SU Honors College Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/95

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Bigger Bang for Your Buck: Using Natural Buffers in the Maryland Watershed Implementation Plan and Chesapeake Bay Restoration
(2012-04) Thorpe, Emily; Lewis, Michael; Environmental Studies
The Chesapeake Bay is one of the world’s most productive and biologically diverse estuaries; however, it is suffering from a confluence of environmental abuses from agriculture, sprawling development, nutrient and sediment pollution, and a drastic loss of natural filters. The Chesapeake is not only a national, but also a global test case for environmental rule making and the decisions we make about how to restore it will have broad and profound implications. As of 2009, the U.S. EPA has required Bay states to develop Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) that address how they plan on meeting the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment as calculated by the EPA. Although the EPA found Maryland’s WIP to be the most substantial of the Bay states, the MD WIP neglects the non-point source pollution problem and directs most of its attention to point source pollution in the form of wastewater treatment plants. The MD WIP’s neglect of natural buffers, such as forests and wetlands, is a predictable failure, partially attributable to a larger cultural fixation on technology and measurability that is representative of pollution abatement policy across the nation. This fixation not only contributes to the breakdown of rural culture, but it also masks the consequences of growth and delays and dismisses the importance of controlling non-point source pollution. Natural buffers have an inherent ability to control non-point source pollution and should no longer be reserved solely for agriculturalists. Through appropriate policy reformations and innovations, natural buffers can become a key resource in Chesapeake Bay restoration.
Survivability of Bacteria on Blood Glucose Testing Strips
(2019) Nalesnik, Meghan; Health Sciences
Objective: Our research focus is to determine exactly how long clinically significant organisms, Escherichia coli 0157:H7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE) survive on blood glucose testing strips. Design: Four separate tubes oftrypticase soy broth (TSB) were inoculated with each of the chosen test organisms and then incubated at 3 7°C overnight. The next day they were removed from incubation to slow down their growth. To determine the number of colony forming units (CFU) in each sample, dilutions of each organism were plated onto Mueller Hinton agar. The dilution with the most reliable colony count was used to calculate the dilution needed to create a 100,000 CFU/mL of phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.2) organism load. The blood glucose testing strips were inoculated with 1 0µL of inoculate at the non-electrical end of the strip and 1 0µL of inoculate was pipetted onto the blood collection site directly for a total of 20µL. Every day thereafter, a strip corresponding to each organism was pressed to a designated section on a CHROMagar™ plate for 30 seconds and then removed in order to replicate how long a blood glucose test strip would be handled in a clinical setting. The plate was then incubated at 3 7°C for 24 hours and observed for growth. Above the strip placement site, a reference sample consisting of a pure culture of each organism was swabbed onto the agar as a positive control. The phosphate buffered saline diluent served as a negative control. Setting: This research took place in the Medical Laboratory Science Program laboratories at Salisbury University, Maryland. Results: Each organism survived as follows: Escherichia coli 0157:H7, only one colony per day for days 42-45; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, colonies were too numerous to count for the first five days and then their number greatly declined to less than five colonies until day 11; methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), colonies were too numerous to count; and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), colonies were also too numerous to count. Conclusion: Even though the surfaces of a blood glucose strip are non-nutritive and desiccated, clinically significant organisms survive for many days, making these strips a potentially important source of infection when they become contaminated.
Do You Run The Risk for ITBS?
(2019) Flax, Rebecca; Health and Sport Sciences
Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) is a common overuse injury that affects runners worldwide. ITBS is caused by the impingement of the Iliotibial band (1TB) within the condyles on the outside area of the knee that causes pain and tenderness. This pain hinders a runner's ability to complete long distance runs. Treatment of ITBS is often mismanaged because it is difficult to identify and there are many opinions on the best treatment method. I will examine common causes of this syndrome, treatments at home or during physical therapy, and the rate of the syndrome's re-occurrence. I will also explore treatment modalities that best help manage and treat the injury and also prevent it from occurring chronically. This research will present a clearer understanding and treatment of ITBS, so that individuals that suffer may be easily able to recognize the issue. ITBS is difficult to treat once it occurs. If not treated properly, the syndrome is more likely to have a higher rate of re-occurrence (9). Treatment options to decrease the occurrence of this syndrome will be addressed. It is anticipated that when treated properly by a health care professional, the rate of re-occurrence will dramatically decrease compared to at-home treatment or being left untreated.
