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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This study asks the question: does gender-based discrimination exists within Arizona State University's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and if so, what are the effects of such discrimination? Within this study, discrimination is defined as: the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs, rather than on individual merit. The researcher predicted that this study would show that gender-based discrimination operates within the masculine military culture of Army ROTC at ASU, resulting from women's hyper-visibility and evidenced by their lack of positive recognition and disbelief in having a voice in the program. These expectations were based on background research claiming that the token status of women in military roles causes them to be more heavily scrutinized, and they consequentially try to attain success by adapting to the masculine military culture by which they are constantly measured. For the purposes of this study, success is defined as: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence . This study relies on exploratory interviews and an online survey conducted with male and female Army ROTC cadets of all grade levels at Arizona State University. The interviews and survey collected demographic information and perspectives on individual experiences to establish an understanding of privilege and marginalization within the program. These results do support the prediction that women in Army ROTC at ASU face discrimination based on their unique visibility and lack of positive recognition and voice in the program. Likewise, the survey results indicate that race also has a significant impact on one's experience in Army ROTC, which is discussed later in this study in regard to needs for future research. ASU Army ROTC includes approximately 100 cadets, and approximately 30-40 of those cadets participated in this study. Additionally, the University of Arizona and the Northern Arizona University Army ROTC programs were invited to participate in this study and declined to do so, which would have offered a greater sample population. Nonetheless, the results of this research will be useful for analysis and further discussion of gender-equality in Army ROTC at Arizona State University.
ContributorsAllemang, Lindsey Ann (Author) / Wood, Reed (Thesis director) / Switzer, Heather (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In today’s economy, advertisers understand that sex sells. The foundations of this concept, however, are influenced by patriarchal expectations that women are first and foremost sexual objects for men. Women are sold beauty and demeanor expectations for them to utilize when making themselves attractive for men and men are sold the idea of beautiful, docile women. This dynamic perpetuates strict definitions of acceptable gender displays and reinforces socially permitted gendered behavior. As a society in the 21st century, we understand the damage of sexist ideals, but where we fall short is in the monitoring of channels that perpetuate and maintain those stereotypes and how affected the public really is by the male gaze, and lack of a female gaze, in media. In this paper, I search for a female gaze, but in doing so recognize the inequalities inherent in yet another gendered practice of looking and instead steer the conversation towards personalized perspectives informed by an understanding of the dominant practice of looking and its inverse.
The primary perspective from which people are depicted in media today is shaped by the male gaze. The male gaze is comprised of patriarchal ideals and relies on the understanding that the spectator or viewer is a standard human being, which heteronormativity tells us is a man. From this perspective, the scope of visual representations of men and women in media has been molded after the hierarchized gender displays within which masculinity has primacy over femininity. By presenting a limited spectrum of behavior acceptable for men and women, the media hegemonically manipulates the social constructs of gender and gendered behavior across all levels of society.
This honors thesis applies semiotic and feminist methodologies to engage visual forms of media through art, film, and social media to challenge the social constructs of gender perpetuated and reinforced by dated stereotypes of gender and gendered behavior. First, the theoretical foundation will provide a framework for semiotic and feminist analysis of visual representations of gender in media. Then, I will present data representing the real-world impact that this social construction of gender has on adolescents in America using The State of Gender Equality for U.S. Adolescents, published by Plan International Inc. I will then bring together the explicated methodologies and evidential data alongside my own experiences as a female consumer of visual media to reveal alternative practices of looking that do not revolve around patriarchal norms, looking for a female gaze. In doing so, I hope to present recourse in the face of persistent use of sexist imagery across all levels of our culture and every medium of visual self-expression by providing tools that can be used to interrogate gendered perceptions and inform self-examination in pursuit of a feminist practice of looking.
