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 Social Transformation
Description
Genocide studies have traditionally focused on the perpetrator’s intent to eradicate a particular identity-based group, using the Holocaust as their model and point of comparison. Although some aspects of the Holocaust were undoubtedly unique, recent scholars have sought to challenge the notion that it was a singular phenomenon. Instead, they draw attention to a recurring pattern of genocidal events throughout history by shifting the focus from intent to structure. One particular branch of scholars seeks to connect the ideology and tactics of imperialism with certain genocidal events. These anti-imperialist genocide scholars concede that their model cannot account for all genocides, but still claim that it creates meaningful connections between genocides committed by Western colonialist powers and those that have occurred in a neoimperialist world order shaped according to Western interests. The latter includes genocides in postcolonial states, which these scholars believe were shaped by the scars of their colonial past, as well as genocides in which imperial hegemons assisted local perpetrators. Imperialist and former colonial powers have contributed meaningfully to all of these kinds of genocides, yet their contributions have largely been ignored due to their own influence on the creation of the current international order. Incorporating the anti-imperialist perspective into the core doctrine of genocide studies may lead to breakthroughs in areas of related policy and practice, such as prevention and accountability.
ContributorsParker, Ashleigh Mae (Author) / Thies, Cameron (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Sites of in-person fan/celebrity meetings can serve as a place for fans to share intimate details about themselves to celebrities. Through built-up confidence and knowledge of the subject matter, fans may be compelled to share personal anecdotes with the celebrity during these meetings. Fan studies scholars use the term “parasociality” to describe one-sided relationships between fans and celebrities. My research aims to show how in-person events cultivate intimacy between fans and celebrities, even while simultaneously reinforcing parasocial relationships. It is often used when referring to the relationships as being one-sided, even though the fan also gains something from the interaction.
ContributorsGalek, Veronica Lucya (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Hsu, Emily (Committee member) / Schultz, Miranda (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Strong Mothers Strong Teeth is an initiative to educate mothers and pregnant women about the importance of maintaining their own and their child(ren)’s oral health. This project presents evidence that shows a lack of oral health education among mothers about how to care for their oral health while pregnant and their child’s oral health post birth. The recognition and identification of these disparities led to the content deemed necessary to be included in the education of mothers and pregnant women. By collecting and analyzing pamphlets and information gathered from health clinics and homeless shelters in Arizona and California, we created our own pamphlets based on analysis of the effectiveness of the information using content analysis and Flesch-Kincaid readability scores. This led to the creation of two pamphlets to educate mothers on oral health care, the first focused on preventing tooth decay in women during their pregnancy and for their baby, post-birth, and the second provided a timeline guide on oral health for the mother and child.
ContributorsBlair, Grace (Co-author) / Patel, Toral (Co-author) / Loebenberg, Abby (Thesis director) / Magee, Mitch (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
In an analysis of federal ADA law, we find that the ADA—the law that protects disabled people from exclusion in public spaces—has a fundamental inefficiency: the only way to fix accessibility issues under the ADA is to file a civil or Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit. This challenge leads to the perpetuation of inaccessibility and accessibility problems in public settings. To examine this issue on the Arizona State University Tempe (ASU Tempe) campus, I walked through 55 ASU Tempe classroom and research buildings and compiled a list of each accessibility problem present; I created digital floor plans detailing the location of each accessibility concern; and I worked with ASU professionals—such as Arizona State’s Coordinator of Accessibility (ADA) Compliance and professional staff at the Disability Resource Center—to remedy these accessibility issues. Through my research, I identified two areas of improvement regarding accessibility at ASU Tempe: the need for a streamlined tracking and fixing process of accessibility problems on-campus; and the need for an easy-to-access online form where students can report accessibility issues on-campus. I also discovered that despite the problems that need to be addressed, ASU’s professionals are committed to accessibility compliance compared to other institutions. However, despite the commitment from ASU professionals, as well as the ASU charter stating that “[ASU] is ...measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed,” expansion of accessibility for students with physical disabilities on the ASU Tempe campus remains a needed area of change. This will ultimately promote equal educational opportunity for all students, regardless of ability. Furthermore, accessibility involves a continual process of assessment and improvement in spite of budgetary limitations and widespread disability stigmatization.
