Liberal Studies Commons^™

Education Is Transformation: The Impact Of Attitudes, Robert Decaul

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What truly informs success? Is it one’s education, career type, and socioeconomic status? I believe that more than ever before these three criteria appear to define our understanding of what success is. However, the development and transformation of education in the United States, which is marred by racism, has historically disadvantaged segments of our population especially in cities with a predominantly black population. New Orleans being a perfect example. Hurricane Katrina put the spotlight on education in New Orleans as the storm’s devastation of the city exposed the myriad of problems education was facing. This thesis is an exploration of …

Parental Influence On Second Generation Chinese-American Youth’S Career Choice And Development, Yingli Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A large body of literature supports the claim that the role of parents in shaping Asian-American youth's career development is significant (Leong & Serafica, 1995; Leong & Hardin, 2002; Yuan, 2012; Sandhu, 2017; Qin, 2011). When considering the family impact on Asian-Americans’ vocational choices, researchers should examine the phenomena through culturally specific lens so that variables that are more cultural relevant are captured. This is a pilot study with the goal to provide a preliminary understanding of the ways in which first-generation Chinese immigrant parents influence the choice and development of a career to their second-generation young adult children. In …

Open Source Micro Diplomas: New Credentials For New Learning, Jack F. Powers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The standard model for college in America—a four-year bachelor’s degree that teaches critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and written communication skills—is unaffordable and unattainable for most Americans. Only about a third of citizens aged 25 and over have achieved a baccalaureate degree or better. Two-thirds are left behind in precarious jobs that pay substantially less and that are losing ground. Everyone from politicians to parents repeats the mantra of “college for all”, but the reality is more like “college for the socio-economically gifted.”

At the same time, the modern world of work is evolving into a more complex, technical, and computerized …

Mindfulness In Learning, Anna Malyukova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In our everyday life, people feel busy, rushed, pressured to be productive and successful. There is little room for pausing, slowing down, having a moment of non-judgmental reflection on everyday activities, which include learning. One way to achieve balance and harmony in life is to become more mindful of oneself and one’s emotions. I argue that the speed and drive for productivity and achievement has disharmonized our lives, from the learning process inside and outside of the classroom to the way we interact with technology and attempt to find balance in life. Through my own personal journey of reflection on …

Integral Theory, Positive Psychology, And Sacred Texts Of The World: A New Philosophy Of Education For The 21st Century, Muhammad Naeem

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis puts into sharp focus the nature of war, violence, and conflict in contemporary societies through interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, contextual, textual, political and historical prisms. Echoing my existential angst, as a meaning-seeking student of life, the thesis also examines the predicaments, quandaries and the resultant miasma in order to understand the fundamental causes behind violence in the human condition. The thesis also attempts to demonstrate the paradoxical and deeply humane scope for peace along with the pursuit of what is true, good, and beautiful, and a realization of a higher order consciousness, knowing and being, and moral thinking, with an …

Fragmentation And Multiplicity In Cuban-American Identity: In Cuba I Was A German Shepherd By Ana Menéndez And Memory Mambo By Achy Obejas, Daimys E. Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maria Lugones offers a new way of perceiving the world, which makes visible that fragmentation is not a valuable and transgressive understanding of identity, as Western philosophy and some political theory suggests. What Lugones believes in, as a strategy of resistance to the dominant gaze, is multiplicity – mestizaje. Using Lugones’s framework, this thesis will look at the different aspects of Cuban-American characters in In Cuba I was a German Shepherd by Ana Menéndez and Memory Mambo by Achy Obejas. Each novel offers insight into how characters develop and understand themselves (and others) when they use language that shows that …

What's "Black" Got To Do With It: An Analysis Of Low-Income Black Students And Educational Outcomes, Derrick E. Griffith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Well-known social scientist William Wilson notes the Black underclass is particularly at risk of developing behaviors and attitudes that promote educational and social isolation. This situation has become characteristic of America's inner cities (Wilson 1996). Education as the great arbiter of social mobility seems to be less true for America's most vulnerable Black students. Low-income Black students graduate high school at a much lower rate than their middle- to upper-income counterparts. This statistic prompts the examination of low-income (vulnerable) students and their high school educational outcomes.

The educational (under)achievement of Black students has been well documented and researched. Far too …