Development Studies Commons^™

The Effect Of Education On Poverty, Phyllis Shen '21, Emily Shao '21, Jaden Wang '21, Ore Ferguson '21

Student Leadership Exchange (SLX)

Throughout America, poverty can be one of the major differences that separate many groups in urban, rural, and suburban areas. This wide poverty can be attributed to many factors, including living environment, demographics, and industry. However, one of the most prominent factors is the education level of the populations living in different levels of poverty. We have taken a look of the poverty rates in different areas of Illinois, and giving the education level that is around each area, we determined how it impacts the residents’ overall poverty level in areas of different educational accesses offered. We propose some solutions …

Reproductive Rights Reformation, Sharanya Choudhury '21, Isabella Foes '21, William Hamblen '21

Student Leadership Exchange (SLX)

Across the US, reproductive health is neglected in mainstream health education and insurance for women of all ages.Though it’s easy to get stuck debating the morality of abortion, the legality has been indisputable since Roe v Wade. Abortion is extremely prevalent in society, as there are roughly 12 abortions for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. Planned Parenthood caters to 2.4 million patients annually. With this importance of sexual health care in society, proper reproductive education is essential. However, only 13 states in the US require medically accurate information in their school sexual education programs. Major …

Challenges To Effective Monitoring And Evaluation Systems: Lessons From Afghanistan, Qudratullah Jahid

Sustainability and Social Justice

How can monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems better support improving the aid effectiveness? What are the existing challenges to the M&E systems in Afghanistan? I try to answer these questions by briefly looking at the development aid in Afghanistan since 2001. I provide summary of attempts made at improving aid effectiveness through mutual accountability frameworks. I then try to briefly discuss the principles of Paris Declaration and provide brief insights from Afghanistan. I then discuss the status of monitoring and evaluation in Afghanistan by providing a picture functional M&E system and then discussing the existing challenges in Afghanistan. Finally, I …

The Relevance And Adequacy Of Youth Development As Part Of The National Development Agenda: Reflection Of Malawi, Siphiwe S. Komwa

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study examines the relevance and adequacy of Malawi’s youth development policies and programs for the country’s young people. The youth of Malawi face a systemic burden including poor coordination of their policies, strategies and programs; inadequate funding; misappropriation of funds; and politicization of their programs. This hinders youth active involvement and progress of youth development. The study aims to identify the gaps that exist despite the availability of the policies and programs using a mixed method desk research drawing its findings from multiple data sources including the Malawi Ministry of Youth, Labor, Sports and Manpower Development; the Malawi Parliament …

A Study On The Reflections Of Women And Men On A Women’S Empowerment Project: A Case Study Of Sindhuli, Nepal, Shreyasha Khadka

Sustainability and Social Justice

Women empowerment and gender equality are considered key aspects of achieving sustainable development goals. At the same time, the empowerment of women is also a process of change that enables women to build capacity in order to make life choices and act on them. Central to women empowerment is incorporating men into the process. Men should be included to deliver effective empowerment through collaboration and interdependence and to understand how women empowerment works in a patriarchal setting. Women’s economic empowerment such as Rural Economic Empowerment Project (RWEE) strives to empower and improve the status of rural women in Nepal. This …

The Importance Of Multiple Narrative Spirituality In Child Development Of Morality In A Pluralistic Society, Jamie Mckeithen

Senior Theses

With the assumption that humans are innately spiritual, I investigate research regarding the development of spirituality that takes place from childhood to adulthood. Over the past 30 years, James Fowler has called upon Erikson’s and Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages of children, in order to understand their spiritual development phases. When reading the myths and origin stories of spiritual belief systems, the commonality found within all of these narratives is the persistent focus on underlying morality. When utilizing stories as a way to teach spiritual morality, children are easily able to recognize and go back to these basic narratives, using their …

Relationship Between Joint Attention And Language In Multiparous And Uniparous Households, Hannah C. Manis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study was designed to examine differences in the effect of the number of children in the household (also known as “parity”) on the relationship between initiating joint attention (IJA) and language development. We reasoned that infants who are only children (i.e., in uniparous homes), relative to infants who have one or more siblings (i.e., in multiparous homes), would have more opportunity to engage in IJA, and would, therefore, acquire a larger number of object labels. We tested the hypotheses that: 1) there would be a positive correlation between the number of IJA bids and language overall, and 2) …

Developing A Creative Learning Format For Street Children, Shazina Masud

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Developing a Creative Learning Format for Street Children

As the number of street children grow globally, governments and UN agencies are looking at solutions to cater to their needs of shelter, health and safety. Efforts to provide formal education to street children are not always successful. This project hypothesizes that equipping these children with essential knowledge in an informal but creative learning environment will allow them to live safe and productive lives. The prototype of the creative learning format is based on approaches and tools that have worked with children in other settings and has been modified for street children. …

