Migration will always be a pivotal aspect of humankind. Throughout history, people have moved from one place to another, crossing borders, oceans, and continents, settling into new lands, and contributing to the human experience. This study examines the emerging trend of Sub-Saharan African migrants utilizing Latin American routes to reach the United States. Through a systematic review of current literature, we analyze the motivations behind this hazardous journey, the experiences of migrants en route, and the potential impact on their integration in destination countries. Our research reveals a shift in global migration patterns, with Sub-Saharan African migrants increasingly using Latin American routes to reach the United States, driven by stricter policies in traditional destinations like Europe. Migrants typically enter Latin America legally before undertaking perilous overland journeys northward, facing crime, discrimination, and natural hazards. This study highlights the complex interplay between border policies, geopolitical factors, and migrant strategies. It underscores the need for further research into this trend, focusing on migrants' experiences and policy implications for transit and destination countries. Our findings contribute to understanding evolving migration patterns and their sociopolitical consequences, emphasizing the need for adaptive policies to address these changing dynamics.
This study investigates how institutional policies at Westminster University and Salt Lake Community College impact the experiences of unhoused college students in Utah. By understanding these policies, I aim to identify necessary changes to better support this underrepresented population. The research employs a mixed-methods approach. Ethnographic methods will provide insights through direct observation of student interactions and institutional environments. Autoethnographic research will draw on my own experiences as an unhoused student. Additionally, I conduct 6-10 semi-structured interviews with current or recent students who have experienced homelessness while enrolled in higher education. The interview process will begin in the Fall 2024 semester. Through this comprehensive approach, the study seeks to shed light on the lived experiences of unhoused college students and suggest policy changes to improve their educational journey and overall well-being.
Long COVID, a chronic condition persisting for at least three months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, affects millions of people in the United States. This study examines disparities in access and barriers to Long COVID care among adults in Michigan who have ever experienced Long COVID, using data from the Michigan COVID-19 Recovery Surveillance Study (MI CReSS). We calculated weighted prevalence estimates on access and barriers to Long COVID care overall and by sex (male, female), age (18-34, 35-54, 55-64, 65+ years), and race and ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic White (White), non-Hispanic Black (Black), Another race or ethnicity). Among adults who ever experienced Long COVID, only 34.5% sought medical care for their symptoms. Many adults faced barriers such as cost, transportation, work obligations, caregiving responsibilities, and uncertainty about where to seek care. Generally, these barriers disproportionately affected females, young adults aged 18 to 34, and adults identifying as Hispanic, Black, or Another race or ethnicity. For example, females had higher percentages of delaying care due to transportation, inability to get off work, and caregiving responsibilities, compared to males. Policies aimed at improving accessibility, affordability and awareness of Long COVID care can alleviate these disparities, thus promoting health equity.
This study explored the ways in which young Latino men construct their masculinity and create conversations on social media regarding the way they were raised and socialized to be men. Machismo can be harmful to men who endorse it and for the people around them as well. Because machismo is prevalent in the Latino culture, a strengths based lens was used to identify the negative aspects as well as the positive (caballerismo). Five videos found on TikTok were analyzed in their entirety for data collection. The videos ranged from 47 seconds to 44 minutes that included young Mexican and Central American men identifying their struggles with machismo. Six themes were found throughout the 5 videos which were the topic for discussion in this paper. Findings suggest that young Latino men are leaving behind machismo and leaning towards caballerismo in their everyday lives. These men are choosing to ask hard questions about their masculinity and creating community on social media while also starting conversations around machismo and the harmful effects of it.
The revival of research on the effects of psychedelics in psychology has opened new methods for understanding human consciousness, creativity, and connections. This study focuses on connection, specifically interpersonal relationships. Prior research has discovered extreme changes in the mental states of individuals who have had psychedelic experiences. However, the social aspects of psychedelic experiences are relatively unresearched. This investigation aims to examine psychedelic-linked relationships in an exploratory manner. Forty-eight participants were recruited who had a psychedelic experience within the past 12 months, had an interpersonal partner alongside them during the experience, and had used either psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for their psychedelic experience. Our participants' relationships with their partners who accompanied them in their most recent psychedelic session were evaluated. Relationship quality was assessed via an anonymous online survey that addressed the quality of their relationship before their most recent psychedelic experience and the current quality of their relationship. Relationship quality data was assessed with the Interpersonal Relationship Quality Scale (IRQS). A Wilcox Signed-Rank Test indicated that participants' relationship quality following a psychedelic experience were significantly higher than before the psychedelic experience.
The equal sign is a primary representation of equivalence, particularly in primary and secondary level mathematics. Consequently, the equal sign can represent equivalence in many ways: as a general relation, as an equivalence relation, and as a signal for substitution. Engaging in diverse usage of the equal sign can have a crucial impact as a precursor to algebra knowledge (Donovan et al., 2018; Matthews & Fuchs, 2018). Likewise, students with higher usage of substitutive equivalence have been shown to exhibit easier transitions into early algebraic topics (Donovan et al., 2022). As such, understanding the underlying mechanisms that allow for such an interpretation of the sign should be examined. In this study, we seek to develop more insight on substitutive equivalence and the factors which affect students’ abilities to adapt such a view of the equal sign.
The U.S. Supreme Court case of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) v. Alston ruled that the NCAA violates federal antitrust laws by prohibiting compensation for collegiate athletes. This decision gave collegiate student-athletes the opportunity for rightful compensation through the implementation of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies on a national level. The purpose of this study is to explore the outcomes surrounding the previous court ruling through a review of the literature. A gap within this context are the arguments, perceptions, and effect of NIL on the quality of collegiate sports experienced by collegiate fans and spectators alike. The significance of this literature review is to explore, analyze, and expand the understanding of NIL in reference to collegiate fans.
