华体会

Zarah Ahmad

Queer Geotrauma: An analysis of the Colorado Springs Queer Experience

Abstract: The construction of place, referring to the political, social, religious, and military contexts, impact every individual’s lived experience. Groups often experience harmful aspects of place through geotrauma, a collective trauma intertwined with place and geography. I pose the question of how place contributes to the realization of geotrauma for queer residents in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is the second largest Colorado city and is widely associated with the military and Evangelicalism. In the 90s, Colorado passed a ballot measure that legalized discrimination on the basis of sexuality that imposed the groundwork for conditions of geotrauma even after it was overturned by the Supreme Court. To answer this question, I evaluated and analyzed public Colorado Springs Oral History Projects. I found that queer people experienced geotrauma through harmful mechanisms of anti-queer religious and military institutions, but the geographic dispersion of Colorado Springs protects queer residents by creating different ‘bubbles.’ These bubbles help residents maintain physical barriers between communities that hold anti-queer sentiments.

Josie Ballew 

When “Care” means Control: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Colorado’s Involuntary Commitment Policy

Abstract: Involuntary mental health treatment has a long history as a mode of social control in the western world, and remains a prominent subject of political, legal, and medical concern. Although it is often articulated as a form of care and social service, the research on involuntary treatment policy, which deals primarily in commitment criteria, procedures, and rights of those committed, reveals power imbalanced relationships between care providers and care recipients. This study explores what discourses are at play in Colorado’s state commitment policy: Care and Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness (C.R.S. 27-65). The document has been analyzed using Wodak and Fairclough’s criteria for critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings indicate five discourses which communicate the power of medico-legal institutions over people experiencing mental health issues: a hybrid discourse of medicine and law, temporality, cure, rights, and risk.

Cedar Bennett

Happier from Home: The Predicting Factors of Employee Well-Being in In-Person and Virtual Workspaces

Abstract: The goal of this study is to better understand the predictors of employee well-being in in-person and virtual workspaces by looking at the factors of social connectedness, work-life balance, and work autonomy. This fits into psychological and sociological literature on Industry 4.0, workplace well-being, and the social determinants of mental health. This cross-sectional survey study used convenience sampling methods to gather information from 80 participants, and used Stata to analyze through multiple regression, t-tests, and correlations. It was found that for the sample of mostly white women (87.3% white, 80% women), well-being is higher in those working virtually (t = 2.60, p = 0.011), and that this effect is mediated by work-life balance (z = 3.89, p = 0.000) and autonomy (z = 4.64, p = 0.000). Working mostly virtually improves both work-life balance (t = -3.84, p = 0.000) and autonomy (t = -4.58, p = 0.000), and those factors in turn increase well-being (work-life balance: p = 0.000; autonomy: p = 0.007). There is no difference in social connectedness based on work format (t = 0.04, p = 0.968); however, higher levels of social connectedness also predicted higher levels of well-being (p = 0.004). These findings demonstrate that to increase employees’ well-being, especially for their white female employees, workplaces should focus on improving social connectedness, work-life balance, and autonomy. If they’re in-person workplaces, they should especially focus on work-life balance and autonomy, since in- person workplaces tend to fall shorter in those areas than virtual workplaces.

Willo Burglechner

“I can’t tell who’s gay anymore: the interlockings of fashion and identity transformation”

Abstract: As queerness becomes more mainstream, queer style is spreading into nonqueer spaces. This study explores how queer and nonqueer identities are changing as more people adopt the queer aesthetic. Sixteen participants were interviewed about how their sense of identity changes as their style changes to discover if nonqueer people are adopting a queer sensibility through their adoption of the queer aesthetic. The results were inconclusive, however, they demonstrated that, for the participants, style is fluid and ever changing, not tied to specific elements of an identity.

