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The Revolution Will Be Televised But Not Supported: Student Protest at Marquette University
T.M. Bridges
This project examines the factors that affect the presence of student activism and student protest at Marquette University. The current social and political environment of the United States has created an exigence to discuss how students at Marquette critique their surroundings. Data is collected from a variety of sources including the author’s auto-ethnography, a review of historical and scholarly data, institutional data, and student and faculty interviews. Overall, the data shows that student protest and student activism at Marquette University exists amid a series of conflicting influences. The prioritization of donor-based funding and positive publicity, the ambiguity in the meaning of Marquette values, and the prevalence of repressive tolerance create an environment in which meaningful student activism is stifled.
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Cultivating Sustainability: Ensuring Marquette Students Graduate Understanding Environmental Sustainability
Amy Fangmann
In my research I walk through the methods I chose to conduct my mixed method qualitative research with. In addition, I will include the sources I have found, where I obtained them from, and the importance that these sources held in my research. This will lead into my findings on sustainability at Marquette University and other higher education institutions. My findings include what committees and efforts Marquette has made towards sustainability. I will then work to connect my various sources to form a comprehensive understanding of Marquette's sustainability as related to my chosen categories: curriculum, co-curriculum, and extra-curriculum. The research works to show where sustainability is and is not found in these three categories at Marquette University. The paper will conclude with my proposals to the shortcomings that I found in relation to Marquette' sustainability efforts.
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Seeking Help, Feeling Shame: An Alternative to Marquette University’s Counseling Center’s Outreach
Mary Folan
This paper is a look into the issues that public and self-stigma’s cause for higher education counseling centers. The study took shape when I faced my own issues with anxiety and when an important discussion with a friend showed me that mental health issues are not isolated and that there are others who suffer. The conversation brought me to the realization, however, that there must be something the can be fixed in Marquette University’s Counseling Center (MUCC) if others like myself are struggling but not reaching out. This drove me into a qualitative study where I conducted interviews, did scholarly research, and analyzed my observational field notes from three higher education counseling center websites—Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Loyola University Chicago. From the mixed methodology of resources, I gathered that there is an issue with MUCC’s counseling center and how it reaches out to its students.
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Jesuit Educated or Jesuit Obligated: A Study of Student Involvement in Community Service
Kristen Hartlieb
This research project began from the question: in what ways are students at Marquette involved in community service? To answer this question, I combined my data from three staff interviews, observations of Marquette’s webpages connected to service, and a review of scholarly literature about higher education’s role in community service. I have divided my research into four sections: motivations for research, methods, findings, and my proposals for change. My motivations section further describes the ways my story impacted my research and how my experience contributes to the outcome of this project. Next, I detail my methodological approach showing both what I did and how I analyzed it. This section shows the design of my research and my analysis of my data. The third section explains my findings. My findings are described in two overarching categories: Institutional Level Findings and Student Level Findings. From these two categories, I break down the specific findings associated with each level. In my institutional level findings, I describe the gap between mission and reality, the lack of training for faculty members, and the lack of prioritization of community engagement, as well as the physical distance between offices that offer community outreach. At the student level, I further explain how students are entering the university with a charity-based conceptions of service rather than a justice-based conception, how students motivations for participating in service impact the community, and how the demographics of first year students affect community service. These findings lead me to my proposals for change. I divided my proposals for change into two sections: To Do Now and To Do over Time.
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Passion or Profession: An Investigation into the Stigma Against Communications Majors
Samantha Medler
When I got to Marquette, my classes were everything I wanted them to be and more. The only problem, and one that I was never expecting to encounter, was how others viewed my major. Why was there a stigma associated with pursuing a Communications degree at Marquette University? This research documents my journey with this question. I first detail the essential need for this research. In this section, I will explain how my research fills a gap within the larger academic discussion. From there, I will explain the various methods I utilized to conduct this study from a mixed-method, qualitative approach. After will be the bulk of my research which is the findings section. In this, I find that the perceptions regarding Communications majors could more accurately be described as misperceptions. According to my research, there is in fact no evidence that Communications majors have less to do or are less prepared to entered the workforce. Nor is there any evidence that one’s major is the determining factor when securing a job post-graduation. After discussing these findings, I will move on to my proposal for change, which focuses on changing the existing stigma through the creation of a panel series. I will conclude with my thoughts on the potential and importance of this research, moving beyond the student-body at Marquette.
