There is a reason good artists are often considered radical- we have to be critical thinkers, capable of understanding the foundations of things rather than just their superficial structures in order to create (or at least justify our creations if we have things a bit backward) and understand where our next project is coming from . We get there by understanding ourselves and our experiences, delving into seemingly unrelated but interesting topics, learning basic techniques, applying those techniques, and finally requesting feedback. The feedback gives us additional information which we can use to think critically, find other ways to communicate that enhance the point we want to make, and then make the work accessible to more people. For most artists the process isn’t entirely conscious though improvement comes faster when it is. Art also requires information across disciplines. The nature of art in that it requires critical inquiry, a social environment, and the ability to handle intangible and often random ideas, which is also necessary to those in fields such as science and math. My goal in creating this program is to address critical thinking concerns and create an environment where students are encouraged to think beyond tradition, to make mistakes and get comfortable doing so while also working toward a goal and creating a finished product. I also want to prepare student for life as a working artist as most stop creating when they graduate. This overview of the program and it reasons for being, is designed primarily for educators to see how an online BFA in drawing is possible, and in some senses even preferable to traditional in-person classes. This paper covers the pedagogical concerns and much of what is needed to institute the change in environment.

This research project delves into the effects of Arizona's 'English-Only' law on education and the socioeconomic landscape, with a specific focus on linguistic minorities. By examining language acquisition, cultural identity, and access to public services and opportunities, this investigation sheds light on the unique challenges faced by emergent bilingual students. This study holds particular significance given Arizona's status as one of the few states maintaining such legislation, prompting critical reflections on its impact on linguistic minorities. By examining the constitutionality and legislative intent of ‘English Only” laws, the research seeks to unravel the motivations underlying their implementation. Furthermore, it evaluates the societal repercussions of the law, exploring its influence on the experiences and opportunities of linguistic minorities within Arizona. In the educational domain, the study assesses the law's effects on language acquisition and educational access for linguistic minorities, offering comparative insights with other states' approaches. Ultimately, this research aims to comprehensively analyze the current landscape and provide recommendations for future language-related legislation in Arizona. Given Arizona's distinct position as one of the few states upholding such legislation, this investigation raises critical questions about its implications for linguistic minorities within its borders. The research offers insights into the 'English-Only' law's background, including its constitutional examination and legislative motivations. Additionally, it evaluates the law's societal impact, considering its influence on the experiences and opportunities of linguistic minorities in Arizona. The study investigates the law's consequences on language acquisition and educational access within the academic sphere, drawing comparisons with alternative approaches in other states. Ultimately, this research seeks to provide policymakers and stakeholders with informed recommendations for navigating future language-related legislation in Arizona.

In game development, interaction frameworks provide generic functionality for users to engage with virtual worlds and are required to enable this on nonstandard hardware such as extended reality platforms. Currently, no publicly accessible frameworks exist that implement interactive world objects in XR settings, prompting the question: if one were to be made, how and why would it be usable? This thesis explores the properties that make an XR-enabled object interaction framework usable by game developers and game designers. This thesis introduces the basic form of such a framework and the design of a set of user studies centered around this framework’s utilization in a game development workflow. User feedback is gathered for the study’s results, and is evaluated around user perception of framework expressiveness, extensibility, and ease of use. The results of the study found that users primarily judged usability through comparisons to real-world equivalents, utilization of conventional systems, object interactivity, clarity of framework components, usability of framework toolkits and these are discussed in relation to existing research on virtual object interaction.

Mexican-origin families (MO) have been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to White European-Americans. Latinx youth also reported increased concern about somatic symptoms (i.e. bodily symptoms) during the pandemic compared to non-Latinx peers. Current research on the pandemic indicates that cohesive and supportive families fare better than families within high-conflict households. However, no research has directly examined parent-child conflict during the pandemic in relation to youth somatic symptoms. Previous studies considered cultural proxies as predictors of somatic symptoms in Latinx children, the specific influence of prominent cultural values like familism remains less explored. Familism, emphasizing family well-being, is considered protective for Latinx youth, but evidence suggests it may pose risks in high parent-child conflict households. Utilizing Qualtrics panel, I collected data from 301 MO parents reporting on a target child (Mage= 11.4 years, SD= 3.7; 50.2% female) between March and June 2022. Approximately 40% of parents completed the survey in Spanish. Parental familism dimensions (support, family as referent, and obligations) were assessed as well as youth somatic symptoms. Changes in parent-child conflict and changes in social and family contacts due to the pandemic were also measured. Logistic regression models revealed that greater increases in conflict significantly predicted the presence of youth somatic symptoms (OR = 0.52, 95% CI= [0.27, 1.00]. Unexpectedly, total familism did not significantly moderate the relation between change in parent-child conflict and the presence of somatic symptoms (RR = 1.16, 95% CI= [0.99, 1.36]. However, post hoc analyses revealed that parental familism support was the only dimension of familism that was directly associated with the count of child somatic symptoms (RR= 0.81, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]= 0.71, 0.93). Parental familism as a referent significantly moderated the relation between change in parent-child conflict and the count of somatic symptoms (RR= 1.19, 95% CI = [1.01, 1.41]), such that higher familism values strengthened the positive relationship of change in parent-child conflict and higher count of somatic symptoms. Findings emphasize the need for future longitudinal research, considering medical conditions, to understand how parental familism values, particularly support, may buffer against somatic symptoms for Latinx youth.