The Role And Impact Of Servant Leaders In The Clinical Physical Therapy Space, Amelia Moor

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Servant leadership is an approach that is committed to improving the lives of others. The patient-centered model, commonly taught in healthcare courses, follows a structure that resembles the practice of servant leadership. Through this study, the clinical application of servant leadership was explored further. Physical therapy was the primary focus of understanding servant leadership in healthcare settings. Qualitative research was conducted using a phronetic iterative approach. Results displayed a recognition and usage of the servant leadership model in physical therapy settings, despite administrative and structural barriers.

Partners In Crime: Unraveling Accomplice Involvement In Jury Verdicts, Daphne A. Murray

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The present study is only the second investigation to examine the effects of accomplice witness testimony on jury decision making. For this study, participants read a trial transcript of an assault case in which the defendant was accused of starting a physical altercation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions where we varied the level of involvement of the accomplice. The three conditions included Accomplice-Altercation where the accomplice was directly involved in the altercation and threw a few punches, Accomplice-Lookout where the accomplice served as a lookout for police arrival, and a No Accomplice condition. The results of …

Illuminating Success: Student And Teacher Perception On Media Center Brainlit Lighting, Jase M. H. Ide

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Lighting plays a critical role in shaping learning environments, yet its influence on students’ cognitive, emotional, and physiological functioning is often overlooked in educational research. This study examined the perceived impact of BrainLit’s biocentric lighting, a daylight-simulating system designed to support circadian rhythms, within an educational setting. The research focused on Sycamore School, the first early childhood through eighth-grade school in the United States to implement BrainLit biocentric lighting. Using a qualitative research design, data were collected through interviews with third- and eighth-grade students and faculty members in the school’s Media Center. Transcribed interviews were analyzed thematically to identify patterns …

Dis/Remembrance: Expressions Of Intergenerational Memory And Where Legacy Lingers: American Warfare, 50 Years From Saigon, Eli(Se) Davidson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Over fifty years from the Fall of Saigon, the United States continues to question its participation in unjust warfare, both as a nation and as a people. This study examines the transmission of war stories amongst families: specifically, what becomes negotiated in the thresholds of memory and narrative, and what might become of those spaces across past, present, and future. While prior discourse has centered on the authority and authenticity of war memory through political discourse, historical narrative, and public memorialization, the role of storytelling within families remains underexplored. This research addresses that gap through interdisciplinary inquiry and qualitative ethnography …

The Wide World Of Sports: Athlete Political Opinions And Fan Support, Sarah Kay Finnicum

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Over the years, the media has seen many instances of athletes using their platforms to speak out on certain issues, one of the most memorable in recent times being Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem when he was with the San Francisco 49ers. Instances like Kaepernick’s emphasizes how different groups of people respond to these forms of political protest., with some finding his actions as disrespectful to America and ignoring the true purpose of his protest. This study aimed to determine how college students respond to athletes sharing their political stances, and whether these responses from the students change …

Religious Discrimination In The Hiring Process Through Examination Of Subtle Resume Cues, Sadie Nelson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The information included on a resume is a key indicator of a person’s qualifications and experience that will help them succeed at a job. Defining characteristics like a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, or religion are often conveyed through subtle cues on a resume. These subtle cues have the ability to induce unconscious biases that can result in discrimination throughout the hiring process. In contrast to prior research, which has primarily used names and photographs as cues for conveying membership in a protected group, this study examined cues conveyed through the affiliations and activities presented on a resume. A survey containing …

The Power Of Belief: Investigating The Intersection Of Religious Observance, Social Support, And Psychological Distress, Victoria R. Atwater

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Religion can act as a protective factor against stress and depression (Koenig et al., 2009; Krok, 2008) and can be examined through an individual’s relationship with religion or the efficacy of religious practices on mental health. In this study, 206 participants completed an online questionnaire that measured stress, depression, religious coping, religiosity (intrinsic religiosity, organized religious activities and non-organized religious activities), and social support using validated scales. The results indicate a positive correlation between stress, depression, and negative religious coping as predicted. While intrinsic religiosity and positive religious coping did not significantly influence stress or depression, organized religious activities were …

Intermittent Access To Alcohol-Mixed Energy Drinks In C57bl/6j Mice, Grace E. Granato

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Alcohol mixed with energy drinks containing large amounts of caffeine has become a popular mixture, particularly among younger generations. The effects of mixing two opposing psychoactive drugs - caffeine, being a central nervous system stimulant, and alcohol, being a central nervous system depressant - have been shown previously to increase the risk of binge drinking and participation in other risky behaviors. The current study was designed to examine consumption patterns and withdrawal effects of adolescent mice when given alcohol mixed with the popular energy drink Red Bull®. Male and female C57BL/6J mice (N=32) arrived at 4 weeks of age and …

