Sociology Commons^™

Does Age And Reading Activity Predict Children’S Engagement In Grandparent–Grandchild Zoom Sessions?, Breanne E. Dunn

Honors Thesis

As the digital world continues to advance, interactions that once took place in person are increasingly occurring online. Although a substantial body of research has documented the benefits of shared reading for children under six, far less is known about how these experiences and reading development unfolds in digital contexts. This study examines how structured book reading during video chat supports joint visual attention (JVA; sharing attention with another person on an object) between children (18 months to 6 years old) and their remote grandparents. The proportion of successful grandparent-initiated JVA bids throughout three different activity conditions, baseline (control), matching …

Pacifism And Negligence In Our Modern Era Ignoring Crises For “It Being Political”, Georgi Feigley

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Speculative Spies: The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Business, And Labor Conflict In The Gilded Age, Luke M. Gibbs

Tenor of Our Times

The Pinkerton Agency molded into an “arm of capital” used by the wealthy against labor during the Gilded Age. However, such a transition seems confusing given the life of the company’s founder. Allan Pinkerton, once a champion of workers’ rights in his home country of Scotland, seemingly used his agency to side with the wealthy elite. In explaining these shifts, historian Sean Paul O’Hara agrees with a “profits and negative image” narrative. The poor financial position of the agency, coupled with a battered reputation resulting from failures in the American West, would be remedied through the lucrative business that was …

Beyond The Individual: Exploring Structural Explanations Of Homelessness Through Thematic Analysis Of Extant Research, Madison R. Mcclain

Senior Theses

This thesis examines how homelessness is defined, explained, and addressed within contemporary U.S. research using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality as guiding frameworks. Through a qualitative, deductive thematic analysis of 16 peer-reviewed articles, this study identifies six key themes related to structural causation, policy governance, measurement practices, racial inequality, dominant narratives, and intersecting systems of disadvantage. Findings reveal that while structural explanations of homelessness are widely acknowledged, they are inconsistently defined and often insufficiently theorized. Institutional systems primarily function to manage rather than resolve homelessness, while measurement practices and definitions actively shape who is recognized and prioritized. Additionally, structural …

Adolescent And Young Adult Women's Experiences Of Contraceptive Coercion In Healthcare Interactions In The Southern United States, Hannah Brennen, Elexus Kelly, Mounica Katragadda, Jesalyn Vinkemulder, Kathleen Broussard, Emily S. Mann

Faculty Publications

Objectives:

Contraceptive coercion during contraceptive counseling can limit pregnancy-capable individuals’ contraceptive autonomy over decision-making and use. We examined the contraceptive counseling experiences of adolescent and young adult women for evidence of contraceptive coercion.

Study design:

This study involved individual interviews with a racially diverse sample of 46 adolescents and young adults, ages 16–24, assigned female at birth, and residing in one of five southern states. All participants self-identified as women. The study team conducted interviews between October 2023 and March 2024. We used codebook thematic analysis to examine participants’ accounts of healthcare interactions about contraception.

Results:

Participants recalled how clinicians …

Silent Cries: Analyzing The Psychological Profiles Of High School Shooters, Kayla Martinez

Posters - 2026

• School shootings have become a recurring event for the past couple of decades in the United States
  • high school has the most exposure to these shootings
• Shootings can cause serious trauma and various mental health issues in the students and staff who survived (as well as communities)
• Protocols put in place seem to only be reactive rather than proactively identifying and preventing the occurrence
• Most people overlook the previous behaviors of the shooters

Peace Without Security: Intersectional Feminism And The Reintegration Of Colombian Female Ex-Combatants, Savannah Torres

Posters - 2026

This projects speaks to those engaged in gender studies, human security, and post-conflict reintegration by examining why reintegration efforts continue to fall short for female ex-combatants. Focusing on Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement and its aftermath, the study analyzes how reintegration frameworks inadequately address the human security needs of former guerrilleras. It asks how reintegration processes fail to account for the intersecting identities of women as gendered, racial, and economic subjects and former combatants, and how these oversights generate persistent vulnerabilities. While existing literature acknowledges entrenched patriarchy in Colombian society, reintegration is frequently framed through victim-oriented lenses that obscure women’s agency. …

