Global Studies Commons^™

Semi-Peripheral Whiteness In A Global City: Central And Eastern European Women In Dubai, Hana Rubenstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone examines how Central and Eastern European (CEE) women navigate professional mobility in Dubai and asks to what extent Dubai enables them to bypass the post-socialist stigma attached to their semi-peripheral European identity. Situated at the intersection of migration studies, gender, and critical scholarship on semi-peripheral whiteness, the study addresses the limited attention paid to CEE women as economic actors outside European contexts, where they are often either absorbed into the category of “Western expatriates” or reduced to highly gendered stereotypes. Grounded in a qualitative, interpretivist approach, the study combines digital discourse analysis of 50 publicly accessible LinkedIn profiles …

Negotiating Complementary Pathways In Europe: Faith-Based Actors And Humanitarian Corridors In Italy And Belgium, 2015-2017, David J. Sulewski

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For decades, migration has ranked among the most pressing issues in European domestic and regional politics as the number of forcibly displaced persons seeking protection continues to rise. Complementary Pathways, developed as an alternative to the retrenchment of state-led refugee resettlement and restricted access to asylum, have gained increasing prominence in policy discourse and practice. Existing scholarship often explains their emergence through transnational policy transfer or government-led initiatives. Less attention, however, has been given to cases in which civil society actors initiate and negotiate such policies with the state. This dissertation examines the development of one such model—Humanitarian Corridors—focusing on …

La Maquiladora De Sueños Is Where The “American Dream” Ends: The Socio-Cultural Impact Of Hai(T)Ijuanenses In The United States-México Borderlands, Pedro Aleman Perfecto

Master's Theses

Historically, Tijuana has been the destination for migrants who have been left out from the United States, Mexico, and the rest of the world. The city is at the epicenter of globalization where many transit, leave, and arrive. Sometimes considered a “third country” due to its binational and bicultural identity with its sister city, San Diego, California. The growing number of Haitian refugees that arrived in Tijuana in the mid 2010s to seek asylum in the United States overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure and left the Haitian community vulnerable, yet it created new opportunities and reshaped new identities in the region. …

Hidden Behind Happiness: Bhutan’S Global Image And Ethnic Exclusion, Deepesh Das Shrestha

Master's Theses

Bhutan has gained international recognition for its philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which promotes holistic development through principles of well-being, environmental sustainability, cultural preservation, and good governance. Yet this celebrated image conceals a darker history: the systematic expulsion of the Lhotsampa, the Nepali-speaking ethnic minority of southern Bhutan. This study critically explores the contradiction between Bhutan's international image as a model of happiness and the lived experiences of Lhotsampa refugees who were displaced during the early 1990s.

Using a qualitative phenomenological research design, the study draws upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with six resettled Bhutanese Lhotsampa refugees living in the …

Archives Of The Future, Ka Oskar Ly

Masters Theses

Archives Of The Future is a practice-based thesis that invokes the archive and the future as simultaneous.

This research insists on the recentering of HMong Indigeneity and its own rooted traditions of HMong Queerness and HMong Feminism as ancestral knowledge systems.

They are the medicine. To recover their cosmological capacity is to traverse centuries of systematic eradication by empires and patriarchy.

I treat artistic making, community encounter, memory, and materials as equally valid ways of knowing and as collaborators. Field research from 2020 to 2026 moves through kinship and artisan teachings. It spans Southeast Asia, France, the United States, and …

Inherited By “Merit”: What Caste Carries Across The Indian American Diaspora, Aarushi V. Jaiswal

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project traces the rhetorical formation termed “meritocratic nationalism,” a political vocabulary that makes national belonging conditional on moralized merit, converting structural advantage into the language of individual character. Meritocratic nationalism is traced across three political figures whose rhetoric represents successive moments in a single ideological trajectory. Reading Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2018 Independence Day addresses and his 2014 Madison Square Garden speech to the Indian American diaspora as the formation’s originating texts, this project argues that Modi’s recurring moral tetrad of conduct, values, traditions, and ability translated the structurally concentrated advantages of India’s upper-caste professional class into a universalist …

Vietnamese American Anti-Imperialism: South Vietnamese History And Analysis Of Publications Pre-1975, Jeannie Nguyen

Master's Theses

During the Vietnam War, citizens contested US imperialism at multiple levels. In South Vietnam, citizens published newspapers and magazines to challenge their government and expose the depth of US aggression in South Vietnamese society and culture. Inside the imperial core, Black, Chicano, and Asian American activists formed solidarities to resist the war and challenge racial inequality. At the intersection of imperialism inside and outside its borders, lies a group of South Vietnamese students and scholars who became American, migrating during the war via state-structured projects. However, in response to the heightening of war and drawing inspiration from their ‘Third World’ …

Splitting Shores: Comparative Analysis Of Italy’S And Spain’S Reactions To Immigration, William E. Montgomery V

