Social Justice Commons^™

Music Therapy As A Support Model In Massachusetts Special Education: A Literature Review, Bonnie Diamond

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mental health directly impacts student propensity for making academic progress in the public education system. For children with disabilities, it is especially vital to develop and implement techniques within special education that deliver personally tailored benefits. According to the United States Department of Education, music therapy offers highly effective support to a wide range of students within the school setting so that they may achieve academic success and be supported in their social/emotional development (U.S Department of Education, 2011; AMTA, 2021). In examining the multifaceted ways that music therapy can offer support within the structure of education and mental health, …

Glue Gun Stories: Public Art Educators’ Perceptions Of Trauma And Its Impact On Their Pedagogy And Praxis, Alicia Gray

Educational Studies Dissertations

Public School visual arts educators play a vital role in implementing trauma-sensitive practices within schools. Through a collaborative arts-based research design the researcher worked alongside four public school visual art educators to portray their knowledge, beliefs, and values surrounding trauma while also gaining a nuanced and in depth understanding of how perceptions of trauma influence their pedagogy and praxis. Data collection methods included interviews, focus groups, participant and research observations, photo documentation, and art-based data. Participants viewed trauma as chronic adverse events that lead to maladaptive responses within students. They felt these responses had widespread impacts on the entire school …

Vrouwenwerk | Beyondtheglassceiling: Educate, Empower, Reimagine, Malou Lena Julia Desplenter

Master's Theses

In contemporary society, social media platforms have emerged as powerful tools for advocacy and activism. This thesis explores the potential of Instagram in raising awareness and fostering dialogue around workplace equity for women in Belgium. Inspired by influential women's advocacy accounts, I embarked on a journey to fill a noticeable gap in the digital landscape – the absence of Belgian-centric content addressing workplace empowerment for women. Grounded in the unique intersections of Belgian national policies, European Union directives, and global socio-economic dynamics, this capstone delves into the multifaceted challenges faced by Belgian women in the workplace.

Through critical historical analysis …

Knowledge Production And The Unthinkable: Weaving Stories Of Art, Gender, And Land, Christin Huntsman

Master's Theses

Colonialism is deeply and violently embedded in Western knowledge formation—dominant power structures produce epistemes that uphold and perpetuate colonial narratives. This kind of knowledge production forecloses other possibilities. Western discourse of truth becomes universalized to the point that other worldviews, other knowledges that do not conform to hegemonic norms, are suppressed or silenced. This thesis examines three areas of hegemony and erasure: art, gender, and land. First, the history of art clearly marks a delineation between Western elitist artistic masterpieces and non-Western ethnographic artifacts. Eurocentrism of art in the academy determines what counts as art and how art is categorized. …

"Because They Recognized Us": Triangulated Perspectives Of Syrian Mothers' Resettlement Experiences In The Eastern United States., Kayte Thomas

Journal of Applied Disciplines

Research indicates that post-resettlement experiences can be particularly challenging for people with refugee status. Despite finding safety in and adjusting to their new home, former refugees have indicated that this time can be stressful and even traumatic. The current Syrian crisis has created the largest wave of refugees ever known, and Syrian women are amongst the most vulnerable. However, women’s needs and preferences are often not taken into consideration during the resettlement journey and when they are, there is no distinction between mothers and their childless counterparts. As social workers strive to empower the individual person within their environment, it …

Concerned Philosophers For Peace, Vol. 32 (2024), Court Lewis, Cameron Farvin, Concerned Philosophers For Peace

Concerned Philosophers for Peace

This year’s Newsletter is full of opportunities, information, and fabulous essays from a variety of scholars. Please take some time to submit your work to one of the calls for papers or next year’s Newsletter, join CPP, and participate in supporting peace and nonviolence in our turbulent world. See “contents” for a detailed overview of what is in this issue. Make sure to share the Newsletter with anyone who might be interested, and for early career scholars, please take advantage of the Bill Gay Award.

Contents:

• President’s Page (2)
• Essay Prizes, Accomplishments, and Awards (3)
• APA Divisions and APA …

Casar Auc Community Only Lecture: Men, Women’S Body Autonomy & Gbv Crimes In Egypt, Us & Canada: Why Men Need To Step Up For The Education Of Women's Body Autonomy, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

This was a hybrid CASAR AUC community only lecture titled: ‘Men, Women’s Body Autonomy & GBV crimes in Egypt, US & Canada’: Why men need to step up for the education of women’s body autonomy.

