Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Youngstown State University, 2023, Department of Criminal Justice and Consumer Sciences

The following thesis focuses on problems and solutions pertaining to police officer-canine fatal interactions; commonly referred to as the puppycide. The term puppycide is used to refer to the amount of dogs that die at the hands of the police (Kaatz, 2014). To begin, there is an overview of different case law pertaining to these fatal interactions. These cases are used to help demonstrate the problems these interactions are causing for communities, law enforcement personnel and departments across the United States. Along with this, Ohio's Peace Officer Basic Training Curriculum, specifically pertaining to companion animal encounters, is analyzed and compared to other readily available resources and training guides for police officers. After examining and analyzing all these resources, the research question of, “what could be modified in order to address the puppycide in the state of Ohio” is addressed and discussed. This question is answered by introducing modifications to the current Ohio Peace Officer Training curriculum. These changes include more in-depth training for police academy cadets and the inclusion of lectures on dog behaviors and body language for police departments. Along with these modifications, a police officer canine encounter report log and database are also introduced in order to ensure that the changes within the classroom are being reflected within the community.

Committee: Monica Merrill PhD (Advisor); Christopher Bellas PhD (Committee Member); Charles VanDyke EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Education; Law

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2021, Foundations of Education

This research is an attempt to answer two calls: (1) Betty A. Reardon's (2019a) call to move her work forward, and (2) Tony Jenkins and Betty A. Reardon's (2007) call for the study of masculinities within a peace education, human rights frame using a feminist scholarship and pedagogical perspective. The amalgamation of the two calls inferred the need to query Reardon's current and historical publications and her verbal communications for contemporary feminist thought. Inductive Textual Analysis was applied in examining Reardon's career-long academic work for correlations with four specific theories. It was induced that three of the four theories—human wholeness, democratic equality egalitarianism, and the capabilities approach—were basic to Reardon's scholarship; however, the fourth theory—intersectionality—was an outlier. It was subsequently deduced that the theory of intersectionality should be added to the pedagogical model in two areas—Masculinities Studies and the action and assessment components of Reardon's (2010) pedagogy of engagement for social transformation. The projected combination of pedagogical theory and praxis also includes a focus on the current activism in the area of transformative masculinities with the goal of working towards the interdependence that is requisite for gender equality.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Fuad Al-Daraweesh Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jamie Barlowe Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Philosophy; Peace Studies; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Art Education

Grounded in the context of a peace education program for teens, this narrative-based research study offers a story of initiating and sustaining relationships amid personal challenge during youth-driven community art engagement. Dialogue, storytelling, and collaborative artmaking as peacelearning were part of the participatory practice within this humanizing research. A theoretical framework drawn from the dialogism of Freire (1970/2002) shapes this study as well as an ethical stance of care and wholeness that contributes to the health and well-being of communities. Connection and belonging, co-learning and transformation were intertwined goals, an approach that this research study suggests challenged teens' personal vulnerability, critical self-reflection, deep listening, and multiple roles and ways of knowing. The research study portrays how the process of sharing stories and art that acknowledged participants' roots, struggles, and hopes as peacebuilders became foundations for growth. Findings from this study revealed that through the arts we can cultivate critical self-reflection, communication about the issues and challenges in our lives, interconnectedness and collective action. Additionally, this study illustrated that youth-driven approaches to community-engaged pedagogy and research exist on a continuum of youth leadership and adult collaboration. Also, sustainable youth-led initiatives and research depend on strong organizational support and adequate resources, mentorship, and community connections. Finally, a relational and asset-based approach to peacelearning through the arts can contribute to connected knowing, with potential for coalition building that supports positive change for individuals and communities.