U.S Sanctions In Venezuela: The Jeopardization Of International Human Security And Economic Stability, Nyleen Benavides

Posters - 2026

Enforced in 2005, the U.S sanctions in Venezuela were the first form of restrictive mechanisms for the perspective outcome of reducing human right abuses, antidemocratic action, and corruption. Since then, the United States has imposed several sanctions on the Venezuela government to which it has enforced the idea of whether it takes corruption to fight corruption. While imposed U.S sanctions on Venezuela were intended to pressure the Maduro government into democratic reform without corruption and human rights violation over the region, these sanctions have done more harm on Venezuelan citizens rather than help them. The initial purpose of sanctions are …

Social Media Microtrends And The Economic Realities Of Young Consumers, Camila Berumen

Posters - 2026

This study expects to reveal how social media microtrends act as indicators of the economic realities' young consumers experience, including financial pressure, shifting spending habits, and changing values around consumption. By analyzing how these realities are expressed through digital trends, the research will provide a deeper understanding of how economic conditions are communicated in everyday online behavior. This research addresses the issue that traditional economic measures often overlook lived experience, especially among younger generations. By focusing on microtrends, the study offers a more nuanced and accessible way to understand how economic realities are felt and expressed, rather than just measured. …

Konglish, Abigail Escheveria, Juan Maurissio Gomez Gonzalez, Vanessa Vasquez Zavala

Posters - 2026

Konglish is a language variety resulting from contact between Korean and English

1.“Konglish is a blend of Korean and English found throughout South Korea, and often suffers or lack of prestige amongst Koreans” (McPhail, 2018)

2. “A creative, dynamic contact vernacular mixing English and Korean, including morphology, syntax, semantics, pronunciation, and discourse, but not a full language” (Lawrence, 2012)

3.  Konglish should not be understood as a distinct language variety; rather, it is a cultural practice through which Koreans draw on available linguistic resources to engage in communication and to interpret their position within the globalized world. (Park, 2021)

"P" Is For Protest: How San Antonio Students Are Showing The Rise In Young Justice Advocates, Eliana Salinas

Posters - 2026

- Recent 2025-2026 legislation under the Trump administration specifically targets immigration and militarize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

- Such actions have instilled fear in the general population, and encourage anti-immigration and biased rhetoric towards many, no matter their citizenship status.

- Specifically, adolescents have responded by taking matters into their own hands by walking out of school as a form of protest; a demonstration unique to their age group demographic.

Regional Inequalities In Healthcare Access And Capacity In Brazil, Elena Kossler

Posters - 2026

The Brazilian health system is one of the largest and most comprehensive universal public health systems, fully funded by the government.

The Childhood Beyond The Border, Joshua Marroquin, Cheyenne Ruiz, Evelyn Adela Perez

Posters - 2026

• In 2024, there were approximately 18.3 million immigrant-origin children (1st, 2nd or 3rd generation; unauthorized; or international) which represented 26% of all 69.1 million children in the United states (Batalova, 2026). • There are many factors in immigrant-origin children’s childhoods that influence their early education, wellbeing and sense of identity as they grow up, but also in higher education. • Research Question: How do immigrant-origin students' experiences affect their current standing in U.S. universities?

Economic Security & Older Adults In The United States: Infographic, Center For Social And Demographic Research On Aging, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The Elder Index measures the income older adults need to meet their daily living costs while staying in their own homes. This fact sheet presents overview data of economic security of Older Adults in the United States based on the 2025 Elder Index data.

Divided We Stand: Exploring Public Perceptions Of Georgia’S Political System, Luka Lazishvili

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recent years have witnessed increasing concern about democratic backsliding across different regime types, raising important questions about how citizens perceive the legitimacy of political systems during periods of institutional decline. Since 2019, the Republic of Georgia has been experiencing a sustained period of political unrest, which has deepened political polarization and contributed to a decline in Georgia’s Democracy Index. This study examines how citizens perceived the legitimacy of their political system amid democratic backsliding between 2019-2024.

