In the 1970’s, the United States was revolutionized by second-wave feminism as conversations about sex and contraception reached the forefront of the political stage. Roe v. Wade (410 US 113-178, Supreme Court of the United States) reshaped how the Constitution protects privacy and autonomy, while also taking a stance on the cultural war between "pro-choice" and "pro-life" advocates. Since 1973, the conservative movement has launched a coordinated campaign to create pro-life policies at the state and federal levels. Since Roe was decided, access to reproductive care has faced continuous attacks, with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center (No. 19-1392, 597 U.S Supreme Court (2022)) representing a definitive tipping point in the ongoing battle for reproductive rights. The Dobbs decision now leaves millions of Americans in limbo as state legislatures are left to battle what abortion will look like in their state. Driven by political objectives, the Supreme Court employed an originalist interpretation to advance a specific and narrow understanding of the Constitution, ultimately subjectively overturning precedent. This analysis aims not only to offer an exact critique of the logic weaponized by the court and the hypocrisy wielded by the conservative judges on the court, but also to situate this case in the national and historical context. The fight to overturn Roe was a coordinated effort and was by no means accidental or coincidental. Evaluating this critique without acknowledging the context is naïve because to do so is to miss half of the picture. Understanding why this case was brought to the Supreme Court when it was is just as important as the content of the decision.

The United States houses only five percent of the world’s population but over 20% of its prison population. There has been a dramatic increase in carceral numbers over the last several decades with much of this population being people with mental illness designations. Many scholars attribute this phenomenon to the process of deinstitutionalization, in which mental health institutions in the U.S. were shut down in the 1950s and ‘60s. However, disability scholar Liat Ben-Moshe argues that this is a dangerous oversimplification that fails to credit the deinstitutionalization movement as an abolitionist movement and to take into account shifting demographics between institutions and prisons/jails. This study considers how mass incarceration in the U.S. stems from a trend of isolating and punishing BIPOC and people with disabilities at disproportionate rates as it explores lived experiences at the intersection of mental health and incarceration. Findings inform an abolitionist agenda by highlighting the near impossibility of rehabilitation and treatment in an inherently traumatizing space.

In 2016, Azerbaijan arrested one of its esteemed writers, Akram Aylisli, for writing a fictional story depicting Armenian trauma, existence, and peaceful coexistence with Azeris. This paper analyzes how Akram Aylisli's work, "Stone Dreams: A Novel-Requiem,' has reevaluated national identity and has disrupted the official memory created by Azerbaijan, where certain historical events are contested and even suppressed.

Food waste is a crucial issue in stores, restaurants and other institutions. Specifically, there is a high amount of food waste in grocery stores, especially in the produce section. As a result, environmental damage occurs, and many individuals struggle to have food in their homes. This thesis will analyze the cause, quantity, and effect of this waste, and how it can be changed or mitigated. An overarching question was posed to analyze these causes and effects of waste, asking how does the amount of produce waste that occurs in Scottsdale, Arizona contribute to environmental issues and what is being done to remedy this issue? As this is a difficult question to answer on its own, the research was broken down into two more answerable questions, which are Why does produce get wasted in grocery stores? How much of this occurs? and What remedies already exist to limit/reduce this waste? These questions are important because they contribute to knowledge and understanding about food waste, consumer waste, as well as the overall environmental impact of being wasteful. It is also important for both retailers and consumers to understand that waste has an immense and negative impact on the environment and contributes to climate change, and that taking steps to reduce this waste is essential.

Divorce and custody decisions have profound effects on the children involved for years to come. Depending on the circumstances, level of conflict, and custody decision results, these repercussions can resonate all the way into adulthood (D'Onofrio, 2019). This explorative qualitative study focuses on three young adults at or under the age of twenty-six whose parents divorced when they were minors. Now as young adults, they can look back on the procedures and processes utilized during the time of divorce and after the initial custody arrangements to provide insight as to what did and did not work in their family’s situation. This study focuses on the child’s perspective to see what the most effective practices are when making these decisions, which can further be used to suggest ways to reform the current processes in family court rulings involving custody decisions. The research findings will be discussed in this paper to highlight key experiences that played a pivotal role in the way these individuals interpret their experiences.

Divorce and custody decisions have profound effects on the children involved for years to come. Depending on the circumstances, level of conflict, and custody decision results, these repercussions can resonate all the way into adulthood (D'Onofrio, 2019). This explorative qualitative study focuses on three young adults at or under the age of twenty-six whose parents divorced when they were minors. Now as young adults, they can look back on the procedures and processes utilized during the time of divorce and after the initial custody arrangements to provide insight as to what did and did not work in their family’s situation. This study focuses on the child’s perspective to see what the most effective practices are when making these decisions, which can further be used to suggest ways to reform the current processes in family court rulings involving custody decisions. The research findings will be discussed in this paper to highlight key experiences that played a pivotal role in the way these individuals interpret their experiences.