Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Far Right In Europe: The Effects Of The Migrant Crisis On European Enlargement, Gregory Stryker

International Relations Honors Papers

The migrant crisis continues to affect member states of the European Union (EU) and the EU itself as attempts to expand the membership of the EU have been repeatedly delayed. Scholars have previously examined other crises related to the EU and European integration, but scholars have not as of yet used these European integration theories to explain how the European migrant crisis affects the EU or the enlargement policy. This paper addresses that deficit of scholarship by applying European integration theory to the migrant crisis in order to explain how the migrant crisis affects EU enlargement. I argue that the …

Bringing Business Back To The Ballpark, David Drea

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This study uses ordinary least squares and quantile regressions to discover the determinants of total attendance for Major League Baseball teams. Furthermore, the study seeks to discover whether or not the average time length of a baseball game has any significant effect on total attendance. The data ranges from the year 2016 until 2018 and includes all thirty professional teams. The purpose of the quantile regression is to gain a deeper understanding of total attendance’s determinants and to see which distributions in the data are most affected. The results were that home runs are a significant stimulant in attendance and …

The Effect Of Foreign Aid On Political Violence: Learning From Case Studies Of Nigeria And Sierra Leone, Charlotte Rohrer

Politics Honors Papers

Policymakers in OECD countries regularly cite reducing political violence as a fundamental purpose of foreign aid. For example, countries such as Pakistan and Iraq have received considerable amounts of aid meant to address the root causes of political violence. This project analyzes quantitative and qualitative evidence to assess whether foreign aid can reduce political violence. The quantitative and qualitative analyses study Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone to focus on regional and country-wide political violence. The study further focuses on aid projects in Sierra Leone and Nigeria as a means to reduce or curb …

Liberation In Southern Africa: Comparing Democratic Consolidation In South Africa And Zimbabwe, John J. Solomon

International Relations Honors Papers

The research question that this thesis seeks to answer is: in what ways do liberation movements impact a nation’s experience with democratic consolidation after conflict ends? When the rebel organization is relatively weaker than the state, the state can control their actions. The liberation movement will not be able to manipulate the state, but will be able to impose costs on status quo maintenance. This will then lead the two parties to form a democratic pact and negotiate, resulting in the organization’s increased preference for democratic methods in the future. However, when the liberation movement and the state have relatively …

Women's Rights And Representation In Saudi Arabia, Iran, And Turkey: The Patriarchal Domination Of Religious Interpretations, Roumaissaa Tailassane

International Relations Honors Papers

This research paper is divided into three case studies: Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. The main focus of the paper is to examine barriers to women’s economic and political participation as well as the limits on their rights within the family and society. All three case studies are Muslim-majority countries. The paper argues that the subordination of women is not intrinsic to Islam but stems from patriarchal interpretations of Islam by religious authorities working in conjunction with autocratic political leaders. Furthermore, the paper analyzes cultural, political, and economic explanations for limits on women’s rights in these Muslim-majority countries and shows …

Rape Culture: Tools Of Oppression, William Wehrs

History Honors Papers

My project deals with rape culture and the tools of oppression. It looks at the history of rape culture from biblical times to the present. It then examines how schools indoctrinate people to participate in rape culture. It then moves to a backlash towards feminism from the 1970s to the present. The paper then connects said backlash to Men’s Activist Websites. Finally, my paper examines rape culture in the Media, such as the James Bond films or the video game, Super Seducer.

Oral Argument Tactics On The Supreme Court Bench: A Comparative Analysis Of Verbal Tools Used By Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, And Gorsuch, Corinne Cichowicz

Politics Honors Papers

Oral argument scholars like Adam Feldman have categorized the Supreme Court justices’ behavior during oral argument using the approach-based method, labeling each as one-sided, even-handed, or restrained. This approach is too narrowly constructed. Scholars sometimes categorize justices in terms of the tools they use, which include questions, hypotheticals, declarations, interruptions, tone of voice, and silence (Feldman 2018a). Neither of these methods alone produce a nuanced analysis of each justice’s actions during an individual case or across a Term. As the Court’s composition and dynamics are continuously changing, scholarship on oral argument needs to adapt to …

Assessing Woody Species In The Philadelphia Urban Forest: Foraging Potential Versus Actual Practices, Sarah Becker

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Being Labeled Smart By Friends: Burden Or Benefit?, Lauren Feldman, Isaac Abrams, Charlotte Bernot, Alexa Delmonte, Deegan Miller

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Kline & Specter: A Professional Corporation, Ibraheem Bussey

Media and Communication Studies Presentations

No abstract provided.

