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 Public Affairs
- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
Description
Sound is immediate and ever-present, pushing in, around, and through physical boundaries to blend together in whichever way it best sees fit, no matter the controls we seek to impose on it. It builds associations for us: physical spaces become distinctive based on the quality and familiarity of sounds which inhabit them. With this spirit, I see sound as the central arbiter of sense of place, particularly in alternative community spaces, wherein individual and collaborative expression is not only encouraged, but essential to its experience, separating it from commonly-held mainstream and/or programmed social space. By recording the sounds of three distinctive such alternative cultural spaces in central Phoenix—The Trunk Space, Lawn Gnome Publishing, and Welcome Diner, rooted in art and music, literature, and food and drink, respectively—I captured the soundscapes in which the community around theses spaces democratically builds its sense of place. Compiling them into a soundscape composition, I installed the piece in the non-place of an art gallery, immersing listeners in fleeting glances at theses soundscapes, then inviting them to use the fluctuating sonic environment to cite their own associations with art, literature, and food-based senses of place right on the gallery walls. Through this exercise, and research on the experience of sound and meanings of sense of place, I express the intersection and essentiality sound, ambient and performative, in building sense of place.
ContributorsDescheemaker, Connor Patrick (Author) / McHugh, Kevin (Thesis director) / McKay, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is an organization dedicated to defending student and faculty freedom of speech rights on college campuses in the United States. Their work has brought national attention and debate around how unbiased the foundation truly is. This thesis discusses the relevant cases around the freedom of speech such as United States v. O'Brien and Matal v. Tam in order to develop an understanding of general free speech protection. Free speech cases specifically regarding school campuses were analyzed such as Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, and Rosenberger v. University of Virginia to show the limitations of what FIRE can fight on campuses. FIRE's case selection methods were analyzed, and a bias toward conservative cases was found. This bias is disputed by FIRE supporters as natural given the liberal nature of higher education, but data surrounding professors, disinvitation attempts, and student opinions invalidate these claims. Three FIRE cases (Roberts v. Haragan, Smith v. Tarrant County College District, and the Dixie State Incident) were analyzed to show the progression and style of the foundation through the years and how they developed their aggressive and bully reputation. Finally, current large incidents of free speech oppression were analyzed to understand how they skew and affect public perception of the overall struggle for freedom of speech on college campuses. This thesis found that FIRE is in fact biased and that their efforts to make positive change are undermined by this. Keywords: FIRE, free speech, First Amendment
ContributorsRamos-Mata, Joseph Wilfrido (Author) / von Delden, Jayn (Thesis director) / Fradella, Hank (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
The page program at the state legislature has played an integral role in the daily operations of the legislative branch since the state's founding. This paper examines the demographics of the page program from statehood to now, the experiences that make the page program unique, and the outcomes it creates for public servants' careers. Additionally, a media component is included to observe the visual changes that the program has undergone in the last five decades. Participants include a handful of former pages from as far back as 1971 who sat for interviews regarding their time served as a page and are still public servants today. Beyond interviews, legislative journals, photos, and policies were referenced for research purposes. These former pages shared their experiences as a page and how it has helped them where they are in their career now. Furthermore, the paper explores the gender demographics from the turn of the century through 2012 of both page programs and legislators. It is evident that Arizona is a pioneer in women's representation in both the page staff and members, especially the page program. From this research into the various experiences as a page in the legislature it is clear that the program is an incredible networking opportunity unmatched by other entry-level jobs in government and that the passion it fuels will live on in public servants throughout their career. Moreover, without the page program the state legislature would not operate as smoothly and lack tradition in an environment that is ever-changing.
ContributorsGroves, Madison (Author) / Bowie, Sean (Thesis director) / Drake, Jim (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Over the last 30 years, the public has become somewhat less willing to accept the “feminist” label. However, most Americans indicate support for general feminist ideals. In fact, many of these ideals have become so prevalent in American culture that they are not considered feminist anymore. This thesis will examine the reason behind this disparity and analyze where public opinion began to shift. The disparity between the definition of feminism and the definition perceived by the public will be explored along with the idea that the American people still want and need a “feminist movement,” but that its current state is not resonating with the majority of the public.