The primary perspective from which people are depicted in media today is shaped by the male gaze. The male gaze is comprised of patriarchal ideals and relies on the understanding that the spectator or viewer is a standard human being, which heteronormativity tells us is a man. From this perspective, the scope of visual representations of men and women in media has been molded after the hierarchized gender displays within which masculinity has primacy over femininity. By presenting a limited spectrum of behavior acceptable for men and women, the media hegemonically manipulates the social constructs of gender and gendered behavior across all levels of society.
This honors thesis applies semiotic and feminist methodologies to engage visual forms of media through art, film, and social media to challenge the social constructs of gender perpetuated and reinforced by dated stereotypes of gender and gendered behavior. First, the theoretical foundation will provide a framework for semiotic and feminist analysis of visual representations of gender in media. Then, I will present data representing the real-world impact that this social construction of gender has on adolescents in America using The State of Gender Equality for U.S. Adolescents, published by Plan International Inc. I will then bring together the explicated methodologies and evidential data alongside my own experiences as a female consumer of visual media to reveal alternative practices of looking that do not revolve around patriarchal norms, looking for a female gaze. In doing so, I hope to present recourse in the face of persistent use of sexist imagery across all levels of our culture and every medium of visual self-expression by providing tools that can be used to interrogate gendered perceptions and inform self-examination in pursuit of a feminist practice of looking.
ContributorsPreston, Phoebe Jane (Author) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Thesis director) / Kirsch, Sharon (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Pandora is a play exploring our relationship with gendered technology through the lens of artificial intelligence. Can women be subjective under patriarchy? Do robots who look like women have subjectivity? Hoping to create a better version of ourselves, The Engineer must navigate the loss of her creation, and Pandora must navigate their new world. The original premiere run was March 27-28, 2018, original cast: Caitlin Andelora, Rikki Tremblay, and Michael Tristano Jr.
ContributorsToye, Abigail Elizabeth (Author) / Linde, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Abele, Kelsey (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Hiking and Hegemony: Destabilizing the nature/culture and gender binaries through outdoor recreation
Description
This paper explores the contested relationships between nature, culture, and gender. In order to analyze these relationships, we look specifically at outdoor recreation. Furthermore, we employ poststructuralist feminist theory in order to produce three frameworks; the first of which is titled Mother Nature’s Promiscuous Past. Rooted in Old World and colonial values, this framework illustrates the flawed feminization of nature by masculinity, and its subsequent extortion of anything related to femininity — including women and nature itself. This belief barred women from nature, resulting in a lack of access for women to outdoor recreation.
Our second framework, titled The Pleasurable Potential of Outdoor Recreation, cites second-wave feminism as a catalyst for women’s participation in wilderness exploration and outdoor recreation. The work of radical feminists and the women’s liberation movement in 1960s and 1970s empowered women at home, in the workplace, and eventually, in the outdoors; women reclaimed their wilderness, yet they continued to employ Framework One’s feminization of nature. Ecofeminsim brought together nature and women, seeking to bring justice to two groups wronged by the same entity: masculinity. In this context, outdoor recreation is empowering for women.
Despite the potential of Framework Two to reinscribe and better the experiences of women in outdoor recreation, we argue that both Frameworks One and Two perpetuate the gender binary and the nature/culture binary, because they are based upon the notion that women are in fact fundamentally different and separate from men, the notion that nature is an entity separate from culture, or human society, as well as the notion that nature is in fact a feminine entity.
Our third framework, Deer Pay No Mind to Your Genitals, engages poststructuralism, asserting that outdoor recreation and activities that occur in nature can serve to destabilize and deconstruct notions of the gender binary. However, we argue that care must be exercised during this process as not to perpetuate the problematic nature/culture binary, a phenomenon that is unproductive in terms of both sustainability and gender liberation. Outdoor recreation has been used by many as a tool to deconstruct numerous societal constraints, including the gender binary; this, however, continues to attribute escapist and isolationist qualities toward nature, and therefore perpetuating the nature/culture divide. Ultimately, we argue outdoor recreation can and should be used as a tool deconstruct the gender binary, however needs to account for the fact that if nature is helping to construct elements of culture, then the two cannot be separate.
