This research examines the relationship between the famed organizational culture of Disney as a company and the profitability of Walt Disney World itself. There are several factors of the organizational culture within the employees or “cast members” of Walt Disney World that have become the reason Disney itself is so profitable. Those factors have included the training that every cast member must go through, knowledge of the company and the park alike and the positive treatment and benefits given to the cast members by upper management. The training of the cast members is known to establish high levels of trust and respect among the Disney organization and its guests, which can lead to a positive relationship and a long-term customer. The research in this study is to determine whether the organizational culture and the quality of the employees are what causes a Walt Disney World guest to become a customer and that has kept the profitability so high. The research discovered that Walt Disney World leadership has put too much of a focus on making profits. This pressure to make sales has caused organizational culture to become negative and motivation for cast members to sell to drop, causing more pressure from leadership to make sales.

This qualitative study considers past literature on postsecondary education for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In addition to this, it explains two existing specialized programs at universities for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and discusses strengths and areas of consideration. This study explains best practices and analyzes how to develop a specialized program that embodies best practice at Arizona State University.

In 1986, Wendy Chapkis published Beauty Secrets: Women and the Politics of Appearance, exploring beauty as it is interpreted through physical appearance, gender, and sexuality. Over thirty years later, many of the trends and problems Chapkis identified still exist or have gotten worse; we still live in a society that praises ideal physical beauty, and creates and reinforces unrealistic beauty standards. This research strives to determine why these problems still exist, and how to solve them. Through a combination of creative writing and analytic research, this project will discuss topics that have helped to create problems like cultural influences, gender norms, and the media, as well as discuss the consequences like mental health and eating disorders, and the unattainable ideal beauty standard. The purpose of this study is to bring new attention to the flaws of a society that teaches people they are defined by their appearance, in order to teach people what actions we need to take to make real progress. Research was conducted using an online survey to allow for anonymous, honest, responses, which were then analyzed to inspire sections of creative writing, as well as fuel the analytical research portions of the paper. In this way, the text mirrors Chapkis’ original style to connect and engage with readers. Research shows that many respondents know there are problems with society’s standards, but feel powerless to change anything. This study provides a platform to restart the conversation, and call people to action, to inspire people not to simply redefine beauty, but teach them that they should not define others or themselves by merely their physical appearance.

While there are many characteristics that make up a woman, femininity is one that is difficult to define because it is a communication and expression practice defined by culture. This research explores historical accounts of femininity in the 1950s as seen through the exemplar of the white, middle-class "happy homemaker" or "happy housewife." The 1950s is important to study in light of changing gender and social dynamics due to the transition from World War II to a period of prosperity. By using primary sources from the 1950s and secondary historical analyses, this research takes the form of a sociological accounting of 1950s' femininity and the lessons that can be applied today. Four cultural forces led to homemakers having an unspoken identity crisis because they defined themselves in terms of relationship with others and struggled to uphold a certain level of femininity. The forces are: the feminine mystique, patriotism, cultural normalcy, and unnecessary choices. These forces caused women to have unhealthy home relationships in their marriages and motherhood while persistently doing acts to prove their self-worth, such as housework and consuming. It is important to not look back at the 1950s as an idyllic time without also considering the social and cultural practices that fostered a feminine conformity in women. Today, changes can be made to allow women to express femininity in modern ways by adapting to reality instead of to outdated values. For example, changes in maternity leave policies allow women to be mothers and still be in the workforce. Additionally, women should find fulfillment in themselves by establishing a strong personal identity and confidence in their womanhood before identifying through other people or through society.

The purpose of this study to bring awareness to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among Native American children. The study is a layered autoethnographic study which drew on research completed on ASD and modeled autoethnographic work completed by Henson (2011) and Sughrua (2013). The premise of the study was to examine my experiences as a Native American mother who has a child diagnosed with ASD. The research completed is seen through my ethnic and cultural lens and focused on my son, ASD, minority children, and how race may have effected date of diagnosis.

The experiences of 14 groups of 2-8 players in a local escape room were observed through the lens of small-group teamwork and goal-based communication. Their interactions were used to explore how escape rooms could be used as a tool to improve the retention of knowledge using experiential learning and to develop substantial interpersonal relationships between teams of strangers. These observations were used to develop an ASU-themed escape room for educating prospective students about ASU's culture and campus with a focus on total inclusion and enthusiastic participation.