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The Cool Kids Are Doing It: The Pressure to Pick a Major at Marquette University
Maddie Michal
Ask any incoming first-year student what they’re dreading the most about college, and there’s a good chance it’s the never-ending questions of “What will you be majoring in?” or “What do you plan to pursue in college?” How could simple questions such as these provoke so much anxiety among students? But then again, how can people even begin to expect high-school graduates to have the answer to these questions at just eighteen years old? This study will examine what it means to be an undecided major at Marquette University. More specifically, are undecided students more likely to be scrutinized by their peers? Are they less likely to achieve academic success and, therefore, more likely to face a significant increase in depression or anxiety? To find the answer to these questions, I conducted a mixed-methods qualitative approach and collected data from observational fieldwork, interviews, scholarly sources, and a survey. Through my rhetorical analysis of Marquette University’s “Undecided” webpage, I discovered that Marquette welcomes incoming students without a declared major with open arms, stating that “undecided” is Marquette’s most popular major. However, the results from my student survey and interviews indicated otherwise. Twenty out of the 30 students surveyed indicated that they have experienced a significant increase in depression or anxiety due to their undecidedness. When asked about their experience with Marquette University’s Career Services Center, 17 students out of 30 indicated they had little knowledge about it, suggesting that Marquette’s resources for students are not being advertised correctly. My proposals for change include modifying Marquette University’s first-year student orientation with an emphasis on introducing the Career Services Center and other resources for students who are undecided.
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Crossing 21st and State: Marquette-Milwaukee Relations
Gina Richard
This project delves into relations between Marquette University and the Milwaukee community, analyzes potential issues, and suggests proposals for continued change. Through field observations, multiple interviews, and wide scholarly research, I've ascertained that Marquette University, a school long-deemed isolationist and elite, is at a pivotal point in their community engagement. While Marquette shows efforts toward more meaningful community engagement, these efforts could fall short, especially if not continually cultivated. For Marquette to signal sustained and deep investment in community engagement, I propose an awareness campaign, more open and honest discussion about current tensions, and more purposeful actions of Marquette to truly become part of and integrated with Milwaukee.
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Cura Personalis for Custodial Personnel? Examining Marquette University’s Relationship with Its Custodial Staff
Abby Vakulskas
Campus custodians are a vital part of any university that often gets overlooked and underappreciated. Considering Marquette’s emphasis of Jesuit values, it is necessary to examine the relationship between the university and its custodians to ensure that these employees receive equal dignity to any other members of the Marquette community. The custodial experience is explored in this qualitative study through interviews, field notes, and auto-ethnographic observations. It is found that administrative and custodial perceptions are positive, but student and auto-ethnographic perceptions suggest areas in need of improvement.
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Rape Talk: Student Awareness and Perceptions of Campus Sexual Assault and Resources
Rachel Harmon
This project evaluates student perceptions of campus sexual assault and related resources at Marquette University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As campus sexual assault and an unsafe rape culture are still persistent, research is needed to bring about awareness and spark an open discourse of this issue. The original data of this project consists of the researcher’s autoethnography, observations of Marquette’s online sexual violence resources, student interviews, and an online student survey. After analyzing this data, the most important finding was that students do not share the same perceptions and knowledge of this issue, despite receiving the same resources. Also, the relationship between Marquette students and staff and other non-student people is distant and in need of development. Lastly, students want to see more change on campus concerning this issue. However, the overarching theme of their desires for change is a wish for more transparency on campus.
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Examining Student Engagement: Practices to Encourage Participation in College Classrooms
Megan Knowles
After her experience in "Ethnography of the University," Megan Knowles continued her research with support of an Undergraduate Research Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences. In fall 2015, Megan attended the Naylor Workshop for Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies in York, Pennsylvania, and there she workshopped a draft of her revised project, sharing new data and analysis. In spring 2016, Megan then presented this poster (an extension of her initial project) at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Houston, Texas
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Misconceptions About Contraception: Sexual Health at Marquette University
Anna Matenaer
What has Marquette done to keep you healthy during your time in college? While Marquette offers full physical, mental and spiritual health services, we see a severe lack in the services surrounding the sexual health of students. Inspired by studies ranking Marquette as one of the least sexually healthy universities in the nation, I decided to look a little deeper into the actual policies we have surrounding this on campus. Unsurprisingly, I came up with very little. This project looks into administration’s role in devising policies surrounding sexual health on campus. Looking toward the future, what can we do to make Marquette a healthier and safer campus for all students? Real changes need to be made on campus to offer students comprehensive information and resources.
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Come One, Come All: Exploring Geographical Diversity at Marquette University
Catherine McCoy
As an Iowa native, I often find myself surprised at the lack of representation from my home state, despite being from the Midwest. This led me to looking deeper into Marquette admissions, and ask the question, how does Marquette draw from different areas of the country? By using a mixed-method qualitative study, I was able to look into student motivations in selecting Marquette recruitment strategies of the Admissions Office, and trends in enrollment from archives and institutional data. Knowing the impact of geographic diversity on a college campus can have numerous benefits, and create a sense of inclusivity on campus. By researching geographic diversity at Marquette’s campus, I hope to find ways to increase not just geographic diversity, but better understand how this ties into all forms of diversity. By gaining this understanding, our university can better recognize how to continue to recruit a wide range of students from all places and backgrounds.
