Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2025, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

This mixed-methods study used Q-methodology to analyze elementary school parents' perspectives on district-run extracurricular activities in rural Western Pennsylvania. Five distinct viewpoints emerged from this study. The Activity Avengers strongly supported the developmental value of extracurriculars across cognitive, social-emotional, and physical domains; however, this viewpoint acknowledged financial constraints and the need for program improvements. The Guiding Guardians prioritized collaborative decision-making between parents, school staff, and the community to create responsive and inclusive programs. The Resourceful Rangers emphasized practical considerations like cost and accessibility, favoring district-run programs but valuing community resource partnerships. The Needs Navigators focused on student-centered program design, aligning activities with individual needs rather than solely on broad social benefits. The Fiscal Foresight Force was primarily concerned with financial constraints as the primary barrier to expanding extracurricular offerings. These diverse perspectives highlight the complexity of implementing successful extracurricular programs. Significant barriers included financial limitations, scheduling conflicts, transportation issues, and varying views on parental involvement. The findings recommend that effective programs prioritize collaborative decision-making involving all stakeholders, addressing financial constraints through diverse funding sources and cost-effective program design, targeted program development to cater to diverse student interests and needs, and solutions to address logistical barriers.

Committee: Karen Larwin PhD (Committee Chair); James Moran EdD (Committee Member); Kurt Meader EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Education; Recreation

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

Positive school environments have been shown to raise academic achievement. Youngstown East High School has had six principals in six years, and there has been a strong sense of disconnect from the community in their support (both academically and athletically) of the continuous changes that have been made in the Youngstown City School District. East High School has a 99.8% economically disadvantaged population with 13.6% being English Language Learners and 27.1% students with disabilities. Using Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) to address discipline to affect the management of absenteeism and academic interventions, what measures can be taken to raise the staff and student morale of the high school environment? How can Golden Bears Alumni contribute to the culture and climate as they relate the past to the present? Since the Youngstown City School District is focused on PBIS and must use the Academic Improvement Plan to completely move out of the watchful eyes of the State of Ohio, one must ask how, exactly, can culture and climate improve the academic and athletic performances of their students? How can the district build school pride within the school as well as the surrounding community? How can remaining alumni be used as resources to connect to outliers who could possibly invest in East High School? This study explores these questions by examining data on the effects of climate and culture within the school and community and its impact of school pride on academic achievement and athletic performance, with a specific focus on improving the school pride at Youngstown East High.

Committee: Karen Larwin PhD (Advisor); Lora Adams King EdD (Committee Member); Eboni Williams EdD (Committee Member); Sherri Harper Woods DM (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Demographics; Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Elementary Education; English As A Second Language; Families and Family Life; Hispanic Americans; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Physical Education; Public Administration; Recreation; School Administration; Secondary Education; Special Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify the high-impact practices that football coaches, within the Greater Dayton Area (GDA), were utilizing to develop life-skills in their athletes. This qualitative study will add to the base of knowledge surrounding life-skill development (LSD) in adolescents, while also supporting local football programs by providing a starting point for the inclusion of LSD in their daily routines. This study utilized the Basic Needs of Coaching Paradigm (BNCP) as the framework to maintain focus on the optimal outcomes for the student-athletes through the behaviors of coaches and the impacts those behaviors have on student-athletes. Through the course of semi-structured interviews, coaches took the time to explain how they viewed their role, how they viewed their relationship with their athletes, and what life-skill development meant to them. What resulted was an opportunity to create something meaningful that could be used as an aid to help the entire coaching community. More specifically, this study will lead to the creation of the Life-Skill Development Toolkit, which will become a valuable resource for coaching staffs to help them learn about LSD and how to implement it within their programs, which will lead to the development of life-skills in high school athletes and further development of coaching staffs.

Committee: Matthew Witenstein (Committee Chair); Heather Parsons (Committee Member); Erin Martin (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Recreation; Sports Management

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2024, Environmental Studies

Spring Break Sisters is a professional project led by Ohio University undergraduate students to provide a Spring Break Camp to Athens County girls aged 11-14. The inaugural camp ran from March 11th-15th, 2024, at ARTS/West. The camp themes were community, self-care, and empowerment. During the week, ten people participated in an educational nature walk, guest speakers, nature poetry, and the creation of 2 community-themed murals, now on display in the Athens Community Center. The camp was possible through a partnership with Athens, Arts, Parks, and Recreation and by a $5,000 experiential education award from the Center for Advising, Career, and Experiential Learning.

