Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Armageddon Revisited: The 1973 Gubernatorial Election In Virginia, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

Threatening a lawsuit, Howell prepared a memorandum to NBC citing evidence of voters changing their votes to Godwin, because as one put it, "A national network can't be wrong."⁷⁸ Howell's memorandum also mentioned an indirect tie of McGee to Godwin. Godwin constantly demanded that Howell disclose how he would replace the revenue under his tax plan.⁴³ Throughout the campaign, Godwin stressed inconsistencies between positions Howell took on various issues in 1973 and what he had said in the past. Godwin also cited Howell's endorsement of his candidacy for governor in 1965 and his comment in April that Godwin …

‘It All Comes From Me’: Bahu Begam And The Making Of The Awadh Nawabi, Circa 1765–1815, Nicholas J. Abbott

History Faculty Publications

This article examines the durable, yet largely overlooked, claims of Bahu Begam (1727–1815) to dynastic wealth and authority in the Awadh nawabi (1722–1856), a North Indian Mughal ‘successor state’ and an important client of the East India Company. Chief consort (khass mahal) to Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula (r. 1754–75) and mother to his successor Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula (r. 1775–97), Bahu Begam played a well-documented role in the regime’s tumultuous politics, particularly during Warren Hastings’s tenure as the Company’s governor-general (1773–85) and his later parliamentary impeachment. But despite her prominent political influence, little attention has been paid to the substance of her …

Settler Colonial Origins Of Intimate Partner Violence In Indigenous Communities, Maia C. Behrendt

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Indigenous women in the United States experience disproportionately higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Through a framework of settler colonialism, this article examines how settler colonial gender practices disrupted and eroded generational patterns of gender roles and power relationships within Indigenous communities, contributing over time to today's higher levels of IPV perpetrated against Indigenous women. I argue that future research on IPV must attend to the historical, contemporary, and legal impacts of settler colonial policies and laws that contribute to increased rates of violence within marginalized and racialized communities. In this article, I first …

Turning Back Time: Implications Of Originalist Legal Theory For Women's Rights, Emma Mays

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Since America’s foundation, women’s rights have expanded to lengths that would have been unimaginable to the Founding Fathers including the right to vote, the ability to work outside the home, and some aspects of bodily autonomy. These legal adaptations, along with a larger cultural shift towards liberation, have left many modern-day women with a false sense of security in the face of growing judicial sentiments that threaten the rights of women. The legal theory of originalism that has been growing in force significantly since the 1980s argues that in interpreting constitutional matters, judges should uncover and promote the meaning of …

Safety Splash: Pool Safety For Children And Adults, Rachel Lofton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This outreach project was made to address the issue of too many children drowning at pools due to a lack of water safety education. The dissemination of pool safety education is imperative to reduce accidental injuries and drownings. The goal of the Safety Splash video and supplemental materials is to provide pool safety education for children and adults. By encouraging conversations between children and adults before going to the pool, there can be an intervention that reduces the risk of injury and drowning once they arrive. Through research, I compiled information to support the effectiveness of a combination video, pamphlet, …

The Green Wave: Effects Of Legal Marijuana On The Labor Market., Sara Varon

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In this paper I examine the relationship between the introduction of recreational marijuana laws and the labor market. First, using Google Trends data I find evidence that states that undergo the treatment of recreational marijuana legalization will likely experience a large and significant increase in search volume terms related to marijuana demand following the implementation of marijuana regulations. Using this same data set, I find support for the theory that as marijuana legalization becomes more entrenched within each individual state, public interest for marijuana also increases which allows for the use of Google Trends data as a proxy for legalization …

From The End Of Politics To Legitimate Opposition: Political Perceptions Of The 37th Congress Of The United States In The North 1860-1862, Lauren Dubas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This paper intends to explore the political landscape of the Union during the first two years of the Civil War, specifically how the people in the North perceived what remained of the Congress from 1860-1862. I will be using a combination of primary and secondary sources to cover the 37^th Congress of the United States, whose members were elected in 1860 and legislated until the next Congressional election in 1862. My research shows several significant stages in the political landscape during this period and uses these stages of partisan politics as the foundation for understanding how the federal government, …

Nebraska Stories Of Humanity: Increasing Accessibility To Holocaust Education, Aila Ganic

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis seeks to answer the question: How can the digital humanities provide a vehicle that elevates the human impact of survivor narrative and testimony? An analyzation of how the digital humanities could preserve survivor testimony is conducted through an examination of how Bea Karp’s narrative will be shared through the Nebraska Stories of Humanity portal project. Based on this analyzation, the Nebraska Stories of Humanity portal could be an effective method for teaching Holocaust education for three main reasons. First, this portal project avoids perpetrator-oriented narratives by highlighting survivors and soldiers who liberated camps. Further, it also offers a …

