Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Housing Equity In Golden Gate Village, Nicole White

Social Justice | Senior Theses

For generations, the African American community has faced many forms of housing discrimination that have created major inequalities in their everyday lived experiences (Lockwood, 2020). This study explores the long-lasting effects of discriminatory housing policies in creating disparate housing conditions within the public housing community in Marin City called Golden Gate Village, as well as the role of the Marin Housing Authority in practices of displacement and neglect. The methodology for the study included seven different interviews with Golden Gate Village residents to obtain knowledge about the community as well as grasp an understanding of the lived experiences of the …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Creating Systemic Support: Cross-Sector Partnerships As A Catalyst To Institutional Transformation For Southeast Asian Student Support, Brianna Lourdes Edoria Pascua

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper investigates the potential impact of cross-sector partnerships between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and universities on the educational attainment of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, particularly those from disenfranchised or nontraditional backgrounds. Guided by the research question, "Can cross-sector partnerships between NPOs and universities contribute to increased educational attainment among SEAA students?", the study seeks to comprehensively explore SEAA student experiences, challenge the Model Minority Stereotype, enrich SEAA higher educational achievement literature, underline the significance of disaggregated data and cross-sector collaborations, and create an adaptable framework for other communities. By adopting an Asian Critical Race Theory (AsianCrit) lens, the research …

Perceptions Of Tourism And Quality Of Life: A Case Study In Savannah, Georgia, Marissa J. Renee

Honors College Theses

The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that Travel and Tourism accounted for 10.3% of the world economy in 2019 and ¼ of all net new jobs over the past five years. Savannah, Georgia has experienced huge growth in the last decade due to tourism, with visitor spending on lodging alone increasing from $466 million in 2009 to $1 billion in 2019. The current study examined differences in perceived impact of tourism on quality of life using established predictors of tourism sentiments. An online community survey was conducted in Chatham County, Georgia (N = 94) using the Tourism Quality of …

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

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors 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 …

Litigation As Integration And Participation: The Role Of Lawsuits In The U.S. Environmental Justice Movement, Tomas Sebastian Forman

Senior Projects Spring 2022

What is, has been, and could be the role of litigation in the U.S. environmental justice movement? To what ends do Indigenous communities, federally-recognized tribes, and rural Black communities choose to engage with the U.S. legal system, an institution which has, over history, consistently subjugated and dispossessed them? How do these groups' particularistic relationships to natural and built environments, conceptions of justice and fairness, and understandings of what effective environmental regulation look like inform that choice? This paper draws from in-depth qualitative research to demonstrate the following things: (1) how environmental justice lawsuits differ from canonical environmental and civil rights …

An Exploration Of Black Church Leaders' Intentions To Develop Critical Consciousness Among African-American Students, Taheesha Quarells

Dissertations

African-American students experience human capital opportunity and achievement gaps. Researchers have called for culturally relevant strategies to help close the gaps. The historic Black Church, a part of many African-American students’ culture and community, is a historic and current source of social capital for positive human capital development outcomes. Critical consciousness develops positive human capital outcomes, such as academic achievement, in African-American and other minority students. Much of the literature on critical consciousness is quantitative in nature and therefore does not include the intentions or the willingness of organizations to develop critical consciousness. Therefore, there is a need to understand …

Equity In Accessibility, A Case Study Of City Of Sacramento, Meredith C. Milam

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis of the transportation accessibility and equity in Sacramento, California. A literature review examines discriminatory regulatory policies in the 1900s that wrote racial segregation into law. The effects of these policies have lasting effects on spatial dispersal of people and create barriers to accessibility and therefore result in inequitable transportation systems. The accessibility and equity analysis in Sacramento explores demographic data, job concentration and available modes of transportation, and commuter data. The results of the analysis suggest that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to measuring accessibility and equity. …

Complejo Agroturístico Y Trapiche Comunal Para El Desarrollo Rural Sostenible De La Laguna De Ortices, San Andrés, Santander, Víctor Andrés Reyes Barajas

Arquitectura

Desde la arquitectura, son innumerables las propuestas que se han planteado con el objetivo de mejorar las condiciones de vida y el desarrollo en general de las comunidades rurales del planeta. Algunas han funcionado y otras en el mejor de los casos pasan por obras inconclusas tras una fuerte inversión del estado.