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All That Glitters is Blue & Gold: Examining the Marquette Brand
Ellie O'Neil
This paper is an examination of the Marquette University brand and its implications, attempting to answer the following research question: how does Marquette branding affect the portrayal of the college experience? My research is separated into sections: introduction, methods, findings and next direction. The methods used include interviews, scholarly literature reviews and observations, and my findings are broken down into these categories: background and significance of branding; self-identification of higher education brands; determining real authenticity while ‘being the difference;’ and traditional corporate branding in experiential services. Following my methods and findings, I propose several ideas for change: maintaining an internal focus; promoting holistic ideas through the creation of transparent media; and the expulsion of traditional corporate branding in experiential services altogether.
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Perceptions from Across the Pond: Building Cultural Competence from Study Abroad Experiences
Kathleen Wolff
At Marquette University, there is a large gap between the number of students who show an interest in studying abroad and those who actually participate in the study abroad process. In order to gauge why this discrepancy occurs, students’ mindsets and perceptions about studying abroad are analyzed in relation to varying degrees of cultural competence. This paper addresses the need for research about cultural competence, ultimately addressing how Marquette students value cultural competence and how this value connects to their decision to study abroad. By recognizing the worldly benefits gained from study abroad experiences, the idea of cultural competence can be built in students’ minds and continually developed throughout their lives. Research is conducted through a mixed-method approach, which consists of interviews, archival data, and auto-ethnographical features. By organizing and analyzing data according to students’ previous knowledge about study abroad, the balance between collaborative efforts by Marquette faculty and the individual actions taken by students is recognized as essential for the development of well-rounded, culturally competent individuals. In a world marked by recent political change, it is important to continually articulate the importance of cultural competence, the importance of students’ discovering their own identities in relation to the larger world around them. Thus, proposals for change are discussed in order to increase participation in Marquette study abroad programs.
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Will You Look Me in the Eye? The Embrace and Denial of Human Dignity on Marquette Campus
Katie Ellington
With a foundation in Levinas' pseudo-ethical philosophy of the Phenomena of the Face, this project provided a definition of human dignity and considered whether or not the Marquette University community practices a common respect for human dignity in everyday interactions on the streets of Marquette campus -- focusing in on Wisconsin Avenue due to its constant traffic of both Marquette University students and faculty and Milwaukee community members. This project observed typical day to day interactions that occur while walking around Marquette University's campus with a specific emphasis on how people affiliated with Marquette University react to other Marquette community members as well as members of the Milwaukee community on campus. Ultimately, the research sought to consider the level of awareness Marquette affiliates have upon the subject of human dignity and calls for we as a university to raise awareness about the necessity and nuances of human dignity in everyday interactions.
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Be Anxious for Nothing: Coping with Anxiety in Undergraduate Student Culture
Emily Hainsworth
This research project began just as I was realizing my own struggle with social anxiety. I learned through both my own experience and the experience of friends that college is a very difficult place for students with anxiety. Because of this, I was curious about what is being done at Marquette University to make the college experience more comfortable for students with anxiety, and my paper is the culmination of a semester’s worth of research on the subject. Throughout it all, I learned how easily anxiety can disrupt a college student’s life, altering both their educational and social experiences. The seriousness of the issue led me to wonder what options are available at Marquette to help these students and whether more resources could be offered.
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Higher Education: Obligation or Opportunity?
Megan Knowles
From the beginning of my experience at Marquette, I continually observed students that appeared to demonstrate no enthusiasm for getting an education, reflected in a noticeable lack of participation in class discussions. I felt my expectations of academia being crushed as students boasted about skipping lectures and passively sat in class, seemingly disinterested in the professor and the material. If college was truly regarded as an opportunity for intellectual growth, why did students treat education as nothing more than an obligation? Through mixed-method, qualitative research, combining observation, interviews, and review of scholarly literature, this project examines what factors influence student engagement in the learning environment.