Committee: Karen Hutzel Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Art Education; Education; Peace Studies

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2020, Educational Administration (Education)

This is a narrative inquiry study that presented types of women's activism during and after the conflict in Aceh, Indonesia (1976-2005). The study sought to explain how divergent women's activism becomes possible against the backdrop of this conflict and how the establishment of peace alters the patterns of their activism. Women's activism here was confined to the theory of feminist popular education. The popular education uncovers strategies utilized by women activists to foster women's economic, social and political interests during these tumultuous periods. Insights from eight women activists leaders supported by observation and relevant documents were analyzed to gain a better understanding of Acehnese women's movement in the two periods--during the conflict (1998-2005) and the post-conflict tsunami recovery period (2005-2015). Gender in each period was explored to reflect the underpinning of women activists in manifesting their feminist agendas in two separate periods. Although the condition was threatening and the resources were scarce during the conflict, women groups in Aceh had taken risks to address practical and strategic needs of their fellow women. The conflict had deprived women of their rights to safety, education, livelihood, health care, and a safe space. Women activists manifested their ethics of care in a very calm and quiet way. In order to ensure women's safety, the popular education in the form of consciousness-raising occurred underground, in secretive forms, informal, and formal through existing organized groups. Beside organizing and educating their fellow women, women activists also educated the general public so that they could be informed of the politics of masculinity that perpetuated injustices that aggressively controlled women's actions. The conflict had called for women activists to take a collaborative approach to raise public consciousness on women's plights during the war, and their work was to empower every woman to step up to (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dwan Robinson (Committee Chair); Adah Ward Randolph (Committee Member); Risa Whitson (Committee Member); Charles Lowery (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Asian Studies; Biographies; Cultural Anthropology; Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Gender; Gender Studies; History; International Law; International Relations; Islamic Studies; Peace Studies; Pedagogy; Philosophy; Political Science; Religion; Social Studies Education; Social Work; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, Educational Theory and Social Foundations

The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the complex developmental and conflict prevention challenges in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria as well as the role education can play in the pursuit of justice in that context from within the theoretical framework of Amartya Sen's capability approach to justice. The capability approach to justice is grounded in the idea of the realization of a conception of the good conceived as substantive freedom, as a combination of the development of internal capacity with the provision of substantive social opportunities for people to do and be what they have reason to value. It is argued that the capabilities approach is the most appropriate theoretical framework for articulating the diagnosis and remedies of injustice in the context of the Niger Delta as compared to Rawlsian and Utilitarian theories of justice. The evaluative standard employed in the analysis is how well a theoretical framework of justice diagnoses and addresses the resource conversion problem, the problem of differential resource conversion which undermines human well-being, is at the core of the Niger Delta's developmental challenges. Furthermore, it is argued that a capability-based educational approach, aligned with progressive and social reconstructive philosophical principles, has the potential to empower the people to pursue social justice in the Niger Delta through the facilitation of public reasoning and deliberation.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer, (Committee Member); Al-Daraweesh Al-Daraweesh (Committee Member); Noela Haughton (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Peace Studies

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Education : Educational Studies

This study examines the use of the film An Inconvenient Truth for the purpose of connecting notions of peace education and environmental justice in the college classroom. Pretest and posttest surveys measured changes in attitudes toward peace and the environment amongst college undergraduates as they viewed An Inconvenient Truth and a comparison film. Results suggest that An Inconvenient Truth is particularly effective at positively influencing student attitudes toward the connection between peace and the environment. In these days of increasing global interdependence, this film offers a valuable tool for raising student consciousness related to the future direction of peace education.

Committee: Marvin Berlowitz (Committee Chair); Leigh Wang (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Motion Pictures; Teaching

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2011, Educational Leadership

Children's International Summer Villages (CISV) identifies itself as a charitable,independent, non-political, volunteer organization promoting peace education and cross-cultural friendship. The specific focus of this research project is a program evaluation of the Train the Trainer (TTT) process as utilized by Children's International Summer Villages (CISV) for the purpose of leadership training. This project uses a participatory mixed-method program evaluation design. The intent of this research was to study the impact of the Train the Trainer (TTT) process by gaining a deeper understanding of the experiences and perspectives of those who have participated in the TTT process within Children's International Summer Villages. In addition, the study investigated the scope of the impact of the TTT process, not only on the direct participants, but also upon the organization as a whole. Data were gathered through a variety of strategies. Archival data were retrieved from the International office and provided historical information regarding CISV ingeneral, and leadership training specifically. Information from previous leadership trainingevaluations was reviewed. Interviews were held with members of the international office, the executive committee, international committee chairs and the international pool of trainers. An online survey was created and distributed to the 250 individuals who had participated in the TTT process during the past three years. Results indicated that participants perceived an enhancement of attitudes, skills and knowledge regarding the concepts of the TTT. These results were similar across three regions worldwide and throughout the three years of implementation. Data indicated that the TTT is meeting the aims of the four guiding principles and is strongly aligned with the newly developed common goals and indicators of the organization. In addition, participants acknowledged that the TTT is an effective avenue for promoting common training pract (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sally Lloyd Ph.D. (Committee Chair); RIchard Quantz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Steven Thompson Ph.D. (Committee Member); William Boone Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; International Relations; Multicultural Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2023, Foundations of Education