Juggling Junior Year: The Junior Leadership Experience, Natascha Borgstein

Senior Honors Projects

In 2017, the Center for Student Leadership Development (CSLD) piloted a program entitled Sophomore Breakthrough Experience as an incentive for students to become interested in leadership and pursue a leadership minor. Along with the specific Freshman year and Senior year courses and programs that were already offered by the CSLD, Junior year was then the only year without a main CSLD event. Therefore, I helped design and execute a program specifically for the Juniors at URI. For many students, Junior year represents a shift in focus that can be especially stressful. Many important decisions need to be made and skills …

The Association Between Fruit And Vegetable Consumption And Mental Health Among Young Adults, Natalie Miller

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

While the majority of the American population is aware that fruits and vegetables can improve physical health, research also suggests that mental health may benefits as well. With depression and anxiety rates increasing and fruit and vegetable consumption decreasing across the country there is potential that the two are related. It has been found that majority of American adults do not meet fruit and vegetable recommendations, while 16 million adults face depression and anxiety. Young adults reported the lowest amount of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety. The purpose of …

Remaking Identities, Reworking Graduate Study : Stories From First-Generation-To-College Rhetoric And Composition Phd Students On Navigating The Doctorate., Ashanka Kumari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation responds to the decreasing number of first-generation-to-college doctorates in the humanities and the limited scholarship on graduate students in Rhetoric and Composition. Scholars in Rhetoric and Composition have long been invested in discussions of academic and/or disciplinary enculturation, yet these discussions primarily focus on undergraduate students, with few studies on graduate students and far fewer on the doctoral students training to become the next wave of a profession. In this dissertation, I argue that if we engage intersectional identities as assets in the design of doctoral programs, access to higher education and academic enculturation can become more manageable …

Developing Information On Mental Health And Counseling Services, Katherine Bustamante

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Taylor Farms Center for Learning (TFCFL) is an afterschool program, which is located in East Salinas, serving primarily 76% of Hispanic and Latino children and families. Providing various programs to break down barriers for children to experience success. Every year in the United States, up to 20% of children and youth experience a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder but nearly half of all children receive no mental health services. Due to this few agency-sponsored services address this health issue and TFCFL wants to make sure they are offering the right kind of services for their community. This research project will …

Increasing Adult's Awareness Of The Importance Of End-Of-Life Care Discussions, Taylor Gardner

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For many American families, end-of-life care is often not discussed, until advanced illness or injury has fully disrupted everyday life. There are many benefits to discussing end-of-life care prior to any medical complications. Research has shown that individuals who plan their end-of-life processes with a hospice service provider and family members report a higher quality of death than individuals receiving common health care during their final six months of life. In order to make families and friends more comfortable with end-of-life discussions, I will conduct two one-hour educational sessions to students at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Do Private Household Transfers To The Elderly Respond To Public Pension Benefits? Evidence From Rural China, Plamen Nikolov, Alan Adelman

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Aging populations in developing countries have spurred the introduction of public pension programs to preserve the standard of living for the elderly. The often-overlooked mechanism of intergenerational transfers, however, can dampen these intended policy effects, as adult children who make income contributions to their parents could adjust their behavior in response to changes in their parents’ income. Exploiting a unique policy intervention in China, we examine using a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) approach how a new pension program impacts inter vivos transfers. We show that pension benefits lower the propensity of adult children to transfer income to elderly parents in the context …

Exploration In The Association Of Authoritative Parenting And Adolescent’S Success In A Junior College Honors Program, Kassandra Mariel Soledad

Undergraduate Research Conference

The presented study examines authoritative parenting and its associations with an adolescent's success. There is a significant gap in the knowledge in regard to the impact of parental tough love on adolescents. It is important to determine the answer to the problem because it could help fill the significant gap in the knowledge. This research will help determine if an authoritative parenting style is effective in making an adolescent successful. It can help a parent decide how to or not to raise their children. The evidence found in this study can also be used to help inform parents of the …

Descriptive To Substantive Representation: A Study Of Gender Quotas In The National Assembly Of Pakistan, 2002-2018, Ameena Zia

Dissertations

Women’s political representation is linked to the empowerment of women in society. In efforts to alleviate women’s disenfranchisement from the political discourse, the international development framework included gender quotas as mechanisms to facilitate an increase in the presence of women in parliaments. Existing research has examined the link between Hanna F. Pitkin’s conceptualization of descriptive representation and substantive representation with a focus on performative measures of women parliamentarians. This longitudinal study expands the scope of existing inquiry and captures the transformational change in power relations as an outcome of the increase in women members of parliaments. This research provides an …

