Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

A Qualitative Investigation On The Effects Of The Uttar Pradesh Population Policy On Women Who Undergo Sterilization In Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, Anna Wadhwani

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The effectiveness of population policies is widely disputed by the international development community and is under constant scrutiny. While these policies have the potential to positively affect reproductive and child health indicators, they often focus too heavily on macro-demographic family planning goals and fail to acknowledge socioeconomic determinants of fertility indicators, often making for ineffective policy. Furthermore, target-based approaches have the potential to negatively impact women’s family planning choices and the quality of care they receive. This study seeks to analyze how the Uttar Pradesh Population Policy affects the decision-making process and experiences of women who undergo sterilization procedures in …

“Ellas Miran La Realidad”: La Sequía Y La Gestión De Mujeres En Santa Julia, Nicaragua, Deborah Secular

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Por los últimos dos años, Nicaragua ha experimentado una sequía con efectos drásticos en la población rural. Esta investigación estudió los efectos de la sequía en las mujeres de Santa Julia, una comunidad de 60 familias en El Crucero, Managua que estaba una hacienda monocultivo. Santa Julia fue escogida porque su acceso a agua ha sido limitado mucho tiempo, y porque tiene una cooperativa de mujeres que es activa en su gestión. La investigación involucró alrededor de 40 entrevistas y observaciones continuas como participante durante tres semanas en la comunidad. A través de entrevistas que involucraban las historias de las …

Goals Of Aid Organizations And Perspectives Of Employees: Urban Integration Of Syrian Refugees In Jordan, Alysha Alloway

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research aims to explore the perspectives of aid workers in Amman among various aid organizations, both local and international, and how aid workers feel the country should move forward from both a policy and social standpoint regarding urban integration of Syrian refugees. This research includes a review of literature in urban studies and sociology of economics, drawing on absorption theory and the concept of parallel structures of services to contextualize the argument that the role of urban refugees in urbanization and urban economic development should be considered within the systems of relief in place in Jordan, and it is …

Trash On Taboga: A Case Study On Solid Waste Management And Feasible Methods For Sustainable Improvements, Taboga Island, Panama, Madison Marra

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On Taboga Island, a touristic island located just 20km outside of Panama City, solid waste can be found both littered and accumulated in an open-air dump that contributes to air, land, and ocean pollution. While more sustainable waste management systems are possible, as seen in other developing countries, differences in perceptions of waste management by users may result in differences in acceptance of new ideas. In this study, semi-structured interviews were used to gauge the status of waste management on Taboga and the perceptions of waste by its residents and visitors in order to ensure the participation of users in …

“La Guerra De Los Centavos” Y Contratos Sociales: Los Impactos Del Desarrollo Del Sistema Intermodal De Transporte Urbano En Loja, Ecuador / "The War Of The Cents" And Social Contracts: The Impacts Of The Development Of The Intermodal Urban Transportation System In Loja, Ecuador, Will Yetvin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El propósito de este estudio fue investigar el Sistema Intermodal de Transporte Urbano (SITU) en la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador. El contenido del estudio se basa en mis observaciones y entrevistas durante mi tiempo trabajando con la Unidad de Transporte del Municipio de Loja, y en fuentes bibliográficas relacionadas con los temas de transporte urbano, transporte sostenible, bus de rápido tránsito y gobiernos descentralizados. Además, utilicé un tesoro de documentos internos del Municipio y el Consorcio. Mi análisis es influenciado por el marco conceptual de desarrollo sostenible.

Este informe es organizado alrededor de tres temas vinculados pero distintos; 1) Un …

The Feminization Of Hiv/Aids In Yunnan, China, Leah Pinckney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The feminization of HIV is a global phenomenon in which more women are becoming HIV-positive. This not only has tragic consequences for those women but also signifies how HIV transmission in China is changing. Increased sexual transmission has given HIV the ability to move from at-risk groups, such as intravenous drug users and commercial sex workers, to the general population. Despite China’s improved health policies and programs about HIV, this situation poses a serious public health issue allowed to perpetuate because of societal problems surrounding gender. These problems are compounded by socioeconomic inequality brought upon by economic change. While much …

Exploration Of The State Of Mental Healthcare Services For Youth In Nairobi, Rashiidah Richardson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is formative research concerning the state of mental health care for youth in Nairobi, Kenya. Using a mixed methods design, the objectives of this study were to identify the most prevalent mental health concerns among youth in Kenya, to explore the availability and acceptability of youth friendly mental health care services, and to explore the quality of and challenges to providing youth friendly mental health care services. Results indicate that substance abuse, conduct disorder, and family conflict may be among the most pressing mental health concerns for young people. Furthermore, while young people may be willing to seek …

Los Factores Influyentes En Las Perspectivas De Aborto De Los Estudiantes Universitarios En Santiago, Chile: Desde Lo Conservador A Lo Contrario, Victoria Albert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What factors influence the pro-life and pro-choice perspectives of university students in Santiago, Chile? What are these perspectives? Objectives: The general objective of this study is to describe the pro-life and pro-choice perspectives on abortion held by university students in Santiago, Chile, and to describe how factors such as feminism, religion, and the right to life influence these views today. The specific objectives of this study are to define and analyze the way in which these factors work to influence students’ perspectives, as well as identify what percentage of students currently support various types of abortion.

