Matching Items (379)
Description
Popular culture has a longstanding tendency for being affected by, and reversely affecting, politics. Films, in particular, can exist as either purse “escapism” or heady pathways for political commentary. During the Second World War, governments in both the United States and Great Britain used film as a vessel for their own messages, but after the war ended, the two nations allowed their respective film industries more free expression in commenting on wartime and post-war politics. Film also provided particularly vivid political commentary during, and in the years immediately following, the Cold War. Though film has a longstanding history of being a force for political commentary, the medium’s specific engagement with the Cold War holds particular significance because works produced by the two nations’ film industries paralleled the social trend toward political activism at the time. While films produced in the UK and the United States in the 1960s addressed a wide range of contentious political issues, a huge body of work was spurred on by one of the most pressing political tensions of the time: namely, the Cold War.
The United States and Great Britain were major, allied forces during the Cold War. Despite their allied positions, they had unique politico-social perspectives that greatly reflected their immediate involvement in the conflict, in addition to their respective political histories and engagement in previous wars. As the Cold War threat was a large and, in many ways, incomprehensible one, each country took certain elements of the Cold War situation and used those elements to reflect their varied political social positions to a more popular audience and the culture it consumed.
In turn, filmmakers in both countries used their mediums to make overarching political commentaries on the Cold War situation. This analysis looks at five films from those countries during the 1960s, and explores how each representation offered different, often conflicting, perspectives on how to “manage” Cold War tensions, while simultaneously reflecting their conflicted culture and political decisions. The films analyzed reveal that each country focused on contrasting perceptions about the source of the threat posed by Soviet forces, thus becoming tools to further promote their distinct political stances. While the specifics of that commentary changed with each filmmaker, they generally paralleled each country’s perspective on the overall Cold War atmosphere. The British message represented the Cold War as a very internal battle—one that involved the threat within UK borders via the infiltration of spies the tools of espionage. In contrast, the American films suggest that the Cold War threat was largely an internal one, a struggle best combatted by increasing weaponry that would help control the threat before it reached American borders.
The United States and Great Britain were major, allied forces during the Cold War. Despite their allied positions, they had unique politico-social perspectives that greatly reflected their immediate involvement in the conflict, in addition to their respective political histories and engagement in previous wars. As the Cold War threat was a large and, in many ways, incomprehensible one, each country took certain elements of the Cold War situation and used those elements to reflect their varied political social positions to a more popular audience and the culture it consumed.
In turn, filmmakers in both countries used their mediums to make overarching political commentaries on the Cold War situation. This analysis looks at five films from those countries during the 1960s, and explores how each representation offered different, often conflicting, perspectives on how to “manage” Cold War tensions, while simultaneously reflecting their conflicted culture and political decisions. The films analyzed reveal that each country focused on contrasting perceptions about the source of the threat posed by Soviet forces, thus becoming tools to further promote their distinct political stances. While the specifics of that commentary changed with each filmmaker, they generally paralleled each country’s perspective on the overall Cold War atmosphere. The British message represented the Cold War as a very internal battle—one that involved the threat within UK borders via the infiltration of spies the tools of espionage. In contrast, the American films suggest that the Cold War threat was largely an internal one, a struggle best combatted by increasing weaponry that would help control the threat before it reached American borders.
ContributorsNelson, Taylor Lynn (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Education is a very sensitive topic when it comes to implementing the right policies. From professionals well-versed in the topic, to the very students who are being taught, feedback for reform is constantly being addressed. Nonetheless, there remains a large gap between the performance of some of the most advanced countries in the world and the United States of America. As it stands today, USA is arguably the most technologically advanced country and the outright leader of the free market. For over a century this nation has been exceeding expectations in nearly every industry known to man and aiding the rest of the world in their endeavors for a higher standard of living. Yet, there seems to be something critically wrong with the way a large majority of the younger generation are growing up. How can a country so respected in the world fall so far behind in what is considered the basics of human education: math and science? The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of assessments taken by countries all around the world to determine the strength of their youth's knowledge. Since its inception in 1995, TIMSS has been conducted every four years with an increasing number of participating countries and students each time. In 1999 U.S. eighth-graders placed #19 in the world for mathematics and #18 for science (Appendix Fig. 1). In the years following, and further detailed in the thesis, the U.S. managed to improve the overall performance by a small margin but still remained a leg behind countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, and more. Clearly these countries were doing something right as they consistently managed to rank in the top tier. Over the course of this paper we will observe and analyze why and how Singapore has topped the TIMSS list for both math and science nearly every time it has been administered over the last two decades. What is it that they are teaching their youth that enables them to perform exceptionally above the norm? Why is it that we cannot use their techniques as a guideline to increase the capabilities of our future generations? We look to uncover the teaching methods of what is known as Singapore Math and how it has helped students all over the world. By researching current U.S. schools that have already implemented the system and learning about their success stories, we hope to not only educate but also persuade the local school districts on why integrating Singapore Math into their curriculum will lead to the betterment of the lives of thousands of children and the educational threshold of this great nation.
