Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Schooling Silence: Sexual Harassment And Its Presence And Perception At Uganda’S Universities And Secondary Schools, Elena Mieszczanski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although reports indicate that a majority of students in Uganda are sexually abused while in school, sexual harassment and its impact on educational attainment is a rampant yet understudied problem (The Uganda National Strategic Plan on Violence Against Children in Schools, 2015). While harassment in schools by teachers and students is not the only factor leading to high dropout rates among students, the behavior of teachers and students in school, and the lack of discipline towards their actions is an internal contribution to this effect. This study aims to better understand the perceptions on what constitutes “sexual harassment” in Uganda …

The Plastic Problem: Plastic Pollution In Bali, Kate Giesler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the fourth highest population and an ever-growing rate of plastic consumption, Indonesia is the second largest plastic polluter in the world (McCarthy, 2018). The country, which has only had plastic since the latter half of the 20th century, has staggeringly high rates of plastic waste which becomes pollution due to various factors. This paper examines the factors that go into why the rates of plastic pollution are so high, what people know about it and what is being done to help combat the problem. The four main topics explored are: laws, disposal methods, education and tourism. The study uses …

Morocco: The Intersection Between Intercultural Mediation And Migration, Arianna Diaz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research seeks to understand the intersection between migration and intercultural mediation through a Moroccan context. The increase of undocumented and documented Sub-Saharans flowing into Morocco through the Western Mediterranean route creates an increase in intercultural spaces within Moroccan society. By analyzing Sub-Saharan livelihoods and discrimination in Morocco I address how ineffective intercultural communication creates tensions between Moroccan nationals and Sub-Saharan Migrants. By applying intercultural mediation theory I come to understand how intercultural mediation can be applied between these two cultural groups. I specifically analyze the capacity of Moroccan civil organizations to act as intercultural mediators between Moroccan communities and …

Poem As Space For Artistic Contestation: Finding Multiple Voices Of Female Writers Through Artistic Vocabularies, Edil Hassan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is a creative piece that consists of ten poems and a critical analysis of artistic vocabularies utilized by women writers: Aicha Bassry, Furugh Farrukhzad, and Fatima Mernissi. I argue that their speaking together, especially through multiple voices, is a political act that can be privileged above normative discussions of art currently. This comes from the common worlds they build in their poetic and scholarly work, which despite differences in voice and vocabulary, centralize women. I define artistic vocabulary in this project as the transformation that takes place when image is translated into word. I explore this idea of …

Perceptions And Physical Realities Of Flood Risk In Cerro Punta, Chiriquí, Panamá, Julia Stanganelli

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Flooding is an issue of increasing global importance. With climate change and land-use alteration affecting hydrological cycles globally, certain regions of the world are experiencing more frequent or severe flooding. In the Chiriquí Province of Panamá, the town of Cerro Punta has been subject to several severe flooding events in the last few decades. This study aimed to understand perceptions of flood risk amongst residents of Cerro Punta, as well as evaluate physical flood risk in the area. Residents were interviewed regarding their perceptions of flooding as an increasing issue, possible causes, vulnerable areas and populations, and preparedness for future …

Imagining Intersectional Anti-Rape Messaging At An Organization In Cape Town, South Africa: Visible And Invisible Subjects, Maslen Bode Ward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Less than one month ago, South Africa held the first ever Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide to assess the most effective ways to approach solving the country’s high rates of gender-based violence. My study aims to consider anti-rape messaging and advocacy under an intersectional framework, using one organization in Cape Town as a case study. I examine how anti-rape messaging in South Africa has failed to consider intersectional identities in their imagined conceptions of survivors and perpetrators. I explore the potential for intersectional anti-rape messaging and the role of race, class, gender, culture, and language in the distribution, audience, …