Background: Chile …

Why Children, Adults And The Elderly Are Living On The Streets In Moroccan Cities And What Morocco Is Doing About It., Nora Charidah

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this independent study project is to explore the determinants of homelessness in the cities of Morocco, more specifically in Rabat,Casablanca and Salé, and how Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) are working to eradicate this epidemic. Poverty, Dysfunctional Families, Mental Illness and Addiction can all be causes as well as results of homelessness; all of these factors have the potential of seriously affecting individuals throughout the entirety of their life. Children, Adults and the Elderly are all affected by poverty throughout Morocco yet street children and the rural impoverished are the populations of the homeless where most research predominately focuses. …

Sub-Saharan Refugees Finding Space And Place In Rabat, Morocco, Katherine Knapp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In an attempt to affiliate itself with the Europe, Morocco has aligned its policy closer to the desires of the European Union, including stricter migration borders. As a result, Morocco is becomingmore and more the interstice between a refugee’s past and dreamed future until one can manage the journey to Europe or meet their needs in Morocco and return to their country of origin. Under prevailing notions of space as it accommodates systems of power and thought, and with consideration of Asef Bayat’s theory of ordinary encroachment, I explore the experiences of Sub-Saharan refugees, economic and political, in Rabat, Morocco, …

Leadership And Corruption In Governance: A Case Study Of Liberia, Theresa Okpokwu

Capstone Collection

Writers like Mutasa (2009) and Ebegbulem (2012) argues that Africa is both the poorest continent in the world and one of the richest in terms of natural resources. Consistent with this observation the history of Liberia indicates that corrupt leadership deprives the general population of its fair access to Africa’s rich resources while exacerbating ineffective government bureaucracy and underdevelopment. The bureaucratized central government in turn entrenches corrupt practices which give rise to more serious underdevelopment as well as insurgencies and a possible state failure.

Given this background, this study examines how leadership and corruption in governance affects socioeconomic development. To …

Paediatric Tuberculosis In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India: Dots, Diagnosis, And Determinants, Emma Klein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world’s largest public health challenges, and it has a disproportionate impact on India. In children, TB is a serious but understudied illness due to the complexity of case-notification and relative lack of public health importance. This study took place over the course of one month in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. In a mixed method study consisting of 53 quantitative patient interviews and qualitative interviews with healthcare providers, social determinants of TB in this setting were investigated as well as challenges faced at all stages of healthcare delivery. Malnutrition and housing were the most severe …

A Critical Analysis Of The Public Sphere: How The Lgbtq Movement Utilizes And Occupies Space In Morocco, Katherine Hirsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the nature of the LGBTQ movement in Morocco in relation to the theoretical concept of the public sphere. Specifically, it explores what spaces LGBTQ organizations, which do not have access to the public sphere in Morocco, occupy in order to pursue activism. Theory surrounding the public sphere and collective social movements is very much based on a Western perspective, despite claims of universalism. Western theory defines modern social movements by collective action, a unified movement, occupying and the public sphere as a site of resistance. However, this fails to recognize the fact that many people in semi-authoritarian …

Women’S Views On The Challenges And Solutions In Preventing The Gendered Spread Of Hiv In Masxha, Cato Manor, Paige Mcmahon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite numerous national prevention efforts, South Africa remains at the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The burden of the epidemic is extremely heterogeneous, with province, race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status serving as key variables in determining HIV prevalence rates. Black African women are disproportionately affected by the epidemic, with those between the ages of 20 and 34 having an HIV prevalence rate of 31.6%, the highest in the country (Shisana et al., 2014). The purpose of this study was to engage with black African women about the challenges they believe women face in protecting themselves against HIV, and potential …

Protecting The Right To Life Of The Internally Displaced: An Examination Of Encampment And Its Effects On The Communities In Unyama And Koro Sub-Counties In Gulu District, Northern Uganda, Ashley Alessandra

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the period of encampment in Northern Uganda, as related to the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict, and the effects that encampment has had on communities in Gulu District through present day. The objectives of this study include; to examine the process of displacement, to analyze whether displaced persons were accorded the right to security during the encampment period, to analyze the effects that encampment has had on communities during the return period, through present day, and to examine the ways in which various actors have attempted to address such effects. This analysis is conducted through a human rights …

