western contexts. Data were collected using two anthropological methodologies - targeted life history interviews and semi-structured qualitative ethnographic interviews. Supplemental data from related studies, reports, and literature reviews were also used for population-level information. Collected data were analyzed through the …

Predictors Of Future Physician Practice Location, Allegra Latimer

Honors Theses

Healthcare disparities exist throughout the United States. While Mississippi does not stand alone in the maldistribution of physicians and medical practices across the state, it does exist as a state that has been historically medically underserved. According to data collected by The County Health Rankings Model developed by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in 2019, the ratio of population to primary care physicians in Mississippi was 1860:1. This is nearly 30% higher in disparity than the national average. It is also important to note that of Mississippi’s 82 counties, 79.3% are considered rural with the majority of physicians …

Pragmatic Elements In Efl Learners’ Request E-Mails To Teachers: A Study Of Learners’ Communicative Success, Hamzah Ahmad A. Kuriri

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Language is a tool for communication. People use it when they converse with each other. One way to comprehend what is being said is based on understating the intended meanings of the conversation, or what is called the underlined meanings (pragmatics). Pragmatic studies how different meanings are conveyed, depending on the utterances provided. A case study to investigate the phenomenon of pragmatics is selected as the methodology to specifically examine English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors’ perceptions of EFL students’ e-mails sent to their instructors. Qualitative methods are used to examine data for a period of almost three months …

Hydropower Development In South Asia: Data Challenges, New Approaches, And Implications For Decision-Making, Thomas Hennig, Tyler Harlan, Bryan Tilt, Darrin Magee

Urban and Environmental Studies Faculty Works

In recent years scholars have advanced our understanding of the biophysical, socioeconomic, and geopolitical impacts of dams and hydropower infrastructure around the globe. Databases and maps have emerged that allow global comparisons between countries and river basins. However, reliable and freely available data do not exist for many regions. As a result, data limitations and quality issues persist, which limit the quality of analyses based on these datasets. This is particularly true in regions where hydropower infrastructure development is proceeding most rapidly, including South Asia's Third Pole region. We identify and describe serious quantitative and qualitative data dilemmas of existing …

Sexual Scripts And Sex Tips: Construction Of The Spiciest Subject Through Sex Educational Content On Tiktok, Ashley G. Hay

Theses - ALL

This thesis investigates the changing shape of sex education online, particularly sex education that is pointed toward young audiences in algorithmically-constrained communities on TikTok. Drawing from rhetorical theory, critical sexuality studies, and critical algorithm studies, I situate sex education on TikTok within a broader paradigm of sexual scripting and sexual subjectification processes that participate in the cultural neoliberal sphere. I explore how sex educational TikToks rhetorically construct technosexual agents through digital pedagogies while navigating complex algorithmic constraints—and to do so, I analyze two emergent sexual scripts in these videos: that of orgasm and aftercare. While orgasm discourses fold neatly into …

Historical Archaeology At The Chalmers Institute, Mississippi's First University, Antosia Briggs

Honors Theses

This study presents a basic description and analysis of the artifacts collected from the 2015 archaeological excavation conducted in Holly Springs, Mississippi at the Chalmers Institute site. The thesis includes history and background on Holly Springs as a city to orient the reader. This text also includes information regarding the program, Preserve Marshall County, as their work regarding the building and site ties directly into the ability of the student archaeologists being able to excavate in 2015 as well as the future of the building. This study analyzes the artifacts found based on the frameworks of the archaeology of institutional …

Traumatization Resulting From Interpersonal Disclosure: Developing A Measure Of Disclosure-Induced Neo-Trauma, Sarah D. Wolf-Gramzow

Dissertations - ALL

The purpose of this study was to introduce a new construct into the field of traumatology: disclosure-induced neo-trauma (DINT). DINT is conceptually defined as a negative disclosure experience that entails traumatic stress, disrupts the relationship between the discloser and the person(s) to whom they disclosed, and is appraised by the discloser as a new traumatic event. Participants (N = 167) identified a stressful event in their lives and reported whether they had ever disclosed that event. The majority (59%) of participants who had disclosed the event had experienced a difficult disclosure, and 15% strongly agreed that the disclosure in and …

The Affective Landscapes Of Herbalism In New Mexico, Samantha Angelou Stroud

Geography ETDs

Herbalism, or practices which use plants for medicinal purposes, is tied to traditions in several cultures of the American Southwest, including Indigenous herbal medicine, Mexican-American curanderismo, and Western herbal traditions. Herbalism has been steadily gaining mainstream popularity since the late 1960s, alongside counterculture, holistic health, and back-to-nature movements, introducing many newcomers to the practice. This study asks: How does herbalism create and attach meaning to plants, cultures, and place in New Mexico? What are the affective landscapes produced by herbalism in New Mexico? And, to what extent do meaningful attachments manifest in ethics and actions of care? I argue that …

