Digital Commons Network^™

“Making It” In America: Understanding The American Dream In Trump’S America, Dayla Weems

Masters Theses

"Making it in America: Understanding the American Dream in Trump's America" is a comprehensive study of the American Dream's complexities in West Texas. Spanning from the 2016 presidential election to the present, the thesis explores how individuals from diverse backgrounds pursue the American Dream in a region dominated by the oil industry and unique cultural dynamics.

Using ethnographic interviews, primary sources, oral histories, and visual analysis, the research unveils the experiences of Ana Maria Jimenez, Stephanie Carrasco, Maricela Fuentez, David Whaley, and Emmanuel Rojas, representing a cross-section of West Texas. They offer valuable insights into the region's challenges and opportunities. …

“We Believe In Diversity”: Brian Flores Vs. The Nfl And Structural Racism, Shortcomings Of The Rooney Rule, Christopher Simmons

Masters Theses

Master's thesis completed at Trinity College Hartford CT for the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies.

The Whale, Ahab, And The Transgender Human Condition, Catherine Simpson

Masters Theses

What could possibly be the relationship between Moby-Dick and the transgender experience? Where lies Moby-Dick’s utility in the context of literary queer theory? Does Moby-Dick have something useful to say to a transgender person? A possible answer is that Moby-Dick may lay a foundation to a specific intellectual process that parallels the transgender human condition. Realizing oneself as transgender necessitates an understanding of gendered norms, applying those norms to oneself, recognizing a dissatisfaction toward that application, and then navigating these norms in a more suitable way. It requires an unavoidable drive to subvert gender constructs despite its consequences. While Ishmael …

Café Con Mucha Leche: The Pasts, Presents, And Futures Of Puertoricanness And Puerto Ricanhood, Anthony Rosado

Masters Theses

The central theme of this text is self-governed naming. I am implementing Black feminist storytelling procedures to write and paint without the “white,” the “male” or the “elitist gaze.” I’m writing an anti-colonial historical narrative about the making of the Puerto Rican people. I am providing to the field of American Studies an Afrocentric narrative–and series of paintings–through an interdisciplinary study of the presence of the African in the Americas. Although many colonial narratives center Spain in histories of Puerto Rico and of Puerto Ricans. I’m rewriting my Afro Puertorriqueño ancestors’ abolition story and collecting my family’s oral histories. I …

Blight Remediation And Affordable Housing Finance: A Potential Future Model For Hartford Homeownership, Luke Tressy, Joseph Perkus, Justin Olson, Suliman Foster

Masters Theses

This report is designed to aid the Hartford Land Bank (HLB) in its efforts to remediate blight as well as lay the groundwork for a more frictionless path to homeownership for residents in the City of Hartford. Over the course of the semester, the team has conducted research and analysis on various models and state funding systems that could increase property ownership among city residents. In collaboration with the HLB and Cleveland Housing Network (CHN), the team has focused on existing rent-to-own (RTO) and lease-purchase models of homeownership with decades of high success rate.

Community Development Corporations And Neighborhood Stability In Hartford And New Haven, Ct, Gabriell Nelson

Masters Theses

This study investigated the effects of CDC housing revitalization programs in Hartford and New Haven, CT on neighborhood stability. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, this study sought to connect the observed impacts in Hartford and New Haven with the literature on revitalization in formerly industrial cities. Data on three key indicators of neighborhood stability (property values, owner occupancy rates, and vacancy rates) were collected for the time period spanning 2000 to 2019. Street conditions were observed by a Google Street View “windshield survey” of the CDC focus areas; conditions were observed in 2011 and again in 2019 …

Physician Shortage Or Allocation Problem? A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Primary Care Physician Shortage Rurally In The United States, Mazin E. Khalil

Masters Theses

This paper seeks to address the meaning of supply and demand as it relates to physician shortages, the claim that there is an actual shortage problem and the theory that the issue is not one of a shortage but simply a misallocation of physicians, and explores some potential solutions to the issue with case studies highlighting China, and Australia, which have faced similar issues and have utilized innovative approaches to dealing with their problems.

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Acetylcholine Molecularly Imprinted Polymers, Nathaniel Donald Thiemann

Masters Theses

Polymers imprinted with acetylcholine during synthesis were prepared in order to evaluate their potential for implementation as a novel recognition element in acetylcholine biosensors. Biosensors, such as the glucose monitor, are used to rapidly detect and quantify a target analyte. Acetylcholine biosensors have already been produced using enzymatic recognition elements, but they are currently expensive and plagued by short viability. Molecularly imprinted polymers are not only cheap and durable, but have also been successfully used as a recognition element in biosensors for other analytes. Therefore, computational tools were used to rationally design acetylcholine molecularly imprinted polymers. Three chemicals, itaconic acid, …

Healing In The Works Of Elizabeth Goudge, Elizabeth Langford

Masters Theses

Elizabeth Goudge’s fictional works are worthy of further academic consideration. Using the context of Goudge’s persuasive endeavor to provide a framework to conceptualize the healing of the soul, this paper explores the characters who heal and the characters who experience healing, and the practices that these characters engage in, using Goudge’s The Eliots of Damrosehay Trilogy, also published as Bird in the Tree, Pilgrim’s Inn (or Herb of Grace) and Heart of the Family, and The Rosemary Tree. Although Goudge had no professional training in psychology, her characters engage in what today would be labeled …

Transit-Oriented Development And Weak Real-Estate Markets, Jonathan Cabral

Masters Theses

Mass public transportation has quickly become one of the hot topic issues throughout the country. Connecticut in particular has made significant investments in public transit and hopes to create a modern public transit system over the next two decades.