ContributorsKichloo, Parth (Co-author) / Leverenz, Michael (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Rivera, Alfredo (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Abstract The current study examined how people perceive three different types of relationships: Sugar Baby/Sugar Daddy (SB/SD) relationships, same-sex relationships, and heterosexual relationships. In an online survey, undergraduate students rated these different types of couplings on overall general view, acceptability and approval. Additionally, survey participants were asked to complete measures of religiosity and socio-sexual orientation to investigate whether these individual measures moderated ratings. Overall, SB/SD relationships were rated the most negatively, least acceptable, and least approved of out of the three relationship types. Following SB/SD relationships are same-sex relationships and then lastly heterosexual relationships. Higher religiosity scores led to lower general views, acceptability, and approval ratings of SB/SD relationships. The opposite pattern emerged for socio-sexuality such that higher socio-sexuality scores correlated to higher general views, acceptability, and approval ratings of SB/SD relationships. The findings suggest that societal views toward alternative relationship types are negative, relative to traditional heterosexual couplings, and these views may be exacerbated in the case of more, as opposed to less novel pairings. Just as cross-race and same-sex relationships have faced adversity in the past (Testa, 1987), newer types of relationships, such as SB/SD, that don't follow traditional conventions are still bound to face negativity. Moreover, these views are not monolithic in that individual differences based on religiosity and socio-sexuality lead to variation in judgments. The data presented herein represent an initial exploration of SB/SD relationships, a phenomenon that is increasing in frequency and about which many questions remain. Keywords: Sugar baby, Sugar daddy, same-sex, relationship, perceptions
ContributorsGraham, Victoria Lee (Author) / Saenz, Delia (Thesis director) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game. MOBA games are generally formatted where two teams of five, each player controlling a character (champion), will try to take each other's base as quickly as possible. Currently, with about 70 million, League of Legends is number one in the digital entertainment industry with $1.63 billion dollars of revenue in year 2015. This research analysis scopes in on the niche of the "Jungler" role between different tiers of player in League of Legends. I uncovered differences in player strategy that may explain the achievement of high rank using data aggregation through Riot Games' API, data slicing with time-sensitive data, random sampling, clustering by tiers, graphical techniques to display the cluster, distribution analysis and finally, a comprehensive factor analysis on the data's implications.
ContributorsPoon, Alex (Author) / Clark, Joseph (Thesis director) / Simon, Alan (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The fashion industry demonstrates itself to be highly competitive and aggressive, making it difficult for fashion graduates to find work in the industry. Another customer problem is that fashion products do not ideally meet customers' expectations, whether it is through fit, design, etc. These two problems relate to the inefficiencies in the ideation and distribution channels of fashion. There is a lack of another outlet for fashion where products are different from what retail offers and fashion ideas can be shared. The two problems stated previously are byproducts of this. This research study and entrepreneurial effort of building a web platform will allow consumers, designers, manufacturers, and retailers (these target groups are also known as "customer segments" throughout the project) to work together to create a clothing product that not only fits the customer's vision, but also provides the ability for designers and small businesses to better establish themselves in the industry. The website was designed based on potential customers' inputs collected from a marketing survey, a competitive analysis, and the business model canvas. The website was developed following the systems development life cycle (SDLC) project management method. This was followed in order to make sure the website will be available on time, with all the required features, and within the budget. According to the survey analysis, most people do not make an effort to produce a unique design if a fashion product does not meet their standards. Instead, they will settle for an item similar to what was in mind and that already exists in-stores or online. However, further data analysis showed that this difference was apparent between men and women. Thus, the research finding was that the website would be targeting a niche market of college-aged women during the first launch. In order to reach the small target segment, different digital marketing approaches must be used to attract new users. To attract college-aged female consumers, the site must discover and sponsor "influencers" to authentically promote the website towards prospective consumers. To attract designers, word of mouth is best utilized: reaching out to design majors at Arizona State University, then other local schools, and expanding from there. To attract local manufacturers and retailers, a typical direct sales strategy is necessary by informing these businesses about the team and background, so that they feel confident in the partnership. The overall hypothesis of this project: the creation of a web platform that provides a network among consumers, designers, and local businesses will create jobs for designers, cause local businesses to build recognition, and allow consumers to create their own fashion product without design experience. This site is named My Clothing Line to make it feel as though each of the individual customers are logging into their own business site.
