Digital Commons Network^™

Affordable Housing In San Francisco: A Historical Analysis Of Its Finances And Policies, Ricky H. Tran

Master's Projects and Capstones

The affordable housing crisis is not new to San Francisco. As it has been made clear several times, The Bay Area continues to face a crisis of a massive wealth disparity as housing prices continue to rise as incomes for the top earners have risen dramatically since 1999. In San Francisco, rents and housing prices are one of the highest in the nation, and people are facing rent burdens, in which a large portion of their income goes to rent, as for those with low and extremely low income are facing severe rent burdens, which take up more than 50% …

Budgetary Obstacles To Police Reform: The Case Of San Francisco, Hayden Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

In response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement issued a statement calling on cities to Defund the Police. The event sparked a nationwide reckoning that has reshaped the narratives and strategies for remedying the racial bias and police brutality apparent in the criminal justice system. The shift in police reform efforts embraces notions guiding police budgeting decisions. Today's advocates are transforming their approach to police reform to include budgeting decisions by promoting a municipal practice known as police budget reform. This Capstone explores the feasibility of successful police budget reform under current …

Exploring Social Determinants Of Covid-19 Related Sickness And Suffering In The Bronx, Hamida Chumpa

Student Theses and Dissertations

Through a positivistic and phenomenological approach, the study examines social determinants of COVID-19 related sickness and suffering in the Bronx, New York City, New York, ZIP codes 10462, 10472, 10467, 10458, 10474, and 10464. I utilize a violence paradigm (structural and everyday violence) to describe the social determinants of risk and sickness-related suffering and deploy an assemblage framework to shed light on how these determinants create negative synergies that undermine wellbeing and render certain communities vulnerable to extreme suffering. The mixed methods include 64 surveys and eight interviews. Analysis methods include a descriptive analysis of survey results and a thematic …

The Impact Of Trauma On Peace Processes, Eugen Koh

New England Journal of Public Policy

Almost everyone who survives situations of violent conflict will have experienced significant trauma. The impact of such experiences on the processes of conflict resolution and peacebuilding is however, not well appreciated or understood. This article considers how the traumatic experiences of individual leaders and their collective constituents, their people, influence their respective abilities to engage in peace processes. It highlights the problems of shame and avoidance following trauma and describes what happens when an "encapsulated" past traumatic experience is reactivated or "triggered": the individual and collective minds regress to a level that limits their ability to think about complex situations …

Ethical Considerations In Financial (Tax) And Non-Financial Corporate Human Rights Reporting, Ilias Bantekas, Alexander Ezenagu

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

We test the assumption as to whether financial and nonfinancial reporting by multinational corporations (MNCs) voluntarily adhering to human rights standards are subject to ethical guidelines. In particular, the paper finds that neither the operators of human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) nor audited companies, at least in any manner that is publicly detectable, impose any ethical conduct on human rights auditors. Neither individual auditors nor human rights audit firms have set up independent regulatory bodies that would regulate auditors and audit firms. This has a detrimental effect on HRIAs and the process itself. The same assumption is tested against financial …

A Decolonial Middle School Social Studies Curriculum: 19th Century U.S. Westward Colonization, Leah Chatterji

Master's Projects and Capstones

Social Studies education throughout the United States sustains settler futurity, white supremacy, and coloniality, as it rarely engages with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) hxstories and structural violence. For middle schoolers, this is especially troublesome as social justice pedagogies are minimal for this demographic. To shift this, this field project offers an 8^th grade decolonial Social Studies curriculum on 19^th century U.S. Westward colonization; this topic was intentionally chosen as it is an opportunity to disrupt settler epistemologies. It centers: Land; relationality; and collective liberation. It complements the California unit 8.8 standards, yet different grades, subjects, …

When I Rhyme It’S Sincerely Yours: Burkean Identification And Jay-Z’S Black Sincerity Rhetoric In The Post Soul Era, Antoine Francis Hardy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

