Geneisa Ragin

Fashion Merchandising & Apparel Design

Mentor: Dr. Addie Martindale

Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a fictional character whether it is from a television show, video game, or even a book series. Many people participate in cosplay to show their dedication or admiration for their favorite character and sometimes they cosplay a character that helps reflect their own character or personality. This thesis will mainly focus on the experience of being a Black female cosplayer in pop culture, social media, conventions, and other places where people can share and communicate. In this research, participants' answers about their experiences were centered around their inspiration to start cosplaying, their ways of alternating their cosplays to their liking, participation experience, memorable experiences, and what they would like others to know about being a Black female cosplayer. Overall, the participants express that they have a bond with their cosplays and enjoy it despite the issues of exclusion.

This project takes a look at an interwoven system of familial, religious, social, and economic ties known as the Protestant International. By analyzing genealogies, correspondence, business records, and transactions of the Mazyck Family, it is seen that these international connections often led to the material success of these families. This project also takes a look at how the Protestant International aided in shifting the vast majority of Huguenots’ identity from being religiously persecuted refugees to being wealthy merchants and planters who formed trade relations, both domestically and internationally.

This study examines college students’ perceptions of different strategies and the efficacy of those strategies to reduce the rates of abortions. Factors such as comprehensive, medically accurate sex education, widespread accessibility and affordability of contraception, and affordable and accessible pre-natal care are all factors that the literature has established lower the rates of abortions. Factors such as waiting periods of 24 hours or more to perform a surgical abortion, restricting state funding for abortions, and legal bans of abortions altogether are factors that do not reduce the rates of abortions (Medoff, 2015); they may even be counterproductive to their original purpose and cause the number of abortions to rise, not fall. This study uses a mixed methods approach of qualitative and quantitative questions including a Likert-type scale, to measure participants’ perceptions against what the peer reviewed data knows to be effective in lowering abortion rates. The data had shown that sex education, contraception and prenatal care are factors that these college students thought would lower the rates of abortion which directly links to what the literature lists as factors that will reduce the rates or abortion. However, my participants thought bans on abortion and restrictive laws would lower the rates which we know to be false according to the literature.

Blank Spaces explores the way childhood nostalgia manifests in the physical world through the creation of mixed media pieces. The experimentation with different mediums in my work, such as painting, ceramics, and animation, is emblematic of childhood creative play. These mixed media artworks showcase how memories recalled from the past can influence our interpretation of the present. The familial connection to family and culture, represented through manipulated old family photographs and imaginary renderings of stories, blends representational imagery with fantasy; my art examines the movement of those memories in the “blank spaces” of the mind. The thesis adds to the conversation of personal truth regarding the recollection of family memories and discusses mortality by symbolizing the impermanence of people and time.

The purpose of the current study was to determine if there were variations in the self-perceptions of honors and non-honors collegiate students in areas of academic and non-academic self-concept. This research was important as it provides emphasis on an understudied population as well as gathers a deeper understanding of intricacies related to self-concept by incorporating comprehensive investigative measures. A sample of 236 students (72.6% female, 65.7% White, ages 18-51) took an online survey consisting of questions related to self-concept. By utilizing a series of two-tailed, independent samples t-tests we examined the differences between student self-perceptions of self-concept. Results indicated that honors students had statistically significantly higher academic self-concepts than non-honors students. Both groups of students scored similarly across social self-concepts, however, non-honors students had higher perceptions of their physical self-concepts. These findings will provide new insights into how honors enrollment impacts the formation of self-image.