I wrote creative non-fiction to enrich and expand the existing narratives of Mexican immigrant experiences by preserving oral histories and thus, influence a broader cultural understanding. As a first-generation Mexican-American writer, I believe there is a pressing need to explore the stories of my people, particularly those of my father. I also acknowledge the master narratives that work to influence and consequently oppress my own voice as a writer. The master narrative values white experiences and voices in narrative writing while devaluing work from non-white authors. Thus, it became critical for me to reclaim my true voice as a writer and consequently, disrupt this harmful master narrative. Through this project, I reclaimed my voice as a writer, the one that pays homage to my cultural roots by writing my father's stories authentically. I integrated my heritage language Spanish and English in the writing of these stories. As the daughter of immigrants, this is an important way of representing my identity through my writing. Additionally, the importance of this work is greatly exemplified by the unity that springs forth among Mexican immigrants and children of those immigrants when experiences like these are shared and released into the world. At present, the Mexican immigrant community faces social and political discrimination in the form of misrepresentation, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and racism. Therefore, there is a palpable need for more accurate representation to combat these issues. Written storytelling provides a valuable glimpse into my father's experience as a Mexican immigrant and is a valuable tool to challenge harmful master narratives.

The goal of my thesis is to examine gender roles and their implications on mental illness in the short story of "The Yellow Wallpaper." The context of this thesis is historical, medical, and literary. The project includes five parts. The introduction is an analysis of the various literary criticisms associated with the short story. The second part is research on Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her journey with mental illness. The third part is research and background information on mental illness in the 19th century. The fourth part is research and analysis on the social, political, and economic context of the 19th century in the United States that affected the view of mental illness in the period, such as gender roles. The final part of the thesis is an analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." The analysis focuses on gender roles of the story and how these relate to the depiction of mental illness. This analysis takes into account the historical background and research when studying the context behind the story. In conclusion, the research and information in this thesis provides a new criticism for readers to consider when analyzing "The Yellow Wallpaper."

The goal of this creative project was to create a weaving from raw materials. With the mass-production of modern textiles, the skills and traditions of fiber artistry have seemingly become irrelevant. The scope of fiber artistry is vastly diminished from its historical position; and yet, it still carries a great weight of cultural significance. When working with fibers, one draws upon a history that spans all cultures and the majority of human history (all of human history, excluding approximately the past 150 years of mass-manufactured fibers). This project encompassed each step of the textile production process, from cleaning raw wool, to spinning yarn, to weaving on a loom. The curveball: this project was undertaken with almost none of the essential skills. Consequently, there were many errors and mistakes, and production was frequently derailed and scaled back. These mistakes are documented in photos and videos, so that others who endeavor to learn fiber artistry may avoid these errors, and additionally heed this warning: ask for help early and often. The true value of handmade fiber arts is developed through the maintenance of tradition and sharing new skills with other people. Fiber art communities and the personal maintenance of technical skills allow us to keep a special connection to the past and to the arts. This project was a success in that it produced a valuable learning resource and allowed me to develop my skills in several fields of fiber artistry, while also providing me with a difficult lesson about when to ask for guidance and counseling.

This paper examines creative process and performance as a method of research for understanding self-in-context through the lens of my own artistic research for “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” a project exploring my relationship as a woman to Mennonite religious and cultural identity, spirituality, and dance. Situating my artistic work in relationship to the fields of creative autoethnography, queer and transborder performance art, and somatic dance practice, I discuss the distinctions and commonalities of approach, methods, and practice of artists working in these fields, and the shared challenges of marginalization, translation, and contextualization. In response to these challenges, and the inadequacy of linear, Western, individualistic and mechanistic frameworks to address them, I draw from the ethnographic work of de la Garza, (formerly González, 2000) to seek a “creation-centered” ontological framework that the artist-researcher-performer may use to understand and contextualize their work. I offer the tree as an ontology to understand the organic, emergent nature of creative process, the stages of growth and seasonal cycles, and the structural parts that make up the creative and performative processes, and illustrate this model through a discussion of the growth of “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” as it has emerged over two cyclical “seasons” of maturation.

Note: This work of creative scholarship is rooted in collaboration between three female artist-scholars: Carly Bates, Raji Ganesan, and Allyson Yoder. Working from a common intersectional, feminist framework, we served as artistic co-directors of each other’s solo pieces and co-producers of Negotiations, in which we share these pieces alongside each other. Negotiations is not a showcase of three individual works, but a conversation among three voices. As collaborators, we have been uncompromising in the pursuit of our own unique inquiries and voices and each of our works of creative scholarship stand alone. However, we believe that all of the parts are best understood in relationship to each other and to the whole. For this reason, we have chosen to cross-reference our thesis documents here, and we encourage readers to view the performance of Negotiations in its entirety.
Thesis documents cross-referenced:
French Vanilla: An Exploration of Biracial Identity Through Narrative Performance, by Carly Bates
Bhairavi: A Performance-Investigation of Belonging and Dis-Belonging in Diaspora Communities, by Raji Ganesan
Deep roots, shared fruits: Emergent creative process and the ecology of solo performance through “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” by Allyson Yoder