Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Youth Victimization And Early Adult Fatalism, Kaitlyn Stearns, Lindsay Leban

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Spring Expo Online Oral Presentation

• Social & Behavioral Sciences

El Desarrollo Integral En La Escuela De Formación De Independiente Del Valle, Faith Specter

Ecuador: Development, Politics, and Languages

Esta monografía trata del método de desarrollo integral en la escuela de formación del club de fútbol profesional Independiente del Valle, ubicada en Sangolquí, Ecuador. El club se concentra mucho en la formación desde una perspectiva holística, enfatizando el crecimiento personal y académico en conjunto con la superación deportiva. A través de observaciones de las actividades cotidianas dentro del club y entrevistas con personas que trabajan para ello, se presentan varias manifestaciones de estos métodos holísticos. En particular, se destacan la autonomía y la individualidad como fundamentos de los procesos educativos. Luego, las distinciones entre las experiencias de los chicos …

Islas (Des)Encantadas: Dudosa Conmemoración Y Preguntas De Cultura En La Joya De Ecuador, Emma Vonder Haar

Ecuador: Development, Politics, and Languages

Esta monografía se enfoca en la historia humana de Isla Isabela, Galápagos, Ecuador, específicamente en la memoria pública y social de la colonia penal. Después de la salida de la base militar americana en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el gobierno ecuatoriano creó la colonia penal, la cual existió entre 1946 y 1959. Esta colonia era conocida por los castigos horribles, como la construcción del Muro de las Lágrimas, y las muchas muertes de los presos. Después de una sublevación, la colonia penal se terminó y el Parque Nacional Galápagos se formó. Hoy en día, no hay mucha conmemoración de la …

La Lucha Palestina En El Muro: Archivando El Arte Callejero Propalestina En Santiago, Chile, Sofia Nikté Lopez-Aleshire

Chile: Cultural Identity, Social Justice, and Community Development

Chile is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora community outside of the Arab world. This cultural presence is heavily reflected in Chile’s visual culture, particularly through politically charged street art. This paper contextualizes the history of the Palestinian diaspora in Chile as well as evolution of muralism as a political tool in the country to analyze how Santiago’s contemporary street art expresses solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for territory and self-determination. While pro-Palestinian art is gaining recognition in the Chilean academic sphere through gallery and institutional spaces, street art remains significantly underrepresented. Due to its physical vulnerability as an impermanent …

Marine Animalia Diversity And Coral Reef Condition At Big Creek Beach And Boca Del Drago, Bocas Del Toro, Panamá: A Decade Of Change, Lucy Cornett

Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation

As the oceans’ largest biological structure, coral reefs provide vital ecosystem services, including coastline production, food production, tourism, and preservation of biodiversity. The calm waters provided by the Bocas del Toro archipelago protection from the Caribbeans Sea promotes many coral reefs because of the calmer waters caused by protection from the Caribbean Sea. While many reefs are present, increases in tourism and other anthropogenic threats make monitoring the health of these coral reefs and the diversity of marine organisms of the utmost importance. This study examines the percent substrate cover and the diversity and density marine organisms of two coral …

Impacts Of The 2024 Coral Bleaching Event On Reef Fish Biodiversity, Misali Island, Zanzibar, Louisa Blakely

Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management

Coral reefs are critical ecosystems that support roughly a quarter of all marine life, yet they are increasingly under threat from climate change. In spring 2024, Misali Island—a well-conserved reef site off the coast of Pemba, Tanzania—experienced one of the most severe coral bleaching events since the global mass bleaching of 1998. This study investigates how the most recent bleaching event has affected fish biodiversity around Misali. Survey data collected through underwater transects revealed that, despite the bleaching, overall biodiversity remains high. This points to a degree of ecological resilience in the reef system. However, a low presence of corallivorous …

Reimagining The Rijksmuseum: A Decolonial Future, Paige Abrey

Netherlands: International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender

This paper explores how the Rijksmuseum is practising decoloniality and to what extent it is sincere. Through evaluating exhibitions, curatorial choices, and community engagement, I examine how the museum navigates questions of colonialism, responsibility, and representation. Ultimately, while there have been clear efforts to engage with decolonial practices, such as rethinking the labelling of artworks and creating space for previously ignored narratives, these changes also highlight the challenges of making meaningful steps forward within the dominant structures and frameworks that reinforce the colonial narrative. This research highlights the complexities and nuances of practising decolonial work in a museum space, and …