Self-Regulation: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Preschool-Age Children, Sam J. Fugate

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Self-regulation predicts school readiness and consists of “cool” and “hot” self regulation. “Cool” self-regulation is characterized by inhibition of a dominant response, working memory, and set shifting. “Hot” self-regulation involves inhibition, shifting attention, and regulation of emotion in arousing situations. In this study, self-regulation was measured in 80 preschool-age children (3-5 years). Two “cool” tasks (Pencil Tap and Day/Night) were coded for percent correct, and the other two “cool” tasks (Dimensional Change Card Sort and Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders) were coded for total score. The “hot” task (Snack Delay) was coded for compliance to task demands (no touching of snack/materials until timer beeped …

Asking For Help In College, Brett Middleton, Chris Storath

Counseling Concepts and Applications for Student Affairs Professionals (CNS 577)

One of the biggest challenges students face throughout their college career, especially during their early years, is knowing who and when to ask for help. This often causes students to slide into a state of feeling overwhelmed, unbalanced, and hopeless. All too often students feel as though they need to figure out everything on their own resulting in devastating effects on their physical, mental, and academic well-being. This video pamphlet aims to show the importance of building relationships with both peers and professionals on campus and surrounding oneself with those of whom they are not afraid to ask for help …

Juntar Todos Los Recursos: Los Obstáculos Y Las Oportunidades Del Financiamiento De Las Oscs En Argentina, Yanting (Jane) Yang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El enfoque de este informe es la situación del financiamiento de las OSCs en Argentina. Las OSCs (Organizaciones de Sociedad Civil) pertenecen al sector que trabaja en el campo entre el sector gubernamental y el sector privada. Trabajan para fines públicos, son autónomas y actúan sin fines de lucro. Las OSCs en Argentina generalmente juntan sus fondos principales a través de los siguientes métodos: fondos de las ONGs internacionales; fondos de las empresas; fondos de los donantes individuales. Sin embargo, dependiendo del tamaño y la reputación de cada OSC, tienen fondos de escalas diferentes (Klugman et al). Para ilustrar, las …

Las Buenas Vibras Y El Buen Vivir El ‘Desarrollo’ Turístico Por La Ruta Del Sol, Devon Hornberger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En Montañita, Ecuador, el turismo constituye el principal motor de crecimiento económico, lo que se considera el ‘desarrollo’. Este turismo tiene un carácter particular – bohemio, hippie, escapista — que aprovecha de los discursos de la sostenibilidad y el ‘capitalismo verde’. Este proyecto intenta poner en conversación estos tipos de discursos desarrollistas con las perspectivas locales sobre como el turismo ha afectado los modos de ser comunitarios. Se concluye que el proyecto modernizador ha plantado unas raíces firmes en Montañita, y se va extendiendo baja la tierra a las otras comunidades por toda la Ruta del Spondylus. Explora unas iniciativas …

Falta De Dirección: Conflictos Dentro Del Movimiento Indígena De La Provincia De Chimborazo, Yann Dardonville

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Desde la llegada de los españoles al Ecuador hace más de quinientos años, la provincia de Chimborazo ha sido la cuna de mucha resistencia y rebelión. Pero es en el último medio siglo que el movimiento indígena ha podido lograr cambios significativos: en primero con la abolición del sistema hacendado; y después, con la ratificación de dos constituciones que reconocen la plurinacionalidad y el modelo social del Sumak Kawsay, entre otras cosas. Sin embargo, en Chimborazo, estos logros han sido acompañados por nuevos conflictos dentro del movimiento. Esta monografía tiene como meta identificar estos nuevos problemas, y utiliza los conceptos …

Río Muchacho: La Interacción Entre Agricultura Orgánica, Educación Ambiental Y Ecoturismo, Tatum Contreras

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El enfoque principal de mi proyecto fue crear un documental sobre cómo Río Muchacho combinada lo orgánico, el ecoturismo y la educación ambiental. Hice mi proyecto en la provincia de Manabí cerca del pueblo Canoa. Documenté y entrevisté a todas las personas involucradas en Río muchacho- de los dueños, a los visitantes. Empecé mi proyecto el 8 de abril y terminé con la filmación y las entrevistas el 26 de abril. En la primera semana trabajé en la finca orgánica de 7 de la mañana hasta las 4 de la tarde. Las dos otras semanas trabajé de 7 a la …

The Process Of Conducting Socioeconomic Research In Vietnam: An Internship With The Development And Policies Research Center (Depocen), Kira Le

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As Vietnam continues its rapid development, its government and people will be increasingly reliant on research organizations such as the Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN) to study the socioeconomic issues that demand to be addressed in the interest of the sustainable development of the country. DEPOCEN is an independent research organization that has studied issues ranging from poverty and gender equality, to business & investment environment and trade liberalization. Since its establishment in 2005, DEPOCEN has developed collaborative relationships with many other research institutions like Oxford Economics and the Korean Institute of Economic Policy, and has offered its services …