ContributorsKasle, Lauren Jessica (Author) / Lennon, Tara (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Many studies have supported the "epidemic" of increasing narcissism with the current generation. However, the importance of accurately measuring narcissism has never been greater. Studies have measured the reliability and feasibility of the narcissistic personality inventory (NPI) at reporting narcissism and the Noldus FaceReader technology at detecting basic emotions, but the validity of these two measurement tools working together needs to be further researched. This study investigated how reliable the Noldus FaceReader technology was at detecting basic emotions of participants while they performed the NPI personality quiz and if the emotions generated from the facial analysis software can accurately represent an individual's narcissistic characteristics. Specifically, the study explored how the narcissistic personality quiz and the newest version of Noldus FaceReader can be used to detect narcissistic individuals within a team environment. An intervention was conducted in which participants, 16 female collegiate soccer players, engaged in the fall soccer season. Narcissism scores were measured before and after the intervention and then analyzed in correlation with the emotions through the facial analysis software. Results from the study showed that the 40-question narcissistic personality quiz could be condensed into a 14-question quiz in order to truly detect narcissism by generating corresponding emotions. Results also showed that narcissism is most significantly and consistently correlated to the emotions of scared, angry, and disgusted.
ContributorsRaybe, Jessica Rose (Author) / Chisum, Jack (Thesis director) / Marsit, Joseph (Committee member) / Carr, Natasha (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The aims of this project are: (i) to identify structural and molecular changes in the brains of 3xTg-AD mice and (ii) to determine whether decreasing S6K1 protects the brain from these changes. To achieve our goals, we decided to remove one copy of the S6K1 gene in 3xTg-AD mice by breeding them with S6K1 knockout mice (S6K1+/-). In previous studies, we have seen that reducing S6K1 levels in 3xTg-AD mice improved spatial memory and synaptic plasticity which was associated with reduced A and tau pathology. Here, we used a multiparametric MRI to assess volumetric and blood flow changes in the brain of 20-month-old 3xTg-AD mice. We found that 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice had higher blood flow and cortical volume compared to 3xTg-AD mice. However, we saw no significant differences between 3xTg-AD mice and NonTg mice. We further found A levels and plaque numbers were significantly lower in 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice compared to 3xTg-AD mice. This reduction in plaques could account for the improvement in blood flow in 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice. To try to understand the reason behind the increase in cortical volume in the 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- when compared to the 3xTg-AD, we measured markers of synaptic density, PSD95, and synaptophysin. We found that PSD95 levels were not different between the four groups. However, synaptophysin levels were significantly lower in 3xTg-AD mice compared to NonTg levels and returned to baseline levels in 3xTg-AD mice lacking one copy of the S6K1 gene. This difference in synaptophysin could explain, at least in part, the difference in volume between the four groups analyzed. Overall, this represents the first evidence showing that reducing mTOR signaling improves blood flow and cortical volume in a mouse model of AD.
ContributorsShukla, Prakriti (Author) / Oddo, Salvatore (Thesis director) / Caccamo, Antonella (Committee member) / Jankowsky, Joanna (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Although it has recently been demonstrated that source monitoring (SM) processes may mediate the relationship between working memory (WM) and false memories, little research has investigated whether the quality of monitoring processes can account for this reduction. In the current study, participants performed multiple false memory, WM, and SM tasks. Consistent with previous research, SM abilities mediated the relationship between WM and false memories (regardless of whether or not participants were warned of the illusions at encoding). High SM individuals were better able to recall contextual information from study to correctly reject lures, whereas low SM individuals were more likely to rely on the quality of retrieved details to reject lures. These results suggest that individuals low and high in SM abilities rely on qualitatively different monitoring processes to reduce errors, and that individual differences in diagnostic monitoring strategies may account for previous relationships found between WM and false memories.
