Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years Of History & Membership, Jessica E. Nantka

Museum Studies Projects

The purpose of this master’s thesis project is to examine the formidable globalized service organization, Zonta International (ZI), which has impacted women around the world for 100 years. I utilized essential practices in the Museum Studies Master of Arts program at SUNY Buffalo State to create this project in association with an exhibit, Zonta International: Unveiling 100 Years of History & Membership, presented at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum from November 5 – November 23, 2019. The use of digitized images, documents, and artifacts within the Howard D. Beach Photography Studio Collection owned by The Buffalo History Museum, have been …

A Second Life: The Adaptation Of Dying Italian Towns To Accommodate Immigrants And Refugees, Rachel Rubis

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite its efforts in historic preservation, there is an abundance of culturally significant Italian vernacular towns dying due to dilapidation and depopulation. Simultaneously, Italy has faced an ongoing stream of immigrants and refugees seeking work, housing, and asylum within its borders—a crisis that has resulted in Italian fear and animosity aside immigrant maltreatment and hardship. My research, which is supplemented by first-hand experience in Italy, qualitative analysis, and text sources, proposes interventions into dying Italian towns to aid in the resettlement of immigrants and refugees—an effort meant to be mutually beneficial to both the town and the immigrant. In my …

Refuge For The Refugee, Chelsia Sooksengdao

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone investigates the overlap of psychology and architecture as a tool to address the issue of mental wellness in refugees. It focuses on the way refugee camp conditions perpetuate the trauma that is experienced, and how the inhabited spaces foster unhealthy interactions that add to the emotional stress refugees endure. Most of these unhealthy interactions are caused by overcrowded living conditions that prevail in most refugee camps, leading to violations of privacy and personal space. By investigating aspects of social psychology and proxemics, this capstone connects these concepts to spatial solutions, with the goal of reducing emotional stress and …

Commonsense Explanations Of Sparsity, Zipf Law, And Nash's Bargaining Solution, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Kittawit Autchariyapanitkul

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

As econometric models become more and more accurate and more and more mathematically complex, they also become less and less intuitively clear and convincing. To make these models more convincing, it is desirable to supplement the corresponding mathematics with commonsense explanations. In this paper, we provide such explanation for three economics-related concepts: sparsity (as in LASSO), Zipf's Law, and Nash's bargaining solution.

Protecting Children In A Hyper-Media World: Is Media Literacy The Answer?, Marissa Grasso

Honors Projects in Communication

The purpose of this study is to explore ways to protect young children from the harmful effects of media as they grow up in a hyper-media world. As a learned skill, media literacy must first be introduced to kids’ lives before they can benefit from its effects. Children are developing their brains, and until the age of 7 they do not have the cognitive capacity to retain and apply media literacy skills. Not having these skills exposes them to harms from advertisements and general content shows, movies, and video games. This exposure leads to issues in their lives such as …

Examining Perfectionism & Design Thinking In Middle School Girls, Catherine Conroy

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

Design thinking requires students to generate roughly formed prototypes, share imperfect, early stage solutions with others, and give and seek critical feedback on the path to iteration and innovation. It seems that the individual variable of perfectionism could manifest in interesting ways as a student progresses through the phases of design thinking. The purpose of this study is to examine the variable of perfectionism in relation to the design thinking process in middle school girls, which was completed through the analysis of the Innovation Nation program that took place in 2019. Innovation Nation is a 3-day program that immerses students …

Religious Influences On Muslim Women's College Experiences, Caitlyn Mcnaughton

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

This project focuses on the influence religion has on Muslim women’s college experiences. I wanted to see the role that religion played in different women’s lives and how it could affect their college life. When I started this project, I knew that all women had different experiences with their religion and would most likely not give the same answers. I interviewed thirteen women from four different universities about their relationship with their religion and how it has impacted their college careers. The women I interviewed came from several different backgrounds, from several states and countries, so their relationship with their …