Major: Public Health- Health Promotion Disease Prevention, Dillard University
Twayna Williams is a senior public health major from Reserve, LA. She/Her research interests include exploring HIV transmission and developing new medicines using CRISPR to create a vaccine or cure for HIV. In addition to participating in the McNair Scholars Program, Twayna is an... Read More →
Saturday September 21, 2024 11:30am - 11:45am EDT
Severn I
The backbone of the United States since its inception has been its workers. This became especially clear with the Industrial Revolution in the United States in the years following the American Civil War. All of this build-up would lead to the first thirty years of the 20th century where the nation would see expansive growth in not only the diversity and complexity of its labor movement, but also passed some of the most influential and long-lasting laws concerning labor. And so the question must be asked in an era of landmark labor laws being repealed nationwide, what happened to labor and laborers? How did we go from rural laborers voting for anti-corporate and pro-government subsidization to pro-corporate tax cuts and anti-government interference?
This research investigates the motivations and practices of consumer activism among college students at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), focusing on their engagement with boycotts related to the Israel and Palestine conflict. Employing a grounded theory approach with qualitative semi-structured interviews, the study identifies key themes such as the central role of social media in informing activism, the constraints students face in supporting boycotts, and their perceptions of activism’s effectiveness. The findings suggest that while students are motivated by ethical concerns and social pressure, practical limitations and differing views on activism’s success influence their participation. The study contributes to the literature on ethical consumerism and offers insights for brands and policymakers on better engaging with this demographic.
Prior research has examined the lack of racial representation within algorithms and search engines. Basic searches like “beautiful women” or “professional hairstyles” frequently fail to produce images representing anything other than white Eurocentric features. This disparity between race and algorithms can occur within search engine platforms, especially those that claim to prioritize diversity. However, the extent to which these platforms are addressing these diversity issues remains unclear. There is a gap in research exploring bias search engines effects on consumers. As a result, this exploratory research aims to study how search engine results reflected in digital media applications lack sufficient representation and its impact on consumer behavior such as purchase decisions and spending habits. In this study, 39 participants completed a survey that presented algorithm audits of various search engine results like “gym outfits” and “makeup looks.” Participants then evaluated whether these results would influence their purchase decisions. The findings indicated that African Americans were less likely to feel represented and consequently, less likely to use that information to make a purchase. These results suggest that racially biased algorithmic results may negatively impact persons of color during the consumer decision process while simultaneously decreasing brand visibility.
Students transitioning into higher education experience severe stress, especially when taking exams. Standardized Testing increases test anxiety, which consists of physiological over-arousal with impaired thinking of failure. While universities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by temporarily dismissing standardized admission tests, some institutions are reconsidering the tests as admissions requirements. In addition, stress is highly detrimental to a student’s well-being, and standardized testing induces stress for students. Furthermore, the social attribution model helps explain how we engage with stress within external or internal environments. Empathizing and seeing all students’ humanity, hearts, spirits, and bodies is crucial. Therefore, institutions and their leaders who use a holistic critical mentoring framework empathize with their students and consider their culture and lived experiences when making decisions that impact the students. In this study, I explore symptom somatic disorders, which are body pains or fatigue symptoms that don’t go away, thus manifesting stress transmitted in the body and evident when college students stress over taking standardized tests. The literature review demonstrates the importance of advocating for the college student’s experience by integrating a holistic critical mentoring framework to reduce stress, provide resources for dealing with stress, and empathize with suppressed stress in individuals educational journey.
Anxiety is a common mental disorder that affects a large percentage of Americans. The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that 43% of US adults report feeling more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022 (American adults express increasing anxiousness in annual poll; stress and Sleep Are Key Factors Imp, 2024) Given this increase in reported symptoms, the present study aims to gain a better understanding of the relationship between anxiety and cognitive abilities to provide valuable insights for educators, counselors, and policymakers. This study is positioned to offer a comprehensive understanding of how anxiety, stress, and depression, may be related to attentional control and episodic memory using several tasks including the Stroop color naming task, the antisaccade task, the Operation-SPAN task, the n-back task, and episodic recall of information from an interfering context.
This study examines concerns, challenges, and success strategies of students in a large introductory psychology course from Fall 2021 to Spring 2023. Out of 2,493 contacted students, 386 consented to data use. Two surveys were administered at semester start and midterm, focusing on four key areas: biggest concerns, other personal challenges, challenges faced, and improvement strategies. The study analyzed 221 responses for biggest concerns (7 categories), 199 for other concerns (6 categories), and 364 each for challenges faced (9 categories) and improvement strategies (8 categories). The research aims to understand the lasting impact of COVID-19 on higher education and student experiences. Findings partially overlap with common stressors identified in previous research, suggesting broader applicability. Implications of this study could inform course instruction and construction at both college and K-12 levels. As education continues to evolve post-pandemic, these insights may help educators better understand and address student needs across various educational levels. The study's focus on student experiences in the context of post-pandemic education highlights the importance of adapting teaching methods and support systems to meet changing student needs and challenges.
Hi! My name is Alan (they/them) & I am a senior psychology major attending the University of Oklahoma! I am interested in obtaining a doctorate and pursuing a career as a professor and researcher at an R1 Research Institution. I look forward to presenting my research & meeting you... Read More →
Saturday September 21, 2024 12:10pm - 12:25pm EDT
Severn II