Can Teaching Intervention Practices To Future Educators Lead To Improvements In Sel Skills For Their Future Students?, Emma Elizabeth Magee

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

A student will spend about 15,210 hours and 2,160 days at school from kindergarten-12th grade. With students spending an immense amount of their early life stages in school, it is crucial to identify the missing pieces in a students’ education, so that students can feel satisfied and prepared for their next steps in life after completing their K-12 educational experience. Research shows that social-emotional skills can increase a student’s educational journey and participation, and therefore the connection between academic learning and social-emotional development must be discussed or taught more in schools (Elias, 2009). In order to teach the connection between …

The Role Of Reflection In Shifting Motivations To Confront Racial Prejudice, Keira Nicole Salt

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Confrontation is shown to reduce expressions of racial prejudice. However, a person’s motivations to confront can change how effective the confrontation is in shifting attitudes. Confronting prejudice can be driven by internal motivations, such as personal values, or external motivations, like social approval. Through two studies, I investigated whether reflecting on the drawbacks of performative activism (motivation condition) affected individuals' motivation to confront prejudice. I hypothesized that individuals (especially those with the strongest external motivations) would shift to be more internal when reflecting on the issues of performative activism compared to a control condition. In online Study 1A, I found …

Perceived Threats To Masculinity: How Honor, Just World Beliefs, And Hostile Attribution Bias Shape Attitudes Toward Feminism, Alayna Joy Barton

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Masculine Honor Ideology, often endorsed by men, emphasizes the importance of maintaining status and reputation from any perceived threats, usually through aggression and confrontation. A possible justification for this ideology is Just World Beliefs, the trust that society is fair and righteous, even if it perpetuates inequality. Conversely, feminism at its core aims to dismantle all systems and beliefs that perpetuate gender inequality, posing a threat to masculine honor and Just World Beliefs. This type of threat often elicits hostility from men high in honor, especially when they exhibit hostile attribution bias. Those who display this bias may perceive ambiguous …

Mapping And Evaluating Butler University's Dining And Accommodation Messaging For Students With Dietary Restrictions, Cassia Belle Campbell

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Food-centered traditions are central to campus belonging, yet for students with medical dietary restrictions (e.g., celiac disease, severe food allergies), shared meals can become sites of stigma, exclusion, and heightened self-monitoring. Prior research frames these conditions as “invisible disabilities” (Davis, 2005) and highlights dynamics such as hypervigilance and disclosure fatigue (Schelly et al., 2022), which can be intensified when institutional processes are unclear or inconsistently communicated. This project examines how institutional messaging shapes the navigational burden students may experience when seeking safe participation in dining and campus life.

This study uses an artifact-based analysis of existing Butler University communication materials …

Playful Music Learning In Piano Lessons: Implications For Intrinsic Motivation And Sustained Engagement, Cora Lynne Hart

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Within the field of piano pedagogy, there is a great need to adapt teaching strategies to a new generation of learners. Traditional pedagogical methods are not always conducive to student-directed, process-based, and most importantly, joyful learning. The beginning elementary level is the most critical time to start a student’s musical journey with positivity and encouragement, and is a time when these teaching strategies make a profound impact. This thesis explores how play activities can facilitate engaging musical experiences that are more aligned with children’s natural way of learning. Through a literature review, the thesis synthesizes existing research on child learning …

Are Documentaries Entertaining Or Informative? Perceptions Of Expert Interview Testimonials On False Evidence Ploys, Audrey R. Ecelbarger

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Media depicting wrongful convictions is growing in popularity, especially for false confession cases. Documentaries often interview individuals connected to the suspect or evidentiary experts, but rarely provide testimonials from confessions experts. Does the content and expertise of these documentary interviewees impact the viewer’s understanding of the risks that certain interrogation tactics pose to innocent suspects? In this experiment, participants learned about a false confession elicited by the “false evidence ploy,” where an interrogator falsely claims that there is evidence against the suspect that proves their guilt. They then watched an interview testimonial from either a confessions expert, the suspect’s lawyer, …

Women's Economic Perceptions And Political Behavior, Alyssa Shaia

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The gender pay gap in America is large and still growing, as women in 2026 still only earn $0.82 per every dollar earned by a man. This is a politically important issue because women live in a different economic reality than men and experience different economic constraints. This study aimed to determine the impact that the impact that women's economic lives have on their political participation. I answered this question by fielding an original survey of college students to explore the relationship between economic perceptions and beliefs and political behavior. This survey measured how participants defined financial security, how this …