Migrant Access To Healthcare: A Study Of Undocumented Migrant Access To Sexual Healthcare & Family Planning Services In Switzerland In 2016, Emily Egbert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Swiss healthcare system has experienced a significant influx of vulnerable migrants over the past few years. This presents a challenge to providers and policy makers to account for and provide aid to these non-­‐ Swiss citizens, such as undocumented migrants (UDM), whose status and circumstances may impede their access to healthcare. Along with this, various cultural barriers may present further challenges to access to the health system. This paper explores UDM access to health through the lens of sexual healthcare and family planning. In examining sexual health, the issues of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, and sexual violence were …

A Precarious Paradigm: Seeking Alternatives To Public-Private Partnerships In Health, A Case For The Code, Lena Mininberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: Breastfeeding is an unparalleled source of nutrition for infants and young children and is recommended as the best practice universally by the World Health Organization (WHO). The benefits in human health and development that result from exclusive and sustained breastfeeding have enormous economic development potential. Because of the non-legally binding nature of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code), and shifting socio-cultural norms, breastfeeding rates are at an alarming low. In order to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, breastfeeding practices must be protected, promoted, and supported worldwide.

Objective: This research paper explores implementing strong measures …

The Impact Of Geopolitical Factors On The Future Economic Integration Of Asean +3, Michael Corrigan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

East and Southeast Asia have benefited greatly from China’s growth and are gaining significantly more economic and political power in comparison to the West. The growing interdependence in this region has led to the continuing economic integration of the ASEAN Plus Three countries. The research paper analyzes the geopolitical factors that impact this integration, such as historical tension, regional security conflicts, social, cultural and economic differences, as well as economic rivalries. In addition, the strategic agendas of the main actors, including the U.S., are analyzed to provide a comprehensive argument concerning the impact these geopolitical factors will have on future …

Life In The Collective Era: How Land Cooperatives Tried (And Failed) To Promote Local-National Integration In Tunisia, Isaiah Sciford

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The frequent metaphor of Tunisia as an island requires reevaluation. An island demands continuity unto itself, a feature that Tunisia distinctly lacks. Despite higher than usual levels of ethnic and religious homogeneity, Tunisia has historically maintained low levels of local-national interaction and accommodation. This analysis examines how the post-independence government of Habib Bourguiba sought to coax rural and agrarian communities into participation in the national identity and thereby promote continuity throughout the country via disruptive, large-scale government projects as part of the “modernity drive.” Specific attention is given to agricultural cooperatives and land collectivization in the 1960s. This analysis is …

Effective General Entrepreneurial Learning Programs For Sme Development, Paul Kenneth Steele

Capstone Collection

The principle objective of this paper is to reexamine the potential for impactful, general programs in education for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners by assessing the success of a program called SME PRIME; conducted by AMIDEAST, Oman for six Omani entrepreneurs over a seven-month period.

General programs for entrepreneur education are produced and implemented the world over despite consistent assertions throughout academic literature that such programs are ineffective. Typical approaches to training program development and evaluation emphasize the critical role of training needs analysis. Training needs analysis is often an ignored step in the process of SME training program …

Rapid Evidence Maps As Decision Tools For Evidence-Based Policy, Mark Engelbert

Capstone Collection

The movement to make policy more evidence-based is gaining increasing influence in the field of international development. I argue that, properly understood and executed, evidence-based policy has the promise to make development efforts more effective. However, if policy decisions are to be evidence-based, there must be tools available to policymakers that provide evidence in usable formats. The research community has developed a variety of such tools, but there are some decision-making contexts for which none of the currently-available tools are ideally suited. This paper describes a new type of evidence tool, the rapid evidence map (REM), that provides users with …

Mutually Assured Survival: An Analysis Of Globalization’S Influence On Nuclear Disarmament, Ryan Zehner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nuclear arms have revolutionized the ways by which human beings are able to harm one another. Omnipresent in the status quo is a nuclear tension, and whether subtly or more overtly, this tension underlies a great many international relationships. While Westphalian paranoia and neorealist power perceptions encourage populations to continue placing their faith in nuclear umbrellas and deterrence strategies, scholars and activists increasingly claim that without the realization of universal disarmament, humanity concedes to the inevitability of future nuclear detonation.

New disarmament initiatives concentrate heavily on the implications of nuclear weaponry in a sense that supersedes the security of only …

Remnants Of The American War: An Interactive Documentary, Jacob Sussman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Remnants of the American War is an interactive documentary exploring the legacy of the American War in Vietnam. The project tells the stories of individuals who were affected by or are involved with the conflict’s legacy within an interactive web interface. Envisioned as the counter-narrative to existing American portrayals of the conflict, the project seeks to illuminate Vietnamese perspectives that are often unheard within Western culture.

