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 Politics and Global Studies
Description
Throughout modern culture and the political arena religious intolerance and misinformation runs rampant. Recent presidential elections have brought two minority religions (in the U.S.) to the forefront of national media attention and national dialogue-leading to presumptions, misunderstandings, and personal opinions that don't necessarily address the realities of the religions. Brought to the forefront by presidential candidates religions or by candidates targeting individual religions for their "connections" to terrorism, the LDS Church and Islam have become targets of religious bias and attacks. Even further attacked have been the women within these religions-who have often been deemed as objectified and oppressed as a result of their religions. This thesis examines religious text and scholarly work to take an objective examination of the religions and describes the realities of the life for the women-separating actual doctrine in the religion from what is a cultural norm and not a representation of the religion itself. By looking at women's roles and the dress code within Islam and Mormonism, this thesis compares Mormon and Muslim women and shows that they are integral parts of their religion with agency, not objectified victims of a system.
ContributorsWarren, Annie Michelle (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Daughtrey, Doe (Committee member) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Female circumcision, or more commonly known to the world as Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), is a human rights abuse that has been taken seriously by the international community since the late 1990s. Since this practice is most common in Africa, this study puts a spotlight on female circumcision in Sudan. The prevalence in Sudan of this practice has informed a lot of research on the subject, but for the purpose of the paper, there is a specific focus on the discussion of female circumcision as it pertains to human rights. The discourse surrounding the topic of female circumcision in Sudan, as well as the international community in general, is sometimes divisive, patronizing, and not culturally competent. This paper explores the human rights abusive practice of female circumcision in Sudan and discusses its tradition, the types of circumcision performed, the history behind it, and the religious debates surrounding it. Most importantly, this paper discusses the political and colonial influences that informed how the international community framed the issue of female circumcision today. This paper critiques the colonial approach to eradicating circumcision, and speaks to the non-intended neo colonialist approach that the United Nations currently takes when it comes to "Female Genital Mutilation." Understanding these religious and colonial influences behind female circumcision will inform the analysis of what has been done to combat the practice in Sudan, as well as what is presently happening. The paper will end with my recommendations. These recommendations will seek the best approach to help victims of Female Circumcision without provoking them from a provincial, colonialist attitude.
ContributorsIsmail, Selma Ismail (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Mousa, Neimeh (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Sexual violence is a problem that is present in communities worldwide for individuals of every gender identity and religious communities are certainly not immune, including Muslim communities. This project will explore how sexual violence manifests in Muslim communities while also discussing how sexual violence is rooted in cultural patriarchy rather than the religion of Islam itself. Islam is a religion of radical gender equality. The religious discrimination against women that has been witnessed throughout the past fourteen centuries is actually the remnant of unequal gender dynamics found in pre-Islamic patriarchal culture. Sexual violence is explicitly prohibited in Islam, as evidenced by the Qur’an and ahadith (records of the Prophet Muhammad’s life) and has no place in the global Muslim community, referred to as the Ummah.
This paper also delves into feminism in Islam and argues that Muslim women should not be forced to choose between their faith and their human rights; rather, women should be able to obtain an education and should play an essential role in the interpretation of religious texts.
The purpose of this thesis project is twofold: to examine the intersection of Islam, women, and sexual violence prevention as well as to develop and apply a sexual violence prevention curriculum that can be implemented within Muslim communities. The textual analysis of this project will include discussions regarding the primary source of the Qur’an as well as the secondary sources of ahadith and existing literature written by Muslim scholars, primarily female Muslim scholars. This will allow for an analysis of how women are portrayed in Islam as well as how Islamic texts and traditions challenge the patriarchy and rape culture in which sexual violence manifests. Using this foundational knowledge, the goals of the sexual violence prevention curriculum will be to facilitate a discussion between Muslims regarding what sexual violence looks like and what rape culture is, create support networks for survivors, discuss what to do if a friend discloses that they are a survivor or victim of sexual violence, reduce roadblocks to reporting, and analyze literature on feminism in Islam in order to support a movement for sexual violence prevention.
This paper also delves into feminism in Islam and argues that Muslim women should not be forced to choose between their faith and their human rights; rather, women should be able to obtain an education and should play an essential role in the interpretation of religious texts.
The purpose of this thesis project is twofold: to examine the intersection of Islam, women, and sexual violence prevention as well as to develop and apply a sexual violence prevention curriculum that can be implemented within Muslim communities. The textual analysis of this project will include discussions regarding the primary source of the Qur’an as well as the secondary sources of ahadith and existing literature written by Muslim scholars, primarily female Muslim scholars. This will allow for an analysis of how women are portrayed in Islam as well as how Islamic texts and traditions challenge the patriarchy and rape culture in which sexual violence manifests. Using this foundational knowledge, the goals of the sexual violence prevention curriculum will be to facilitate a discussion between Muslims regarding what sexual violence looks like and what rape culture is, create support networks for survivors, discuss what to do if a friend discloses that they are a survivor or victim of sexual violence, reduce roadblocks to reporting, and analyze literature on feminism in Islam in order to support a movement for sexual violence prevention.
ContributorsHill, Samantha (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Frick, Kimberly (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
We live in an era where the notion of feminism is widespread. Just walking on the Arizona State University campus, one can see people wearing t-shirts and holding coffee cups that say "FEMINIST," working from computers covered in stickers calling for gender equity. I, myself, am a feminist. On any given day, I fit in perfectly with many others on campus - sporting a t-shirt that says, "Raise Boys and Girls the Same Way," and lugging around my laptop covered in feminist propaganda stickers. I subscribe to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's definition of feminism. In essence, a feminist is "a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes," regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, and class (Adichie, 2012). Through the lens of this definition and those like it, women have made many advancements (though there is still significant progress to be made in this arena, particularly for women of color) – more women participate in the workforce and education, women have gained greater autonomy over their bodies, and domestic responsibilities are, in many societies, no longer only assumed by women.
ContributorsFletcher, Rachel Aliya (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Gallab, Abdullahi A. (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05