People from marginalized communities often receive fewer healthcare opportunities than people who are not from marginalized communities (Copeland, 2016), which contributes to health disparities. Physician cultural responsiveness is the willingness to seek out knowledge and adapt to different cultural beliefs (Ring, 2009). The present study investigated how the presence of cultural responsiveness in fictional yelp reviews impacted Black and White participants’ willingness to seek treatment and evaluate physicians favorably. Nineteen Black participants and thirty-nine White participants who indicated they would use an OB/GYN participated in this study. All participants read twelve Yelp-like reviews about OB/GYN’s: six had culturally responsive characteristics to them; six did not have culturally responsive characteristics. After each review, participants indicated how much they anticipated liking the physician, the importance of the physician’s characteristics, the likelihood that they would leave a review of the doctor, the likelihood they would recommend the physician, and the likelihood of seeking treatment from this doctor. Five mixed model ANOVAs were conducted with the alpha level adjusted to .01. Compared to White participants, Black participants liked and were more likely to seek treatment from culturally responsive physicians. White participants were more likely to recommend, seek treatment from, and report higher importance of character for non-culturally responsive physicians than culturally responsive physicians. Further research should investigate the factors for why these patterns of results emerged. Additionally, it is important to note our study has a small sample size, however, we believe if replicated with a larger sample size, the results would be consistent.

Studies show that hiring decisions can be influenced by an applicant’s social media profile (Broughton et al., 2013) as well as their gender (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2009). Women, compared to men, are more likely to face hiring discrimination (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2009) and many hiring managers tend to look at an applicant’s social media profiles for additional information during the hiring process (Broughton et al., 2013). There is a lack of substantial research on the combination of these two factors. This study examined the effects of gender and social media type on hiring decisions.

The current study analyzed the mediating role of mental health on academic performance among college women who have experienced sexual assault. The purpose of this research was to acknowledge the impacts that sexual assault experiences may have on the college experience. A total of 241 undergraduate students participated in the study. Participants were college aged, ranging from 18-36 (90.5% female, 59.2% White, 28.1% Black/African American). Participants completed an online survey that evaluated their sexual assault experience, depression, and academic performance. Using Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation model, it was found that as participants reported higher instances of sexual assault experience, they tended to report lower academic performance, and this relationship was mediated by increased depression symptoms. These findings contribute new information to the current literature and further stress the importance of preventing instances of sexual assault on college campuses and supporting victims due to psychological and academic consequences.

My thesis project explored the relationship between a formal music training experience and executive functions in a middle school band classroom. Executive functions are working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility which allow us to gain and focus our attention on specific tasks. Participants in the study were two groups of middle school students: a sixth grade class with no previous musical experience and an eighth grade class with two years of band classes. I measured changes in students' overall success on cognitive tests over a two month span to observe at what point music training begins to impact executive functions. I will use these results to develop hypotheses about why that occurs.

The voice change process is a treacherous time for anyone, and choral music educators are tasked with helping their singers to navigate this time. In comparison to the male voice change, the female voice change process is underrepresented in literature and often ignored in classrooms (Sweet, 2018). The purpose of this study is to explore the psychological effects of the voice change process in female students and identify current pedagogical trends in voice change education as used by current secondary choral music educators. Participants included a) choral music education students who experienced a female voice change and b) current secondary choral music educators. Choral music education students responded to a background survey which collected demographic information and voice change process self-efficacy data. Selected informants underwent individual semi-structured interviews about their voice change experience. Current secondary choral music educators responded to an attitudinal and pedagogical survey of both Likert-type and open-ended prompts. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for surveys and an emergent coding process to determine themes in interviews. Findings from choral music education students included a range of emotion and confidence levels associated with the voice change process. An overarching theme for these informants included the aspects of typical adolescent psychological development. Additionally, secondary choral music educators showed differences in levels of preparation and confidence in dealing with the female voice change. These findings are most likely directly related to the lack of Social Emotional Learning techniques in past and current classrooms.

