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Perspectives on Neurodiversity-Affirming Education for Autistic Children
Full text linkRates of autism diagnosis have increased dramatically in recent decades, along with efforts to include disabled students in general education classes. However, there are significant barriers to full educational inclusion for autistic children with all levels of support needs. In Chapter 1 of this project, I review literature on common barriers to educational inclusion for autistic students, as well as the strengths and shortcomings of school-based service delivery models frequently provided in an effort to mitigate these barriers. I then propose an innovative, neurodiversity-affirming model of service delivery for autistic elementary school students in general education classrooms. In Chapter 2, I examine the particular educational challenges faced by autistic students with high support needs, who are more likely to be placed in separate special education classrooms. I explore the question of educational placements for these students, with special attention paid to the role of parents as decision-makers, and argue that parents’ ideological conceptions of autism are a key factor in their decision-making
Beyond the Veil: A Contemporary Reimagining of Chinese Shadow Puppetry
Full text linkChinese shadow puppetry is a traditional art-form of storytelling that requires highly-skilled craftsmanship. Though it enjoyed great prestige in the past, at present Chinese shadow puppetry struggles to survive as it is difficult to recruit apprentices and to appeal to contemporary audiences. This honors project explores how to adapt the art-form with alternative materials and performance techniques, so that it may welcome younger generations as practitioners and spectators. For example, a simpler crafting process makes the art-form more accessible for novice puppeteers while preserving key traditional elements; or a Chinese horror-themed story that tailors more towards the youth’s interest
How Ballot Measure Wording Affects Preference-Consistent Voting: Experimental Evidence from the United States
Full text linkWhy do some people vote for ballot measures that are inconsistent with their policy preference while others do not? It is important to explore this question in order to understand how well direct democracy translates the will of the people into policy outcomes. Drawing on electoral theories and cognitive science, I hypothesize that people are more likely to vote against their policy preferences when the language of a ballot measure is more complex. I test this hypothesis, along with causal mechanisms and heterogeneous treatment effects, using a survey experiment on a quasi-representative sample of voters in the United States
Challenging the American Empire: A History of Hypocrisy and Double Standards in Human Rights
Full text linkDespite having played a significant role in the development and continuation of an international standard of human rights, the United States has a history of hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to protecting human rights both at home and abroad. This essay examines the connection between the United States and human rights in three key parts. Part I examines the concepts of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism that is prevalent in American society and how those concepts influence the United States engagement with foreign countries on human rights. Part II then, through the case studies of Israel and Afghanistan, looks at the ways human rights has been used as political football in American politics to further the American agenda. In part III, the intersections of race, politics and human rights is explored through the context of President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris. The section further explores the hypocrisy and double standards that are prevalent in both Obama and Harris’s administrations whether that be in domestic or foreign approaches to human rights policy. The piece concludes by looking at the implications of US foreign human rights policy and what the trend of backsliding human rights means for the future
Dance Dance Revolution: Queer Space in the Age of Neoliberalism
Full text linkStatement of Purpose
I first came to this project during my class with Professor Amy Sullivan on Oral Histories in the fall of 2022. For my final project, I conducted an Oral History with queer Minneapolis-based DJ Queen Duin. Hearing about their experience working within the queer music and bar scene in Minneapolis, I started looking into the history of queer spaces here. In beginning this research, I discovered that 40% of gay bars in the US have closed in the past 15 years, with lesbian and femme-centered bars being hit especially hard. In the 1980’s, there were about 200 lesbian bars across the US. Today there are 29. This widespread closure of queer space throughout the country led me to my current project, where I looked into the evolution of these spaces, specifically focusing on the impacts of the neoliberal policies post-1980s. My research begins in the 1940s with some of the first gay bars opening in the Twin Cities and ends with an analysis of queer space in the Twin Cities today, including interviews with DJs Queen Duin and Chico Chi. Additionally, my research touches on the impacts of bathhouses, saunas, and spaces centered around queer sex and sexual non-normativity as it relates to the historic development of queer community and relationships
Effects of Post-Deposition Annealing on Room Temperature Deposited Zinc Oxide