‌ ‌ The‌ ‌slang,‌ ‌attitude,‌ ‌cultural‌ ‌memory,‌ ‌creativity‌ ‌and‌ ‌innovation‌ ‌of‌ ‌African‌ ‌diasporic‌ ‌youth‌ ‌created‌ ‌a‌ ‌ global‌ ‌cultural‌ ‌movement-hip-hop--that‌ ‌informs‌ ‌all‌ ‌aspects‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌society.‌ ‌In‌ ‌this‌ ‌dissertation;‌ ‌ however,‌ ‌I‌ ‌examine‌ ‌how‌ ‌post-soul‌ ‌hip-hop‌ ‌featured‌ ‌black‌ ‌cultural‌ ‌conversations,‌ ‌specifically‌ ‌the‌ ‌ ‘conversation’‌ ‌between‌ ‌Jay-Z‌ ‌and‌ ‌his‌ ‌imagined‌ ‌black‌ ‌audience.‌ ‌Over‌ ‌the‌ ‌past‌ ‌25‌ ‌years‌ ‌Jay-Z‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌ known‌ ‌as‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌most‌ ‌acclaimed‌ ‌and‌ ‌successful‌ ‌recording‌ ‌artists‌ ‌of‌ ‌his‌ ‌time;‌ ‌however‌ ‌this‌ ‌study‌ ‌ examines‌ ‌what‌ ‌I‌ ‌term‌ ‌his‌ ‌‌black‌ ‌sincerity‌ ‌rhetoric‌ ‌(BSR)‌.‌ ‌At‌ ‌times‌ ‌Jay-Z‌ ‌is‌ ‌praised‌ ‌for‌ ‌his‌ ‌commitment‌ ‌to‌ ‌ community‌ ‌in‌ ‌verse;‌ …

Connection, Compassion, And Honesty: Using Picture Books To Help Build A Healthier Relationship To Death In A Death-Denying Culture, Kami Sahalie Upshaw Gould

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the ways children are taught about death and dying and how children's picture books can be utilized in difficult conversations of this nature. I go into the historical advent of books specifically for children and research how different ways of explaining death can help or hurt a child. Through this research, I explore how our situationality in a death denying culture has shaped how we explain death to children and what steps can be taken to counter this denial.

The Inter-American Human Rights System In The Context Of Migration: Us Immigration Policies, Maira E. Delgado Laurens

Master's Theses

International human rights laws are critical to ensuring a minimum protection level for those migrating to other nations across the globe. Despite intense efforts by the United States to sidestep such policies while misrepresenting their repeated violations of human rights now taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border, these policies remain in full force in the global governance community. The actions of the Trump administration and others clearly indicate the need for political intervention to ensure such rights are maintained. Using qualitative content analysis and participatory observation, this article reviews the effectiveness of thematic hearings, under the Inter-American Commission on Human …

Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” For Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

Master's Projects and Capstones

This work suggests that we consider a new, working definition of post-Christianity. This new paradigm is in response to Western Christian thought being too dominant a force that fails to take into enough account other global experiences— like those of Japanese Christians. These reflections are based on scholarly opinions claiming that Christianity is a “global culture,” and ultimately argues for more international inclusivity in Western Christian thought and institutions, especially regarding the Asia-Pacific. Moreover, this paper illuminates how iitoko dori allows Christian thought to peacefully coexist in Japan’s greater society. The research also explores specific Japanese cultural practices that make …

Building Research Capacity Through An Academic Community Of Practice: A Design Case Study, Olga Koz, Anissa Lokey-Vega

Faculty Articles

Purpose – The study’s purpose was to examine the faculty-driven organization’s design and development that supports faculty research needs, track the emergence of the community of practice (CoP) and provide greater insight into continued organizational design iterations.

Design/methodology/approach – In this longitudinal design case study, the authors employed different methods to collect and analyze archival, quantitative, and qualitative data to capture the phenomenon’s complexity.

Findings – The findings challenge the assumption that only formal organizational structures and top-down management approaches stimulate research and build research capacity in universities and propose a new sustainable and agile informal organizational structure and strategies …

The Associations Of Extraversion And Heart Rate Variability, Rachel Marie Channell

Theses and Dissertations

Heart rate variability as a measure of cardiovascular health and autonomic activity correlates with psychological resiliency but is not consistently related to trait extraversion, a strong predictor of emotional well-being. This study intends to clarify research findings about trait extraversion and heart rate variability by identifying the context and nature of the relationship between extraversion and physiological responses. As a secondary analysis of data from a study comparing biofeedback and compassionate breathing, extraversion scores were compared with heart rate variability data at three different points including prior to a stressor, during exposure to a stressor, and recovery to a stressor …

Contextualizing Bipoc High School Students’ Racialized Experiences Under Trump, Christina Ung

Master's Theses

This thesis contextualizes public high school experiences of self-identified students of color during Trump’s presidency. The study features three recent high school graduates from the same campus, and their perspectives on a series of topics related to their racial identity. It was important that this research served as a space for marginalized voices to share their lived experiences, as they are frequently left out of American curriculum. More specifically in this case, the high school is located in a small, rural town where the population is majority white and politically conservative. Through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), data …

