Development Studies Commons^™

Dmt And “The Man Box:” Provoking Change And Encouraging Authentic Living, An Arts-Based Project, Steven Reynolds

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the mind-body experience through an arts-based research approach to examine, and redefine the emotional capacity and usefulness of males through societal determinants that limits and hinders men from living their authentic selves. Through the lens of a metaphoric “Man Box” 112 men participated in a workshop recreating their personal narratives of socialization through, style of dress, coping mechanisms, belief systems and who they should be as men through society's standards. In the “Man Box,” male bonding, and emotional feelings are discouraged, while the objectification of women, material property and physical/emotional strength are encouraged. This research investigates the …

The Long-Run Effects Of Tropical Cyclones On Infant Mortality, Isabel Miranda

Master's Theses

In the United States alone, each tropical cyclone causes an average of $14.6 billion worth of damages. In addition to the destruction of physical infrastructure, natural disasters also negatively impact human capital formation. These losses are often more difficult to observe, and therefore, are over looked when quantifying the true costs of natural disasters. One particular effect is an increase in infant mortality rates, an important indicator of a country’s general socioeconomic level. This paper utilizes a model created by Anttila-Hughes and Hsiang, that takes advantage of annual variation in tropical cyclones using annual spatial average maximum wind speeds and …

Igniting A New Legacy: 
The Olympics And Sustainable Development At The Tokyo Olympic Games, Alena Ulrichova

Master's Projects and Capstones

With a decreasing number of cities bidding to host and organize the Olympic Games, we see that various places find the prospect of embarking on this mega-event project less appealing and lucrative then in the past. Moreover, in looking at the history of the Games, we recognize a troubling pattern: money is often spent irresponsibly and does not bring any benefits to citizens even though their tax payments and state lottery contribution are used as main source for funding the Olympics. In order to shift this trend, the movement towards the global call for sustainability—as presented mainly by the United …

The Effects Of Dance And Movement Therapy With Adolescents Who Have Experienced Trauma, A Literature Review, Katherine Anderson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

With the growing number of trauma-informed practices in the mental health field, it is necessary to look at what best practices should be implemented in treating adolescents who have experienced trauma, specifically from a body-based intervention, such as dance and movement therapy. In this literature review, articles are discussed that encompass the following topics: dance and movement therapy and trauma, general dance interventions for the adolescent population, empowerment models as a way to cope with trauma symptoms, and cultural considerations of treating adolescent females of color. The gaps in current research must be acknowledged, specifically dance and movement therapy interventions …

Addressing Early Childhood Bullying By Supporting Social-Emotional Skills With Mindfulness, Briana Duperval

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This paper explores articles on early childhood bullying, the effects it can have on a child’s well-being and possible interventions. Supporting the social-emotional development of young children is offered as a solution to the issue of early childhood bullying by helping children to develop better self-regulation, as well as compassion and kindness. The research states some of the current data on the positive effects of using mindfulness to support social-emotional development of young children. The mindfulness interventions mentioned include, Early Heart Smart Program (EHS), mindfulness-based yoga, mindfulness-based kindness curriculum (KC), social emotional learning (SEL) and mindfulness-based interventions (MBI). The studies …

Parental Acceptance Project: Affirming Gender Variant Youth, Shelley Faulkner

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The number of gender expansive and gender variant youth has risen dramatically, leading to a mental health and education service gap that must be addressed. The author reviews relevant literature supporting the importance of the parent-child relationship via the lens of attachment theory, affirming that parental support for gender variant children is critical to their well-being and overall positive life outcomes. A curriculum for parents of gender variant children is proposed, in an effort to educate and support parents of gender variant children, so that they may in turn develop affirmative and supportive practices toward their children. The ultimate goal …

The Effect Of Education On Poverty, Phyllis Shen '21, Emily Shao '21, Jaden Wang '21, Ore Ferguson '21

Student Leadership Exchange (SLX)