Between Gentrifiers And Tourists: Walk-In Gentrifiers, Institutional Expansion And Space In Boston’S Chinatown, Justin Wong

Sociology Honors Projects

How does institutional expansion modify the process of gentrification, and how is this modified process experienced by residents of the gentrifying community? I explore how this modified gentrification process unfolds in the setting of Boston’s Chinatown. I propose an analytical framework that joins the process of institutional expansion to the process of traditional gentrification, while also expanding this definition to include how the institutional expansion results in heightened social inequality and a loss in community resources along the lines of race and class. In Boston’s Chinatown, Tufts Medical Center and School continues to expand its institutional presence. I propose that …

Paul Robeson, Carnival, And The 2018 National Eisteddfod, Mark Rhodes

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Aaron Burr Jr. And John Pierre Burr: A Founding Father And His Abolitionist Son, Sherri Burr

Faculty Scholarship

Aaron Burr Jr. (Class of 1772), the third Vice President of the United States, fathered two children by a woman of color from Calcutta, India. Their son, John Pierre Burr (1792-1864), would become an activist, abolitionist, and conductor on the Underground Railroad.

“Contact” Sports: Competitive Athletic Experience, Racial Attitudes, And Intergroup Contact, Savana Nawojski

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Allport’s (1954) Intergroup Contact hypothesis suggests that interaction among people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds can reduce prejudice, particularly in situations that involve cooperation and common goals. Although participation in competitive sports may provide opportunities for cooperative interaction among people from different racial backgrounds, and athletic teams tend to be more diverse at higher levels (NCAA 2019), relatively little work has examined the contact hypothesis in this context. Using a national representative data set (N = 966), we examine whether respondents’ levels of competitive athletic experience are related to their attitudes toward African Americans. We find no bivariate relationship …

Art And The Pursuit Of Happiness: How Artists Use Art To Promote Their Emotional Well-Being, August Namuth, Bruce Chase

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Artists have used art’s positive mental and physical health effects for as long as art has been around. Art is known to have many therapeutic and mood benefiting effects, from reduced anxiety and stress levels, to increased confidence and a sense of purpose. Many different clinical studies have found art to be beneficial to people who have suffered from PTSD, bipolar disorder, strokes, and cancer pain. Despite the clearly beneficial effects of creativity associated with art, artists suffer from disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia at a much higher rate than the general population. This study sought to …

The Co-Production Of Sustainable Future Scenarios, David M. Iwaniec, Elizabeth Cook, Melissa J. Davidson, Marta Berbés-Blázquez, Matei Georgescu, E. Scott Krayenhoff, Ariane Middel, David A. Sampson, Nancy B. Grimm

Sustainable Futures Lab Publications

Scenarios are a tool to develop plausible, coherent visions about the future and to foster anticipatory knowledge. We present the Sustainable Future Scenarios (SFS) framework and demonstrate its application through the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) urban site. The SFS approach emphasizes the co-development of positive and long-term alternative future visions. Through a collaboration of practitioner and academic stakeholders, this research integrates participatory scenario development, modeling, and qualitative scenario assessments. The SFS engagement process creates space to question the limits of what is normally considered possible, desirable, or inevitable in the face of future challenges. Comparative analyses among …

Virtual Cohorts: Peer Support And Problem-Solving At A Distance, Amy Tureen, Erick Lemon, Joyce Martin, Starr Hoffman, Mindy Thuna, Willie Miller

Library Faculty Publications

A common challenge for administrative leaders in academic libraries is that we often have few peers within our organizations, and those that we do have may not be able to provide the dispassionate, unbiased feedback we need. The authors of this article, library leaders from across the United States and Canada, formed a virtual cohort for peer leader support and have found it to be transformative in approaching leadership challenges at our home institutions.