The Mikvah And The Menstrual Other: Shame, Spirituality, Sexuality, And Contradiction In Jewish Ritual And Modern Art, Molly Greenwold

Netherlands: International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender

The Amsterdam Jewish Museum’s exhibit “Sex: Jewish Positions” creates a crucial space for modern art to reflect, comment, and expand on ancient Jewish rituals. One such ritual is the ideologically fraught space of the mikvah: a Jewish bath house for spiritual cleansing. This ritual deals with the abject Menstrual Other who is both unclean and infectious, but also spiritually elevated. The Menstrual Other is cleansed by the mikvah and then brought back into society via prescribed but pleasurable sex. Using three pieces of contemporary art on display at the Amsterdam Jewish Museum, Five Plus Seven by Hagit Molgan, Kit for …

Take Me To Church: Transmasculinity In Gay Male Erotic Space, Kurt Mclaughlin

Netherlands: International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender

No abstract provided.

Water And Sanitation: Community Perceptions Of Health Practices And Interventions In Nyalenda, Kisumu County, Western Kenya, Virginia Rostick

Kenya: Global Health and Human Rights

Due to the lasting effects of Kenya’s colonial history, poor sanitation and water treatment practices that increase the spread of water-borne diseases are still ravaging informal settlements across the country. While there are currently many projects and health interventions in place to help mitigate these issues, addressing the root cause of sanitation inequities calls for policy initiatives and requires a collaborative, community-based approach to decision making. Toresearch how NGO projects and health interventions could better approach community outreach within the peri-urban community of Nyalenda, this largely descriptive study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate community practices and perceptions …

Exploring The Urban-Rural Divide: Diabetes And Malnutrition In Kisumu Communities, Elizabeth H. Kohler

Kenya: Global Health and Human Rights

No abstract provided.

The Gaps Between The Pillars And Practice: Prevention Of And Responses To Gender Based Violence In South Africa, Madeleine Morrison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates how gender-based violence (GBV) is understood, prevented, and responded to in South Africa, with a focus on national frameworks, institutional practices, and broader sociopolitical dynamics. Grounded in feminist, decolonial, and intersectional methodologies, the research draws primarily from document and discourse analysis—centered on the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF)—alongside a written interview with a professional working in the gender justice field. Despite outreach to over 40 individuals and organizations, direct participation was limited, reflecting wider issues of burnout, institutional gatekeeping, and resource constraints in the GBV sector.

The findings reveal that while …

Understanding The Born Free Generation: Perceptions Of Freedom And Identity, Ashley Grandberry

South Africa: Multiculturalism and Human Rights

The end of apartheid promised unity and justice, but many South Africans born after 1994, known as the Born Free generation, feel those promises were mostly symbolic (Malila, 2015; Bowers et al., 2021; Statistics South Africa, 2021; Jordaan et al., 2022). Despite growing up in a "free" South Africa, the Black and Coloured population has inherited deep economic and social inequalities, faces high unemployment, and is often dismissed by older generations as lazy and ungrateful. For many, freedom feels more like a performance by the government than a lived reality. In this project, I interviewed two Born Frees and found …

What Is Order? An Exploration Of Exchange And Mobility Within The Streets Of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Quentin L. Messer Iii

Cameroon: Development and Social Change

This paper explores how order materializes as people, vehicles, and resources exchange on Yaoundé’s streets. Using qualitative and descriptive research approaches, it draws on primary data from interviews with prominent groups of informal sector actors, street vendors, and taxi drivers, as well as observations conducted throughout Yaoundé. The study also includes a literature review of twelve scholarly articles that assemble a robust foundational understanding of how “order” has been influenced and adapted within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past fifty years. The study reveals that kinship as a basis for urban order arose due to state distrust and mismanagement of …

Ubuntu: The Spirit Of African Communalism: An Exploration Of Community And Perceptions Of Mental Health In Cameroon, Aïssata Koné

