Global Honors Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1773/53099

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 102

Virtual Wastelands: Reframing Nuclear Representation in Video Games
(2019-06-27) Crocker, Francesca; Nichols, Randy
This thesis utilizes a comparative textual analysis of two popular video games series that feature heavy nuclear themes and representation of nuclear weapons/war in combination with applied critical theory to build a framework of game design elements that lead towards more thoughtful and considerate representation of this particular real, active, and global threat. The analysis of these two series in particular -- Fallout and Metal Gear Solid -- provides a comparative look at how nuclear politics in popular media is represented and consumed in both the United States and Japan, with consideration of history, regulation, and audience interactivity. Special thanks to Alex Camilleri and https://metalgeartimeline.com/ which provided a comprehensive, chronological, and descriptive narrative history of the Metal Gear Solid series that eased my load of research.
World on Fire: An Exploration into Climate Change Policy
(2021-12-17) Sanchez, Caritina; Koontz, Tomas
This thesis examines climate change policy, specifically the Green New Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, in relation to Elinor Ostrom's Design Principles for success in governing a common pool resource. This paper aims to describe how climate change is impacting us, what the countries of the world have done to solve this issue in the past, what proposals countries are working on today, and how those proposals fit Ostrom's Design Principles. This project analyzes how design principles are or are not met by both the Green New Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement. This paper discusses questions that are important to ask about the critical analysis of both documents and what was found to be missing. The addition of design principles for a larger scale common pool resource and how that can best be executed is also described.
Vîvar Rumagnöl: Preserving Language Through Policy, Education, and Culture
(2022-06-06) Christie, Alexa; Baiocchi, Orlando R.
This research paper focuses on the planning of preservation and revitalization of an endangered language of Italy, Romagnolo, through measures found in three different sectors of society: government, education, and culture. This tri-fold method shows how language can affect every aspect of a group's identity and culture and is found to have a place in all businesses, schools, homes, and public offices. The process of language revitalization requires cooperation from many sectors of a society, individuals, educators, and program coordinators included. Language is so deeply ingrained into every culture and identity, and it is a specific and special piece in the puzzle of life. It must be treated with care.
Universally Accessible: An investigation of college accommodations for students with autism spectrum disorder in the United States and Netherlands
(2024-06-07) Pennington, Mikayla "Mak"; Kucera, Miranda
With the global prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increasing in post-secondary institutions, such as colleges and universities, having accessibility to accommodations becomes important to ensure ASD undergraduate students' success. Many colleges and universities are required to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, yet often students with ASD find the accommodations given do not meet their individual needs or believe they would not benefit from the accommodations the disability support officers (DSOs) provide. Moreover, studies found that students in their first year of college find college more challenging due to the transition from secondary to post-secondary education. Programs to aid ASD students from secondary to post-secondary education have been provided, but studies find that students often feel the program is missing topics that would benefit them. Additionally, discrimination and stigma about ASD are still displayed by faculty members or students in universities as students with ASD pursue their educational goals. The discrimination creates an internal and external struggle for ASD students as they try to navigate through the institution, which in turn hurts their chances for academic success. It is also important to consider the cultural contexts for students and colleges when researching accommodations provided. Primary sources for ASD research are conducted in higher socioeconomic areas, which often encompasses Western beliefs about ASD. This can cause accommodations based on unrepresentative research to not support ASD students with different backgrounds. This paper seeks to analyze how students with ASD experience accommodations and explore how an orientation program that uses Universal Design of Learning could benefit students with ASD by conducting a literature review of previous studies from the United States and the Netherlands. To address issues of discrimination and stigma, integrating Universal Design of Learning (UDL) into faculty training would benefit the students and faculty members. UDL's main principle is to provide inclusive teaching and assessment for students, regardless of if they are or are not neurodiverse. Studies have found that many faculty members are interested in learning more about UDL, but research is still expanding and exploring the topic.