A Treacherous Journey Through Latin America: The Plight Of Black African And Haitian Migrants Forced To Remain In Mexico, Zefitret A. Molla

Master's Theses

The growing presence of Black African and Haitian migrants in Mexico poses a new set of challenges to a country that is already struggling to recognize the presence of Afro-Mexicans and where mestizaje still dominates the national discourse on race. Due to restrictive U.S. and Mexican immigration policies since 2016, many of these migrants have found themselves forced to remain in a country they had only intended to transit through on their journey northward to the U.S. Mexico has only recently taken the necessary steps to recognize its Afro-Mexican population which had been marginalized and erased from history. This paper …

Job Satisfaction And Stressors: The Direct Support Professional's Experience, Saralynn Emery

Master's Theses

The current service system for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is provided in the form of community-based support. This support is carried out by Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who provide one-on-one services to individuals in their homes, workplaces, and communities. The current system is undergoing a turnover crisis and there is an enormous need for a quality and reliable workforce of DSPs to continue to carry out services. Previous research has explored factors that contribute to DSP burnout and ultimately turnover. By researching the DSP role from the DSP experience directly, this study examines other factors that contribute to …

Police Union Membership And Lethal Use Of Force, Scott Barger

Master's Theses

I examine the Fraternal Order of Police union presence in cities as an explanation for the lethal use of violence. Using a novel dataset of FOP union presence, I utilize a simple log OLS linear model to explore the relationships between FOP unions and lethal use of force. I find robust evidence that FOP unions have higher incidences of death at the hands of police, compared to cities without a FOP union. Exposure to FOP leads to an increase in baseline risk of death by police by 17%. This effect increases for larger cities.

University Professors’ Perceptions About Patient Safety Teaching In An Interprofessional Education Experience: A Phenomenological Study, Gabriele Vilanova, Andreas Xyrichis, Elena Bohomol, Rosana Aparecida Salvador Rossit

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) and patient safety are recurrent and linked themes within the field of healthcare worldwide. International organizations have repeatedly called for and research has shown the benefits of health and social care professionals learning how to work collaboratively and efficiently to provide safer and better care. This study was undertaken to explore professors’ perceptions and experiences of an IPE curricula project with a view to improving future patient safety teaching in undergraduate health courses.

Methods: This qualitative study utilized phenomenology as a theoretical framework. The participants were 11 professors from a public university in south-eastern Brazil, recruited …

Betwixt And Between: A Treatise On Madness In Literature, Film, And Art, Ed Koslin

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Alternative Theories on Madness

Indigenous Assessment Developers On Elements Of The Disjuncture-Response Dialectic: A Critical Comparative Case Study, David A. Sul

Doctoral Dissertations

The disjuncture-response dialectic proposes that the assessment development practices of Indigenous assessment developers exist within a broader environment where attention to broader themes such as settler colonialism (Wolfe, 2006) and Indigenous sovereignty is incorporated. To understand this dialectic, this study sought insight from Indigenous assessment developers about the issues they face when developing culturally specific assessments for use within their environments and settings.

This study used a critical (Giroux, 1979; Horkheimer, 2018; McKenzie, 2012) comparative case study approach (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017b) with a convenience sample of three Indigenous assessment developers representing a cross-section of culturally specific assessment development projects …

Lgbtq Forced Migrants' Labor Market Integration In Mexico City: Perspectives From Mexico's Government Agencies, International Organizations, And Mexican Civil Society, Rolando Diaz

Master's Theses

Mexico holds a unique position as a country of immigration, emigration, refuge, transit, and return migration. In recent decades, researchers have built awareness on the country’s received migrants’ diverse characteristics by posing questions and tackling the challenges that certain migrants face. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) forced migrants have become increasingly visible since the exodus of asylum-seekers from Central America. Many of these LGBTQ migrants flee state and non-state actors that present life-threatening conditions for the LGBTQ community. Though Mexico as a whole is going through its own evolution on LGBTQ and migrants’ rights, its capital city has …

The Role Of Nations-State In Protecting And Supporting Internally Displaced Persons, Daisy Byers

Master's Theses

The rising increase of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has become a global problem. There are over 40 million internally displaced people globally, and 15.9 million are displaced in Africa. These displacements come into place due to war/conflict, corruption, massive human rights violations, natural disasters, urban renewal projects (at the hands of powerful nations such as America, China, France, UK, etc.), and large-scale development projects. According to UNHCR, refugees are people who have international cross-border. In contrast, internally displaced persons must stay within their own country and stay under the protection of their government, even if the government is the reason …