ContributorsCoulson, Allison Rose (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Ellis, Derek (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Zoraida Ladrón de Guevarra was born in 1936 in Coyula, Mexico, a small village in the state of Oaxaca. Her father’s passing required Zoraida to find a job at age fourteen to support her family. Her story, a 200-page memoir entitled “After Papa Died,” follows Zoraida’s time as a servant and eventual nanny in Veracruz. Flashing back to memories of her hometown and the people living in it, the story ends before she enters America first as a visitor in 1954, and later on a working Visa in 1957—the first woman in her village to leave to the United States. Hers is a story relevant today, evident with the paradoxes explored between poverty and riches, patriarchy and matriarchy, freedom and captivity. Assimilation impacts the reading of this memoir, as Zoraida began writing the memoir in her 80s (around fifty years after gaining American citizenship). This detailed family history is about the nature of memory, community, and in particular, the experience of being an immigrant. This thesis project centers on this text and includes three components: an edited memoir, informational interviews, and an introduction. Beginning as a diary steeped in the tradition of oral history, the memoir required a “translation” into a written form; chapters and chronological continuity helped with organization. Topics of interest from the story, such as identity, domestic violence, and religion, are further explored in a series of interviews with Zoraida. The inclusion of an introduction to the text contextualizes the stories documented in the memoir with supplemental information. The contents of the project are housed on a website: alongwaybabyproject.net.
ContributorsVan Slyke, Shea Elizabeth (Author) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Over the last fifty years, education funding has been litigated and debated in the United States. In an effort to uncover more into the effects of state dollars on education, I used the guiding research question: did differences in state-level education funding trends in the 1990s affect crime rates? With the help of literature on changing education-funding trends, I selected the timeframe of 1990-1995 because some states and jurisdictions increased their funding while others decreased it. For my research, I outlined the independent variable of per pupil expenditures in order to focus directly on the dollars that impact the individual student, and the dependent variables of burglary, robbery, and motor vehicle theft crime rates because juveniles typically commit these crimes. Unemployment rates and household income served as confounding variables, as these economic factors have been proven to affect crime rates. Using the difference-in-difference method, I was able to test the effect of the implementation of a treatment, increased education funding, on my control and treatment group over the 1990-1995-time period. After running a regression on each of my selected juvenile-specific crime rates, I found my results to be inconclusive; however, by factoring in more confounding variables, I believe this quasi-experimental approach can be repeated to find more solid results.
ContributorsWilson, Kelsey Marie (Author) / Dorn, Sherman (Thesis director) / Carter, Heather (Committee member) / Tatto, Maria (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
An information influx and numerous modes of content delivery has resulted in local governments competing for the public's attention. A recent poll from the Public Technology Institute discovered that although 85% of Local Governments use social media to disseminate information to their constituents, only 37% have an enterprise-wide social media strategy (PTI, 2017). Without a clear approach towards social media, Local Governments are failing to maximize their voices and often ineffective when reaching out to their constituents. Research has suggested, charisma is a successful tool for capturing an audience's attention and conveying a memorable message. Charisma can also be taught and executed not only through spoken rhetoric but in online social media platforms. Within this study, 18 local government employees participated in an educational workshop on the use of nine non-verbal "Charismatic Leadership Tactics". Participants completed a pre-workshop assignment which was later compared to a post-workshop assignment. Results showed, participants on average, increased their use of Charismatic Leadership Tactics by a mean of 61%. Researchers collected social media analytics one month prior and one month following the workshop from the City's social media accounts in which participants managed. Collectively, of the thirteen social media accounts, the overall total engagement was greater the month after the educational workshop compared to the month before the workshop. These results suggest charisma can be taught, charisma can be conveyed through micro-blogosphere platforms such as Twitter, and the use of Charismatic Leadership Tactics could be responsible for increasing follower engagement with social media content.
ContributorsPrior, Thomas Cole (Author) / Jensen, Ulrich (Thesis director) / Lewis, Natalie (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05