subtle asian womxn
(2019-05-01) Tran, Long; Coon, David
My involvement with the Global Honors Program culminates with a senior capstone project for T GH 496 Experiential Learning in Global Honors. Over the course of spring quarter, I had the opportunity to produce a documentary film, under the supervision of my faculty advisor, Dr. David Coon, to fulfill the requirements to graduate with a minor in Global Engagement and earn the full distinction from the program. My film actively engages with the intersection of the historical representations of Asian womxn and their lived experiences with dating. As of Wednesday, May 1, 2019, I have been able to interview 14 Asian womxn from around the world for the purpose of this project. My research question is: "How does xenophobia, racism, and sexism influence the public perception of Asian womxn and how they experience romantic relationships?" The film title I have selected is "subtle asian womxn."
They Sold Our Park! How Local Governments Fail at Democracy
(2019-05-01) Michaud, Zandria; Williams, Charles
In 2016 the city of Kent, Washington sold a public park to a housing developer. While this sale may seem typical, what was disconcerting to Kent residents was not only that they were losing a park, but also that they knew nothing of the sale. The entire process of selling the park to a housing developer had been in the works for more than ten years, and yet, no one thought to ask the residents about it. From this sale, several issues arose regarding city level government democracy and the role of citizens in policy decision-making. By critically examining the details of the Pine Tree Park sale through Kent's public documents and local newspaper articles, I found that city leaders' ideology surrounding economic vitality and their technocratic-based decision making, combined with inadequate citizen participation, led to the sale of Pine Tree Park. Moreover, these issues are not unique to Kent but are part of a larger global trend of democratic decline. This paper examines how the sale of one city's park is a symptom of larger issues of democracy and also to explores potential solutions which can strengthen democracy.
Undocumented and Empowered: How different legal environments in California and Arizona impact psychological impacts for undocumented individuals
(2024-05-22) Lowy, Ashley; Hershberg, Rachel
The United States has always been unique in terms of our system of government, and as political tensions continue to rise the debate over immigration policies has only grown more polarized. Although all of the states in the U.S. are required to abide by Federal Law, each state has the jurisdiction to create laws and bills that are then observed within that particular state. The result of such drastic variations between state policies is that vulnerable populations, such as undocumented or mixed status immigrants and their families are at a higher risk than legal U.S. citizens for increased discrimination, educational disparities and psychological distress. This essay will provide a case comparison between two recent anti-immigration policies: California Proposition 187 and Arizona Senate Bill 1070. Both of these states' policies are unique for the ways in which they promoted discrimination towards undocumented or mixed status families living in California and Arizona. The different effects that these two bills promoted has resulted in different psychosocial outcomes for undocumented or mixed status individuals. By recognizing the way in which anti-immigration legislation creates opportunity disparities between states, we can work towards creating more equitable laws that don't create such large gaps in the treatment of undocumented or mixed status individuals and their families.
The United States and Japan: A Cross Cultural Analysis of Gender Roles and Intimate Relationships
(2013-04-01) Strowhorn, Percy D; Velasquez, Tanya
This research looks at the relationship between gender roles and dating scripts among emerging adults (18-25) in the United States and Japan. If a relationship exists, how does it function? Research data was conducted from a variety of academic journals: Journal of Social Psychology, Asian Journal of Social Psychology, Journal of Sex Research, and others. This research deals with emerging adults within the U.S. and Japan to provide a cultural analysis of two unique cultures. A brief history of dating and intimate relationships is given for both cultures to show a change over time. Due to prior research in psychology, the terms dating scripts, proactive scripts, and reactive scripts are emphasized for American culture. The term Amae is used because of the cultural attachment for all types of relationships in Japan. This research finds that the dating scripts are reinforced on television in the U.S. In looking at gender differences, this research finds that men follow the proactive script, while women follow the reactive script within American culture. Within Japanese culture, Amae is essential for everyday relationships and particularly important in regards to dating. While dating is gendered in the United States, it is not in Japan. Understanding dating among emerging adults within both cultures can lead to further understanding of gender roles, as well as ways in which people interact.