2020 May, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for May of 2020.

Crna To Cvicu Rn: Implementation Of A Standardized Patient Handoff Checklist For Post-Surgical Heart Patients, Ashley Mcgrath

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Patient handoffs occur when the information and responsibility of the patient is transferred from one health professional to another. Ineffective communication during the critical postoperative phase of the transfer of care (TOC) has been associated with extended hospital stays, increased healthcare costs and patient dissatisfaction. In 2007, the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals proclaimed the importance of a standardized handoff process for effective handoffs. The purpose of this quality improvement doctoral project was to assess if the utilization of a standardized TOC checklist from the operating room to the cardiac intensive care unit (CVICU) for post-heart patients improved communication …

Labor Rights And Foreign Direct Investment In Latin America: The Empirical Analysis Of Proximity Hypothesis, Cesar H. Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

What impact do labor rights practices have on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America? While existing research shows how participation in the global production network influences host country’s labor standards, few studies delve into reversed causal mechanisms whereby changes in labor standards affects FDI inflows. While conventional wisdom says protection of labor rights has negative influence on FDI, I argue that for Latin American countries, practical protection of labor rights attracts FDI. Practical protection of labor right acts as a proxy and signals that host government could protect foreign assets that are under the risk of expropriation. I expect …

Burnout Treatment And Prevention Using Multimodal Expressive Arts Therapy In Massachusetts Wellness Programs., Amanda Medas

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This capstone thesis will explore the issue of burnout in the field of mental health and the argument for the promotion of using expressive arts as a therapeutic component to decrease and prevent symptoms of burnout. The writer of this thesis will be sharing her personal experiences with burnout while working in the field of mental health. The researcher will review a multimodal expressive arts self-study that she engaged in over the course of one month and will be using the Maslach Burnout Inventory to track symptoms of burnout. Burnout and its prevalence in the field of mental health …

Songwriting A Short Song Of Meaning With Adults With Severe Mental Illness: A Development Of A Method, Shari Hallas

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper describes a method of writing a short song of meaning with a group of adults with severe mental illness. To motivate patients to complete a song, the method explores combining improvisation and lyric writing with an element of meaningfulness within a single session. Adding improvisation is inspired by music-centered music therapy, where experiences of expression and connection take place in the music making. Resource-oriented music therapy influenced my providing choices for creative expression and recognizing different stages of song achievement. Literature shows reoccurring themes for music therapy, songwriting, and improvisation and drumming benefitting individuals with severe mental illness. …

Deathucation: On Childhood Bereavement And Drama Therapy, Morgan Price

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review is on childhood bereavement and drama therapy. The author examines current theories of childhood bereavement, including the chronic sorrow model, the duel process coping model, the tasks of grieving, and a three-part model that looks at significant mitigating factors relating to the death of a loved one. Efficacy of bereavement interventions is discussed. An in-depth look the current literature shows what children need from bereavement interventions. The history of drama therapy and childhood bereavement is also discussed. This paper concludes with a discussion on themes that are identified in the research as being helpful to bereavement including …

How Social Media Affect College Students' Relationships, De'ja Smiley

Scholars Day Conference

Technology continues to advance, and so does social networking. The more social networking advances the less face to face interactions are held and the more conversations through electronic screens and apps are held. There are several factors contributing to the changes in communication amongst college students who generally already spend a large amount of time using technology for academic purposes.

Poverty In The Third World: High Population Birth Rates, Jammie Cush

Scholars Day Conference

Poverty can be defined as the state of being extremely poor. Nearly one half of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. Furthermore, more than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.25 a day. There have been numerous efforts from major Non-Governmental Organizations and International Governmental Organizations such as the United Nations, who attempted to implement The Millennium Development Goal in the 1990s, which was a goal that consisted of 8 large objectives. One goal was the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The UN set …

Equitable Design Through The Urban Museum: Catalyzing Community Revitalization And Environmental Justice In The Sweet Auburn Historic District(The New Apex Museum), Day'zhanera King

