Tag: International Studies

Observations of Mobile Health Clinics in Honduras: A Case Study on El Centro De Salud Integral Zoé

Presenter(s): Mitchell Yep—International Studies, General Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Lesley Weaver, Melissa Graboyes

Session 1: Time for Your Check-Up—Decolonizing Global Health

Visual impairment and blindness are debilitating conditions with increasing rates around the globe . The World Health Organization estimates at least 2 .2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion are preventable or remain unaddressed (Bourne et al ., 2017; World Health Organization, 2019) . El Centro de Salud Integral Zoé uses an innovative Mobile Health Clinic model to deliver cataract screenings and visual acuity exams to populations marginalized from the Honduran health care system . Zoé ́s outreach model actively removes systemic barriers that prevent individuals from seeking care such as cost, distance, logistics, and lack of knowledge . The colonial legacy and proposed neoliberal development policies have resulted in the underdevelopment of health infrastructure and widespread exclusion from these services . The expansion of accessible health care is a pressing national issue as the State›s Ministry of Health estimates 18% of the population (over 1 .5 million Hondurans) do not have access to health services (Secretary of Health, 2015) . Implementing the Right to Health under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and achieving the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals requires the foundation of accessible health care . Mobile Health Clinics present an alternative development strategy to ease disparities of access to health care by bringing medical services to communities that would not receive them .

Preserving the Authenticity of Chinese New Year in Process of Modernization Through Generational Perspectives

Presenter(s): Evelyn Woo—Psychology, International Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Tina Chan

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session 5: It’s a Small World After All

This project explores generational gaps in celebrating Chinese New Year, which is arguably the most important holiday in China . Also known as the Spring Festival, traditional rituals include the family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, putting up lucky red decorations, handing out red envelopes to children, and setting off firecrackers . In the last decade, many new forms of commemorating Chinese New Year have developed among young people, such as sending virtual red envelopes for online money transfers via WeChat, a popular messaging app, and watching the extravagant Chinese New Year Gala on screens rather than participating in small festivities with family . These technology-driven changes are of particular concern to some elders who think that the younger generation is turning away from traditional family values and customs . The purpose of this project is to examine attitudes toward the Spring Festival and question whether it is losing its authenticity . We debate in how far this transition is indicative of a larger restructuring of Chinese society and contrast different generational perspectives by analyzing Western and Chinese news outlets, social media blog posts, and websites . We expect to find that with China’s rapid urbanization, cultural traditions are not lost but simply changed, which some may see as growth, while others interpret it as a disappearing act . Our project has strong social significance, as it points out schisms in Chinese society and issues China faces in its process of modernization .

Government Response, Epidemiology, and Impacted Communities in New York during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Presenter(s): Angelique Wallmann—International Studies, French

Co-Presenter(s): Amelia Hardeman, Hannah Heskin

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris

Session 2: US Outbreak Breakout—COVID-19 Research

During this unprecedented time of global health crisis, Covid-19 has impacted each state in the United States differently . A lack of guidance from the federal government has allowed state governments to develop varying responses to the crisis bringing individual results . New York has quickly become the epicenter for the disease in the US, because of this, I have chosen to follow the state-level response to Covid-19 in New York as part of the INTL Field Experience: GH Crisis course this term . My project uses social media to share and analyze important information related to disease epidemiology, government response through policies, and impacted communities . This research is ongoing as the crisis continues to unfold, at this time focus is being given to how and when the New York state government will begin to prepare for a transition out of emergency response to Covid-19 .

Global Perspectives on Wide Scale Outbreaks

Presenter(s): Kira Veselka—Business Administration, International Studies, German

Co-Presenter(s): Meama Scott

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

With many modern viruses and bacteria becoming increasingly more deadly, how countries react to disease outbreaks becomes more crucial than ever . With the recent Coronavirus epidemic beginning in Wuhan, China, spreading across the globe, we are able to watch first-hand how modern industrialized societies react to massive viral outbreaks . In this research project, we examine how countries such as China, the United States of America, Germany, and Sweden react to a massive viral outbreak and how what they do to protect their citizens from these deadly diseases interacts with existing narratives of prejudice against certain countries or segments of their population . Examining and evaluating public news media in China, Germany, Sweden and the USA we find that large-scale outbreaks can affect the public’s perspective on the perceived ‘Other’ and push narratives of fear promoting confusion and misunderstanding . A country can take a number of precautions from only warning the public and suggesting enhanced hygiene practices to quarantining large segments of its population in an effort to prevent a more significant outbreak . Which measures are taken affects public opinion and could save or stifle the efforts to contain diseases . Our research ultimately promotes ongoing efforts of overcoming narratives of prejudice and fear which and contributes to progress in the prevention of disease .

