Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Functions, Forms, And Accessibility Of English As A Second Language Courses In South-Central Kentucky, Mollie Todd

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the South-Central region of Kentucky there are several facilities that teach English as Second Language (ESL) courses. This thesis examines the forms and styles of these classes, as well as problems refugee students face in the classroom and the functions the classes may serve beyond the teaching of English. To accomplish this, I used anthropological field work methods, including semi-structured interviews with local ESL teachers, volunteers, and professionals in refugee services and participant observation. I will focus on the interviews I have conducted; what content has been collected, structure of the interviews, and what questions were asked. This paper …

A Spatial Analysis Of Settlement, Accessibility, And Quality Of Life Of The Burmese Refugee Population In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Matthew Riggle

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Refugee populations face many challenges when relocating and settling into a new country. The Burmese refugee population in Bowling Green, Kentucky experiences unique challenges when trying to settle and be assimilated into a typical midsize city. This paper explores a variety of geographic and demographic characteristics of neighborhoods with high concentration of Burmese immigrants, seeking to characterize the neighborhoods by several quality of life metrics. These metrics include median household income, rental rates, educational attainment, and many others. The neighborhood characteristics are studied using recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, specifically from the 2014 American Community Survey 5-year sample …

Progression Through Partnership, Aurelia Spaulding Editor, Leah Ashwill, Lauren D. Cunningham

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Baby Names As A Determinant Of Cultural Assimilation In The Continental And Non-Continental United States, Paige M. Harrison

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Using baby names a signal for cultural attitudes has been studied before several times. This paper looks at trends in baby names across the United States over five decades, and then uses these trends to look at the quasi-natural experiment of Alaska and Hawaii becoming states and accepting the dominant United States culture as their own. Both Alaska and Hawaii have their own indigenous cultures which could influence their cultural assimilation to the United States, this paper uses baby names to measure this assimilation. By using vector auto-regressions and the time period between 1960 and 2013 this paper determines the …

Gather, Katie M. Meek

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Food is both basic and multifaceted. It nourishes satisfies, levels, defines and gathers us. Food unifies and brings people together as part of the human experience. When people embrace food and make it their own, it can shape and define their lives in big ways.

Food can cultivate a lifestyle, preserve cultural identity, foster a small business, nurture relationships and serve a community.

This project is a documentation of five different groups of people that experience food in uniquely different ways. Through photo essays and written stories I strive to capture what how food brings people together in specific ways …

Progression Through Partnership, Aurelia Spaulding Editor, Leah Ashwill Director

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Progression Through Partnership, Aurelia Spaulding Editor, Leah Ashwill Director

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Progression Through Partnerships, Aurelia Spaulding, Editor, Leah Ashwill, Director

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua1b1/7 Invitation To Health Sciences Complex Dedication, Wku Special Events

WKU Archives Records

Invitation to dedication of The Medical Center - WKU Helath Sciences Complex facility.

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

Overcoming Barriers To Local Food Access: A Case Study, Brittany Ryan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis focuses on the idea that food insecurity and access are real issues in the lives of many Americans. Simply stated, food insecurity is when a person does not have enough food to eat or does now know where his/her next meal is coming from. More importantly when looking at food insecurity is the realization that healthy, local food access is even more prevalent an issue – with increasingly more under-resourced individuals and families being food insecure and unhealthy at the same time. This thesis includes a literature review on diet and nutrition in the United States, a chapter …

Not Quite Out On The Streets: Examining Protective And Risk Factors For Housing Insecurity Among Low-Income Urban Fathers, Colleen E. Wynn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It has long been acknowledged that housing is essential for access to employment, social services, healthcare, and other forms of assistance that help move people out of poverty. Through identifying dimensions of housing insecurity, policymakers, as well as researchers, will have a better understanding of the protective factors that make families more secure and the risk factors that raise their level of insecurity. These analyses use resident and non-resident, low-income, urban fathers’ responses to the five publicly available waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (n = 4378) dataset to examine the relationship between protective and risk factors and …

Chhs March 2013 E-Newsletter, Dr. John Bonaguro, Dean, Vashon S. Wells, Editor, College Of Health And Human Services, Western Kentucky University

College of Health & Human Services Publications

No abstract provided.

University College Connection Winter 2013, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Conservation And Ecotourism In The Taita-Taveta County, Kenya, Andrea Falcetto

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a qualitative study examining conservation attitudes and resource use of 63 individuals in Kasigau, Kenya. Community members described their perceptions of conservation, the resources that they use, the location and availability of these, their support for the protection of Mt. Kasigau, their likes and dislikes of plant and animal species, and their support of ecotourism in Kasigau. All individuals listed conservation behaviors and agreed that protecting Mt. Kasigau is important. Many recognized the mountain as the only source of water. Some resources were limited, especially at certain times of the year. All interviewed community members except one would …

Hispanic Outreach In Bowling Green, Ky: Defining The Needs Of The Hispanic Community, Caitlin Reyes

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

It is certain that Hispanics in Bowling Green confront numerous obstacles, such as a language barrier and a lack of knowledge of available community services that prohibits them from fully integrating into our community. The goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of these obstacles, to determine the perceptions of the city’s Latino population, and to ascertain what businesses, services, and community organizations can do in order to better accommodate Hispanics in Bowling Green. This research analyzes the results of a needs assessment survey administered to 80 self-identified Hispanic members of local churches. The survey responses indicated …

Service Learning/Civic Engagement And Assessment In Higher Education [Presentation With Audio], Allison Smith

Assessment & Accountability in Student Affairs & Higher Education (CNS 610)

To illustrate the importance of service learning and civic engagement in higher education.

