Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Eurovision As A Platform For Cultural Diplomacy In Times Of Conflict, Lucy Meza

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines how states utilize the Eurovision Song Contest as a platform for soft power, focusing on the conditions under which cultural performance translates into reputational gains. Drawing on Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power, Biasioli’s theory of songwashing, Zamorano’s typology of cultural diplomacy, Anholt’s competitive identity framework, and Feklyunina’s analysis of identity and narrative, it argues that Eurovision’s effectiveness as a soft power platform is fundamentally contingent on the alignment between a state’s cultural narrative and dominant international perceptions of its legitimacy. Through a qualitative comparative case study approach, the thesis examines two nations whose Eurovision participation during …

The Jamaica That Dreams: A Normative Application Of Developmental Theory, Tamoy Pitt

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines Jamaica’s persistent underdevelopment through Martha Nussbaum's normative application of the capabilities approach as per her conception in Creating Capabilities. Through this approach, the paper will argue that Jamaica’s underdevelopment is a result of the failure of its domestic institutions to provide all citizens with the substantive freedoms and capabilities necessary to live lives of dignity. Originally detailed by Amartya Sen in his book Development as Freedom, the capabilities approach posits freedom as both the means and ends to development while rejecting contemporary approaches to development such as GDP, Utilitarianism, or Rawlsian resource-based approaches as insufficient frameworks for …

Le Parcours Des Travailleurs Immigrants Blessés Et Son Incidence Sur L’Alliance Thérapeutique : Une Étude De Cas Longitudinale En Contexte De Réadaptation Au Travail Au Québec, Maude Arsenault, Jessica Dubé, Daniel Côté

Études primaires

Cette étude explore l’incidence du parcours prélésionnel des travailleuses et travailleurs immigrants (TI) blessés sur l’alliance thérapeutique (AT) en réadaptation au travail. À partir d’une ethnographie longitudinale menée dans une clinique québécoise, sept trajectoires ont été analysées selon leurs dimensions migratoires, socioprofessionnelles et linguistiques. Les résultats montrent que le déclassement professionnel, la précarité de l’emploi, les barrières linguistiques et les expériences de racisme fragilisent la construction du lien de confiance et la définition partagée des objectifs de retour au travail. Lorsque l’emploi prélésionnel est perçu comme transitoire ou inadéquat, l’obligation institutionnelle d’y retourner crée une rupture symbolique qui entre en …

Bridging The Knowledge-Practice Gap In Breast Cancer Awareness: A Nationwide Online Cross-Sectional Kap Study Among Adult Females In Nigeria, Madinat Hassan, Taofeek Tope Adegboyega, Bilkisu Usman Farouk, Sunday Zeal Bala, Rachael Olufunmilayo Oduyemi, Kazeem Owolabi, Munir Sani, Miracle Uwa Livinus, Hannatu Usman Ayuba, Sadiq Hassan, Ifeyinwa Maureen Okeke, Abednego Shekari, Murtala Jibril

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Background and Aims

Breast cancer (BCa) is a major cause of cancer morbidity and mortality among women in Nigeria, with late presentation contributing to poor outcomes. This study assessed knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to perform breast self-examination (BSE) among adult females in Nigeria and examined associated factors.

Methods

We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional online survey between February 16 and April 30, 2024. A structured, pretested questionnaire was disseminated through digital platforms, yielding 711 consenting adult female respondents from all six geopolitical zones. Knowledge, attitude, and willingness-to-perform-BSE measures were analyzed using descriptive statistics, linear regression, and binary logistic regression. Associations were …

Sociolinguistic Challenges To The Academic Inclusion Of Latin American Immigrants Of Legal Age And Spanish In High Schools In Minnesota: A Qualitative Study On The Learning Of English As A Second Language, Geanella Margarita Ochoa Veloz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research analyzes and exposes the experiences of Latin American adult migrants who, having recently arrived in the United States, have resumed their studies in high schools in the State of Minnesota as a strategy to learn the English language by immersion. The study was based on the contributions of the sociology of migration and the sociology of education, which, incorporating as a methodological strategy “the case study” combined with “the life story”, managed to collect and share reflections regarding the barriers faced by migrants during the process of adaptation and insertion into American society, thus adopting a critical approach. …

