Since Dylan Roof, a white supremacist, shot and killed nine members of a black church in Charleston on June 17, 2015, Confederate symbols have stood at the center of much controversy across the United States. Although the Confederate battle flag remains the most obvious example, the debate took a particular form in Tennessee, centering on the image of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Born in 1822 to a poor family, he left school early to work. Although his work in the slave trade made him a millionaire, his later participation in the massacre of over 300 black soldiers at Fort Pillow in 1864 during the Civil War and association with the Ku Klux Klan cemented his reputation as a violent racist. Yet, many white Tennesseans praised him as a hero and memorialized him. This thesis examines Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park in Benton County and Forrest Park, now Health Sciences Park, in Memphis to examine what characteristics denote a controversial memorial. Specifically, I focus on the physical form, the location, and the demographics of the area, investigating how these components work together to give rise to controversy or acceptance of the memorial's image. Physical representations greatly impact the ideas associated with the memorial while racial demographics affect whether or not Forrest's representation as a hero speaks true to modern interpretations and opinions.

Does Precrime mesh with the ideals of U.S. Justice? The fictional predictive police force of Philip K. Dick's "Minority Report" may be the gold standard for crime prevention in science fiction, but could such system actually exist in harmony with U.S. standards of justice? By first exploring the philosophical foundations for punishment and blame in the United States, a characterization of the U.S.'s ideals for justice is established. Then, given the role that databases play in crime-fighting today, especially in establishing probable cause for lawful arrests, it is argued that databases with predictive power could in fact give rise to police force that resembles Precrime, with some complications. How the predictions are interpreted under the law in order to give them legal basis in establishing probable cause is explained, with several potential possibilities produced. These avenues for preemptive arrest approach the realm of Precrime, but lack Precrime's level of security. Other forms of preemptive detention that are currently in use are explored, mainly involuntary civil commitment, in order to find a potential form that a more extreme Precrime may take in the U.S. Finally, the limits of Precrime are explained, with some caveats and concluding comments on the potential for abuse and misuse of predictive policing.

In this study, I aim to understand general knowledge of menstruation and reproductive health among women who live and work in Dakar, Senegal. While there is an established nationalized sex education curriculum and robust HIV prevention campaigns, there is nonetheless an unmet need for sexual health education in Senegal and limited access to family planning services in low-income communities. I examine data obtained from surveys conducted with participants selected using convenience sampling in five different neighborhoods in Dakar, as well as ethnographic observations during the four month period of study. Qualitative and quantitative analyses address women's comforts levels during menstruation, barriers to access of high quality menstrual care products, familiarity with different kinds of contraceptive methods, and information on where women receive information regarding puberty, sex, and menstruation. Results show that most participants seek out family members, female friends and other respected members in the community for reproductive development information. National programs and international organizations sponsor youth to become community educators, who offer an informal and more accessible method of education. Earlier research shows that informal methods of education can be extremely effective ; in the setting of Dakar, young health educators are also creating inclusive and safe spaces for meaningful discussions about sexuality to be held, combating the negative effects of the traditional patriarchal and conservative culture. Relationships with one's community are extremely important, and can be an invaluable resource in transmitting sexual and reproductive health information to women. Improved understanding of reproductive health among women in Senegal can encourage them to make informed decisions about family planning.

This paper explores whether American football player Colin Kaepernick and other athletes’ refusal in 2016 to acknowledge the national anthem symbolizes a form of nationalism in the United States. At first glance, the rising support of “un-American” acts that reject traditional patriotism would imply that American nationalism is faltering. If one observes the colloquial understanding of nationalism as extreme commitment to a country, this may be true. But after closer examination, the pattern instead depicts a polarization of two distinct forms of nationalism — ethnocentric nationalism and what I call multicultural nationalism, both intensifying away from each other.
As opposed to colloquial understanding, there is no standard scholarly definition of nationalism, but it is widely seen as zeal over an identity that strives to manifest into an organized state. Despite this minimal consensus, nationalism is usually equated with an ethnocentric conception of the nation-state, what I recognize to be ethnocentric nationalism, the commitment to a linguistically, racially, and culturally likeminded nation. I argue that this traditional, ethnocentric understanding of nationalism is only one interpretation of nationalism. Ethnocentric nationalism has and continues to be in tension with a more recently established interpretation of the nation, which I call multicultural nationalism: the commitment to a country’s principles rather than to its racial, cultural, and religious ties.

A common acceptance of difference is growing in the United States as shown by Kaepernick’s public support in the face of patriotic conformity. This perspective draws from the United States’ ideological roots that argue for one nation made up of many, e pluribus unum, so that foreign backgrounds should not just be accepted but also embraced to form a more diverse nation. The passion for a progressive, multicultural America can be translated into its own movement of multicultural nationalism. In this context, the support for Kaepernick’s actions no longer appears to represent increased dissent from the United States, but instead seems to be an attempt to challenge ethnocentric nationalism’s claim to the nation.

