Digital Commons Network^™

An Incomplete Necrography Of The Gilbert Farmstead: A Case Study Of The Reinforcement Of A Southern New England Settler-Colonial Narrative And The Silencing Of Indigeneity At An Early American Living History Museum, Aiden Chisholm

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Renewal To Wreckage: Redevelopment In New Haven And The Oak Street Project, Harrison Silver

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Culture And Language Influence How Hispanics/Latinos In The U.S. Think About Themselves Through Time, Alicia Camuy

Senior Theses and Projects

Culture has been implicated in episodic memory, but this has not been explored in episodic future thought. Episodic information helps to form an identity. Thus, this is an exploratory study to identify unique ways in which Spanish-English Hispanic/Latino populations remember and project to the future, perceive themselves over time, and perceive the passage of time. Participants (n = 50) were healthy bilingual Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S. tested over Zoom. Materials included background information, an acculturation scale, Temporal Focus Scale (TFS), and Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Scale. A time estimation measure and Pre- and Re- experiencing Mental Events (PRIME) …

Curcumin Regulation Of Oligodendrocyte Differentiation And Development, Anna Tangiyan

Senior Theses and Projects

Curcumin is a naturally obtained hydrophobic polyphenol that is under investigation for its potential benefits in multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment. MS development involves two main stages in its pathophysiology – the establishment and progression of inflammation that causes blood and brain barrier (BBB) damage, followed by neurodegenerative mechanisms that result in myelin sheath disruption and oligodendrocyte apoptosis. These immunopathological and neurodegenerative processes lead to disrupted remyelination in MS, which has been previously associated with the oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). Specifically, disrupted OPC differentiation has been hypothesized to have a large role in impaired remyelination in MS. Curcumin’s immunoregulatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidant, …

Variation In Covid-19 Outcomes In The United States: A Policy Perspective, Lauren Mcrae

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Enduring Ethnic Conflict: The Institutional Origins Of Conflict In Myanmar, Olivia Zeiner-Morrish

Senior Theses and Projects

Myanmar has a history of divisive institutions built during the British colonial period and the Japanese occupation. Colonial legacies suggest Myanmar’s enduring ethnic conflict is path dependent, sustained by a self-reproductive system of violence. Yet, wartime disruption and Japanese institution building, as well as later ceasefire politics and limited ethnic defection, challenge theories of path dependency. This thesis compares distinct periods of institution building and the experiences of three ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, revealing a disastrous institutional trajectory that continues to reinforce ethnic conflict. In doing so, this thesis yields key insights to the conditions that precipitate change in …

Eclipse–The Moon In The Sun Kingdom: Islamic Architecture In Spain, Brooke Samaratunga

Senior Theses and Projects

This art history thesis focuses on the structure of the Alhambra and the significance of elements of the palace complex. This text provides historical context to the Nasrid Empire in Spain as well as the history behind the Alhambra palace. Most importantly, this thesis analyzes the role of religion and examines how Islamic ideals are expressed through architecture. Setting the stage and providing historical context to the history and relationships between Muslims and Christians are important portions of this thesis.

The Alhambra is an extraordinary structure because of its scale. The Alhambra can be thought of as embodying a relationship …

The Philosophy Of Punishment: An Analysis Of Criminal Punishment In The Context Of Moral Justice, Bailey Mckeon

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Prospective Memory Errors And Their Neuropsychological Correlations In Persons With Ms, Caitlyn Nguyen

Senior Theses and Projects

Background: Prospective memory (PM) or “remembering to remember” is an important cognitive domain for everyday tasks. PM errors (e.g., loss of content, task substitution, or loss of time) have been noted in certain neurological disorders, with detrimental effects on a person’s quality of life and independent functioning. While PM deficits have been documented in multiple sclerosis (MS), little is known about the specific errors made.

