http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/cia Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:01:15 -0400 Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:01:15 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1962/#itsnotmyperiod-hashtag-activisms-challenge-to-narratives-of-menstrual-stigma By Jessie J. Liu - Perceptions of menstruation as a taboo subject have historically characterized Western and non-Western societies alike and persist today, both perpetuating harmful cultural understandings of women’s abilities and normalizing institutional practices that exacerbate gender disparities. With the advent of viral social media movements or “hashtag activism,” however, challenges to these oppressive, misogynistic mainstream narratives have become increasingly powerful. Centered on menstrual activism and dismantling menstrual stigma, #ItsNotMyPeriod is one such movement. This paper argues... Thu, 22 Sep 2022 11:02 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1962/#itsnotmyperiod-hashtag-activisms-challenge-to-narratives-of-menstrual-stigma http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1951/biased-narratives-in-the-media-coverage-of-fatal-shootings-during-black-lives-matter-demonstrations By Halie A. Hoffman - During the summer of 2020, two fatal shootings occurred following Black Lives Matter protests. The first event involved Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the second Michael Reinoehl in Portland, Oregon. Two shootings, each committed by members of opposing political ideologies and opposite their victims, present an opportunity to check for ideological bias in the news by comparing CNN and Fox coverage, sources who lean opposite on media bias scales, in the immediate aftermath of fatal shootings. Results suggest that CNN relied more heavily on episodic framing of the Portland event, thereby... Fri, 15 Apr 2022 02:04 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1951/biased-narratives-in-the-media-coverage-of-fatal-shootings-during-black-lives-matter-demonstrations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1939/funding-for-creative-education-and-its-socioeconomic-benefits-a-literature-review By Grady Klein - The United States spends more on public education per student than all but three countries in the world based on 2016 findings from the National Center for Education Statistics, and yet a similar study by the same agency three years later demonstrates that, by comparison, the literacy of those students is faring much worse than countries of lesser FTE (Full-time equivalent) funding - where approximately twenty-one percent of adults read under a 12th-grade reading level. Empirical data suggests that an increase in creative arts involvement among students leads to an increase in overall student... Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:55 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1939/funding-for-creative-education-and-its-socioeconomic-benefits-a-literature-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1935/do-textbooks-shape-attitudes-toward-war-narrative-images-and-implicit-social-cognition By Noemi Andrusello - To explore the relationship between history education and attitudes to war, narrative primes about World War II were read by 20 undergraduate students at California State University, Fresno. Afterwards, in the course of experimental interviews, participants responded to news of a hypothetical terrorist attack and shared policy solutions and opinions about war. Analysis revealed that interview responses were patterned by narrative. While readers of an ‘enemy’ narrative conveyed feelings of loss, aggressive policies, and war support, readers of ‘ally’ and ‘imperialist... Wed, 19 Jan 2022 01:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1935/do-textbooks-shape-attitudes-toward-war-narrative-images-and-implicit-social-cognition http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1927/deconstructing-social-classification-and-mobility-the-hindu-varna-system-platos-magnificent-myth-and-the-british-caste-system By Aadi C. Krishna - This research elucidates the striking parallelism between the Hindu Varna System and Plato's Magnificent Myth through an unorthodox view of their class-based classification, social mobility, and meritocracy while arguing that these stem from the Arguments from Division of Labor and Biological Determinism. Furthermore, it establishes that the Caste System introduced in India by the British in the 18th Century fundamentally differs from the systems followed in ancient India and Athens and investigates the fundamental forces and the motivations behind its implementation. Lastly, the paper conducts... Fri, 10 Dec 2021 02:49 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1927/deconstructing-social-classification-and-mobility-the-hindu-varna-system-platos-magnificent-myth-and-the-british-caste-system http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1915/performance-of-class-in-the-socioeconomic-institutions-of-early-medieval-ireland By Jack R.T. Corp - Early medieval Irish society operated on an elaborate power structure formalized by law, practiced through social interaction, and maintained by tacit exploitation of the lower orders. This paper investigates the materialization of class hierarchies through the lived experiences of rural communities and the transient classifications of authority between peasants and commoners