Double Jeopardy: Employment Discrimination Experienced by Returning Citizens
(2019) Brown, Eleanor; Social Work
Nearly one in three U.S. adults, approximately 70 million citizens, have a criminal record (Goggins & DeBacco, 2015). The United States continues to have the highest incarceration rate globally, even though according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, the U.S. incarceration rate is currently on a decline, the lowest since 1996. Even with the decline, the United States imprisons twenty-five percent of the world's incarcerated individuals, yet is home to approximately four percent of the world's population. As incarcerated individuals transition into returning citizens upon release, they often face employment discrimination despite having served their time. These experiences are like a "double jeopardy." This discrimination often starts with the first employment application submission, as 76% of returning citizens experience job discrimination while submitting a job application and only 12.5% of employers report being open to hiring a returning citizen ("Research supports fair change policies", 2016). With between 60 to 75% of returning citizens unsuccessfully securing employment within their first year of release, this contributes to higher rates of poverty which not only impacts the individual but also their families and communities (Von Berger & Bressler, 2016). Even when a returning citizen secures employment, within their first years of release they face hurdles in seeking stable, long-term, financially secure employment, such as a criminal background check, recent occupational experiences, and correct documentation. With no previous research conducted on employment discrimination on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, information is needed to determine the employment experiences of returning citizens on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore when seeking and securing employment. The purpose of this study is to examine the employment experiences of returning citizens who have returned to their communities on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore (Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties). The study contained a usable sample of forty-four respondents (n=44), and results showed that receiving an education and completing a job training program while incarcerated significantly increased a returning citizen's ability to secure employment upon release. Additionally, the survey showed that the food/serving and construction/extraction industries were more likely to hire returning citizens based upon the reported successful employment of the survey participants. Based on findings and literature review, recommendations to help assuage the impact of incarceration include initiating a Ban the Box campaign in Wicomico County, Maryland, expanding federal bonding opportunities, bringing about greater community awareness of the Maryland Re-Entry Initiative, and increasing the programming capabilities and funding for community organizations working with returning citizens.
Evaluation of Intensive Care Mechanical Ventilator Response Time During Varying Levels of Inspiratory Effort
(2019) Donley, Sarah; Health Sciences
Objective: Mechanical ventilators must be responsive to a patient's variable inspiratory demand. Responsiveness is one attribute used to compare these expensive, but necessary lifesaving devices. Under varying levels of inspiratory effort, triggering performance was compared between the Maguet Servo-i and Respironics Esprit ventilators. Methods: The Ingmar ASL 5000 Breathing Simulator was used to provide normal respiratory mechanics (compliance of 50 mL/cm H2O; resistance, 3 cm H2O/L/s; spontaneous rate of 15 breaths/min) and inspiratory muscle pressures of 10, 15, and 20 cm H2O for 5-minutes each. The simulator was connected to each ventilator with the same settings (pressure support (PS) of 10 cm H2O; positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 0; and, a trigger flow of 3 L/min). Trigger response time, time from spontaneous effort (SoE) to a minimum pressure (Pmin), and the maximum pressure drop during triggering were collected. Results: The Esprit ventilator trigger response time and time from SoE to a Pmin decreased under conditions of increased inspiratory effort. The Servo-i trigger response time and time from SoE to Pmin increased with rising inspiratory muscle pressure. Both ventilators demonstrated a greater maximum pressure drop during triggering with each increase in inspiratory muscle pressure. However, for an inspiratory muscle pressure of 15 and 20 cm H2O, the drop in pressure was much larger for the Servo-i. Conclusions: Both ventilators are suitable for clinical use, however, the Respironics Esprit ventilator demonstrated a better response to a high ventilatory demand. A potential reason for this is the greater peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR) capability of the Esprit ventilators. The Esprit's internal flow generator is a turbine and seems to be capable of a faster initial flow than the pneumatic flow design of the Servo-i.