ContributorsSaunders, Mackenzie Rose (Author) / Oliverio, Annamaria (Thesis director) / Delaney, Shanna (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The label of “honors student,” and the status it carries, implies exceptional academic ability, maturity, and accomplishment. The notion that “honors” students are more capable than non-honors students dismisses the particular needs of intersecting identities including gender, race, and/or ability. Said differently, the “honors” designation erases identity and difference. For instance, “honors” students who live with mental illness(es) navigate social spaces and physical structures that assert notions of “success” that are informed by conditions that inhibit bodily function, communication, and educational accomplishment as set by capitalist and ableist standards. Moreover, ableist notions of “success” are always inherently racialized and gendered such that “honors” students women of color living with mental illness are forced to navigate racist and gendered overtones informing academic “success.” Focusing on how students think about and embody the labels of “honors” and “mentally ill” provides unique insight on how the systems of higher education are based in ableist ideology. In this Artist Statement, I discuss my performance Crazy/Smart, a performance that features and stages students’ narratives detailing the means by which students navigate ableism as “honors” students. Using embodied knowledge through performance allows students to decenter dominant, institutionalized narratives about ableism and higher education, speaking up to administrators as people of power and redefining personal success. In this Artist Statement, I detail the theory and method framing my performance Crazy/Smart, a performance using “honors” student stories and narratives to highlight and resist ableist ideology informing higher education more generally and “honors” education more specifically. This Statement includes four sections. First, I provide the theoretical framework that outlines ableism as an embodied ideology. Second, I extend my argument and turn to critical pedagogy to suggest a performance means to resist ableist ideology. Third, I describe the specificities informing my performance including the choices I made to stage ableism as an ideological structure organizing higher education. The fourth and final section is the attached Crazy/Smart script.
ContributorsBishop, Molly Elizabeth (Author) / Rohd, Michael (Thesis director) / Linde, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper explores the relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and after graduating from law school. Bourdieu’s (1986) conceptualizations of institutional cultural capital, embodied cultural capital, and social capital guide this analysis. Two electronic surveys resulted in participation by fourteen Asian American law students and nine Asian American law school graduates from American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States. The research design is qualitative, and a partial grounded theory approach based upon Charmaz’s (2006) work was utilized. Thematic coding, line-by-line coding, and focused coding were also used to analyze survey responses. Results demonstrate that there is a relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and post-law school graduation. Institutional cultural capital, in the form of J.D. degrees, seems to influence the development of embodied cultural capital and social capital, particularly when considering membership in groups and forming personal and professional connections. When considering embodied cultural capital, family members appear to influence important personal characteristics that participants carry into law school and the workplace. These results may have implications for the larger trend of Asian Americans leaving large law firms; in addition, perceptions of embodied cultural capital may influence barriers to career advancement. Suggested areas for future research include the role of mentorship in Asian American career development, patterns within specific Asian American ethnic/cultural groups in the legal field, and the intersection of gender and Asian American identities in legal practice.
ContributorsSu, Yuhong (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
End the Silence, End the Violence is a creative project to aid victims of domestic violence. There is a website, pamphlet, video and presentation attached that explains statistics, encourages awareness, and provides victims with access to shelters and legal resources. The website and the pamphlet are intended to put all resources in one place, making them easily accessible for victims of domestic violence. The legal terms were explained, helping any victims who may not have a legal background understand how the court process works. On the website, the adult court process is explained in simple language. Orders of protection are also explained, as well as how to access them, with the direct links to the forms provided. Domestic Violence Shelters in Maricopa county are also listed, along with contact information. All of these shelters were contacted, and were verified to be open for a minimum of one year from October, 2019, and are still accepting victims. No addresses were provided on either the website or the pamphlet, with the hopes that not providing locations will better protect the victims who are seeking help. The pamphlet includes these same shelter resources, along with contact information. The presentation includes domestic violence statistics, as well as important terms and definitions. Finally, there was a video to encourage awareness towards domestic violence. Purple and red paint was used to demonstrate common places these victims suffered abuse, with the purple representing sexual violence, and the red representing physical violence. Not all of the volunteers in the video are victims of domestic violence, but are all advocates for ending domestic violence and helping with prevention.
The website can be found at http://endyoursilence.org/
The website can be found at http://endyoursilence.org/
ContributorsEvans, Lauren Shaye (Author) / Shabazz, Rashad (Thesis director) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
This thesis uses the Foucauldian model of the biopolitical state to explain the regulation of refugee women’s bodies who have undergone female genital cutting/mutilation (FGC/M). The main theoretical framework for this thesis is inspired by Dr. Khiara Bridges’ work: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (2011). Her book explains how “material and societal conditions appear to affirm the veracity of race” (Bridges, 2011, 10). She describes pregnancy as a “racially salient event” that inevitably engages racial politics. In her book, she illustrates how the material body is the primary sign of racial difference (Bridges, 2011, 47). I argue that race and culture are inscribed in the body, and FGC/M is a physical representation of that inscription. As a result, a physical representation of racialization opens women with FGC/M to far more scrutiny and regulation. I define the United States and France as biopolitical states whose values and agendas regulate and police bodies to behave according to their norms. The value set that underlies the United States is predicated on principles of sovereignty, federalism, and an emphasis on a Puritanical work ethic where an individual must earn their benefits from the state. In France, however, there is less stigma surrounding social welfare but there is forced cultural assimilation that results in a singular, secular French identity. These value systems then inform the tools to police behavior. The tools, or systems, I have identified for this thesis are the adoption of human rights instruments into domestic law, refugee policy, healthcare systems, and regulation of women’s reproductive health. All of these macro-level systems then inform individual patient-provider relationships since those interactions are not independent of these systems. I argue that refugee women who have undergone FGC/M deviate from these prescribed norms and thus are subjugated to overwhelming biopolitical regulation.