Commencement 2021

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

A Vanguard At The Intersections: Black Girls And The Black Panther Party's Oakland Community School, Logan Phillips

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the history and legacy of the Oakland Community School (OCS), a community survival program created by the Black Panther Party (BPP) that ran from 1973-1982. More specifically, the work analyzes the significance of the pedagogy at OCS as it relates to the development of African American students' racial consciousness and identity formation. Despite popular misconceptions of the Black Panther Party, this research seeks to demystify the Party, provide an understanding of the critical need for education as a site of liberation, and explore the Party’s effort to establish an educational space that impacted the development of identity, …

Solar Photovoltaic Panels Utilization To Extract Clean And Green Energy For Utility Application Using Pvsyst Software: A Bibliometric Review, Anil Bhati, Mansi Srivastava, Nitesh Aggarwal, Hardik Singh, Javed Sayyad, Paresh Nasikkar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents a survey on educational documents in the field of solar photovoltaic (PV) utilization to extract clean and green energy. The main purpose of this bibliometric analysis is to understand the size of the available documents for the research of PV solar panel utilization using PVsyst. This detailed review was conducted in the PV research, literature considering all subjects from the Scopus database. The pattern for the specific arrangement of keywords was separated with the recovered results from the Scopus database, publication type, year of publication, distribution conveyance by nations, subject classes, association, authors, and financing organizations. It …

Biographies

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.

How We Fail Us Foreign-Born Veterans: A Scoping Study Of The Literature, Eric Manley

Symposium of Student Scholars

Many foreign-born US service members have taken advantage of expedited naturalization provisions for them to obtain US citizenship through military service. However, while citizenship was almost automatic for veterans in centuries past, today this is more difficult to achieve, and some veterans may even be at risk of deportation because they did not or were not able to naturalize. This scoping study synthesizes academic articles and grey literature, focusing on data, naturalization laws, and executive orders that have an impact on foreign-born veterans and foreign-born service members alike. This group has sacrificed much like their native-born veteran counterparts, yet do …

Building False Trust During Covid-19: How Health Information Is Circulating Differently In The South, Cristy Kennedy

Symposium of Student Scholars

Building False Trust During COVID-19: How Health Information is Circulating Differently in the South

During COVID-19, African Americans in the United States have seen hospitalization rates 3x higher than the national average (Kulke, 2020; Burton, 2020; Soucheray, 2020). Furthermore, African American communities tend to rely heavily on social media sites such as Twitter for health information, (Brown, 2019) carrying this trend into the COVID-19 pandemic. While Twitter has potential to reach diverse audiences through its state and health organizations, it also has potential to spread misinformation regarding important health matters (Hope, 2020; Kouzy et al., 2020; Walwema, 2020). For example, …

Reporting Of Eating Disorder Deaths, Katherine Mobley, Amy Hord

Symposium of Student Scholars

Those affected by eating disorders experience disturbances in eating behaviors which are often related to underlying psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (Parekh, 2017, Drieberg et al., 1998 p.53). The duplicitous nature of the disorder makes it difficult to diagnose, and the tole it takes on an individual’s physical health makes its mortality rate the second highest among psychiatric disorders (Guinhut et al., 2021 p.130). Even if the correct education and resources are accessible to certain individuals, negative stigmatization about the disorder can make sufferers unlikely to seek help (Becker et al., 2010). Findings from analysis of …

Improving Policing: Criticisms And Supports, Hannah M. Stephens

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

In today's society, there are many critical factors surrounding the profession of law enforcement. In the midst of allegations such as corruption, racism, and use of force, policing has lost its favor in the eyes of the public. By taking a closer look at these issues and the various ways of correcting their problems, perhaps true policing can once again be a source of effectiveness and pride in our criminal justice system. Traditional policing holds many values that have been lost. If our justice system and the public's trust in it is to be restored, education, various approaches to crime, …

Examining Cyberstalking Victimization Using Routine Activities And Lifestyle-Routine Activities Theories: A Critical Literature Review, Katie J. Nutter

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

Lifestyle and routine activities models are often used in criminological research to examine crime victimization. Routine activities and lifestyle-routine activities theories both propose crime occurs when there is a physical convergence of time and space between a motivated offender and a suitable target, with the absence of a capable guardian. However, crimes committed in cyberspace are without the proposed physical interaction. Due to the emergence of the Internet, stalking victimization has been rapidly occurring in the realm of cyberspace, which is a disorganized environment for crime to occur. In this critical literature review, a review of pertinent research will be …