Our second framework, titled The Pleasurable Potential of Outdoor Recreation, cites second-wave feminism as a catalyst for women’s participation in wilderness exploration and outdoor recreation. The work of radical feminists and the women’s liberation movement in 1960s and 1970s empowered women at home, in the workplace, and eventually, in the outdoors; women reclaimed their wilderness, yet they continued to employ Framework One’s feminization of nature. Ecofeminsim brought together nature and women, seeking to bring justice to two groups wronged by the same entity: masculinity. In this context, outdoor recreation is empowering for women.
Despite the potential of Framework Two to reinscribe and better the experiences of women in outdoor recreation, we argue that both Frameworks One and Two perpetuate the gender binary and the nature/culture binary, because they are based upon the notion that women are in fact fundamentally different and separate from men, the notion that nature is an entity separate from culture, or human society, as well as the notion that nature is in fact a feminine entity.
Our third framework, Deer Pay No Mind to Your Genitals, engages poststructuralism, asserting that outdoor recreation and activities that occur in nature can serve to destabilize and deconstruct notions of the gender binary. However, we argue that care must be exercised during this process as not to perpetuate the problematic nature/culture binary, a phenomenon that is unproductive in terms of both sustainability and gender liberation. Outdoor recreation has been used by many as a tool to deconstruct numerous societal constraints, including the gender binary; this, however, continues to attribute escapist and isolationist qualities toward nature, and therefore perpetuating the nature/culture divide. Ultimately, we argue outdoor recreation can and should be used as a tool deconstruct the gender binary, however needs to account for the fact that if nature is helping to construct elements of culture, then the two cannot be separate.
ContributorsPolick-Kirkpatrick, Kaelyn (Co-author) / Downing, Haley Marie (Co-author) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Thesis director) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Research has found there is a lack of women present in the IS industry. In order to combat this problem, this research examines why women are not choosing IS majors at the university level. At Arizona State University, the Computer Information Systems undergraduate degree program is only 23 percent female. Many different factors can influence the decision to choose a major, so survey methodology was used to ascertain what factors were the most important to different demographic groups when making this decision. The study found no significant gender difference when making this decision, but rather a difference between specific majors. Genuine interest, interesting work and high career earnings were identified as the most influential reasons for choosing a college major. The results were used to create recommendations for the IS Department at ASU to implement in the next year and encourage more female participation in the CIS undergraduate degree program.
ContributorsJorgenson, Erica Marie (Author) / Santanam, Raghu (Thesis director) / Moser, Kathleen (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Often equated with hospice or end-of-life care, palliative care is the expansion of traditional disease-model medical treatments to include the goals of enhancing quality of life, facilitating patient autonomy, and addressing physical or emotional suffering. This interdisciplinary model is essential throughout the cancer continuum and offers the best patient outcomes when initiated at the time of diagnosis. While extensive research exists on the purpose and benefits of palliative care, substantial barriers to early and effective implementation remain. This study aims to examine and integrate current research literature on oncology nurses' perceptions of palliative care, including comparison to evidence-based preferred practice. Synthesis of qualitative findings offers transformative reconceptualization aimed to inform nursing education and improve patient care.