Featuring interviews with veterans, social workers, and artists whom I encountered during a month long journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, the project highlights ongoing issues such as Agent Orange and Vietnam’s …

La Vida Revivida: Una Exploración De La Salud, El Medio Ambiente Y La Cultura En Los Procesos De La Producción Ecológica De Cochabamba, Ethan Wood, Emily Wyler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación intenta explorar cómo los productores incorporan la salud, el medio ambiente, y la cultura en su proceso de producción ecológica. Para responder a esta pregunta, trabajamos con la ONG CIOEC Cochabamba y los productores ecológicos de Cochabamba, para entender cómo es la producción ecológica. Con la investigación, intentamos identificar varias maneras en las que el gobierno del departamento puede brindar más apoyo a los productores y conservar los métodos tradicionales de la producción en Cochabamba. En esta investigación, se utilizaron la observación participativa y las entrevistas semi-estructuradas.

Afrochilenos En Rumbo Al Reconocimiento Como Pueblo Tribal Una Investigación Sobre Los Factores Históricos Y Culturales De Los Afrodecendientes En Arica, Sandy Milien

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Afrochileans have been in the dark for several centuries due to the efforts of the Chilean government to completely ignore the existence of people of color in the country. Since the beginning of the 21st century cultural and political organizations of afrochileans have been created to fight against the invisibility of the black community in Chile, aiming to be recognized as a tribal group by the state. In this study, I researched the historical and cultural factors that influence the recognition of the afrochileans as a tribal group according to El Convenio 169 of the International Labor Organization. To accomplish …

“No Todo Se Brilla” Tiempos De Espera: Reflejos De Estructuras Dominantes, Flora Richey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Time is a prevailing entity that impacts the human experience on an individual and societal level. While time cannot be objectively defined – it is asomatous and ethereal in nature – it imposes limits that permeate life on a fundamental level. Humans are intimately bonded with time, based on a symbiotic relationship. Time exists and is perpetuated by our practice of it. Naturally, these practices differ across socio-cultural realities. In this way, our understanding and use of time emerges as an aspect of culture. Time reflects cultural, political and social realities. Wait times in Chile are notoriously long. In the …

Community Owned Renewable Energy In North Coast Nsw Social Housing, Kelly Leatherman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study assesses the feasibility of implementing community owned renewable energy (CORE) technology in social housing units in North Coast NSW. I completed this study by conducting interviews with three renewable energy policy experts to ascertain the current state of renewable energy and CORE in NSW. Second, I conducted four interviews with separate social housing unit employees/residents to understand their interpretation of current barriers to implementing renewable energy in the social housing and if any of the units currently have any renewable energy technology or energy efficiency programs in place. After finishing this assessment, I did a comparative analysis with …

Intercountry Adoption And Child Sponsorship In Vietnam: A Practicum-Based Exploration Of A Complex Relationship, Rainah Umlauf

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For over a decade, Vietnam ranked in the top ten countries providing the most children for intercountry adoption (ICA), sending almost 11,000 children abroad since 2003 (U.S. State Department, 2015). It is likely that many of these children, however, were not orphans; evidence reveals that a lucrative baby-buying industry falsified information and trafficked children for years in order to meet the high international demand for healthy infants.

In this paper, I relate this history of ICA fraud to contemporary child sponsorship in Vietnam. I find that ICA and child sponsorship are intertwined in two contradictory ways. First, child sponsorship programs …

Sustaining Development In Brazil’S Informal Settlements: Linking Policy, Theory, And Action A Case Study Of Vila Velha, Jessica Depies

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

his paper examines the relationships between informal settlements, the natural environment, and state policy through a study of Vila Velha, a neighborhood located on the periphery of the northeastern metropolis of Fortaleza, Brazil. Vila Velha poses a unique challenge in local governmental efforts to implement sustainable urban policies: its expansion into the margins of the local Ceará River, where human settlements are illegal, prevents the community from receiving government services such as potable water or waste management. While the local government has created plans to remove these inhabitants from the area, no tangible action has been taken in the approximately …

Not All Those That Are Buried Are Dead: An Analysis Of Memorialization At The Prestwich Memorial, Anna Sumner Noonan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Memorialization is an ongoing process in South Africa as narratives are attempting to be reclaimed and transformation continues to be an approach of ‘new’ nation building. This paper attempts to understand how and why the most common form of memorialization of slavery and colonialism in the postapartheid moment is that of the physical monument, memorial and museum as well as the repercussions of such a space. Through the lens of the Prestwich Memorial I examined themes of memory, erasure, historical production and landscape as artifact. I problematized the notion of primary data because all data is skewed by personal bias, …