CASE: Spring 2024

Joelle Brown
The Effects of the Pandemic on College Students’ Mental Health
 
The pandemic hit everyone hard- not just physically, but mentally too. Fear, loneliness, feeling cut off from everyone – it's been a lot to handle. The truth is that we are not alone. In the United States 1 in 5 adults in 2021 dealt with mental health issues because of COVID-19.  
This project dives into that experience, especially for college students. My research will explore the difficulties of mental health and the difficulties of a world—wide pandemic. I will be closely focusing on anxiety and isolation with a holistic/spiritual approach. I will be reaching out to the Gordon community to build advocacy.  
From this project, I will be curating a short film- made for students, by someone who first handedly experienced health struggles. This will leverage shared experiences and let everyone know they're not alone. Mental health shouldn't be pushed away but instead tackled with the knowledge and awareness of what defines mental health and advocating for those who need an assurance of hope.
 

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Julia Cappadona
Film Activism in the Digital Age: Harnessing Social Media for Social Change 

History affirms the indirect and direct impact of film on societal change. With modern-day reliance on technology, it is doubtful that movies will lose their place as significant dissemination platforms. However, the continued evolution of technology and the prominence of social media as a source of information begs the question: will film activism continue to draw the audience’s attention? My project is an essay that examines the background, promotion, response, and effect of three movies released in the past 12 years: The Invisible War (2012), Sound of Freedom (2023), and Music (2021). I use these movies to test my theory that the introduction of social media has greatly impacted the process, reception, and results of films produced to bring awareness to social issues. 
 

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Emmanuella Feria
The Intersections of Femicide & Free Speech in Mexico

Mexico has high rates of femicide and poor protections for journalists, with a score of 128/180 on the press freedom index and one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world. Nationwide, an average of 10 women are killed daily. While Mexico's Constitution allows for freedom of the press, journalists are often threatened and killed due to increasing censorship, drug cartels and organized crime. Female journalists reporting on organized crime are particularly at risk due to cultural machismo, sexual harassment, online smearing campaigns or even death for simply doing their job– telling the truth. How can we address the intersections of femicide and free speech and fight for greater protections for women journalists in Mexico?
 

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Reagan Forbes
Project Title: “Fostering Hope”   

Becoming involved in foster care can be an exciting but sometimes daunting process. There are many misconceptions surrounding the experience of being a foster parent or a foster sibling. Still, there is a great need for families to provide loving homes and care for children in the system. This project endeavors to connect people thinking about becoming foster families with people who have already opened their homes to foster. To accomplish this, I have interviewed a former foster parent, a current foster sibling, and a current worker in the foster care system. This interview content has been compiled into a brochure that can be used as an informational tool for families looking into foster care. I have also partnered with a Massachusetts foster care agency called Hopewell, which has agreed to carry the brochure in their office. I hope this tool will help ease the minds of concerned parents trying to figure out whether to embark on this journey. 
 

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Eden Harfield 

Is creativity something learned? Taught? Earned? Bought? Is it an innate characteristic we all carry? Or is it a gift reserved for the few with “artistic talent” or a knack for performance? Creativity has been twisted and misdefined by culture as something only accessible for those who are naturally gifted in their human strength. But from a Kingdom perspective, there is an alternative reality with the power to unlock divine solutions in our world. Leading us on a journey from the garden to the grave, Redeeming Creativity seeks to restore our perspective on creativity using video arts. It illustrates that redeeming creativity requires a returning to and tending to the garden of our memories—remembering our design as image bearers of God the Creator. And as we deal with our mental landscape, our work on physical landscapes start to reflect that. 
 

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Jenna Lee  
Vacation with Motion 

The ocean has been around since the beginning of time. It is filled with colorful coral reefs. It is filled with piles of plastic. Piles of plastic that are not picture perfect. My video campaign suggests vacationing with motion by enjoying beach snacks out of eco-friendly food packaging, picking up piles of plastic, and enjoying your vacation. 
 

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Sarah McDonald  
Beyond Picket Fence Protesting: 2024 Nonprofit Communications Toolkit 

Have you ever been in a crowded space, trying to get your friends’ attention, but they never hear you above the noise? For many nonprofit organizations, raising their voice to be heard in the media becomes a backburner priority. Though many nonprofits are the center of high quality research and boots on the ground advocacy, their representation is lacking in the media and even more so in Congress. My goal is to take nonprofits’ advocacy beyond picket fence style protesting and provide a step by step evidence-based guide on how to take up space in the media, persuade constituents, and secure more sustainable grant funding. My goal is that whether a team’s communications department consists of ten professionals or one, that this toolkit would be a deskside reference for examples of daily public relations functions for the nonprofit ready to make their voice heard.  
 