Sexual Aggression Experience Predicting Empathy with an Unspecified or Date Rape Victim and Perpetrator
(2019) Santoriello, Gina; Psychology
The purpose of this study was to examine rape empathy in two experimental conditions ( date rape; unspecified rape) based on personal sexual victimization experience (nonvictim; date victim; nondate victim) and personal sexual perpetration experience (nonperpetrator; date perpetrator; nondate perpetrator). Undergraduate college women (n = 212) completed the Sexual Experiences Survey to measure both victimization experience and perpetration experience (Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987), and one of two versions of the Rape Victim Empathy Scale and the Rape Perpetrator Empathy Scale (Smith & Frieze, 2003). Regarding victimization, results showed that all victims reported greater empathy than nonvictims, and a potential interaction (p < . l O); date victims tended to report greater empathy with a date rape victim than an unspecified rape victim, but nondate victims tended to report greater empathy with an unspecified rape victim than a date rape victim. Regarding perpetration, results showed that those who have perpetrated against a date reported greater empathy with a rapist than those with no perpetration experience, but nondate perpetrators did not significantly differ from the other two groups. Similarity in experience may influence empathy. The significance of the study will be discussed later in the paper.
Is Social Media Use Harmful? Examining the Impact of Social Media Use on Psychological Well-Being
(2019) Kline, Samantha; Psychology
As social media was first being studied in academia, researchers were divided as to whether social media use had a positive or negative impact on psychological wellbeing (Frost & Rickwood, 2017; Lup, Trub & Rosenthal, 2015). Upon further analysis, it seems as if social media use has a different impact on well-being depending on whether the use is active or passive. The current study hypothesizes that active social media use is associated with increased psychological well-being, while passive social media use is associated with decreased well-being. I hypothesize that these relations are mediated by different factors: active social media use increases psychological well-being by increasing social capital, while passive social media use decreases psychological wellbeing through increasing social comparison. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed, but largely none of these hypotheses were supported. Significant findings associating social comparison and psychological well-being were found, however they did not align with social comparison theory but rather are better explained by emotional contagion theory. Social media use should continue to be studied to determine what impact it has on psychological well-being, as the current study was unable to make a clear association between the two. Social media users, on an individual level, should examine how they utilize social media and how it impacts their mental health, and correct their behaviors to mitigate any possible negative impacts.
Children's Ability to Judge Self and Other's Knowledge States for Novel Information
(2019) Gomez, Jade; Psychology
Young children are constantly learning new facts, skills and social conventions. Understanding how learning happens promotes the learning process and develops as children get older. Thinking about one's own learning is related to the ability to think about another's learning, or theory of mind skills. Previous literature has examined memory and perspective taking, particularly for generic information. It is important to consider whether these findings apply to non-generic information as well. This study utilizes novel information to examine how children's perspective taking abilities relate to their ability to reflect on their learning. Forty-seven children, ages 3-7, participated in a one session study conducted either at a local museum or zoo. First, participants learned three facts about the Aleutian Islands through a staged learning event. Based on Caza et al.'s (2016) model, for each of the three facts about the Aleutian Islands, participants were asked about what they know currently (self-now), what they knew when they were a baby (self-past) and what someone who is currently a baby (baby-now) would know regarding the facts about the Aleutian Islands. Results indicated that there was a significant effect of age where the 5-7 age group was better at determining their own and other's knowledge levels than the 3-4 age group. Both age groups performed above chance on correctness of facts. Overall, the results show that while older children were more able to reflect on their own learning and the learning of others, there was no significant difference in this ability based on knowledge condition.
The Effects of Social Media on College Dating Culture
(2019) Cassar, Kacie; Psychology
Researchers have looked at social media and dating culture of college students, but not the interaction of the two. Knowing how students interact with social media and direct messaging within their dating process provides a better understanding of the alternative methods for achieving desired relations, whether that be a committed relationship or a casual hook-up. Social Penetration Theory (Wang & Tang, 2012) was applied to explore the idea that gradually people reveal more about themselves as they get closer to another person. A total of 108 university students completed an online questionnaire related to experiences with dating history, romantic relationship status, and social media, including the concept of "Sliding into DMs" (direct messages) where an individual sends a direct message through a social media app to initiate a sexual relationship. Results confirm most students (97.2%) use social media daily and 1 in 5 have initiated a relationship through social media. Currently 25% of students are hooking-up while 43% are in a relationship. Half reported having slid into someone's DM, while 3 out 4 reported having responded to someone that had slid into their DM. Females are more likely to report someone slid into their DM. Additional findings are congruent with the social penetration theory. For example, a longer duration of time was reported in a DM conversation before gaining a relationship for those who had slid into someone's DM compared to those who hadn't, F (1, 24) = 7.105, p = .014, M = 4.25 (SD = 1.33) and M = 2.67 (SD = 1.033), respectively. College students were also more likely to report in-depth conversations online, compared to basic ones, before beginning either a relationship or a hook-up, regardless of whether they sent or received the DM. Overall results show that social media does play a role in many college students' dating processes.