The Relation Between Childhood Maltreatment And Marriage Quality In Adulthood, Melanie Wagner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Childhood maltreatment poses the potential for lasting effects on survivors as they enter adulthood. Research lacks investigations into these potential effects, such as the impact on interpersonal relations. This study investigates the correlation between different types of childhood maltreatment and overall quality of marriage, as well as aims to identify which type of childhood maltreatment may be the strongest relative predictor of marital quality. Analyses on a newlywed dataset from Lancaster County, NE yielded results of a strong negative association between measures of childhood maltreatment and marital quality through the application of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Quality of …

The Intersection Of Leadership Identity Development And Meaning-Making Experiences In College Students, Tori Pedersen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The current study explored the intersection of meaning-making with leadership identity development through a narrative lens. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with six senior college students who participate in a leadership mentoring program. Results showed there are six themes of meaning-making experiences that influence leadership identity development: : (a) Confidence, (b) Growth From Challenges, (c) Identity, (d) Influence by Others, (e) Influencing Others, and (f) Involvements. These findings encourage the practice of developing leadership development curricula based upon these themes to further develop leadership identity in students.

Social Media Influencers In Crisis: Providing Counsel On Instagram, Pang, A., Debbie Lee, Gindelin Low, Valerie Hum

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Increasingly, organizations are harnessing social media influencers (SMIs) as third-party advocates or key opinion leaders (KOLs). Consumers view them as knowledgeable sources of information (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). In the United States, the Kardashians are used by a number of organizations to promote their products. Yang (2019) noted that while Western influencers are mostly video bloggers on Instagram or YouTube, Chinese KOLs have multiple channels, including social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, social networking sites Douban or TikTok. Figures from 2016 point to it as a US$8.6 billion industry in China (Yang, 2019).

Infant Imitation: Detecting Risk In The First Year With Pediatrac™, Samantha Levick

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Imitation has pervasive associations with social and communicative development. However, few methods have been developed to measure this construct in typically developing infants, and even fewer are available for atypical populations, such as infants born preterm. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a particular risk of premature birth, is associated with atypical imitation and social communication. Although imitation emerges in infancy, most current screening and diagnostic tools for ASD cannot be utilized prior to 12 months. The present study aimed to develop and validate a caregiver-report measure of infant imitation; characterize imitation profiles at 4, 6, and 9 months in term and …

Caregivers’ Self-Compassion And Bereaved Children’S Adjustment: Testing Caregivers’ Mental Health And Parenting As Mediators, Na Zhang, Irwin Sandler, Jenn‑Yun Tein, Sharlene Wolchik, Erin Donohue

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objectives: Self-compassion, which involves mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity, has been found to be related to individuals’ mental health. Few studies have examined caregivers’ self-compassion in relation to parenting behaviors and child adjustment in addition to its relation to their own mental health. In the current study we examined caregivers’ self-compassion as a protective factor related to parentally bereaved children’s internalizing and externalizing problems and further tested whether these relations were mediated by caregivers’ mental health (complicated grief and psychological distress) and parenting.

Methods: The sample consisted of 74 caregivers (female = 78.4%) who participated in a larger study designed …

In My Backyard: Bioregional Communities As A Climate Mitigation Strategy, Zoe Johnston

Capstone Showcase

The urgency of the climate crisis requires an immediate revisioning of our society in order to mitigate the worst environmental consequences. This paper explores one possible climate mitigation strategy, bioregionalism, a theoretical vision of re-localizing economies and defining their reach by natural boundaries (Curtis 2003; Cato 2011). This idea of relocalization emerges from an understanding that globalized capitalism has exacerbated, if not engendered, the climate crisis. Local communities represent an alternative method of organizing in which people are more directly connected to the land that they live on. One major critique of bioregionalism, made by Albo (2007) and Hahnel (2007), …

An Analysis Of The Concept Of Hospitality In The United Kingdom’S Immigration Policy, Catelyn Ballard

Capstone Showcase

The United Kingdom offers a Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme for the most vulnerable Syrians fleeing the Civil War. For those who do not meet the requirements, they travel to the UK on their own seeking asylum. The United Kingdom deems itself as welcoming to all immigrants; however, while looking at the Syrian population, it is obvious that those who come via the scheme are offered more support while acclimating, compared to those who migrate on their own. This thesis will look at literature on hospitality in order to understand why the UK is welcoming to some Syrians but not …