Snitch Switch: Does Gender Affect The Credibility Of Jailhouse Informants?, Claire Katherine Yontz

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The testimony of jailhouse informants (JIs)—individuals who claim to have gained knowledge about a crime while incarcerated with a defendant—is considered a leading cause of wrongful convictions. The present study examined how the gender of the JI affects participants’ rating of the informant’s credibility by adapting a trial summary from Wetmore et al., 2014. In the trial summary, a male defendant, whose wife recently filed for divorce, returns home fro the bar one night to find the dead bodies of his wife and her alleged new romantic partner. Included in the trial summary, is the testimony of the defendant, numerous …

Prevalence Of Disordered Eating Behaviors In Junior And Senior Human Nutrition And Dietetics Students At The University Of Arkansas, Grace P. Carroum, Mallori Roberts

General Human Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Disordered eating (DE) is a prevalent concern among college students and may be particularly relevant among nutrition and dietetics students due to their academic focus on food, weight, and health. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and frequency of disordered eating behaviors among junior and senior Human Nutrition and Dietetics students at the University of Arkansas using item-level responses from the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Short Form (EDE-QS). A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected via an anonymous online survey (n = 11). Descriptive statistics were used to examine the frequency of specific behaviors. Overall, most …

Tiktok Usage And Cyberbullying: A Systematic Review Of Existing Studies To Identify Correlations., Emma Willett

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

TikTok has rapidly become a pivotal part of adolescents' lives, and arguably one of the most influential social media platforms by creating unique patterns of communication and interaction. This short-video format platform has a uniquely designed, algorithm-driven “For You Page”, as well as a distinct environment for interaction and comment culture.

With the rise of popularity around TikTok, cyberbullying has also emerged as a significant concern (Guimetti, 2022). This thesis aims to conduct a systematic literature review of existing studies on TikTok usage and cyberbullying to determine whether or not there is a significant positive correlation between the two.

This …

Keepingness: Stitching Well-Being Through Arts-Based Self-Study As Self-Care For An Art Educator, Betsy Marie Allison

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how quilting can function as a reflective and restorative practice for art educators navigating the emotional labor of teaching. Grounded in arts-based self-study and informed by a/r/tography and serendipity methodology, the study examines how hand-stitching and journaling intertwine as embodied forms of inquiry. Through the creation of hand-stitched triangular quilt blocks arranged in a spiral formation and anchored by a central dragonfly motif, the research documents the lived experiences of a public-school art educator working within the complexities of contemporary education. Journal writings stitched onto the muslin backs of each block, alongside processing photographs and material decisions, …

Unl Emeriti And Retirees Association Newsletter, May 2026

UNL Emeriti and Retirees Association: Newsletters and Other Materials

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti and Retirees Association Newsletter, May 2026

Message from the ERA President, Vicki Highstreet

Welcome to new members

Recipe

Volunteer service

Funding opportunity

Wake up your well-being

Programming recaps

Celebration of life: Larry Dlugosh

Memory moments

Partners In Pilgrimage: Transforming The Journey Of Adolescence By Guiding Teenagers Toward Faithful Lives, Redefining Success, And Cultivating Connection To God, Abigail R. Weaver

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Adolescence is a formative period in which young people seek meaning, identity, and belonging while navigating a complex array of cultural, social, and developmental pressures. In suburban American contexts, these pressures are intensified by competitive academic environments, demanding extracurricular commitments, and pervasive societal expectations that equate worth with achievement. Drawing from my experience as a youth minister in suburban United Methodist churches, this dissertation examines how such forces shape the spiritual and personal development of 15- to 18-year-olds and explores the Church’s role in guiding adolescents through this landscape with wisdom and care.

Grounded in the Christian tradition and informed …

Invisible Chains: The School-To-Prison Pipeline And The Criminalization Of Latinx Youth In Los Angeles, Martina Elizalde

Whittier Scholars Program

This quantitative research report examines how school discipline, attendance patterns, school policing, juvenile justice involvement, and reentry barriers reflect the broader school-to-prison pipeline affecting Latinx youth in Los Angeles. Using publicly available secondary data from the California Department of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles School Police Department, California Department of Justice, Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission, and Homeboy Industries, this project analyzes the pipeline as a system rather than as one single event. The findings show that Latinx youth experience educational progress in some areas, such as graduation, but they continue to face higher chronic absenteeism, …

Sense Of Belonging And Self-Efficacy Of Women In Stemm At The University Of South Alabama, Emilie Dedeaux