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The divergence in public immigration sentiment between Italy and Spain, two countries with striking historical, geographic, and demographic similarities, is seen as a mystery for popular theoretical frameworks. Although both nations transitioned from net emigration to net immigration beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, Italy has consistently exhibited more negative attitudes toward immigration relative to the European average, while Spain has seen sustained improvement in immigration sentiment despite receiving immigrants at historically unprecedented levels. Employing a Most Similar Systems Design and drawing on quantitative demographic and survey data, primary legislative texts, and secondary scholarly literature, this thesis tests Group Threat …

Organizing To Engage: A Framework For Conflict Strategy, Paul Mason Carpenter

Dissertations

Conflict strategy can be exceedingly complex. While many of the basics are simple, even the simple can be highly complicated to execute. The Schlieffen Plan in World War I appeared straight forward, but execution was a great deal more complex. It failed and the result was years of trench warfare.  In addition, leaders entering conflict may not fully appreciate the full context, its effect, and the need for a long term result--a better state of peace.

Strategy and tactics may be challenging to transform as an engagement evolves. In addition, strategists must often commit to courses of action within very …

Gender-Based Violence And Botswana's Constitutional Failure To Protect Women's Rights, Cameron Mcdonald

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

Gender-based violence (“GBV”) remains a pervasive human rights issue throughout Botswana. When it comes to gender equality, Botswana’s dual constitutional and customary legal system is a paradox. Despite its commitment to equality and nondiscrimination, Botswana’s Constitution allows customary courts to discriminate freely to preserve traditional practices that disadvantage women. These traditional practices affect women’s right to property, inheritance, marriage, legal representation, and personal safety. Customary law continues to constrain women’s right to economic autonomy and access to justice, leaving many women dependent on the men who abuse them. As a result, many Batswana women experience structural discrimination in both their …

Next-Generation Democratic Cyber Statecraft - Balancing The Signal: Shutdown Shocks And Democratic Digital Governance, Scott M. Di Panni

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper develops Next-Generation Democratic Cyber Statecraft (NG-DCS), a unified strategic doctrine for democratic governments to contest the cognitive domain against authoritarian adversaries. Drawing on twenty-six years of cross-national panel data (1999–2024) spanning 213 countries, game-theoretic modeling, and qualitative case analysis, the paper establishes three interconnected empirical and theoretical foundations. First, cross-national OLS regression across 160+ countries demonstrates that regime type is the dominant structural determinant of internet freedom (R²=0.615, β=2.513, p< 0.001), explaining more than twice the variance attributable to per-capita wealth (R²=0.268). Democratic governance, not economic development, produces open digital environments. Second, a two-way fixed effects (TWFE) difference-in-differences study exploiting government-ordered internet shutdowns as discrete policy interventions finds that digital restrictions causally degrade V-Dem governance quality by 0.21–0.38 standard deviations (p< 0.001 across all specifications). Treatment effects are immediate (β=−0.302 at k=0) and persist through five post-treatment years (β=−0.246 at k=+5), indicating structural rather than transitory governance damage. Parallel trends validation (p=0.352) and Callaway–Sant’Anna heterogeneity-robust estimation (ATT=−0.230, SE=0.077) support causal identification. Instrumental variable triangulation (2SLS β=−0.949, p=0.005) confirms that simultaneity was attenuating, not inflating, the primary estimates. Third, formal game-theoretic analysis reveals that the current U.S.–adversary equilibrium is (Restrain, Escalate)—the risk-dominant but Pareto-inferior outcome of a Stag Hunt structure. China, Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela each occupy structurally distinct positions (Stackelberg commitment, asymmetric two-level, autarky, and reactive trigger, respectively), requiring differentiated doctrinal responses rather than a uniform strategic playbook. Generative AI and algorithmic governance are shown to accelerate cognitive vulnerability by collapsing influence operation costs and exploiting engagement-optimized platform architectures that systematically degrade deliberative capacity in democratic populations.

Eat With Understanding: A Um Student Guide To Food Systems, James Deacon, Cora Johnson, Lucas Dymit, Kaeli Rackham, Elsie Danyo

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The industrialized food system creates environmental harm, reduces food sovereignty, and contributes to growing food insecurity. These problems oftentimes are overlooked in higher education. To address this gap, our project examines how access to sustainable food education and campus-community partnerships can improve well-being and informed decision-making amongst University of Montana students. This collaborative project connects partners within UM Wellness, PEAS Farm, the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center, and the Big Sky Culinary Institute. Our research includes applied learning with these organizations by hosting a variety of speaker series presentations and coordinating a cooking workshop. We collected quantitative and qualitative …

How Armenia And Azerbaijan Are Lobbying For Influence In D.C., Gibran C. Boyce, Dawn Kikel

Capstones

In the wake of President Trump taking office, foreign government agencies and U.S.-based non-profits serving Armenian and Azerbaijani interests have been hiring lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as part of their concerted efforts to curry favor, gain influence, and seek policy changes that would benefit the rival post-Soviet nations.