Cada comunidad rural de Colombia presenta problemas relativos a este desarrollo rural y, por tanto, estas comunidades necesitan programas y proyectos que se ajusten realmente a sus vocaciones productivas, y que su cultura sea respetada desde las tipologías arquitectónicas, hasta el programa funcional de las edificaciones que se …

Examining The Mechanisms Of Religious Ecology On Population Health And Material Well-Being, Joseph Andrew Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A growing body of research has addressed the relationship between community-level religious environments and important aspects of well-being, such as mortality, crime, and social mobility. This research argues that the prevalence of specific religious traditions shapes these important outcomes through a variety of mechanisms. While there is no shortage of mechanisms proposed by authors - such as local attitudes towards public institutions, gender norms, and social networks - these mechanisms remain themselves untested. A notable critique of this literature suggests that without evidence supporting the existence of these mechanisms as described, scholars involved in this research run the risk of …

Factors In Refugee Resilience Building During Humanitarian Response, Rachel Starner

Capstone Collection

If countries hosting refugees want to build resiliency and reduce dependency on foreign relief, humanitarian response and local development need to be addressed simultaneously, and collaboration at all levels of stakeholders needs to take place in planning and decision making. Additionally, innovation and strong leadership are strong factors in creating and leading new ideas as funding and world leadership dynamics change, especially with traditional leaders such as the US and the UN losing influence. Observations made at the Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda as well as existing document analysis reflect these traits by active efforts of camp administrators and humanitarian …

Perceptions Of Vulnerability To Flooding, Hurricanes, And Climate Change On Grand Isle, Louisiana’S Only Inhabited Barrier Island, Lauren Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study used in-depth interviews of permanent residents on Grand Isle, Louisiana, a remote barrier island, to better understand their perceptions of structural flood measures, non-structural responses to flooding and hurricanes, and perceptions of vulnerability to flooding, hurricanes, and climate change on a remote barrier island-Grand Isle, Louisiana. Residents' perceptions regarding the various structural measures implemented by the federal, state, and local government appeared mixed. Non-structural responses to flooding risks implemented at the household, community, state, and federal level continue to strengthen resiliency on Grand Isle. According to interviewees, aspects of environmental, rural, and economic vulnerability on Grand Isle impact …

Campaigning On An Environmental Justice Platform: Irmalinda Osuna For Upland City Council, District 3, Jenny Bekenstein

Pitzer Senior Theses

After successfully organizing around preserving Cabrillo Park in Upland and feeling a lack of local political representation, Irmalinda Osuna ran for Upland City Council in the 2018 midterm elections. As one of the many female candidates in the 2018 elections, Irmalinda led a grassroots, community-led political campaign in which she advocated for environmental justice and the preservation of parks, a more inclusive community, increased civic participation, a more efficient use of technology in politics, and support for small businesses.

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Cultivating Compassion, Amelia Baliey

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Fostering compassion in a divided community is essential to the well-being of its members, and creating a sense of community. Although we come from different culminations of experience, privilege, genetics, and influence and can be divided across race, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or class, our humanity is what connect us. After a literature review and compilation of recent scientific studies, we recognized there was much to be said and done about compassion. Ultimately, we can take a few steps in order to cultivate compassion: communicating with others, practicing empathy, finding commonalities, giving and advocating for others, to name …

Out-Group Threat Or Inter-Group Contact Theory? Out-Group Attitudes And Interaction In Times Of Diversity Growth, Annette Jacoby

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Much attention has been devoted to the presumed negative effect of diversity growth on various dimensions of attitudes and interaction between different racial and ethnic groups. However, whether the claims hold true is unclear- there is a considerable controversy over the impact of changing diversity on societal behavior. With ongoing migration, the United States are becoming more and more ethnically diverse but a sound debate on racial and ethnic composition and its consequences for inter-group interactions and attitudes towards others has not yet been possible due to a lack of causally-oriented panel studies.