Objectives: 1) To characterize types and frequencies of PM errors and 2) investigate whether other cognitive processes (i.e., processing speed and verbal learning) or personality traits (i.e., Five Factor Model of Personality) are …

The Carpenter Shift: The Evolution Of Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence In The Digital Age, Lindsey R. Mattson

Senior Theses and Projects

The language of the Fourth Amendment protects citizens from warrantless searches of their tangible places and things. For centuries strict interpretation of this Amendment sufficed to protect against invasions of privacy, but developments in modern technology have rendered the Amendment’s initial scope inadequate. Our private information has moved from desks to remote servers, and police surveillance has become both ubiquitous and infallible. In response to these developments, the Supreme Court has expanded the scope of the Fourth Amendment. This thesis explores this doctrinal evolution. Through an analysis of some of the Court’s most consequential Fourth Amendment rulings, this thesis finds …

Sui Sin Far: Voicing Unheard Asian American Female Writers From The Nineteenth Century, Sue Ann Lee

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

"You're So Pretty For A [Insert Racial Slur]" - A Study On Hookup Culture At A Small Pwi, Simran Subramaniam

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Human Rights & God: Universality, Human Dignity And Moral Absolutism, Caleb Yoon

Senior Theses and Projects

While the current human rights tradition has come out of a common sentiment to move away from religion—for religion has, historically, been an immense source of human rights violations—the origins of human rights need to be considered, and perhaps more importantly, why human rights must exist in the first place. In his article “No human rights without God,” Daniel Philpott contends that three essential characteristics of human rights necessitate the integration and acknowledgment of God: universality, human dignity, and their “trump card status” (Philpott, 2014). Philpott counters the notion that reason alone can establish human rights’ universality, focus on human …

The Vanishing Arab Adult: A Male Coming Of Age Crisis Driving Social And Political Change In The Jasmine And Egyptian Revolutions, Antonio Guirola

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 And Anxiety And Depression Prevalence In College Counseling Centers, Elizabeth Densen

Senior Theses and Projects

Today more than ever, college students in the United States feel increased stress, leaving them more vulnerable to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. With the Coronavirus-19 pandemic running rampant throughout the world, mental health concerns have been at the forefront of our issues, especially in the already vulnerable college population. While counseling centers have been present in colleges since the 1900s, their roles have significantly changed especially in the context of COVID-19. Therefore, due to the novelty of the virus, there is little research on the effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health and what that means for …

Does Attachment Style, Personality, And Intercultural Effectiveness Impact The Intent To Study Abroad, Elizabeth Kiely

Senior Theses and Projects

Research studies have shown that there is a relationship between attachment, personality and adjustment. This present study examined the impact of attachment style, personality, and intercultural effectiveness on an individual’s intent to study abroad. I predicted that those with secure attachment would be more likely report an intent to go study abroad than those with insecure attachment. I also predicted that students with high levels of extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness would be more likely to abroad then those with high levels of neuroticism. Lastly, I predicted students with high levels of intercultural effectiveness would be more likely to go …

Predictors Of Prescription Stimulant Medical Misuse And Diversion: Conduct Problems And Perceptions Of Risk, Alice Verdier

Senior Theses and Projects

For the past decade, researchers have been warning of the impending possibility of a prescription stimulant crisis and consequently, an epidemic (Faraone et al., 2020). With the rise in legitimate prescriptions for stimulant medications, there is a greater possibility for these medications to be medical misused or diverted. Medical misuse is the “inappropriate use of a stimulant medication that was initially prescribed for the treatment of ADHD” such as taking too much or too little or using through alternative routes of administration (Sepúlveda et al., 2011, p. 551). Diversion is “transfer of medication of one patient for whom it is …

How Do Arts Programs Facilitate Emotion Regulation In The Prison Setting?, Dana Parker