Full text linkThis study focuses on thin film deposition of ZnO onto a glass slide using magnetron sputtering. The focus of the study is to understand the effects of post-deposition annealing temperatures. The goal is to optimize crystal quality, conductivity, and transparency. The results attempt to answer the effects of room temperature deposition and changes in film properties once annealed. Annealing temperatures ranged from 100°C to 400°C with an annealing time of 30 minutes. This found an ideal temperature of 250°C for post-deposition annealing, resulting in approximately 3.86 times more conductivity with little to no decrease in transparency. However crystal quality did not conclusively improve at any temperature range. While providing increased parameters for conductivity and transparency, industry standards find post-deposition annealed films to be 5 times more resistive
Moroccan Women: Diverse Agencies/Les femmes marocaines: l’agentivité diverse
No full textMy name is Rose and my general academic interests are in French and Francophone studies, Arabic, and International or regional studies. In this honors project, I am interested in examining the subjectivities of Moroccan women and their agency in society. This agency can be formal or informal but in general it varies from person to person and is impacted by areas like ethnicity, religion, and social class. While much research and scholarship has been done in the area of gender in Moroccan society, the things I am interested in exploring more myself is the differences in experiences among Moroccan women as their experiences and perspectives often differ considerably around various types of labor and expression including family, education, organizing, and profession or creative and political expression. For example, today most Moroccan women I have met identify as very independent and career driven. Although Morocco is a patriarchal society in some ways, this assertion is not the complete story and it ignores the fact that Moroccan women are often empowered in ways different from the way women in France. My focus is on how Moroccan women find agency in their home communities to aspire to ambition and dream outside the box. Still there are also structural limitations in the country such as discrimination and the impact of neoliberal policies which make some of these ambitions challenging to achieve. Morocco is a country that has historically been matrilineal before the Arab conquest. It is also home to many diverse women’s activist groups. My goal is to see how women navigate between the complex working spaces today in the face of growing globalization and continued Western influence. These factors directly impact how women navigate differing perspectives surrounding women’s labor and expression.
In the past decade, many Moroccan women have disagreed with each other on certain labor issues. For example, the recent changes in the family code has garnered controversy. These changes were heavily supported by organizations like USAID and World Bank, although these organizations are mostly funded from Western countries. For some conservative women in organizations like the Justice and Development Party (PJD) and Adal wa al Ihsanne, traditional Islam should be at the heart of their government’s Islamic policies. These spiritual guides often seeked to support and uplift women through the teachings of Islam, but many rural communities especially often interpreted religion through their cultural lens as well. Still, the experience of a woman living in Sale, a working class suburb outside Rabat is not the same as a woman in Hay Riad, an upper class neighborhood near Rabat which sits on the ancient tribal land of a semi nomadic Arab community called guichey oudaya. Their relationship to gender will be greatly differing depending on their personal circumstances including social class, background or ethnicity, familial status, etc. In general, my project will explore the voices and experiences of Moroccan women in Morocco.
Je m’appelle Rose et mes intérêts académiques généraux sont en études françaises et francophones, en études arabes et internationales ou régionales. Dans ce projet d’honneurs, je m’intéresse aux subjectivités des femmes marocaines et leur agentivité en société. Cela peut être formel et informel, mais en général ça varie d’une personne à l’autre et est affecté par des facteurs comme l’ethnicité, la religion et la classe sociale. Alors que de nombreuses recherches ont été menées dans le domaine du genre dans la société marocaine, je suis intéressée à explorer plus moi-même les différences d’expériences parmi les femmes marocaines. Leurs expériences et perspectives peuvent souvent différer considérablement autour de divers types de travail et d’expression, y compris de la famille, l’éducation, l’organisation, et le travail professionnel et l’expression créative ou politique. Par exemple, aujourd’hui, la plupart des femmes marocaines que j’ai rencontrées s’identifient comme très indépendantes et motivées par leur carrière. Bien que le Maroc ait une société patriarcale à certains égards, ce n’est pas l’histoire complète et ignore le fait que les femmes marocaines sont souvent habilitées d’une manière différente de la façon dont les femmes en France vers leur capacité de résister à l\u27oppression. Je me concentrerai sur la façon dont les femmes marocaines trouvent l’agentivité dans leurs communautés d’origine pour aspirer grand et rêver hors des sentiers battus, mais aussi sur les limites des structures dans le pays comme la discrimination et l’impact des politiques néolibérales. Le Maroc est un pays qui a historiquement été matrilinéaire avant la conquête arabe et il abrite également de nombreux groupes de femmes activistes. Mon objectif est de voir comment les femmes naviguent entre les espaces de travail complexes d’aujourd’hui face à la mondialisation croissante et à l’influence occidentale continue où les femmes naviguent dans différentes perspectives entourant leur expression créative et civique.
