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- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
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- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Description
This Barrett, the Honors College senior thesis connects the experiences of cosplay with public speaking confidence. “Cosplay, abbreviated from the word ‘costume play,’ is a performance art in which the participant masquerades as a character from a selected film, television, video game, or comic book” (Gn, 2011, p. 583). The ability to “cosplay” in front of other relies on performing in front of an audience much like public speaking. When students speak with confidence, students will know their ideas are being expressed with conviction and assurance. Having the ability to speak professionally and publicly, is a highly valued skill in the workforce and key to success in all types of employment. Communication skills are frequently a top factor in determining whether a college student will obtain employment (Beebe & Beebe, 2006, p. 275-276). Despite their different definitions, there are multiple connections between cosplay and public speaking. This thesis explores the connection between peer support and belief in one’s self in both cosplay and public speaking. Now those who have direct support become self-reliant and confident as a result of these connections. This projects highlights Goffman’s identity theory, the Pygmalion effect, theories of fashion and identity, role-play, narrative paradigm, dramatism, and non-verbal communication, and explores how cosplay can contribute to the formation of one’s public speaking persona. The issue of anxiety is also included in the conversation as it is central to both cosplay and public speaking. Ultimately, this thesis explores the questions: Can cosplay help students become empowered public speakers?
ContributorsGallardo Rojas, Lizette (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Wentzel, Bonnie (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Across the world, nations manage their borders in various ways. Brazil and Uruguay share a non-militarized dry border, which creates a range of unique challenges and assets for that region. Through historical, linguistic, and cultural context as well as ethnography-inspired mixed method research, this paper demonstrates that the border region serves as an area of cultural blending. While elements of national affiliation are still present, at times, semiotic and linguistic elements are neither Brazilian nor Uruguayan, but have taken on their own identity.
ContributorsAraiza, Ulises (Co-author) / Desper, Tate (Co-author) / Escobar, Edward (Thesis director) / O'Connor, Brendan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Transborder Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
It took the coming together of a community of people and their collective efforts to bring me where I am today academically. I would first like to thank Barrett, especially Dean Ramsey who helped build my appreciation for reading primary text, and NCUIRE for awarding me the grant for this project. I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Jeffery Kassing for being more than a director for my thesis by patiently listening to me talk about my future aspiration, and Dr. Jim Reed for being a mentor and a second reader. I would also like to thank all the multitude of professors and other mentors who helped shape my perspective in seeing the bigger picture. I am mostly grateful to all those who directly and indirectly helped bring this thesis to realization. Lastly, but certainly not the least, I would like to say a big thank you to my entire family, loved ones, and friends here and back home for enthusiastically cheering me on.
ContributorsWento, Christiana Tally (Author) / Kassing, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Reed, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Abstract Communication scholars have begun to contribute to the theoretical understanding of resilience as a dynamic and collaborative process, which can be talked into being (Buzzanell, 2010). Previous research has examined the role of resilience in romantic couples, however, has focused disproportionately on heterosexual couples. This offers a limited, and singular understanding of how resilience is developed and sustained in romantic relationships. To better understand the scope and breadth of resilience, this study examined five same-sex couples through an in-depth qualitative case study analysis. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the small body of existing data, as well as, enhance our understanding of how resilience works in other contexts. Data was analyzed for thematic patterns, and compared to existing data on same-sex relationships. The findings supported that resilience is a collaborative process that is facilitated by communication. There were some discrepancies from the data collected in this study compared to previous findings; however, due to the small sample size, findings from this study cannot be generalized to the larger population.
ContributorsHartt, Cori Ann (Author) / Waldron, Vincent (Thesis director) / Kelley, Doug (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis aims to enhance the academic conception of American anti-Semitism by analyzing the rhetorical visions of two distinctly American theologies: Christian Identity and Black Israelism. Using a theoretical framework that couches the rhetoric of both religious movements within their respective historical contexts, I seek to understand the persuasive appeals of the alternative histories that lead both movements to conclude that their racial group is descended from the ancient Israelites--a status both movements claim has been "usurped" by contemporary Jews. After contextualizing their rhetoric, I juxtapose the rhetorical vision of Christian Identity with that of Black Israelism, concluding that the former can be understood as a movement and narrative premised on racial hubris whose paranoid rhetoric makes meaningful contributions to the climate of anti-Semitism, while the latter constitutes a movement and narrative premised on historically-legitimated suspicion whose paranoid rhetoric, though invidious, does not constitute a comparable threat.
ContributorsRuben, Brian (Author) / Walker, Michael (Thesis director) / Mueller, Caroll (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
On December 28th 2012, immigration authorities arrested my father and mother while grocery shopping. As soon as they stepped outside, immigration officers stopped them to be questioned. Jeopardizing my university graduation, I took on the challenge to fight court and petition my parents to not be deported. As a first generation born American, I have the power and the right to petition for the freedom of my parents. I was fortunate to be born in this country as a citizen and take advantage of all the opportunities given to me. Up until today, my family and I have done nothing but participate as good citizens. What I failed to realize is that one day our family would become deportation victims of the broken immigration system. There are currently between 11 to12 million undocumented people living in the United States with no pathway to citizenship. My father and mother were humiliated in jail, separated from the family for three months and suffered from emotional distress. It is imperative for me to share our family experience so others know the reality about illegal immigration. In this paper I aspire to leave the reader with knowledge and understanding about illegal immigration. The main purpose of my thesis is to retell my family's experience and the struggle we are still currently facing. The fate of my family was decided on March 25th 2013, and my family has been forever changed. We learned the valuable lesson that as Latinos in the community, we need to fight for freedom and speak on those that are undocumented and afraid.