University Of Mississippi 170th Commencement, 2023, University Of Mississippi, Glenn F. Boyce, Noel E. Wilkin, Stephanie Hickman

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

Polyscopic Spectatorship, Creative Cartography, And Post-Cinematic Refractions In The Age Of Neo-Liberal Travel: An Investigation Of Youtube Travel-Vloggers, Niko T. Doezema

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

One of the most popular forms of travel “literature” consumed today is the travel-vlog. YouTube is awash in these travelers, the most successful of which even make a career out of their travels through monetization of their content, allowing them to pay for traveling by traveling. My project is a three-fold investigation into the nature of this genre, the first two branches of which are genealogical and diagnostic, the third of which is speculative and potentially transformative. My first inquiry examines the historical and generic conditions at the crossroads of travel literature and empire that have led to the present …

2023 Ursinus College Commencement Progam, Ursinus College

Ursinus College Commencement Programs

This Ursinus College Commencement program from 2023 contains the list of speakers and order of events for the day.

Socially Mediated Self-Presentation, Image-Construction, And Twitter: A Multimodal Analysis Of Vice Presidents Across A Continental Divide, Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour

Communication ETDs

Struck by the paucity of studies on vice presidential rhetoric, the omnipresence of social media, and its centrality in politics, I analyzed the tweets of the vice president of the US, Kamala Harris, and the vice president of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia, after their respective elections in 2020. Taking a multimodal rhetorical analysis guided by a theoretical self-presentational framework centered around gender, personalization, and authenticity. I contribute to the broader discourse of how politicians communicate on social media to construct their public image. Taking a cue from the rhetorical approaches used by the two vice presidents, I argue that vice-presidential communication …

The Lithium Economy: Bolivia's "New" Resource And Its Role In Revolutionary Politics, Zsofia J. Szoke

Anthropology ETDs

Through an ethnographic analysis of the lithium industry this dissertation recounts the complex way lithium industrialization has interacted with Bolivia’s democratic and cultural revolution, officially known as the proceso de cambio, and with localized social forms and structures, which the national-level revolution seeks to reconstitute. I will argue that it is important to examine the implications of lithium industrialization’s intersection with local experiences of revolutionary politics. The dissertation’s main contention is that the industrialization of lithium in Bolivia has been conceptualized as an insurgent tool of political change and social transformation by the Morales-Linera regime and as such it has …

Reframing Culture: The Decolonization And Repatriation Process In The Italian Museum System, Leila De Gruy

Honors Theses

In 2022, the collections of the former Museo Coloniale, Colonial Museum, were reopened to the public as a part of the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome. This reopening, viewed by many as an exhumation of fascist dictator Mussolini’s former collection, in the neighborhood he built for the World Fair, reinvigorated the debate surrounding museum decolonization and brought Italy into the spotlight for this topic. This thesis seeks to explore the conversation surrounding the topic of Italian museum decolonization, using the Museo Coloniale’s collection as the primary example of a colonial museum in a post colonial world. Through this, it asks …

Our Mothers Are Dying: How Economics Affect Maternal Mortality, Kendall Wheelock

Honors Theses

One of the primary goals from the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals is to reduce maternal mortality on a global scale. It is well documented that economic success has a strong correlation with maternal mortality (Kirigia et al 2014, 1-3). There is ample research on how one’s health affects their ability to participate in society, furthermore protecting women within the sphere of medicine is a key part of advancing society. This thesis aims to give qualitative and quantitive backing to a deeper investigation of the correlation between economic success and maternal health.

To focus this research, the thesis focuses on …

The Existence Of Stuttering-Like Disfluencies In American Sign Language, Katherine King

Honors Theses

For over a century, data have documented fluency disorders and stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) in multiple expressive modalities outside of speech, including musical expression, writing, and American Sign Language (ASL). The presence of SLDs in multiple expressive modalities presents the argument that SLDs are not limited to speech. This study specifically surveys fluent ASL signers relative to SLDs, analyzes SLD manifestations, and documents specific examples of stuttering behaviors in ASL.