enforced by elite groups. Early Ireland’s hierarchical system refers to rank, a “perceived” construct perpetuated through expressions of prestige and ritual performance, but not to political authority, which... Fri, 08 Oct 2021 10:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1915/performance-of-class-in-the-socioeconomic-institutions-of-early-medieval-ireland http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1898/double-lives-a-qualitative-analysis-of-identity-navigation-in-chicagos-south-and-west-sides By Ava V. Levin - This paper draws on qualitative interviews to address internal and external identity navigation among gang members and how nonprofits address this navigation. Gang members ultimately lead double lives as they weave between gang and community life. At the same time, community members also engage with gang culture in daily life, as gang membership may be clear while gang and community life are blurred. This dual existence can breed cognitive dissonance, which gang members address through a variety of neutralization techniques that allow them to nevertheless view themselves as moral individuals.... Tue, 11 May 2021 02:03 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1898/double-lives-a-qualitative-analysis-of-identity-navigation-in-chicagos-south-and-west-sides http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1873/propaganda-idealism-and-subculture-the-evolution-of-che-guevaras-image-in-chinese-cultural-memory By Linda Gao - Being a worldwide popular icon, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara has been differently re-appropriated by a variety of movements across the globe; but his reception and symbolization in contemporary China has been less discussed by western scholars. This paper examines the image and reception of Che Guevara in Chinese cultural memory from the 1950s to the present, revealing his manifold significations endowed by different social groups in various historical contexts. He evolved from a propagandized model of the socialist revolution and anti-American hero endorsed... Tue, 09 Feb 2021 02:42 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1873/propaganda-idealism-and-subculture-the-evolution-of-che-guevaras-image-in-chinese-cultural-memory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1872/the-role-of-the-media-in-the-cuban-revolution-resource-mobilization-theory-and-cultural-framing By Ezekiel Vergara - On January 1st, 1959, a small band of Cuban rebels shocked the world, overthrowing the American-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. These rebels were especially known for their guerrilla tactics and their leaders, such as Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Yet, aside from these military tactics and leaders, the Cuba rebels also tactfully utilized the media. Notably, Castro’s forces benefitted greatly from an article published in the New York Times. As such, this paper applies the theories of resource-mobilization and cultural framing to the New York Times’ article on... Fri, 05 Feb 2021 01:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1872/the-role-of-the-media-in-the-cuban-revolution-resource-mobilization-theory-and-cultural-framing http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1833/deconstructing-and-renouncing-the-conditioned-identities-of-gender-and-nationality-in-modern-society By Anna . Militsi - This paper investigates the convoluted societal processes to which the individual is exposed from an early age in order to form and acquire their sense of identity, and aims at dismantling these very processes by exhibiting their flimsy and unsubstantiated underpinning rationale. The compelling role of gender has often been excluded from deliberations and studies regarding the issue of national identity and nationalism as culturally constructed forms of identity and "imaginary" figments of historical unity (Rodó-Zárate, n.d.). In this light, the scope of this paper is threefold;... Mon, 09 Nov 2020 09:04 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1833/deconstructing-and-renouncing-the-conditioned-identities-of-gender-and-nationality-in-modern-society http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1832/complementary-spheres-of-resistance-in-the-anti-apartheid-struggle-the-relationship-between-formal-and-informal-arenas-of-protest By Faith A. Fisher - The African National Congress is widely credited as the institutional body that effectuated the fall of Apartheid in South Africa. While the formal actions of the ANC enfeebled the National Party, the political party only represents one source of resistance in the anti-Apartheid movement. Citizen-driven protest movements, too, provided crucial support to the anti-Apartheid struggle. In order to truly understand the end of Apartheid, however, it is necessary to consider the African National Congress and the informal citizen-driven protest movements as not as separate entities, but as mutually dependent... Sun, 08 Nov 2020 08:22 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1832/complementary-spheres-of-resistance-in-the-anti-apartheid-struggle-the-relationship-between-formal-and-informal-arenas-of-protest http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1822/trust-in-state-media-analyzing-the-chinese-communist-partys-changing-approach-to-public-opinion-and-media-censorship By Edward F. Xu - China’s rise as a global power has major implications for the future of free