Nick Martin's Communism, Dylan Bagley, Matthew Kenwood

Cold War Lives

This project examines the life and career of Hungarian-born athlete Nick Martin. It explores the opportunities available to Martin via his success as an Olympic athlete.

Communism, Post-Communism, Sport, And Patriotism In 1980s-1990s Hungary, Sarah Johns, Morgana Olbrich

Cold War Lives

We will argue that Communism left long lasting effects on the ways in which patriotism was perceived and executed through labor. Specifically we will look into the ways in which laborers, namely athletes, both intentionally and unintentionally used their work to gain privileges.

How Politics Can Shape Sports And The Athletes Who Perform: A Case Study Of Hungarian Gymnastics During The Cold War, Julia Adams, Corinne Cichowicz

Cold War Lives

The purpose of the project is to juxtapose how politics and government structure shape the world of sports, as well as the progress of individual sports, with the isolation of athletes from the political realities of their respective nations. We assert that contemporary politics is directly reflected in the sports community through the way athletes interact and the ways other nations perceive athletes’ treatment. We argue that around the Hungarian Revolution, Eastern countries like Hungary attempted to perform their strength by giving privileges that allowed athletes to excel while western nations like the United States focused on fostering their savior …

Saying "No" To (The) Oxygen Capital? Amenity Migration, Counter-Territorialization, And Uneven Rural Landscape Change In The Kaz Dağları (Ida Mountains) Of Western Turkey, Patrick T. Hurley, Yılmaz Arı

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Diverse forms of conservation and development are transforming the material landscapes and related livelihoods of communities in rural places around the world. While many studies focus on changing protected area governance and ecotourism efforts associated with nature protection, other studies focus on residential development in areas experiencing amenity migration. We use a comparative political ecology approach that draws on key insights from the political ecology literature, first, on neoliberal protected area expansion, and, second, on exurbia that highlight the dynamics of competing rural capitalisms and reterritorialization in areas experiencing amenity migration to explore these coupled conservation and development dynamics. Drawing …

Turkish Eu Accession: The Influence Of The Far Right, Gregory Stryker

International Relations Summer Fellows

Samuel Huntington’s concept of ‘a clash of civilizations’ is used more frequently by some in the EU to explain the question of why the EU is seemingly stalling Turkey from becoming a full member state of the EU. Scholars offer many other possible reasons to explain the attempts from the EU to delay or even prevent Turkish accession based around arguments of identity, economics, or human rights, among others. This paper takes a different approach from other scholarly works by examining the domestic politics in the countries that have delayed Turkey from progressing with the accession negotiations. I argue that …

Who Wins And Who Loses? How Gentrification Caused By Public Transportation Is Felt Differently Across Race, Rosina Shipman

Politics Summer Fellows

When does a public good become harmful? And who does it harm? To tackle these questions I take a detailed look at how public transportation affects housing prices. Public transportation is a common good utilized by people of all different socioeconomic levels, but scholars have found that the presence of a new public transportation stop can be a catalyst for gentrification, raising housing prices and displacing previous residents. While this positive relationship between housing prices and public transportation is well documented, there is a lack of literature on how gentrification, caused by public transportation, affects neighborhood-housing prices across race. In …

Understanding The American Subaltern: An Exploration Of Complex Literary Characters Through Socio-Cultural Lenses, Sophie Gioffre

English and Creative Writing Summer Fellows

This project involves the analysis of three novels — Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Ann Petry’s The Street, and Toni Morrison’s Sula — featuring main characters who are forced to navigate realistic socio-economic environments rooted in racist, sexist, and classist systems of oppression in the United States of America. Through the process of completing close-readings of the novels, conducting extensive secondary research on historical contexts, and examining other scholarly criticisms and interpretations of these novels, I develop new insights into the main characters’ plights. To transfer this conceptual understanding into a more personal and empathetic …