Critical peace education sets forth a process-oriented pedagogy with key tenets that include inquiry, reflection, dialogue, critical value-assessment, and empowerment. Empowerment as tenet is unique because, when viewed comprehensively, it is recognized as an integral element required for the actualization of all other tenets within CPE. Although empowerment may take on many forms within the CPE framework, this work seeks to establish that its foundational component rests upon three distinct elements which include: the ability to establish and maintain authentic inner unification with peace (through the development of an integrated state of nonviolence), the ability to offer valid normative justifications for one's claims, and an ongoing commitment and willingness to reconstruct the conception of peace in pursuit of justice and fairness in a diverse biosphere. The prevalence of violence (specifically structural violence experienced as dehumanization, marginalization, and oppression) coupled with the rise of societal polarization, ingroup bias, and groupthink, highlight the need for a greater focus on and understanding of empowerment in CPE. This work seeks to emphasize that empowerment is a matter of justice which necessitates normative presuppositions for the validation of claims as well as ongoing reflection and praxis in the pursuit of justice as peace; however, without authentic commitment to external as well as internal obligations to peace, empowerment efforts in all forms will remain insufficient. This assertion underscores the need for a three angle approach to dynamic empowerment in CPE.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert (Committee Chair); Florain Feucht (Committee Member); Jeffery Warnke (Committee Member); Edward Janak (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Philosophy; Environmental Education; Higher Education; Peace Studies; Philosophy; Teacher Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

Following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a number of national peacebuilding strategies were employed to establish basic security and cultivate social cohesion. Among a multi-sector peacebuilding and development strategy is Rwanda's Peace and Values Education Curriculum, which has been implemented in the formal education system. The aim of this investigation was to analyze Rwanda's peace education initiative using a critical postcolonial approach. I used this approach in my examination of the Peace and Values Education Curriculum to better understand the curricular, pedagogical, and training implications, as well as policy motivations. In this study, I employed a methodological framework consistent with critical social research, guided by the following questions: • How is postcolonial rationality embedded in the national peace education curriculum of Rwanda? • How do curriculum and pedagogy reflect or undermine the three key areas of exploration: postcolonialism, peace theory, and critical theory? • To what extent does teacher training develop content knowledge in the three key areas of exploration: postcolonialism, peace theory, and critical theory? • What are the motivations among stakeholders to implement a Peace and Values Education Program? • How does this program reflect the rationality of the post-genocide home-grown solutions, if at all? • How does the Peace and Values Education Program critically address hegemonic norms in education? This qualitative study included content analysis and interviews with both educators and policy stakeholders. Following a postcolonial analysis, I found that the Peace and Values curriculum, in multiple ways, reflected postcolonial rationality. Most indications of postcolonial rationality were embedded implicitly in the curriculum, while explicit assertions of postcoloniality were not identified. Through both content and pedagogy, teachers are trained to include localized content that threads indigenous k (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Tricia Niesz (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Educational Theory; Peace Studies; Pedagogy

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Educational Theory and Social Foundations