“In Principle” Versus “In Reality”: Assessing The Potential Of Adaptive Urban Governance Toward Urban Flooding In Ho Chi Minh City’S District 7, Cindy Pham Nguyen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Flooding has become the new normal in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). During the rainy season, many areas of the city experience severe inundation that seriously impacts infrastructure, traffic, and economic transactions. As the effects of climate change unpredictably and rapidly manifest in Southern Vietnam, the frequency and impact of urban floods are projected to increase. In addition, within the last few decades, HCMC has rapidly developed and urbanized, transforming itself into the economic center of Southern Vietnam. However, previous studies and international experts have determined that rapid, poor development may be exacerbating urban flood issues.

In recent years, city …

Regenerative Grazing And The Benefits Of Livestock On Soils In Northern New South Wales, Raymond Mooney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conventional cattle grazing has received criticism for environmental degradation in the past. Regenerative grazing and the principles of regenerative agriculture show encouraging signs that proper livestock management and planned grazing can reverse degradation and mitigate climate change. An emphasis on soil health and increasing soil carbon and organic matter levels reveals positive feedback for environmental health, the economic security of farmers, and nutritional health of consumers.

In this study I looked to investigate the benefits of regenerative agriculture, reasons why it is being practiced, and the extent it is practiced within the grazing in comparison to traditional methods within Northern …

Nationalizing Services For The Trans-National: How Sub-Saharan Migrants Navigate Healthcare Access In Tunisia, Batoul Hasan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The right to human health and the resources that empower this state is an entitlement recognized under international law. With the circumstances surrounding their journeys, migrants face increased risks and vulnerabilities that necessitate social protections. Nations of reception, due to exclusionary policies or lack of capacity, may fail to guarantee these protections. This study investigates how this phenomenon unfolds in Tunisia, a middle-income nation undergoing a host of political and economic changes, but one that’s nonetheless become an alluring destination for migrants, specifically those from sub-Saharan African nations. The analysis proceeds from an assessment of the public health situation in …

Youth Empowerment Programs In Jordan: Access And Equality, Mingyang (Linda) Zhang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research question for this study is to investigate the role of youth empowerment programs in providing equitable access for students at public and private schools in Jordan. Given the differences in education cost, quality, and outcomes between public and private schools; students are exposed to different levels of engagement opportunities within school systems. At the same time, the youth population is the engine of Jordan’s future growth. Understanding the role of external youth empowerment program providers is important to further education quality and equity.

The research includes six interviews with program providers and survey results from University of Jordan. …

Facilitating Social Change: Bridging Participatory Methodology With Training Design To Support Equitable Community Development In Kent, Washington. A Journey Of Learning And Development., Folake Oyegbola

Capstone Collection

Including community members in decisions that affect their lives is an agreed upon practice in participatory development. When exercised without attention to key details like defining the need for a participatory approach, understanding the history of a given community, and how this all influences training design, it can be used to uphold inequitable development practices. This Training Course-linked Capstone combined participatory development approaches with training theory and design to support my growth as a development professional and facilitator. Through this study, I sought to support the Kent Community Development Collaborative’s efforts to encourage diverse participation of Kent residents on a …

A Framework For Cooperative Housing In Portland, Me: Lessons From 13 Existing Cooperative Houses In The U.S., Cyndi Gacosta

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Cooperative housing may be a viable and financially-sound alternative for individuals and families of low to moderate income, as Portland, Maine’s downtown area becomes gentrified raising property values to unaffordable heights. Of the 13,546 family households in Portland, 8.7% earn below $25,000, which for an average family of four $24, 250¹ is considered to be in poverty, and 18.4% earn between $25,000 and $50,000. Meanwhile, 13.2% of the 16, 561 non-family households are below the poverty line, and 27.5% earn between $25,000 and $50,000 (US Census Bureau, 2014).

As it becomes increasingly difficult for low to moderate income earners …

Humanitarian Negotiations & Humanitarian Principles: The Interaction Between Humanitarian Negotiations For Access And Organizations' Ability To Adhere To Humanitarian Principles, Gabriela Gil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aim: To examine how do humanitarian organizations apply, or fail to apply, the humanitarian principles through humanitarian negotiations in modern conflict settings.

Methods: A literature review identified relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature on international humanitarian norms and law, the landscape of modern conflict, and existing guidelines on humanitarian negotiations. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in humanitarian negotiations chosen on the basis of their relevant background. A coded analysis of these interviews was conducted to identify major themes and subthemes in responses.

Background: Multiple international mechanisms outline the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and States, non-State …