Senior Theses and Projects

Reentry and prison arts programs provide an opportunity for rehabilitation that facilitates healthier emotion regulation (ER), relationship building, and self-esteem. To measure the effects of arts-based interventions on ER, formerly incarcerated people completed a questionnaire that included three different measures: the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Short-Form (CERQ-Short), the Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities (ERS-ACA), and the Self-expression and Emotion Regulation in Art Therapy Scale (SERATS). Results showed that there were significant differences between males and females on their scores on ER subscales, where women more often than men employed positive ER strategies. In support of my hypotheses, higher …

Changes In College Students' Substance Use Habits And Motivations During Covid-19, Madelyn Shapiro

Senior Theses and Projects

The aim of the current study was to better understand changes in college students’ substance use habits and motivations, specifically regarding alcohol, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. College students are deemed to be a high-risk group when it comes to substance use disorders and at risk to develop mental health disorders, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues. Emerging adults’ drinking may not have changed drastically during the pandemic; however, a subset of individuals might have been more vulnerable to increased drinking. Participants consisted of junior and senior college students (N=20) between the ages of 20 and 23 …

The Evolution Of Transgender Student Rights: A Legal And Policy Analysis, Camille J. Valentincic

Senior Theses and Projects

Transgender student protections are at the center of the most recent debate about the scope of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Although LGBTQ+ rights and protections have greatly expanded under all areas of the law in the last thirty years, transgender student rights have most successfully advanced through the judicial system.

Through a close evaluation of executive, judicial, and legislative responses to this compelling policy issue, the development of transgender student rights is explored. This analysis, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current legal landscape of transgender student protections, ultimately determines that the courts are the …

La Literatura De Los Depuestos, Asesinados Y Desaparecidos: Rodolfo Walsh Y El Papel Del Periodismo Investigativo En La Argentina De La Segunda Mitad Del Siglo Xx, Jay Park

Senior Theses and Projects

Las obras de Rodolfo Walsh destacan el papel crítico de la escritura (periodística y de crónicas) como mecanismo para abordar la opresión tanto política como social en una sociedad dominada por la inestabilidad política y por la prevalencia de regímenes opresivos. A través de un análisis de sus obras Operación Masacre (1957), Quién mató a Rosendo? (1969) y Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar (1977), este ensayo buscará delinear la naturaleza de la escritura testimonial como una herramienta para documentar la injusticia y galvanizar a un público que está siendo oprimido y limitada su acción.

The Role And Regulation Of The Caudal Gene In Tribolium Castaneum Segmentation, Suzanne Nicole Carpe Elias

Senior Theses and Projects

The embryo of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum develops sequentially by adding segments in an anterior-to-posterior progression using a “clock”-like mechanism similar to that of vertebrates. Previous studies indicate that the oscillations of this segmentation clock are driven by a gradient of the transcription factor caudal (cad), which activates and regulates the clock. Knocking down the cad gene using parental or early embryonic RNAi leads to animals with only head segments. We hypothesized that progressively later embryonic knockdowns would produce animals with progressively more segments if the function of cad does not change during segmentation. To examine …

Les Voix D’Une Épidémie : La Représentation Littéraire Du Virus Ebola En Afrique De L’Ouest Dans Le Roman En Compagnie Des Hommes De Véronique Tadjo, Suzanne Nicole Carpe Elias

Senior Theses and Projects

Between 2014 and 2016, a devastating outbreak of the Ebola virus terrorized three countries in West Africa: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This epidemic has been widely depicted in various texts and films, including the novel In the Company of Men written by Ivorian poet, novelist, and artist Véronique Tadjo. Published in 2017—a year after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa ended—the novel considers the different voices that respond to this public health emergency. In her literary representation of the epidemic, Tadjo examines the experiences of people in different sectors, from healthcare and research professionals that selflessly gave their lives …

The Camera As A Political Tool: Examining Photography And The Sri Lankan Civil War, Brooke Samaratunga

