Digital Commons Network^™

Inter- And Intraspecific Diversity Of Food Legumes Among Households And Communities In Ethiopia, Morgan Ruelle, Zemede Asfaw, Asmare Dejen, Sarah Tewolde-Berhan, Amsalu Nebiyu, Tamado Tana, Alison G. Power

Sustainability and Social Justice

Smallholders throughout sub-Saharan Africa produce legume crops as sources of food, fodder, and cash income, as well as to improve soil fertility. Ethiopian farmers have developed diverse legume varieties that enable adaptation to changing agroecological and sociocultural conditions. However, over the past several decades, as farm sizes declined and extension services promoted new varieties developed by plant breeders, changes in legume diversity have not been monitored. Based on interviews with smallholder farmers (n = 1296), we investigated the status of inter- and intraspecific legume diversity in major production areas of Ethiopia for five food legumes: common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), …

Analyzing The Relationship Between Perception Of Safety And Reported Crime In N Urban Neighborhood Using Gis And Sketch Maps, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Laurie Ross, Thomas Caywood, Marina Khananayev, Casey Starr

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study analyzes the perception of safety among residents of Main South neighborhood in Worcester, MA, USA and compares it to reported crimes. This neighborhood is the focus of a community-based crime reduction project funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the policy development arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. We collected social disorder and violent crime data from the Worcester Police Department and conducted 129 household surveys to understand residents’ perception of safety in the neighborhood and trust in community institutions. The surveys included a map on which residents indicated where they felt unsafe. The goal of this …

Migration Transforms The Conditions For The Achievement Of The Sustainable Development Goals, W. Neil Adger, Emily Boyd, Anita Fábos, Sonja Fransen, Dominique Jolivet, George Neville, Ricardo Safra De Campos, Marjanneke J. Vijge

Sustainability and Social Justice

Migration is transformative both for those who move and for the places and economies of source and destination. The global stock of migrants, depending on definition, is approximately 750 million people: to assume that the world is static and that migration is a problem to be managed is inaccurate. Since migration is a major driving force of planetary and population health, we argue that it must be more directly incorporated into planning for sustainable development, with a focus on the extent and way in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) incorporate the transformative reality of migration.

Integrated Approaches To Understanding And Reducing Drought Impact On Food Security Across Scales, Xiaogang He, Lyndon Estes, Megan Konar, Di Tian, Daniela Anghileri, Kathy Baylis, Tom P. Evans, Justin Sheffield

Geography

Understanding the cross-scale linkages between drought and food security is vital to developing tools to reduce drought impacts and support decision making. This study reviews how drought hazards transfer to food insecurity through changes in physical processes and socio-environmental systems across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. We propose a multi-scale, integrated framework leveraging modeling advances (e.g. drought and crop monitoring, water-food-energy nexus, decision making) and increased data availability (e.g. satellite remote sensing, food trade) through the lens of the coupled human–natural system to support multidisciplinary approaches and avoid potential policy spillover effects. We discuss current scale-dependent challenges …

Marker Of Difference: Historical Construction Of Stigmatization Toward Zainichi Koreans, Hyomin Lee

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Abstract

This paper explores the historical construction of stigmatization toward Zainichi Koreans in Japan, as well as the consequences of such stigmatization. Zainichi Koreans are a minority group of ethnic Koreans living in Japan as special permanent residents, a unique identity formed as a result of the history of Japanese war imperialism and post-war nationalism. Zainichi Koreans have been residing in Japan for many generations now, and are no different from Japanese except for their ethnicity, or lack of Japanese blood. The homogeneity of Japan that boasts of pure Japanese blood is constantly conflicted by the long-term presence of Zainichi …

Chemical Epitope Targeting: Review Of A Novel Screening Technology, Qurrat Ul-Ain, Rene Kandler, Dylan Gillespie, Arundhati Nag