Drawing on legitimacy theory and social identity theory, this study analyzes three waves of cross-sectional data from the Caucasus Barometer survey (2019, 2021, and …

Mica Productions: The Sad Truth Behind Cosmetic Corporations' Impact On Children's Well-Being In India, Nyleen Benavides

Posters - 2026

Mica is a shiny silicate mineral found in granite, crystals, or rocks. This mineral has attracted the eyes of many cosmetic corporations. Due to high rates of unemployment and poverty in Asian countries, particularly in India’s Jharkhand region, corporations have taken over to profit the exportations of mica. India relies on illegal child labor in mica mining sites that are not only hazardous to children, but the economy and ecosystem. Previous research has shown how cosmetic corporations use mica as one of their main ingredients for shiny pigmentations within their products. However, there is limited research that has indicated the …

Transforming Wood, Transforming Bodies: Craft Work, Addiction Recovery, And Regional History At An Appalachian Guitar Factory, Eva Murillo , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Dairy Cows And Doughnut Holes: The Class Politics Of Municipal Boundaries And Logistics Land Use In Inland Southern California, Anthony Rumbos-Perez , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Bioengineering The Future Of The Human Species: H+’S Ideological Iterations Of Trans-/Posthumanity As Exemplified By Futurist Literary Texts = (Bio)Technological Solutions For (And/Or) Reification Of Systemic Inequities?, Marjorie E. Bomhower

English Theses & Dissertations

While humanity has, throughout our species’ history, endeavored to dream and create astonishing, and ever-evolving, (bio)technologies with the utopian ideals of bettering our day-to day lives and achieving greater longevity, our endeavors have (thus far) not only produced remarkable, beneficial advances in longevity and quality of life, but have also yielded devastating and dire outcomes; often at the cost and victimization of marginalized communities. This dissertation focuses on select (bio)technologies – particularly, those promoted by H+ (the most current and popular technoutopianist non-profit, “educational,” organization) – with an investigation of current and nascent (bio)technological evolutions, futurist literary texts, and critical/digital …

Cotheorizing Healing With Undergraduate Queer And Trans Latina Survivors Of Power-Based Violence, Kimberly Correa

Dissertations

Current research on healing from power-based violence highlights the importance of integrating victim-survivors’ personal culture and identities into healing approaches, yet few studies actually focus on the culturally distinct healing processes of victim-survivors (O’Brien & Macy, 2016; Sinko et al., 2023). Grounded in Jotería theory (Alvarez, 2023) and Latina/Chicana feminist frameworks (Garcia, 1989), this qualitative study employs queer pláticas as both a methodology and method to center culturally rooted dialogue, reciprocity, and cariño as a political praxis. This study explores how six queer and trans Latina undergraduate victim-survivors conceptualize healing from power-based violence and how their identities, cultural values, and …

Retail Behaviours And Preferences Of Older Adults In Suburban Malls, Le Ha Linh Phan, Kenneth Choo, Emi Loh, Wensi Lim

ROSA Research Briefs

Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly, with projections indicating that one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2030 (Iparraguirre, 2019). This demographic shift presents significant opportunities for the Silver economy, which refers to economic activities, products, and services designed to meet the needs of older adults. As the market for products that enhance seniors’ quality of life expands (Wong, 2007), the Silver retail sector, comprising businesses that provide age-friendly goods and services, has become an increasingly important component of this landscape (Colurcio et al., 2022).

Temporary Protected Status Populations In Massachusetts In 2026, Phillip Granberry, Iván Espinoza-Madrigal

Gastón Institute Publications

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is one of the best expressions of U.S. humanitarian protection and relief. It recognizes a basic truth: people should not be deported to danger.

May this report help build a stronger Commonwealth for all by advancing more thoughtful policymaking and stronger interventions that recognize the deep connections among immigration, community, and economic life.

"Nobody Forced My Mom To Stay Home": College Men’S Perspectives On Parental Leave, Marisa Conners

Student Publications

From "The Second Shift" to Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize-winning research on women in the labor market, the inequities affecting women in the labor market have been widely documented. However, progress on this issue has been largely one-sided on behalf of women, perpetuating gender inequality. The goal of my research is to understand how social subgroup values influence male-identifying Gettysburg College students’ predictions on how they will engage with parental leave. This project gathered information on ways to increase male uptake of parental leave, which, if implemented, will help improve gender equity in the labor market.

