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This thesis project serves as a case-study on the rural-urban divide, focusing on how young, rural Americans perceive their role in the rural-urban divide, and how their own identity, political association, and voting behavior affects their own perception of the divide and political issues at large. In order to explore

This thesis project serves as a case-study on the rural-urban divide, focusing on how young, rural Americans perceive their role in the rural-urban divide, and how their own identity, political association, and voting behavior affects their own perception of the divide and political issues at large. In order to explore these American divides, I conducted a case-study of one rural Arizonan town, speaking to participants between the ages of 18-24. Through these interviews, many themes emerged, revealing the complex nature of rurality in light of the 2016 Election. While this research case study does not intend to present a comprehensive view of all rural feelings and beliefs, it intends to explore themes present in how young rural Americans view small-town life, the rural-urban divide, how beliefs are created and supported, and their own ability to change. Though further research and discussion is needed in order to better understand how our nation became divided, these are the voices at the heart of the division. In conclusion, this case study reveals that for everything the nation assumes to be true about the rural-urban divide, there are just as many contradictions and nuances that make The United States a country much broader than just rural or urban.
ContributorsClugston, Odessa Erica (Author) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis director) / Weiss, Sabrina (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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In the sixty-seven years following the end of World War II, West Germany and Japan underwent a remarkable series of economic and social changes that irrevocably altered their respective ways of life. Formerly xenophobic, militaristic and highly socially stratified societies, both emerged from the 20th Century as liberal, prosperous and

In the sixty-seven years following the end of World War II, West Germany and Japan underwent a remarkable series of economic and social changes that irrevocably altered their respective ways of life. Formerly xenophobic, militaristic and highly socially stratified societies, both emerged from the 20th Century as liberal, prosperous and free. Both made great strides well beyond the expectations of their occupiers, and rebounded from the overwhelming destruction of their national economies within a few short decades. While these changes have yielded dramatic results, the wartime period still looms large in their respective collective memories. Therefore, an ongoing and diverse dialectical process would engage the considerable popular, official, and intellectual energy of their post-war generations. In West Germany, the term Vergangenheitsbewältigung (VGB) emerged to describe a process of coming to terms with the past, while the Japanese chose kako no kokufuku to describe their similar historical sojourns. Although intellectuals of widely varying backgrounds in both nations made great strides toward making Japanese and German citizens cognizant of the roles that their militaries played in gruesome atrocities, popular cinematic productions served to reiterate older, discredited assertions of the fundamental honor and innocence of the average soldier, thereby nurturing a historically revisionist line of reasoning that continues to compete for public attention. All forms of media would play an important role in sustaining this “apologetic narrative,” and cinema, among the most popular and visible of these mediums, was not excluded from this. Indeed, films would play a unique recurring role, like rhetorical time capsules, in offering a sanitized historical image of Japanese and German soldiers that continues to endure in modern times. Nevertheless, even as West Germany and Japan regained their sovereignty and re-examined their pasts with ever greater resolution and insight, their respective film industries continued to “reset” the clock, and accentuated the visibility and relevancy of apologetic forces still in existence within both societies. However, it is important to note that, when speaking of “Germans” and “Japanese,” that they are not meant to be thought of as being uniformly of one mind or another. Rather, the use of these words is meant as convenient shorthand to refer to the dominant forces in Japanese and German civil society at any given time over the course of their respective post- war histories. Furthermore, references to “Germany” during the Cold War period are to be understood to mean the Federal Republic of Germany, rather than their socialist counterpart, the German Democratic Republic, a nation that undertook its own coming to terms with the past in an entirely distinct fashion.
ContributorsPiscopo, Michael (Author) / Benkert, Volker (Thesis director) / Moore, Aaron (Committee member) / Machander, Sina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
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There is a known linkage between religion and political leanings, though in America, most research is done on Christian denominations. This thesis answers the question of whether denominational choice affects political leanings of Hindus in the Phoenix valley. Through the use of surveys and elite interviews, it was concluded that

There is a known linkage between religion and political leanings, though in America, most research is done on Christian denominations. This thesis answers the question of whether denominational choice affects political leanings of Hindus in the Phoenix valley. Through the use of surveys and elite interviews, it was concluded that denominations with higher religiosity scores have a higher percentage of conservative-leaning individuals than denominations with lower religiosity scores. The implication of this study is that scholars should look at denomination when studying the Hindu vote because even the more conservative leaning denominations had a large percentage of liberal members. This data can be useful for campaigns as well in the future.
ContributorsHindocha, Anisha Nileshkumar (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Devi Dasi, SyamaMohini (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12