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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Description
Abstract
Exploring the Veil of Blackness is a creative project in the form of a podcast titled UKME America”. UKME America stands for Uwem mi Kederimbot America, which means “my life in the world in America”. It aims to explore the differences that divide individuals within the black community from a perspective of a First-Generation African American. It also illustrates how diverse the black community is. Drawing from my own experiences and research, this led me to a common theme centered around the following four questions: (a) what is it like to lose one’s identity; (b) where does this insecurity stem from; (c) how does society impact the way we view ourselves; and (d) how can we uplift ourselves. In my podcast, I interviewed individuals who identified as African Americans, First Generation African Americans, and Africans.
Everyone I interviewed told me their stories using historical, social, and cultural narratives. Overall, I want individuals to understand that there is fluidity behind the meaning of “black”, and the more individuals learn to embrace their differences, the more we can break down the barriers, put a united front, fight societal discrimination. I would like to thank my thesis director Dr. Neveser Köker and Second Committee Chair, Matthew Voorhees. I want to thank them for their guidance, motivation, patience, and for pushing and challenging me to reach new heights. I also would like thank my mom and Dr. Cynthia Patiño, for their constant encouragement and support. This would not have been possible without them.
Exploring the Veil of Blackness is a creative project in the form of a podcast titled UKME America”. UKME America stands for Uwem mi Kederimbot America, which means “my life in the world in America”. It aims to explore the differences that divide individuals within the black community from a perspective of a First-Generation African American. It also illustrates how diverse the black community is. Drawing from my own experiences and research, this led me to a common theme centered around the following four questions: (a) what is it like to lose one’s identity; (b) where does this insecurity stem from; (c) how does society impact the way we view ourselves; and (d) how can we uplift ourselves. In my podcast, I interviewed individuals who identified as African Americans, First Generation African Americans, and Africans.
Everyone I interviewed told me their stories using historical, social, and cultural narratives. Overall, I want individuals to understand that there is fluidity behind the meaning of “black”, and the more individuals learn to embrace their differences, the more we can break down the barriers, put a united front, fight societal discrimination. I would like to thank my thesis director Dr. Neveser Köker and Second Committee Chair, Matthew Voorhees. I want to thank them for their guidance, motivation, patience, and for pushing and challenging me to reach new heights. I also would like thank my mom and Dr. Cynthia Patiño, for their constant encouragement and support. This would not have been possible without them.
ContributorsEdoh, Enyonam A (Author) / Koker, Neveser (Thesis director) / Voorhees, Matthew (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Art history, while vast in scope, is a male-dominated topic. Textbooks predominantly feature male artists, and generally when artists look to the “masters,” they look to men. Although the field is becoming more diverse every day, this discrepancy in what is taught to young artists can have a profound impact on how and why art is produced. As a young female artist who is focused on my own self-identity and developing a body of work, I look to other women in art, past and present, to orient myself in the context of art history. I am interested in how these women came to terms with their identity in a field that acknowledges them less than their male counterparts, and how their self-perception is reflected in their work. Researching other women in art—for example, how do these artists extrapolate from the world around them to create, and how does their work affect their own self-identity? —has gradually shifted the way I looked at myself. Witnessing other female artists be bold with self-portraiture or brave with their honesty through art has shaped how I view myself and how I want to create art. Through employing self-portraiture in my creative practice, this project aims to utilize my personal experiences and perspectives to contemplate the way I engage with my own identity.
ContributorsWelch, Rachel (Author) / Solis, Forrest (Thesis director) / Hogden, Heidi (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Building on past research, this study addresses ways in which gay, Filipino men negotiate their dual minority identities and consider potential conflicts and/or methods in which being a sexual and ethnic minority work together in the development of one’s identity. Through qualitative interviews, this research examines the experience of eleven gay, Filipino men in the Phoenix, AZ and Los Angeles, CA metropolitan areas and explores way in which their identities create stress and conflict, but always ways in which these identities create positivity in relation to their dual minority status.
ContributorsPayton, John Sterling (Author) / Swank, Eric (Thesis director) / Fahs, Breanne (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of the study was to learn more about the Albanian-American community in Arizona and questioned Albanian-American participants on the reasons for migrating to Arizona, their feelings towards their identity, how they remain connected with their heritage, and how/if they are ensuring that future generations of Albanian-Americans will maintain their culture. The study carried out a qualitative ethnography. I interviewed 15 Albanian-American participants living in Arizona. The term “Albanian-American” was defined as someone who identifies ethnically as an Albanian but lives in the United States. Participants in this study who identified as ethnically Albanian were either born and raised in or have parents who were born and raised in Albania or Kosovo, meaning they were either first-generation Americans or second-generation Americans. The written work is an oral history of these 15 participant’s personal experiences and stories, which also includes photographs to provide imagery to each participant’s account. The study found that the Albanian-American participants came to the United States for either economic, social, or political reasons. It also noted similar patterns and themes that have been separated into chapters on the Albanian value of hard work, the Albanian value of altruism, and the Albanian-American dual identity. The Conclusion summarizes the various ways in which the Albanian-American community in Arizona is ensuring the preservation of the heritage among younger generations who are becoming more Americanized. I conclude with two main ways that the Albanian-American community in Arizona are preserving their heritage: through Albanian language education initiatives, and cultural preservation initiatives and events hosted by the Albanian-American organizations of Arizona.