Regional Oceanographic Controls On Water Column Nitrogen Fixation In Northern Australian Waters, Douglas G. Capone, Ajit Subramaniam, Yubin Raut, Joseph P. Montoya, Margaret R. Mulholland, Rachel Ann Foster, Miles Furnas, Edward J. Carpenter

OES Faculty Publications

Large blooms of the diazotrophic cyanobacteria, Trichodesmium, have been re-ported along the north coast of Australia and are readily evident in remote sensing images. During a research cruise in November 1999, we sampled from Townsville to Broome, examined Trichodesmium population densities and their rates of carbon and N₂ fixation alongside microscopy-based cell counts of them and other cyanobacte-rial diazotrophs. Additionally, we also enumerated the picophytoplankton community using flow-cytometry, measured bulk chlorophyll concentrations, carbon and N₂ fixation rates, and water column hydrography, enabling comparison of diazotrophic and picophytoplankton functional groups across the system. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis of physicochemical oceanographic …

Symmetry, Presumptions, And The Judges Design, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

An instrumental variables approach called ‘the judges design’ used frequently in social sciences relies on an assumption called ‘average monotonicity’. This assumption pertains to how different judges’ (or other classifiers’) decision making processes relate to each other. Violations of it are hard to detect, which raises the importance of it being supported by a plausible theory. Decisions of judges who solve Bayesian decision problems violate average monotonicity as long as the signals they process are symmetric and they do not possess strong presumptions. This result is extended to cases where judge presumptions are symmetrically distributed and may include strong presumptions. …

Time-Varying, Frequency-Domain, And Quantile Spillovers Across Energy And Financial Markets Under Climate Policy Uncertainty: Evidence From Tvp-Var-Sv, Bk, And Qvar Models, Md Qamruzzaman, Abdulrahman Alomair, Mohammed Alomair, Sylvia Kor

Student Publications [Scholarly]

The study explores how much area is influenced by climate policy uncertainty (CPU), which adjusts the dynamics of volatility and cross-market spillovers among European electricity, energy commodities, carbon markets, and financial assets, thereby explaining the mechanisms affected by the existing sustainability transition. Using high-frequency market data, we combine an econometric architecture linking a time-varying parameter VAR to stochastic volatility, Barunik–Krehlik frequency-domain connectedness, and quantile-VAR methods, thereby enabling the capture of horizon-specific and regime-dependent risk transmission. The discussion shows that the CPU is a structural amplifying agent of market interconnectedness, which has its most substantial impacts in long-horizon and downside regimes. …

Evaluating Spatiotemporal Changes And Predicting Land-Use Dynamics Using An Artificial Neural Network In Worcester City, Massachusetts, Mst Sanjida Alam, Mijanur Rahman, Nusrut Sharmin, Md Naim Molla, Hossain Al Mahbub, Mohammad Muniruzzaman, Md Nadim Rahman, Edris Alam

Student Publications [Scholarly]

The land use and land cover (LULC) change has a remarkable impact on the urban ecosystems due to its effect on the environmental processes, natural resources, and urban sustainability. The aim of this study was to conduct the spatiotemporal analysis of LULC in Worcester City, Massachusetts, and to identify the dynamics of forest cover and justify its causes in the given time range of 2003–2023. LULC classification and forest change detection were done with high-resolution datasets provided by the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The MLP-ANN outperformed logistic regression and achieved higher in overall accuracy percentages and location Kappa values. …

Considerations For A Mind-Body Program For Latine Adults With Chronic Pain And Cognitive Impairment: A Qualitative Study With Healthcare Providers, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Marlene E. Cardoza, Esther Ee Estey, Yoojee Kim, Nicolás A. Alvarez-Frank, Tony V. Pham, Zev Schuman-Olivier, Ana-Maria Vranceanu, Jonathan Greenberg

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Purpose: Chronic pain and cognitive impairment often co-occur and exacerbate each other, with Spanish-speaking Latine adults exhibiting a high prevalence of such comorbidity. While mind-body interventions for this comorbidity show promise, available programs are not tailored to the linguistic and cultural needs of socio-economically disadvantaged Latine adults with cognitive impairment. This study gathered recommendations from healthcare providers to tailor mind-body programs for Latine adults with chronic pain and cognitive impairment. Methods: We conducted six qualitative focus groups with 21 providers and support staff across various healthcare centers. Providers offered their perspectives on the needs, barriers, and general recommendations on tailoring …