The Value of Technology Grants in Schools: A Case Study on the Connected Initiative in an Inner City Los Angeles Primary School
(2016-04-01) Drohman, Kathryn J; Sun, Huatong
As entities from governmental and nongovernmental sectors search for means of developing underserved localities, public-private partnerships have been built to provide education technology to primary schools. In the current neoliberal, digital age, information and communication technology (ICT) is widely perceived as a value-implicit differentiator because of the information it can access and construct for its users. To further understand the implications of public-private partnerships in ICT initiatives occurring in American elementary schools, this thesis reports a study of the initial implementation of the U.S. White House ConnectED Initiative's grant in an inner city Los Angeles school, sponsored by Apple Incorporated. Questions of actor positionality, the local school's definitions of success, the outcomes of private collaboration with the school, and pedagogical implications of ICT in question are answered through interviews of administration and teachers. Findings demonstrate that, in this case, this specific collaborative partnership and ICT is facilitating a shift in pedagogy to an individualized learning construction. Among the few early studies on the ConnectED grant project in schools, this study carves new ground by critically examining the outcomes of private-local collaboration and the ICT which was implemented.
Transnational Influence in the Poetry of Sarah Piatt: Poems of Ireland and the American Civil War
(2013-04-01) Hudgins, Amy R; Chamberlain, Ed; Smilko, Sara
Sarah Piatt, a recently recovered nineteenth century poet, is best known, where she is known at all, as an American poet. While this label is certainly appropriate, it should not obscure Piatt's decidedly international focus, or more precisely, her transnational focus, especially in regard to Ireland. Piatt's verse, considered by some to be the best poetry of her time second only to the work of Emily Dickinson, is remarkable for its quantity and breadth, but more importantly, for its subversive use of genteel style. Though her poems are generally divided into four overlapping categories, the two thematic classes of her poetry that will be explored in the most detail here are her Civil War poems and her "Irish poems," which were inspired by an eleven year experience living in Ireland. These poems are examined through close reading and transnational analysis, as a conceptual link exists between Piatt's perspective of the American South during the American Civil War and her depiction of social injustice in her poems about Ireland and the Irish peasantry. These different contexts illustrate how Piatt brings her experience of civil strife and injustice in the United States to Ireland with her, influencing her understanding of political events in Ireland and her sympathies toward the destitute Irish people. As these conceptual ligaments are rarely one-sided, this paper seeks to illuminate the multi-directional nature of the transnational influence that impacts the way that Sarah Piatt's poetry negotiates understanding at both local and global levels.
Traveling with Stowaways: The Human Microbiome and Travel
(2016-05-27) Hughes, Alisha N; Hirschberg, David
The human microbiome is a research field that is fairly new and thus, not yet fully understood. However, past research has revealed that the human host and the microorganisms interact with each other. To comprehend how influential the connection between host and its stowaways is, the following text will first offer general information on the human microbiome, before moving on to a pilot case study proposal. With the use of similar case studies, this proposal aims to investigate how the human microbiome changes when the host travels and analyzes the changes and their affects on the individual's health. The paper's conclusion does not only point out that travel does in fact lead to changes in the microbiome's composition, but also stress the fact that this study could help prevent health issues, increase the host's general performance and overall offer more information on the human microbiome.
The rhetoric is on the wall: A multimodal study of the U.S. - Mexico border through image narratives
(2018-05-31) Mason, Kristoffer; Thompson, Riki
This paper applied social semiotics and systemic functional theory to study visual narratives related to President Trump's border wall project and U.S. immigration policy. The images were selected by new articles posted by The New York Times using search parameters "border wall" and "undocumented immigration" between the dates of March 13 - April 13, 2018. Images were selected and categorized based on visual themes related to the border wall and policy enforcement. Of these categories, two images were selected for vertical perspective, vector patterns, and gestures to discover the narratives. Analysis of the images showed that social power and hierarchical clashes based on authoritative positions which were realized through vertical perspective. Upon examination of images depicting people for vector patterns and vertical perspective revealed correlations to authority. Additionally, vector shapes formed by social actors displayed patterns of visual collectivization based on clothing, race, and gender. This study concluded with the idea of adding intertextual analysis to further understand how images and text work together more closely.
