Matching Items (223)
Description
The purpose of this project was to document and explain what and why the 2014 School of Human Evolution and Social Change study abroad group experienced what they did in Fiji. Fiji is a third world country and it lacks important infrastructure that prevents many in Fiji form accessing basic medical supplies and medical treatment. Lack of infrastructure and, therefore, medical access and supplies is a result of the tumultuous ethnopolitical atmosphere that prevails in Fiji. Living with the Fijian locals in Votua Village made their struggle personal to the study abroad group. As a result, the group returned inspired to US determined to make an impact on the people that had made such a lasting impact on them. A new campus organization was created and nearly $4,600 was raised in order to help provide medical aid to the villagers in Fiji. The student's reaction in Fiji was westernized, but the program is not a complete and utter failure; students work directly with the villagers to acquire items they actually need. This ensures little waste and that the money collected is used efficiently. However, the student's project is not entirely sustainable; the implementation of the Funds For Fiji response has the potential to create lasting, unintended consequences. To make the program more sustainable, students need to figure out a way to broaden project involvement and to broaden the scope of the project to impact more people on the island of Fiji. Video Link https://youtu.be/9asWtj1u2BQ
ContributorsHowell, Colby Lee (Author) / Wetmore, Jameson (Thesis director) / Eder, James (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
This project created a teaching curriculum resource guide for using the popular series, The Hunger Games, in 6th-8th grade classrooms to introduce cultural issues such as child soldiers and international development to students. Studies have shown that literature can cultivate empathy and encourage youth to act. This combined with the expanding phenomenon of participatory culture and fandom activism as outlined by Henry Jenkins demonstrate the potential for youth to learn and act when given the opportunity and resources to do so. The curriculum is composed of three units: The first is a three-week reading of the books with various activities for students to really understand the narrative and source text. The second and third units address the issues of child soldiers and international development using The Hunger Games as a framework and a keystone to build connections so that these complex issues are accessible to youth. This project is a first step in the development of a curriculum that spans the full trilogy and covers a variety of current event topics.
ContributorsSimpson, Rebecca (Author) / Sivak, Henry (Thesis director) / Blasingame, James (Committee member) / Nelson, Margaret (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
How are perceptions of morality and disgust regarding meat consumption related to each other? Which factor is more salient in determining one's willingness to eat the meat of a specific animal? How do these answers vary across religious groups? This study investigates the ways that concepts like morality and disgust are related to food preferences and hopes to shed light on the mechanisms that enforce culturally sanctioned food taboos. The study compares 4 groups of people in the U.S.: Christians (n = 39), Hindus (n = 29), Jews (n = 23), and non-religious people (n = 63). A total of 154 participants were given surveys in which they rated their feelings about eating various animals. Data from Christian and non-religious groups exhibited similar patterns such as a high likelihood of eating a given animal when starving, while results from Jews and Hindus were consistent with their religion's respective food taboos. Despite these differences, morality and disgust are strongly correlated with one another in almost all instances. Moreover, morality and disgust are almost equally important considerations when determining willingness to eat when starving.
ContributorsParekh, Shaili Rajul (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Jacobs, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Throughout the course of the Honors Thesis/Creative Project, the intent was to gain knowledge regarding national, state and community initiatives regarding Indigenous Language Revitalization and Maintenance (ILRA). For over a year, I had the opportunity to visit a total of five indigenous communities, including Pine Ridge, SD, Gila River Indian Community, AZ, White Mountain Apache, AZ, Cochiti Pueblo, NM and Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM. The goal was to learn about the status of their language, current ILRA initiatives as well as challenges and successes that face American Indian nations. During each visit, key elements to successful language revitalization initiatives were identified that could benefit those continuing their effort to reverse language loss as well as those looking to enter in the field of language revitalization.
ContributorsHutchinson, Jenna Michelle (Author) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Thesis director) / Begay, Jolyana (Committee member) / Sims, Christine P. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / American Indian Studies Program (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
While public transit systems are perceived to produce lower GHG emission intensities per passenger miles traveled (PMT) and per vehicle miles traveled (VMT), there is a limited understanding of emissions per PMT/VMT across cities, or of how emissions may change across modes (light, metro, commuter, and bus) and time (e.g., with changing electricity mixes in the future). In order to better understand the GHG emissions intensity of public transit systems, a comparative emissions assessment was developed utilizing the National Transit Database (NTD) which reports energy use from 1997 to 2012 of rail and bus systems across the US. By determining the GHG emission intensities (per VMT or per PMT) for each mode of transit across multiple years, the modes of transit can be better compared between one another. This comparison can help inform future goals to reduce GHG emissions as well as target reductions from the mode of transit that has the highest emissions. The proposed analysis of the NTD and comparison of modal emission intensities will be used to develop future forecasting that can guide public transit systems towards a sustainable future.