ContributorsRamakumar, Asha Anjali (Author) / Reddy, Swapna (Thesis director) / Switzer, Heather (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis explores the current standards and the progress being made for civic education in the state of Arizona. To develop a new model, it draws on the programs offered to students in the community of Camden, NJ by the thriving civics department at Rutgers University. Motivated by the current lack of civic resources in Arizona high schools, this research seeks out a practical, community-centered approach to improving the civic education standards. Arizona was one of the first states to make civic education a priority by passing the American Civics Act, but there is still a long way to go to create civically engaged classrooms for students. The proposed plan combines citizenship pedagogy with direct service opportunities, mentorship, and community projects to help students become engaged in their local communities.
ContributorsMiller, Mekenna Moriah (Author) / Simhony, Avital (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Geographical Influences on Parental Decision for Child's Secondary Education from a Race Perspective
Description
The objective of this research project was to explore how lower-income, Latinx parents make decisions about where their child will attend high school and the factors that influence choosing out-of-district or in-district (public, charter or private) high schools. Research on parental choice of schooling often finds that parents’ education and income make a difference in school choice decisions with higher-income parents relying more on social networks for information and lower-income parents relying more on school-based information (e.g., Bosetti, 2004; Holme, 2002). Researchers have also found that how information is presented and understood also plays a part in school choice (IES, 2018).
However, less information is available on how Latinx parents receive information and the factors that play a part in their schooling decisions. This project focused on how Latinx parents weight information about their local high schools versus other school choices. The research revolving around Latinx families and high school choice matters because most research in the education sector does not involve minority groups, such as the Latinx and Hispanic communities specifically in Laveen. The key research questions are: Why do Latinx parents send their children to in-district high schools when those schools have poorer test scores? Why do parents send their children out of district high schools? What information and resources are used by parents to help make their decision in the process? How do student perspectives play a part in the decision?
Data was gathered through an on-line survey of parents about factors that play a part in the choice of high school. In-person case studies of four families also showed the detail of the specific ways that sources of information, personal networks, child input, and other factors influence the school choice process. I found that parents sent their children to their designated in-district high school because it was the closest available option that led to the most convenience in regards to commuting. On the other hand, I found that parents sent their child to an out of district high school because of the resources they used, which consisted of mostly family and other social networks that had attended or were currently attending that high school. Overall, the students’ perspective at the time when the decision was made played an important role in almost all of the case studies. All of the children were included at least somewhat and their input was taken into consideration if and when possible. Also, a geographical analysis of Laveen that includes the income levels, education levels, and high schools available in the area is interpreted. Through the maps completed by Social Explorer, the data used is from 2018, and it was filtered from the Hispanic population in Laveen from the non-Hispanic population to add more emphasis on a specific ethnicity.
However, less information is available on how Latinx parents receive information and the factors that play a part in their schooling decisions. This project focused on how Latinx parents weight information about their local high schools versus other school choices. The research revolving around Latinx families and high school choice matters because most research in the education sector does not involve minority groups, such as the Latinx and Hispanic communities specifically in Laveen. The key research questions are: Why do Latinx parents send their children to in-district high schools when those schools have poorer test scores? Why do parents send their children out of district high schools? What information and resources are used by parents to help make their decision in the process? How do student perspectives play a part in the decision?
Data was gathered through an on-line survey of parents about factors that play a part in the choice of high school. In-person case studies of four families also showed the detail of the specific ways that sources of information, personal networks, child input, and other factors influence the school choice process. I found that parents sent their children to their designated in-district high school because it was the closest available option that led to the most convenience in regards to commuting. On the other hand, I found that parents sent their child to an out of district high school because of the resources they used, which consisted of mostly family and other social networks that had attended or were currently attending that high school. Overall, the students’ perspective at the time when the decision was made played an important role in almost all of the case studies. All of the children were included at least somewhat and their input was taken into consideration if and when possible. Also, a geographical analysis of Laveen that includes the income levels, education levels, and high schools available in the area is interpreted. Through the maps completed by Social Explorer, the data used is from 2018, and it was filtered from the Hispanic population in Laveen from the non-Hispanic population to add more emphasis on a specific ethnicity.
ContributorsRodriguez, Briana (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Shabazz, Rashad (Committee member) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05