This thesis addresses the opportunity for Psych for All to transform its intentions into impact throughout the Psychology Department, and later onto the greater Arizona State University campus and beyond. Psych for All is made up of both a faculty and student committee, with the student committee called Psych for All and the faculty committee being known as Excellence, Access, and Inclusion: Psych for All. The main focus will be on how the committee members’ ideas can transform into tangible initiatives, and how a more structured committee will produce greater results. This transformation will be analyzed using Bolman and Deal’s four frames as presented in their book, Reframing Organizations. The four frames consist of human resource, structural, political, and symbolic. The utilization of each frame will aid in the impact and organizational functioning of Psych for All. The solutions presented in this paper include improving the culture within the committee, shifting the management of funds, assigning clear tasks, and strengthening the relationship between the faculty and student committees. Each of these solutions reflects a different Bolman and Deal Frame, and they all aim to improve the Psych for All committees. Through the implementation of these solutions, Psych for All will be able to effectively operate as an organization and create powerful initiatives impacting the lives of students. This process has been extremely enriching, and I am excited to have been given the opportunity to help enrich an organization I care deeply for. It is my goal that this analysis will aid Psych for All in their future initiatives and impact.

This paper gains an understanding of the perceptions of migration among non-migrants within the United States and Mexico. Given the politicization and relevancy of migration in contemporary politics, a deeper sociological analysis is important to understand if perceptions from a migrant-receiving and a migrant-sending country are similar or different and to understand the motivations of these perceptions. This study utilizes quantitative data from the World Values Survey that asked questions centered around policy preferences for migration. Additionally, qualitative interviews were conducted with both American citizens and Mexican citizens with questions centered around perceptions of migration within their country, perceptions of United States-Mexico migration, and their general perceptions of the economic reliance between both countries. The analysis of this data has shown a strong correlation between one's home country and their perspective on migration. Both Americans and Mexicans have liberal attitudes about migration but have a slight variation in responses. Americans tend to favor surveillance, legality, and security. Additionally, Americans had a lack of a holistic understanding of migrant motivations. Mexican participants responded to questions with more of an emphasis on empathy and a comprehensive understanding of the push and pull factors that drive migration. Both countries agreed that the United States and Mexico have economic interdependence and agreed that Mexico has a higher reliance on the United States. However, American respondents viewed the reliance between both countries as lower than Mexican respondents. The study concludes that historical, economic, political, and geographic factors have a strong influence on perceptions of migration and these factors vary depending on one's country of origin.

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.

In this thesis, we identify and analyze several chosen themes of Asian American identity that we feel are touched on in interesting ways within the body of films and media we’ve chosen to focus on. We do not argue that these themes are the most important for all Asian Americans, but we do believe that these themes reflect some of the commonly discussed questions of Asian American identity, particularly within the mainstream middle class. In one vein, these themes underline desires and longing present within Asian America and parallel competing notions of exclusion and integration: dreams of success, belonging, and connection.

The primary goal of the present study is to gain a better understanding of how one might use foreign language media as a tool for second/third language acquisition (SLA) and to evaluate its efficacy through a personal case study. Studies of second language acquisition have been done in many regions and across many languages, with many different populations, making it difficult to come to definitive, generalizable conclusions on the best way to acquire a second language. Many theories of second language acquisition have been proposed to bridge this gap. The foundation for most of these theories refers back to Stephen Krashen’s comprehensive theory of language acquisition (1981). Research in this area of study so far has thus largely been limited to children’s incidental language acquisition, with very few studies focusing on the experience of this acquisition. Because of time constraints and limited resources, this study is informed by previous longitudinal studies and takes the form of a personal case study, thus placing more focus on qualitative aspects of the experience rather than measurable, quantitative results. The author acts as a primary research subject, watching four hours of Italian media per week and taking notes on distinctive cultural aspects, important plot points, and new or difficult Italian words. The ACTFL scale was used to evaluate the level of Italian language proficiency at three stages of the media-consumption period: a base-line measurement before beginning the study; at the mid-way point of the study; and after the study was complete. This evaluation took the form of a conversational test administered by an Italian language professor at Arizona State University. Throughout the experience, a variety of studies that examined SLA were analyzed in order to better inform this study. Results of this study suggest that foreign language media can be an extremely helpful resource, even when no other language learning tools are implemented. Both my experience, and the research studies reviewed, suggest that one may be able to measurably increase one’s second language proficiency by multiple levels on the ACTFL scale by engaging in regular viewing of film/media in the language of study over a long period of time.

Power— defined as material or social resources one brings into a relationship—can influence the experiences of each partner and has implications for relationship satisfaction. Queer individuals have distinct sexual and gender identities that may influence power dynamics within their relationships, yet Queer relationships have rarely been investigated. We used cross-sectional data to examine how sexual orientation and gender interact to predict experiences of power in Queer relationships, and how power experience affects relationship satisfaction. Participants (N = 196) were recruited online via Prolific. Analyses suggested that lesbians experience the most egalitarian power dynamics, followed by heterosexuals, with bisexual/pansexuals and gay men experiencing the least egalitarian power dynamics. Relationship satisfaction followed a similar trend across groups, consistent with previous work. However, no interaction was found between participant gender and sexual orientation in predicting power dynamics. Exploratory analyses revealed a possible significant association of satisfaction with power in one’s relationship and relationship satisfaction, beyond effects of overall power dynamics. We benefited from a diverse sample; however, our analyses were underpowered. Future studies should continue to examine power dynamics in Queer relationships, and the role of satisfaction with couple power differentials and gender roles in mediating these associations.

A brief historical analysis of popular models of fatherhood are reviewed alongside current conceptions and representations. The research aim is to cultivate an understanding of the messages portrayed by fathers themselves in public spaces. TED Talks featuring discussion about fathers are analyzed using a thematic analysis with the incorporation of quantitative descriptors. The following four themes emerged: 1.) Fathers as Distinct Figures, 2.) Role Reprioritization, 3.) Role Development, 4.) Effects of Fathering. Future directions suggest survey and experimental designs to better understand media effects of these videos as well as the need to create space for mothers' voices on the topic at hand.