Committee: Joseph Crowley (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Studies; Recreation

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, History

This dissertation uncovers how, why, and where the modern pet dog originated. The average dog's transition from a working animal to a nonworking companion in the nineteenth-century United Kingdom constituted the dog's most radical alteration of purpose since their initial domestication prior to the establishment of agricultural civilization. This dissertation contends that the modern family dog originated during the long-nineteenth century (1780-1920) primarily in Victorian Britain—the initial nation altered by the interlocking forces of industrialization and urbanization. These processes provided the necessary cultural and material preconditions to reconceptualize this traditional working animal as a nonworking companion. These phenomena also provided the necessary infrastructure to manufacture commodities—from biscuits to soap—that became necessary to maintain dogs. Family dogs altered domestic and urban environments, individual and collective habits, local and global economic markets, and traditional human and canine behaviors. British pet culture surged beyond national boundaries to become the global norm governing appropriate human-dog interaction. Fundamental English practices—such as leash laws—remain normal today alongside British breeds that garner worldwide favor. Despite their integral presence in modern Western culture, however, there remains no holistic—nor interdisciplinary—narrative explaining how the typical dog transformed from a working animal to a nonworking companion. In this sense, this project rectifies this pronounced historiographical absence and knowledge gap for the broader dog-owning public. Answering this question necessitates adopting an interdisciplinary perspective entangling humans and nonhumans since Britons were not solely responsible for creating pet dogs. Rather, dogs actively shaped this process. Understanding dogs in their own right—their cognitive, sensory, and physical capabilities—hinges on including insights from animal s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chris Otter (Advisor); Nicholas Breyfogle (Committee Member); Bart Elmore (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Animal Sciences; Animals; British and Irish Literature; Comparative; Environmental Studies; European History; European Studies; Families and Family Life; History; Recreation; Science History; Sociology; World History

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2024, Music History

This dissertation examines the social contexts for music livestreams, in order to lay the groundwork for future studies of both livestreaming as a whole and individual case studies. No frameworks currently exist for analyzing music livestreams. Although the technologies of livestreaming have been evolving over the past few decades, there have been no organized or successful attempts to standardize the ways we understand and study this fast-growing medium for music performance. Chapter 1 provides basic definitions of livestreaming, and then emphasizes the framework of liveness, arguing that although livestreaming technologies developed relatively recently, the practice of transmitting and receiving live music has been developing since the late-nineteenth century. I examine livestreaming as a continuation of broadcast media wrapped up with conceptions of liveness that have been constantly transforming over the long twentieth century. Chapter 2 connects livestreaming with the social media platforms that have emerged in the past two decades. I also position livestreaming within discussions and anxieties surrounding attention and distraction in the context of digital media. In Chapter 3 the discussion of attention extends into the realm of joint attention, and the ways livestreaming engages our attentive capacities in groups to facilitate specific modalities of participation—observational, reactive, and generative. Finally, the conclusion pulls these frameworks together to demonstrate their use in an analysis of music livestreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the patterns of behavior and audience engagement, conceptions of liveness during the pandemic, and the effects of these factors on the social aspects of live music.

Committee: Daniel Goldmark (Advisor); Francesca Brittan (Committee Member); Georgia Cowart (Committee Member); Vera Tobin (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications; Music; Performing Arts; Psychology; Recreation; Sociology

Undergraduate Honors Program, Malone University, 2023, Honors Thesis

High school football rivalries are a quintessential part of adolescence and community life, although they are not often the focus of academic scholarship. This paper seeks to fill that void. Rivalries exist throughout the United States, but of focus is one of the most storied rivalries in Ohio between two perennial football state champions: Saint Ignatius High School and St. Edward High School. Saint Ignatius High School, an all-boy Catholic high school founded in 1886, is located in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. St. Edward High School, situated in the nearby suburb of Lakewood and founded in 1949, is the second all-boys Catholic school in this classic rivalry. In 1952, the young football program for the St. Edward Eagles faced off against the much more experienced Saint Ignatius Wildcats on the gridiron for the first time. It was the first game in the rivalry – a rivalry that would bring together what could feel like the entire West Side of Cleveland for the yearly match-up. The annual game, played at least once a year every year since 1971, creates an atmosphere of high school football that few other high school football rivalries match. Details and outcomes of the games remain vivid in the memories of players and fans alike for generations, as fathers, sons, nephews, and friends replenish collective memory banks when they take their places on the field or in the bleachers. Alumni from both schools carry their reminiscences everywhere – from local boardrooms to conversations with passers-by in a grocery store. There is a sense of pride and purpose that continues from generation to generation, and the game, the rivalry, and the storied history spills over into every area of life. The players, the fans, and alumni celebrate each year's victory and vow to avenge any loss when the next match-up is scheduled. Such is the intensity of the competitiveness that exists between the St. Edward Eagles and the Saint Ignatius Wildcats. And this rivalry is rath (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jacalynn Stuckey (Advisor); Mark Bankert (Committee Member); Scott Waalkes (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Recreation; Sports Management