Characterizing Global Dermatologic Engagement And Needs: A Cross-Sectional Study From 83 Countries, Alexis G. Strahan, Christine Li, Maud Guérin, Tom Allison, Gene Colón, Jehireh Peraza-Williams, Olyvia Zarchin, Morvarid Zehtab, Ann M. Pacheco, Jadesola Akinwuntan, Shivani Jain, Marlous L. Grijsen, Wendemagegn Enbiale, Wingfield Rehmus, L. Claire Fuller, Karolyn Wanat, Esther E. Freeman

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

9th Gsep Research Symposium - 2025

GSEP Research Symposium

The Ninth Annual GSEP Research Symposium, themed "Building Bridges to Elevate Humanity: Innovations and Insights in Education and Psychology", was hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) on June 19–20, 2025, at the historic Château d’Hauteville in Switzerland and virtually via Zoom.

This hybrid symposium convened a vibrant global community of students, alumni, faculty, and scholars to share research that addresses real-world challenges, advances scholarly inquiry, and builds pathways for inclusive collaboration and leadership. Spanning a wide array of topics—from artificial intelligence and mental health to trauma-informed practices, educational equity, social justice, and cross-cultural leadership—the …

From Homeland To Hostland: Language Ownership Of Heritage Dialect And Narratives Of Third Culture Kids Of The Gulf, Maryam Aref

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to examine Arab Adult Third Culture Kids’ sense of heritage language ownership and their identity constructions in relation to their transnational Arab Gulf context. The present study has three main aims: to ascertain their sense of ownership towards their heritage dialects, to understand the basis for their claimed or denied ownership, and to investigate the positions they ascribed to themselves and others in relation to their belonging and transnational and linguistic experiences. The study aims to fill the gap where there is a scarcity of sociolinguistic research around Arab Third Culture Kids in …

Determinants Of Integration: Migration Difficulty, Mental Health, And Social Connections Among Eritrean Immigrants, Shewit Woldemichael

Master's Theses

This thesis explores how the experience of migration hardship affects integration outcomes of Eritrean migrants in the U.S. and the Netherlands. Using original survey data and the Immigration Policy Lab’s Integration Index (IPL-24), this paper investigated the intersection of economic, psychological, and social interactions that facilitate integration outcomes. This research finds that migration hardship doesn’t just make people’s lives more difficult; it breaks down the social ties and mental well-being that are essential for economic success measured by integration.

The Humanity Of Globalization: Global Interconnectedness And Cross-Border Migration, Mary Huffman

Honors College Theses

Though scholarly discourse surrounding migration and globalization has often assumed migration causes globalization, this paper seeks to explore the opposite direction of causality. Using a generalized least squares regression and Quality of Governance time series data, the design analyzes the impact of three facets of globalization on net migration between 1970 and 2020. The design controls for population, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and Polity score. Based on a review of literature, I hypothesize that each facet– economic, political, and social– will exhibit a positive correlation with net migration levels for each country-year. I also predict that social globalization …

Chasqui, Nicole Lachat

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Chasqui is a creative dissertation comprised of a thirteen-page critical introduction and a series of poems which consider varying forms of migration, including that of border crossings. The internalization of displacement through longing and alienation is examined in these poems. The author considers questions of inheritance through an exploration of personal, familial and sociopolitical bonds. Varying forms of violence, including colonial and gendered violence are reflected upon in the work.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

Deportation And Immigration Enforcement In The United States: Analysis Of Regional And Country Variations, Exmond Ofori Sarpiah

Political Science Theses and Capstones

This study examines the motivations behind President Trump’s mass deportation policies due to the inflow of undocumented migrants from different regions in America. The study employs data visualization techniques, such as scatter plot and bar charts, to analyze regional and country variation trends in migrant removals and undocumented populations across global regions.

Between Borders And Belief: Perspectives Of Aid Workers On Religion In A Migrant Shelter In Mexico, Kendall O. Roy

Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to understand the significance of religion in the Central American migration context through the eyes of humanitarian aid workers. It is based on interviews that I conducted in May of 2024 with staff members at a migrant shelter in Mexico, analysis of prior scholarship, and building upon an understanding of relevant religious history in Latin America. I will delve into trends that the aid workers observed in areas such as religious practices and beliefs of migrants, shelter functions that addressed and nurtured spiritual well-being, and the influence of the Church as an institution on humanitarian aid work. …

The Black-Market Commodification Of Human Organs And Bones: A Marxist Perspective, Erik Schulz

Nebraska Anthropologist

The trade and treatment of human remains, while seemingly straightforward, have increasingly become subjects of ethical and moral debate. Over time and in light of recent events, questions have emerged regarding the appropriateness of how human remains are handled and exchanged. This paper examines these issues through the lens of Marxist framework and the perspective of forensic anthropology. The objective is to provide contextual understanding and encourage a reevaluation of current practices, particularly within academic settings, to ensure that human morals, dignity and ethical standards are upheld.

