2021 Honors Theses (Fall)

The purpose of this project is to incorporate a female voice into the male dominated perspective in Social Studies' curriculum. A literature review will be done, examining prior research on this topic. I will also look at different pedagogical techniques to integrate biographies, case studies, or readings to a unit of study. I will select a unit topic after completing the literature review. The goal is to have my future female students feel they have a voice in the intricate web of history.,Honors Thesis Advisor: Dr. Laura Tuennerman.

Honors Thesis Advisor: Dr. Sean Madden.

This paper focuses on the darker side of our beloved childhood cartoons as well as current day cartoons and the impact they can produce on the children who watch, in addition to the rationalization of the humor. One big fear that this topic gives off is that children can become desensitized to violent acts and not be able to distinguish what is right from wrong. In addition, this will highlight the social learning theory which states that children are prone to modeling the behavior and actions they see others doing. Depending on whether the actions the children are observing are good or bad, the \nchildren will either benefit and become well-rounded individuals, or they will have a disadvantage and will replicate harmful actions in their day-to-day lives. Also, the cultivation theory, which displays how television and media have an influence in our daily lives, shows how we go about forming relationships as well as our way of thinking with forming stereotypes. The cartoons being observed and critiqued include The Looney Tunes, Pepe Le Pew, Tom & Jerry, and SpongeBob SquarePants. The violent actions displayed and other sensitive topics featured in the selected cartoons are discussed. Therefore, a trigger warning for the following topics is in effect: depression, suicide, racism, alcoholism, gun violence, sexual aggression, and physical harm. In addition, the humor behind these acts is analyzed to show why we see no issue in watching the cartoons over and over again. It is suggested humor is caused due to the relief theory, benign violation theory, as well as resiliency. Here humor is justified due to the reduction of stress and if the event violates how we think the world should be. Laughter can also be produced based on resiliency, which is the ability to overcome an event and understand the actions and responses of the characters, if it is used as a coping mechanism.,Honors Thesis Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Regeth.