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

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine how the implementation of a near-peer leadership framework for student employee leaders, referred to as Operations Leads (OLs) in my practice as the manager of the Operations area at a university student recreation center, influences the supervisory and leadership ability of the student OLs. The following question guided this research: How does implementing a near-peer leadership framework in a campus recreation department influence the leadership experiences of four operations leads? Sub-questions include: (1) What challenges do the operations leads face as near-peer leaders? and (2) What support do the operations leads find beneficial in their experience as near-peer leaders? This new OL position was created to help support the area I oversee following organizational changes and challenges because of the post-pandemic impact on our department. I utilized convenience and criterion purposive sampling (Miles & Huberman, 1994) to better support the Operations area to interview four OLs employed in my department. These interviews (group and individual) served as the primary data source to explore the OLs perspectives on the influence the near-peer leadership framework had on developing their supervisory and leadership ability as student employees. Additional data sources included my researcher's journal and the OLs' reflection journals. Findings from this research included three themes categorized as benefits and two themes categorized as challenges. The benefit themes were (1) the OLs grew personally through their experiences, (2) the OLs provided professional support to the Operations area, and (3) the OLs experienced instances where they were seen as leaders by their peers. The challenge themes were (1) the OLs experienced growing pains as near-peer leaders and (2) the OLs experienced difficulty balancing personal relationships as near-peer leaders. This study provides insight into future implementation of a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Doug Ellison (Committee Chair); David Dees (Committee Member); Stephen Mitchell (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Recreation

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

This multi-case study explored the well-being of six former preK-12 teachers during and after teaching. Using the framework of self-care, the purpose of this research was to investigate how teachers' health, well-being, resilience, and other internal characteristics intersect with external factors of teaching and schools; accelerating teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. The major themes revealed included ineffectiveness and difficulty in early teaching careers; negative impacts/barriers to effective teaching and self-care; Covid impacts on teaching; school violence impacts on teaching; positive affirming experiences in post-teaching life, and finally issues/suggested policy changes. To address these negative impacts on teachers and the school community, leisure programming is presented as a pathway to personal development, to be paired alongside professional development.

Committee: Davin Carr-Chellman (Committee Chair); Thomas Oldenski (Committee Member); Katy Marre (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Sociology; Health; Occupational Health; Organizational Behavior; Public Health Education; Recreation; Teacher Education; Teaching

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, American Culture Studies

Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller were two high school transgender athletes who complied with Connecticut's inclusive policy regarding trans athletes, but they were still questioned by others about their right to participate. Currently the inclusion of transgender athletes is a highly debated topic in high school sports. Sport participation provides an important space for youth to learn teamwork, make friends, and to improve their mental and physical health (Ogilvie, 2017). High school state athletic association policies, while framed as inclusive, have the potential to exclude transgender youth from participating in sport alongside their cisgender peers. Guided by feminist cultural studies (Krane, 2001a; Waldron, 2019), I critique the different types of high school transgender athlete policies and highlight how they promote inclusion or exclusion. Four tenets of feminist cultural studies—everyday social practices, unequal gendered dynamics, hegemonic processes, and normative gender, sex, and sexuality (Waldron, 2019)— guide my analysis. The policy groupings are inclusive, no guidance, discriminatory processes, hormone intervention, gender confirmation surgery, birth certificate, and state law (Buzuvis, 2016; Transathlete.com, 2023). I identified state high school athletic association policies within the United States, grouped each policy into the specific categories, and then analyzed how each policy grouping reflected or reinforced everyday social practices, unequal gendered assumptions, and common cultural narrative. Barriers to trans inclusion stemmed from policies that strictly reinforced the sex and gender binary, assumptions about fair play, and following the heteronormative structure of sport. Some of the barriers may include requiring hormonal or surgical intervention before medically recommended, time consuming steps for changed birth certificate, and that gender affirming care may be inaccessible to trans youth due to high cost. High school athletic assoc (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Vikki Krane Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ellen Broido Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender; Physical Education; Public Policy; Recreation; Sports Management