This study analyzes SLD manifestations in ASL by conducting a survey developed from all known research within the SLD paradigm. Based on all previous research, SLD manifestations are categorized and represented …

Language Laws And Regional Identity: A Case Study Of Euskera In The Basque Country, Jenna Ebel

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the interconnectivity between language laws and regional identity, focusing on education, public health, and transnational systems. Through this case study of the Basque Country, the context and wording of the language laws in the subregions within the Basque Country are utilized to understand how they affect the usage and understanding of the Basque language, “Euskera.” Through this, the study is then focused on the Spanish autonomous community of the Basque Country to understand the effects of a minority language on educational systems, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the connections to both the EU and the UN. Through a …

Child Soldiers & Juveniles In Gangs: Opposite Sides Of The Same Coin With Dissimilar Legal Liabilities In International And American Constitutional Law, Jason Blevins

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Commencement [Program], May 12-13, 2023, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates. This commencement program is not an official graduate list.

Rejecting The Ottomans, Revisiting The Mamluks, Yasmine M. Ahmed, Claire Panetta

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Fritz Lang's Critique Of Capitalism Through Body Language In "Metropolis", Nathan Bailey

Honors Theses

This honors thesis argues that Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film Metropolis contains nonverbal narrative elements (including body language, architectural proxemics, and phallic imagery) that align the film with Marxist class structures. The film provides a moral epigram, “the mediator between head and hands must be the heart,” which this paper aims to define through a Marxist lens. This thesis narrates Metropolis’ verbal and nonverbal narratives through observing intertitles in the film alongside the elements that perplex the viewer and overload the senses. The aim of this paper is to notice where the head, hands, and heart make …

The Impact Of A Design-Based Engineering Curriculum On High School Biology: Evaluating Academic Achievement And Student Perceptions Of Epistemology, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Determination In Life Science, Courtney Cox

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Integration of the engineering design process (EDP) into the high school biology classroom may improve academic achievement, alter epistemological beliefs about learning science, and positively influence student perceptions of science self-efficacy and self-determination. This quasi-experimental research study tested these claims by implementing an EDP curriculum within two honors biology classes (n=36) at an independent high school in a large urban city in the Southeastern United States. Two additional honors biology courses at the school (n=34) were instructed using the department's traditional curricular resources. Achievement data were collected from both groups and compared for statically significant differences using independent t-tests …

How Do Faculty And Staff Perceive The Effectiveness Of Student Support Systems That Promote The Retention Of First-Generation College Students?, David Shawn Wolff Dr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Research showed faculty-student interactions impact student engagement and was a primary factor to student retention (Kuh & Hu, 2001; Means & Pyne, 2017; Swecker et al., 2013; Tinto, 1987). The literature revealed while retention may be an issue for many institutions, there is a greater need to address retention specifically related to first-generation college students (FGCS). Students often seek advice from faculty and staff when faced with questions about their academic progress. Faculty and staff voices need to be collected regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of the support systems used within an institution that promote retention for FGCS. This …

Calling All Cast Members: Elevating Material Objects And Ambient Environments To Non-Human Rhetorical Actors In Arden Of Faversham, Tara Michelle Pulaski

Online Theses and Dissertations

Material rhetoric and ambient rhetoric frameworks offer a unique lens to view the materiality in early modern drama. Using these principles, as well as Actor-Network Theory and Affect Theory, objects and environments can be elevated to non-human actors in a play’s rhetorical situation. Arden of Faversham engages heavily with the material world at every level of the play, making it a prime candidate for such an analysis. The material objects, ambient environments, and geographical places in Arden of Faversham remain so crucial that they become non-human rhetorical actors, complimenting and complicating the human actors. The play cannot be severed from …

Gender, Sexuality, And Lgbtq+ Identities In General Education Literature Courses: Three Major Conceptual Frameworks, Josiah Coleman

Online Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how three major conceptual frameworks can allow instructors of literature courses to explore, define, and utilize their understanding of queerness. For instructors who possess little experience in queer discourse, the three major conceptual frameworks – LGBTQ+ identities, gender critical paradigms, and the sexual episteme – are outlined, with major subfields, lenses, and authors detailed for further research. To demonstrate the veracity of utilizing these three major conceptual frameworks in the existing pedagogical praxis of instructors, a study was conducted. The study was a survey of six instructors who taught general education literature courses in the past five …

Grief Narratology In The Digital Age: Writing The Self In Academic Spaces, Sarah Weddle South

Online Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines some of the prescriptive writing practices associated with both grief narratives and academic writing and how those constraints work to constrain and contain stories and writing genres that run counter to dominant, heteronormative paradigms. This process of exclusion and transgression is interpreted through the critical lens of Foucault’s heterotopias. The advent of digital spaces has led to a proliferation of modes for the delivery of content, which has precipitated a questioning of traditional academic writing. Self-writing genres, such as memoirs or autobiographies, which are not historically associated with academic discourse, are transgressing discourse boundaries through hybridized forms, …