How are male-identifying Gettysburg College …

Brief #3: Collaborative Aggregation & Marketing Of Local Farm Food: Customer Perspectives On Participation Barriers, Evan England, Rachel Filippone, Hannah Stokes-Ramos, Cindy (Luyue) Zheng, Olivia Burton, Analena Bruce

Food Practice Research

No abstract provided.

Purr-Spectives: Connections Between Feline Coat Color And Human Preferences And Perceptions In Northeast Arkansas, Tiffany L. Batchelor

Honors Theses

Felines have played an important role in the lives and culture of humans for thousands of years. The purpose of this study is to investigate perceptions of felines and feline demographics to gain a better understanding of the relationship between cats and humans in the Northeast Arkansas (NEA) area in particular. For Study 1, data on phenotype and health conditions (n = 2,277 feline patients) were collected from patient files from three Northeast Arkansas veterinary clinics. For Study 2, an anonymous survey generated using Qualtrics titled “Purr-spectives: Feline Behavioral Perceptions Survey” was published through the College of Agriculture social media …

Social Support And Mental Wellbeing Among Veterinary Clinic Employees, Madison Koons

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Mental wellbeing is a significant concern for veterinary professionals and the subject of much discussion in the veterinary and academic fields. To determine whether social support is an effective protective factor for the mental wellbeing of veterinary professionals, I administered a survey to 879 veterinary clinics in Ohio, with ninety-two responses received for final analysis. The scales assessed mental wellbeing, organizational support, and nonorganizational support. I found organizational support, friends support, and family support to be positively correlated with mental wellbeing. Significant other support was not correlated with mental wellbeing. A linear regression evaluating social support as predictors of mental …

Evaluating The Impact Of Social Determinants Of Health On Outcomes Of Type Ii Diabetes In South Carolina, Alexander G. Downs

Senior Theses

Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) represents a significant public health burden in South Carolina, where 13.5% of adults are affected, surpassing the national rate of 12%. This integrative literature review examines the social determinants of health most strongly associated with T2DM morbidity and mortality in South Carolina, including race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, rural or urban residence, educational attainment, healthcare access, and food insecurity. Evidence drawn from peer-reviewed studies, epidemiological reports, and state health data reveals that African American, rural, and low-income populations bear a disproportionate share of the diabetes burden in the state. These disparities arise through multilevel mechanisms …

Performing Politics: Contextual Shifts In Identity Expression Amongst Ingroup And Neutral Settings, Elsa Geriane Johnson

Senior Theses

Increased political divisiveness and the rise of social media have contributed to a widening gap between individuals situated on the political left and right. However, prior research has not determined whether individuals express their political identities similarly when among in-group members versus in more neutral spaces.

Individuals were observed in politically charged settings and in politically neutral settings to determine how the expression of political identities differs when among in-group members versus when discussing politics in classrooms. Data was analyzed using a systemic thematic process through the lens of social identity theory. Findings supported the hypothesis that political identities are …

Effects Of Face-To-Face Communication On Network Recall, Gage Austin Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of social cognition found that humans use schema for the storage and processing of network information. Schema use differs by gender and power, in theory because individuals differ in the schemas that apply to the network structures they are involved with. I analyzed a survey dataset collected during the COVID-19 pandemic that asked respondents about how often they interacted with people, and organizations, as well as what forms of communication they used. In addition, a network recall survey experiment was conducted to measure their network recall accuracy. If schema are learned cognitive rules the brain uses …

Maternal Reading Skills And Child Mortality In Nigeria, Kayode Ibraheem

Theses and Dissertations

Although, child mortality in Nigeria has declined significantly over the past three decades, the country still has one of the highest rates in the world. The inverse relationship between maternal education and child survival is well established, but the mechanisms by which education impacts mortality remain underexplored. This study assessed the mediating effect of maternal literacy in the relationship between child mortality and maternal education, extending prior work that focused primarily on mothers with low education levels. Using the data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, I analyzed 24,865 mothers who had at most secondary education as well …