To demonstrate the need for assessment and accountability of service learning and civic engagement in higher education.

Progression Through Partnerships, Aurelia Spaulding, Editor, Western Kentucky University Alive Center For Community Partnerships

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

University College Connection Winter 2012, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Spirit Of Engagement 2012, Aurelia Spaulding, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

University College Connection Fall 2011, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Fighting For Fairness: The History Of Kentucky’S Local Movements To Enact Fairness Ordinances In 1999, Micah Bennett

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This CE/T project explores the histories of the local movements for fairness ordinances which transpired in Kentucky in the year 1999. Fairness ordinances expand local civil rights protections on the basis of ‘sexual orientation’ and sometimes ‘gender identity’ to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and usually protect in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations. Four communities in the state considered such laws in 1999: Greater Louisville, Lexington-Fayette, the City of Henderson, and the City of Bowling Green. This thesis takes a holistic approach towards the history of these movements, exploring the procession of chronological events, …

Progression Through Partnerships, Aurelia Spaulding, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University

ALIVE Center Publications

Inside This Issue:

2 Service-Learning Classes

3 Faculty Incorporate Community into Work

4 Applied and Community-Based Research

5 Community-Based Research Programs

6 Volunteer Recognitions and Events

7 Student Takes Opportunities to Serve

8 Women’s Team Outreaches the Goal

9 Sustainability: A Key Component

10 BRIDGES Program Reaches Youth

11 Campus/Community Network Begins

12 Work Groups Set to Tackle Issues

14 HOTEL INC Provides More Than Meals

Spirit Of Engagement 2011, Aurelia Spaulding, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Geographic Factors Of Residential Burglaries - A Case Study In Nashville, Tennessee, Jonathan A. Hall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines geographic patterns and geographic factors of residential burglary at the Nashville, TN area for a twenty year period at five year interval starting in 1988. The purpose of this study is to identify what geographic factors have impacted on residential burglary rates, and if there were changes in the geographic patterns of residential burglary over the study period. Several criminological theories guide this study, with the most prominent being Social Disorganization Theory and Routine Activities Theory. Both of these theories focus on the relationships of place and crime. A number of spatial analysis methods are hence adopted …

Relationships Between Podiatrists & Medical Doctors: An Examination Through Network Analysis, Neale Chumbler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines how a more powerful and a less powerful profession --allopathic medicine and podiatry -- are linked in a series of networks through patient referrals and practice activities. The importance of professional networks is that they link different professions such as podiatry and allopathic medicine in ways which direct attention away from ranking the power of fields or viewing them as endlessly in conflict over occupational turf (traditional research questions) to questions of the actual and regularized relationships diverse professions have with one another. This thesis analyzes professional training and activity variables related to the emergence of networks …

A Case Study: Neighborhood Ii Conservation Plan, Alice Brooks-Giles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study was initiated to demonstrate how declining neighborhoods can be revitalized through the cooperation and Partnership of local residents, financial institutions, and local government. The Neighborhood II Conservation Plan assumes that interested and informed residents can plan their own environment just as they plan their own family affairs and budget their incomes. The plan further assumes that residents working together as a team can revitalize their neighborhood at the point of decline. This study pursues various approaches to neighborhood preservation which may be useful to other cities.

The Cedar Grove Community In Oral Folk History, Ada Parker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The thesis was originally done for the Center for Intercultural & Folk Studies which no longer exists.

Toward A Typology Of Riotous Behavior Studies: Relationships Between Conceptual Areas & Methodological Techniques In Sociological Research, Maryline Glover

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A typology was developed to demonstrate the relationship between the diverse theoretical explanations prevalent in riotous behavior research and the mode of data collection utilized for studying these theoretical explanations. The two principal variables identified are conceptual areas and methodological techniques. Conceptual areas consist of five categories and these are defined as structure: underlying social. economic and political preconditions which lead to riotous behavior; belief-motives: underlying predispositions of individuals or groups which lead to riotous behavior; setting: immediate determinants (assemblage process. ecological arrangements and socio-demographic factors) which lead to riotous behavior; action-behavior: actual behavior patterns and general characteristics found in …

Migration To A Small Urban Place: An Examination Of Migration Histories In Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico, Donald Adamchak

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Migration histories of a sample of the population in a small urban place--Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico were analyzed and compared to the results from studies of several large urban places in Latin America to see if patterns of migration and factors associated with the migratory process are similar or different. Seven basic hypotheses obtained from prior theoretical works and empirical studies were investigated.

The examination of migration to Creel and of Creel migrant characteristics revealed both similarities to and differences from previous examinations of larger urban areas in Latin America. Generalizations concerning reasons for migration, return migration, the northern push tendency, …