speech and media censorship both within and outside the People’s Republic. While there are numerous examples of the Chinese Communist Party employing blanket bans on accessing information, it also often frequently permits the presence of media unfavorable to the party due to the current state strategy of “public opinion guidance” that utilizes centrally commanded counter-narratives that delegitimize or undermine dissenters (Tai). I evaluated this approach and determined that it is crucial in fostering... Wed, 21 Oct 2020 07:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1822/trust-in-state-media-analyzing-the-chinese-communist-partys-changing-approach-to-public-opinion-and-media-censorship http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions By Clare Choi - Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue that results in social, psychological, emotional, and physical consequences. Although interventions may be continuously designed to combat this problem, IPV must first be understood in an intergenerational perspective before effective programs can be put into place. Intimate partner violence is historically viewed as a social and private phenomenon, tinged with shame and stigma. Existing literature on this issue predominantly focuses on the social environment, leaning towards theories that put blame on the social environment the... Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants By Keerthana Annamaneni - In his compelling account of juvenile justice, “Age of Culpability,” Gideon Yaffe provides a philosophically rigorous justification for the claim that “children should be given a break when they do wrong; they ought to be treated more leniently than adults.”[1] While his claim may be conventional, his reasoning is highly novel. Yaffe rejects the notion that children deserve “a break,” or lenient punishments, because children and adults are intrinsically different.[2] Rather, children deserve leniency because children are denied the vote and cannot author their... Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1780/the-social-construction-of-female-genital-mutilation By Esme Trahair - On November 20th, 2018, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that the Female Genital Mutilation Act 1996, which federally prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM/C) in the United States, was unconstitutional within the context of a case that has presented the first legal challenge to this law in US history.[1] His ruling set a new precedent, and it captured media interest because of its potential implications for this contentious practice. However, one of the most interesting aspects of the media coverage of this case is the way in which FGM/C is spoken about, rather than the judgement itself. Pam... Thu, 27 Feb 2020 09:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1780/the-social-construction-of-female-genital-mutilation http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1771/hyperreality-and-the-consumption-of-the-subject-as-object-in-black-mirror By Megan Kirkwood - Jean Baudrillard’s essay ‘The Precession of Simulacra’ from Simulacra and Simulation (1981) is a key postmodern text to understanding the contemporary technological Western world. ‘The Precession of Simulacra’ explores Baudrillard’s central concepts of simulacra, simulation and hyperreality. Baudrillard argues that we now live in a world of signs, that ‘just about everything is a matter of signification, […] obviously connected with an explosive growth in media, but related also to changes in the conduct of everyday life’.[1] In ‘The... Wed, 09 Oct 2019 08:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1771/hyperreality-and-the-consumption-of-the-subject-as-object-in-black-mirror http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1766/fatherhood-socialization-of-masculinity-through-parental-involvement-in-youth-sport By Joseph M. Serrato - Fathers often use sport to socialize their sons into masculinity. When coaching their own son in a sport, men must juggle their own desire to win with their son’s enjoyment. This paper examines the types of masculinity in coaching, while integrating theories of parental participation and involved fathering. As identified with mixed research methods, inclusive masculine fathers have better father-son relationships than orthodox masculine fathers. Techniques used by inclusive masculine fathers were studied through qualitative interviews; they often delegate their own son to other coaching... Wed, 02 Oct 2019 09:55 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1766/fatherhood-socialization-of-masculinity-through-parental-involvement-in-youth-sport http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1749/class-gender-and-the-anxieties-of-meritocracy-in-jacobean-england By Joshua B. Black - The staged plays of the early Jacobean period are valuable textual products for the literary critic, the cultural researcher and the historian alike. These plays are significant containers of knowledge about the mutually reinforcing social and political tensions of the early years of King James I’s reign. There is a body of literature which presently deals with questions about the complex class and gender politics of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1614): Frank Whigham concluded that the ‘play was written, at least in significant part, to dissect the actual workings of the... Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1749/class-gender-and-the-anxieties-of-meritocracy-in-jacobean-england http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health By Vikrant Bhatnagar - Medical Debt has largely been viewed as a financial burden. While studies have linked Medical Debt to decreased savings, reduced health access, foreclosure of homes, and loss of income, there has been little to no research exploring Medical Debt’s effect as a social determinant of health. While Medicaid expansion via the Affordable Care Act has decreased overall Medical Debt, data on this phenomenon fails to adequately address the broader issue: the need to isolate statistically Medical Debt’s association with patient access to care. A sensible first step to explore this phenomenon... Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1734/the-impact-of-background-stimuli-on-the-perception-of-fear-in-facial-expressions By Stephanie Kwon - Byrnes (1983) found bright colors were associated with positive emotions (e.g., happiness) and dark colors were associated with negative (e.g., sadness) emotions. Emotion is communicated through facial expressions which are a form of nonverbal communication (VandenBos, 2007). The current study examined the impact of background stimulation (static, blue, and black) on the perception of fear (Frith, 2009) in facial expressions. Fear is relevant because fearful facial expressions are important for communicating to others about potential threats (Beck, Cardini, Ladavas, & Bertini, 2015). 30 undergraduate... Mon, 26 Mar 2018 10:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1734/the-impact-of-background-stimuli-on-the-perception-of-fear-in-facial-expressions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1717/benefits-of-interactive-music-therapy-on-children-with-autism By Michael Zhitnitsky - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a wide range of severity, encompassing mild to severe levels of social, communicative, cognitive, and behavioral functioning. This social functioning disorder affects every 1 in 68 children born in the U.S., with prevalence rates doubling since 2000. ASD is associated with left hemisphere responsibilities, such as decreased joint attention, inability to comprehend social cues, insufficient linguistic knowledge, and a difficulty forming meaningful relationships. Children with ASD are faced with many problems, including a lack... Tue, 02 Jan 2018 09:11 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1717/benefits-of-interactive-music-therapy-on-children-with-autism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1712/food-insecurity-and-the-threat-to-global-stability-and-security-in-the-21st-century By Michael DeFeo - In 2010, over 250,000 Syrian farmers were forced from their land due to water shortages. Lack of water left these farmers dangerously food insecure, so they moved, en masse, into Syrian urban centers. This strained an already overburdened infrastructure which increased tensions between urban dwellers and the displaced farmers (El Hassan, 2014). One year later, the Syrian Civil War began, which has killed over 500,000 Syrians and has destabilized the entire country. Since then, the Islamic State has conquered swaths of land through terror campaigns, rebel and Syrian military clashes have left thousands... Thu, 07 Dec 2017 09:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1712/food-insecurity-and-the-threat-to-global-stability-and-security-in-the-21st-century http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1722/old-history-in-the-new-cuba-exploring-the-legacy-of-race-and-economic-inequality-on-the-island-today By Elizabeth L. Drake - After the fall of the USSR, the Cuban government implemented temporary economic liberalization policy reforms that remain today.3 Under Raúl Castro's leadership the economy continues to expand.4 However, as the economy broadens by moving towards a free-market model, there is an increase in both economic and social exclusivity stemming from the racist history of slavery on the island. Thus, Afro-Cubans lack the ability to participate in the free market aspect of the Cuban economy, placing them at an economic disadvantage. While current literature discusses Cuba in terms of either economic... Thu, 30 Nov 2017 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1722/old-history-in-the-new-cuba-exploring-the-legacy-of-race-and-economic-inequality-on-the-island-today http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1653/commercialization-and-discontent-on-the-american-farm-the-farmers-movements-of-the-late-19th-and-early-20th-centuries By Zachary D. Blizard - Nevertheless, the Agrarian Revolt puzzles economic historians because several of the supposed primary causes fail to align with the historical facts. This has prompted some economic historians to delve deeper into the fundamental source of the farmers’ unhappiness, which has resulted in findings that suggest the influence of commercialization was at the heart of the real issue (Mayhew, 1972, pp. 469-475). The causes of the farmers’ despondency in the 1920s undoubtedly differs and yet resembles the Agrarian Revolt in various superficial details; nonetheless, the ultimate cause of the... Tue, 10 Oct 2017 08:42 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1653/commercialization-and-discontent-on-the-american-farm-the-farmers-movements-of-the-late-19th-and-early-20th-centuries