Health Disparities After Redlining: A Comparative Analysis Of Health Outcomes And Health Disparities In Richmond, Virginia And Portland, Oregon, Amal Ali

Araneum: Richmond Journal of American & Global Affairs

Redlining was a discriminatory housing practice introduced by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation that denied loans and mortgages to Black residents and resulted in a heavily entrenched system of economic discrimination in the U.S. Existing literature points to a strong relationship between redlining and worsened health outcomes in communities of color. For example, redlining is associated with a higher risk of heart failure, a higher risk of death from breast cancer, and a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. While previous research has focused on the relationship between redlining and health outcomes and proposed several possible interventions, there is a lack …

Religion In The Republic Of Georgia, Emma L. Lilyea, Alexander Lorenz

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

This article examines the role of religion in the Republic of Georgia, emphasizing the historical and contemporary influence of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) on the nation’s identity, politics, and society. Drawing on multiple sources, including the U.S. Department of State’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Georgia, the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, and works by Giuli Alasania, Ramaz Shengelia, Lika Kobeshavidze, and Stephen R. Hussar, this study analyzes the religious demographics of Georgia and the relationship between church and state. The findings reveal that Orthodox Christianity remains dominant, with 83% of the population identifying with the …

Securitization Of African Migrants In Europe And North America, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The securitization of African migrants in Europe and North America refers to the framing of immigrants as an existential security threat rather than a socioeconomic or humanitarian concerns. This discourse driven by political rhetoric, media narratives, and policy measures, often depict African migrants as risks to national security, cultural identity, and economic stability. Governments in host countries employ stringent border controls, detention and deportation policies often justified by counterterrorism and crime prevention frameworks. However, critics argue that securitization exacerbates xenophobia, violates human rights, and fails to address root causes of migration, such as conflict, poverty, and climate change. This paper …

Global China In Pakistan: Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Symbolic Domination, Social Media Geopolitics, And Security Corridors, Davide Giacomo Zoppolato

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the discursive and material dimensions of China’s global rise through a case study of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Pakistan. As China becomes a leading provider of development finance, its infrastructure-led approach is reshaping geographies across the Global South. Focusing on the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—the BRI’s flagship project—I examine how Chinese and Pakistani actors co-produce development through discourses, infrastructures, and security regimes. Structured around three articles, the dissertation analyzes: (1) the official diplomatic discourses of Chinese state institutions and their reception by Pakistani media outlets; (2) the curated geopolitical discourses of Chinese social media …

How Do Young Adults With Drug Use Disorder (Dud) Utilize Treatment? Exploring And Examining Lived Experiences Towards Treatment Completion In Indonesia, Dewi Kartikawatiningsih

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In Indonesia which has the highest rate of drug addiction in Southeast Asia, there is currently little knowledge about how young adults perceive the barriers faced when completing treatment or how treatment providers' perspectives influence their treatment completion. Understanding and identifying barriers to treatment completion is essential to making drug treatment more effective. The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives and live experiences of young adults with DUD and their addiction counselors to develop a deeper understanding of treatment needs. This study interviewed 33 clients and 15 counselors from the rehabilitation center of the Badan Nasional Narkotika …

Bridging Borders: Exploring Local To Global Citizenship Through Zines, Tanisha M. Jackson Ph.D.

Global Citizenship Pedagogy Community

"Empowering Voices through DIY Zine-Making" workshop, where participants will harness the power of zine-making to explore themes of community, activism, and global citizenship. Zines, small-scale publications with big messages, serve as a conduit for diverse voices to be heard and shared, making them a perfect medium for exploring the interconnectedness of local and global issues.

This workshop delves into the intersection of art, activism, and citizenship, providing a space for participants to express their perspectives on pressing social and environmental issues. Led by experienced zine-makers, attendees will delve into the rich history of zines as tools for social change, discovering …

The Surge Of Unaccompanied Minors At The U.S.-Mexico Border, Lauren Werner

Political Science Theses and Capstones

No abstract submitted.

Polarization: A 21st Century Challenge To Global Democracy, Tim Biocic

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to identify the issue of political polarization as it relates not only to American politics, but also to see how the issues in political polarization that exist in the United States are also experienced in other democracies around the world. The paper takes a look at what some of the different theories are about where polarization originates, who some of the leading scholars are in the debate over polarization, what institutional mechanisms contribute to the problem of polarization, and then finally what polarization looks like elsewhere in the world.

When it comes to the …