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The Experience of Awe in Nature and its Implications for Sustainability
Get PDFAwe is a complex emotion and a relatively new field of psychological study. Previous studies have looked at the benefits of spending time in nature including spurring environmental action, and how awe is felt in nature. In this study, I investigate the connection between these two ideas by addressing the questions of how Awe is experienced in the Northern Rivers region of Australia, and whether small and big moments of awe motivate people to take environmental action and connect them to their community and the natural world. For this study, I conducted 15 interviews, collected 51 surveys, and personally explored and journaled about awe (37.5 hours of exploration; 8.75 hours of journaling). Awe in nature was a near universal experience for participants in both dramatic moments and more accessible “day-to-day” moments. Awe appears to be a potential motivator for environmental action by promoting wellbeing and resilience that allows for sustained engagement and increasing a sense of connection to community and nature. While future studies are needed to confirm these results, this initial research suggests that awe has positive effects on people that, at a minimum, allow for positive engagement in environmental action, and may motivate participation as well
Building on Best Practices and Organizational Expertise: Informing Curriculum Design for Refugee and Asylum-seeking Youth at Philadelphia Outward Bound School
Get PDFRefugee and asylum-seeking youth experience a variety of barriers within education, social adjustment and inclusion, and mental and physical health when resettling to a new country. These barriers which can be mitigated with outdoor education programs that supplement existing resettlement programs. Outdoor education has proven positive outcomes in youth’s self-perception and confidence, school performance, community and relationship building, and physical and mental health. This course-linked capstone designs curriculum for an outdoor education program that will be proposed to the Philadelphia Outward Bound School. Designed specifically for refugee and asylum-seeking youth, the curriculum fosters environments for participants to build relationships, gain confidence, and learn skills that will serve them during their resettlement experience. Rooted in frameworks, theories, and current best practices, the curriculum combines ground initiatives and high-ropes and adventure activities that build participants’ capacities to trust each other, work together, communicate, and connect with their peers and interact with their new environment. The proposed curriculum can be used in partnership with current resettlement programs to strengthen services offered to refugee and asylum-seeking youth, and can also lead to further, more in-depth opportunities for participants to adjust to life in Philadelphia
Feminism at the Borders: The Navigation of Gender Issues by Mexican-American Women Along the U.S.-Mexico Border
Get PDFFeminist movements have taken on various iterations since they first began, particularly as the movements expanded beyond predominantly Western and white spaces. This research study explores how gender equality is perceived and navigated along the U.S.-Mexico border area, taking into account the various Latin American and U.S. feminist developments that have shaped the current landscape of the border. 11 Mexican and Mexican-American women living in U.S.-Mexico border states were interviewed to gain an understanding of their definitions, perceptions, and opinions on feminism and gender-related issues given their bicultural contexts. These conversations revealed that ideas of rights and equality were central to many interviewees’ definitions of feminism. Although some interviewees shared a few reservations around the movement due to stereotypes, perceptions around it were overall positive. Most participants saw clashes between ideas of gender equality and traditional Mexican values, particularly around gender roles and economic inequality. Some navigated and challenged these clashes within the confines of traditional expectations, while others broke farther from traditional norms. Participants’ roles as mothers, teachers, and mentors were prominent places for them to influence others with their ideas on how to carry out gender equality. The findings of this research demonstrate how gender equality is constantly being defined, shaped, and promoted by women who live in this unique region
Neocolonialism in Cape Town: The Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) through Critical Theory
Get PDFOnce the apartheid system in South Africa ended in the early 1990s, spatial planning in Cape Town needed to be reassessed to address its historically-racialized use. Led by city planners, this assessment resulted in the 1996 Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) Technical Report. Yet, there ended up being a disconnect between planning and implementation, and by the late 2000s, economic growth and development had largely remained in the historically-white areas of the city. Meanwhile, historically-Black neighborhoods and communities of color remained systemically neglected. In 2012, a new MSDF was approved to address the shortcomings of these efforts. While some integration has occurred, Cape Town remains a severely spatially and economically unequal city almost ten years later. Therefore, through a critical theory approach, this study seeks to interrogate the disconnect between practice and implementation in the 2012 MSDF, and asks the following question: Despite efforts to reduce spatial inequalities in the city post-apartheid through the MSDF, does the institutional state of urban planning in Cape Town today harbor neocolonial qualities? Through historical analysis and interviews with urban policy researchers and city officials, this study connects practice to theory to understand how urban planning functions through the MSDF in Cape Town today
A comparative analysis of migrant health policies and practices in the US and Switzerland
Get PDFMigrants compose a large proportion of the population in both the US and Switzerland. The social vulnerability of migrants has been well-established in literature, but few studies have attempted to compare healthcare policies and approaches that most effectively support migrant health using multiple measures.
