Community-Based Research Commons^™

The Age-Less Citizen: Cultivating A Civically Engaged K-12 Community Through The Use Of Service Learning, Chelsia I. Douglas Mpa

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Age-less Citizen will analyze evidence-based civic education studies and explore proactive student engagement strategies to build an individualized nonpartisan action plan for each school represented. From sending election reminders home by a kindergartener, to including local school board meetings on school newsletter and calendars, attendees will take away practical tips and tools to restore faith in the younger generation's ability to improve our democracy.

An Arbitrary Aesthetic: Cultural Reproduction And Hegemonic Canonical Formations In The Western Theatrical Academy, Sim C. Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre as an artistic practice has often been celebrated as an art of and for the people, being a modality that in theory the common person has access to learn, explore and experience. In recent years I have become preoccupied with the growing rarification and privileging of this art form, particularly in how it is cognized and taught in the academic world. As such, I set out to investigate the mechanisms at work at levels structural, artistic, and personal that determine how theatre is taught and understood within the western academy.

This thesis seeks to examine and unpack the perceived …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the influence of social and structural communication variables on the perceived social connectedness of people experiencing homelessness in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and Joplin, Missouri areas. This study employed the ecological perspective of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach et al., 2001) and a communication perspective which envisions communicative interaction as constitutive of social experience. Using survey data from 166 participants, this study examined 11 research questions and hypotheses drawn from extant literature on homelessness, social connectedness, and CIT. ANOVAs, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a complex relationship between individuals and the communicative environment. This study …

Predictors Of College Student Support Toward Colin Kaepernick’S National Anthem Protests, Brooke Coursen, Nicole Peiffer, Sakira Coleman, Philip Lucius

VA Engage Journal

Racial discrimination and inequality have perpetuated within the U.S. since its inception. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick initiated the national anthem protests to oppose the oppression of people of color in America. This study was developed in 2018 to identify social determinants of health underlying discriminatory beliefs and behaviors. The objective was to investigate the impacts of college students’ race, gender, political ideology, socio-economic status [SES], NFL interest, patriotism, and general protest support on support for the national anthem protests. We administered paper-and-pencil surveys across locations on the James Madison University campus using a convenience sample. There were 408 participants included, …

Understanding Motivations Among Sustained Cooperative Extension Partners For Obesity Prevention In Rural Louisiana, Catherine R. Losavio

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana consistently has one of the highest rates of obesity in the nation with higher concentrations of obesity in many rural parishes (i.e., counties). Due to over a century of visibility and engagement in rural communities, Cooperative Extension (Extension) is uniquely poised to reach remote rural communities disproportionately impacted by obesity. As Extension increases its use of community coalitions and implements its new National Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being, understanding motivations and communication preferences among long-term rural coalition partners for obesity prevention and health promotion has become essential for duplicating successful local-level policy, system, and environmental (PSE) changes. This …

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Our Stories, Katelyn S. Lopez

Publications and Research

This semester, we participated in the “Our Stories” qualitative research project that involves learning more about students' first year, and first-semester experiences at City Tech during pandemic times. As we organized and read students’ posts, we journaled and practiced reflexivity, a qualitative research process that helps us examine how we are interpreting the data that we are engaging with. T Reflexivity is a process in qualitative research involving frequent examination of one’s position in the project. These positions include one’s assumptions, feelings, and so forth. An essential question for qualitative researchers, according to Leavy (2011), is “Has the researcher engaged …

Batok: The Exploration Of Indigenous Filipino Tattooing As A Collective Occupation, Ana Cabalquinto, Carmela Dizon, Chelsea Ramirez, Mai Santiago

Occupational Therapy | MSOT Capstone Projects

Batok (also known as Fatek/Burik/Tatak/Batek/Patik) is an indigenous Filipino tattooing practice where the practitioner marks the skin by hand-tapping the ink using bone/wood implements. Previous research on tattooing has explored an occupational science perspective on Western tattooing and its engagement and implication on the individual - recognizing its practice to be considered as an occupation (Kay & Brewis, 2017). Framed in theories of Collective Occupation (Ramugondo & Kronenberg, 2015), Doing, Being, Becoming (Wilcock, 2002), and Belonging (Hitch et al., 2014) the research explores how batok as a collective occupation affects the experiences of Filipino communities. Three individual Filipino people with …

A Story Of The Social Life Of Yulupa Cohousing, Kayla Ho

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone is a study of the lived social experience of one cohousing community. Cohousing communities are designed with the intention of fostering a community with a mixture of privately-owned units and publicly shared spaces and responsibilities. The study is conducted at a significant point in American history: these communities are a fast-growing phenomenon in the United States yet they remain unknown and/or unattainable to many Americans.

Qualitative information from the community’s current residents is gathered by using research tools of interviewing and photography. Interviews were completed virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photographs were created during a three-day visit …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Intergroup Dialogue: Affecting Real Change, Lauryn Hulett

Honors Projects

Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) is a course adapted from The University of Michigan. In this Honors Project, a systematic literature review is done from eleven sources in hopes to theorize best practices and areas of improvement amongst applications of Intergroup Dialogue.