Abortion legalization in Spain: A window into the history of Spanish reproductive rights

Presenter(s): Monica Silverman—International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Yvonne Braun

Session 3: The Way We Were

My thesis research analyzes the social and political history of abortion legalization in Spain, and explores the implications of this history for modern reproductive health discourse and policy throughout the country . Abortion was officially legalized in Spain for the first time in 2010 and saw much political and social backlash . The contemporary policies regarding reproductive rights in the

country are deeply connected to events during the almost 40-year-long dictatorship of Francisco Franco . From 1939, right after the Spanish Civil War, up until his death in 1975, Francisco Franco ruled Spain under a fascist dictatorship, maintaining control through repressive means and implementing a politically and socially conservative plan for Spain in collaboration with the Catholic Church . This relationship between church and state produced an environment in which a narrow version of religious morality dictated women’s autonomy in the public sphere and over their own bodies . This thesis explores the historical ties to the gendered policies and societal norms which were constructed in Franco’s Spain and largely persisted through democratization . Drawing on secondary sources, I specifically argue that rigid gendered ideologies and systematic disenfranchisement of women has been pervasive in Spanish society under both fascist and democratic regimes . Patriarchal systems of oppression have thereby persisted despite political change . Additionally, I have discovered that Spain has made enormous progress relating to reproductive justice even as there are still significant areas for improvement . A strong Spanish feminist movement continues to fight for these improvements, including equitable access to reproductive healthcare and education .

Policy Mapping onto Bodies: The nexus between immigration policy, local community support networks, and migrant health outcomes in Tijuana

Presenter(s): Samantha Sidline—International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris

Session 1: Time for Your Check-Up—Decolonizing Global Health

The implementation of new policy at the US-Mexico border has only exacerbated the humanitarian crisis experienced by border communities and asylum-seekers . The Migrant Protection Protocols are already affecting asylum-seekers attempting to enter the United States from Mexico . Policies like the MPP disenfranchise migrants by creating the conditions in which fleeing families are vulnerable to a system that is unsupportive of their rights, exposing them to various forms of violence and hostility . Families must now wait in Mexico for unspecified periods of time for the duration of their immigration proceedings . Inevitably, policies like this one produce environments of uncertainty and neglect the framework which recognizes immigration as a determinant of health . This thesis aims to position the current asylum-seeker experience at the US-Mexico border as one at the whim of frequent United States policy changes and how this instability may impact migrant health negatively . The reality of asylum-seekers’ experiences is detailed through my participant observation research in Tijuana, where the effects of the MPP are lived day-to-day . Interviews with community workers addressing the humanitarian crisis at the border deconstruct the embodiment of such policies in asylum-seekers while simultaneously demonstrating how community support can aim to negate the harmful impacts of policy . This research will show how policy determines the livelihood of asylum-seekers coming into the United States and recognizes community networks’ role in migrant community health and fostering solidarity .

The Correlation Between Stigma Stemming from HIV and Antiretroviral Packaging: Design Recommendations for Introducing Discrete Packaging for Adolescents in Western Kenya

Presenter(s): Arden Saravis—International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Clare Evans

Session 1: Time for Your Check-Up—Decolonizing Global Health

Failure to adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) persists in exponentially large numbers in the adolescent population in Western Kenya . The presence of stigma surrounding HIV heavily contributes to this immense prevalence in society . Adolescents living with HIV fear premature disclosure to
their peers, so many choose to not bring their ARTs in public and even hide them in their homes . We assessed perceptions of the ART pill bottle/pill to see if this contributes to non-adherence and discussed ideas on changing the bottle or developing a new, discrete pill casing . We conducted nine key informant interviews among professionals who work with adolescents and young adults living with HIV and conducted four focus group discussions with 42 adolescents living with HIV at a hospital in Western Kenya . We found that currently, because of the pill bottle, many adolescents and young adults remove their pills and place them in other items, reducing pill potency, however the results include proposed ideas and designs for an alternative pill bottle that they will use and confirmed that their adherence would increase if these such items were implemented .