The purpose of this oral history is to document the lived experience of the learning environment of African American students and culturally specific practices of African American teachers who taught in the legally segregated Louisvlle Central High School. Historically, segregated African American schools have been depicted as inferior educational institutions. By offering a counter-narrative of educational success within a segment of the African American community in the Jim Crow South the central thesis of this oral history is a counter-narrative to the suppositions of cultural deficit as the primary theory explaining the achievement gap between the majority population and minorites. By exploring the lived experience of the characteristics of the school culture and environment and the characteristics of those responsible for teaching, this oral history adds to the body of literature which shows that the achievement gap cannot be adequately explained by reference to cultural deficit. Moreover, the counter-narrative points toward significant issues pertaining to education and justice. As a legal, constitutional matter by legally denying free and equal access to public institutions and the public sphere de jure segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and was thereby unconstitutional. In striking down legal segregation Brown established an equal civil right to equal access and thus formal equality of opportunity. As an educational matter (as opposed to a strictly constitutional one), however, the findings of this oral history, that the educational environment of Louisville Central High School was not culturally and educationally deprived, suggests that the quality and effectiveness of education is a matter that is independent of the strictly legal matter of the right to formal equality of opportunity as equal access. While being of the greatest significance for a democratic and just society, the civil right to free and equal acces (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dale Snauwaert (Committee Chair); Edward Janak (Committee Member); Vicki Dagostino (Committee Member); Fuad Al-Daraweesh (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; Education History; Educational Sociology; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2018, Foundations of Education

Peace education is an emerging and growing field of study that holds promise for the future survival of our species. This reconstructive project involves a process of comparative philosophical analyses between approaches to peace education, as well as between the approaches and the social context of Kuwait. It concerns the research question: what philosophical conception and approach to peace education is potentially most compatible with Kuwaiti culture? In this dissertation, I place particular focus on the following approaches to peace education: integrative, critical, Islamic, gender, and comprehensive. Using a relational hermeneutics method, I analyze the relative compatibility of these approaches to Kuwaiti culture. Based on a fusion of peace education horizons and Kuwait's cultural horizon, the following compatible elements emerge: reflection, dialogue, creative learning, and action. These elements form the framework to guide a potential Kuwaiti Approach to Peace Education (KAPE) proposed at the end of the dissertation. While I argue these elements must exist in a successful KAPE, I also contend that they only provide guidelines and a basic structure while the people of Kuwait have to actually complete and fulfill the framework through their own reflection, dialogue, creative learning, and action.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert (Committee Chair); Leigh Chiarelott (Committee Member); Lynne Hamer (Committee Member); Fuad Al-Daraweesh (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Philosophy

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

With over $200 million in annual spending by American organizations on diversity training, diversity conferences are increasingly becoming vehicles for information exchange and discussion on best practices in terms of diversity issues. Despite the substantial allocation to diversity training and diversity programs, there remains a gap in identifying where theoretical groundings fit in the dynamic of diversity, and particularly in the development and implementation of diversity training. This case study was an investigation into the roles theoretical groundings played in diversity training, particularly during the design, development and implementation of a university diversity conference. Using a mixed methods approach, the research compared and contrasted theoretical groundings that diversity practitioners valued in a personal and professional capacity with the proposals they submitted to present at a diversity conference.

Committee: Holly Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Marvin Berlowitz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Edson Cabalfin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vicki Plano Clark Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2012, Judith Herb College of Education

Within the field of peace education and related areas, there is a general consensus about the nature of peace and although there are numerous references and mentions of justice, there are no clear descriptions or systematic study of what justice is, in relation to peace. Among peace educators, Betty Reardon's numerous writings articulate, implicitly, a coherent theory of justice. Reardon's approach to peace education inquires into the nature of peace. Reardon asks what peace is, and the question that follows is, “What comprises peace?” From Reardon's perspective, justice is required for peace. As found in the literature, Reardon's peace education writing illustrates consistency and similarity with capabilities. Reardon's perspective of justice, I would assert, is a capabilities approach. Capabilities are a species of human rights that represent substantive opportunities and freedoms that allows individuals to do and be as they choose (and required by human dignity). Reardon's conception of justice is similar to the prominent capabilities perspectives of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and University of Chicago philosopher Martha Nussbaum. A clear understanding of what justice is, in relation to peace and peace education, is a useful tool for learning, scholarship and practice. Knowing what justice is informs peace.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert PhD (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer PhD (Committee Member); Mary Ellen Edwards PhD (Committee Member); Lyudmila Bryzzheva PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Betty Reardon EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Philosophy; Educational Theory; Peace Studies

Master of Education, University of Toledo, 2012, Education Theory and Social Foundations

The intersection of culture, ideology, power, identity, and violence are explored and interrogated through the lens of media literacy in this study. A transdisciplinary framework is developed for the purpose of an ideological analysis of violent media and employed in a case study of the Grand Theft Auto IV video game. The ubiquity of media and the representation and reproduction of ideologies inconsistent with the democratic ethics is a necessary site for education. Popular/mass culture and its meanings have implications for media literacy as response/resistance to a culture of violence within the traditions of democratic education, social reconstructionism, and peace education.

