Session D: 3:30PM – 5PM
Social Sciences. Session D – Oral Presentations. Boyer Conference (2nd floor), Alumni House
SESSION D (3:30-5:00PM)
Location: Boyer Conference (2nd floor), Alumni House
Educating and Engaging Youth about the Equal Rights Amendment Through Legislative Advocacy
Tiffany Chan, University of Utah
Faculty Mentor James Curry, University of Utah
SESSION D 3:30-3:45PM
Boyer Conference (2nd floor), Alumni House
Social Sciences
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Due to legal issues with the ratification deadline and meeting the necessary state ratification quota, the ERA has been at a standstill across the U.S. The longer the ERA is not ratified in Utah, the longer that many live without equal rights indefinitely. This is pertinent to the youth as they are changemakers and help change the future of the country. ERA ratification relies on education, advocacy, and activism that targets today’s youth and decision-making legislators. The literature on the importance of youth engagement in legislative advocacy and the obstacles to it and what can motivate legislators to take action on what issues help understand why the effort to ratify the ERA is centered around these two pillars. The overall goal of this project is to educate and engage youth about the ERA through legislative advocacy. The objectives were to create a comprehensive education curriculum in a social justice lens for youth (high school and college) and develop toolkits about legislative advocacy for use in preparation for the next state legislative session. The expected impacts here are increased knowledge, connections, skills, and engagement youth will gain to further ERA legislative advocacy, and increased youth base and influence for the Utah ERA Coalition. The overall long-term impact is that there is more of an organized, effective legislative advocacy for the ERA ratification in Utah from the efforts of youth activists.
Applying the Extended Parallel Process Model to Climate Change Communication
Mikenna DeBruin, Utah State University
Faculty Mentor Tim Curran, Utah State University
SESSION D 3:50-4:05PM
Boyer Conference (2nd floor), Alumni House
Social Sciences
The Extended Parallel Process Model (i.e. the EPPM) is a health-risk model that combines appeals to fear and efficacy in order to promote a productive danger-control response in individuals. The EPPM has traditionally been applied to the fields of epidemiology and chronic illness; however, it has minimally been applied to climate change communication. Some climate change research examining fear appeals and efficacy appeals separately suggests that the EPPM may be a salient model for encouraging mitigation efforts towards climate change. Thus, I plan to expand the scope of the EPPM through a quantitative survey examining the impact of different EPPM message exposures on efficacy perceptions and behavioral intentions of individ