Self-Compassion And Sexual Assault Victimization: A Systematic Review, Alexis A. Adams-Clark, Jerin Lee, Lucy W. Naughton, Anna Purcell, Ananya Sharma, Siena Candullo, Kelsey Sawyer, Prachi H. Bhuptani, Lindsay M. Orchowski

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Sexual assault survivors demonstrate substantial resilience, prompting calls for strength-based approaches to understanding recovery. One construct receiving increasing attention is self-compassion (i.e., treating oneself with kindness and understanding in the face of suffering), which may buffer against the negative mental health effects of assault victimization. The current systematic review synthesized data from 31 peer-reviewed studies examining self-compassion, sexual assault exposure, and mental health. Reported in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards and registered in PROSPERO (CRD420250648494), the review included observational and experimental studies assessing sexual assault victimization and self-compassion across the lifespan. Most studies …

Languages Of Marginalization: Educational Inequality And Identity Formation Among Rohingya Refugees In Bangladesh, Md Khalid Rahman

Sustainability and Social Justice

This research paper investigates how language-of-instruction policies shape educational inequality and identity formation among Rohingya refugee children living in protracted displacement in Cox’ Bazar, Bangladesh. Analyzed from a human right–based framework, the study examines whether existing educational policies align with international legal standards on the right to education, including the UDHR, ICESCR, Child Convention and SDG 4. While these frameworks guarantee non-discriminatory and inclusive access to education, the reality in Cox’s Bazar reveals a persistent gap between normative commitments and policy implementation. Moreover, the study explores how the exclusion of both the host language (Bangla) and the native Rohingya language …

Community Resources For Older Adults With Age-Related Disabilities And Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review, Oejin Shin, Sojung Park, Soobin Park, Sarah Sunghye Kang, Sunghei Han, Eunsun Kwon, Seoyeon Ahn, Borin Kim

Faculty Publications - Social Work

Community resources are essential for supporting older adults with disabilities and chronic conditions, yet how these resources are conceptualized and evaluated across the empirical literature remains unclear. This scoping review synthesizes U.S.-based research on community resources for older adults with age-related disabilities and chronic conditions, guided by the PAGER framework. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science, ultimately including 21 peer-reviewed studies. Findings reveal four primary resource domains: healthcare-based services, home- and community-based services (HCBS), behavioral health supports, and environmental or structural resources. Accessibility and utilization emerged as the most consistently examined dimensions, while quality …

End-Of-Life Resources And Place Of Death By Community-Based Housing Type, Sojung Park, Borin Kim, Oejin Shin, Jihye Baek, Byeongju Ryu

Faculty Publications - Social Work

As chronic conditions dominate mortality trends, the place of death has emerged as a key marker of end-of-life (EoL) care quality. Although many older adults wish to die at home, structural barriers often lead to institutional deaths, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. This study investigates how housing types, defined by economic status, affordability, and congregate features, affect place of death in older adults. Drawing on National Health and Aging Trends Study data (N = 3,145), we examine links between housing type, EoL resource access, unmet needs, and death location. Residents of Subsidized Senior Housing (SSH) report more formal support yet …

Improving Racialization Research: A Post-Publication Peer Review Of Shoub Et Al. (2026), L.J. Zigerell

Faculty Publications – Politics and Government

Analyses assessing whether a particular phenomenon has been racialized often use only one measure of racial attitudes at a time. However, simultaneous use of independent measures of attitudes about more than one relevant racial group can produce a better understanding about the nature of racialization. To illustrate this, an analysis of American National Election Studies data indicated that, among White adult U.S. citizens in 2020, ratings about the U.S. Supreme Court associated with racial resentment and with the difference in feeling thermometer ratings about Whites and Blacks. But when these feeling thermometer ratings were included in the same analysis as …

50 State Survey On “Harmful To Minors” Laws And Library Exemptions/Defenses, Rebecca A. Mattson, Shay Elbaum, Amanda Mccormick, Dan Sawall, Victoria Tokar, Eric Yap

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.