Are Groups More Productive When Intrinsically Motivated?
(2019) Hayward, Joy; Psychology
This research expands on the existing literature of the benefits of intrinsic motivation by comparing conditions with varying combinations of intrinsically-motivating factors. This experiment was conducted in the Salisbury University library and the participants were undergraduate Salisbury University students. The students who arrived on the first day were in Condition A, those on the second day were in Condition B, and those on the third day were in Condition C. The students in each condition were randomly divided into three groups. Each group in Condition A chose between three creative problems to solve together in their group. Each group in Condition B completed the same creative problem that the groups in the previous condition completed. They were unable to choose their problem, but were given a few minutes to talk and get to know each other before working together. Each group in Condition C completed the same problem that the groups in the previous conditions completed. They were unable to choose their problem and they sat in silence and wrote about their career goals before working together. After finishing their work, all participants each filled out a survey on how close they felt to their group members. During the second portion of the study, three other students judged the group work based on creativity. There was no significant difference between the work or feelings of closeness between the conditions. For future research, personality traits such as shyness and friendliness will be measured to determine if personality factors influenced the results.
Feeling Trumped: Do Political Actions Have an Effect on Stress Levels?
(2019) Shank, Alexis; Psychology
I have conducted research on the connection between political party affiliation and the amount of stress that stems from political actions. I also questioned the connection between politically-rooted stress and activism. Next, I asked if individuals feel discriminated against due to their political party affiliation. Finally, I questioned the connection between levels of activism and locus of control. I constructed an online survey that was completed by 138 participants, of which 63 reported being Democrat, 42 Republican, and 33 Independent. Participants were first asked their political party affiliation and their political leaning. This was followed by the Digital Activism Scale and the Psychological Political Engagement scale (De Marco, Robles, & Antino, 2017). Next was the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (Shirom-Melamed, 2011), and the Short Stress Overload Scale (Amirkhan, 2016). Following was the Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance Locus of Control Scale (Levenson & Miller, 1976), and the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire (Contrada et al., 2001), which was modified to ask about politically-related discrimination. The survey ended with demographic questions. A combination of one-way ANOVA and correlational' tests were used to analyze the data. Analysis showed that Republicans were significantly lower on measures of burnout and stress than Democrats and Independents. When correlating activism with burnout and stress, results showed that Republicans have the strongest correlation between activism and burnout, but Democrats have a stronger correlation between activism and stress. When looking at discrimination based on political party, Democrats faced significantly more devaluing comments than Republicans did. The correlation between activism and locus of control revealed that Democrats had a more significant connection for both internal and external locus. These findings suggest that there is a significant connection between activism and stress. It is also important that we can find a way to de-stress from activism, as well as sharing ideas to decrease burnout. Above all, there needs to be less a political divide between the two parties.
Schizophrenia and Violence
(2019) Maxwell, Rachel; Psychology
The idea of schizophrenics being innately violent is an extremely controversial topic that has been widely researched. Stigmas can stem from lack of understanding of mental illness therefore the only way to obtain an accurate view a mental illness is to refer to the facts and critical studies. Schizophrenia is shown in a dark light to the public and it is important to distinguish any potential relationship there may or may not be between schizophrenics and violence. Most of the violence can be attributed to various factors such as childhood upbringing, conductive disorder, substance abuse, noncompliance to medicine, maltreatment of care takers, lack of support, etc. All of the factors come in to play differently in severity levels. Observing and educating oneself to know the proper measures to take will help someone suffering from schizophrenia.