In this study, two important features are …

Residential Solar In Washington State, Sam Pfeifer

All Master's Theses

Electricity generated through residential solar provides a low carbon source of electricity. However, diffusion of residential solar remains low across the United States. Growing this diffusion takes an understanding of localized uptake trends, which can focus policy and business efforts to help increase residential solar market penetration. This is the first research to investigate residential solar uptake in Washington State and to examine environmental education as a potential driver of residential solar uptake. Through a snapshot analysis which considers environmental, economic, education, and cultural variables the present research fills this gap. Triangulated results include mapping of variables, ordinary-least squares multiple …

Bridges Out Of Poverty As An Anti-Poverty Strategy In Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Katlyn M. Uhler

Capstone Collection

This paper explores the initial results of the Bridges Out of Poverty (“Bridges”) community framework as implemented by the organization Kennett Area Community Service in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The aim of this research is to provide perspective on Bridges Out of Poverty’s contribution to the understanding of poverty in the United States and its potential as an antipoverty intervention. It does so first through an exploration of the historical and current discussion on poverty and anti-poverty interventions in the United States, followed by research on the Bridges model itself and its implementation in Kennett Square. This latter research includes content …

Public Perception Of Environmental Programs In The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Landa De Matamoros, Queretaro, Mexico, Danielle Marie Salisbury

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Biological or ecological corridors have recently been sought out as a solution to biodiversity loss due to habitat fragmentation. In eastern Mexico, the Mexican and German governments are collaborating to connect fragmented landscapes and Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) over five states across a Madrean Pine-Oak biodiversity hotspot through the implementation of the Ecological Corridor of the Sierra Madre Oriental (CESMO). One of the ways the CESMO is accomplishing its conservation goals is by extending environmental programs that are currently in place within NPAs to other areas within the corridor, but outside of NPA borders. However, the success of the corridor …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Factors On Voter Turnout In The Republic Of Korea: Empirical Research For The Results Of 18Th And 19Th Presidential Elections, Hee Yup Yoon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic factors and voter turnout in South Korea. In particular, the determinants of the turnout in the 2012 and 2017 presidential elections in the Republic of Korea are analyzed by using the aggregated data in terms of municipal-level divisions. The findings partially support previous studies. The education level and the percentage of primary industry workers in the district have a significantly positive impact on turnout. Holding the other variables constant, as the proportion of the population over higher education in the district increases, voter turnout grows. Likewise, as the ratio of primary industry workers …

The Interaction Of Community Size And Perceived Local Political Efficacy Among Low-Income Individuals, Dylan Allen Brugman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the world’s population continues to urbanize, urban studies are increasingly important. Studying the social science behind the rise of the city and its effect on various social phenomena should be a priority for scholars in the field of politics, sociology, and communication, because of the reasonable assumption that the environment of the city alters the way that a person engages people and systems within the city. This is especially true for peripheral and marginalized populations that often lack access to the social institutions necessary to improve their livelihoods. Using Diffusion of Innovation and urban studies theories of Anomie, Gemeinschaft …

Divorces Of Marriage Immigrants In South Korea: An Examination Of Factors Affecting Divorce, Sanghee Kim

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In South Korea, as of 2013, ten out of a hundred newlywed couples included a marriage immigrant, i.e. someone who came to the country for the purpose of getting married to a native (Statistics Korea). South Korea, a traditionally homogeneous society, has seen an increase in marriage immigrants, primarily women, in recent years. Multicultural families face a variety of challenges. Marriage immigrants experience cultural and lifestyle differences, language problems, poverty, and domestic violence. In 2011, the divorce rate in multicultural families reached 10 percent and the average length of a marriage that ended in divorce was 4.9 years (Statistics Korea). …

Women’S Voices For The Earth: A Discourse Analysis Of Gendered, Environmental Media Advocacy, Marit Olson

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), a Missoula based, nationally recognized non-profit, empowers women to advocate against toxic chemicals that cause individual and community health hazards. There is little analysis of the intersection of women’s and environmental subjugation and how these intersections influence women’s environmental organizations. My research examines the influence of ecofeminist ideology, as framed by Karen Warren’s ecofeminist and class analysis, in WVE’s online discourse, primarily social media. To do so I apply a Foucaultian discourse analysis to WVE’s online publications, and compare that to an analysis of the online presence of Toxics Action Center (TAC), a non-gendered …

Cultivating Common Ground? A Case Study Of A Community Garden Organization In Northeast Portland, Oregon, Bryan James Zinschlag