The Effects Of Abuse For African Americans Using Critical Autobiographical Analysis, Shelby Carmichael

Psychology Summer Fellows

This analysis looks into the effects of sexual and physical abuse on the social outcomes and behavior of black children into adulthood. Incorporating current research findings on the effects of abuse on childhood development, an autobiographical analysis is conducted through the lens of critical theory to see the direct impact abuse has on an individual’s behavior and their social outcomes. Specifically this analysis will investigate the factors of socio-economic background, race, culture, community response to admitting abuse, access to therapeutic resources, externalized behavior, internalized behavior, and adulthood outcomes for African American abuse victims. This research contributes to the sparse literature …

A Mile In My Shoes: A Website For First-Generation Immigrants, Chelsey Thomas

International Relations Summer Fellows

What are the most important variables to consider when applying for college? What really makes a school worth it? This project looks to tackle questions such as these by analyzing Pell grant rates, graduation and admission rates, and default rates among colleges as well as their social and cultural pros and cons. The overall goal of this is a push for transparency as well as bridging the gap between higher education and students.

Intersectional India: Caste, Feminism And Development In The 21st Century, Anika Backelin-Harrison

International Relations Summer Fellows

My paper explores the intersections between caste and feminism in the 21^stcentury, questioning India’s future if it remains divided by ascribed status. Beginning with independence in 1947, I dissect India’s history post-colonialism and how the feminist movement gained headway during periods of political upheaval. Within the feminist movement, Indian women remain divided on the basis of caste, therefore stalling gains for true equality. India’s hope for development, increased security and peaceful negotiations will not come to fruition if the caste system persists, especially in the feminist movement.

Following India’s independence, women have been used as a marker for …

Oral Argument Tactics From The Supreme Court Bench: An Analysis Of Neil Gorsuch’S First Term, Corinne Cichowicz

Politics Summer Fellows

This paper analyzes Gorsuch’s approach to oral argument through careful reading of the oral argument transcripts from the 2017 term and use of scholarship on justices’ behavioral tendencies during oral argument. The paper builds upon previous scholars’ understandings of oral argument by testing whether Gorsuch’s first full term is consistent with the typical behavioral patterns of justices. Yet, the paper goes beyond many other scholars’ methodologies by using tool and content analysis before determining Gorsuch’s approach and identifying a cause for his specific behaviors. The paper finds that Gorsuch does not fit into one category of modern justices’ approaches to …

The Rise Of Political Factions In The United States: 1789–1795, William Wehrs

History Summer Fellows

Organized factions were something that did not arise with the creation of the United States. Rather, they slowly emerged during George Washington’s presidency. Initially, the Founding Fathers were highly resistant to the idea. There was resistance to political parties partly because of their association with the perceived dysfunctionality of England, and also because major influential thinkers like John Trenchard or David Hume were strongly against them. Soon, however, conflicts began to emerge. These stemmed from the conflicting views the Founding Fathers had on human nature. While Hamilton and Adams were both highly dubious about the trustworthiness of the common people, …

The Path Of Least Resistance: How Strict Chinese Stock Market Regulation Incentivizes Chinese Companies To List In Foreign Stock Exchanges, Chenyu Yin

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

Despite the recent trade dispute, decades of increased trade between the U.S. and China have given Chinese companies more opportunities to list on foreign stock markets, so they can find better financing opportunities in foreign markets. With the rapid development of the Chinese financial industry and the continuous spread of news on various company listings, why is it that many Chinese companies choose to list overseas, especially in the U.S. and Hong Kong, but not in China? In addition, what is the difference between the U.S. and Hong Kong exchanges, and how does that difference affect Chinese companies’ choice of …

Examining Alumni Perceptions Of Social And Cultural Capital Accumulation Through Ursinus’S Summer Fellows Program, Sydney Dickson

Anthropology Honors Papers

A common offering among undergraduate institutions is an intensive summer research program, which allows students to complete a project independently without any other academic obligations. These programs are designed to foster useful skills, valuable relationships, and scholarly work. Ursinus College, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, has such a program: Summer Fellows. With colleges attempting to appeal to a decreasing number of high-achieving applicants, student desire to pursue intellectual interests, and employers looking for skilled job candidates, it is worthwhile to examine the perceived efficacy of this program. This paper utilizes the perspectives of alumni reflecting on what they …