“Solo Está Derrotado Quien Deja De Soñar” Un Estudio De La Generación Y Apoyo De Motivación Estudiantil En Escuelas De Reingreso De Santiago, Chile Y Buenos Aires, Argentina Y Su Aplicación A Un Proyecto Material / "Only Those Who Stop Dreaming Are Defeated" A Study Of The Generation And Support Of Student Motivation In Re-Entry Schools Of Santiago, Chile And Buenos Aires, Argentina And Their Application To A Material Project, Emily Beyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este ensayo es parte de un proyecto que examina generación y apoyo de motivación estudiantil en escuelas de reingreso en Santiago, Chile y Buenos Aires, Argentina. El proyecto propuso crear un mural que refleje los resultados de la investigación y en su construcción, crea una representación física de lo que piensan los estudiantes, profesores, y directores sobre la importancia de la educación y luego tener un trabajo escrito que contextualiza el mural dentro de la investigación. La investigación fue hecha a través de entrevistas y observación participativa y examina las razones para motivación y los desafíos que enfrentan en tres …

Repatriation Of Rwandan Returnees In Kigali: Integration Of Those Born And Raised On Exile As A Result Of The 1959 Violence Wave, Cristina Taulet Sanchez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the repatriation process of millions of Rwandans that returned to Kigali after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, focusing on those that were born and raised in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Burundi as a result of the ethnic violence in 1959 and its aftermath. To complete this project, both theoretical and empirical research was conducted, including academic perspectives, numerical data analysis, and one-on-one interviews on the field. By examining the previous living conditions in the host countries, alongside the process of return and resettlement once in Rwanda, this study presents the physical and emotional …

Imaginando La Inclusión: El Uso De La Escritura Creativa Para Imaginar Una Educación Superior Inclusiva Para Personas Con Discapacidades En Bolivia / Imagining Inclusion: The Use Of Creative Writing To Imagine An Inclusive Higher Education For People With Disabilities In Bolivia, Beatrice Chihak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este estudio se enfoca en la educación superior inclusiva para personas con discapacidades en Bolivia. En la última década, la Universidad Mayor de San Simón ha visto un crecimiento grande en el reconocimiento de este tema. Sin embargo, hay mucho que hacer antes de que pueda considerarse una universidad verdaderamente inclusiva. En la investigación, yo pregunto: ¿Cuáles son los posibles caminos que se pueden utilizar para desarrollar una educación superior inclusiva? Usando entrevistas personales y un taller de escritura creativa, pinto un cuadro de la situación actual de la inclusión en el campus y de los diferentes caminos que utilizan …

Vivencias De Jóvenes Con Autismo De La Ciudad De Temuco, Desde La Percepción De Sus Familiares Y Educadores / Experiences Of Young People With Autism In The City Of Temuco, From The Perception Of Their Relatives And Educators, Sophia Cerreta

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study, centered on the life experiences of young people with moderate to severe autism who attend specialized schools in the city of Temuco, Chile. Autism is a common developmental disability that most strongly affects social skills but is also characterized by sensory sensitivities, difficulty with change, and highly focused interests. There is no national registry in Chile of its population with autism, and there is a lack of investigation in the autistic population in Chile. This study sought to complete three objectives: describe factors that make the process of integration into society more difficult, identify the networks of social …

"Prescribed To Fuck Off": Examining The Role Of Heterosexual White Men In South Africa From The Perspective Of Seven Students At The University Of Cape Town, Meagan Murray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Movements towards racial and gender equality in South Africa are experiencing growth because of the increasingly urgent need to rectify the inequalities of apartheid. These movements have destabilized notions of white hegemonic masculinity by creating a dissonance between the socially-constructed privileges that white men are entitled to and their perceived limited access to advancement. The primary responses to this “crisis” have materialized in the construction of male organizations aimed at either redeveloping masculinity or defending male privilege, as well as a desire to distance oneself from the stereotypical male identity. All reactions bear significant weight on the future of South …