ContributorsTran, Melissa Kim (Author) / Lin, Elva (Thesis director) / Giles, Charles (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose for creating this thesis project is to discover the effects that options have on consumer behavior and satisfaction, and to determine whether or not more options are a good thing. In exploring these questions, Information Measurement Theory (IMT), a theory founded by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi which relies on understanding natural laws to help minimize decision-making and risk, was utilized to draw conclusions. IMT illustrates that any given situation can only have one unique outcome, and minimizing decision-making in turn leads to reduced stress. The more information an individual has for the given situation, the better he/she can predict the outcome. The concepts of IMT, specifically the ideal that more decision-making leads to higher stress, were utilized to illustrate that more options naturally leads to more decisions and as a result more decision-makers will feel greater stress and less satisfaction. To conduct this research we explored two different segments of consumer markets. The first branch of our research was comprised of analyzing the differences in operations and menu structures of different fast food chains, most specifically In-N-Out and McDonald's and how these differences affect customer satisfaction. The other branch of our research involved reviewing phone case ratings based on Amazon reviews for a number of different phone types with varying popularity to gauge consumer satisfaction. Our results found that while both In-N-Out and McDonald's are successful companies, In-N-Out ranked consistently higher in customer satisfaction. Furthermore, a large portion of this satisfaction can be attributed to In-N-Out's simplistic menu structure which limits the amount of options and therefore decisions that a customer must make. Similarly, our study of phone cases found that for phone models where less case options are offered, customers rated their cases higher on a scale of 1-5 stars regardless of brand or the number of reviews. Through a combination of IMT and our research we were able to conclude that less options does indeed lead to higher consumer satisfaction.
ContributorsBrandt, Lawrence (Co-author) / Spiller, Ryan (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Leadership styles in the U.S. have gone through great changes in the past decades. New leadership styles have proven to be more effective than those of the past. There are certain characteristics that leaders today must have in order to effectively motivate their employees intrinsically. This report explains how certain leadership characteristics can lead to desirable or undesirable behaviors from employees. The information provided in this report was retrieved from a study I conducted with Peter Hom, Professor of Management of Arizona State University, and articles on servant leadership written by two extremely knowledgeable individuals on this topic, Adam Grant, Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania, and Robert Liden, Professor of Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Several other articles from credible sources were also used to provide support for this report. The report also includes numerous diagrams that help interpret the information provided.
The report is divided into several sections:
• Traditional Leadership style and rewards
• Existing literature on job relational design
• Servant leadership
• Surveys
• Data analysis
• Conclusion
From this research, it can be concluded that certain leadership qualities can contribute to an increase in intrinsic motivation to subordinates. Also, there are certain traits that allow managers to have a positive impact on subordinates. This study also provides leaders with suggestions on how to increase subordinates’ concerns for customers, which will translate into more productive work from employees.
The report is divided into several sections:
• Traditional Leadership style and rewards
• Existing literature on job relational design
• Servant leadership
• Surveys
• Data analysis
• Conclusion
From this research, it can be concluded that certain leadership qualities can contribute to an increase in intrinsic motivation to subordinates. Also, there are certain traits that allow managers to have a positive impact on subordinates. This study also provides leaders with suggestions on how to increase subordinates’ concerns for customers, which will translate into more productive work from employees.
ContributorsPulley, Travon Larnell (Author) / Hom, Peter (Thesis director) / Adelheid, Thieme (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Perspection is an art exhibition dealing with the ideas of perspective and perception, as it relates to observation of artwork. As a viewer, art is seen as an inanimate thing, however, so much time is spent in the conception and execution of a piece that it begins to take on a life of its own. This thesis is the exploration of how art has the power to come alive, creating conversations with a viewer while showing them another way to observe the world around them.
ContributorsMeyer, Michelle Castrejon (Author) / White, James (Thesis director) / Harp, Hilary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
‘why we bend' a Bachelor of Fine Arts honors thesis exhibition by Ximenna Hofsetz and Tiernan Warner brings together installation, digital, sculptural, and printed artwork. The main focus concerns memory; and its vague, formless, and hazy nature. The work also examines what would happen if cognitive space could be physically mapped? What would it look like in sculptural form? Memory erodes and distorts with time. We influence our memories as much as they affect us. Thus, just as relationships are ever-changing, and our memories of those we interact with constantly shifting, our relationships with our own memories are malleable and evolve through time. This transient nature of memory is depicted in the various stylistic means of this exhibition by referencing time and space as well as personal memories and ephemera in both concrete and abstract ways. ‘why we bend’ implements a variety of multimedia techniques to examine recollection and its hold on us.
ContributorsHofsetz, Ximenna Cedella (Author) / Gutierrez, Rogelio (Thesis director) / Hood, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
This paper explores the issues regarding disparities in sentencing of men and women to death. Research conducted includes both primary and secondary. A variety of sources were used to gain insight into societal gender differences and stereotypes. Theories were investigated for causes in gender discrepancies. Specific standards and factors were found to be relevant for men and others for women. The methods used to implement the death penalty, the constitutionality of the death penalty, and other various death penalty issues were studied to see if they had implications for the minimal number of women sentenced to death. Research indicated that the media had a significant influence in these cases, particularly in the cases where a female committed brutal murder. This paper examines these different elements, using Arizona as a test case, with four separate female case examples in order to determine what causes disparities in sentencing men and women to death. The case facts and analysis are given in each example. The conclusion is that the discrepancies found in sentencing men and women to death are ultimately based on cultural gender stereotypes that have been in place for some time, and are often exploited in the media.
ContributorsLopez, Rachael (Author) / Stanford, Michael (Thesis director) / Kirchler, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-12