The current project is a senior thesis examining Colgate University's "wireless network" from social science perspective. This project critically draws Actor-Network Theory as presented by Bruno Latour in order to explore and analyze the university's "wireless network" as such, beyond its technical structure. In doing so, it adds to the theory by introducing the original notions of appropriation and blind spots, fill the gap in the existing Actor-Network Theory literature that largely focus on the production of an association by addressing what happens after it. This project offers an elaborate example of studying wireless networks from Actor-Network Theory standpoint, and defends the merit of Actor-Network Theory as a viable framework for examining the contemporary world with the increasing prominence of cyborg, hybrid associations. Its main method of data collection is ethnography, which involves interviews, field works, and accumulation of other relevant materials (photography, documents, diagrams, etc.).

In order to study the effects and outcomes of intergroup dialogue (IGD) on Colgate students, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. Interviews with 16 Colgate students (two were graduates who currently work at Colgate) were conducted along with data from a post-test survey that was administered to students enrolled in the two Intergroup Dialogue courses. Scales were created using questions and data from the post-test survey to analyze and examine the means of students' answers and the Cronbach Alpha scores. This project used a comparative study as well to examine how levels of exposure to intergroup dialogue pedagogy impacted and effected students. For the comparative study a sample of students was collected from 2 non-IGD diversity courses, 2 partial IGD courses and 2 full IGD courses. Five students were interviewed for the non-IGD courses as well as full IGD courses and six for the courses that used partial IGD. In regards to gender, 13 females were interviewed and 3 males. These methods were used to answer the following questions: 1) what effect does participation in intergroup dialogue have on students attending a liberal arts college? 2) What is the process through which exposure to intergroup dialogue pedagogy leads to these changes in student outcomes? This study solely collected data from Colgate University. This project covers Colgate’s racial climate, past literature, past applicable theories as well as the creation of a new theory, data and methods, quantitative and qualitative results as well a discussion and conclusion section.

I conducted 15 interviews with non-white Hispanic students to ask them about their own racial identities and the importance of race and racial issues to their friendships. I interviewed 5 non-Hispanic white male students in fraternities and 5 non-Hispanic white female students in sororities because Greek Life is more racially homogenous than Colgate as a whole. I also interviewed 3 female and 2 male non-Hispanic white students because student-led religious life groups are more racially heterogenous. I chose students from these groups because I was trying to compare non-Hispanic white students with few friends of color to non-Hispanic white students with many friends of color. I asked interviewees about everything they are involved in at Colgate and all of the close friends they have had at Colgate. I wrote down every person they mentioned so I could refer to them later. I then ask interviewees about their relationships with their friends, what they talk about, what they do, etc. Next, I ask if they ever discuss politics or social issues with their friends. Finally, I ask about the importance of race to their own identities, to their friends' identities, to their conversations with friends, and to who they make friends with. In the end, I ask each interviewee to give me their best guesses for the race and gender of each person they mentioned as a friend. I also collected field notes for 10 to study what is said about race in everyday conversation rather than in an interview with me. Field notes were collected during 8 separate times in 3 different locations: Frank Dining Hall (main dining hall), The Coop (student union dining area), and The Jug (off-campus bar). I wrote down my best guess for the race and gender of everyone in the spaces I observed and who was socializing with who. I also wrote down everything I could hear people say.

The purpose of this study was to explore to social implications of Instagram, and the interaction between the online and offline worlds. I investigated gender displays on Instagram among men and women in two comparative groups: Greek Life affiliated and non-affiliated. The research included a content analysis of Instagram pictures of the Colgate class of 2016, as well as survey data from a questionnaire. The time frame was the month of October during the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. The major variables at play were gender, Greek life and self-presentation online. The central research questions were: 1) Does Instagram act as a free place of individual expression and boundary crossing or as a place where offline gender norms are reinforced? 2) How do college students, who live in an environment where substantial overlap between the offline and virtual communities exist, perform gender? 3) Does membership in a monogender sub-community in the real world shape those gender presentations on Instagram?

In order to study the effects and outcomes of intergroup dialogue (IGD) on Colgate students, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. Interviews with 16 Colgate students (two were graduates who currently work at Colgate) were conducted along with data from a post-test survey that was administered to students enrolled in the two Intergroup Dialogue courses. Scales were created using questions and data from the post-test survey to analyze and examine the means of students' answers and the Cronbach Alpha scores. This project used a comparative study as well to examine how levels of exposure to intergroup dialogue pedagogy impacted and effected students. For the comparative study a sample of students was collected from 2 non-IGD diversity courses, 2 partial IGD courses and 2 full IGD courses. Five students were interviewed for the non-IGD courses as well as full IGD courses and six for the courses that used partial IGD. In regards to gender, 13 females were interviewed and 3 males. These methods were used to answer the following questions: 1) what effect does participation in intergroup dialogue have on students attending a liberal arts college? 2) What is the process through which exposure to intergroup dialogue pedagogy leads to these changes in student outcomes? This study solely collected data from Colgate University. This project covers Colgate’s racial climate, past literature, past applicable theories as well as the creation of a new theory, data and methods, quantitative and qualitative results as well a discussion and conclusion section.