Heating Up the Media Climate: How Political Media May Affect Public Opinion on Global Climate Change
(2019) Chapman, Connor; Political Science
Scholars have focused on level of education, religious affiliation, and region of residence to explain the partisan polarization of climate change. This thesis offers an explanation for the persistence of the belief by a segment of the population of the United States that global climate change does not exist. The central claim is that politically biased media influences public opinion- specifically public opinion on the existence of climate change and I suggest that partisan news actively polarizes the discussion of global climate change. I support this hypothesis with available online polling data and General Social Survey data of people's opinion on climate change, the types of media they consume, and party identification. I find that there is a correlation between the media that one consumes and their opinion on the existence of global climate change, though this correlation is especially pronounced among those who actively consume conservatively biased media and identify with the Republican Party. Results are discussed.
Defying Gravity: Design of a Hoverboard
(2019) McGraw, Tyler; Physics
The primary method of transportation for most objects is currently one that relies on friction as the motive force, usually generated by wheels contacting the ground. Necessary contact with the ground for motion not only imposes numerous restrictions on movement but can also prevent traversal of difficult areas entirely. With the design of a hoverboard, there exists the potential for a greater amount of freedom in movement and maneuverability. Ideally such a hoverboard will be designed with the ability to lift at least a 150-pound load, consisting of either a person or cargo. To attempt a hoverboard design that fulfills these requirements as efficiently as possible, aerodynamic theory and mechanics of materials will be combined with a study of existing hoverboard designs and modem advancements in power storage and electric motors.
Caring Intensely Until the End: The Lived Experiences of Intensive Care Unit Nurses
(2019) Miller, Ashley; Nursing
Nurses are essential members of the health care team and work alongside doctors, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and other crucial health care persons to utilize a multidisciplinary approach to patient-centered care. In the intensive care unit, this includes being a patient advocate when end-of-life care measures are being implemented. Providing care for patients who are at the end of life can be distressing to intensive care unit nurses, who are often the ones that spend most of their time alongside patients and their families. Due to the typical nurse-to-patient ratio, which is generally one to two patients per nurse, intensive care unit nurses are continuously exposed to dying patients and their surrounding support systems. By looking at the lived experiences of intensive care unit nurses when caring for the critically ill, improvements can be identified to address issues nurses encounter and concerns nurses have when providing end-of-life care to critically ill patients.
Audio Compression: Psychoacoustics of MP3
(2019) Iachini, Morgan; Mathematics and Computer Science
Digital audio compression is used to minimize the size (number of bits) of an audio file in order to transmit the file effectively and clearly. Only necessary data points are encoded which will continue to represent the audio signal well. Examples of audio compression can be found in music and cell phone transmission. The main compression standard studied is MP3 digital audio compression, which is an effective tool for reducing the size of audio files. Reducing file size, however, may put sound quality in jeopardy. I created an audio test and questionnaire to see if humans can distinguish a difference in quality between similar compressed MP3 files. MP3 audio encoding implements a Psychoacoustic Model, which recognizes that most humans cannot perceive frequencies outside of the range 20Hz to 20kHz, and these frequencies are therefore not encoded. The audio test analyzes this technique used in MP3 encoding by compressing portions of a song at various sampling rates (samples per second) while keeping bitrate (number of bits read per second, corresponding to file size) constant at 96kbps (kilobits per second). Sampling rate is the number of samples per second that is read from a continuous signal and converted to a discrete signal, hence the more samples, the more data, and the higher the quality. The greater the bitrate and sampling rate, the higher the audio quality, but correspondingly the greater the storage necessary to save. Subjects are asked to listen and compare two different sound files and then identify which sound they deem has a higher quality. The goal of this project is to attempt to identify an optimal sampling rate for compression that reduces the file size while also maintaining high quality. MP3 encoding removes information from the digital audio file, and this can result in some humans detecting a reduction in the quality of the audio.
A Framework for Integrating Deep Learning into the Development of Accessibility Tools
(2019) Kane, Cameron; Mathematics and Computer Science
This thesis specifically focuses on neural networks, but much of what is discussed will be transferable to the other machine learning techniques. It provides the resources and guidance along with a real research project to illustrate how everything comes together. The aim is to help someone with an interest in programming, super computers, and AI explore and combine these subsets of computer science in a more streamlined fashion. While we will not cover all the surrounding skills and knowledge necessary, supplementary resources and explanations are provided to help bridge the gap of information for reader to enable them to pursue the content in this guide. This paper will cover hardware, libraries, licensing, techniques, as well as other crucial, yet illusive information. The intent is to create a clear path to the understanding and implementation of machine learning techniques. The main research that serves as the example applies modular preprocessing techniques, high-performance computing, and neural network architecture approaches to recognize and localize audio. This research will be the backbone of software that gives visual indicators to directional sound in video games, many of which have insufficient accessibility features for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. The success of the algorithm will be measured in terms of accuracy, runtime of training and real-time processing of data, and computational load. The runtime, real-time, and computational load measurements of success are largely absent in academic papers on artificial intelligence, and this limits the potential of the academic community to leverage them in solutions for the real world. This paper aims to help bridge this gap in the literature and is written during a working stage of the research, so not all components are complete.
