Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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Dressler Makes Things (DMT), as a thesis project, explores the viability of DMT as a monetized blog. DMT is a life improvement blog with a focus on cooking. Its blog niche sits between nostalgic, sensory food blogs and professional, actionable life improvement blogs. Because blogs that bridge this gap are rare, DMT aims to fill this need by making cooking easy, affordable, and attainable for anyone, but particularly females in their early twenties. This thesis explores marketing topics like brand, blog niche, unique value proposition, current viewers, and user personas, as well as information about the current blogging environment and an analysis of relevant competitors. It also develops marketing objectives for DMT, as well as positioning, conversion, referral, content promotion, and partnership strategies to reach these goals. Finally, it discusses distribution, pricing, and promotional tactics, as well as an operational plan and financial projections.
ContributorsParsons, Dressler Eileen (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Bitter, Gary (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This research looks at a group of students from Tumaini Children's Home in Nyeri, Kenya. The purpose of this paper is to explore why this particular group of students is so academically successful. Quantitative research was taken from the average 2013 test scores of Tumaini students who took the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in comparison to the scores of students who are not residing in the orphanage. Qualitative research involves interviews from those students who live in Tumaini and interviews from adults who are closely connected to the orphanage. The purpose is to understand why the students are performing so well academically and what support they have created for themselves that allows them to do so.
ContributorsTooker, Amy Elizabeth (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Cocchiarella, Martha (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Today's prison industrial complex in the United States often dehumanizes inmates simply because they are criminals. Members of the free society are generally too far removed from the inside of prisons that most people do not see the harsh and cruel conditions for and treatment of prisoners. As a Dance and Justice Studies major at Arizona State University, I was curious about how to intertwine my interests in dance and justice. This paper chronicles my exploration of adding a human rights issue to my dance practice through choreographing a solo dance performance based on Cleve Foster's unusual experience on death row. Research on theories of prison and punishment in American society combined with physical research in the dance studio enabled me to create a solo performance that shed light on the inhumane conditions for and treatment of prison inmates in today's society. Through the process, I found that some elements of my dance practice stayed the same, while others changed. This informed me of what continuously remains important to me, while allowing me to expand my personal dance practice. I ultimately discovered a bridge between my two passions, dance and justice, and learned a meaningful way to convey a contemporary social justice issue to the general public.
ContributorsKerr, Elena Marie (Author) / Schupp, Karen (Thesis director) / Vissicaro, Pegge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to create an informational book on gluten-free living. It is our hope that by the end of the book readers will have a better understanding that living with a gluten intolerance or auto-immune disorder does not control one's life. Someone just needs to put in a bit more planning and time in order to travel or eat out. The book goes into detail on every condition on the gluten-sensitivity spectrum. It also goes in-depth on medicines, recipes, and travel.
ContributorsSnodgrass, Allison (Co-author) / Snodgrass, Amanda (Co-author) / Johnston, Carol (Thesis director) / Jacobs, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project explores the dimensions that affect the success of a nonprofit organizations' web presence by using a dance and health nonprofit website as the foundation of the research and redesign. This report includes literature and design research, analysis, recommendations and a journal of the web design process. Through research, three categories were identified as the primary dimensions affecting the success of a website: content, technical adequacy and appearance. Furthermore, website success is influenced by how the strength of individual categories relies on one another. To improve the web design of Dancers and Health Together Inc., content implementations and redesign elements were both research and personal preference-based. The redesigned website can be found at www.collaydennis.com and will become inactive after May 31, 2015.
ContributorsDennis, Collay Carole (Author) / Coleman, Grisha (Thesis director) / Hosmer, Anthony Ryan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Latino population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States (U.S Census Bureau, 2003). Such a rapidly changing demographic stresses the importance of implementing strategies into the community social framework to accommodate for cultural and language differences. This research paper seeks to answer: what factors influence the sense of community among Latino families in Phoenix? The following questions will help to assess the dynamic relationship between sense of community and literacy 1) what is the perceived importance of literacy among Latino families living in Phoenix? 2) How is language development reflected among the family dynamics within a predominantly collectivist culture? It is hypothesized that both collectivism and literacy are the main influences on sense of community among this population.