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2022, Educational Psychology

This study utilized a convergent-parallel mixed methods design to explore the usefulness of a remote relaxation-based intervention's ability to foster mindfulness and self-determination for stress management by collegiate athletes. Although stress is a common experience related to college retention, collegiate athletes experience additional stressors related to athletic training and performance. Through thematic analysis, this research found that collegiate athletes identified managing academics, time management, use of technology, and finances as primary stressors. A remote relaxation-based intervention was offered the participants an opportunity to learn and experience deep breathing, guided imagery, mandala coloring, and self-hand massage interventions designed to increase mindfulness and coping for stress management while strengthen the basic psychological needs. Participant self-reports, identified that they were able to learn active coping skills that allowed them to manage stressors. They demonstrated mindfulness related to identification of their stress through their self-reports of symptoms, need for interventions, and benefits of techniques learned. Although statistical significance was not found, triangulation of the data allowed for a rich understanding of participants experiences and demonstrated that the participants were able to utilize the techniques learned to manage their stress levels with positive outcomes. Participants also reported that they were utilizing the techniques learned outside of the intervention sessions to manage stress. At the conclusion of the interventions, participants reported that if such interventions were made available to them on campus, nearly half reported they would utilize these resources again, demonstrating buy-in for the usefulness of the techniques by the participants.

Committee: Revathy Kumar (Advisor) Subjects: Educational Psychology; Higher Education; Mental Health; Peace Studies; Recreation

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

The older adult population continues to grow and become more diverse in their gender identities. Allied health professionals, including Recreation Therapists, will be increasingly likely to serve trans* older adults who face significant challenges from experiencing ‘double stigma'; stigma from ageism and transmisia. Health disparities among trans* adults are well documented but there is a lack of research on interventions to improve resilience and overcome potential adversity among trans* individuals while aging. There is evidence to support recreation therapy interventions to promote coping skills, as well as protective factors, and resilience. The current study utilized qualitative methods with a descriptive approach guided by the Health Equity Promotion Model conducted with Recreation Therapists who serve aging trans* adults. The purpose of the study is to identify the social and psychological processes that foster resilience in aging trans* adults, as well as barriers and facilitators to effectively serve this population. The researcher interviewed nine participants about to their experiences fostering resilience among the aging trans* adult population using semi-structured interviews. Based upon the participants responses, the results indicate the following themes: (a) Overcoming transmisia in different settings, (b) Accepting patients' expressions of their true authentic self, (c) Establishing a rapport to develop a therapeutic relationship, (d) Promoting healthy social support, (e) Recognizing patients' mental health needs, and (f) Improving therapists' competence. Implications of these findings for Recreation Therapy practice and Health Education will also be explored.

Committee: Victoria Steiner (Committee Chair) Subjects: Health Education; Recreation

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

In its most benign form, tourism is able to protect the cultural and ecological integrity of a region and to promote economic development in line with sustainability principles. Additionally, sustainable forms of tourism have the potential to improve the quality of life within the host community by promoting intergenerational equity. However, sustainable models of tourism are extremely challenging to design, implement, and manage at the community level because of competing stakeholder interests. There are significant power dynamics associated with sustainable tourism planning and management that often fail to incorporate all citizens' voices, particularly those belonging to underprivileged backgrounds. Due to the growth of international tourism (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) and its related impacts, multinational organizations such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) continue to collaborate with member states and affiliates to identify methods to improve existing sustainable tourism strategies, discover new ones, and to address the social impacts of tourism globally. This study examines the social impacts of tourism in UNESCO's Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve and the stakeholders' dynamics that influence tourism planning in the region. Through an exploratory case study, this research uses media analyses, document review, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the social impacts of tourism and the stakeholders' dynamics related to tourism management. Stakeholder theory, responsible leadership, and ecosystem services are used as a theoretical framework to ground the inquiry and to provide insight into how the social impacts of tourism are related to tourism planning dynamics. The findings revealed significant new knowledge about social impacts of tourism in the Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness and a mapping of complex c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize (A.E.) Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Member); Marina Novelli PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; International Relations; Recreation; Regional Studies; Social Research; Sustainability

