Matching Items (7)
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- All Subjects: Creative Project
- Status: Published
Description
This full-length, two-act play explores the way loss brings together and tears apart two families in the United States, a lower-middle class Mexican family and a relatively wealthy white family. Throughout the play we explore family dynamics, culture, and how we all ultimately cope with navigating a complex and often devastating world. While this thesis project has completed the honors requirements, the play itself is still under construction. The version you see here is a final thesis project, but not a final product.
ContributorsBilker, Molly Alexandra (Author) / King de Ramirez, Carmen (Thesis director) / Stephens, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Armenia is a radiant and unique country, known primarily for its vast history, delicious food, and traditional folklore dance. Although Armenia was constantly ravaged by invading armies, the nation was strong enough to retain its own identity and culture. The rich dance heritage remained a living tradition into the 20th century, when the Turks tried to destroy the dance heritage and left fragments of the dances. Even though many of these fragments were lost due to urbanization, the dance techniques are still continuously studied by scholars and people all around the world. For my creative project, I chose to perform an Armenian Folk Dance, as dance is an immense part of Armenian’s lives, and is an essential part of the Armenian cultural heritage. Dance is one of the primary ways by which one can observe and gain understanding of the Armenian people, their identity and culture. Dance is a way for Armenians to express themselves, as it is a form of art which combines elements of their rich culture, event-filled past, and their spiritual nature. The folklore dance has always sustained a leading role throughout Armenian history, as it runs through the blood of Armenians, being passed down from generation to generation. The Armenian people have survived and endured various historical challenges, but they have been able to preserve their unique dance elements and forms. To this day, Armenians continue to use dance to keep their culture and identity alive. It is a way to express freedom, and celebrate that even though we as a nation have faced many hardships, us Armenians have survived, and will always continue to survive with our faith, passion, determination, and strong will.
ContributorsKaprelian, Daniella Mary (Author) / McILwraith, Heide (Thesis director) / Alford, Eddie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Is it possible to treat the mouth as a natural environment, and determine new methods to keep the microbiome in check? The need for biodiversity in health may suggest that every species carries out a specific function that is required to maintain equilibrium and homeostasis within the oral cavity. Furthermore, the relationship between the microbiome and its host is mutually beneficial because the host is providing microbes with an environment in which they can flourish and, in turn, keep their host healthy. Reviewing examples of larger scale environmental shifts could provide a window by which scientists can make hypotheses. Certain medications and healthcare treatments have been proven to cause xerostomia. This disorder is characterized by a dry mouth, and known to be associated with a change in the composition, and reduction, of saliva. Two case studies performed by Bardow et al, and Leal et al, tested and studied the relationships of certain medications and confirmed their side effects on the salivary glands [2,3]. Their results confirmed a relationship between specific medicines, and the correlating complaints of xerostomia. In addition, Vissink et al conducted case studies that helped to further identify how radiotherapy causes hyposalivation of the salivary glands [4]. Specifically patients that have been diagnosed with oral cancer, and are treated by radiotherapy, have been diagnosed with xerostomia. As stated prior, studies have shown that patients having an ecologically balanced and diverse microbiome tend to have healthier mouths. The oral cavity is like any biome, consisting of commensalism within itself and mutualism with its host. Due to the decreased salivary output, caused by xerostomia, increased parasitic bacteria build up within the oral cavity thus causing dental disease. Every human body contains a personalized microbiome that is essential to maintaining health but capable of eliciting disease. The Human Oral Microbiomics Database (HOMD) is a set of reference 16S rRNA gene sequences. These are then used to define individual human oral taxa. By conducting metagenomic experiments at the molecular and cellular level, scientists can identify and label micro species that inhabit the mouth during parasitic outbreaks or a shifting of the microbiome. Because the HOMD is incomplete, so is our ability to cure, or prevent, oral disease. The purpose of the thesis is to research what is known about xerostomia and its effects on the complex microbiome of the oral cavity. It is important that researchers determine whether this particular perspective is worth considering. In addition, the goal is to create novel experiments for treatment and prevention of dental diseases.