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Chemical Epitope Targeting is a novel technology developed for designing peptide ligands with high affinity and specificity against specific regions of a protein that may be inaccessible to small molecules or antibodies. In this review, we summarize the key steps and significant applications of this technology. Operating on the same principles as antibody-antigen interactions, this technique involves chemically synthesizing the region of interest on the protein, called the epitope, as a polypeptide with a biotin detection tag and a strategically placed alkyne or azide presenting amino acid. The constructed epitope is screened against a comprehensive linear or cyclic One Bead …

Actaeon, Artichokes, And Audrey Ii: Fear And Food In Popular Narratives, Margaret E. Foster

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Food has a dual physical and sociocultural relationship to human life. This duality positions images of food as uniquely powerful when subverted in literary or aesthetic representations for the purpose of evoking what Joyce Carol Oates (1998) calls “aesthetic fear.” Drawing on symbolism primarily from Classical mythology, Western European fairy tales, American horror movies, and resistance poetry from the Spanish Civil War, this paper explores four symbolic subversions of the food chain (when hunters are hunted; bloodthirsty plants; cannibalism; and hunger). With particular attention to gender roles and natural life cycles, these narratives illuminate the ways in which food symbolism …

Aren’T You Scared Of Us? Expressions Of Healthy Masculinity In Men’S Prisons, Ruth Fuller

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

After hegemonic masculinity theory became the dominant paradigm for studying masculinities in the social sciences in the 1990s, it was swiftly applied to criminological research. In the decades since, studies of prison masculinities have emphasized the role of prison as an incubator of hypermasculinity. Incarcerated men are subsequently implicated as the unwilling victims of the spatial and social restrictions that characterize prisons as “total institutions” (Goffman 1961). Operating under this premise, research on prison masculinities have documented a culture driven by hypermasculine ideals, particularly the use of violence to obtain status among inmates. While these perspectives have been illuminating, I …

Coming Out Experiences Of Lgb Latinos/As, Camilo Posada Rodriguez

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

The coming out process is a fundamental part in the lives of LGB individuals. Research suggests that there are factors that might make coming out detrimental to the mental health of an individual. This study aims to better understand the coming out experiences of LGB Latinos/as and the possible relations to cultural values such as religion, familismo, and conservative points of view. Participants were 9 self-identified Latino/a lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults currently living in the U.S. recruited through public and online advertisements. The author engaged in thematic analysis to identify relevant patterns about the participants’ coming out experiences. …

A High-Frequency Mobile Phone Data Collection Approach For Research In Social-Environmental Systems: Applications In Climate Variability And Food Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Stacey A. Giroux, Inna Kouper, Lyndon Estes, Jacob Schumacher, Kurt Waldman, Joel T. Greenshields, Stephanie L. Dickinson, Kelly K. Caylor, Tom P. Evans

Geography

Collecting high-frequency social-environmental data about farming practices in sub-Saharan Africa can provide new insight into environmental changes that farmers face and how they respond within smallholder agro-ecosystems. Traditional data collection methods such as agricultural censuses are costly and not useful for understanding intra-annual and real-time decisions. Short-message service (SMS) has the potential to transform the nature of data collection in coupled social-ecological systems. We present a system for collecting, managing, and synthesizing weekly data from farmers, including data infrastructure for management of big and heterogeneous datasets; probabilistic data quality assessment tools; and visualization and analysis tools such as mapping and …

Food Deserts Debunked And Decentered: From Deficit To Relational Mapping For Food Justice In Worcester, Ma, Brenna Robeson

Sustainability and Social Justice

The mapping of food deserts has become a standardized component of food and health policy work concerned with expanding food access. These maps often follow a similar format of spatially identifying where grocery stores are absent in communities, thus suggesting a straightforward problem diagnosis and intervention blueprint. This paper questions the over-emphasis among many food and health policy practitioners on these technically engineered policy stories, specifically for their obstruction of histories of white supremacy and capitalism within the US food system and urban landscapes. A mixed-methods approach is applied to a case study of Worcester, MA which appropriates GIS to …

Explaining America's Proxy War In Afghanistan: U.S. Relations With Pakistan And Saudi Arabia 1979–1989, Adelaide Petrov-Yoo