ContributorsBennett, Julie (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur (Thesis director) / Restrepo, Laida (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Statistics are rising for adults who are overweight and/or obese, putting them at higher risk of developing serious health problems. Eating fewer portions of vegetable than the daily-recommended amounts contributes to this increase with. College students, being more susceptible to weight gain as they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Previous studies demonstrated that children ate more vegetables when repeatedly paired with a low-fat dip compared to when served plain. The current study examined whether this effect was also successful in college-aged subjects. A total of 148 (55 males, 91 females) college-aged students from an introductory psychology class at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive cauliflower or broccoli (raw) either served plain or with low-fat ranch dressing. Subjects showed a greater preference for and consumption of the vegetable plain that was previously given with dip than without dip. These findings suggest that serving vegetables with low-fat ranch dip two times can increase the liking and consumption of vegetables in college students.
ContributorsKim, Sophia L. (Author) / Phillips, Elizabeth Capaldi (Thesis director) / Bajaj, Devina (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project, which consists of a review article and an applied creative project, proposes mirror neurons as being a physiological mechanism for motor imagery. The review article highlights similarities between motor imagery research and research on mirror neurons. The research is roughly divided into three types of studies: neuroimaging studies, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electromyography (EMG) studies, and electroencephalography (EEG) studies. The review also discusses the associative hypothesis of mirror neuron origin as support for the hypothesis and concludes with an assessment of conflicting research and the limitations of the hypothesis. The applied creative project is an instructional brochure, aimed at anyone who teaches motor skills, such as dance teachers or sports coaches. The brochure takes the academic content of the review and presents it in a visually pleasing, reader-friendly fashion in an effort to educate the intended audience and make the research more accessible. The brochure also prescribes research-based suggestions for how to use motor imagery during teaching sessions and how to get the best benefits from it.
ContributorsNgai, Valerie Christina (Author) / Hoffner, Kristin (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
How are perceptions of morality and disgust regarding meat consumption related to each other? Which factor is more salient in determining one's willingness to eat the meat of a specific animal? How do these answers vary across religious groups? This study investigates the ways that concepts like morality and disgust are related to food preferences and hopes to shed light on the mechanisms that enforce culturally sanctioned food taboos. The study compares 4 groups of people in the U.S.: Christians (n = 39), Hindus (n = 29), Jews (n = 23), and non-religious people (n = 63). A total of 154 participants were given surveys in which they rated their feelings about eating various animals. Data from Christian and non-religious groups exhibited similar patterns such as a high likelihood of eating a given animal when starving, while results from Jews and Hindus were consistent with their religion's respective food taboos. Despite these differences, morality and disgust are strongly correlated with one another in almost all instances. Moreover, morality and disgust are almost equally important considerations when determining willingness to eat when starving.
ContributorsParekh, Shaili Rajul (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Jacobs, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Dance studios often have a high tuition rates, which makes learning technique from a dance school difficult to attain. For AZ Hype Hip Hop Squad no circumstance can keep them from dancing. This 14-year-old team has made their mark in dance competitions nationwide. The only problem is: this nationally ranked team lingers unrecognized. AZ Hype is a non-profit dance team that practices wherever they can find a space. They practice anywhere from school cafeterias to driveways, parks to backyards and parking lots. What gives this team their competitive edge is that nothing keeps them from dancing and they draw inspiration from outside of the walls of a studio. The team consists of 18 to 30 dancers each year and is divided into two age groups; a junior and senior team. The dancers range from six to 25 years of age. The team has one coach, one stereo and a room full of trophies and championship banners. The coach, Tara Delgado, is a 5th grade history teacher who has been coaching AZ Hype for 14 consecutive years. She continues to teach and inspire kids in the Valley. Though years go by her personal dance skills and creativity to choreograph and mix music strengthens and improves. She is more than just a dance coach to the kids who make her house their home. A public relations campaign for AZ Hype Hip Hop Squad was created to benefit the team in many ways. For the duration of the team's existence, they did not have a website, social media management, community support, sponsors, practice space, or any news media connections. The goal of the campaign is to gain exposure but also gather sponsors to lift the burdening costs of competitions, uniforms and practice spaces. The plan would serve as an outline to utilize social media, reach out to local media and contact various dance and youth supporters. In this campaign, testimonials have been gathered to uncover the true need and impact of the dance team. Without schools teaching dance or other performing arts, many youths lose out on the opportunity to ever learn. In addition to research, collateral material will be made and used for marketing and information as well as a strategic fundraising and branding plan. This plan will encourage and help implement the transition from a group of dancers to a 501c(3) nonprofit.
ContributorsAhmadpour, Shirin Jose (Author) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis director) / Delgado, Tara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2014-12