La Escuela Chilena En Disputa: Las Perspectivas De Educadores Chilenos Sobre El Aporte De La Educación Popular En Un Contexto De Una Educación Bancaria / The Chilean School In Dispute: The Perspectives Of Chilean Educators On The Contribution Of Popular Education In A Context Of A Banking Education, Brooke Porter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El enfoque pedagógico dominante del sistema educativo chileno es una educación de tipo “bancaria” como diría Paulo Freire en su libro Pedagogía del Oprimido. Bajo este sistema, los estudiantes son depositarios de información, que está apartado de su realidad, que solo están orientados a la preparación de pruebas estandarizadas. Esto lleva a que los estudiantes salen del sistema educativo sin pensamiento crítico. A pesar del predominio de esta visión, hay proyectos educativos y profesores que apoyan e implementan una pedagogía alternativa, la educación popular (EP). La EP es una pedagogía latinoamericana y problematizadora que enfatiza el pensamiento crítico, la concientización …

Comprehending Climate Change In The Himalayas: An Exercise In Digital Storytelling, Emily Carlson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was completed as an attempt to visualize, contextualize, and humanize the effects of climate change in the Himalayan orogen through the lens of digital storytelling. The ArcGIS software application, Story Maps, was used to create a highly visual “storytelling” webpage. It combines spatial and empirical data from across the whole Himalayan range with stories and case studies collected in eight villages of Lower Mustang, Nepal. This project is thus a union of climatologic and ethnographic research. As climate change continues to charge ahead in an incredibly vulnerable part of the world, the people of the region face the …

Exploring The Space Between Healers: A Narrative Approach To Understanding The Relationship Between Traditional Healers And Biomedical Practitioners In Kwazulu-Natal, Marisa Delsignore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite playing essential and parallel roles in the lives of patients, there exists a frictional, imbalanced relationship between traditional healers and Western doctors in South Africa. While national policy encourages a seamless system rooted in both Western science and indigenous knowledge, biomedical institutions are hesitant to accept traditional medical practices, which are based on less tangible and more spiritually-oriented elements. This research project turns to these two ideologically different entities to assess their perspectives on the roles of themselves and the other within the context of the South African health system.

Responses from semi-structured interviews with seven health practitioners from …

Fish Diversity And Distribution In The Seagrass-Coral Reef Continuum At Two Sites Off The Western Coast Of Isla Bastimentos, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Kathy Liu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystem and the largest biogenic structure on Earth. They serve as shelter for many reef fishes and are a food source for resident and visiting fish species. In the tropics, coral reefs are often in close proximity to seagrass beds and the two contiguous marine habitats are not only highly interconnected but also highly understudied. The seagrass-coral reef continuum offers a wide array of services to human society as well as to various life stages of reef fishes resulting in diel, temporal, or yearly migrations of fish between the two habitats. Tropical reef …

“So What Are You?:” Nepali Third Gender Women’S Identities And Experiences Through The Lens Of Human Rights Development Discourse, Amit Gerstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nepal is the site of many national and international human rights development measures focused on the country’s gender and sexual minorities (SGM). Given the significant impact those development efforts have on SGM and Nepali society, national and international development actors need to understand the identities and experiences of the populations they attempt to help. Performed in Kathmandu and Bharatpur, this study attempts to understand the identities used by third gender women and if those identities are reflected in development discourse. Furthermore, this research seeks to understand the life experiences of these women and the discriminations they face, a reflection on …

Desde La Teoría A Lo Cotidiano: Tensiones En Escuelas En Contextos De Encierro / From The Theory To The Daily: Tensions In Schools In Contexts Of Encierro, Ethan Greenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ambos Chile y Argentina han visto un aumento grande en personas privadas de libertad en las últimas décadas. Sin ir al tema de encarcelamiento en masa, la cuestión surge sobre la vida, los derechos, y el desarrollo de las personas en contextos de encierro, y principalmente ¿Qué significa para un Estado tener tantas personas privadas de libertad? Dentro de esta pregunta, surge una cuestión más específica sobre la habilidad de encontrar y conseguir un derecho a educación en contextos de encierro. Los dos países tienen, como parte de sus leyes nacionales educativas u otras normativas, requisitos o parámetros por educación …