This lecture featured Tadwein from Egypt, Women’s Advocates from the US & London Abused Women's Counseling Center from Canada (via Zoom). This lecture was part of course AMST 1091 ‘Exploring Feminist Perspectives in Egypt & the US’ (core curriculum pathways two- American studies) taught by Yasmeen El-Ghazaly, CASAR Assistant to Director & Adjunct Faculty - Wednesday May 15th, 2024

The lecture pondered on the following …

Queering Tv In The Age Of Tiktok, Greta Reel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This thesis asks how fans have created their own queer representation on the social media platform TikTok. It looks at the tools afforded by TikTok that fans have used to “ship” non-canon woman-loving-woman couples and to “queer” television show characters. It also examines how fans on TikTok have reacted to television plotlines they were unhappy with, such as the “bury your gays” trope. Four shows, all after the year 2000, are used as case studies. These shows are Wednesday (2022-present), Criminal Minds (2005-present), Stranger Things (2016-present), and Killing Eve (2018-2022). Numerous TikTok videos and comments revolving around each show are …

"Ole Miss": A Case For The Name's Removal And Steps Toward Implementation, William Henderson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to provide one justification of why the University of Mississippi should cease its usage of its nickname, “Ole Miss,” and provide insight into what the next steps of the University should be. “Ole Miss” is a term that was installed with the intention of romanticizing the social order that the system of slavery provided in the Antebellum South. The attitudes toward plantation society that the name perpetuates pose several forms of harm to members of the University’s community. Institutions of higher learning maintain a special relationship with their students, which presents a strong obligation …

Envisioning Our Ecological Futures. Diffracting Creative Expressions., Mariam Ismail

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis delves into the realm of eco-art, examining its multifaceted role in informing, educating, and mobilizing audiences towards sustainable environmental practices. Through an interdisciplinary lens that intertwines environmentalism, critical explorations of the anthropocene, ecofeminism, Indigenous knowledge, and social justice, this research investigates various themes, approaches, and methodologies employed by eco-artists. Utilizing a diffractive methodology, I acknowledge and respect these concepts’ contextual and theoretical differences while exploring their relationality to one another and to the artworks. By recognizing these entangled relationships, the diffractive framework creates and re-creates ‘research assemblages’ that shift away from conventional anthropocentric or representational methods of interpretation, …

Climate Change And Environmental Crises In Coastal Cities: Charleston Vs New York City, Nolan Rodriguez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasing vulnerability that coastal communities face regarding climate crises and rising sea levels. Specifically, this paper investigates the environmental crises facing Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. The geographical location of these cities places a more severe threat upon their environment, as opposed to urban collectives removed from the immediate effect of rising sea levels. A cross-examination of politics and economics is discussed in order to determine the causal relationship of each city’s engagement with its surrounding environment. This paper examines how each city is affected by climate change, what measures are in place to …

Liberation Chronicles: Reformulating Black Liberation In The Face Of Persistent Oppression, Nia P. Gadson

Honors College Theses

Liberation movements for Black people have been prominent throughout American history. Chattel slavery and Jim Crow laws caused centuries of anti-black oppression. They continuously evolved into other anti-black structures – mass incarceration, predatory loan companies, and healthcare inequalities, to name a few – that require us to address these issues still today. The most recent Black liberation movement, Black Lives Matter, experienced a brief uptick in support after George Floyd’s murder but, overall, failed to address these issues. This thesis outlines three approaches to Black liberation in the U.S. to determine the most effective. First, drawing on Frederick Douglass’ autobiographies, …

A Scoping Review Of Drama-Based Interventions With Migrant Populations For Health Outcomes, Cassandra Doria

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This scoping review investigates the breadth and nature of literature that currently exists on the topic of utilizing drama-based interventions with migrant populations for therapeutic goals. This author searched for empirical studies on the topic and charted data to understand the quality, number, and type of studies that have been done, and risk factors for epistemic injustice or misrepresentation of marginalized participants. A brief overview of methods, results, and discussions of articles revealed the most prevalent outcomes, limitations, and forms of data collection. Social connection and belonging, education, communication skills, empathy, identity reconstruction, meaning making, and adaptive adjustment to the …

Neuroqueering Art Therapy: Bringing Neurodivergent Gender Diversity Into The Creative Arts Therapy Room: A Literature Review, Avital Eisen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Recent research across disciplines has established the significance of the overlap between neurodivergence and gender diversity, a truth long espoused by the community. Acting on this research, some mental health disciplines have begun addressing neurodivergent transgender and gender diverse people as a unified population in their research, but the field of art therapy has not yet followed suit. Theoretical frameworks of intersectionality, queer theory, and disability justice highlight the importance of centering the unique experiences and needs of neurodivergent gender diversity. Using these frameworks, this literature review synthesizes community knowledge with art therapy research on both neurodivergence and gender diversity, …