How Does Our Background Influence Social Output?

Presenter(s): Kathryn Paulus—Linguistics, Pre-International Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Claire Amistoso, Bryan Salazar, Owen Morgan

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Baese-Berk

Session 1: Human Behavior—I am Who I Am

Recently, intersectionality has been used to analyze social dynamics around the world . We recognize that everyone comes from different places and has many different experiences . To operationalize social background, we divided social background into four subsections: race/ ethnicity, socioeconomic, language and gender . Our research focuses on how people express each subsection of social background . We plan on releasing a survey that focuses on four major topics by asking a series of questions within each topic . Because of the current situation of the world, we plan on releasing this survey on our social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram . The significance of this research is to identify the results of intersectionality through social output from diverse backgrounds .

Focusing on those aspects of our lives is something that not everyone around the world fully realizes yet, as we only focus on either one or two of those . So it’s a topic that we as a research group want to focus as to how everything builds up to one point in our lives and how impactful it is for better or for worse .

Ethnolinguistic Vitality of Eugene

Presenter(s): Maya Mackey—International Studies, Spanish

Faculty Mentor(s): Devin Grammon

Session 2: Oregon Trails

Linguistic landscapes are necessary for ethnolinguistic communities to be comfortable in their place of residence . Linguistic landscape is the study of representations of languages that are displayed
in public spaces such as signs, billboards, graffiti, and moving objects . This study examines the Spanish linguistic landscape of Downtown Eugene as it relates to the Spanish-speaking community’s ethnolinguistic vitality . The absence of multilingual signage around Downtown Eugene deprives the Spanish-speaking community of obtaining full access to communal activities and resources . There are many elements that serve a purpose in improving ethnolinguistic landscapes that directly relate to an individual’s comfortableness within a community . Qualitative and quantitative analysis of signs in Spanish, the coding of images, interviews with bilingual members of the Eugene community, and ethnographic data collection was used to determine the ethnolinguistic vitality and perceptions of Downtown Eugene . The analysis shows that there is a lack of signs of various languages in Downtown Eugene . The implementation of multilingual signs is necessary to create a more welcoming community for both residents and visitors of all backgrounds . Although this research is in a current state of development, this proposal shows how to increase the ethnolinguistic vitality for the Spanish-speaking community and will be published and presented to the City of Eugene . Linguistic landscape is necessary for not only the security and accessibility of all residents but for the economy of Eugene as well . When a city shows its willingness to create a safe space for all residents and visitors, people are more likely to be actively involved with the community thus stimulating economic growth .

Enhancing Education through Improved Communication: Case Study of Senegal

Presenter(s): Dylan Land—International Studies, Political Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Dennis Galvan

Session 1: Global Views—We vs. Them

Education is understood as a cornerstone of any development endeavor . Improved education has empirically proven to ameliorate health outcomes, bolster social and economic mobility, amplify civic participation and lay the foundation for other positive societal developments . The education system in Senegal has continued to improve through various initiatives, sponsored by the national government and the donor community . Despite the success of various reform programs, there is still much to be done in order for Senegal to meet desired benchmarks established by national, regional and global education expectations . At the core of Senegal’s educational shortcomings lies ineffective communication . There is a lack of consistent empirical data about the achievements of education initiatives . There are holes in reporting and monitoring mechanisms, and the complexity of results-based frameworks often produces inefficiency within the system, all of which, I contend, could be solved through improved communication . Grounded in expansive literature review and analysis of primary source documents, this paper will explore possible avenues for enhancing education in Senegal . Through the formation of robust communication channels, coherent systems of accountability, and transparent mechanisms for administrating, reporting and monitoring, educational deficiencies could be remedied . However, considering the significant absence of reliable and consistent data, further research is required to determine the exact measures that must be taken by relevant stakeholders . Understanding the possibilities of improving the Senegalese education system may teach us important lessons about how to further enhance education internationally and prepare students in all nations for meaningful participation in the modern world .