Tiered Technologies of Power: Subject-making in China through Electronic Censorship
(2014-04-01) St. John, Hope R.; Hoffman, Lisa
Since its inception and rise to wide-spread popularity, the internet has provided new opportunities for communication and configured global connectivity possibilities and information sharing. However, with this technological revolution, new and interesting regulatory challenges have emerged. With this paper, I build on Foucauldian understandings of governmentality to examine internet censorship in China within the global context, arguing that these issues of internet censorship in China represent an important example of the emergence of new techniques of governing that stem from new, globalized threats to state control. As a fundamentally global network, the internet ranks among one of the most pressing of these threats, requiring new regulatory practices in both authoritarian and non-authoritarian regimes. This paper argues that as a result, new, decentralized regulatory practices have emerged to augment existing centralized techniques of control and, in the process, constructed tiered technologies of power through which subjects are produced and governed.
The Health of Migrant Farmworkers in the Pacific Northwest: Access, Quality, and Health Disparities
(2018-06-14) Silva, Marleny; Velasquez, Tanya
The health and well-being of migrant farmworkers have been neglected in the U.S. despite the prevalent reliance on undocumented foreign labor to fill the needs of the agricultural industry. In 1942, the U.S. signed a bilateral agreement with Mexico which allowed the recruitment of Mexican workers for temporary work in U.S. fields until the end of the program in 1964. This program contributed to the increase of Mexican migration even after its termination and reaffirmed our nation's dependence on migrant farm workers, both documented and undocumented. Due to their undocumented status, undocumented migrant farmworkers experience neglect, dehumanization, and criminalization that permeates the agricultural industry today. This paper addresses the health disparities and safety violations faced by migrant farmworkers and their families today, specifically in the Pacific Northwest which benefits from the billion dollar agricultural economy founded on their back-breaking labor. This paper will provide historical context and argue that the violations of human rights still occur in migrant labor camps. Possible solutions that contribute to the empowerment of migrant farm laborers will be discussed.
The Militarization of ICE and Hyper-Surveillance of Latinx Immigrants
(2019-06-01) Martinez Gonzalez, Karen; Velazquez, Tanya
Since the creation of this country, exclusion based on race and class has been upheld by racist immigration, citizenship and labor laws. From slavery to segregation and from mass incarceration to the exploitation and criminalization of immigrant labor. The capitalist inclusion and nationalist exclusion of people of color are not separate ideologies instead they work together to ensure the original purpose of a homogeneous nation. ICE's most important but hidden purpose is to uphold a white homogeneous nation. Their practices not only target undocumented communities but specifically undocumented communities of color. Migrants of color in the U.S. are prevented from fully "assimilating" into whiteness due to their racialization; undocumented immigrants have even less access to social, political and economic rights due to a process that prevents access to permanent residency but ensures a cheap labor flow. This normalizes the violent enforcement of immigration laws on undocumented communities of color since they are not deemed deserving of whiteness and citizenship.
The Global Food Fight: Tackling Food Deserts and Their Effects
(2019-01-01) Bell, Christian; Stevens, Christine
What are food deserts? Can they contribute to poor health outcomes? What solutions have communities from different parts of the world found to lessen food desert's effects? Though food deserts are an incredibly complex issue, this paper will examine the factors that create food deserts, their link to poor health outcomes and how different global communities have established local and innovative solutions to this issue.
The Importance of Funding Channels for Microfinance Performance
(2016-06-10) Fedorak, Roman; Howson, Cynthia; McMillin, Divya
This paper studies the importance of microfinance funding channels by analyzing how for-profit and non-profit microfinance institutions' performances differ in practice. Generally all MFIs seek financial sustainability in order to avoid reliance on external funding and increase efficiency. However, for-profit MFIs tend to rely more heavily on standard economic assumptions established by the neoclassical economics model, shifting the priority away from the social and economic development process among poor communities to the final product of loan repayment enjoyed by such institutions. By contrast, non-profit MFIs attracting donors contributions tend to focus more closely on shifts in social dynamics within communities they sponsor leading to higher development enjoyed by such communities in the long run.