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Have you ever heard of the Black Lives Matter Movement, or B.L.M.? B.L.M. was created as a response to the resurgence of racism and xenophobic hate-crimes against Black people and their communities, often at the hands of police. It was the hate crimes plus the scape-goating of Blacks add in poverty rates, the exponentially high Black unemployment rates, and the over policing of Black neighborhoods. B.L.M. is the modern activist response to the continuance of Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs, Bill Clinton’s crime bill and the massive, and the disproportionate incarceration of Black men. B.L.M. is the representation for what …

An Overview Of Foster Care, Rachel Smith

Scholars Day Conference

Foster Care is something that needs to be studied, especially as it has become such a popular topic in recent years. My thesis paper takes a look at the current foster care system on a national and state level, while also looking at the statistics behind children in the system. Through multiple programs in Arkansas, there are resources for foster families and even resources on how to get involved. There is Christian obligation to get plugged in and to serve.

Women In The U.S. Congress: A Study On The Role Of Gender In Electoral And Legislative Processes, Selby Tucker

Scholars Day Conference

Using a three-part methodology, I examined women in Congress by studying their campaign finances, bill sponsorships, electoral history, and personal testaments to draw conclusions about the ability of a woman to fairly participate in the legislative process.

The Challenges Of Deaf Women In Society: An Investigative Report, Megan Harris

Scholars Day Conference

The challenges of Deaf women in society are formed from the unique experience of living with two labels that garner mistreatment and discrimination in their daily lives. These challenges are explored in the context of Deaf history, the development of identity in the modern Deaf woman, and represented in the personal accounts of successful Deaf women from across the country.

Effects Of Sound Symbolism In Names On Personality Perception, Josephine N. Collins, Victoria A. Martin, Makayla H. Allen

Scholars Day Conference

We investigated effects of sound symbolism in names on personality perception. Participants were randomly assigned to a group that either had invented or non-invented round or sharp names. They were asked to fill out a BFI-10 and a BSRI-12 questionnaire for five different names followed by reading 10 descriptions of personality traits and circling either a round name or a sharp name that fit the description best. Results showed that sound type present in names affected perceptions of Extraversion and that name and sound type affected perceptions of Femininity. These results provide evidence of sound symbolic associations present in names.

Terms Of Erasure: The Jewish Experience In A Rural New England Town, Jessica Sweeney

Honors College

Throughout history, Jewish Americans have been and continue to be persecuted for their religion and ethnic identity. Additionally, anti-Semitism has been a rising problem in recent years. This research seeks to understand how this national issue affects individuals in a rural community in New England. More broadly, this thesis attempts to understand how Jews in a rural community in New England experience anti-Semitism. To conduct this research, a series of interviews were collected in the region and were subsequently analyzed using a modified version of Grounded Theory. The purpose of this research is to understand the Jewish experience in a …

Actors As Engineers: The Reconstruction Of Antifascism In Defa Films, 1949-1961. [2020], Jonathan Herr

Master's Theses

The East German film industry (led by state film company DEFA) had, since its inception in 1946, focused heavily upon the theme of antifascism. However, the meaning and definition of antifascism changed dramatically over the course of East Germany’s early history. In DEFA’s earliest days, antifascism was a confrontation of Germany’s Nazi past and argued that capitalism was a forebearer to fascism. As the East German state formed, antifascism evolved, casting America and its unchecked capitalism as the enemy to democracy. Here DEFA films still confronted Germany’s dark past, though the end goal of the films was to promote hope …

Acculturative Stress And Aspects Of Well-Being Among Chinese International Students In U.S. Higher Education, Liam G. Lane

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chinese international students have been the largest demographic of international students in the U.S. for the past decade. In our increasingly globalized world, it is inevitable that more international students will immigrate to the U.S. for educational opportunities, among many others, and it is important to consider the challenges that these students may face, to ease their cultural transition. Already we have seen our world changed by the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic and it is inevitable that this will shape the experiences of all students, let alone international students, in the near future, and possibly the foreseeable future. While …