Cameroon: Development and Social Change

This month-long research project focused on elements of African collectivism through the ubuntu philosophy in Cameroonian society as it relates to perceptions of mental health. Taking a mixed-methods approach, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The Metzian Ubuntu Inventory developed by Terblanché-Greef et al. (2023) was used to measure ubuntu. Results show that participants were heavily in alignment with the cultural values outlined by the ubuntu philosophy. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was used to analyze perceptions of mental health in Cameroon. Five major themes of, defining mental health, stress relieving methods, prosocial behavior & communication, the mental …

Do Systems Exist?: A Conversation, Adam Walls, John M. Flach

Books Authored by Wright State Faculty/Staff

“Do Systems Exist? A conversation” is a refreshing and ambitious exploration of systems thinking, framed as a cross-disciplinary dialogue between Adam Walls, a business consultant, and John Flach, a cognitive systems theorist. The book resists the conventions of both academic textbooks and business manuals, opting instead for a conversational format that invites readers to think alongside the authors, rather than simply absorb pre-packaged conclusions.

This strength, however, may also be a limitation for some readers. Those expecting a structured framework or a step-by-step methodology for applying systems thinking in organizations may find themselves adrift in what feels more like a …

Examining Cookstove Use Pemba Island, Tanzania, Mabel Degrandpre

Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management

This study focuses on the realities and perceptions of cookstoves among community members in Pemba. With a secondary focus on how the realities and perceptions of cookstove 2 use intersect with the Community Forest Pemba cookstove initiative. This study is centered in Wete District on Pemba Island Tanzania. Using a qualitative approach with semi structured interviews and biographical sketch methodology 29 total interviews were conducted which illuminated the traditional significance of the three stone fire (TSF), awareness about the health risks of cookstoves, and the impact that the Community Forest Pemba (CFP) cookstove initiate has on community members. Interviewees used …

Agricultural Innovation To Climate Change In Northwest Pemba Island, Margaret Horn

Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management

This study investigates how climate change is reshaping agriculture and food security on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, a region historically known as “The Green Island” for its rich biodiversity and agricultural productivity. Through semi-structured interviews with 11 local farmers and extended participant observation at the farm of government official Amour Juma Mohammed, the research reveals that increasingly erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and prolonged droughts are disrupting traditional planting cycles and reducing crop yields. Farmers report the near disappearance of the vuli rainy season and increasingly severe weather during masika, leading to both water scarcity and crop damage. In response, many have …

Generative Ai And Journalism: Hype, The Always Already New, Hype, And Directions For Scholarly Imagination, Nik Usher

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

This essay pushes against hype about generative AI in both journalism and journalism scholarship. Emergent questions around the black box nature of AI, concerns about information disorder, and problems with the theft of intellectual property are recontextualized with a new focus – one that demands scholars think outside of the newsroom, center the natural and the cultural elements of journalism, and ultimately, remain critical about the always already new of new technologies and powerful companies looking to devalue human labor. A warning is issued about generative AI and journalism more generally, pushing us to study the importance of remembering unequal …

Virtual Bodies, Virtual Worlds (Engl 093a) Final Project, Amanda Licastro

Library Staff Works

For your final project you will use all of the readings and discussions we have had throughout this semester to inspire your own creation: a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) experience intended to teach one of the fictional texts we’ve read. The goal is to educate your audience, particularly to explain or enhance the reading experience through immersive content. You should draw on your own personal experience, criticism of the novel, and other reliable, scholarly sources to write a pitch – and ultimately a formal proposal – for this short extended reality (XR) application. Again, your immersive experience …

The Impact Of Free Course Materials On Study And Financial Habits: A Survey Of Students Taking Z-Courses At Fhsu, Claire Nickerson

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

A z-course is a course that uses zero-cost course materials. In Fall of 2025, a study of students taking z-courses at FHSU was conducted. The goal was to determine how using free course materials affected students’ budgetary and study habits.