Senior Theses and Projects

This research project is based on an analysis from photographs from newspaper and online media archives. All of the images the newspapers published from three specific media sources will be examined. These photographs have been accessed through online archives. This study will focus on images from the tail end of the war specifically from the years 2007-2009, as the war ended in May 2009. This project will focus on international sources and how they portrayed images of the Sri Lankan war. Domestic sources were not considered due to the inherent bias Sri Lanka has with the Civil War. News sources …

The Bursting Of The Non-Profit Bubble: Why Non-Profit Kids Simply Won’T Catch A Break, Jederick Estrella

Senior Theses and Projects

Studying conceptions of success within nonprofit and boarding school students and how they envision their future. Through an understanding of students' individual conceptions of success, one can start to analyze how reliant students were on elite educational institutions and nonprofit scholar programs to make them worthy of sponsored mobility through their track record of success.

Phosphorus And Metal Cycling In A Drinking Water Source, Amanda Modica

Senior Theses and Projects

This project sought to investigate the cycling of phosphorus and metals in Lake Auburn, a drinking water source, specifically to analyze the impacts of an alum treatment on the lake for the purpose of decreasing concentrations of eutrophication-promoting phosphorus. The alum addition was performed in the summer of 2019 in two phases. Water samples were collected from the surface to the deepest point at five sites around the lake from February 2019 to November 2021. Data showed that the added alum slowly sank to the bottom of the lake. Total and dissolved metals data showed increased metals concentrations at sampling …

L'Autoreprésentation Dans Les Textes Visuels Et Narratifs De Claude Cahun (Self-Representation In The Visual And Narrative Texts Of Claude Cahun), Ruby Schiller, Ruby Schiller

Senior Theses and Projects

Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob (1894-1954), was a French photographer, sculptor, writer, and activist. In this thesis, I explore the ways in which Cahun uses a variety of creative mediums to express different roles for women in the early twentieth century through her personal experimental processes. A gender-bending woman artist in a man’s world, Cahun’s life and work were in part a reaction to the sociological divide regarding women’s roles during the interwar period. She embodies this cultural change by challenging the norms of her time and making use of the surrealists’ fascination with the unconscious to uncover new ideas. …

“I Am The Democratic Party”: The Role Of Washington Experience In Democratic Presidents’ Success, Coleman P. Mcjessy

Senior Theses and Projects

Upon his election to the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was the first Democratic President elected in a half century with extensive “Washington experience,” that is experience as a Senator, Congressman, or Cabinet Member. In doing so, he brought a different perspective to the White House, one that was familiar with the electoral, legislative, and organizational institutions that the leader of the Democratic party must manage. In addition, this experience has led Biden to be more trusting of the formal Democratic Party infrastructure and therefore more able to use it to support his goals. In comparison to former Presidents Clinton …

Live As Fireflies: The Narration Of Traumas In Two Films, Tucker Obrien

Senior Theses and Projects

The films To Live, directed by Zhang Yimou 1994 in China, and Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata in Japan, tell the stories of two families’ daily life as they endure the aftermath of historical tragedies in the 20^th century. Affected by the histories of China and Japan in the twentieth century, the actions and thoughts of the characters embody different forms of their traumas. I argue that these two films depict traumatic expressions of the Chinese and Japanese people to their respective historical tragedies, through the abnormal behaviors and uncanny psychologies of the characters. The visualized …

Muslim Immigration To Connecticut: An Analysis Of Muslim Communities' Role In Immigrant Incorporation, Hannah M. Lynch

Senior Theses and Projects

This research investigates the relationship between Muslim religious identity and immigrant incorporation outcomes in the United States. There is much existing literature discussing the outcomes of different immigrant groups to the United States, but Muslim immigrants have been largely left out of the discussion. Through interviewing Muslim immigrant residents of Connecticut, I discovered a two-fold relationship between Muslim identity and immigrant outcomes. On one hand, Muslim immigrants were able to incorporate more successfully through their Muslim religious community, such as their mosque. On the other hand, Muslim immigrants faced more difficult incorporating because of negative attitudes towards Muslim immigrants from …