Au cours de la dernière décennie, de nombreuses femmes marocaines ont été en désaccord avec les uns et les autres et ne se sont pas entendues sur certaines questions liées au travail. Par exemple, les récents changements apportés au code de la famille ont suscité des controverses. Ces changements ont été fortement soutenus par des organisations comme USAID et la Banque mondiale, parce que ces organisations sont principalement financées par les pays occidentaux. Pour certaines femmes conservatrices dans des organisations comme le Parti de la justice et du développement (PJD) et Adal wa al Ihsanne deux orginisations islamistes (le PJD est reconnu par le gouvernement mais Adal al Ihsanne n’est pas reconnu), l’islam traditionnel devrait être au cœur de la politique islamique de leur gouvernement. Au contraire, les murshidats sont les femmes nommées par le gouvernement pour enseigner la religion d\u27 une façon officielle. Ces guides spirituels ont souvent cherché à soutenir et à élever les femmes grâce aux enseignements de l’islam, mais de nombreuses communautés rurales ont également souvent interprété la religion à travers leur optique culturelle et religieuse. Évidement, l’expérience d’une femme vivant à Sale, une banlieue ouvrière à l’extérieur de Rabat n’est pas la même qu’une femme à Hay Riad, un quartier de la classe supérieure près de Rabat qui se trouve sur l’ancienne terre tribale d’une communauté arabe semi nomade appelée guichey oudaya. Leur relation au genre sera très différente selon leur situation personnelle, y compris la classe sociale, l’origine ou l’ethnicité, le statut familial, etc. En général, mon projet explore les voix et les expériences des femmes marocaines au Maroc
An Investigation into the Causes of Home Field Advantage in Professional Soccer
Full text linkHome-field advantage is the sporting phenomenon in which the home team outperforms the away team. Despite its widespread occurrence across sports, the underlying reasons for home-field advantage remain uncertain. In this paper, we employ a range of statistical methods to explore the causal relationships of potential determinants of home-field advantage. We measure home-field advantage using match outcomes and differential metrics (e.g., differences in yellow cards received). In an attempt to narrow the research disparity between men’s and women’s sports, we utilize data from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the English Premier League (EPL) to investigate potential causes of home-field advantage
Theorizing Folk Cinema
Full text linkThis honors project theorizes the concept of folk cinema. The project grapples with the complex history of the study of folklore and cinema’s historic inaccessibility as a medium in order to position folk cinema as a revolutionary project capable of reimagining both cinema and folklore. Avoiding concrete definitions or the urge to label any specific films as folk cinema, the project explores folk cinema theoretically through the experimental Spanish short film Aguaespejo Granadino, the films of the Bolivian Third Cinema filmmaking collective the Ukamau Group, and finally my own creative intervention via the creation of a short diary film
The forget time for random walks on trees of a fixed diameter
Full text linkA mixing measure is the expected length of a random walk on a graph given a set of starting and stopping conditions. We study a mixing measure called the forget time. Given a graph G, the pessimal access time for a target distribution is the expected length of an optimal stopping rule to that target distribution, starting from the worst initial vertex. The forget time of G is the smallest pessimal access time among all possible target distributions. We prove that the balanced double broom maximizes the forget time on the set of trees on n vertices with diameter d. We also give a precise formula for the forget time of a balanced double broom