To fill this gap in the literature, this study will comparatively analyze of the efficacy of US and Switzerland migrant health policies and services by assessing access to and quality of care for migrants in each country. Four main features of healthcare systems were analyzed: insurance policy, healthcare utilization, NCD outcomes, and patient perceptions of care. This analysis was built around a literature review, data analysis leveraging the 2019 US National Health Interview Survey and 2017 Swiss Health Survey, and interviews with migrant experts from each country and a migrant in Switzerland.
Switzerland had more equitable utilization patterns between migrants and citizens as well as more positive migrant perceptions of care, while the US had lower NCD prevalence among migrants than citizens. Switzerland seemed to have more equitable insurance policy, but this inference could not be confirmed due to lack of data. Ultimately, these results suggest that migrant health is better supported by health policies and practices in Switzerland than in the US
Using Sport as a Tool for Sustainable Development: International Organizations and Sustainability
Get PDFFor hundreds of years, sports have provided a platform of entertainment that serves its main core purpose of bringing groups of people together. Today it is a global tradition that promotes an inclusive society and allows an educational experience for the athlete and the fan. Sports are a possible catalyst in striving for global objectives. The United Nations created the Millenium Development Goals which were eight goals proposed in the year 2000. Aimed to work toward the biggest problems we as a global community face. Fast forward fifteen years and the new Sustainable Development Goals are created. They consist of seventeen goals that crave action by every country and cover a broad range of subjects. Sports can directly serve as a bridge in raising awareness of issues surrounding the goals. Athletes, sporting event staff, travel tourism companies, fans, and International Sports Federations have not always put the environment or social inclusion efforts first when it comes to sport. However, it has the power to change the world, once said by Nelson Mandela, a South African political icon who believed the power of sport can do the unimaginable. Sustainability is challenging for sporting events that host competitions with numerous crowds, or sports like biathlon, that previously used harmful wax for the skis and that are reliant on exact amounts of snow at the right time. Even though they have solved the issue by using artificial snow, the climate isn’t getting any better and those methods take up resources. International and local sports organizations deal with sustainability issues environmentally, socially, and economically. Practicing innovation in these three pillars of sustainability and implementing them into a sports organization or event creates value directly for the organization, the surrounding area, its fans, and the environment. Having sports entities use sustainability as a foundation in their practices is crucial to sports innovation
From River to Ridge: The Influence of Elevation and Habitat on Herpetofauna Species Abundance and Diversity in the Llanganates-Sangay Ecological Corridor, Ecuador
Get PDFEcuador is one of the most reptile-diverse countries and is home to the highest abundance of amphibians per unit area, with new species being discovered frequently. The Río Pastaza basin is located to the east of the Andes and is characterized by a steep elevational gradient, converging tropical forest types, and high levels of biodiversity and endemicity. Visual surveying was conducted at night for a total of 48 hours in four different study sites to investigate the influence of elevation and habitat on herpetofauna diversity and abundance. Two comparisons were drawn between the four study sites, grouping SKIS and Waska sites and Ridge and River sites. Comparing similarity between sites indicated low species overlap and high endemicity between sites. Certain species dominated some sites or exhibited preferences for specific habitat types. High concentrations of undescribed species were recorded along with an observation of a species new to the Río Pastaza basin region. Further herpetofauna population studies would benefit from the integration of calling surveys and building out a database to conduct more comprehensive and efficient surveying of different sites.
Ecuador es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de reptiles y la mayor abundancia de anfibios por unidad de área, con nuevas especies que se descubren con frecuencia. La región del río Pastaza está ubicada al este de los Andes y se caracteriza por un gradiente altitudinal pronunciado, tipos de bosques tropicales convergentes, y altos niveles de biodiversidad y endemismo. Se realizaron estudios visuales durante la noche durante un total de 48 horas en cuatro sitios diferentes para investigar la influencia de la elevación y el hábitat en la diversidad y abundancia de la herpetofauna. Se hicieron dos comparaciones entre los cuatro sitios de estudio, agrupando los sitios SKIS y Waska y los sitios Ridge y River. La comparación de la similitud entre los sitios indicó una baja superposición de especies y una alta endemicidad entre los sitios. Ciertas especies dominaron algunos sitios o exhibieron preferencias por tipos de hábitat específicos. Se registraron altas concentraciones de especies no descritas junto con la observación de una especie nueva en la región de la cuenca del río Pastaza. Los estudios adicionales de la población de herpetofauna se beneficiarían de la integración de encuestas de llamadas y la creación de una base de datos para realizar encuestas más completas y eficientes en diferentes sitios
La Capital Marica de Chile: Un mapa queer/kuir/marica de Valparaíso y una investigación sobre la construcción publica de una comunidad visible en Valparaíso
Get PDFIn Valparaíso, Chile, there is a teeming queer presence in the streets and public spaces. Expressions of queerness can be seen in Plaza Anabel Pinto in the way in which people dress or style their hair, can be heard from the small plaza in front of the Severin Library with the voguing/kiki music blasting at nights, and is grafittied on the walls all around the city. This presence and visibility is met with violence and accompanied by precarious life situations. It was my goal through this investigation to explore this relationship between violence and visibility as it is contradicted and maintained through queer community expressions in public spaces in Valparaíso.