Mind Control In The Post-Colonial State: The Impact Of Foreign Direct Investment In Tertiary Education In Senegal And Jamaica, Janiel Chantae Slowly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the end of 17th to 20th century colonization, Senegal and Jamaica have been victims of the rhetoric of development. The economic, social, and political progress of these nations have always been overshadowed by their categorization as “developing countries”. Yet, this development rhetoric fails to acknowledge not only the wounds of colonization but the more modern manifestations of continued exploitation of these countries often by the same countries that “emancipated” their colonies. Senegal and Jamaica for example, are both dominated by large percentages of young adults, in both cases a large majority of the populations are individuals under the age …

Livelihoods Of The People Of Mazumbai: A Collection Of Stories And Portraits, Tanga Region, Tanzania, Joseph Baldus

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite rapid urbanization in Tanzania, agriculture remains central to the nation, the economy, and the livelihoods of a large portion of the population. Smallholder farmers account for the vast majority of agricultural production, yet are an extremely vulnerable population due to poverty, single-sourced income, and climate-dependency for both subsistence and cash-crop agriculture (Rapsomanikis, 2015). This report explores these dynamic rural livelihoods through interviews and portrait photographs in a case study on Mazumbai, Tanga region, Tanzania. Semi-structured interviews explore the people’s modes of economic subsistence, domestic lives, education, challenges, and life stories. Excerpts from these interviews combined with portrait photographs create …

Balance And Imbalance: The Necessity Of Natural Disasters In Balinese Hinduism, Lorin Foster Demuth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Challenges To Democratic Inclusion And Contestation Of Space: Contemporary Student Activists In Transforming South Africa, Momo Wilms-Crowe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Twenty-four years into democracy, in a time marked by stark inequality and rising levels of political disillusionment, student activists are key players in the pursuit of a more just, more equitable, and more democratic South Africa. Using universities as spaces to contest, disrupt, and challenge the status quo, student activists challenge narratives of youth political apathy and act as agents of change, encouraging society to meet the goals established in the 1996 Constitution, the document enshrining the very promises they were born into believing would be their reality. Through mobilization and organizing, student actors boldly engage in questions of substantive …

Correlations Between Reef Health And Vertical Zonation On Ushongo Village Reef And Fungu Zinga Reef, Daniel Gates

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While the existence of vertical zonation on coral reefs is well-known, the driving mechanisms and the influence each has is not clear. This study seeks to investigate the influence of reef health on vertical zonation. Reef health is used as a potential factor since it is essentially a broad description of reef diversity. Therefore, a healthy reef which is very diverse is likely to have more and different interspecies interactions than an unhealthy one. This project investigates whether these altered interactions results in different depth distributions of various coral types, categorized broadly by colony shape. Reef health did not seem …

Large Mammals Of The High Andes A Survey Of Community Composition And Habitat Usage In The Highlands Of Angochagua, Sage Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The large mammal community of the high Andes may be the least understood in South America. It contains multiple threatened and charismatic species including the Andean Bear, Mountain Tapir, Red Brocket Deer, Northern Pudu, and Puma. Many of these species are lacking in distribution and population data. The highlands of the Parroquia de Angochagua were once overgrazed by livestock, but have been mostly restored over the last 20 years through conservation efforts by the local community. These highlands are thought to have populations of all the previously mentioned species, though they had not been surveyed before this study. Transect surveys …

Demography And Behavior Of Critically Endangered Alouatta Coibensis Trabeata Troops In Forest Fragments In And Around Mata Oscura, Veraguas On The Azuero Peninsula Of Panamá, Billy Allen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The endemic Azuero howler monkey, Alouatta coibensis trabeata, was studied in three sites in and around the Mata Oscura community in Veraguas, Panamá in the western region of the Azuero Peninsula. A. coibensis trabeata is a critically endangered subspecies of A. coibensis that is threatened by continued habitat destruction and human encroachment throughout its entire distribution on the Azuero Peninsula. Sites included the Mata Oscura community (site 1), the Arenas community periphery (site 2), and the Cerro Hoya National Park (site 3). Demography, behavior, and habitat were assessed over 9 days of study in November. Troops were encountered in sites …