Throughout America, poverty can be one of the major differences that separate many groups in urban, rural, and suburban areas. This wide poverty can be attributed to many factors, including living environment, demographics, and industry. However, one of the most prominent factors is the education level of the populations living in different levels of poverty. We have taken a look of the poverty rates in different areas of Illinois, and giving the education level that is around each area, we determined how it impacts the residents’ overall poverty level in areas of different educational accesses offered. We propose some solutions …

Reproductive Rights Reformation, Sharanya Choudhury '21, Isabella Foes '21, William Hamblen '21

Student Leadership Exchange (SLX)

Across the US, reproductive health is neglected in mainstream health education and insurance for women of all ages.Though it’s easy to get stuck debating the morality of abortion, the legality has been indisputable since Roe v Wade. Abortion is extremely prevalent in society, as there are roughly 12 abortions for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. Planned Parenthood caters to 2.4 million patients annually. With this importance of sexual health care in society, proper reproductive education is essential. However, only 13 states in the US require medically accurate information in their school sexual education programs. Major …

Challenges To Effective Monitoring And Evaluation Systems: Lessons From Afghanistan, Qudratullah Jahid

Sustainability and Social Justice

How can monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems better support improving the aid effectiveness? What are the existing challenges to the M&E systems in Afghanistan? I try to answer these questions by briefly looking at the development aid in Afghanistan since 2001. I provide summary of attempts made at improving aid effectiveness through mutual accountability frameworks. I then try to briefly discuss the principles of Paris Declaration and provide brief insights from Afghanistan. I then discuss the status of monitoring and evaluation in Afghanistan by providing a picture functional M&E system and then discussing the existing challenges in Afghanistan. Finally, I …

The Relevance And Adequacy Of Youth Development As Part Of The National Development Agenda: Reflection Of Malawi, Siphiwe S. Komwa

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study examines the relevance and adequacy of Malawi’s youth development policies and programs for the country’s young people. The youth of Malawi face a systemic burden including poor coordination of their policies, strategies and programs; inadequate funding; misappropriation of funds; and politicization of their programs. This hinders youth active involvement and progress of youth development. The study aims to identify the gaps that exist despite the availability of the policies and programs using a mixed method desk research drawing its findings from multiple data sources including the Malawi Ministry of Youth, Labor, Sports and Manpower Development; the Malawi Parliament …

A Study On The Reflections Of Women And Men On A Women’S Empowerment Project: A Case Study Of Sindhuli, Nepal, Shreyasha Khadka

Sustainability and Social Justice

Women empowerment and gender equality are considered key aspects of achieving sustainable development goals. At the same time, the empowerment of women is also a process of change that enables women to build capacity in order to make life choices and act on them. Central to women empowerment is incorporating men into the process. Men should be included to deliver effective empowerment through collaboration and interdependence and to understand how women empowerment works in a patriarchal setting. Women’s economic empowerment such as Rural Economic Empowerment Project (RWEE) strives to empower and improve the status of rural women in Nepal. This …

The Importance Of Multiple Narrative Spirituality In Child Development Of Morality In A Pluralistic Society, Jamie Mckeithen

Senior Theses

With the assumption that humans are innately spiritual, I investigate research regarding the development of spirituality that takes place from childhood to adulthood. Over the past 30 years, James Fowler has called upon Erikson’s and Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages of children, in order to understand their spiritual development phases. When reading the myths and origin stories of spiritual belief systems, the commonality found within all of these narratives is the persistent focus on underlying morality. When utilizing stories as a way to teach spiritual morality, children are easily able to recognize and go back to these basic narratives, using their …

Relationship Between Joint Attention And Language In Multiparous And Uniparous Households, Hannah C. Manis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study was designed to examine differences in the effect of the number of children in the household (also known as “parity”) on the relationship between initiating joint attention (IJA) and language development. We reasoned that infants who are only children (i.e., in uniparous homes), relative to infants who have one or more siblings (i.e., in multiparous homes), would have more opportunity to engage in IJA, and would, therefore, acquire a larger number of object labels. We tested the hypotheses that: 1) there would be a positive correlation between the number of IJA bids and language overall, and 2) …

