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: School of Earth and Space Exploration
- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
Description
The Human Chain: Exploring Poetry and Public Service is an anthology of collected poems that present the relationship between poetry and the concept of public service. Through academic and literary exploration, the main ties between the two concepts were identified as (1) loss, (2) community, (3) advocacy, (4) appreciation and (5) inspiration. The collection uses poetry to exemplify these thematic ties. The results of this project could be used to strengthen the relationship between the written word and organized volunteerism. There are many real-world applications of this literary exploration and is a vitally important relationship to delve into.
ContributorsMason, Hannah (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Stanford, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This thesis/creative project involved writing a collection of creative nonfiction essays and building a website to reflect on my experiences traveling through Spain in the summer of 2023, for both a study abroad program and on my own. There are a total of nine essays in this current collection, along with a tenth introductory essay. They reflect the chronological order of my travels to Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, and Lisbon, concluding with an essay written about my return to Phoenix, Arizona. The goal of this project was to not only personally reflect on what I learned while in these various places, but also to share these experiences with a wider audience in the digital world. I plan to continue adding essays to this website, using it as a "living document" for my future travels, and as a place for further reflection.
ContributorsCordes, Olivia (Author) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Though horse racing holds enduring significance in the United States, it faces challenges related to safety, integrity, and animal welfare. Recent initiatives like the enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in 2020 aim to establish uniform regulatory oversight and counteract the problems the industry faces. This thesis explores the horse racing industry, delving into its historical evolution, contemporary landscape, and the regulatory framework that governs it. Through a comprehensive literature review encompassing historical, contemporary, quantitative, and qualitative perspectives, along with insights gathered from conversations with industry insiders and firsthand experiences at a local racetrack, this research addresses key questions regarding the industry's current state, government responsibility for ensuring safety and ethical practices, and the direction in which the industry is headed. It advocates for the humane treatment of racehorses and emphasizes the importance of prioritizing their well-being. By advocating for transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct, the industry can thrive while aligning with societal expectations.
ContributorsOldham, Abigail (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Fedock, Rachel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The Phoenix metro area has become increasingly more urbanized over the past few decades, changing the pressures on native lizards to navigate these novel environments. Due to effects such as the Urban Heat Island, decreased vegetation cover, increased temperatures, and general changes in substrate types between environments, urban lizards have a variety of unique environmental pressures acting on them compared to their traditional habitats. In this study, I examined various morphological features in the common side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) and the ornate tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus) to determine if these novel pressures in urban environments have significantly changed the phenotypic expression of these features as compared to a non-urban environment. The morphological features examined were weight, head length and width, femur, tibia, foot, and toe length, arm, forearm, hand, and finger length, and snout-vent (SVL), tail, and total length, along with various proportional comparisons between related traits. I hypothesized that both common side-blotched lizards and ornate tree lizards would see an increase in mass and snout-vent length, an increase in tail length, and increase in head thickness, and a decrease in limb length in urban environments as compared non-urban environments. It was found that in common-side blotched lizards, while urban individuals tended to be larger in terms of length and mass, their heads tended to be proportionally shorter and thinner than non-urban individuals. In ornate tree-lizards, non-urban individuals were larger in every regard other than SVL. Both species saw a decrease in relative limb length in comparison to body length in urban environments. The trends observed in common-side blotched lizards may be explained by higher urban temperatures and novel substrates, while the trends observed in ornate tree lizards are likely due to prey availability, hunting strategy, and novel substrates.
ContributorsToledo, Jacob (Author) / Britton, Michael (Thesis director) / Bang, Christofer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This study analyzed the current dental insurance and care practices in the United States, and the role that it plays in national health insurance systems. This was accomplished through extensive literary analysis of articles and websites that discussed both current dental/health care practices and also the insurance systems and policies that support and inhibit individuals receiving the care they need. It was discovered that routine dental visits can play a crucial role in the identification and mitigation of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and sleep apnea. The utilization of available dental care services was found to have a direct correlation with the possession of dental insurance, with a drastic drop-off in utilization amongst the uninsured. Through the analysis of barriers towards the integration of nationwide dental insurance, such as socioeconomic differences, regulatory and policy concerns, and cultural and behavioral barriers, a few potential solutions were developed. All of these factors were researched and investigated to generate a report of why dental care is important, the challenges to the integration of dental insurance in the United States, and steps that can be taken to guide this country in the right direction.
ContributorsStandridge, James (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Dameron, Brett (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05