Using existing research on refugee populations in Mexico, theory of change models were created to model a potential early childhood development program for refugee children ages 0-5 in Mexico. The populations taken into consideration were refugees in Mexico from other Latin American countries, refugees migrating through Mexico towards the northern border, and refugees who had crossed/were crossing the border into the United States.

Written comedy is a method of expression that has existed since cultures penned language. Widely recognized as the ‘oldest written joke’, Reuters identifies a Sumerian tablet from 1900 BC that holds one of the first written expressions of comedy: “Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap." From this joke, almost 4,000 years of comedic material has been processed. In a relatively recent phenomenon in the comedic landscape, sketch comedy serves as a tool of reflexive representation, showcasing vignettes of chaos, rooted in the mundane. This Honors Thesis looks to identify not only the core traits of sketch comedy, as its form demands rigorous structure, as well as the core function of sketch comedy as a cultural lens. The expression ‘rules are meant to be broken’ is one of the great boons of sketch comedy’s appeal; a pattern of ‘rule-breaking’ will be explored through a live performance of my own sketch comedy pieces. The written framework of this piece explores form and function as fundamental requirements for effective sketch comedy, and illustrates the innate understanding of the audience to accept chaos, deception, or the perversion of truth as a tool to express comedy. Sketch comedy exists only as a subset of a wider spectrum of comedy, drawing on historical certainties and established foundations that maintain today. The added creative project serves as a proof of concept; a demonstration of the forces of form and function as they exist on stage. Through careful analysis of my own written work, the outlined focus on the ‘true definition’ of sketch comedy will align carefully with my own practiced works.

This thesis is a continuation of the Humanities Lab “Narratives of School Shootings” class, which analyzed the impact of school violence on students and communities and examined the narratives and factors that exist relating to school shootings. A primary focus of the class was youth activism and advocacy. In collaboration with the Greenlights Grant Initiative, which was created to combat violence in schools, Barrett students were partnered with school districts to assist in grant writing. Using projects from “Narratives of School Shootings”, the team deduced which grants best supported each school district and worked with the districts to write and submit them. These grants are used for proactive and reactive measures to keep student emotionally and physically sound. Through this process, Barrett students analyzed the intricacies of grant writing and government funding, as well as how those contribute to cycles of inequality.

This thesis is a continuation of the Humanities Lab “Narratives of School Shootings” class, which analyzed the impact of school violence on students and communities and examined the narratives and factors that exist relating to school shootings. A primary focus of the class was youth activism and advocacy. In collaboration with the Greenlights Grant Initiative, which was created to combat violence in schools, Barrett students were partnered with school districts to assist in grant writing. Using projects from “Narratives of School Shootings”, the team deduced which grants best supported each school district and worked with the districts to write and submit them. These grants are used for proactive and reactive measures to keep student emotionally and physically sound. Through this process, Barrett students analyzed the intricacies of grant writing and government funding, as well as how those contribute to cycles of inequality.

Peach Pie is a young adult, epistolary historical fiction novel based in 1888 Texas surrounding the Collins family. After the tragedy of losing three of their family members, two of the three remaining Collins children move to a new town and begin a new life while also grappling with grief, loss and trauma. This is a dual first person point of view novel being told through diary entries and letters from the perspective of two of the Collins siblings: Ernest Collins is an eleven-year-old boy struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder while learning to be a normal child for the first time; Wilda Collins is a fifteen-year-old girl who is exploring her identity and place in society as she begins to enter adulthood. With these two perspectives, the reader is thrown into both a mental health and coming of age story centered around the experiences of everyday life in 19th century Texas, displaying the ups and downs of love, loss and young adult adventures in a historical setting.