Speak My Language: Art Therapy Restorative Justice Hybrid For Disenfranchised High School Students, Catherine Day

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This literature review examines the use of zero tolerance policies and exclusionary practices in schools throughout the United States. The adolescent population is more vulnerable now than ever, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. An increasing number of students are struggling with behavioral misconduct, mental health issues, and suspension/expulsion from school. The research contained in this review explores how zero tolerance policies have contributed to the current state of our education system, behavioral misconduct in schools, student involvement in the juvenile justice system, alternative methods of discipline such as restorative practices and therapeutic interventions like Art Therapy. The current exclusionary …

Rgb Root Matriz Color Dance, Danielle E. Gauthier

Theses and Dissertations

RGB Root Matriz Color Dance (Color Dance) is an immersive, interactive experience that combines poetic phrases and color filters to create a womb-like environment. Designed by Danielle Gauthier, this artistic piece uses a webcam to respond to users’ movements in real time, allowing them to confront and express their emotions through metaphor and dance. Color Dance creates a unique platform for self-discovery and empowerment by fostering a connection between the body and discomforting emotions.

Salt: A Tribute To Ghana's Fishers, Vanessa F. Jaiteh

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

This poem is a tribute to my fieldwork on fisher safety, labour abuses and human rights violations in Ghana’s fisheries.

Powering Justice: Sketches For A New Ethos In Energy Policy, Erin Rizzato Devlin

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Energy politics lie at the heart of human activity. In a time of ecological and energy crisis, it is fundamental to realise that our reality systems are always open to change and that, in order to respond to the challenges of a changing energy landscape, we must explore the full possibilities of technology in a radical way. This research aims to consider the ethical implications of energy and technology, presenting an urgent case for cosmotechnical pluralism, that is the diversification of world-views, knowledges, technologies in the pursuit of energy justice in global politics. To reconstruct the world and its politics …

A Little Loud And A Little Alone: A Phenomenology Of Leadership Identity Construction Among Women In Higher Education Technology, Amy Barry

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This qualitative study is an exploration of how women in higher education information technology (IT) positions navigate constructing their leadership identities. This includes the messy, personal, internal identity work that occurs prior to claiming their leadership identities on the public stage, followed by an examination of what the experience of attempting to claim and negotiate a leadership identity is like in the social context of their organizations. This educational and sociological study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach with a series of three interviews per participant that allowed the researcher to deeply explore the personal identity experiences of participants. Findings …

Governance And Islam In East Africa: Muslims And The State In Kenya And Tanzania, Farouk Topan, Kai Kresse, Erin E. Stiles, Hassan Mwakimako

Exploring Muslim Contexts

Explores the relationship between Muslim communities and the State in East Africa in political, institutional and legal contexts

• Focuses on the relationship between Muslims and the State in Kenya and Tanzania
• Asks which factors, both within and outside the Muslim community, shape and affect this relationship in contemporary times
• Presents 13 case studies exploring governance issues within and across the categories of politics, institutions and law in Kenya and Tanzania
• Identifies cross-cutting issues of governance and Muslim communities which are relevant beyond East Africa

Recent studies of Muslims in Kenya and Tanzania have tended either to examine governance of Muslims …

Catastrophic Progress: A Queer Materialist Analysis Of The 2023 Trans/Bud Light Controversy, Brianna Radke

English (MA) Theses

On April 1, 2023, Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman and social media influencer, made a March Madness post on Instagram sponsored by Bud Light. The response from the conservative right was swift and extreme, galvanizing protests against Anheuser-Busch InBev and resulting in a massive loss in sales that is still discussed in news and pop culture circles today. The event offers unique analytic value, particularly through the nexus of queer and materialist theoretical frameworks, providing a glimpse into the growing conflict between big business and queer-allied consumers. From a materialist perspective, the Bud Light/Mulvaney controversy demonstrates how social media – …

Reparative Justice As Literary Methodology: Confronting Criminality In Contemporary American Fiction, Diane Paulson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis presents an approach to literary analysis centered on dismantling one’s conscious or unconscious biases by engaging in reparative justice practices with fictional characters. It stems from the belief that America’s criminal justice system is a white patriarchal system that serves to support and uplift systems of white power. I argue that we must advocate for its abolition with a wide lens. Doing so requires a recognition of one’s biases and a radical shift in empathy to those who have directly and indirectly survived and continue to survive oppression by the criminal justice system. I argue conducting reparative readings …