The Role of Government Policies in the Lao People's Democratic Republic's Shift from Subsistence Farming to Commercial Agriculture
(2024-04-01) Phakoxay, Sengravi T; Stevens, Christine
In just under half a century, Lao People's Democratic Republic, often abbreviated as Lao PDR, has shifted from subsistence farming to commercialized production through both internal and external policies. This thesis will explore governmental actions via policies that have aided in this shift and its impact on environmental protection, rural communities, and sustainable development. By exploring Lao PDR's government policies, it is noted that there is an emphasis on growing international trade relations, capital, and globalizing the agricultural sector at the expense of improving and maintaining environmental sustainability and the lives of rural communities who do not have direct access to the trade market. This is seen in Lao PDR's decision to cut import tariffs on several countries, prioritizing the establishment and boosting of international free trade between ASEAN members, namely Thailand and China. By cutting the tariffs, it is increasing the risk of discriminatory practices regarding Lao produce for local Lao business owners who are not contracted with foreign companies, such as increasing the threshold of quality for Lao goods and crops or paying lower than the market price. Contract farming is another modern agricultural production method that rose in popularity throughout the 2000s. Since the 1980s, Laos' gross value added per agricultural worker has more than quintupled in amount per the U.S. dollar due in large part to the efficacious free trade aim and popularization of contract farming in the landlocked country. Based on the New Economic Mechanism, or NEM, framework, which encourages the growth of private businesses alongside governmental agencies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry designates which cash crops have high export value. This information directly correlates with local, smallholder farmers, as well as the privately-owned businesses that manage the transportation and marketing of these cash crops, especially for provinces that share a border with neighboring ASEAN members. As the market demand grows, the local farmers will expand the land allotted for cash crops, rather than farming based on subsistence agriculture. Currently, there is a distinct lack of analysis regarding the effects of Lao PDR's government policies on their agricultural sector. This thesis will work to provide the foundation between policy and commercialization as Lao PDR emerges as a strong power in Southeast Asia.
The Torture Debate: What the Scholars and the Intellectuals Are Saying
(2011-04-01) Balla, Dieudonné; Crawford, Rob
In the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib investigation and the 2009 CASUSS report on post-9/11 interrogation practices, the question of state-sanctioned torture has become the subject of much public and scholarly debate. In this thesis, the author examines three arguments in support of lawful torture: Alan Dershowitz's Law of Necessity and the concept of "torture warrants," Michael Walzer's "problem of dirty hands," and Richard Posner's notion of Constitutional interpretation in times of emergency.
The Ethics and Effectiveness of Rhetorical Strategies Employed by Environmental Groups and the Palm Oil Crisis
(2016-06-10) Pellegrini, Mason T; Koontz, Tom
In a world where climate change brings us ever closer to human-made catastrophe and, simultaneously, corporate interests fiercely oppose those who protect the environment, the work of environmental activists is now more critical than ever. Primarily, this work that environmental activists engage in is wielding rhetoric (symbolic communication) in as effective a way as possible to sway public opinion. However, effectiveness cannot be the only determining factor when choosing a rhetorical strategy: ethics complicates the matter. To shed light in this important area-the intersection between the ethics and effectiveness of rhetorical strategies employed by environmental activists-is the goal of this article. I do this by first describing a body of research on the ethics and effectiveness of rhetorical strategies that are used by radical environmental groups that follow the pattern set by Greenpeace, which is the largest environmental organization in the world. I look specifically at how these groups communicate with the first-world public. Next, my analysis continues into my case study: Greenpeace's online campaigning against Indonesian palm oil, and Greenpeace's general canvassing techniques. My literature review and case study are arranged with a neo-Aristotelian framework. I come to the conclusion that Greenpeace employs ethically problematic rhetorical tactics, and that other strategies might prove to be more effective in achieving the organization's long term goals.

Browse

Recent Submissions