I conducted an oral history project of five women with journeys in the Christian faith who had experience working with asylum seekers and refugees in the Phoenix metropolitan area. I explore with this project the perceptions of the helping relationship through the stories of these women and how their beliefs about their faith and work inform each other to pursue meaningful connections for the benefit of others.

Maryvale is the most densely populated neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Originally master-planned for white middle-class families, Maryvale has become a majority-minority neighborhood that is still impacted by socioeconomic problems left from the 1980's white flight, as well as a reputation for being dangerous. Residents share their experiences living in the community and their opinions about its problematic reputation and its impact and current development efforts. Oral history brings a personal perspective to the literal history of Maryvale to create a more accurate and comprehensive story.

Stoicism is a philosophy that emerged in the Hellenistic Age, between 323 BCE and 30 BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (Irvine, 2009). Stoicism was born into an exceptionally transitional social and political time period, and three major philosophers, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, rose to fame and established this manner of interacting with the world around them. These teachings and writings, still read throughout the world today due to their practicality and effectiveness, provide a major framework for “(It is [Stoicism]) the power of the mind to be unconquerable,” (Seneca, The Stoic Letters). Stoicism can be used as a tool in the pursuit of perseverance, wisdom, self control, and self mastery, which can ultimately lead to a more fulfilling and happy life. This philosophy is a practical one, and is designed with the intention to help those who practice it live well rather than just provide a theoretical understanding of the teaching of the world. Stoicism is a way to interact with others and the world in a way that reduces the amount of suffering experienced and can increase the capacity for joy. As a high achieving college student, it may not be feasible or entirely practical to live as Stoics did in the ancient world. Yet, aspects of ancient Stoicism can still be applied to modern-day living and can be used to make college students more resilient, happier, and allow them to live a fuller, more satisfied life. In this 7 week asynchronous program designed for high achieving college students, we will explore the most common barriers to happiness that college students face and explore what Stoic philosophies offer to help remedy these barriers.

This is what I had for the abstract: Maryvale is the most densely populated neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Originally master-planned for white middle-class families, Maryvale has become a majority-minority neighborhood that is still impacted by socioeconomic problems left from the 1980's white flight, as well as a reputation for being dangerous. Residents share their experiences living in the community and their opinions about its problematic reputation and its impact and current development efforts. Oral history brings a personal perspective to the literal history of Maryvale to create a more accurate and comprehensive story.

In 2020, a nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 forced thousands of concert venues across the United States to close their doors to music lovers and employees alike. This project serves to examine how concert enthusiasts, music venue employees and venues in the Valley responded to the return of the live music industry.

Student engagement is a crucial tool that Arizona State University uses through multiple different methods to improve the student experience and increase retention. While student engagement has been implemented for decades, many methods come with weaknesses and areas for improvement that are evident through research on student engagement, critical factors towards student’s success, and high impact student engagement practices. Through research, student engagement has proven to be multi-faceted, crucial for a student’s success, and an ever-evolving tool that the university must continue to improve to meet the changing needs of the student body. This paper defines student engagement and high impact student engagement practices, lists and explains the many methods of student engagement, explains critical factors for student engagement, details Arizona State University’s current student engagement methods on the Downtown Phoenix Campus, and provides recommendations for improvement based on those aforementioned findings. This paper finds that many of the current methods could be improved through the implementation of new practices and programs such as Engage-Credits, the use of Design Thinking, and improvements for current systems surrounding collaboration, diversity initiatives, advising, student’s relationships with faculty and staff, and implementing the difference between engaged and disengaged students.