Reclaiming Tremé: A Design Research Thesis, Tori Dunston

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Reclaiming Tremé explores the potential for design to support the well-being of the oldest African American neighborhood divided by urban highway projects in the US. This comprehensive thesis that seeks to improve the well-being the neighborhood using precedents, historical context, and the quantifiable architectural goals of WELL v2, to present a design solution for Tremé. Through understanding the current communities needs and having historical context of the area, the design strategy focuses on creating a vibrant cultural core that enhances the community's well-being. By integrating new structures and amenities, preserving cultural heritage, and enhancing physical and social infrastructure, the project …

Victim Or Villain: Female Resilience And Agency In The Face Of Trauma In Chimamanda Adichie’S, Purple Hibiscus (2003) And Tsitsi Dangarembga’S, Nervous Conditions (1988), Adaobi Juliet Chukwuma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As long as disparities persist in the way women are treated as compared to their male counterparts, the issue of gender will continue to call forth literary productions. For this reason, female writers are on a mission to dismantle the stereotypes that keep women confined to societal roles. Grounded in a feminist framework, this study focuses on the gender disparity theme in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. The aim is to examine how these writers represent the trauma of women living in an African patriarchal system. The traumatic experiences of the female characters in both texts …

Manifesting The End Of Amerikkkan Theatre: Black Theatre’S Healing Power To Eradicate Anti-Blackness, R'Myni Watson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the potential of Black Theatre as a catalyst for healing anti-Blackness within American theatre. Acknowledging the limitations of systemic change, this study advocates for incremental shifts within communities to combat ingrained racial biases through narrative change and theatrical exploration. Grounded in the theory of Black Theatre's energy force, Nommo, the study proposes the framework of Acknowledge, Dismantle, Re-Educate to address and eradicate anti-Blackness. Through directing the production of Blood at the Root, incorporating Black Theatre methodologies atop eurocentric foundations, this research documents the healing experienced by participants and audiences. Key findings reveal increased community engagement, support, awareness, …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

Lived Experiences, Migration Journey, Religiosity, And Spirituality Depicted In Drawings By Latino Children And Youth Crossing The U.S. Mexican Border: A Qualitative Study., Doroty Magalhaes Sato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread violence forces thousands of Central American children to endure a hazardous journey toward the U.S. Border seeking refuge. In the Latino community, faith serves as a social movement of resistance against oppression, playing a vital role in migration. There is a paucity of research documenting this experience and children's overall journey. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the lived experience of crossing international borders, religiosity, and spirituality depicted in Latino children's drawings used as coping methods to endure the journey toward the U.S. southern border. This investigation employed Art-based approaches to give voices to children's experiences by analyzing 63 …

Coalitional Response(Ability) In Rhetoric And Composition, Zoe Nicole Mcdonald

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

This dissertation considers the literacy practices of progressive coalitions as a provocative way to examine central responsibilities of rhetorical scholars, college writing instructors, and writing program administrators. Through attention to case studies, this dissertation suggests opportunities to consider social differences as crucial assets for political advocacy, scholarly knowledge production, and teaching strategies.

Advisor: Stacey Waite

The Sexual Trauma Of The Female Body: Violence Against Women In Contemporary Spanish And Latin American Cultures, Lara Armenteros Garrido

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

This dissertation focuses on the idea that women’s bodies have a sexual stigma attached to them as a consequence of different forms of heteropatriarcal violence inflicted on them. From violence in public spaces, such as street harassment or the sexual exploitation of women, to the intimacy of the relationship, like intimate partner violence or the orgasm gap, it becomes increasingly difficult for women to escape violence. Through the analysis of films, documentaries, narratives, and the testimonies of women from Spain and Latin America, I argue there is still a lack of adequate sexual and emotional knowledge to help complete agency …

(De)Composition: Earthen Storytelling For Collective Liberation, Priya Subberwal

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This interdisciplinary portfolio is an investigation into ecological communication through pedagogical design, online collaborative learning spaces, digital and print media, and creative writing. Braiding lenses of queer ecology, decolonial studies, anarchism, and collaborative and creative practice, this work hopes to explore the field of environmental communication through avenues that are reciprocal, community-driven, and oriented towards environmental justice and collective, intersectional liberation. Through the three distinct components of 1) the creation and facilitation of an online learning community, the Spiritual Ecology Study Club at Advaya, 2) the editing and production of two issues of Camas Magazine, an environmental literary magazine based …