ContributorsCano, Alex (Author) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis director) / Seager, Thomas (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
I began this thesis with one goal in mind: to discover which career path is best for me. The plan was to take a critical look at my life using deductive logic and Information Measurement Theory (IMT) to determine who I am and through that knowledge ultimately align my future with where I would be best suited career-wise. I was interested in this because I was fascinated with IMT and I wanted to apply it to something that I would find useful. I knew that I would be graduating and I also knew that I had no idea what I wanted the rest of my life to look like. For me, it was like killing two birds with one stone: delving deeper into a fascinating theory as well as determining what to do with my future. I began my project by analyzing my own life and creating a timeline of major events in my life. Then, I pieced together the characteristics of my family to gain perspective of their lives and how their lives have influenced mine. As I explored this information and the implications this knowledge had in my life, my thesis began to take a new direction. The more I began to understand myself, the more I realized that I needed to spend more time on this area of my project. I realized the importance of understanding who I am at the core in order to be the best person that I can be. To reach happiness, be fulfilled, be a good person, I needed to spend time understanding myself rather than just jumping forward into my future.
ContributorsCrepeau, Megan Grace (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project explores a variety of ways of framing the problem of obesity, beginning with a multidisciplinary assessment of genetic, environmental, cultural, nutritional, and socioeconomic factors involved in the structure and the consequences of each frame. How obesity is framed as a problem has a profound impact on the kinds of solutions that may be deemed scientifically appropriate. But frames are not entirely evidence-based, inasmuch as political and moral values infuse debates about the nature of obesity. Drawing on interdisciplinary resources from bioethics and the philosophy of science, I strive to offer strategic insight in to how to navigate the complexity of these issues.
ContributorsYanamandra, Meghana (Author) / Robert, Jason (Thesis director) / Wharton, Christopher (Committee member) / Drago, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The interview is a vital part of the reporter's story. In a reporter's quest for the truth, the interview can give the reporter an understanding of the source, a sense of what the source represents to the story and get the source to disclose enough information to properly tell the story. In this paper, the key body language of reporters and sources during the journalistic interview are evaluated. To help the reporter get the most out of an interview, this study observes key behaviors from reporters and sources of five major areas of kinesics: hand gesture, posture, proxemics, mirroring and facial expressions. This study categorized the positive from the negative gestures associated with these major movements in order to help evaluate the attitude of a interview participant and how to best improve relations through a reporter's subtle body gestures.
ContributorsMykleseth, Kathryn Jo (Author) / Thornton, Leslie (Thesis director) / Rueles, Richard (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Because children do not have the same decision-making powers as adults in matters affecting their health, their opinions have often been underrepresented in research (Bradding & Horstman, 1999). However, there is growing interest in the way that children view health because this knowledge elicits the development of more child-centered and effective approaches to health education and intervention (Bradding & Horstman, 1999). Professionals have often utilized the write-and-draw technique in school settings to gain a better understanding of how to best implement health education programs. The "bottom-up" approach of the write-and-draw method encourages participation and has been shown to elicit thoughtful responses about how children conceptualize health (Pridmore & Bendelow, 1995). This study uses the write-and-draw method to perform a cross- cultural comparison of child perspectives of health in the United States and Guatemala, countries that represent contrasting paradigms for child health. The results of this study are consistent with previous research, especially the emergent health themes. Children from the United States and Guatemala predominantly depicted health in terms of food. Guatemalan students were more likely to refer to hygienic practices and environmental conditions, while US children mentioned vegetables, water, and exercise as being healthy. For the unhealthy category, themes of poor hygiene, chips, fat/grease, fruit, carbohydrates, and environment were mentioned more often in Guatemala, while U.S. students listed sweets and fast food more frequently. Results support claims made in other literature that children's concepts of health are shaped by life experience and social context. Potential applications of the research include exposing areas (themes) where children are less likely to understand health implications and developing educational curriculum to increase a more comprehensive understanding of health.
ContributorsRenslow, Jillian Marie (Author) / Maupin, Jonathan (Thesis director) / BurnSilver, Shauna (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project investigates how experiences colleges create for admitted students impact students' excitement for, satisfaction with, and likelihood to attend the college, analyzed by different subgroups, and how non-yielded students compare their college selection to W. P. Carey on various metrics. This study found that top admit students were less likely to attend, less satisfied, and less excited with the services offered than their counterparts and recommendations were made to improve the gap.
ContributorsGullo, Kelley (Co-author) / Dwosh, Bennett (Co-author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Olsen, Douglas (Committee member) / Desch, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05