Testing the US - Saudi Alliance
(2019) Rommel, Shannon; International Studies
Based on ideology, Saudi Arabia and the United States should not be allies. Saudi Arabia is a conservative monarchy that governs through religion and the United States is a republic that separates church and state. Within Saudi Arabia, there have been dozens of accounts of "arbitrary arrests, grotesque justice, torture in jails, cruel punishments, and the absence of political freedom," each of which goes against the very principles for which the US stands. 1 Accounts like these of the US and Saudi Arabia having opposite values, practices, and cultures are ignored and these countries continue to have a strong alliance even without a formal treaty. 2 The alliance has been around for decades, but its strength is currently being tested with the case of the Yemeni civil war and the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Throughout the duration of the Yemeni civil war, the US government and military has given military intelligence and advice, refueled aircraft, and sold weapons to Saudi Arabia in order to aid the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces that are pitted against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. 3 The US support has continued despite the three-year Saudi blockade of humanitarian assistance and supplies to Yemen, Saudi conducted airstrikes on innocent civilians (including children), and the escalation of the conflict to become "the world's worst humanitarian crisis." 4 The US government has also shown a disregard for the murder of Khashoggi, a journalist known to critique the Saudi government, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 5 The Saudi actions in the Yemeni civil war and the murder of Khashoggi both contradict US values and have caused a stir in the international community, but there has been no evidence of serious repercussions or consequences for Saudi actions as of yet.
To Love Like the West: Analyzing Sociohistorical Trends in Marriage, Westernization, and Male Homosexuality in Meiji, Japan
(2019) Rodriguez, Kateria; History; theses
My research intends to introduce the topic of studying the Meiji period and analyzing the rise of European influence and occupation on the trends in homosexuality and marriage and the accompanying power dynamics. The field of gender studies and sexual history is a fairly recent one, therefore the research in this topic encourages a greater analysis of the LGBT history outside of the United States and Europe and within East Asia. Throughout the research, the topics discussed will include but not be limited to: homosexual practices in Tokugawa Japan, homosexuality and religion, the sexuality of samurais, male prostitution, and American and European perspectives of Japanese marriage and concubine culture. The primary sources will include numerous pieces of artwork from the time period depicting homosexual relationships between men, as well as journals from an American living in Japan, and the Japanese work, The Tale of Genji, which gives an accurate depiction of the time. For secondary sources, various pieces pertaining to East Asian sexual culture and samurai homosexuality will be used in the research. Further research was found in the databases of University of California and Harvard University. From this research, a greater understanding of the rise of imperialism and European thought throughout Meiji Japan (1858-1912) and how it has cultivated a modem perspective of male homosexuality and early modern LGBT ideals can be reached, in addition to the complex relationship between European sexology and Japanese "sex politics."
From Feminized to Feminist: Using Social Justice Solutions to Promote Librarianship
(2019) Hobbs, Olivia; English
Librarianship has existed in America throughout most of its history. Near the end of the nineteenth century, women began to enter the field and quickly shifted the profession to be female-dominated. Due to the prevalent sexism of America during this time, the profession was undervalued and classified as feminized. Many attempts have been made to earn librarianship the respect it deserves, but none have addressed the underlying issues of sexism. For librarianship to become recognized as a true profession, librarians must work to raise awareness about these issues and use their work within libraries to combat them. By doing so, the profession would become a feminist one. As a feminist profession librarianship would work to change the society it exists in from the inside. To become a feminist profession would not require librarians to change the work they are already doing or to take on new tasks, they simply need to be more vocal about the social justice aspects of their daily work. This paper will explore the history of librarianship, how it became feminized, and explore various social justice solutions that librarians can use.

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