He Effects Of Climate Change On Native Icelandic Plants: A Morphometric Analysis, Maia Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to evaluate the morphology of three native Icelandic plant species, Alchemilla alpina, Arabidopsis petraea, and Silene uniflora, in order to determine if changing climatic conditions have had an effect on Icelandic vegetation during the twentieth century. I measured herbarium specimens collected during a time period before 1950, and during the period from the late 1960s to the present. Using traditional morphometrics methods, I searched for changes in morphological traits such as plant height, leaf length to width ratio, and leaf size, then performed two-tailed t-tests to analyze the results of the analyses. I found significant changes …

Frank Thoughts: Investigating The Construction Of Anne Frank As A Site Of Heritage And Identity Formation In A Globalized Postholocaust Society, Sarah Silverstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research begins to investigate the ways constructions of Dutch-Jewish history and the Holocaust in the Netherlands post World War II have become active symbols of heritage or physical sites of heritage for tourists and host communities alike. In this paper I consider the ways in which the memorialization of Anne Frank in Amsterdam and the human rights violations documented more broadly in the host community, the Netherlands, during the Holocaust has and continues to influence identity politics of the Dutch nation-state, its culture, and citizens on both a local and global stage in contemporary times. The “Jewish History – …

An Exploratory Study On Mental Illness Perspectives In Hanoi, Margaret Cox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Almost 12 million people in Vietnam have been diagnosed with a mental illness; the prevalence of mental illness within the population means that understanding how people perceive it. Previous research has demonstrated the negative impacts that stigma and negative perceptions of mental illness have and how they can inhibit individuals from seeking treatment for a mental illness. The aim of this exploratory study was to answer the question: How do Vietnamese university students and mental health professionals living in Hanoi perceive mental illness? Fifteen university students and five mental health professionals were interviewed in a series of semi-structured interviews. A …

Searching For A Brighter Tomorrow: An Internship Working Toward The Alleviation Of Energy Poverty Through Solar Power And Search-Engine Crowdfunding, Meaghan Mcelroy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Auroville Consulting is an environmental consulting firm, founded in 2010, that works to create an environmentally-friendly and socially responsible world. One of Auroville Consulting’s projects, the Solar Village Initiative, works to address the effects of energy poverty by installing on-grid solar panels and solar generation systems in rural villages throughout rural Tamil Nadu., with the Solar Village Search Engine as a crowdfunding tool for the project. By performing dayto- day tasks pertaining to communications, journalism, social media, and promotions for the Solar Village Search Engine at Auroville Consulting; participating in in-office discussion; and living and working in Auroville, I was …

From Lahure Legacies To Moving Peoples: A Study Of Opportunity And Mobility In The Annapurna Hills, Peter Jacobson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the interplay between the politics of mobility and changing notions of opportunity in the face growing trends of tourism in the southern Annarpurna Conservation Area (ACA) of Nepal. Research was conducted in three villages that have been the sites of rapid change in recent years, both due to the widespread adoption of local trekking economies, and to demographic change engendered by growing trends of outmigration. By adopting a political ecological framework, which challenges common apolitical explanations of exclusion, inaccessibility and unequal distribution of costs and benefits with particular regard to environmental challenges, this paper jointly applies what …

Spirituality And Conservation In Tujiin Nars, Lisa Torstenson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For centuries, Mongolians have relied heavily on the land for their survival. In Selenge aimag, the surrounding Tujiin Nars forest is an integral part of their lives. An area with many uses, it was once so heavily deforested that the majority of the area lost its ecological function. Now, these impacts are being reversed by dedicated government workers, community groups, and regular citizens. The people of this area believe that they are intimately connected with the forest, and that spirits reside within the trees and the land itself. As such, they stake importance in treating the land with respect. This …