Simulating How Think Tanks Work: Lessons from the Metropolitan Policy Classroom

Through a partnership with the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., the University of Nevada, Las Vegas offers students a curriculum based on the day-to-day environment of think tanks in the Brookings Public Policy Minor. This presentation explores the use of simulation pedagogy in one particular course: “Brookings: Metropolitan Policy.” In the 16-week class, each student plays the role of “policy analyst” and produces a comprehensive report on a metropolitan policy issue relevant to the Las Vegas metro region. Through guided, multi-part assignments, students build their knowledge of the policy problem. These include assignments to: draft a research project proposal for a funder to consider; write an opinion editorial for a newspaper; attend a local governance meeting where their policy topic is discussed; produce a localized fact sheet from national-level data sets; and author a comprehensive policy report. In the final report, students offer their recommendation for evidence-based solutions to be considered in the upcoming Nevada legislative session.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/1111/thumbnail.jp

South East Career Technical Academy (SECTA) High School 2015 College & Career Aspirations Survey

In partnership with GoToCollegeNevada.org and the American College Application Campaign, this research project aims to provide key data on the college-going culture in Nevada. The purpose of this research project is to collect survey data aimed at examining a group of Nevada high schools and their students’ aspirations, college plans, and perceptions of school and family support and encouragement. Survey results are available in the form of aggregate reports and individual school data for 2014 and 2015

Preliminary Findings – 2015 College & Career Aspirations Survey

In partnership with GoToCollegeNevada.org and the American College Application Campaign, this research project aims to provide key data on the college-going culture in Nevada. The purpose of this research project is to collect survey data aimed at examining a group of Nevada high schools and their students’ aspirations, college plans, and perceptions of school and family support and encouragement. Survey results are available in the form of aggregate reports and individual school data for 2014 and 2015

Economic Innovation Group (EIG) 2018 Distressed Communities Index (DCI): Nevada Counties

This Fact Sheet highlights the Economic Distress Indicators (EDI) for the 17 counties within Nevada. Using the Economic Innovations Group1 DCI (Distressed Communities Index),2 the Tables that follow report EDI for each of the 17 counties in Nevada, grouped within two time-frames (2007-2011 and 2012-2016), and showing change over time. The data provides the opportunity to compare how the Great Recession affected communities across the nation and how the ongoing recovery is reshaping the economies and social networks of our nation

Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada Renter Migration

This Fact Sheet summarizes and expands upon the findings of Apartment List’s Renter Migration Report. The data presented herein focuses on renter search inquiries (both inbound and outbound) regarding Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada

The Mountain West: Affordable Housing Opportunities

This fact sheet provides selected data pertaining to the Mountain West region from, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, a 2018 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The report includes statistics “based on data from the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). THE ACS is an annual nationwide survey of approximately 3.5 million addresses.

Automation Potential and Artificial Intelligence

This Fact Sheet highlights the automation potential in the Mountain West states (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) and its metropolitan statistical areas using the findings of Automation and Artificial Intelligence: How machines are affecting people and places, a report by the Brookings Institution

Digitalization and the American Workforce

This Fact Sheet examines the rate of digitalization within the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) of the Mountain West division using the findings and data from Digitalization and the American Workforce, a report from the Brookings Institution

Economic Growth in Mountain West Metropolitan Areas

This Fact Sheet highlights trends in America’s economic progress, demonstrating how four metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the Mountain West region (Salt Lake City, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, and Denver-Aurora-Lakewood) fared from 2016 to 2017 and from 2007 to 2017 compared to the national economy and the 100 largest metropolitan economies

Long May She Reign: A Rhetorical Analysis of Gender Expectations in Disney’s Tangled and Disney/Pixar’s Brave

This project addresses messages about gender expectations in Disney princess narratives. The two films included in my project are Tangled (2010) and Brave (2012), which feature the most recently inducted princesses to the marketed Disney Princess line (Rapunzel and Merida, respectively). Using genre as an organizing principle, I argue that Rapunzel and Merida are different from the past Disney princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, etc.) because their narratives reflect new ideas about gender expectations in modern society. The central tension appearing in both films is the opposition between the image of woman as traditional, domestic, and dependent and woman as progressive, motivated, and independent. The ways in which Rapunzel and Merida address this tension reflects changing roles of women in society more generally. In Tangled, Rapunzel experiences consciousness-raising in her quest for self-discovery, and the film\u27s audience is also invited to experience consciousness-raising about gender expectations. In Brave, Merida\u27s quest for control of her own destiny is in tension with the expectations of her mother, the queen. Merida’s experience is reflective of the unrealistic expectations of the can-do discourse in society, which influences young women to believe they can have a rewarding life as a home maker and achieve a fulfilling professional career, if only they are willing to work hard enough. I find these messages appear most explicitly in the princess narratives and song lyrics in each film. These messages are considered moral messages because they suggest ways about how the world ought to be, and therefore may resonate with young children who view Rapunzel and Merida as role models. My thesis is a valuable addition to current communication studies literature because while princesses have been analyzed rhetorically in the past, a scholarly investigation of Disney’s newest princesses has yet to be published. Disney’s prominence in American culture suggests that this research can appeal to a large readership beyond the walls of academia