Equity + Catalyst Framework Guide, Naomi M. Silas

Masters Projects

There has been a shift in society, in light of Covid-19 and the global pandemic, more people have begun to recognize the structural and institutional injustices that exist in this country. Social innovation allows collaboration between people from different sectors, disciplines, industries, and backgrounds; in order to create sustainable change to complex social issues. Design thinking is an iterative process used in business to create innovation and products; it’s also used for social impact.

The goal of the Equity + Catalyst Framework is to bridge concepts that include design thinking, and embodiment, as well as lived experiences and community care …

Ambiguous Appalachianness: A Linguistic And Perceptual Investigation Into Arc-Labeled Pennsylvania Counties, Crissandra J. George

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

The Appalachian Regional Commission (2022) designates 52 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as Appalachia, excluding only the southeast portion of the state. Matthew Ferrence, in Appalachia North, states that his "home is sometimes called Appalachia, sometimes Rust Belt, other times Midwest, even though very few who live there would accept any of those labels as correct" (xi). This ambiguous and fluid identity is due to the shaping, forming, and changing of Pennsylvania’s role within society from a founding colony to a thriving state with industry, unselfishly spoiling others, to the grounds of converging identities (Ferrence xi). This ambiguous identity makes …

Learning To Be Gay: Narrative Socialization Of Young Indonesian Homosexuals, Amika Wardana

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

The increasing religious conservatism within Indonesian society has propelled the growth of hatred and vigilantism targeting sexual minorities—which are seen as committing an unforgiven sin—especially towards LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender). This study addresses the processes that these minorities experience in order to express their sexual identities and forge social relationships with fellow same-sex queers. In specific, this study focuses on the ways young gays begin to understand and develop their sexual identity amidst a largely hostile social environment. By utilizing social media, these young gays have built digital communities for socialising with fellow gay people, as well as …

Archiving Feminist Truth In Trump’S Wake Of Lies, Julie Shayne

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This article is about an assignment I do in one of my Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies social movement classes. I revised the assignment the first time teaching the class after Trump lost the 2020 election. For the assignment, students work in groups to research local feminist and gender justice organizations and deposit all of their original materials – recordings, photos, flyers, etc. – into a digital, open access archive I co-created several years ago with librarians and staff on my campus. In 2021 I had my students do the “post-Trump” edition where they researched local organizations about how their …

The Program To Reduce Implicit Bias In Carroll Hospital Center Using The Implicit Association Test, Katherine E. Traynor

Capstone Showcase

Natural brain processes make all individuals susceptible to unconscious bias; however, stressful, fearful, or anger-evoking situations as well as the negative influence of media and social surroundings increase the risk of holding obstructive bias, and there is a greater risk of being negatively impacted by this phenomenon when belonging to a minority population (Rose & Flores, 2020). As a result, high rates of infant mortality (10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births for the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 4.1 in the White population) and cardiovascular related diseases (190.0 cases per 1,000 in the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 161.3 in …

Improving Networking Supports For Women In The Workplace, Karen E. Pennesi, Javier Alvarez Vandeputte, Zsofia Agoston, Rawand Amsdr

Anthropology Publications

This report describes findings from research on networking activities and strategies among women in executive and leadership positions in Canadian organizations. The project was carried out by graduate student researchers in collaboration with the Women's Executive Network. Networking is defined as the creation and maintenance of a community of diverse interests, through in-person and online engagements, that can be mobilized for the benefit of oneself or other members of one’s network. We found that the shift to primarily online networking activities due to COVID-19 removed some existing barriers related to age, gender and location, while introducing others related to family …

Using Visual Storytelling To Design Solutions-Based Approaches To Homelessness, Peggy Peattie

Dissertations

Despite millions of dollars spent over several decades on assistance programs, the nation’s homeless population has increased for the last four years in a row. The number of people reporting as homeless for the first time doubled in San Diego between June 2019 and June 2020. Trying to impose a one-size-fits-all model of care on a population comprised of unique individuals has resulted in many homeless opting for the street rather than subjugating themselves to rules they feel do not treat them with respect and dignity. Yet, the perspectives of homeless individuals are excluded from decision-making dialogue around policies and …

Examining Natural Resource Conservation: In The Classroom, Through Collaborative Conservation, And Across Public Communication Platforms, Shauni Seccombe

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

The Effect Of Nutrition Education On Nutrition Knowledge In Low-Income Minority Adults, Samantha Lindsay, Isabella Dillon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The availability of health and nutrition knowledge is disproportionately lower in minority populations compared to their majority counterparts despite minority populations at higher risk for health problems related to poor dietary habits from cultural and social influences. The purpose of this project was to determine if a weekly, culturally competent, group-delivered, nutrition education intervention affected nutrition knowledge in minority adults. The project was a smaller arm of the FABU study, which provided the education intervention. This study was guided by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and used a quantitative non-experimental design with a convenience sample of adults living in lower-income, minority …