Examining Mental Health In Mass Shooters, Christina K. Robison, Brooke Mann

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Mass shootings are defined as shootings that cause 4 or more deaths not including the shooter (excluding those committed in connection to underlying criminal activity, such as gangs or drugs); examples include workplace shootings, school shootings, public shootings, shootings at places of worship, etc. There have been 195 mass shootings since 1966, with 1,398 reported deaths. While several factors influence mass shootings, research points to psychological, sociological, and economic influences. This analysis is over 3 separate studies, having between 172-177 shooters each with the same basic demographics, but separate focuses. Overall, the main focus is looking for patterns that could …

Existencia Y Percepciones De Intercambio Cultural Entre Medicina Mapuche Y Medicina Tradicional China En Araucanía, Chile: Práctica Y Recepción De Cuidado, Bowei Li

Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment

Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, has been documented in Chile since the late 19th century, and since 2006, acupuncture has been formally integrated into the Chilean Ministry of Health (MINSAL) as an “auxiliary” medicine. In spite of the proliferating practice of MTC within Chile, however, very little is known about the state of such practices within the south of Chile, in regions such as La Araucania. Representations of Eastern medicine, such as the advertising of the well-known Chilean tablet Oblea China, show a fascination with traditional Chinese medical practices in relation to the fortitude and health of indigenous peoples of …

Exploring Green Practices, Opportunities And Challenges Facing Tourism And Hospitality Industry For Sustainable Future In Rwanda, Paul Okumu

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

This article examines the complexities surrounding green tourism practices in the global context with particular emphasis on Rwanda as a case study area. This article explores the opportunities presented to stakeholders and the challenges faced in achieving a sustainable future in tourism and hospitality consumption. The study pays keen interest to understanding the interaction between environmental conservation efforts, socio-economic development, and tourism sustainability. Thorough comprehensive literature review, key concepts and theoretical frameworks of green tourism are explored, laying the foundation for the analysis of previous studies on green tourism evolution globally and in developing countries. The study identifies factors influencing …

Long Live The Good King: Arthur’S Niebuhrian Kingship And Pursuit Of Justice In The Once And Future King, Camille Bewley

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

The classic The Once and Future King, written by T.H. White, is a selection of four fantasy novels with one, linear plot: the story of Arthur, the mythological King of England. Reinhold Niebuhr’s book Moral Man and Immoral Society details the Christian realism of a world in need of justice without the ability to achieve perfect application. Through good education, Arthur is well endowed with Niebuhr’s requirements for a functional society: knowledge, honor, wisdom, and compassion. Such king-like qualities make him one of the most influential mythological characters in history, and a grand exemplar for maintaining ethical goals and personal …

Preparing Youth For Careers In Drone Aviation: Evaluating Washington County 4-H Drone Camps, Paul A. Hill, Aubree L. Miller, Katarina J. Aikens

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Drone technology presents growing career opportunities, yet youth access to education in this field remains limited. This study evaluates the Washington County 4-H Drone Camps, which aimed to equip youth in 4^th – 8^th graders with essential knowledge and skills in drone aviation. The Drone Camps focused on competencies such as drone anatomy, FAA regulations, and piloting skills. Evaluation results indicated youth improved in all competency areas after completing the camp. The Washington County 4-H Drone Camps effectively allowed youth to explore drone technologies and prepare them for a possible career pathway.

Sdrc Update (Volume 6, Issue 3), Joanna Cayton

SDRC Publications

No abstract provided.

The Public Utility Regulation Of Dollar General, Olivia R. Sokos

West Virginia Law Review

As food insecurity persists across the country, few solutions have been proposed to address the lack of access to healthy food in rural regions. This Note explores whether public utilities regulation is a theoretical avenue for addressing rural food deserts. The contribution of this Note is to encourage the recognition of healthy food as a critical public good through a modern public utility lens and build solutions to inadequate food access in rural regions by considering the qualities unique to rural populations. One solution proposed herein is to apply a modern public utility framework to dollar stores, ensuring reliable and …

Stars, Stripes, And Pills: The Stock Narratives That Blind, Michelle Wilde Anderson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Five Prairie Reflections On Reviving Rural America, Hannah Haksgaard, Sean Kammer, Travis L. Letellier

West Virginia Law Review

This Essay offers five reflections on Ann E. Eisenberg’s book Reviving Rural America: Toward Policies for Resilience. Each reflection approaches the book from the positionality of writing from rural America, specifically the prairies of South Dakota. Collectively, the reflections cover the politics of voting in a red rural state, policies of local municipal government, the central economic principles in the book, the presence of energy production in rural America, and environmentalism’s relevancy and impact.