History

From 1979 to 1989, an international coalition led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan sent aid to Afghan guerillas known as the mujahideen. This thesis investigates the interests served by this aid by identifying key decision makers and identifying what they hoped to achieve by participating in the aid pipeline. In the United States, President Carter escalated the aid program in response to waxing Soviet influence and waning US influence in the region. President Reagan’s foreign policy approach, fighting the Cold War in other countries through proxies labeled “freedom fighters”, encouraged members of Congress and the Executive branch …

Climate-Governance Entrepreneurship, Higher-Order Learning, And Sustainable Consumption: The Case Of The State Of Oregon, United States, Halina Szejnwald Brown, Maurie J. Cohen

Sustainability and Social Justice

The ongoing devolution of climate policy-making to sub-national levels has prompted growing interest in policy entrepreneurship by individuals who are politically and technically creative and institutionally resourceful. This paper investigates the case of the materials-management programme in the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality which has emerged as a national and international leader by focusing on the role of household consumption in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Two noteworthy innovations involve the development of a consumption-based GHG emissions inventory and introduction of policies aimed at facilitating construction of small homes (so-called Accessory Dwelling Units, ADU). The case traces over several decades the …

Henry J. Leir Annual Report, 2018-2019, Robert D. Tobin

Henry J. Leir Chair Annual Reports

Henry J. Leir Annual Report for the 2018-2019 academic year, covering Henry J. Leir Chair holder Robert Tobin's scholarship work, publications, programming, teaching, and more.

Evaluating Agricultural Weather And Climate Services In Africa: Evidence, Methods, And A Learning Agenda, Catherine Vaughan, James Hansen, Philippe Roudier, Paul Watkiss, Edward Carr

Sustainability and Social Justice

Weather and climate services (WCS) are expected to improve the capacity of Africa's agricultural sector to manage the risks of climate variability and change. Despite this, a lack of evidence prevents a realistic analysis of whether such services are delivering on their potential. This paper reviews 66 studies that have evaluated outcomes and/or impacts of agricultural WCS in Africa, highlighting areas that have received relatively more attention as well as persistent gaps. While the evaluation of WCS outcomes is relatively straightforward, estimates of the number of people who access and use these services are uneven (covering a small number of …

Toward A Normative Land Systems Science, Jonas Nielsen, Ariane De Bremond, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Cecilie Friis, Graciela Metternicht, Patrick Meyfroidt, Darla Munroe, Unai Pascual, Allison Thomson

Geography

Science should provide solutions for societal transformations toward sustainability in the face of global environmental change. Land system science, as a systemic science focused on complex socio-ecological interactions around land use and associated trade-offs and synergies, is well placed to contribute to this agenda. This goal requires a stronger engagement with the normative implications of scientific practice, research topics, questions and results. We identify concerns as well as three concrete steps for land system science to more deeply contribute in normative issues. In particular, we encourage land system scientists to discuss explicitly the normative questions, values, perspectives and assumptions already …

Commencement Program [Spring 2019], Clark University

Commencement Programs

Annual Commencement Program for graduation ceremonies at Clark University, held on May 19th, 2019.

Changing The Current Perception Of Affordable Housing In Worcester, Simone Mcguinness, William Roberts, Vaske Gjino, Tong Zhou, Mengxin Ma, Sarawadee Sonpuak

School of Professional Studies

One of Worcester Interfaith’s goals is to eradicate the stigma of affordable housing in Worcester. Currently, the perception of affordable housing is of an image of unkept and old residences filled with destitute citizens who cannot afford basic needs to live in a city, let alone housing. This image is perpetuated by media, stigma, and a lack of education of the true reality of affordable housing and who its recipients are. Affordable housing-qualified citizens represent a range of educations, professions, age, race, and income levels. Affordable housing units, too, represent a variety of homes, many of which are extremely well-kept …

Worcester Chamber Of Commerce: Recruiting Minority Business Owners, Ryan Dimaria, Alexander Hull, Xikun Lu, Haopeng Wang, Jiacheng Hou, Danning Zhao

School of Professional Studies

Our capstone project was to help the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce identify how to re-frame their marketing so it would be appealing to immigrant and minority owned businesses. Based on interviews and external research, our group was able to create a tangible and resourceful data set that provided justified recommendations and ideas on how the Chamber could make adjustments to their marketing plan to attract more businesses of this particular demographic in the city of Worcester. By implementing these recommendations, we believe the Chamber has the opportunity to create a more diverse group of Chamber members, add value to …

Puerto Rico's Coffee Region: A Socio-Economic Profile, Carla B. Lee Ms.