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2021, Sport Management

Sport specialization has become a growing trend in youth athletics, leading many athletes to stray away from competing in multiple sports and instead have a singular focus in one discipline. Research shows reasoning behind specialization include an early start, deliberate practice, pursuit of college athletic scholarships, and an increased skill-level. However, research also indicates that specialization can predispose athletes to a greater risk of physical injury, mental health issues, and has also led to the growth of youth sport business from both a commercial and family financial standpoint. Sport specialization can help an athlete improve skills in there chosen sport but in many cases it is more detrimental than advantageous to an athlete's career than an alternative path, such as sport sampling.

Committee: Jen Parsons (Advisor); Suanne Barthol (Committee Member); John Thistlethwaite (Committee Member) Subjects: Physical Education; Recreation; Sports Management; Sports Medicine

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Environment and Natural Resources

Growth in outdoor climbing recreation has resulted in social and ecological impacts to the complex systems in which the activity occurs, necessitating adaptive management strategies that address the impacts and respond to changing conditions. Use of the Adaptive Management Framework (AMF) can aid land managers in developing policies that reach desired social and ecological outcomes (Williams & Brown, 2014). An assessment of current policies and a representative model of the social-ecological system in which climbing occurs could help land managers conduct systems-informed policy planning as part of the AMF. This study uses text to data analysis to identify and compare how social and ecological variables are described by existing climbing management plans (CMPs) across six land manager groupings (International, National Park, Forest Service, State, Coop/coalition, and Local/private). Causal link statements derived from collected CMPs were then analyzed to construct a cognitive map of the system to test 5 different policy scenarios. Results indicated the outdoor climbing system consists of 31 variables and 99 relationships among all variables. No significant difference was found across policy scenarios tested, suggesting a need for further development of the model through the refinement of the state of variables and the degree of relationship they have over other variables in the system. By establishing a model of the outdoor climbing system for policy planning, this study lays a foundation for the incorporation of systems thinking to the adaptive management of outdoor climbing.

Committee: Alia Dietsch (Advisor); Matthew Hamilton (Committee Member); Ramiro Berardo (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Law; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Natural Resource Management; Public Policy; Recreation

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2021, Recreation Studies (Education)

Student-athletes will experience normative and non-normative transitions out of their sport. During non-normative transitions, student-athletes may utilize negative strategies to cope with the discontinuation of their athletic career. These negative coping behaviors range from self-medication through drugs and alcohol, self-harm, or mental and emotional disengagement. These negative behaviors could be a result of the loss of sense of belonging, purpose, and social support that student-athletes experience when involuntarily transitioning out of their athletic identity. Having a strong athletic identity and sense of belonging in their sport can prevent student-athletes from engaging in or exploring other interests outside of their sport, such as leisure or recreational activities. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between athletic identity and leisure coping strategies during and after non-normative life events that end student-athlete participation in their sport.

Committee: Katherine Ann Jordan PhD (Advisor); Laura Black PhD (Committee Member); Ashley Allanson PhD (Committee Member); David Nguyen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Recreation

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Anthropogenic activity has been documented to have negative impacts on wildlife that include altered behaviors, lower body mass, and decreased reproductive success. Although wildlife viewing provides support for conservation efforts, it is also one of many human recreational activities that pose a threat to wildlife. The painted dog (Lycaon pictus) is a popular species for viewing by tourists, and one of Africa's most endangered carnivores. Anthropogenic-based actions such as persecution, snaring, diseases transmitted via domestic dogs, and habitat fragmentation contribute to their decline, and human disturbance at den sites, primarily via tourism, is an emergent threat for this species. I explored the potential effects of direct and indirect human activity on painted dogs during their denning season using a mixed method approach for free-ranging and captive populations. This included: (a) identifying areas where humans visited painted dog dens using social media posts and content analysis, (b) developing and testing a noninvasive measurement tool (belly score) to assess the body condition of painted dogs via images, (c) comparing carnivore and herbivore activity on human-modified game trails and unmodified game trails using camera traps, and (d) comparing feeding regimens and morphometric measurements between two captive painted dog litters. Results from this study showed that (a) painted dog dens have been visited by humans in at least seven of the 14 countries where painted dogs are known to exist, with the majority of visits reported in South Africa, (b) belly score means differed significantly between two populations of painted dogs (Hwange National Park and Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe) while seasonal variations were similar for both populations; demonstrating how this tool may be used to assess body condition, foraging success, and fitness between and among individuals and populations, (c) carnivores were observed on human-modified trails more frequentl (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lisabeth Willey Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Beth Kaplin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gregory Rasmussen Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anthony Giordano Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Animals; Biology; Conservation; Ecology; Environmental Studies; Natural Resource Management; Recreation; Sub Saharan Africa Studies; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management; Zoology