Where Trying To Conceive Becomes A Community Effort: A Digital Ethnography Of Online Infertility Forums, Megan Burns

Sociology Honors Papers

Online forums for women using in vitro fertilization (IVF), or similar assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), provide a useful setting to further evaluate and understand women’s expectations of motherhood, the relationship infertile women have with physicians and biomedicine, and their interactions on the forums. Some critics of ARTs consider them a tool of oppression in a pronatalist state. The pressure and desire to become a biological mother leads the women with access to these technologies to use them regardless. Through digital ethnographic research on four online ART forums, this research examines the intersection of altruism and self-interest in the ways forum-users …

Furs: Functionality, Fashion, And Franchise, Jenna Q. Detweiler

Environment and Sustainability Honors Papers

Animal furs have been used in various manners through human history. Early humans cut crude shawls for warmth, and with the development of tools such as needles, closer-fitting clothing such as fur pants became possible. As time went on, products such as wool and cotton were used for clothing and, with fur alternatives, furs were reserved for the ultra-wealthy in some cultures. The image of fur as a luxury item has remained ever since, but simultaneously fur has become more accessible to the general public. Meanwhile, animal rights movements have successfully dampened interest in fur in some countries and communities. …

In The Shadow Of Japanese Identity, Rosendo Lopez-Duran

East Asian Studies Honors Papers

Japan is, as former Prime Minister Asō Tarō once put it, commonly described as being “one race, one civilization, one language and one culture.” This statement reflects a popular conception of Japan as a homogenous nation. However, the purpose of this paper, building on earlier research, is to assess what exactly Japanese identity is, how it is constructed / maintained, and who is and is not considered “Japanese.” The impetus of this inquiry comes from my research of the hisabetsu burakumin, a Japanese social outcaste group, who have undergone significant changes throughout their long history as a socially-constructed “minority.” …

Millennial Culture And Epistemology: Exploring The Meaning-Making Discourse Of An Emerging Generation, Sophia Driscoll Gamber

Sociology Honors Papers

Millennial Culture and Epistemology takes a mixed methods approach to understanding the culture and epistemological processes of the current cohort of millennial undergraduate students at a small residential liberal arts college. The study first identifies specific trends in epistemological frameworks, ethics, and claimed spiritual/religious identities among a sample of undergraduate students and finds that students are commonly utilizing subjectivist epistemological frameworks that are built around cultural relativism and skepticism. The study then unpacks markers of undergraduate millennial culture as they relate to epistemology and finds that students’ stances on issues of community, social ethics and responsibility, religion, and spirituality are …

Aiding To Repair: An Analysis On The Impact Of Foreign Aid In Rwanda After The 1994 Genocide, Mary Atta-Dakwa

International Relations Honors Papers

Between April 1994 to July 1994, about 1 million Hutus and Tutsis were murdered in the Rwandan genocide. The genocide not only severely declined the population of Rwandans, but largely impacted its infrastructure, government, and economy. After the genocide, about $15 billion US dollars was sent to provide humanitarian aid. Post-genocide Rwanda has seen a significant growth in its economy; however, speculators may question if the economic growth is attributed to the foreign aid it received after the 1994 genocide. This paper seeks to examine the impact of foreign aid on post-war reconstruction on Rwanda as a case study.

Los Matices Varios Del Feminismo En Las Comunidades Indígenas De América Latina: Yorkín, Costa Rica Y Santa Anita, Guatemala, Roseangela G. Hartford

Spanish Honors Papers

This project investigates gender constructs and the complex assigned gender roles in settings of female indigenous leadership in Latin America. It examines two distinct indigenous communities, including the BriBri society in Yorkín, Costa Rica and the Maya peoples in Santa Anita, Guatemala that demonstrate the circumstantial spectrum in which women can obtain leadership roles and what actors directly influence this process. Each case study explores the fluidity of gender identities in which concepts of masculinity and femininity often guide female empowerment and liberation. Costa Rica and Guatemala offer contrasting experiences in terms of governmental stability, as Costa Rica abolished its …