Bodily Autonomy And Anti-Vaccine Discourse During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haley Sherman

Capstone Showcase

This paper explores the relationship between anti-vaccine discourse and ideas about bodily autonomy. I analyze the cyclical nature of vaccine hesitancy and show that it can lead to misinformation and harmful narratives. This paper uses theories of bodily autonomy that identify a concept called moral obligation. This concept, as explored by Alberto Giubilini, is a utilitarian approach in which citizens have a responsibility to their governments to get vaccinated so that, in turn, their governments can fulfill their obligation of protecting other individuals’ health (Giubilini 2020, 54). A discourse analysis of four key players in the anti-vax movement shows that …

Nation Over State: Analyzing The Condition Of The Nation-State In The 21st Century, Hayley Pierson

Capstone Showcase

The nation-state as a concept is an ever-evolving one throughout history. As we delve deeper into the 21st century, the nation-state is beginning to undergo another evolution as there is an unprecedented rise in secessionist movements globally. This thesis explores the causation of a separatist movement and the complexities of having a competing, subnational identity within a state, embodied by case studies of Catalonia, Spain, and Quebec, Canada.

The Disappearance Of The Anti-Aesthetic; The Death Of Fashion, Scrap Evans

Capstone Showcase

In this essay, Scrap explores the connection between famous nihilist and postmodernist theorists, Dadaism, the concept of the anti-aesthetic, and today's high fashion. They provide a history of nihilism and follow its influence through time upon other social, political, and artistic movements. They then make direct connections between famous theorists' prose and famous fashion designers' collections. Finally, they analyze the current state of the fashion world and discuss their plan of action.

“Every Beat You Make Has A Time Of Day Or Color”: How Producers And Rappers Changed The Course Of Sampling Music, Elvin M. Castellanos

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the importance of the producer and artist relationship in hip hop songwriting and sampling, focusing on producers The Alchemist, Madlib, Sounwave, and Terrace Martin, and artists Freddie Gibbs, MF DOOM, Prodigy, and Kendrick Lamar. Topics covered range from sampling lawsuits and their impact on producers and artists in songwriting; what a producer and artist relationship looks like and how they benefit from their relationship; and the quality of music that comes from a close relationship between a producer and artist. I build upon research about the effects of sampling on hip hop by musicologist Amanda Sewell; sampling …

The Changing Evaluations Of Black Skin, White Masks Throughout History, Paul Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

Black Skin, White Masks, produced in 1952 by Frantz Fanon is an iconic piece of decolonization literature in which he speaks out against the physical, psychological, social, and economic effects of colonialism in Africa and evaluations of his work have continually evolved throughout the last 70 years. From 1952 to 1960, evaluations of his book was mostly confined in France, then in 1960 to 1968 his work was actively used in America as a guide on achieving political freedom for African Americans and analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and by 1990 onward, his book has been used to analyze …

Comparing Geostatistical Methods On Flood Risk To Infrastructure In Southeast Asia Using Google Street View Imagery: A Master’S Thesis, Christopher S. Aime

Theses and Dissertations

Urban flooding poses a serious challenge to development and the lives of people, particularly the residents of the rapidly expanding towns and cities in developing countries. Floods affect people's livelihood in Southeast (SE) Asia, ranging from death and injury to damaged homes, infrastructures, and agricultural land. In addition, floods expose infrastructure to more risks of structural damage, wearing them out, and aging them quickly, thus increasing maintenance and replacement costs.

Presented study found associations between such infrastructure elements as sill height, floors, building structures (e.g., attached vs. detached), slope, drainage, land-use, and street conditions. The study used Mechanical Turk method …

Indigenous Language Revitalization: Success, Sustainability, And The Future Of Human Culture, Grace Lewis

Capstone Showcase

This thesis looks at different styles of Indigenous language revitalization programs and seeks to delineate the three most successful characteristics seen across differing designs in an effort to promote the presence of these characteristics in existing programs. The literature analyzed outlines three main schools of thought: first, that language-based education is the most effective program design, second, that language-based education is only effective if it is directed and driven by the community it serves, and third, that culture-based education is the most effective design. The data rejects the idea that one design is superior to another, and instead presents three …

A Culture Of Institutional Racism: Housing Policies During The New Deal, Breyonna J. Bowen

Capstone Showcase

There currently exists a distressed relationship between African Americans and housing due to previously enacted policies. In looking at this issue, I aim to use the theory of institutional racism to explain how past housing policies that enforce and perpetuate discrimination have impacted this current relationship. Through the method of policy analysis, I attempt to pinpoint where past housing policies have failed to provide housing to many African Americans. I find that there are several policies that were enacted during 1930s and 40s, specifically the New Deal Era, that inflicted discriminatory housing policies on African Americans. The findings indicate that …

