Since the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and researchers have identified a significant increase in the number of patients presenting with functional tic-like behaviors (FTLBs). These involuntary motor and vocal tics closely resemble Tourette's syndrome, but with the crucial difference that FTLBs develop later in life and much more suddenly. This paper explores the role of social media usage (specifically TikTok) in the almost "viral" quality many clinicians have noted in cases of FTLBs.

Senior Capstone

The current targeting of LGBTQ+ rights in political discourse combined with social media's vast range and increased visibility of the LGBTQ+ community has triggered a threat response in a population of America. Using Hurbert M. Blalock's racial threat hypothesis as a guide I will analyze how LGBT+ rights and visibility are seen as the most recent threat to American political life.

A step-by-step retelling of the making of my senior project, the mixed-media animation "Rosecolored". It goes over the inspirations for the short film, the writing process, the pre-production process, and finally the production process. The essay ends with an explanation as to why I had put so much time and effort into the finished project, and the importance of animation to me.

A summer filled with yoga, coffee, and the mob. While spending her summer break at her dad's yoga studio working to get her life back together, 19-year-old artist and college student Julie meets mob wife Christine O'Neill, and instantly hits it off.

The importance of family has always been evident in my work, but never explicitly spoken about by me. "We Can Only Survive with the Support of Others" is centered around the ideas of community within family, with an emphasis on being an observer through all these experiences. This thesis not only delves deeper into my thoughts behind my work, but also into the evolution of my process.

As the years have progressed, there are an increasing number of children who have same-sex parents, and homosexuality is increasingly visible in children's lives in general. Although homosexuality is more and more present in children's lives, there is still hardly any research on how children view this topic. Parents and others need to understand the views their children have in order to raise accepting children. The present study investigates children's attitudes toward same-sex and other-sex families. We examine whether (1) children prefer friends with other-sex parents over friends with same-sex parents, (2) how this preference develops across early childhood, and (3) whether this preference is related to children's "essentialist" ideas about sexuality as inborn vs. chosen. Children were asked to view a series of slides that included a heterosexual and homosexual family and were asked to choose who they would rather play with. After this, children were asked a series of questions to determine essentialist views of sexual orientation. Results found that as children got older, the more homophobia was presented. Parents' predictions of their children's homophobia were significantly higher than 4. It was also found that parents did have accurate ideas of their children's homophobic attitudes.

This project focuses on the reception of American Jazz in Germany in the 20th century, from the Weimer Republic, to the Nazi state, and to the post World War II period, ending with the significant Louis Armstrong 1965 Berlin tour. At the beginning of the 20th century Jazz music had became a global sensation. Germany had a complex relationship with Jazz, first accepting it as part of American popular culture but then challenging it as corrupt and representative of decadent Western culture. The paper discusses the many cultural nuances of this music genre.

Research on metaphor has shown that using metaphors in language can significantly influence how individuals think and reason about complex topics, including mental illness. Extending this research, this study examines the effects of war metaphors on mental illness stigma across various cultural groups (Asian American, Black American, Latino American, and White American). Each participant was randomly assigned to read either that people with mental illness must mount a complicated offensive (attacking metaphor) or defensive (shielding metaphor) against the disease. Afterward, participants read a vignette about a man named John who was described as having symptoms of schizophrenia and indicated how much social distance they would prefer to keep from John. Participants then completed a general mental illness stigma scale, and the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, which measures the degree to which people identify with their cultural group. It was predicted that participants from cultures whose stigma emanates from a desire for strength and control (most common among Black and Latino Americans) should be more influenced by the offensive metaphors than the defensive metaphors. However, Latino Americans showed less stigma than other cultural groups, and effects of metaphor on stigma did not vary reliably as a function of race in this sample. The findings also revealed that for Asian, Black, and Latino Americans, the more they identified with their cultural group, the less stigma they displayed. However, the opposite was observed among White Americans. The findings also revealed that men showed a greater desire for social distance when in the attacking condition compared to the shielding condition, and women showed the opposite pattern. Overall, the study's findings showed that the metaphor read by participants did not have a significant effect on the participants' mental illness stigma overall, but may have as a function of gender.

The stories and memories of my childhood experiences told through a series of prints and artist books.