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Marquette University: Giving Private School A New Meaning
Brian Mohsenian and Jennifer Levine
When touring Marquette as a prospective student, the tour guides seem to always tell you all the good things about the campus itself, but they seem to leave out the part that the students here completely isolate themselves from the rest of the Milwaukee community. Students have created a way to become an exclusive clique within the city of Milwaukee. We have become a clique in a sense that, even though we live in the same neighborhoods and occupy the same streets, unless you are affiliated with Marquette you are an outsider. Even the word outsider is a bit conservative when talking about the members of the community. Marquette students seem to have this notion that the members of the Milwaukee community are intruding on our territory. We have even heard many students say that we should have a gate around campus. But why do students feel this way? This closed community created on the small campus is known as the “Marquette Bubble”. The thing about the “Marquette Bubble” is that even though students have appeared to unknowingly create this phenomenon, it has altered student perceptions about City of Milwaukee and its community. Due to the local area around campus, students develop a negative perception of the Milwaukee community, and the closed community on campus is then reinforced. But because this closed community is reinforced by this negative perception, students are less likely to go out in Milwaukee and experience all that it has to offer and other, more positive parts of the community. A tragic paradox has developed, with the “Marquette Bubble” right at the heart of it. This paradigm on Marquette University campus is inhibiting students from getting off campus, cornering itself off from the rest of the city, and limiting its students from being more of a part and interacting with the rest of the Milwaukee community.
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An Ethnographic Examination of Marquette University’s Housing Crunch
Colleen Pate
This research project seeks to answer the question of “What factors are responsible for the housing crunch at Marquette University?” and how can we, as a university, find a feasible and responsible solution to this problem. Through research, data analysis, interviews and my own experience of housing and its shortcomings at Marquette University, this project has been eye-opening about the long-term consequences of Marquette’s housing storage as well as the opportunity that the university has to use this housing shortage to solve a multitude of problems that it’s been facing.
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How Is Feminism Really Viewed?
Anna Strong
What’s wrong with being a feminist? I found myself asking this question many times and that is what led me to conduct my research project. I wanted to delve deeper into the subject and find out how feminism was perceived within a contemporary college campus such as Marquette University. I conducted interviews, observation fieldnotes, and drew information from secondary sources to complete this project. It was only after I analyzed the data that had I collected that I came up with the conclusion that many people within a contemporary college setting have limited knowledge on the subject and therefore perceive it negatively. It is for this reason that I proposed that Marquette incorporate more readily available resources pertaining to feminism and other gender studies as well as add classes that provide information on the topic.
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Coexistence: Calling for a Cohesive Campus
Melissa Gaseor and Erin McKay
As members of the Wisconsin Delta Pi Beta Phi sorority at Marquette University, we are highly invested in our organizations presence on campus. As members of a social sorority, we have been exposed to the many negative assumptions associated with Greek Life as a whole. The focus of our research project is to illuminate the less explored, yet numerous positive aspects of being in a sorority. Through interviews, polls, and research, we have found that those who are involved in Greek Life see the positive benefits, while those who are not involved do not. We also found that those who even considered being involved in Greek life, were deterred by the culture. We learned that more needs to be done to integrate the Marquette Community with the Greek Community. In this project, we will propose several ideas to improve the relationship between these communities, which ultimately will lead to a more cohesive campus.
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Be the Difference, Just Don’t Be Different: Investigating Racial Diversity at Marquette University
Ariel Gonzalez
As a Latina woman, my interest in racial diversity stems from pride for my Mexican culture and being aware of other cultures as well. As a Marquette student, I have become extremely aware of the lack of racial diversity on campus. The division between white students and minorities is extremely visible and noticed campus-wide by students and teachers. I began to wonder the reasons behind the noticeable difference and why no one felt the need to make a change or bring the issue to light. The line between the two groups sparked my interest and led to my decision to explore the issue of racial diversity on campus and how it is accepted and integrated into the community.
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Marketing the Mass: Engaging Marquette University Students in the Liturgy Introduction
Jessie Bazan
Working in Campus Ministry and as a student Mass attendee myself, I have noticed a lack of observable participation in general at Sunday campus liturgies in recent years. Documented attendance has also been declining, which is a concern because the liturgy is an absolutely vital component of religious and spiritual growth. Are there specific aspects of Marquette liturgies that are turning students away or not engaging them in the most productive ways? If so, what steps can Campus Ministry take to improve the liturgies and consequently raise attendance? Higher attendance and greater participation are necessary initial steps towards higher campus engagement in the liturgy—a viable marker of a Catholic, Jesuit education. This project is a mixed-method qualitative study that involves observations and interviews. The data collected is broken into four main findings sections: general importance of the liturgy, defining liturgical engagement, past student liturgical engagement at Marquette University and present student liturgical engagement at Marquette University.
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So You Want to Study in London? Enhancing Marquette University’s Study Abroad Program to King’s College London
Sarah Gallas
Studying abroad is both a terrifying and exciting experience. For this reason, the study abroad programs that are offered to students must strive to be as helpful, guiding, and enriching as possible. With this in mind, this research paper reflects on Marquette University’s study abroad program to King’s College London and what improvements can be made. It explores the preparedness, finances, and academic support offered through the program to study abroad in London, England.
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