Colonialism And The African States: A Case Study, Amivi Koudossou

Capstone Showcase

Colonialism has influenced the development of states on the African continent. This study examines the extent to which colonialism affects the economic growth and the political democratic development of two former British colonies: Kenya and Nigeria. Two theories, Dependency Theory and Neopatrimonialism Theory, argue that institutions, whether economic or political, established during the colonial period impact modern African states' economic and governmental development. Using pattern matching, I operationalized several variables of study such as economic underdevelopment, functioning democracy, power dynamics, and Settler and Non-settler colonial institutions. The results suggest that government corruption, lack of transparency in elections, poor security forces, …

The Program To Reduce Implicit Bias In Carroll Hospital Center Using The Implicit Association Test, Katherine E. Traynor

Capstone Showcase

Natural brain processes make all individuals susceptible to unconscious bias; however, stressful, fearful, or anger-evoking situations as well as the negative influence of media and social surroundings increase the risk of holding obstructive bias, and there is a greater risk of being negatively impacted by this phenomenon when belonging to a minority population (Rose & Flores, 2020). As a result, high rates of infant mortality (10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births for the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 4.1 in the White population) and cardiovascular related diseases (190.0 cases per 1,000 in the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 161.3 in …

“I’Ve Never Met Another Person With This Identity”: The Experiences Of Abrosexual Individuals On Tiktok, Eleanor Doughton

Capstone Showcase

Abrosexuality can be defined by an individual experiences changes in their perception of their sexuality; for instance, an abrosexual person could find themselves to be exclusively attracted to women for a time, and then experiences no sexual attraction months later. Unlike sexual identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, abrosexuality has not been previously studied. Previous research shows that social media and online sites provide spaces for positive identity development and support for gender and sexual minority individuals. Since abrosexuality had not been previously studied, it is important to ask about the experiences of abrosexual individuals on social media. …

Symbolic Compliance Is Dangerous: Perceptions Of Sexual Assault And The Effectiveness Of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs, Anastasia Hicks-Hunter

Capstone Showcase

College campuses are considered safe havens for students, yet, sexual assault is a prevalent public safety issue for all students. Sexual assault is unwanted or non-consensual sexual activity that is inflicted upon the victim. Sexual assault survivors are put through a life-changing experience that causes negative holistic behaviors, which requires understanding, support, and legal action for them to achieve justice. In my research paper, I am exploring the perceptions of female college survivors of sexual assault and the effectiveness of sexual assault prevention programs.

Impact Of Early Life Stress And Cannabidiol On Behavior And Corticosterone Levels In Male And Female Rats, Marina Yacoub

Capstone Showcase

Organisms must maintain homeostasis that is regulated internally and externally. Fluctuation in homeostasis causes stress. Corticosterone, the main stress hormone in rodents, increases following exposure to acute stressors, such as being placed in a restrainer. However, early developmental experiences including maternal separation shape the development of the stress response into adulthood and impact the expression of depressive and anxiety-like behaviors. Many factors can shape the body's response to stress, for example, a rodent's previous exposure to a past stressor can affect their present behavior. Several studies have shown that female rats have lower or no changes in corticosterone levels compared …

Is It Worth It? Evaluating An Open Educational Resources Awards Program, Ashley Sergiadis, Philip Smith

ETSU Faculty Works

Awards or grant programs are a common way for higher education institutions to incentivize the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and other affordable course materials. This study evaluates the results of a two-year pilot OER awards program at East Tennessee State University. To assess the awards program, we used data from student savings and program costs, grades, drop-fail-withdrawal (DFW) rates, and survey results compiled within the COUP framework (Cost, Outcomes, Usage, and Perception). The initial monetary return on investment was moderately positive, while the grades and DFW rates remained steady. The faculty and students rated the open and affordable …

Effect Of Communication And Time Spent With Children On The Parenting Difficulties Of Single Parents In Korea, Ki Jeong Park

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This research aims to analyze the effect of the time spent with children and the degree of communication with children on the difficulties of parenting children by single parents in Korea. As for the single parents' parenting difficulties, economic hardships have been widely discussed. However, not many studies examined other psychosocial factors between single parents and children, such as the problem of communication between parents and children and the lack of time spent with parents and children, despite their importance in parenting children. This study claims that the focus of public policies, governmental support, and non-profit organizations' roles to resolve …