ContributorsJames, Tatum Lenore (Author) / Brown, Keith (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Blockchain technology has the potential to be an effective form of identity management and human trafficking prevention as an identity solution. The topic of this thesis originates from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal to create a form of identity for every individual on the plant by the year 2030. This research analyzed and compared primarily global databases with information on human trafficking populations and unidentified populations to understand both issues, and the intersections of their populations. This is followed by a discussion of Blockchain technology’s attributes and a Blockchain identities potential characteristic. This research concludes that a Blockchain based identity can be used to mitigate human trafficking by creating various forms of identity for affected populations. Four basic factors of Blockchain technology can be utilized through public and private partnerships to address different parts of the AMP model for the cycle of human trafficking. The conclusion that Blockchain is a potential solution to the analyzed issues comes with caution and alongside an examination of the risk factors involved in implementing this technology and the future investigation necessary to test this conclusion. Risk factors with using blockchain technology as a solution are examined to help direct future research on the topic. The conclusion is based off Blockchain’s ability to address specific problems in human trafficking and the global identity crisis (GIC) that were found in the analysis.
ContributorsMcnamara, Mary Patricia (Author) / Wiedmer, Robert (Thesis director) / Calvin, Samantha (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Despite efforts to recruit and retain female engineering students, only about 21.3% of bachelor’s degrees each year in engineering and computer science are awarded to women. The purpose of this synthesis is to understand the ways in which current research has explored how self-identity, engineering identity, and sense of belonging influence undergraduate women’s persistence. Analysis is focused around 4 themes that emerged: (1) Sense of Self: Self-Efficacy, Expectancy Value Theory; (2) Culture of Engineering: Engineering Identity; (3) Stereotype Threat; (4) Interdisciplinary Studies to Expand the Culture of Engineering. Conclusions of this synthesis may be used as opportunities for future engagement with these topics.
ContributorsTapia, Kayla (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Velez, Jennifer (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Identity has an important role in each individual. It determines what a person will do for the rest of her life and also how she is perceived by others. It is the person's qualities, beliefs, personality and expressions that define the person or the group the person belongs to. When identity is regarded as something psychological — something that is related to an individual’s self-image and self-esteem — it can affect a person negatively or positively, depending on how that person sees herself. Despite that, identity development occurs throughout different stages of one’s life, adolescence is the stage where individuals begin to analyze their identity because they are more self-conscious of the changes that are happening in their lives. Therefore, adolescents are more vulnerable when it comes to the struggle with different aspects of identity. For example, they grapple with decisions like choosing a career path, political beliefs, relationships or their ethnicity label. There’s confusion causing the inability to commit to one path because of the forces that surround and influence a person's decisions. Anyone can struggle with finding their identity, but it’s young people who are torn between two or more cultures who often find themselves more confused because they believe they have to make a choice of either assimilating to one culture or the other. Diana Calderón, a local Phoenix artist, shared the story of her journey to find her identity as a Latina woman through art. She argues that her method, a form of art known as “interdisciplinary,” can be used as a tool to help others like herself explore their identity.
Interdisciplinary art allows artists to design their careers without restrictions because it lets them merge different types of art such as painting, sketching, crafting and anything else that may represent art to them. Interdisciplinary artists invent new media, with their own techniques. In doing so, they allow others the freedom to create and interpret their creations without feeling pressured to follow conventions and guidelines, eventually providing a space to explore talents.
Calderón, who was born in Mexico and later moved, felt she was caught between embracing the culture of the United States and perpetuating her family's identity, which mixes the ideas of being Latino and American at the same time. Factors such as traditions, values, language and social experiences are what constructed Calderón’s identity; these are the same factors that make all of our identities. But as Calderón started expressing her identity through artwork, she was able to represent her true self as a Latina woman without feeling that she had to disregard either of the cultures she grew up with.
This thesis will explore the way that Latino artists like Diana Calderón use interdisciplinary art as a tool to help others – especially Latinos in between two or more cultures – discover their identity, even as they are being pressured by societal factors that impose what an individual should do or be.
Keywords: identity, interdisciplinary art, Hispanic/Latino, Diana Calderón
Website:
https://medium.com/@ekarina796/hispanic-latino-mexican-american-exploring-identity-and-labels-through-art-b420af0e2df8
Interdisciplinary art allows artists to design their careers without restrictions because it lets them merge different types of art such as painting, sketching, crafting and anything else that may represent art to them. Interdisciplinary artists invent new media, with their own techniques. In doing so, they allow others the freedom to create and interpret their creations without feeling pressured to follow conventions and guidelines, eventually providing a space to explore talents.