Developing A Creative Learning Format For Street Children, Shazina Masud

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Developing a Creative Learning Format for Street Children

As the number of street children grow globally, governments and UN agencies are looking at solutions to cater to their needs of shelter, health and safety. Efforts to provide formal education to street children are not always successful. This project hypothesizes that equipping these children with essential knowledge in an informal but creative learning environment will allow them to live safe and productive lives. The prototype of the creative learning format is based on approaches and tools that have worked with children in other settings and has been modified for street children. …

Juggling Junior Year: The Junior Leadership Experience, Natascha Borgstein

Senior Honors Projects

In 2017, the Center for Student Leadership Development (CSLD) piloted a program entitled Sophomore Breakthrough Experience as an incentive for students to become interested in leadership and pursue a leadership minor. Along with the specific Freshman year and Senior year courses and programs that were already offered by the CSLD, Junior year was then the only year without a main CSLD event. Therefore, I helped design and execute a program specifically for the Juniors at URI. For many students, Junior year represents a shift in focus that can be especially stressful. Many important decisions need to be made and skills …

The Association Between Fruit And Vegetable Consumption And Mental Health Among Young Adults, Natalie Miller

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

While the majority of the American population is aware that fruits and vegetables can improve physical health, research also suggests that mental health may benefits as well. With depression and anxiety rates increasing and fruit and vegetable consumption decreasing across the country there is potential that the two are related. It has been found that majority of American adults do not meet fruit and vegetable recommendations, while 16 million adults face depression and anxiety. Young adults reported the lowest amount of fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety. The purpose of …

Developing Information On Mental Health And Counseling Services, Katherine Bustamante

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Taylor Farms Center for Learning (TFCFL) is an afterschool program, which is located in East Salinas, serving primarily 76% of Hispanic and Latino children and families. Providing various programs to break down barriers for children to experience success. Every year in the United States, up to 20% of children and youth experience a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder but nearly half of all children receive no mental health services. Due to this few agency-sponsored services address this health issue and TFCFL wants to make sure they are offering the right kind of services for their community. This research project will …

Remaking Identities, Reworking Graduate Study : Stories From First-Generation-To-College Rhetoric And Composition Phd Students On Navigating The Doctorate., Ashanka Kumari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation responds to the decreasing number of first-generation-to-college doctorates in the humanities and the limited scholarship on graduate students in Rhetoric and Composition. Scholars in Rhetoric and Composition have long been invested in discussions of academic and/or disciplinary enculturation, yet these discussions primarily focus on undergraduate students, with few studies on graduate students and far fewer on the doctoral students training to become the next wave of a profession. In this dissertation, I argue that if we engage intersectional identities as assets in the design of doctoral programs, access to higher education and academic enculturation can become more manageable …

Increasing Adult's Awareness Of The Importance Of End-Of-Life Care Discussions, Taylor Gardner

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For many American families, end-of-life care is often not discussed, until advanced illness or injury has fully disrupted everyday life. There are many benefits to discussing end-of-life care prior to any medical complications. Research has shown that individuals who plan their end-of-life processes with a hospice service provider and family members report a higher quality of death than individuals receiving common health care during their final six months of life. In order to make families and friends more comfortable with end-of-life discussions, I will conduct two one-hour educational sessions to students at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Do Private Household Transfers To The Elderly Respond To Public Pension Benefits? Evidence From Rural China, Plamen Nikolov, Alan Adelman

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Aging populations in developing countries have spurred the introduction of public pension programs to preserve the standard of living for the elderly. The often-overlooked mechanism of intergenerational transfers, however, can dampen these intended policy effects, as adult children who make income contributions to their parents could adjust their behavior in response to changes in their parents’ income. Exploiting a unique policy intervention in China, we examine using a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) approach how a new pension program impacts inter vivos transfers. We show that pension benefits lower the propensity of adult children to transfer income to elderly parents in the context …