ContributorsScheller, Makena (Author) / Stevens, Carol (Thesis director) / Holcomb, Cynthia (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions of medical-surgical nurses of alcohol-abusing patients admitted to an acute care facility Background: Studies report that many nurses have negative feelings about substance-abusing patients (Neville & Roan, 2014). It has been found nurses report a lack of knowledge about substance abuse disorders, as well as a view that substance abusing patients are more emotionally challenging and dangerous, often leading to decreased motivation and lower levels of job satisfaction (van Boekel, Brouwers, van Weeghel & Garrestsen, 2013). However, studies have found that additional education can positively impact nurses' perceptions (Arthur, 2001). Methods/Approach: This study is a descriptive design using a 17-question 2-part survey. The first part of the survey includes seven demographic questions pertaining to the participants' characteristics and experiences. The second part of the survey is adapted from the Short Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire (SAAPPQ), a valid and reliable instrument used to assess healthcare providers' attitudes toward working with alcohol-abusing patients. Results: Eighty four medical-surgical nurses participated in the study. Over half reported having four hours or less of continuing education on alcohol abuse disorder. Regression analyses identified positive relationships between factors, particularly continuing education, on perceptions of alcohol-abusing patients. Conclusions/Implications: Results of this study can be used to determine what factors contribute to nurses' perceptions of alcohol-abusing patients in the medical-surgical unit, therefore aiding in identifying and developing effective policies, protocols, and interventions aimed at improving quality of patient care in this specific patient population.
ContributorsScalise, Bailey Nicole (Author) / Hosley, Brenda (Thesis director) / Baumhover, Nancy (Committee member) / Todd, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The national average of children aged 19-35 months receiving all recommended vaccines was under 75 percent for the year 2014. In Arizona the average was 65.1 percent, ranking them as 46th in the nation. Language, availability and education are all barriers affecting the rates in Arizona. Appropriate education has the biggest impact on vaccination rates in Arizona. A review of resources available in Arizona was conducted and presented for parents of children in need of the vaccines. A poster designed to educate the population and promote vaccinations was created and distributed to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and Mayo Clinic Hospital as well.
ContributorsBandi, Miranda Christina (Author) / Sutter, Kimberlee (Thesis director) / Barnum, Leslie (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The current literature on successful aging continues to grow, however it lacks a consistent definition of successful aging. Throughout the literature there are multiple themes and ideas that have been used to define successful aging by varying age groups. The current study took a similar approach by evaluating data gathered on older adults age 95 and older through a prescreen performed as part of the Longevity Study. The prescreen consisted of demographic information and self-reported contributors of successful aging. The demographic results demonstrated that the mean age was 98.4 (SD=2.40), with the majority of participants being widowed, living alone, in a single family home, and with some college or associates degree. The demographics varied between genders, with the key difference that men are more likely to be married and, therefore, live with someone. Self-reported contributors to successful aging exhibited that men and women had the same top three overall responses: positive attitude, diets, and biological; however, the rank order of these responses differed by gender. Also, the men more frequently picked marriage and spouse as key contributors, whereas females chose social engagement and support. The possible reasons for these differences may be related to the male to female ratio in the older population and males being more likely than women to date or re-marry with some family and friend support after loss of a spouse. Moreover, women regardless of marital status do not usually find their spouse as the primary support source, and males favor their spouse as their primary support source. Understanding the perspective of the oldest old may help to create better prevention and interventions techniques, alongside improved future research studies.
ContributorsRana, Harnoor (Author) / Coon, David (Thesis director) / O'Connor, Kathy (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The stigma associated with mental illness has been and continues to be a considerable issue of concern in the care of persons with mental illness. Stigma affects not only those with mental illness, but also their families, healthcare personnel, the social community, and policy formation. Common themes of stigma associated with mental illness are fear, social rejection, stereotyping, negative impact, and a lack of knowledge and awareness of mental illness. Despite a more accurate understanding of mental illness, stigma still exists. Interventions to help reverse the stigma associated with mental illness include education, awareness and an environment of inclusion. Toward this end, a PowerPoint presentation will be gifted to Arizona State University College of Nursing to be shown during the psychiatric mental health rotation outlining mental illness and stigma, and what nurses and future nurses can do to combat this stigma.
ContributorsParsons, Chelsey (Author) / Fargotstein, Barbara (Thesis director) / Hosley, Brenda (Committee member) / Sayles, Judy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor)
Created2014-12