Barrett

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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Cultural Continuity and Impediments to Queer Rights in Romania

Description
Romania is in the midst of an identity emergency due to its relatively recent departure from a communist dictatorship. This paper will take a look at identities within Romania while paying close attention to the way that emerging political, economic, religious and gender identities have been and are being used…

Romania is in the midst of an identity emergency due to its relatively recent departure from a communist dictatorship. This paper will take a look at identities within Romania while paying close attention to the way that emerging political, economic, religious and gender identities have been and are being used to oppress the Romanian queer population. This paper seeks to justify an application of Western values towards the call for enfranchisement of Romanian queers. Western values, in this sense, will be based on Enlightenment notions of equality in all people and based on philosophers whose writings and paradigms are centered in the Western world. Furthermore, it will discuss violence and masculinity in hopes that understanding and critically examining these topics may be used in application towards the emerging Romanian identities and statistics which highlight and implicate queer oppression. Again, this paper will not seek to definitely link as causal any one emerging identity towards the oppression of the queer minority in Romania nor will it seek to undermine any single Romanian institution, but rather question the correlative elements of Romanian society that may be implicated in potential oppression, violences, and a neglect of the Romanian queer minority.
ContributorsWoodmansee, Jon Wessley (Author) / Montesano, Mark (Thesis director) / Brake, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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The Art of Boundlessness: Living with Desire, Others, and Time

Description
One of humanity's perpetual endeavors has been to come to an understanding of its nature so as to maximize the ability of persons to acquire happiness in this lifetime as well as to live in harmony with the cosmos. This philosophic work seeks to contribute to that perpetual mission by…

One of humanity's perpetual endeavors has been to come to an understanding of its nature so as to maximize the ability of persons to acquire happiness in this lifetime as well as to live in harmony with the cosmos. This philosophic work seeks to contribute to that perpetual mission by delving into the nature of desire and seeks to make the findings of this project relevant to society by identifying contemporary ills that are related to a deficient understanding of desire. This work not only seeks to help society achieve balance in the present but also seeks to help it maintain that balance through the provision of insights and teachings that are timeless in nature, for they have relevance to all ages through their illumination of the nature of humans. This project does so by turning to the Chinese Daoists and the Roman Stoics for their wisdom in regards to desire and how to relate to it. Additionally, this project turns to Paul Tillich to help preserve whatever balance this project helps achieve as he provides a remedy to modern ills by illuminating the course that was taken to bring it to its current predicament. Passages from the Daoist text the Dao-de-jing, the diary of the Roman Emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius, and the correspondences of the Roman Stoic Seneca the Younger found in On the Shortness of Life are interpreted in the hopes of not only providing advice on how to co-exist with desire but also in the hopes of establishing or contributing to an existing bridge that links Eastern and Western thought so that both hemispheres can cooperatively contribute to the development of humanity. This project also seeks to cultivate a desire amongst the populace to engage with philosophic works by showing that the insights they provide can be practically applied so as to develop one's characteristics that are conducive to finding that which helps one feel personally fulfilled and to achieving success in one's endeavors.
ContributorsGonzalez, Gabriel Vicente (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12

Practical Stoicism for High Achieving College Students: A 7-week, Self-Paced, Asynchronous Workshop

Description

Stoicism is a philosophy that emerged in the Hellenistic Age, between 323 BCE and 30 BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (Irvine, 2009). Stoicism was born into an exceptionally transitional social and political time period, and three major philosophers, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, rose to fame and…

Stoicism is a philosophy that emerged in the Hellenistic Age, between 323 BCE and 30 BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (Irvine, 2009). Stoicism was born into an exceptionally transitional social and political time period, and three major philosophers, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, rose to fame and established this manner of interacting with the world around them. These teachings and writings, still read throughout the world today due to their practicality and effectiveness, provide a major framework for “(It is [Stoicism]) the power of the mind to be unconquerable,” (Seneca, The Stoic Letters). Stoicism can be used as a tool in the pursuit of perseverance, wisdom, self control, and self mastery, which can ultimately lead to a more fulfilling and happy life. This philosophy is a practical one, and is designed with the intention to help those who practice it live well rather than just provide a theoretical understanding of the teaching of the world. Stoicism is a way to interact with others and the world in a way that reduces the amount of suffering experienced and can increase the capacity for joy. As a high achieving college student, it may not be feasible or entirely practical to live as Stoics did in the ancient world. Yet, aspects of ancient Stoicism can still be applied to modern-day living and can be used to make college students more resilient, happier, and allow them to live a fuller, more satisfied life. In this 7 week asynchronous program designed for high achieving college students, we will explore the most common barriers to happiness that college students face and explore what Stoic philosophies offer to help remedy these barriers.
ContributorsRawlings, Rachel (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Sturgess, Jessica (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2023-05

The Philosophy of Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly"

Description
It is my position that Kendrick Lamar takes a journey over the course of his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” (TPAB) that is similar to the journey taken by the prisoner up and out of the cave described by Socrates in the Republic. Using the structure and ideas of the…

It is my position that Kendrick Lamar takes a journey over the course of his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” (TPAB) that is similar to the journey taken by the prisoner up and out of the cave described by Socrates in the Republic. Using the structure and ideas of the Republic, I will provide a novel interpretation of the album that highlights Lamar’s transformation and development. The general lesson that I have learned by connecting these two works is that becoming a better person is a difficult and continuous process but also a fulfilling one. First, I will provide some points of context from the Republic and TPAB that are relevant to my argument. Second, I will identify the three stages of the cave prisoner’s ascent out of the cave and Lamar’s escape from Compton together. Third, I will split up the three stages into their own three chapters and show how Lamar’s three-staged journey is similar to the cave prisoner’s. To do this, I will propose shadows, statues, and forms present in TPAB. In each chapter, I will demonstrate using Plato’s tripartite model of the soul how each stage corresponds to one of the three stages of Lamar’s metaphorical metamorphosis on TPAB: caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly. In the third chapter, I will bring everything together to show how a Platonic understanding of TPAB allows us to better understand the process of Lamar’s self-realization. In my conclusion, I will end with summary of what I have accomplished and the personal thoughts and lessons I have learned from assembling all of this.
ContributorsDonovan, Jaxon (Author) / Klein, Shawn (Thesis director) / de Marneffe, Peter (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2024-05
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In Defense of a Regulated Kidney Market

Description
In this essay, I argue that a regulated kidney market, which would allow qualified Americans to sell one of their kidneys, should be developed in the United States of America. My argument has four parts. First, I provide brief background information for kidneys, kidney disease, and the dire state of…

In this essay, I argue that a regulated kidney market, which would allow qualified Americans to sell one of their kidneys, should be developed in the United States of America. My argument has four parts. First, I provide brief background information for kidneys, kidney disease, and the dire state of kidney transplantation in America. Second, I present a consequentialist argument, deontological argument, and a market argument to establish the moral permissibility of a kidney market and compensation for kidney donations. Third, I evaluate the main legal and social hurdles impeding a kidney market and discuss how these barriers can feasibly be overcome. Fourth, I discuss the logistics of a kidney market and outline the components necessary for an ethical market design. Finally, I address and respond to the myriad of objections for legalizing kidneys and demonstrate how each objection fails to justify the current prohibition on kidney sales. Ultimately, I prove that a paid kidney market should be established in the United States of America. While applicable to many other countries in the world, this particular argument is only for the United States of America.
ContributorsHadziahmetovic, Dino (Author) / Priest, Maura (Thesis director) / Botham, Thad (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05