A Short Film That Addresses Substance Use Disorders In Rural Communities And Strategies In Prevention And Treatment Of Addiction, Sarah R. Poteracki

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research paper and accompanying video (link to the short film is here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1etDnUmEvkOds8J0EKnq1gnFO79-GggjY) offer insight into the current state of research collaboration surrounding substance use disorders in West Virginia. This professional project explores the importance of collaboration both in a research and clinical setting and in the social realm. The film was shown at the 2nd annual meeting for the Appalachian Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network on February 25, 2021. I interviewed 14 researchers and experts from a diverse range of disciplines who shared insights and strategies in the prevention and treatment of …

The Youthful Pandemic, Brook Sahlemariam

Nursing | Senior Theses

This paper attempts to examine the neurological, physical, and societal effects of e-cigarette use among youth and young-adults in North America. Furthermore, the paper investigates the parallels between e-cigarette users, tobacco users, and dual users in regard to behavioral patterns, reasons for use, and age of initiation.

An Examination Of Community Members' Reactions To Violent Viral Media And Their Perceptions Of Its Impact On Black Chicago Communities, Paviella Foster

Dissertations

The City of Chicago has always been known for its violence and high crime rates. Traditional media has portrayed Chicago as a war zone in terrifying headlines and news stories. While traditional media has portrayed a distorted view of senseless murders and gang violence in Black Chicago communities, residents of these communities have used social media to tell their deepest truths. The existence of social media platforms has provided an outlet for Black Chicago residents to show their daily realities to connect with others. Community members upload or share violent viral media as a way of expressing their environment, their …

“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how audiences engage with U.S. Latinx media representations through the practice of critical media literacy. I interrogate how media consumers construct critical media literacy through interacting with U.S. Latinx figures on digital media platforms, particularly on the social-media app, Twitter, and the user-generated video content platform, YouTube. Throughout this thesis, I argue that users on these platforms who engage with U.S. Latinx pop culture figures, like Jennifer Lopez and Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B), read, digest, and comprehend a variety of multimedia images, texts, or videos, and that this engagement becomes an accessible form of critical media literacy, …

Biographical Availability In The Climate Movement, Nicole Cortes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this study was to understand how social movements against climate change include or engage with the age demographics. This study is a qualitative analysis by observing Monterey and Santa Cruz climate events and interviewing activists from local organizations. The individuals who participated in this study have shared their experience being involved in the climate organizations as well as their perception of the climate movement’s impact. This research has been conducted to theorize and understand how youth climate movement frames the presentation of age and how that compares to the actual capacity of age in the movement. As …

Placing Notes In The Virtual “Western Wall”: Online Memorial Culture In Chinese Social Media, Xiaoyu Zhang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Each society has a unique way of understanding death and coping with mourning. The increasing online mourners in China gradually generated a collective reference to the Weibo account that belongs to the dead, the “Western Wall.” This project searches for answers to two questions: 1) What characterizes Chinese online memorial practice? And how do these practices compare with those in the Western countries? 2) What aspects of Chinese culture and social conditions can explain Chinese online memorial practices? By combining corpus analysis with thematic analysis on 1,606 comments left on the last tweet of two accounts of deceased Weibo users, …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of Social Collaborations On Sexual And Reproductive Health Knowledge, Lucki Word, Jaila Campbell, Manar T. Edriss, Destiny Stroman, Jewel Evans, Melanie Hanna-Johnson, Md, Anil N. F. Aranha, Phd

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Developments in technology, such as the popularity of mobile devices and social media outlets, have enhanced the ability of individuals to communicate. Currently, search engines allow for easy exploration of information related to every topic of interest. Our study purpose was to evaluate the impact of technological and social collaborations on sexual and reproductive health knowledge (SRHK).

Methods: A 50-item survey instrument, integrating factors of sociodemographics, number/type of social collaborations, technological communication use, and SRHK, was developed to assess familiarity with sexual and reproductive health perceptions. The survey was provided to consenting patients in an ambulatory, primary care setting. …

Envisioning Critical Social Entrepreneurship Education: Possibilities, Questions, And Guiding Commitments, Mark Congdon Jr., Liliana Herakova

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions continue to be increasingly interested in examining how social entrepreneurship and community engaged approaches to education can work together. In light of the recent growth and interest in such programs, scholars and educators have called for attention to specific considerations when developing SE and community-based education, which can be summed up in three areas - pedagogy, relationships, and impact. The present essay builds on such propositions, and calls for a critically-orientated approach to SE, grounded in community engagement, collaborative dialogue among diverse voices, and a commitment to transforming oppressive structures

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: An Exploration Of Changing The Discourse On Conservation, Arielle Ben-Hur

Pitzer Senior Theses

In 2015, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council submitted a National Marine Sanctuary Nomination to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary– a means by which to ensure the protection of one of the most culturally and biologically diverse coastlines in the world. On October 5, 2015, John Armor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) responded to the nomination, adding it to the inventory of areas NOAA may consider in the future for national marine sanctuary designation.

In my thesis, I explore how the nomination of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary acts as a platform from which Traditional …