Honors Theses

Despite decades of calls and initiatives to diversify science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines, females are still more likely to leave STEMM career paths compared to their male peers, which is often depicted as a 'leaky pipeline'. Females in STEMM often report greater social alienation, greater selfdoubt, lower sense of belonging and academic satisfaction due to a mismatch in values in STEMM disciplines. STEMM values have traditionally been normed by cisheteronormative, white, male ideologies . While extensive research has focused on the barriers females experience in STEMM that reduce sense of belonging , less research has focused on …

Compassion In A Warrior Culture: Emotionally Supportive Leadership Among U.S. Military Veterans A Phenomenological Study, Peter Hofmann Phd

Leadership Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study examines how U.S. military veterans with leadership experience describe and make sense of emotionally supportive leadership within the context of a traditionally hierarchical and stoic military culture. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with veterans across service branches, the study explores how participants interpret relational leadership behaviors involving care, responsibility, and responsiveness to others’ suffering, and how these behaviors are shaped, constrained, or legitimized within a warrior-oriented institutional context. Particular attention is given to veterans who self-identify with service-connected conditions, as their experiences illuminate how leadership identity and emotional regulation evolve during and after military service. Participants consistently …

Purgatory, Kat Mccormick

Bachelor of Fine Arts Theses

Artist Statement:

Purgatory is my exhibition of paintings and sculptures investigating the complex relationships between the self, the psyche, and the process of healing. Living with long-term and recurring mental health issues can breed despondency toward treatment when trial and error lead nowhere. Enduring instability seems no more difficult than endlessly trying to hold onto stability. I represent the stagnancy of this limbo between healing and devolving by painting in limited color. I create contrast through juxtaposing textures such as soft and sharp, and leaning into the differing intensities of phthalo green and tints mimicking raw canvas. Using self-portraiture in …

Transfigure, Madison Gaffney

Bachelor of Fine Arts Theses

Artist Statement:

Maddy Gaffney’s thesis exhibition, Transfigure, examines the passage of time through a mythical lens, exploring how the personification of fate, seasons, and lunar cycles can explain natural occurrences through visual narrative. Working in oil paint, Gaffney personifies elemental natural cycles as living figures, emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans and nature and how these cycles act as catalysts for transformation. Figures appear where they would not normally exist—within landscapes, across skies, and as embodiments of fate. Through large-scale oil paintings, Gaffney constructs immersive compositions that weave together myth, nature, and transformation, presenting time as a living, shifting force. Layered …

Examining The Differences Between The Experience Of Audiobooks Vs. Reading, Mia K. Floriani

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

There are a variety of opinions regarding whether listening to audiobooks counts as real reading, but very limited research examining the topic in depth. The current study investigates the differences between audiobooks and reading, specifically examining how the two modes of story experiences effect mind-wandering, enjoyment, absorption, and comprehension. We predicted that listening to the story would lead to increased mind-wandering and decreased comprehension and raised the research question of how the modes would affect enjoyment and transportation. Undergraduate students (n = 76) were divided into a reading or a listening condition, where they experienced a short story. During …

Exploring Power, Sses, And Attribution, Mckinley A. Almeida

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

People tend to take credit when they feel powerful (Lammers & Burgmer, 2019). However, subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) may shift how individuals perceive who gets credit. To test this idea, I examined whether a memory recall of power or powerlessness changed internal attributions and if this effect is dependent on SSES. After individuals self-reported their SSES, participants were randomly assigned to recall a specific high or low-influence episode in their life. They indicated “who contributed more” and “who had more influence” on the outcome of the situation. Results showed a main effect of power such that recalling high-power situations led …

Social Isolation Predicts Altered Reward Circuit Connectivity And Future Behaviors In Adolescents, Mason Lucas, Josiah Leong

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood when people explore risky behaviors, and stressors during adolescence can change structural brain connectivity. Previous research has found weaker structural connectivity between reward circuits and future cognitive impairments among children raised in orphanages. Comparative research in mice suggests that social isolation after bullying can damage these connections and induce alcohol seeking. We tested whether social isolation was related to lower connectivity of targeted structural connections and anxious behaviors in adolescent humans. We analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study and found 522 subjects had experienced extreme social isolation. …

Social Media Usage And Motives In Socially Anxious Individuals, Emma Eddy

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social media use (SMU) has grown rapidly in recent years, alongside the rate of social anxiety. Plenty of research has been previously conducted exploring the relationship between SMU and social anxiety, as well as potential motivations for using social media which may explain the recent incline in usage. However, this study combines the two relationships together to test the association between social anxiety and problematic SMU as well as to investigate motives of SMU as potential mediators of problematic SMU. Problematic social media usage, social anxiety, passive vs active SMU, and four different motives of SMU were all looked at. …