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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- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
- Creators: Popova, Laura
Description
This thesis project examines the likely factors that cause students to drop out of Barrett, the Honors College. Honors literature regarding retention and attrition suggests four areas encompassing individual student attributes and honors program characteristics which may impact a student's decision to stay or leave an Honors College. The primary question in focus is, "Why do students leave the Honors College?" followed by the tertiary questions of, "what can be done to mitigate this occurrence?" and, "how does this affect the quality of an honors education?" Assessing attrition can be broken down into biographical, cognitive-behavioral, socio-environmental, and institutional-instrumental components. Students who graduated with honors and those who did not graduate with honors were assessed on these four components through survey methods and qualitative interviews to investigate specific reasons why students leave the honors program. The results indicated a wide array of reasons impacting student attrition, the most significant being negative perceptions towards (1) honors courses and contracts, (2) difficulty completing a thesis project, and (3) finding little to no value in "graduating with honors." Each of these reasons reflect the institutional-instrumental component of student attrition, making it the most salient group of reasons why students leave the Honors College. The socio-environmental component also influences student attrition through peer influence and academic advisor support, though this was found to be within the context of institutional-instrumental means. This project offers solutions to ameliorate each of the four components of attrition by offering standardized honors contracts and more mandatory honors classes, mandatory thesis preparatory courses instead of workshops, and emphasizing the benefit Barrett gives to students as a whole. These solutions aim at increasing graduation rates for future honors students at Barrett as well as improving the overall quality of an honors education.
ContributorsSanchez, Gilbert Xavier (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Undergraduate on-campus residential education is a topic of significant inquiry within the field of higher education, and specifically student affairs. It has become commonplace for institutions of higher education in the United States to leverage the intersections between academics and residence life in order to promote student success by offering on-campus housing options that strategically place students in residential communities that provide additional connection to the students' academic experience, often by major, college, department, or other focus areas. Such models vary by institution, but are often referred to as living-learning communities or residential colleges, depending upon their structure and goals. For example, Barrett, the Honors College on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University implements a residential college model within its student housing; honors students live and study together, with the addition of three "special communities" designed for students majoring in Engineering, Business, or the Arts. This honors thesis case study describes and investigates the impact the visual and performing arts Barrett residential community has upon its residents in their first-year college experience. Through the lens of student development theory, this research focuses upon examining this specific residential community in detail in order to gain an understanding of its effect upon residents' academic and personal well being.
ContributorsBieschke, Sara Danielle (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description"Writing the Races" is a documentary exploring how two writers talk about race in their comedy television shows. http://www.writingtheraces.com/
ContributorsTyau, Nicole Jenice (Author) / Rodriguez, Rick (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
In this paper I examine the dynamics of oil exploitation in the Republic of Kazakhstan to better understand the impact of authoritarian governmental control of this resource on the lives of everyday Kazakh laborers in the extractive industry. In order to do this, I focus on what the state government has done in order to appear more transparent about financial matters in Oil & Gas and how they have addressed or failed to address worker concerns, especially in terms of compensation. More specifically, I look at the Kazakh government's efforts to become EITI-Compliant and at the same time minimize the impact of labor unrest. However, I argue that in its attempt to control society through the regulation of this industry, a "governing of things" in Foucault's terms, the Kazakh government is unintentionally creating ungovernable spaces in the regions of oil exploitation that can be utilized by laborers to negotiate reforms. Furthermore, thanks to an inherent clan culture, this form of modern governmentality actively benefits only the upper echelons of Kazakhstan's political elite, to the exclusion of everyone else, exacerbating problems of regulation, revolt, and subsequent retaliation. I conclude my paper by suggesting topics for further research, such as the exploration of oil's "fetishistic qualities," investigation into other extractive industry transparency or reform initiatives, the study of civil society efforts to promote communication between laborers and their government.
ContributorsTurkina, Alisa (Author) / Popova, Laura (Thesis director) / Zoubtsova, Natalia (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
While many report positive changes after completing a long distance hike on the PCT, many who return experience a sense of depression or intense sadness. This sadness can be debilitating, but very little research has been done to explore possible causes and remedies. This thesis argues that volatile environmental conditions on the Pacific Crest Trail act in a similar way to that of entities such as fraternities and the military in that the effort required to be initiated must be justified with the value received. As such, thru-hikers increase the value of the trail for themselves along with the cultural values that the trail may hold. These cultural values are predominantly equality, liberty, and the concept of the sublime. However, as nature is understood to be the opposite of urban environments, urban environments take on qualities of inequality, oppression, and corruption in the eyes of the hiker. These qualities then cause a hiker distress upon returning from their six month journey in that they have to both exist in and participate with such a society.
ContributorsRestrepo, Daniel Sebastian (Author) / Popova, Laura (Thesis director) / Roberts, Nicole (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Every year, millions of people find themselves displaced from their homes because of fear or threats of violence. Some of these people will become refugees, who will then be resettled in the United States. In order to help with the resettlement process, refugees are given cultural orientations through their resettlement organizations. The Phoenix Police Department teaches one of these cultural orientations for local resettlement agencies in order to dispel some of the fears refugees have about law enforcement and build a stronger relationship with the refugee community. Past research on this topic has been limited within the United States, but communities are still trying to figure out how to interact with refugees despite not knowing how to do it. There are various possible complications inherent in the integration process and many potential methods of trust building available to the refugee community and public services like law enforcement. This project seeks to understand the refugee resettlement process through field observation of the cultural orientation taught by the Phoenix Police Department and interviews with detectives familiar with the process in Phoenix. Cultural and language differences as well as lack of education and research on the topic of refugee resettlement are all key points in comprehending what the police, refugees, and resettlement organizations are doing during the integration process. Once these issues are addressed to alleviate gaps in knowledge about refugees, it may be possible to adjust the process to be easier for stakeholders involved in refugee resettlement.