ContributorsCalderon, Rudy (Author) / Larson, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Ovando, Carlos (Committee member) / Sanchez, Marta (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
The attainment of a meaningful existence is a one of the most fundamental human desires. While the pursuit for a meaningful existence is universal, the path to achieving it looks different for all people. An important aspect in achieving a meaningful existence is personal enlightenment that is attained through not only a profound understanding of one's own identity through reflection but also an awareness of the environment that has shaped that identity. The purpose of reflection should not be to attach blame or find excuses for the aspects of one's life that are unfavorable or shameful; rather, it should be to achieve the sense of inner peace that is integral in making informed and rational progress towards realizing aspects of an individual's life that bring meaning and happiness. The purpose of the following two sections is to demonstrate how an understanding of group-specific challenges regarding identity and upbringing may help those that identify with Chinese American or immigrant culture in their pursuit of a meaningful and satisfying existence. The first section provides a profile on some of the common issues facing Asian Americans, particularly how an immigrant approach to parenting can affect the degree of acculturation, mental health, and identity of immigrant children. The second section provides a personal backdrop to some of the themes discussed in the first section through an autoethnographic account from a Chinese American student. The purpose of the autoethnographic account is to demonstrate that leisure activities, such as music, can address issues regarding acculturation and identity that Asian Americans commonly face.
ContributorsWen, Charles H (Author) / Mantie, Roger (Thesis director) / Libman, Jeff (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The interplay between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and self-efficacy lies in the efficacy-activated processes that comprise an individual’s cognitive and belief systems. Previous research shows that low self-efficacy contributes to development and maintenance of mental disorders like PTSD, while high self-efficacy influences ability to visualize, implement, and maintain success scenarios (resilience) related to effective mental coping. Negative cognition makes it difficult to pursue a coping success scenario in the presence of overriding self-doubt and often arises because a traumatic event has made it difficult to retrieve positive self-identities or has reactivated negative self-identities. Consistent with this model, we predict that a negative association exists between self-efficacy and PTSD onset susceptibility. We employed a pre-test/post-test design using a susceptibility/resilience questionnaire to assess predisposition to PTSD. Vignettes, designed to either raise or lower self-efficacy, were used to separate participants into groups and revealed a significant interaction between low and high self-efficacy across the pre- and post-tests, supporting the assertion that high self-efficacy guards against PTSD onset susceptibility while low self-efficacy may make someone more susceptible to developing PTSD-related symptoms.
ContributorsNightingale, Jeffrey W (Co-author) / Holloway, Steven R. (Thesis director) / Náñez, José E. (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This ethnographic study investigates the lives and identities of immigrant youth in Arizona. It explores their efforts to resolve their Mexican and American identities as shifting immigration policies threaten their immigration status. These youths are DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, former unauthorized migrants brought to the United States as children by their families and granted temporary lawful status and work authorization by the Obama administration in 2012. Arizona is home to nearly 26,000 DACA recipients. Through participant observation, and in-depth interviews (structured and unstructured), this study examines DACA recipients' distinctive and ambivalent integration as Americans. The author's own experience as a DACA recipient provides an insider's perspective, creating an auto-ethnographic exploration of identity that opens insights into the experiences of others. Narratives elicited from eleven DACAmented young adults provide an ethnographic lens through which to explore the complex concept of belonging, an often-contradictory attempt to find acceptance in American society while also embracing their cross-border cultural formation. Examination of their everyday experiences shows that the acknowledged privileges granted by the DACA program do effectively further enculturate DACA recipients into American society; yet capricious U.S. and Arizona immigration policies simultaneously contest the legitimacy of DACA recipients' decisive inclusion into the state and the nation. The coherence of their identities is thus destabilized, obligating them to adopt identities that are either fixed, conflictual, fluid, or new.
ContributorsHurtado Moreno, Argenis (Author) / Koptiuch, Kristin (Thesis director) / Kim, Linda (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a growing issue in the United States. While medical experts try to develop treatments or a cure, what are we as a society to do in the meantime to help those living with Alzheimer's? The arts seem to be an answer. In this thesis, I highlight numerous programs already in place across the United States that utilize the visual, musical, and dramatic arts to give people with Alzheimer's an avenue for expression, a connection to the world around them, as well as a better quality of life. I address the largely positive impact these arts engagement programs have on caregivers and their perceptions of their loved ones. I discuss what it means to have narrative identity and personhood in the midst of a disease that appears to strip those things away. Finally, I share my own experiences creatively engaging with residents at a local memory care facility and what those experiences demonstrated with regard to narrative, being, and Self. The examination of material and experiences demonstrates that art taps into innate parts of human beings that science is unable to touch or treat; however, the reverse is also true for science. When faced with an issue as complex as Alzheimer's disease, art and science are strongest together, and I believe the cure to Alzheimer's lies in this unity. In the meantime, we must utilize the arts to validate the Selves of and improve the quality of life for our growing Alzheimer's population.
ContributorsSpeight, Gemma (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Manninen, Bertha (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05