The relationship between community and territory is one that has been important in other queer studies in the past to evaluate how this underground culture and community is created when based, to an outsider’s eye, merely on shared sexual preferences. Public displays of community, in the form of community lunches, dances, clubs or protests all go to show that there is a deeper culture than merely the sexual preferences of the members of the community.
My project has been created through a series of personal interviews, observations and participation in the community, and reading queer theories native to Chile and Valparaíso. All of which culminate in this essay and in my accompanying collage/map of a queer/kuir/marica Valparaíso. My investigation shows the importance of public spaces as areas to ritualistically and autonomously define a culture and politic of a community which historically has been defined by the heteropatriarchy and dominant culture. Public spaces are also a place of care, support, and safety for individuals in the community. Finally, public spaces are important for people to explore and define themselves and their own identities in relation to the queer community and also in relation to a dominant culture that is constantly surveilling them. The process of learning to navigate the city as a queer person, is a process of learning how to navigate a queer identity in yourself, and is a process of learning how to navigate a world that can be dangerous and precarious for queer people. Valparaíso is an deeply interesting case study for this phenomenon because of its specific geography, history, and culture as a port city, a university city, and a “flojo” or loose city
Worrying in Cato Manor: A Case Study Analysis on the Influence of Context
Get PDFSocial Causation theory states that social and economic circumstances cause people to be at a higher risk of mental illness (Lund 2011, p.1). South Africa has high inequality, with racial disparities prevalent in multiple indicators of socioeconomic status. Moreover, mental health in South Africa has often not been prioritized. This project aimed to assess how context impacts relevant aspects of mental health, such as worrying and the mind/body stress-response in Cato Manor. An additional theme of community beliefs on stress emerged from the interviews which is also presented.
For this project, I used a Mixed Methods-Case Study research design. I conducted semi-structured interviews and created questionnaires that I had participants fill out. In the findings section, I present the major themes that arose from the interviews and questionnaires, then go into detail on two case studies that I felt best highlighted how context impacts mental health.
Overall, I found that Money, Unemployment, and The Future are the three most popular worries that participants “think too much about.” Case Study #1 focuses on a context of Unemployment and High Rates of HIV and Case Study #2 involves a context of Poverty and Zulu Ceremonies. The participants in both case studies excessively worried about their problems and experienced psychosocial effects that aligned with previous literature. Family was found to be helpful for coping in different ways. Moreover, community perceptions on stress revealed different responses related to history and stigma that explain why stress is not often discussed
(Witch) Crafting Identity: An Autoethnographic Analysis of the Dutch National Identity Through Women in Haunted History
Get PDFThis autoethnographic study analyzes the presentation of women in haunted history in order to dissect the construction of the Dutch national identity. Through a personal narrative experience, the art, museums, tourist enterprises, and physical locations that constitute the city of Amsterdam are put in conversation with one another in order to draw out the inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the Dutch narratives of progress. Firstly, the Spin Huis and the ghost story connected to it are juxtaposed to the City of Amsterdam’s narrative in order to draw out themes of sexual exceptionalism at the expense of foreign bodies. Next, the Amsterdam Dungeon is situated in relation to dark tourism, dark leisure, and the Red Light District to demonstrate the inconsistency in the Dutch identity of “tolerance.” Lastly, the museum of the Heksenwaag, or Witch Weigh House, is used to analyze the Netherlands’ secular exceptionalism and spiritual privileging. These investigations inform my argument that the Netherlands dissociates itself from its haunted history, which is often incongruous with its self-conceptualization as a progressive country, in order to construct and maintain its tolerant, secular, and sexually liberated identity; in doing so, it illuminates the hypocrisies present in the Netherlands\u27 dismissal of sex work and anti-religious xenophobia