Calderón, who was born in Mexico and later moved, felt she was caught between embracing the culture of the United States and perpetuating her family's identity, which mixes the ideas of being Latino and American at the same time. Factors such as traditions, values, language and social experiences are what constructed Calderón’s identity; these are the same factors that make all of our identities. But as Calderón started expressing her identity through artwork, she was able to represent her true self as a Latina woman without feeling that she had to disregard either of the cultures she grew up with.
This thesis will explore the way that Latino artists like Diana Calderón use interdisciplinary art as a tool to help others – especially Latinos in between two or more cultures – discover their identity, even as they are being pressured by societal factors that impose what an individual should do or be.
Keywords: identity, interdisciplinary art, Hispanic/Latino, Diana Calderón
Website:
https://medium.com/@ekarina796/hispanic-latino-mexican-american-exploring-identity-and-labels-through-art-b420af0e2df8
ContributorsEspinoza, Karina (Author) / Fernandez, Valeria (Thesis director) / Ruiz, Vanessa (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Poetry is a way of living for me both as a writer and as a survivor of child sexual (CSA) and physical abuse. I have been turning to poetry for as long as I can remember as a companion on my journey through my trauma, trying to figure out who exactly it is. In Devil and the Deep Blue: Exploring Identity through Poetry, I take my trauma from my past and dissect it. I have taken old poems and edited them along with the guidance of Dr. Dombrowski and Dr. McNeil as my director and second reader respectively and edited them down into a collection of micro-poems. My goal in making these poems is to both put my own trauma to rest in a way, but to also make something for other trauma survivors who may not know they are not alone. My poems are one perspective on trauma, as I can only write what I have felt, but they are meant to show that there is someone who has felt that pain, as well as trying to make myself a better person through my own writing. Along with the micro poems, there are covers that I designed using childhood photos of my father and I, of which there are only a few remaining photographs, as well as designs I drew alongside those photos. The 3rd cover is an amalgam of childhood photos of my parents as well as photos of our family today, intending to show the change in message in the poems as they progress through the collection; they begin in introspection, move into the exploration of the more piercing pieces of trauma that I had yet to even uncover until now, and then the third group of poems is focused on the calmer pieces of aftermath that I still experience and how I am trying to withstand all of that.
ContributorsThompson, Tara Athlyn (Author) / Dombrowski, Rosemarie (Thesis director) / McNeil, Elizabeth (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Back and Forth is a collection of four short stories that explore cultural elements of the Philippines through folktales, magic, and loss. Each story features main characters that are discovering how to navigate through life after something jarring happens to them. In learning how to move on, they learn more about themselves, their culture, and their identity. In “Back and Forth,” the main character, Lita, learns about the magic of the world and how she herself possesses it, something that is passed down from her grandmother. However, she is forced to hide it away if she wants to live a normal life. When her aunt starts acting weird, it’s up to Lita to race against time and relearn the magic within. “The Viewing,” takes place in the United States, and the main character, Diwata, is a biracial woman that has to maneuver her way through a viewing for one of her favorite relatives while also being confronted by the brashness of white relatives that don’t appreciate her being a part of their family. Tala, the main character of “The Mound Dwellers,” must turn to an old legend that she had learned as a child to find her own daughter that has gone missing. Only after finally giving in and listening to her mother about what she suspects happened, does Tala begin to make progress. “Snowed In” is about a woman who is getting over the loss of her husband. She works through the grief by cooking his favorite recipe, a traditional Filipino dish, over and over again. Each time she finishes, it’s not quite right. By the end of the story, she finally perfects the recipe, and there’s nothing left for her to do but deal with her grief head-on. Each story, though not related to each other directly, features characters that have to unravel the mystery of their new identities after a major life change.
ContributorsAmmerman, Lian Rae (Author) / Bell, Matthew (Thesis director) / Newsom, Leah (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
My study explores how watching live theatre can impact students’ views on cultural awareness, identity, and class divisions. 22 students who had little to no previous participation with the arts were chosen to see the musical, Once on This Island , at ASU Gammage. Once on This Island offers a story of hope, love, and sacrifice that inspires audiences to fight for what they believe in. The students were asked to fill out a pre-show survey before seeing the show and participate in a discussion concluded by a post-show survey after they watched the show. The questions in the surveys and discussions revolved around the students’ feelings towards cultural awareness, identity, and class divisions. The responses revealed that students were introduced to a new culture and became more tolerant of engaging with other cultures as they were immersed in a new perspective. Also, students reexamined how they identified themselves and what the role of relationships played on their identity. Finally, the study found that through seeing the live production, the students became more accepting of all social classes because they were able to empathize with characters in a different social class than themselves.
ContributorsMiller, Melanie (Author) / Sandoval, Mathew (Thesis director) / Ong, Desiree (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05