As part of the investment in public transit, there has also been significant investment in development planning around these newly created transit hubs. The development of the land around these hubs is oftentimes referred to as transit-oriented development (TOD). Rooted in TOD are principles of "new urbanism," an attempt to make places safer, walkable, and esthetically pleasing. In addition, TOD has …

The Effects Of Cognitive Rehabilitation For Improving Prospective Memory In Acquired Brain Injury, Emily M. Aiken

Masters Theses

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) includes any damage to the brain resulting from traumatic (e.g. motor vehicle accident) or non-traumatic (e.g. stroke) incidence, that occurs after birth and is not resulting from genetic or congenital factors. Individuals with ABI report that prospective memory (PM) deficits are the most detrimental cognitive impairment following injury, persistently and negatively impacting their ability to function properly in everyday life. PM refers to the ability to remember to carry out intended tasks in the future, including the recall of both time and event regulated intentions. Using neuropsychological assessments to produce patient deficit profiles, this study examines …

The Rules Of Appropriation From The Perspective Of A Contemporary Artist, Cicily J. Collazo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Initial Analysis Of A Long-Term Ketogenic Diet’S Impact On Motor Behavior, Brain Purine Systems, And Nigral Dopamine Neurons In A New Genetic Rodent Model Of Parkinson’S Disease, Jacob Rubin, William H. Church

Masters Theses

A growing body of research suggests that dopaminergic cell death seen in Parkinson’s disease is caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. Oxidative stress, with subsequent generation of reactive oxygen species, is the hallmark biochemical product of mitochondrial dysfunction. The ketogenic diet has been found to enhance mitochondrial energy production, protect against reactive oxygen species-generated cell death, and increase adenosine, a purine that modulates dopamine activity. The current study evaluates the effects of a long-term (5-month) ketogenic diet on behavioral, neurochemical, and neuroanatomical measures in PINK1-KO rats, a new animal model of Parkinson’s disease. Both wild-type and PINK1-KO animals fed a ketogenic diet …

Individualized Cognitive Rehabilitation For Adults With Acquired Brain Injury, Emily M. Aiken

Masters Theses

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can result from internal factors (e.g. tumor) or external causes (e.g. trauma). Three case studies of Korsakoff’s syndrome, meningioma, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), will be presented to illustrate the variety of cognitive deficits across different individuals with ABI. This study uses cognitive rehabilitation therapies to target individual cognitive symptoms. Results and discussion place emphasis on the use of prospective memory (PM) training for treating Korsakoff’s syndrome. The Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) served as the assessment for PM analysis pre and post rehabilitation. The data from this study will be used as a model …

Gun Control Myths And Realities: Public Opinion, Glendaly Macci

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

School Choice And Parental Involvement: Does Parental Involvement Matter In School Choice? Examining The Relationship Between School Choice And Parental Involvement., Glendowlyn L.H. Thames

Masters Theses

In this paper, I examine the relationship between school choice and parental involvement. I contend that parental involvement not only matters in school choice, but is a major factor influencing the high academic performance experienced by these students. A parents’ role in school choice is critically important. All parents must play an active role and be active participants in order for public school choice to be equitable and accomplish the desired result of increased student achievement for all children from different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Further, I contend, while school choice is a viable option for some the majority …

The American Century: How Culture Influenced History, Matthew Ranaghan

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Lounging Among The Ruins, Daniel Barrett

Masters Theses

poetry/creative writing

Wiser For The Time: A Collection Of Poetry And Short Fiction, Jeff Przech

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Trail Hiker: A Historic Memoir Of An Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker, Justin Anderson

Masters Theses

Table of contents only.

The Need For Health Care Reform: Finding Solutions To Health Care Issues In The U.S. By Looking At Foreign Models, Andres F. Vargas Heredia

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Jane Addams: Taking Leave Of Her Fathers, Todd M. Girard

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Hartford Female Beneficent Society And The Hartford Orphan Asylum: A Case Study From 1810 To 1890, Katherine M. Mcnulty

Masters Theses

Dedicated to Eugene Leach, PhD

Sanatorium Care For The Tubercular Poor In Hartford, 1900-1910, Sandra L. Wheeler

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Sanatorium Care For The Tubercular Poor In Hartford, 1900-1910, Sandra L. Wheeler

Masters Theses

Master's Thesis, Trinity College

The Civic Club Of Hartford, Connecticut: A Study Of Women's Organizations In The Reform Era, Barbara F. Donahue

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Inside Or Outside The Whale: George Orwell's Art And Polemic, Richard H. Walker

Masters Theses

This chronological study of the evolution of the works of George Orwell is helpful for the futurist, the citizen awash in groupthink, scholars of standpoint epistemology, of mind and nature, of radical humanism, and others. A former British officer and Spanish revolutionary, he became a Democratic Socialist who believed in intellectual freedom above all and was a champion of the common man. Described as the leading exemplar of the public intellectual, he focused on activism vs passivism (and pacifism), and transforming art and politics into cultural power with mind and nature as the foundation. Like few others, he understood cultural …

"The Holy War As I See It" : The Literary Portrayal Of Eternal Life And Death In Some Fictional Works Of C. S. Lewis, Judith Libby

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Relating James B. Conant's Book, "Slums And Suburbs," To Hartford And West Hartford, Cynthia West Reik

Masters Theses

This thesis will concern itself with an analysis of James B. Conant's book Slums and Suburbs. It will review the educational problems and recommendations offered by Conant and attempt to show the extent of their applicability to a medium-sized city and its principal suburb. For the purpose of this thesis, the medium-sized city chosen is Hartford, Connecticut, and its principal suburb, West Hartford.