The United States houses only five percent of the world’s population but over 20% of its prison population. There has been a dramatic increase in carceral numbers over the last several decades with much of this population being people with mental illness designations. Many scholars attribute this phenomenon to the process of deinstitutionalization, in which mental health institutions in the U.S. were shut down in the 1950s and ‘60s. However, disability scholar Liat Ben-Moshe argues that this is a dangerous oversimplification that fails to credit the deinstitutionalization movement as an abolitionist movement and to take into account shifting demographics between institutions and prisons/jails. This study considers how mass incarceration in the U.S. stems from a trend of isolating and punishing BIPOC and people with disabilities at disproportionate rates as it explores lived experiences at the intersection of mental health and incarceration. Findings inform an abolitionist agenda by highlighting the near impossibility of rehabilitation and treatment in an inherently traumatizing space.

If you’ve ever been driving cross country along the highway and seen a sign from the window of your car advertising the world’s largest rocking chair, or smallest museum, or biggest ball of string, then you’ve caught a glimpse into a closing window on a unique and fascinating chapter of American history, namely the essentially distinctive and often academically overlooked age of Roadside Americana. When most people think of Roadside Americana, they likely first think of Route 66 in the 1950s. There are immediate associations with the kitsch and hyperbolic: dramatic signs, themed diners and motels, and of course an abundance of roadside attractions like the ones listed above. Ask them to think a little harder and they might define their idea of Roadside Americana by its stereotypically friendly strangers, small towns, and open roads. All of these elements together create a conceptual definition of Roadside Americana as it is often optimistically considered today. However, while Route 66 at its commercial height is undeniably the blueprint for this collective definition, the influence of Roadside Americana has long since outgrown the original setting of its birth. Despite the ongoing decline in functionality and visibility of the Mother Road itself, the image of the era it gave rise to is one that has persisted throughout the decades in the American imagination. One place the evidence of this persevering fascination can be observed is in the close examination of media. The truth of a culture’s values is often revealed in storytelling, and the story of the American road trip is one that has been told time and again, so much so in fact that it’s become a widely acknowledged genre in its own right. Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, Kerouac’s On the Road, SNL’s The Blues Brothers, Pixar’s Cars, all these and more. The tone may differ drastically between works, ranging from poignant and tragic to downright ridiculous. And yet, there is a consistency across these fictional narratives. There is an appeal that unites them all. Despite practicality and the passage of time, despite maybe even challenging internal cynicism, there is something about Roadside Americana that we, as a culture, just aren’t ready to let go of.

Understanding perovskite degradation and stress responses under practical conditions is necessary to design efficient and stable photovoltaic devices. This experiment creates an in-situ stress testing system, in which the stress of a sample may be tested while it is subjected to conditions that it may experience in operation, such as cycles of sunlight. This immediate stress response is valuable in understanding what factors directly contribute to the stresses that degrade perovskite solar cells. Perovskite may be 2D or 3D and are composed of many different elements and additives. Each ink responds differently to sunlight exposure due to their different structures, which is important to characterize and comprehend. Preliminary testing and characterization for 2D, 3D and MAPI with gellan gum additive perovskite inks is conducted in this experiment. It is reported that the lattice expansion causing degradation-inducing stress is due to photon dosage rather than heat, and both 3D and 2D perovskites are sensitive to minute photon dosage.

Currently in the United States, Arizona high school students are testing at a standardized testing level barely being ranked in the top 50%. As far as education goes, Arizona's education system is not successful in demonstrating neither teacher nor student success. As past high school students from different forms of education being private, public, or charter, we three have seen what successful and unsuccessful schools are. We also have seen what successful teachers look like. It is our goal to help understand what makes an education system successful and what Arizona can do to help the success of their teachers and their students. The students in high schools today are the future of our world and it is the duty of the education system to help prepare for their future and to be successful. What we currently don’t know and hope to learn from this thesis are the factors that go into making a high school successful and their students also successful. As of right now Arizona is currently ranked 46th in education out of all states and territories belonging to the United States. This means that there are states with schools producing a higher success rate with their students. Not only is the Arizona Education ranking low but its teacher rankings are also low in work environment, student performance, salary compensation, and student success as well as countless others ranking as the 50th state in teacher success. It is clear that the Arizona education system needs to find reform and our goal is to search for what changes need to be made in our classrooms and work environment to create not only more successful teachers and students but also to create a successful education system.