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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Extreme heat is the deadliest weather and climate-related hazard in the United States, and the threat it poses to urban residents is rising. City planners increasingly recognize these risks and are taking action to mitigate them. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many plans. Building on a

Extreme heat is the deadliest weather and climate-related hazard in the United States, and the threat it poses to urban residents is rising. City planners increasingly recognize these risks and are taking action to mitigate them. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many plans. Building on a previous survey which queried city planners from across the United States about how concerned they were about extreme heat, and their heat management efforts. This thesis examines how these perceptions and efforts have changed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, it was found that public spaces which would typically have been used to shelter individuals from extreme heat conditions were closed to mitigate close-contact and to encourage social distancing. Furthermore, priorities were changed as the presence of the virus became commonplace, with plans being altered, delayed, or shelved to diverge more time and effort towards the crisis at hand. Working environments and conditions also changed, which in several cases led to technological shortcomings, resulting in further delays. Finally, most planners had attained a surface-level understanding of which socio-economic groups were most impacted by both COVID-19 and extreme heat, in congruence with the current literature written on the topic. Generally, it appears that planners feel that the impact of COVID-19 on heat planning efforts has been limited.

ContributorsNorris, Walker Yale (Author) / Meerow, Sara (Thesis director) / Keith, Ladd (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Description
Homeownership is an essential part of the American Dream and one of the most important tools for anyone in the 21st century to build wealth. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a level of uncertainty to a market that has been largely stable since the last recession. This has proven

Homeownership is an essential part of the American Dream and one of the most important tools for anyone in the 21st century to build wealth. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a level of uncertainty to a market that has been largely stable since the last recession. This has proven to be a major roadblock affecting multiple generations of Americans in their quests to develop wealth. A particularly interesting case study through this crisis has been the housing market of Phoenix Arizona. When the challenges presented by the pandemic began to unfold, thousands of home listings and sales were canceled all the while newly unemployed Arizonians began to worry about meeting their mortgage payments. However, this disruption didn’t last long, several months after the beginning of the pandemic housing prices quickly began to swell. Many listings continue to be sold for tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price which has led investors to ask: how have Phoenix homes been able to seemingly ignore the economic downturn? Today we are living in the hottest housing market since early 2007, and many expert opinions on the state of the market conflict with one another. Some expect housing prices to crash, others believe this growth is sustainable. A complex web of interconnected financial and human systems has led us to the position we are in today and several important questions have been left unanswered. What forces have driven the market to such dramatic heights? Who have been the winners and losers in the Arizona housing market during the pandemic? And what can be expected to happen in the near future as the “new normal” served to us by COVID-19 unfolds? The purpose of this thesis is to explore these questions and identify the underlying factors that have created the current market conditions. It will begin with an analysis of relevant supply and demand factors, then move to identify groups of winners and losers, to finally develop a prescriptive outlook for challenges facing Phoenix’s housing market.
ContributorsEllerd, Wyatt (Author) / Sadusky, Brian (Thesis director) / Hoffman, David (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Description
This thesis considers various studies related to how COVID-19 has affected college students worldwide. This project provides an early examination of the literature in an effort to identify emerging themes, common global experiences, and areas still to be studied. First this project looks at how COVID-19 has exacerbated technological inequities,

This thesis considers various studies related to how COVID-19 has affected college students worldwide. This project provides an early examination of the literature in an effort to identify emerging themes, common global experiences, and areas still to be studied. First this project looks at how COVID-19 has exacerbated technological inequities, including the impacts of the digital divide on college students’ educations. This project shows how the lack of access to technology and the digital divide has deprived students of educational opportunities and has impacted their overall quality of education. Second, this project looks at the mental health impacts of the pandemic on college students. College students are already a very vulnerable population to begin with, and COVID-19 further exacerbated mental health issues among these students. Third, this project looks at findings about gender differences and the impacts of COVID-19 based on gender. This project also explores the positive impacts of the pandemic, and finally concludes with ideas for future research going forward, as well as solutions to the problems addressed in the project. This project reviews literature from a global perspective. Many of the studies in this project are taken from international university student populations, as it is important to compare how university students worldwide reacted to and were impacted by the pandemic. Taking this global view into perspective is necessary to formulate methods of action in the possible occurrence of a future health crisis of this scale.
ContributorsVan Tilborg, Natalie (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description

This research explores Amazons growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacted its innovation initiatives. It examines the strategies employed by Amazon to drive innovation, explores the challenges encountered during this period of expansion, and identifies opportunities for innovation in a post-pandemic era. Additionally, this study offers insights and

This research explores Amazons growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacted its innovation initiatives. It examines the strategies employed by Amazon to drive innovation, explores the challenges encountered during this period of expansion, and identifies opportunities for innovation in a post-pandemic era. Additionally, this study offers insights and recommendations for organizations navigating similar circumstances.

ContributorsGolbienko, Adam (Author) / Lee, Christopher (Thesis director) / Slimp, Joshua (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2023-12