ContributorsBaumgartner, Rachel Paige (Author) / Telep, Cody (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This creative project is a collection of profiles focused on Arizona nonprofits and refugees. The profiles share stories of refugees, volunteers, employees and others involved in the community serving refugees. Nonprofits are a vital resource for refugee resettlement. These organizations offer services to support refugees as they transition into new communities. Some services include: housing, English language learning, cultural orientation, job placement, medical treatment, education, and farming. Each of these programs support resiliency for refugees and for the communities in which they live. We Are Resilient was created first, to show the important role nonprofits have in serving refugees. Second, to connect people to a few of the stories and experiences within the Arizona refugee community. And third, to build understanding of the strength refugees bring to communities of Arizona and by extension the country. Visit weareresilientaz.com to learn more.
ContributorsGray, Elizabeth (Co-author) / Johnson, Kelcie (Co-author) / Shockley, Gordon (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Postmodernism has been one of the dominant modes of thought in literature and philosophy since the 1960s, but its roots go back much further. This thesis is an examination of Brechtian frameworks in an assortment of popular postmodern works. Both literary texts, such as novels, films, and music, and philosophical texts are used to form a general understanding of the postmodern project, and these concepts are then placed in conversation with ideas from the works of the 20th century German playwright Bertolt Brecht. I found that despite certain differences, the central ideas of postmodernism can be seen as the extension of Brecht’s philosophy, especially his concept of the Verfremdungseffekt. First, multiplicity—in perspectives and understandings—can be seen as an attempt to achieve this Verfremdungseffekt in the reader, and second, transgression in these texts can be used to evoke the same feeling. Many of the identifying techniques of postmodernism, e.g. juxtaposition, unreliable narrator, self-reference, and so on, can be interpreted as the extension of ideas pioneered by Brecht in the 1920s and 1930s. My thesis illustrates these connections.
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
ContributorsTeipen, Jakob Corry (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
While the concept of literary genres has much discussion about them, very little work has been done to address how genres emerge and grow into the cultural shorthand we know them by today. In this paper I seek to explore one specific genre of fanfiction, Omegaverse, what the genre looks like, what permutations it has undergone in the short time it has existed as a standalone genre, how the fan communities that write and read the genre have shaped it, and what this means for genre creation overall. Started less than a decade ago in the form it is recognized as today, the alternate universe setting focuses on a different human biological hierarchy based on adapted physiology of wolves, which recognizes people in three biologically inherent roles, alphas, betas, or omegas. It was created by the Supernatural fandom in one of their LiveJournal forums, and has since been since co-opted by many other fandoms. Being a relatively new genre, very little research has been done on it, despite having over 20 thousand fanfictions tagged as “Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics” on Archive of Our Own alone. However, there is significant overlap between this genre and the wider genres of slash and Mpreg, so I will be incorporating research and conclusions drawn from paper on those topics, such as Åström’s “Male Pregnancy in Supernatural fan fiction” (2010) and Joanna Russ’ “Pornography by Women for Women, With Love” (2014), as well as broad literary genre research and discussions, including Jason Mittell’s "A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory" (2001) and Dudley Andrew’s Concepts in Film Theory (1984).
ContributorsSilva, Isabela (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Popova, Laura (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Aboriginal Voices Testimonials Reflecting Indigenous Experience in Australia "Aboriginal Voices: Testimonials Reflecting Indigenous Experience in Australia," is a collection of four audio portraits of Aboriginal artists interviewed between January and May of 2016. It enabled me to cover an underserved population, consistent with journalistic and human rights standards. The testimonials are paired with visuals, such as portraits and graphics. The artists who participated each discussed different aspects of life, although key and overlapping themes surfaced with each. Nicole Phillips, a highly educated animator and teacher, discussed systemic poverty and the generational trauma of mistreatment. She emphasizes, however, that Aboriginal Australians are still fighting back. Gordon Syron talks about his family's land and how it was taken from them. Syron killed the man responsible and spent time in prison, where he began his art career. He focuses on justice issues and fair representation. Peta-Joy Williams is fair-skinned and brings up issues of inclusion and identity. Additionally, Williams is fluent in Pitjara, one of 120 remaining Aboriginal languages. She teaches this to youth and Elders, passing on and restoring culture. Finally, Jeffrey Samuels reveals his experience in a boys home and getting fostered by a white family. He was denied his culture and worked very hard at a young age. Samuels is part of the Stolen Generation, a large population of Aboriginal Australians taken from their families as part of government policies. The paper discusses outreach techniques, summarizes the interview experience with each artists, technical requirements and reflections on the subjects that came up most prominently. The website, serving as the visual element of the project, can be found at aboriginalvoices.wordpress.com
ContributorsSandler, Gabriel Ross (Author) / Chadha, Monica (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12