Sixteenth century Elizabeth I of England has long been a figure of interest to Renaissance scholars, and their work largely focuses on how her gender impacted the power, politics, and culture of her day. Many have perceived her to be a heroine whose ingenuity and determination circumvented the limitations imposed...
The Plant Ontology Consortium (POC) (www.plantontology.org) is a collaborative
effort among several plant databases and experts in plant systematics, botany
and genomics. A primary goal of the POC is to develop simple yet robust
and extensible controlled vocabularies that accurately reflect the biology of plant
structures and developmental stages. These...
First recorded as a problem in 2003, wildfire smoke has been found to affect wine grapes and lead to alterations to a wine’s flavor profile. Smoke can carry organic volatile compounds over vast distances, which can then be deposited on grapes and are absorbed into the grape’s cells. These compounds...
The rise of social networking is more prevalent in today's society than ever before. Of the existing social networking platforms, Twitter is widely recognized as operating within the social networking elite. With this rise in social networking comes the challenge to develop new strategies of navigation when presenting one's identity...
The ongoing “method war” in literary criticism that has manifested as the impasse between Critique and Postcritique, which are identified respectively with paranoid and reparative modes of reading, raises existential questions about criticism in the face of its declining social value under neoliberalism. This thesis enters that impasse to suggest...
Reflection on a stage management experience for a musical produced at Oregon State University. Comparison from previous high school experiences in stage managing to the university level of stage management. Reference to the texts and resources examined for the growth of knowledge in stage management. Analysis of each stage of...
In her novel, Nightwood (1936), Djuna Barnes examines the relationships and identities of diverse characters during the early 20th century. My paper investigates the depiction of inversion and how it challenges heteronormative structures. However, I argue that the depiction of queer relations is only available between feminized queer subjects. The...
Physics sensemaking is a growing topic of study within the physics education community. Many lenses have been used to study sensemaking but few have considered how time and instruction can impact student sensemaking practices and ideas. In this dissertation, I present four studies that address four major questions: What sensemaking...
Multivariable functions permeate physics, mathematics, and other sciences. Understanding how quantities in multivariable relationships change together – or co-vary – is important for studying physical systems. In this project, we asked junior-level physics majors to describe the covariation of quantities in a multivariable context given a 2D graph. We identified...
The effectiveness of a three-hour nutrition education workshop
for home economics teachers given in 18 locations in Oregon was
evaluated based on responses from 138 teachers. Changes in knowledge
of and attitude toward four nutrition topics (fast foods, vegetarianism,
weight control, and food exchanges) were measured using
questionnaires completed at...
Climate change will require families to withstand and adapt to potentially novel impacts in their forests, requiring both ecological and social resiliency. When facing a future of complex and uncertain conditions, family forest owners need more information on the magnitude and direction of change, which can be best accomplished through...
This study explores an underground museum located in Pendleton, Oregon. Using the method of Critical Discourse Analysis, I identify the ways Whiteness and Chinese as “the Other” are visually and verbally depicted. This study uses a qualitative approach to identify the ways both groups are presented on the tour. The...
Studies suggest that higher investment in human capital boosts economic growth by increased productivity. Education is considered to improve human capital, but it takes relatively long to achieve progress in education. Literacy of female population holds particular importance as it has both direct and indirect effect on growth. Apart from...
Recent work in moral philosophy has displayed a renewed interest in ethics and ontology that consider the social constitution of the subject. However, these approaches to ethics, exemplified in Judith Butler’s work in Giving an Account of Oneself, often neglect the problem of antiblackness, which Afro-pessimist scholars argue operates at...
Improved cookstoves (ICS) have been distributed by many in the international development community to address the dangers faced by billions of people worldwide who use traditional open-fire cooking methods. Yet, impact evaluations of these ICS interventions have not always shown positive impacts. This case study followed the ICS adoption study...
Through the creation of a children’s book, this project aims to educate children and adults about the act of banning books in the United States. This non-fiction picture book targets readers between four and ten years old. Research on the history of book banning and questions about why it happens...
Any work of literature is a product of its time revealing truths about its culture. My thesis explores how pre-selected inspiration, personal experiences, and current events play a role in the devising process of a script. The inspiration for this particular devised play is Letters to a Young Poet by...
Honey wine, also known as mead, is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages known to man. Made primarily from honey, water, and yeast, this beverage has recently been experiencing a resurgence in popularity. It is imperative that commercial producers focus on consistently creating quality products to differentiate themselves from competitors...