Mason Castle

I Watched the Child Get Introduced to Violence": Melancholy, Grief, and Self-Making in Earl Sweatshirt's Feet of Clay

Abstract: This project examines the intersections of neoliberalism and popular music aesthetics. By treating music itself as theory, this paper examines popular music as a discursive space for the production of alternative politics and subjectivities. Through a qualitative content analysis of Earl Sweatshirt’s 2019 album, Feet of Clay, it is revealed how melancholy and grief contribute to self-making in the context of the artist’s relationship to death under neoliberal capitalism.

Sierra Drossman

GentrificARTion: The Impact of Public Art on Community and Civic Changes in the RiNo District

Abstract: “Artivism,” or art with social justice messages, has gained popularity in the past several years. Activist art is often seen as public art when artists share their messages and work within a community. As a case study, this thesis uses the River North (RiNo) district in Denver, which in the past 20 years has transformed into an arts district, to understand the impact of public art, specifically murals, on the changes that occurred. To understand these changes, artists who are viewed as activist artists, local business owners and managers, and employees of art non-profits in the area were interviewed to better understand the impact of public art on district changes. This thesis reveals that as public art is becoming more popular it adds aesthetic value to a locale, that can result in gentrification. These two impacts of public art provide both a constructive factor by creating community connection and fostering social change and as a destructive factor through being a catalyst for gentrification. These factors have caused significant changes in the neighborhood makeup and resulted in both community members and artists using their platform to combat gentrification by involving the community in public art programming, using art to spread messages of the cultural history and social issues in the area, and using art to create awareness of the impact of development. Using this RiNo case study, the ideas of community involvement and education through public art can be applied to other locations facing gentrification. 

Silvia Entenza

Exploring the Role of Social Capital in the Academic Success of Undocumented Students at 华体会

Abstract: Through theoretical use of social capital and interviews with college students who identified themselves as undocumented, my thesis reveals the key assets/experiences students feel have been the most helpful in their persistence and motivation as first-generation undocumented students. To guide my research, I have formulated the following research question: How does the interplay between legal status and support systems influence the academic experience of undocumented students at 华体会?

Mei-ji Fong

The Finest Liberal Arts Education for White Full-Pay Students: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the 华体会 Antiracism Implementation Plan

Abstract: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals have increasingly questioned the value of higher education in the United States (Lederman 2022). In the last twenty years, private, in-state, and out-of-state college tuition and fees have each increased by over 130% on average (Kerr and Wood 2022). As administrators across the country scramble to identify what makes their schools unique and marketable, 华体会 has decided to champion “antiracism.” Though it is exciting that 华体会 has asserted its desire to become antiracist, individuals are concerned that the broad plan will not lead to change. This paper is an examination of the values promoted by 华体会’s Antiracism Implementation Plan a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings suggest that the Antiracism Implementation Plan and antiracism itself are framed as an educational benefit to primarily White students on a White/Other binary as evidenced by primary subjects, lexicons of production and bureaucracy, and discourse around community-raised issues. 

Mazlyn Freier

"Anxiety is an Admission Requirement:" Discourses of Student Mental Health on Small, Private Liberal Arts College Campuses

Abstract: This study utilizes a qualitative methodology to analyze students, staff, and administrators’ perceptions of the current mental health climate on their college campuses through employing discourse analysis. I analyze thirteen semi-structured interviews with Student Body Presidents, Directors of Counseling Centers, and Deans of Students from six different small, private liberal arts colleges across the United States. Though only one participant identified their school as having a formal mental health policy, all participants agreed that their students were unwell. When explaining why student mental health was a concern, participants referenced campus definitions of “wellness,” campus-sponsored mental health services, and their own perceptions of existing campus policies to explain the failing state of student mental health. Participants also cited several factors including workload, inability to take time off, stressors of being a marginalized student, and understaffed and overbooked counseling centers as contributing to an “imperative of wellness” that reinforced ideals of neoliberalism.