Committee: Rene¿¿¿¿e Martin PhD (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer PhD (Committee Member); Dale Snauwaert PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Peace Studies

Master of Education, University of Toledo, 2010, Education Theory and Social Foundations

This thesis is an elaboration on the theoretical basis for a new understanding of what peace is as well as how best to teach it. Central to this new understanding is an investigation of the conditions experienced by students (and others) who live in a state of discord both on an individual and a societal level. The traditional interpretation of peace as antithetical to war or violence serves to mask its true ontology. The true antithesis of peace is discord, which is a quality of the human spirit that is expressed socially. Similarly, the conception of war or violence as the results of systemic inadequacies and the creation of new systems to correct these perceived inadequacies only adds to and complicates the problems that lead to a lack of peace. Rather than attempting to produce peace by directly instituting systemic changes, a first step toward the achievement of peace may be to open spaces for learning within already existing systems in order make changes that assist students in recognizing the difference between power and authority and, as a matter of pedagogy, stressing the importance of freedom and cultural diversity instead of social conformity.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert PhD (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer PhD (Committee Member); Dwayne DeMedio PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Theory; Pedagogy; Philosophy

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2008, Art Education (Fine Arts)

This research presents the personal journey of one art educator who sets out to define creative leadership through community collaboration to create and execute a Kids' Guernica Peace Mural. Auto-ethnography, theory, research, methodology, practice and reflection combine to uncover a working definition for creative leadership in art education. The experience demonstrates how to implement creative leadership into pedagogical practice and furthermore provides a living example for art educators. The processes of creating leadership and creative art making overlap to make meaning and forms a bond that helps art educators understand a dynamic relationship between the two. Creative leadership becomes the overarching topic for leadership in art education, and bridges the gap that makes connections between creativity, art making and leadership. A definition for creative leadership is necessary for art educators to survive under the current implications placed on art education in k-12 schools and society.

Committee: Connie Wolfe (Committee Chair); Rosalie Romano Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); David Bower Dr. (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Art Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2013, Urban Studies and Public Affairs

ABSTRACT Central to the issue of cultural competence, law enforcement administrators and sworn peace officers are assigned the task of protecting and serving members of diverse communities. In short, from a global perspective policing requires that peace officers are routinely involved in both social and human relations tasks. Furthermore, as core components of policing it is in those tasks that being able to adapt cross culturally (dimensions of being culturally competent) become clear and significant, particularly with demographic shifts showing increases in racial, ethnic, and cultural compositions (Passel and Cohn, 2008; United States Census Bureau, 2010). To that end Bennet (1995) posited, “As with other kinds of social change, law enforcement agencies must adapt to the population shifts” (p.1). This exploratory study uses the 4 scales of the Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) to examine, describe, and compare patterns of adaptability, a key attribute of cultural competence. The Defense Science Board (2011) defined adaptability as, “the ability and willingness to anticipate the need for change, to prepare for that change, and to implement changes in a timely and effective manner in response to the surrounding environment” (p. 1). This research study was designed to explore sworn peace officers' adaptability. Studying adaptability provides a means to investigate the self-perceived cultural competencies among sworn peace officers while investigating to what extent the demographic factors of (1) race/ethnicity, (2) gender, (3) age, (4) education, and (5) professional experience affect these competencies among sworn peace officers employed by law enforcement agencies in the Midwest Region of the State of Ohio.

Committee: Raymond Cox III Dr. (Advisor); RaJade Berry-James Dr. (Committee Member); Ghazi Falah Dr. (Committee Member); Jeffrey Wallace Dr. (Committee Member); John Queener Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Public Administration; Public Policy