MFA, Kent State University, 2020, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

The movement of humans across the globe in the shadow of conquest has, for thousands of years, been synonymous with the movement of horses – their bones lie alongside ours in the chronicle of civilization. The Bones of the Horse is a collection of braided essays exploring Man's evolutionary relationship with horses, set alongside a personal narrative exploring the author's own development as a horseperson. The essays braid elements of memoir with research regarding the horse's place as the most universally conscripted, living companion and tool in human history: the use of the horse as a soldier and therapy aid, the horse-dominant culture of nomadic Mongolians, horse welfare and rehabilitation, and the horse's consistent representation in artwork from nearly every millennia and every corner of the world.

Committee: David Giffels (Advisor) Subjects: Animals; Cultural Anthropology; Fine Arts; History; Modern History; Recreation; World History

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Communication Disorders

The World Health Organization (2019) reports an estimated 50 million cases of dementia worldwide with expectations for it to triple by the year 2050. Therefore, continuous improvement on provision of care for this population is a necessity. While a variety of studies have explored nursing aide's perceptions regarding their education, knowledge, confidence, and competency in multiple areas, such research on activity facilitators is lacking. Given the efficacy of training to improve outcomes for PWDs presented by Spector et al. (2016) further study is warranted to understand what kind of training, and in what modalities, could benefit facilitators and their residents. This study investigated facilitator experiences and in order to increase understanding of current knowledge and interest in future training and education. Activity sessions were observed, and interviews were conducted to provide a rich understanding of three facilitators' perspective. Agreement among facilitators' sessions and interviews included the use of a person-centered approach to residents, communication strategies, and the desire for in-person and hands-on training opportunities. Two facilitators also expressed interest in further education on complex communication concepts to provide staff with better training and enable better interaction with complex cases. Similarities observed across facilities included implementation of person-centered care, purposeful and outdoor activities, music, and mental workouts. Implications of more specific findings in addition to recommendations for future research to form a fuller understanding based on this initial study are provided.

Committee: Lynne Hewitt Ph.D., CCC-SLP (Advisor); Brent Archer Ph.D., CCC-SLP (Committee Member); Cynthia Spitler Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Cognitive Therapy; Communication; Continuing Education; Health Care; Health Education; Individual and Family Studies; Nursing; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Recreation; Rehabilitation; Social Psychology; Social Research; Social Work; Sociology; Speech Therapy; Therapy

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Communication Disorders

Communicative accessibility is often sparse, preventing individuals with communication disorders from effectively participating in their lives and in society. Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia (SCA) teaches interlocutors to provide communicative supports to people with aphasia or other communication disorders so that they may rejoin the conversation and continue interacting in their communities. This study aimed to train volunteer docents at the Toledo Museum of Art to effectively provide aphasia-friendly art museum tours and aimed to understand the process involved in developing and executing that training. 13 volunteer docents were trained in SCA strategies during a 60-minute training program presented by a person with aphasia (PWA), a speech-language pathologist, and a speech-language pathology graduate student. A single volunteer docent was then observed across four art gallery tours for SCA strategy use. Triangulation between docent observation, questionnaires with PWA, and interviews with PWA indicate that training was beneficial and may have assisted the docent in providing aphasia-friendly tours. Interviews with project collaborators were additionally conducted, indicating that the project offered a variety of benefits for many potential populations. Feedback was provided to inform future training efforts.

Committee: Brent Archer Ph. D., CCC-SLP (Advisor); Lynne Hewitt Ph. D., CCC-SLP (Committee Member); Ronald Scherer Ph. D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Communication; Language; Linguistics; Museum Studies; Museums; Public Health Education; Recreation; Rehabilitation; Speech Therapy; Teacher Education; Therapy