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Grace Romeo 
Let’s Talk About Laundry: How Shared Community Spaces Fill Social Needs 

In his book “The Great Good Place,” Ray Oldenberg first coined the term “third space” in 1989 and defined it as a place outside of one’s home and place of work. Third spaces include coffee shops, libraries, bars, and other places that are home to habitually inhabited informal spaces. With the rapid increase in digital work settings and communication technologies I argue that there is a growing need for third spaces in our communities today.  
For this project, I worked with a local client to provide a branding package for a new community-oriented laundromat opening this spring. This new business that will be visited weekly by customers looking to wash their laundry has the potential to be the third space its community needs. Through a back and forth process with the client, I designed a branding package that will help the shop get started and allow them to tell the story they hope to communicate. 
 

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Zachary Smith  
Beyond the Plate: Casey’s Cabana’s Path to Community Building  

At the heart of Grand Island, Casey’s Cabana has distinguished itself as a restaurant hot spot during the spring/summer season. However, the establishment aspires to transcend its status by aiming to becoming the biggest community landmark. With a strategic approach behind my marketing expertise, I am to lead efforts that will transform Casey’s Cabana into a more loved community gathering spot. My project plan aims to strengthen this small business with a unique marketing approach. Through harnessing the potential of social media and website optimization. The overarching objective is clear: enhance more brand visibility, help foster a deep connection with the community, and build a very loyal customer base. Drawing from my background in sales and marketing, my approach will be focused on consistent social media posts, website fixes, and a content calendar so everything can be tailored for Casey’s Cabana. 
 

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Grace Stinger
The Beauty of Aging

Society has become hyper-fixated on preventing natural aging and simple aspects of change that come with getting older. By receiving perspectives from a diverse set of age groups I will share through video what different age groups experience on getting older. Participants discuss the implications and limitations society pushes on people as we age. What is something you loved about getting older? What matters less than you thought they would? Does society's negative opinion on aging affect your attitude towards aging? Aging is an unavoidable aspect of life that is in our design as humans. Which is why we must embrace our changes rather than run from them.

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Alexis Vander Kolk 
Third Places, Community Spaces 

It’s no secret that mental health and face-to-face social interaction have declined, and were declining even before the COVID-19 pandemic. We can often mistake our interactions online as social ones, and long for real connection with others. Because of this, more than ever, there is a stronger need for third places where young adults can gather outside of their homes, schools, and work places. In my project, I will be defining what a “third place” is, where it originated from, why they’re essential as we leave the college scene, and suggest third places that people would feel comfortable in through a light-hearted YouTube video. 
 

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Jordan Walker 
Meeting Maslow Boston: Securing the Lowest Level so You Can Move Up 

 "When presented with the issue of poverty, it’s common to hear people say that there are plenty of resources around for those in need. Sure, there are plentiful online lists of food banks, shelters, churches, and hospitals in the Boston area, but are they truly accessible to the populations who need them the most? And what if a person locates a resource online, but when they visit, they discover it shut down months ago? This is a surprisingly prevalent situation for people in need.  
 In response to this issue, I have created a website that provides an updated list of local resources for people who are seeking shelter, food, and emergency medical services in the Boston area. The heart of my project is centered on the well-known Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, which teaches that people need to meet their physiological needs such as food, water, sleep, and shelter before they can reach self-actualization, self-esteem, healthy relationships, and so forth."
 

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Hayeon Wee 
Shift to Compassionate Eyes: Perceiving People with Compassion, Building up Peace 
 
My photography project, “A Shift to a Compassionate Eye,” portrays a shift from a hateful and distorted perception of people to a compassionate and intimate perception of them through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through this work, I want to raise awareness of our hateful and divisive eyes and hearts and encourage people to recognize unity in Christ and God’s image in humanity with compassionate eyes and hearts for others. How we see people with our eyes and perceive them in our hearts eventually leads to our words of mouth and violent actions toward others. The history of hatred towards people whom we believe look different from us and who have different understandings has continued and caused much harm, division, and actual violence in our lives and this world. Some examples are Rohingya Muslim minorities who suffered from violence from Myanmar extremist Buddhists, Jewish people who suffered from the Holocaust, and the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The development of communication technology, such as social media, has been exploited to create and spread more hatred and affected people’s perception of others, dehumanizing and othering people with words and actions without understanding where they are coming from. However, as followers of Christ with compassionate eyes, I believe that we can expand our compassion through our daily communications and social media. 
 

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