Environmental migration is expected to intensify as climate change progresses. It is imperative to understand the legal gap within international law regarding the protection of environmental migrants and current initiatives or policies enacted to aid environmental migrants. For the purposes of the present project, examples of international initiatives, domestic approaches, ad hoc policies, and recommended policies have been compiled to analyze and understand the current state of protecting environmental migrants. Through a thorough understanding of these elements, it is argued that a more cooperative, legally binding, international approach must be adopted as environmental migration progresses. A qualitative content analysis and extended literature review were employed to complete the present thesis. As climate change continues, the world's most vulnerable individuals may find themselves subjected to migration as a means to adapt. Pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the legal void in protecting environmental migrants may leave groups of environmental migrants with no protection, resources, or means to rebuild their lives. Although ad hoc initiatives have been effective in helping certain populations of environmental migrants, other groups go unnoticed. All qualifying environmental migrants deserve some form of legal protection under international law to ensure their most basic rights and needs are met.

keywords:  Environmental Migration, International Law, Climate Change

I created a website titled “Molly’s Musical Classroom” for my Honors Capstone Project, demonstrating different ways music can be incorporated into the classroom to benefit students' social/emotional, behavioral, and cognitive well-being. I have written three original ELA lesson plans complete with an outline, rubric, worksheets, and a corresponding music video, which are on the website as well as one math music video, a literature review, an “About The Author” section, and a list of additional resources teachers can use to incorporate music into their classroom. Through Archival Research, I collected a variety of empirical sources to support my claim that music in the classroom is beneficial in a literature review. Along with the literature review, the purpose of my Honors Capstone project is to demonstrate how music can be beneficially incorporated into the classroom including my original lesson plans. As an Early Inclusive Childhood Education and Psychology double major with a minor in music, I felt researching music's positive impacts on the minds of young students in the classroom was the perfect culmination of my interests and future. As a future teacher, I understand the importance of readily available materials to guide one’s lessons. My goal was to create a website providing teachers with ways to incorporate music into their classrooms at their fingertips.

keywords:  Education, Music, and Well-being

The bond between humans and canines is timeless and its effects have been defined as mutually beneficial between humans and canines. The incorporation of therapy animals into schools, hospitals, and therapy sessions has become increasingly popular, but the risks associated with incorporation have been largely unexplored. Therapy dogs generally have more interaction with humans than companion dogs which puts them at a larger risk for the contraction of mainly human identified Staphylococcus bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. There are three main species of Staphylococcus which are S. epidermidis, S. aureus, and S. pseudintermedius. This study examines human-canine interactions through the identification of Staphylococcus bacteria on canines. S. aureus is associated mainly with humans while S. pseudintermedius is generally associated with canines. Both have bidirectional pathways meaning they can transfer from one species to another making them the perfect bacterial species to examine. Seven therapy dogs and seven non-therapy dogs were swabbed on their front paw and forehead to test for the presence of these bacteria on their body. Therapy dogs were found to have significantly more human interaction in a given week than non-therapy dogs as well as more S. aureus species present in their samples. When comparing the paw and the forehead of all dogs, the paw had significantly more bacterial species in general. All samples taken from dogs’ paws contained Staphylococcus bacteria while only half of the forehead samples contained Staphylococcus bacteria which demonstrates the ubiquity of Staphylococcus This also shows that the number of human interactions is likely significant in transferring S. aureus from humans to dogs. This stresses the importance of proper hand washing before and after visits as a way to reduce the spread of staphylococcal species during therapy dogs visits. This study serves as a starting point for more research regarding therapy dog interactions. As the incorporation of therapy dogs into therapy sessions, mental health counseling, and school and hospital settings becomes increasingly popular, it is important to note the risks concerning zoonotic disease transfer. By demonstrating the ability of staphylococcal species to transfer from humans to dogs, and dogs to humans, it stresses the importance of taking proper precautions when interacting with therapy dogs.

keywords:  Dogs, microbiology, Therapy animals, zoonoses

“Heard, Felt, and Understood” consists of a literature-based exploration into the numerous emotional effects of music. The research methodology is rooted primarily in communication theories (ex. Uses and gratifications theory), but also calls upon an auto-ethnographic approach that utilizes personal experiences of the researcher to contextualize data. Focus groups were conducted with Nazareth students to assess the dissimilarities between the manner in which musicians and non-musicians interpret and react to different styles of music. This presentation will discuss the studies that informed the project, as well as share takeaways from the focus groups in a slideshow format. Viewers will also get the opportunity to briefly engage with samples of various musical compositions and gain a further understanding of their own listening habits. Music is perhaps the most impactful and universal form of communication in existence, and understanding its ubiquitous nature within our lives is crucial. “Heard, Felt, and Understood” provides insight into the unique and personal ways that individuals interact with music, and shows the value that reflection upon lived experience can hold in the world of academic research.

keywords:  Music, communication theory, songwriting, active listening

Musical development and second language acquisition share several common indicators of success. Some of these indicators include tolerance for ambiguity, self-efficacy, and the presence of a vibrant community. In addition, other shared traits include those of processing and proficiency, benefits to academic performance and cognitive development, and similar educational methods. Findings indicate that many music teachers and language teachers approach their subjects similarly. This case study explores the lived experiences of 3 Nazareth University music faculty members and 1 world language and culture faculty member, and how these experiences can be applied to the wider worlds of both music and language education. Ultimately, how do the shared aspects of music and language education speak to the human experience as a whole?

keywords:  Music education, language acquisition, community, self-efficacy, ambiguity tolerance, communicative language teaching (CLT), comprehensible input, music psychology, linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, motivational psychology

Undergraduate students deal with a variety of stressful and frustrating situations. But given that there are a lot of stressors, how well do students use a coping strategy to deal with such stressors? Breathing exercises and mindfulness training have been used to increase calmness. In my experiment, undergraduate students either performed mindfulness breathing exercises or sat quietly prior to engaging in a New York Times style connections game. Participants were asked to rate their frustration and stress levels after completing the puzzle to see how effective the mindfulness breathing exercises were in reducing those emotions. The study hypothesized that mindfulness breathing exercises would decrease those emotions relative to sitting quietly. I chose to study this topic because a lot of the time students get caught up in the moment and are not able to control their emotions. I hope students can use the results of this experiment to implement mindfulness breathing exercises in times when they know they are approaching a stressful or frustrating situation.

keywords:  Psychology, Stress Management