In this body of work, I will explore the application of visual art in mitigating symptoms and enriching the quality of life for people with Tourettes. I will draw upon personal experiences, medical and psychological research, others’ experiences, and broader understandings of social dynamics to inform my argument. I will present what I have learned through a series of drawings and paintings, which will summarize the contents of my research paper and illustrate my progress as I deepen my understanding of my topic. I will conclude my body of work with an argument in favor of accessibility in the arts, providing more individuals with my neurotype an avenue of healing and productivity.

Many battles over reproductive rights have occurred in the legal sphere, behind the scenes of mainstream politics, through litigation and interest group influence over politicians and the courts. This research will focus on the conservative legal movement against the rights to abortion and contraception. The paper will be divided into three sections: the first will establish the major organizations and religious influences involved in the conservative movement, their coalition-building strategies, and the challenges they have faced. The second will examine the incrementalist approach of slowly chipping away at abortion and contraception rights, with focus on limiting financial access and increasing allowance for government regulations. The third will discuss the movement’s attempts to completely overturn Roe v. Wade (1973), culminating in the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) decision, and the future of reproductive autonomy in law. The conservative legal movement has been incredibly successful in limiting access to reproductive healthcare and reversing Roe, but now faces an uncertain future.

Throughout the years, media has been, and continues to be, a powerful tool used to spread knowledge and awareness about different groups of people, cultures, social issues, and other topics of societal importance. This study aims to examine the perception of members of the Black community because of stereotypes endorsed and encouraged by Western cinema from the 1920’s to present day. By further countersigning the misrepresentation of Black people, Western cinema has impacted the ways in which the Black community is negatively viewed in the present and has encouraged other forms of media, such as magazine advertisements and children’s cartoon shows, to adopt the misconceptions of the members of the community. As a result of early depictions of the Black community in Western cinema, we see the significant damage done by various forms of media in how Black people are perceived, damage that is still trying to be corrected, even now.

The global energy system continues to be primarily reliant upon fossil fuels which now conclusively are the main component of climate change, as well as a significant contributor to global health impacts through air, water and land pollution severely impacting our communities across the globe. While clean energy is making its mark on the world, it doesn't currently have the infrastructure to make it a globally dominated energy source. Solutions for energy sources that can quickly be utilized for a clean energy transition are essential to shift away from fossil fuels. A relatively clean and high output energy source that can serve as part of this transition exists on Earth and everywhere in the cosmos: nuclear energy. This paper will examine current nuclear technologies, emerging technologies with a focus on fission and fusion energy, issues and benefits of nuclear energy, and confronting public perceptions about nuclear energy.

This project emphasizes uprising issues often perpetuated by public relations professionals on behalf of corporations called “woke-washing.” “Woke-washing” describes the hypocrisy of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies established by corporations and the true impact of these policies on Black employees and social justice. These discrepancies are detected by analyzing how messaging created by public relations professionals about corporate social initiatives that are made to address social justice issues, differ from the internal treatment of Black employees. They can also be detected by comparing the history, roots, and present functions of DEI and diversity management. To emphasize the issues between companies and their messages about social justice, one must discuss the impact of woke-washing issues within corporations like Alphabet (Google), CrossFit, and Amazon. Ultimately, this study seeks to identify the issue of woke-washing, define key concepts related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and analyze present case studies of corporations holding and creating hypocritical policies or statements. Then will present personal takeaways from the findings in this study.

The current study examines the impact of exposure to nature on well-being, and the possible moderating effects of childhood nature experiences (CNE) and adult connection to nature (CN) upon this relationship. The study is a two-group experiment, in which participants were randomly assigned either to a control group (spending 10 minutes in an outdoor space with little green space) or a nature exposure group (like the control group but surrounded by nature).

My exhibition, "Romantic Painter", consists of several parts: First, a large painting, made to-scale with the original "Death of Sardanapalus." Second, a series of walnut ink drawings, each abstracted from an aspect of Delacroix's painting. Third, a video appropriated from a 1980 BBC documentary/drama of Delacroix's life, called "The Restless Eye." The audio is excerpted from the original educational film and the video (20 minutes of me dressed up, role playing as Delacroix) is my own. To make this body of work, I chased painting -- a specific painting, one of the biggest and grandest I could find -- to the extent of my abilities. What I want you to know is this: I am Eugene Delacroix. I am on a Romantic quest to make the last painting, the painting that will solve painting and will end history. I am Sardanapalus. I am heartbroken. I am burning down my palace. I am a 32-year old woman living in Upstate New York. A fire happened and I survived it. History isn’t over. I am failing.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the effectiveness of music therapy in the care of person with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers by reviewing the results of research published from 2017-2021.

The following collection of original poems consists of new pieces written this autumn as well as revised versions of pieces I began when I was fifteen years old. Bits of my younger self are preserved in this thesis. My work is inspired by the raw, often vicious nature of Richard Siken’s poetry whose words tear open the angsty adolescent inside of me and get to the very heart of all pain. Recently, I’ve been touched by Maggie Smith’s work, its brazen honesty wrapped in eloquence. The concise yet poignant observations of Mary Oliver, whose work is seemingly always bent toward finding beauty in life, certainly played a part in developing the themes of my project. I shrink at the idea of trying to explain what this collection is about. In the thesis, I attempt to paint portraits, to capture the essence of the people, places, and elements of my environment that have most influenced my identity up until now. I suppose it conveys my evolving attitudes toward family and friendship and spirituality and the imminent end of everything. When I was younger, I was perpetually anxious about lack of control, death, and the end of the world. But by the end of the thesis, I have perhaps found some peace in the notion of apocalypse, of everything falling apart. I suppose this thesis may be an ode to optimistic nihilism, accepting that nothing really matters, and I should fully embrace the immediate world around me while I still can. And I suppose it’s maybe about birds. I did not realize that birds were such a significant theme in my life until I put these poems together. As Abraham Maslow says, “To be looking elsewhere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous.” It sounds cliche, but I’ve found great meaning in this. I quite adore being alive, in this ordinary place. I wouldn’t know how to write about anything else.