Nina Goodkin

Shifting Abortion Frames In The New York Times: A Qualitative And Quantitative Content Analysis Before And After Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Abstract: In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a nearly fifty-year precedent guaranteeing the constitutional right to abortion. This paper investigates how the New York Times reported on abortion before and after the Supreme Court’s ruling using Etman’s (1973) theory of framing. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis shows that journalists reported on abortion differently after the Dobb’s decision but quoted similar populations of experts and citizens. Medical and inequality frames appear often in coverage. However, the results demonstrate an overwhelmingly political categorization of abortion. The pro-life, pro- choice dichotomy referring to the oversimplification of abortion as entirely good or bad was not identified. Through a cross time analysis, this study demonstrates the stable and salient aspects of abortion reporting. The results suggest that future coverage should incorporate more viewpoints in their reporting to better inform the public. 

Social Media and Perceptions of the Police: Examining 2020s Police Brutality and Protest News Coverage

Abstract: Recent incidents of police violence against Black people have regularly made headlines, both in print and on social media platforms. Though it is a relatively new phenomenon, this coverage has made public opinion regarding these issues more accessible than ever before. Considering this, researchers have begun utilizing data from these platforms as tools to identify major narratives in public opinion. Following this framework, this research will utilize data collected from Twitter comments to identify major narratives in the social media response to police brutality and protest news coverage, and how they have changed in the 2020s. Employing cultivation theory and the work of Donileen Loseke on narratives, this research compares the social media response to George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the recent murder of Tyre Nichols in 2023 and explores the way time may impact the public narrative around social movements. The research suggests that although the major theme of public opinion in the 2020s has been critique, major social media narratives and discourse is beginning to favor the use of language that references yet is more critical of ideas of racial awareness or institutional racism. 

Gabi Hart

Reading Between the Lines: How Historic Redlining Practices Affect Present- Day Life Expectancy 

Abstract: While the impact of HOLC's (Homeowners Loan Corporation) historic redlining practices is evident, their impact on life expectancy has yet to be explored in depth. This gap in the relationships between redlining and life expectancy is the primary focus of this study. More specifically, this study shows how historic redlining practices and racial and socioeconomic composition affect present-day life expectancy. Using United States Census tracts as a proxy for neighborhoods, this study also controls for the impact of present-day demographics on the relationship between redlining and life expectancy. Data used were obtained from Diversity Data Kids and The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. My sample comprises five cities (one from each region) and 3,160 census tracts. I performed an OLS regression. The regression results suggest that lower HOLC grades and a higher percentage of Black and low-SES (socioeconomic status) residents correspond with a lower life expectancy. Findings also suggest regional differences in the extent of redlining's effect on life expectancy. 

Sophia Hennessy

Fair Play in Ultimate Frisbee: an Exploration of Supply and Demand  

Abstract: Informed by Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of fair play as rooted in social positionality, the sport of ultimate is examined as a case study of how athletes make meaning of this concept. Attention is given to the variations in understandings of and experiences with Spirit of the Game, SOTG (ultimate’s version of fair play), across player gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Preliminary findings suggest, SOTG works, at least partially, to maintain systems of power beneficial to male players and harmful to Black players. Despite often enabling systems of exclusion, SOTG is not uniformly held accountable for doing so.

Erin Huggins

Two Colleges One Campus: How Socioeconomic Status Impacts Student Experience at 华体会

Abstract: This paper examines the experiences of students at 华体会 (CC) and how their socio-economic status impacts their experience at the college. I conducted nine in-depth face to face interviews with CC students from different socio-economic backgrounds and demographics. I report that socio-economic status does impact CC experience since students from high socio-economic backgrounds have access to networks, opportunities, and prior knowledge that BIPOC students and students from low socio-economic backgrounds do not have access to. Through these interviews I concluded that because of the wealth gap at CC low income students feel that two colleges exist at once: one they experience and another their high income peers experience. While students from high income backgrounds can buy into most of CC