http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1652/john-rawls-primary-goods-approach-to-justice-an-analysis-of-indexing-problems By Rhidoy Rashid - There has been extensive debate over the past few decades regarding the criteria by which we should measure distributive justice. In conceiving a just state of affairs it is imperative that we determine the most appropriate measure of the distributions we are evaluating. Different approaches have their own merits, and range from evaluations of the distribution of happiness, to that of wealth, to that of life prospects. John Rawls and fellow Rawlsians believe that primary goods are most representative of citizens’ fundamental interests. According to Rawls (1999: 54), primary goods are those... Fri, 14 Jul 2017 05:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1652/john-rawls-primary-goods-approach-to-justice-an-analysis-of-indexing-problems http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea By Kenneth Lee - In recent decades, Japan and South Korea have become hosts to ethnic return migrants who have returned to their ancestral homeland after once emigrating overseas. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian nikkeijin, or members of the Japanese diaspora, have returned to Japan as labor migrants. From 1992, joseonjok, or ethnic Korean Chinese, migrant women traveled to South Korea to marry Korean men. Japan and South Korea have targeted these groups for their ethnic affinities – the attraction and kinship between the homeland population and returning migrants – on the presumption that they would... Mon, 22 May 2017 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1632/arab-feminism-in-the-arab-spring-discourses-on-solidarity-the-socio-cultural-revolution-and-the-political-revolution-in-egypt-tunisia-and-yemen By Stephanie Maravankin - Over the last couple of decades, women-spearheaded social movements have mobilized to leave a lasting impression on civil societies across the globe. The Arab Spring challenged old ideas of oppressive regimes and signaled possibilities for change, originating in Tunisia and spreading to Arab countries throughout the Middle East. This paper explores the existing literature on political opportunity structure, resource mobilization theory, and framing theory as a means to understand the question: How did collective action frames during the Arab Spring shape the discourses on Arab feminism? My research... Sun, 30 Apr 2017 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1632/arab-feminism-in-the-arab-spring-discourses-on-solidarity-the-socio-cultural-revolution-and-the-political-revolution-in-egypt-tunisia-and-yemen http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1624/antonio-gramsci-hegemony-and-the-greek-crisis-building-new-hegemony-to-supersede-neoliberal-discourse By Carter Vance - Antonio Gramsci’s interpretation and analysis of “hegemony,” its mechanisms, causes and consequences for the Left, is fundamentally an attempt to grapple with how culture and the “common sense of the epoch” (Miliband, 1990) grow out of class society and impose their ontological structure on even those whose interests it opposes. Given the continued existence and deepening of class divisions in the 21st century, an understanding of Gramsci’s work may be even more of a critical project for the Left now than when it was first written. The terrain on which political... Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1624/antonio-gramsci-hegemony-and-the-greek-crisis-building-new-hegemony-to-supersede-neoliberal-discourse http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1602/obama-and-the-economic-recovery-keynesian-policies-gridlock-and-the-new-global-economy By Ayodele Aruleba - The Obama presidency will largely be defined by the administration’s ability to respond to the unique and historic challenge facing the country at the time of his inauguration: the Great Recession. This paper evaluates the president’s success throughout both of his terms in enacting an economic policy, which was largely defined by an embrace of Keynesian economics and more stringent regulations on the financial services industry, but simultaneously highlights the institutional limitations facing the president on influencing the economy. By assessing the administration’s efforts... Fri, 31 Mar 2017 11:01 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1602/obama-and-the-economic-recovery-keynesian-policies-gridlock-and-the-new-global-economy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1576/social-networking-sites-and-romantic-relationships-effects-on-development-maintenance-and-dissolution-of-relationships By Kenadie T. Wilkerson - In our now largely virtual world there are many different ways that we can choose to communicate with one another. Texts, FaceTime, and social media sites have become some of the most popular ways for people to communicate with each other. Romantic partners express their relationship in many different ways. A couple can choose how they want their relationship to be expressed to the public. Now, with the increasing growth of technology, romantic partners can express their relationship online for essentially everyone they know to see. Social networking sites are used to try to recreate face-to-face... Tue, 14 Mar 2017 05:06 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1576/social-networking-sites-and-romantic-relationships-effects-on-development-maintenance-and-dissolution-of-relationships