ContributorsHalcomb, Michael Jordan (Author) / Chen, Qiang (Thesis director) / Steele, Kelly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
In a cross memoir and essay format, I examine what connection barriers veterans face when communicating with civilians. I interviewed veterans after adapting an interview schedule and model release form. Additionally, I researched creative nonfiction, guided autobiography, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. I chose to focus mainly on soldiers returning from recent conflicts. Once I collected my interviews, I synthesized the stories I heard with personal memoir. The thesis focuses on three parts: coming home, communication barriers, and connection. Weaving in both my personal reflection and the voices of the soldiers I interviewed, I evaluate possible ways veterans and civilians fail to connect. I address the discrepancy between the apparent warm reception of soldiers and the feelings of disconnection soldiers express by noting the ways in which both the solider and the civilian struggle to communicate. Looking at reintegration struggles, I briefly note the transition difficulty post deployment soldiers face. From the responses I received, I reflect on how empty gestures, perceived ignorance, and an outsider effect contribute to communication barriers between soldiers and veterans. While I address how ignorance can be broken down into misunderstanding military jargon, detaching from war, hearing euphemisms, and having expectations, I also consider the ways in which situation and vagueness surrounding the war contribute to communication barriers surrounding perceived ignorance. From my reflection of communication barriers, I offer tools for soldiers and veterans making connections. I recommend that both soldiers and civilians stay informed about the military engagements as best they can, deconstruct expectations and generalizations, use empathy and active listening, and start being direct. Knowing the nuanced complexity of war and communication, I weave in my own reflections in contribution to the larger conversation.
ContributorsFletcher, Jessica Marie (Author) / Wells, Cornelia (Thesis director) / deLusé, Stephanie (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Iron City Magazine is an online and print journal devoted entirely to writing and art from the prison world. It is our hope that through this creative platform, incarcerated artists and writers find value in their stories, fuel for personal growth, and pride in their accomplishments. Inmates are, first and foremost, people. They own stories worthy of telling and sharing. Iron City Magazine aims to highlight these stories in a way more permanent than a private journal. In addition, we serve to remind the general public that inmates can make meaningful contributions to their communities. So often, this potential is forgotten or overshadowed by their crimes. By validating inmates' humanity through writing and art, we encourage a culture of understanding and transformation.
ContributorsVolin, Natalie Esther (Author) / Wells, Cornelia (Thesis director) / Berry, Shavawn (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Attending college brings on new experiences and challenges. In order to survive college, a student must figure out what resources are available to them and what will help them succeed. The purpose of this study is to learn about what students struggle with the most. Students were also asked about what advice they have for future students and what they would change about their own experience. Participants of the study consisted of ASU students 18 or older. Information was collected through interviews, an online survey, and a paper survey. Many students feel that high school has not prepared them for college. Some students continue to struggle with time management. With students coming from many different backgrounds, it is up to the college to provide resources to help students to succeed. However, it is up to the student to make the effort to find, ask, and use these resources. The student ultimately decides to use the resources and tools provided to them in order to survive college.
ContributorsMartinez, Precious (Co-author) / Serrano, Hazel (Co-author) / Van Fleet, David (Thesis director) / Hutt, Roger (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Morrison School of Agribusiness (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Abstract: International Service Devils (ISD) is a non-profit volunteer program established and run by students at Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus. Since 2013, International Service Devils has volunteered in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and India. This blog, written by Kali Richmond and myself, shares the experience of how we as students have established a new volunteer program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We have described in an entertaining fashion, our entire learning process from the brainstorming and organizing, to the results of the trip itself. This includes the struggles that we had to overcome with planning and finances, as well as crediting the people and organizations who helped us along the way to overcome those obstacles. We established 2 volunteer projects as well as completed multiple community analyses for the possibility of starting a school and providing scholarships to deserving children through the Young Dreamer Network. This blog is accompanied by an approximately 15 minute video of footage and photos taken during our time in Vietnam. The video shows both the volunteer aspect as well as some of the cultural experiences that we experienced. The purpose of this documentation is to encourage international service learning as a source of experience and education for University students, and to show plausibility of setting goals similar to ours and being able to achieve them. We hope that our writing can help students get an idea of what it takes to be a leader in international service learning programs, and that our experience can help prove the worth of volunteering abroad. We want to inspire fellow students to travel with the mission to learn from wherever they go and be able to give back to those communities, as this has provided us with immense personal growth and new perspectives on education and culture.
ContributorsChacon, Zari (Co-author) / Richmond, Kali (Co-author) / Oberstein, Bruce (Thesis director) / Ostroski, Tammy (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05