Dissertations and Theses

When it comes to the topic of environmental sustainability, most of us will readily agree that we face a litany of local and global environmental threats in the twenty-first century. As such, we would largely agree that the need to address climate change and other issues is urgent. Where this agreement tends to end, however, is on the question of whether this urgency is so great that we need not address issues of inequality and environmental justice when organizing sustainability efforts. Some are convinced that, because sustainability efforts are "saving the world for everyone", so to speak, issues of environmental …

A Thin Blue Line And The Great Black Divide: The Inter And Intra Departmental Conflict Among Black Police Officers, Their Agencies, And The Communities In Which They Work Regarding Police Use Of Force Perception By Black Americans In A Southwestern State, Vance Debral Keyes

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between Black police officers, Black citizens, and their external environment using a group of 30 police officers and citizens to establish the connection between police officer race and perceptions by same race citizens within the context of police use of force. I use the term Black to be inclusive of African Americans as well as others of African descent without regard to their ethnicity or national origin. Criminal justice means system application whereas criminology is the study of criminal behavior. In America, there exists a history of volatility between the police and Black communities. While …

Pro-And-Anti Immigration Activities In Iowa's 4th Congressional Districts: A Community Capitals Framework Perspective, Anne Junod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The foreign-born immigrant population in Iowa is increasing. Across Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, communities that have never had statistically significant populations of non-Anglos have in recent decades experienced dramatic influxes of predominantly Latino immigrants. Today, Latinos comprise upwards of 25 percent of the population of some counties and well over 35 percent of the population of many towns. At the same time, many other communities in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District remain almost exclusively white. How are communities responding? This research centers on the statements and activities of individual and group actors representing various market, state, and civil society sectors, examining …

Playing For Peace: Building Relationships Between Ugandan And Refugee Youth Through Football3 At Soccer Without Borders Uganda, Jean-Christophe Moran

Capstone Collection

This paper describes and analyzes a soccer tournament for Ugandan and refugee youth based on the principles and practices of football3, an established methodology for using soccer as a means of dialogue and resolution of conflict across differences. The goal of this tournament to was build relationships between Ugandan and refugee youth at Soccer Without Borders Uganda. This tournament was held in 2013 in Kampala under the auspices of Soccer Without Borders Uganda and involved training of staff. The implementation of football3 demonstrated that this methodology could have a positive impact on uniting refugee and Ugandan youth while providing participants …

Perform + Function: A Proposal For A Healthy Public Housing Community, Brandon M. Harvey

Masters Theses

PERFORM+FUNCTION: Proposal for A Healthy Public Housing Community

Architecture exists in Place, the integrated context of both the built and natural environments, including socio-economic, cultural, and political climates that influence our growth, development, and survival. As architecture necessitates around human purposes, it is important that architecture is built for and sited in an environment compatible for human well-being. My thesis focuses on human habitation and its immediate relationship with human health, assessing the performance and functionality of Place that have an impact on human health. Using public housing as the vehicle of my investigation, I will seek the appropriate application …

A Case Study Of Leclaire, Iowa, Revitalization Efforts, Rick N. Reed

Ed.D. Dissertations

This dissertation was an exploratory and descriptive study on the revitalization efforts of LeClaire, Iowa. Two community surveys, one business survey, and one leader interview survey were conducted to collect data from distinct stakeholder groups, consisting of LeClaire residents, visitors to LeClaire, residents throughout Scott County Iowa, business owners in LeClaire, and LeClaire leaders. Emergent results from quantitative and qualitative data identified that females are more concerned with revitalization and sustainability efforts than males, residents throughout Scott County are concerned with revitalization and sustainability, LeClaire residents are more concerned about the viability of their downtown than residents in other communities, …

An Ecology Of Philanthropy: Community Composition And Nonprofit Revenue In The United States, Wendie Neesa Choudary

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is little doubt that most American cities are currently troubled places because of massive economic shifts that have marked the last two decades. Charitable giving has consistently been seen as the lifeblood of communities around the United States (Backman and Smith 2000). The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between community composition and charitable giving. The impact of community characteristics (community composition, organizational composition, and community deterioration) on charitable revenues will be assessed using revenue data from the 2006-2007, 501(c)(3), 990, charitable organization forms along with United States county census data. One-way ANOVA and regression …