In music education, festival events are a chance to receive feedback from experts in the field. Often, these events have literature lists from which directors are required to choose literature for the event. With choral festivals being so prevalent in music education, the literature lists provided to choral music educators have a major impact on young singers. Literature selection can be intense for choral music educators who decide what factors to consider when selecting literature. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze the diversity of choral literature through analysis of the Georgia Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) list while also gaining a better understanding of literature selection processes through interviews. My research questions were the following: What choral literature is most prevalent in the LGPE list in Georgia? How do choral music educators approach the process of choosing literature, and what role does diversity play in that process? The sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was used. An analysis of the diversity of choral festival literature on the LGPE list was collected, followed by semi-structured interviews in which a broader perspective on the literature selection process was gained. Informants, chosen by convenience sampling, were required to be current choral music educators with at least one full year of experience. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a two-step inductive coding process. Data were triangulated by way of member checking the transcripts. Applications for this research include choral music educators being more aware of the diversity of their festival literature.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that affects approximately 3%-6% of adults. However, that number includes college students who require working memory and inhibitory control to be successful. (Green & Rabiner, 2012) The present study investigated deficits in executive function, specifically working memory and inhibitory control, in college students who are diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder relative to their classmates who are not diagnosed with ADHD. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the limited knowledge about college students with ADHD, precisely their challenges with inhibitory control and working memory, in comparison to their classmates who do not live with this mental health diagnosis. A better understanding of the certain functional deficits that accompany ADHD, and the college student population, may inform augmentation of interventions to increase academic performance and promote a positive college outcome for this population. (Woltering, 2013) Knowledge brings about awareness, awareness brings about empathy, and empathy will allow for students who struggle relative to their college classmates to be heard. In order to investigate these deficits, the ADEXI scale will be implemented. This scale has shown to be a reliable instrument in distinguishing between adults with ADHD relative to nonADHD controls while specifically investigating deficits in working memory and inhibitory control. (Holst & Thorell, 2018, Sjöwall, 2019, Thorell & Nyberg, 2008) In consideration of current research, an expected hypothesis is that college students diagnosed with ADHD will score higher on the self-reported ADEXI scale relative to the comparison group, illustrating a relationship between executive dysfunction and college students with ADHD.

The negative consequences of stress can be felt across multiple systems of the body with both physical and psychological ramifications. Nursing students are typically known to have high stress levels. Stress in nursing students can arise from academic pressures, clinical experiences, and the attempt to balance self-care and personal lives with the demands of a rigorous degree program. For this project, I surveyed collegiate nursing students to determine their perceptions of factors relating to their stress and anxiety levels. Participants were presented with both quantitative and qualitative questions. Data collection was carried out using an online Qualtrics survey made available to nursing students on the Statesboro campus of Georgia Southern University. Data analysis was completed using the Qualtrics software. It was determined that this population experiences high levels of stress and anxiety and it is imperative to identify effective ways to alleviate those levels. The goal of this research is to shed light on the importance of self-care and effective stress management techniques for nursing students. In addition, it is my hope that nursing professors and instructors can use this research to gain insight into how they can best support their students as they progress through the program.

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a revolutionary technology being used increasingly frequently in clinical settings across the United States. Though there has been extensive research on the efficacy and successfulness of NPWT medically and otherwise, there has been little research regarding the healthcare providers’ perception of use of “wound-vacs,” the device used for NPWT. As new techniques and/or devices are made available for use in a clinical setting, the burden to learn and advance accordingly falls upon providers. The administration of NPWT is wholly reliant on nurses as they are the ones to apply the dressing, change it and document the progress; therefore, the burden is highest on nurses for application of NPWT. A study was conducted with the nurses at East Georgia Regional Medical Centre in Statesboro, Georgia exploring the time, skill, and educational restraints related to learning a new technique and successfully administering it. Using a mixed-methodology approach, five voluntary participating nurses completed a self-paced survey answering questions about the use of NPWT in their respective unit. The results suggest that NPWT is effective for patients as proven by previous quantitative studies but it does increase the burden on healthcare providers, though the workers do not have grievances as they are willing to be flexible for the sake of the patients’ wellbeing. Moving forward, it is important to recognise the increasing skill load in healthcare nowadays, and increase awareness of moderating workload for healthcare workers.