Sustainability and Social Justice

Using demographic, social, and economic information from the US Census Bureau, this study portrays the current conditions of Puerto Rico’s Coffee Region. There is evidence for the decline of the overall population in Puerto Rico, specifically younger groups, while women are economically disadvantaged in this region. Although there has been significant decline in the agricultural sector as a percentage of GDP, coffee holds significant potential to improve overall economic growth in the region.

Coastal Plastics Abatement On Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island: Stakeholder Perspectives And Lessons Learned, Paige Myatt

Sustainability and Social Justice

This practitioner research focuses on the stakeholder perspectives and lessons learned about mitigating plastic pollution in the marine environment of Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island. It uses a mixed method approach of surveys, interviews, focus groups, and active participation in mitigation strategies to answer four main research questions. These questions aim to gather perspectives on the problem from multiple stakeholders in the community, including the general public, the restaurant industry, and local and state governments. This research also investigates what factors make this community a leader in igniting social change and reducing plastic pollution. The active involvement of the researcher via …

The Transformational Haze: Crisis, Shadow Economies, And Global Civil War On The Venezuela-Colombia Border, Sam Kirsch

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper presents a counter-narrative to the current migration ‘crisis’ on the Venezuela-Colombia border. Its purpose is to highlight the geopolitical complexities of this event that are de-emphasized by media and neoliberal discourse. The frameworks of crisis narrative, shadow economies, and “global civil war” grants us the analytical lens that will allow us to peer further into the processes that have led to the Venezuelan migration. Through this lens, I will illuminate intricacies in the relationship between Colombia, Venezuela, and the West in a way that justifies the exploration of alternative interpretations to mainstream claims of socialism, tyranny, and intervention.

Challenges To Effective Monitoring And Evaluation Systems: Lessons From Afghanistan, Qudratullah Jahid

Sustainability and Social Justice

How can monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems better support improving the aid effectiveness? What are the existing challenges to the M&E systems in Afghanistan? I try to answer these questions by briefly looking at the development aid in Afghanistan since 2001. I provide summary of attempts made at improving aid effectiveness through mutual accountability frameworks. I then try to briefly discuss the principles of Paris Declaration and provide brief insights from Afghanistan. I then discuss the status of monitoring and evaluation in Afghanistan by providing a picture functional M&E system and then discussing the existing challenges in Afghanistan. Finally, I …

A Study On The Reflections Of Women And Men On A Women’S Empowerment Project: A Case Study Of Sindhuli, Nepal, Shreyasha Khadka

Sustainability and Social Justice

Women empowerment and gender equality are considered key aspects of achieving sustainable development goals. At the same time, the empowerment of women is also a process of change that enables women to build capacity in order to make life choices and act on them. Central to women empowerment is incorporating men into the process. Men should be included to deliver effective empowerment through collaboration and interdependence and to understand how women empowerment works in a patriarchal setting. Women’s economic empowerment such as Rural Economic Empowerment Project (RWEE) strives to empower and improve the status of rural women in Nepal. This …

The Relevance And Adequacy Of Youth Development As Part Of The National Development Agenda: Reflection Of Malawi, Siphiwe S. Komwa

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study examines the relevance and adequacy of Malawi’s youth development policies and programs for the country’s young people. The youth of Malawi face a systemic burden including poor coordination of their policies, strategies and programs; inadequate funding; misappropriation of funds; and politicization of their programs. This hinders youth active involvement and progress of youth development. The study aims to identify the gaps that exist despite the availability of the policies and programs using a mixed method desk research drawing its findings from multiple data sources including the Malawi Ministry of Youth, Labor, Sports and Manpower Development; the Malawi Parliament …