This paper will begin by contrasting the reactions to Kaepernick’s protest and to protests before him in order to contend that nationalism is no longer characterized by only ethnocentric tradition. I will analyze theoretical studies on nationalism to dispute this common understanding that nationalism is solely ethnocentric. I will argue that nationalism, rather, is the intense manifestation of a community’s identity within a political state; the identity of which can be either ethnocentric or multicultural. The Kaepernick ordeal will be used to signify the greater division in the American public over whether a multicultural or ethnocentric conception of the nation should be supported in the United States. Lastly, this paper will observe how the Kaepernick protest suggests multicultural nationalism’s viability in today’s politically progressive environment, and how multiculturalism should embrace nationalism to advance its platform.

Patriarchal forces manifest in a variety of wide-reaching ways, but few are more potent then the methods by which patriarchy becomes embodied and integrated into patterns of emotional expression. This is particularly true to the boundaries of anger expression for women which are placed upon and reinforced through patriarchal socialization. This thesis explores the relationship between gender socialization, the construction of happiness, and resistance through anger expression. Drawing from Sarah Ahmed's The Promise of Happiness and Judith Butler's Gender Troubles, this project first identifies the construction of subjecthood for women, focusing particularly on the ways in which performance of gendered categories becomes necessary to intelligibility as a subject. Through an exploration of current social science research, this project then seeks to answer the ways in which the theoretical notion of gendered subjecthood comes to function within tangible expressions, or lack of expression, of anger. Finally, this thesis explores what it may mean for women to create a healing relationship with anger, forcibly creating space for expansive subjecthood.

A look at how the Vietnam War influenced immigrant and first-generation children's perception of culture. This thesis focuses on Vietnamese-American immigration as a whole, and on subjects on the American west coast. Interviews were conducted with eleven subjects to examine the most profound influences on culture and how native culture is passed on through the generations. Focuses include cultural identity, cultural inheritance, prominent native and adoptive cultural values, and culture as affected by adversity.

Nietzsche’s aphoristic style and affinity for rhetorical ‘masks’ raise an acute interpretive problem. The problem is that his fragmented style might be taken to reflect a deeper fragmentation in his thought. For instance, philosopher Raymond Geuss argues that we should not read Nietzsche’s thought as being unified. Against Geuss, I argue that we should. To make my case, I appeal to Nietzsche’s meta-philosophy, which gives us plenty of evidence for attributing unity to his thought. I conclude by reflecting on why this result is important for interpreting different aspects of Nietzsche’s work.

One of Ancient Rome's most intriguing pagan religions is that of the mysterious cult of Mithras: the celebration of an ancient Indo-Iranian god, who gained an enormous amount of popularity during the first several centuries of the Common Era. Mithraism, as the cult has been commonly termed, was a mystery religion, one whose nature and teachings remain somewhat secretive today, since the cult left no written works. Mithraism provides a particularly interesting point of view regarding the Roman Empire, since the cult began around the same time that Christianity did, but was entirely forgotten just over 400 years later. In analyzing why one religion succeeded while the other failed, this paper examines beliefs such as astrology, Zoroastrianism, monotheism, and fatalism within the context of life in the Roman Empire.

The thesis titled "Exploring Undergraduate Admissions through the Development of Shadowing Programs" is an organizational study and analysis of a shadowing program developed by Krista Moller, Ryan Johnson, and Kean Thomas. It resulted in the creation of a 25+ person student organization in the W.P. Carey School of Business called "Explore". The organization received backing and support from the admissions department in W.P. Carey, notably Dean of Admissions, Timothy Desch. The organization's members (titled "ambassadors") host a high school student interested in the business school for a day of class. High school students are matched with an ambassador based on majors they might be interested in, and ideally the result of the day of shadowing is the high school student having a better understanding of the opportunities available at W.P. Carey. The organization began in the fall of 2013, and was intended to be used as a thesis project from its inception. As a result, the founder's experiences were carefully documented and this allowed for a detailed analysis to take place. The analysis delves into the difficulties faced by the organization's members and executive board as a result of internal and external influences. The successes and experiences they were fortunate enough to have are also detailed, and plans for the organization's future are included as well. In addition, the Explore program is analyzed in comparison to other programs around the country and even in Canada, with the goal being to see where we could potentially strengthen our program. The founders of the Explore program (and authors of this thesis) hope other students might learn from it so that more programs such as Explore can be created, benefiting the local community and ASU itself.