Assessing The Impacts Of Gold Mining Deforestation On The Giant Otter (Pteronura Brasiliensis) In Madre De Dios, Peru, Erica Carcelen

Sustainability and Social Justice

Gold mining activity is highly prevalent in the Madre de Dios region, Peru. This activity poses large environmental impacts including deforestation, sedimentation of rivers, and pollution from mercury used during extraction. Mining activity is a major threat to the endangered giant otter as it destroys its preferred riverine habitat. Moreover, mercury used during gold extraction bio-accumulates in fish, which constitutes the entirety of their diet. In order to conserve the giant otter, it is necessary to identify conservation priority areas. In a reactive conservation planning approach, the objective of this work was to prioritize areas suitable as giant otter habitat …

Analyzing Trends And Patterns In Adverse Birth Outcomes In Massachusetts From 2000-2014, Madeleine Haynes

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study explores spatio-temporal trends and patterns in adverse birth outcomes (ABO) in the state of Massachusetts from 2000-2014. ABO include low birth weight (< 2500 g) and preterm deliveries (gestational age < 37 weeks). This research evaluates if there are areas in Massachusetts that have experienced statistically significant increases or decreases in ABO throughout the study period. Birth data was obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and only singleton, live births were included for the analysis. The data were aggregated to census tracts, and the total number of births and the number of ABOs were calculated for each census tract for each year. In total, 1478 census tracts were included in this analysis. Births to non-Hispanic black mothers and births to non-Hispanic white mothers were separated to evaluate if trends in ABO are similar regardless of race as previous literature has identified a much higher rate of ABO in births to non-Hispanic black women. Trends and patterns of ABO were evaluated using the Space Time Cube and the Mann-Kendall statistic and a multivariate regression was conducted to identify potential correlations between socioeconomic factors and prevalence of ABO. Results of this study can be used to identify areas that are experiencing an increase in ABO to potentially allow for more effective, targeted intervention methods.

Overcoming Recurring Crisis Through Resilience: An Analysis Of Usaid’S Definition Of Resilience, Leta Branham

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper analyzes resilience policy employed by the United States’ Agency for International Development (USAID). First, by situating USAID’s resilience policy within a historical context of the 2011 Horn of Africa Famine, and by drawing on existing literature, I show that USAID’s understanding of resilience, and thus its resilience-based policies, are inherently flawed by focusing solely on recurrent crisis. While recurrent crises pose a potential threat to resilience, communities that are exposed to chronic shocks have resilience mechanisms in place against those shocks. Rather, stochastic, or unplanned crises, are larger risks to livelihoods that USAID’s resilience policies do not address. …

Webster Square Neighborhood Plan, Conor Mccormack

Sustainability and Social Justice

In this study, Webster Square is examined as a neighborhood and commercial node within the City of Worcester, MA. Using a variety of data sources and analyses, the study looks at the characteristics of the area to define the condition and context of Webster Square as it currently exists.Guided by current planning theory, contemporary practice, and key informant interviews, this study then suggests different directions for future development and growth in Webster Square. These visions for the future look to address key issues to help make the neighborhood a more vibrant, cohesive, and walkable community. More broadly, this study highlights …

“Greening” Worcester: Municipal Best Practices For Sustainability, Erin Mckeon, Charline Kirongozi, Jared Duval, Antannia Greene, Qianshu Sun, Zewei Yao

School of Professional Studies

In response to the urgent threat posed by climate change, more and more cities, including Worcester, are attempting to become more environmentally responsible and sustainable. Worcester is attempting to develop ways to become more sustainable; both to strengthen their communities and to protect the planet. The Green Worcester Working Group (GWWG) tasked the Clark Capstone Team with researching best practices for municipal sustainability. The GWWG has set the following priorities: climate change mitigation, resilience, open spaces, sustainable resource management, education and awareness. Taking these into account, the Clark Capstone Team researched the sustainability practices of cities in New England, across …