Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Somewhere “I Can Live”: Youths’ Conceptualizations Of Nature And The Outdoors In Worcester, Ma, Sarah Bertrand

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper describes the methodology, findings, and implications of research project attempting to understand youths’ conceptualizations of nature and the outdoors. Drawing on and responding to literature that calls for the prioritization of youths’ voices and describes nature as a constructed concept, I interviewed five youth residents of Worcester, Massachusetts, a mid-size city in New England. Using discourse analysis, I also attempt to understand what influences these youths’ conceptualizations of nature and the outdoors. The youth expressed nuanced and complex ideas about nature and the outdoors, situating these ideas within broader conceptualizations of the environment. They also suggested that these …

Land Change Modeler Application:Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Siqi Cheng, Nan Ding

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper is a description of our internship with Clark Labs in the summer of 2015. We worked as research assistants in the Land Change Modeler Application (App) project. This project aimed to display the land cover changes in the United States from 2001 to 2010, show the vulnerability in 48 states and predict changes from the yaer 2050. Our responsibility was to extract eight variables (slope, elevation, surface water, roads, high intensity land, protected areas, county subdivisions, and cultivated crops) in TerrSet, and use them in several models to test the accuracy of prediction.

The internship is a great …

Land Change Modeler Application: Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Nan Ding, Siqi Cheng

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper is a description of our internship with Clark Labs in the summer of 2015. We worked as research assistants in the Land Change Modeler Application (App) project. This project aimed to display the land cover changes in the United States from 2001 to 2010, show the vulnerability in 48 states and predict changes from the yaer 2050. Our responsibility was to extract eight variables (slope, elevation, surface water, roads, high intensity land, protected areas, county subdivisions, and cultivated crops) in TerrSet, and use them in several models to test the accuracy of prediction.

The internship is a great …

Healthcare Facility Location: A Breast Cancer Alliance Case Study, Alexandra Knopf

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Community health is impacted by the location of a health advocacy agency. This commissioned report for the Breast Cancer Alliance of Greenwich, CT, consists of a location analysis to review potential cities in which they might locate expansion efforts. Such cities include Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Greenwich, CT, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, D.C. This report will look at five ways (4 mathematical and one spatial) of conducting a location analysis that require specialized knowledge for interpretation. For this study, a Spatial Geographic Information System methodology is preferred because of the visualization component, which can ensure that …

Un Objeto De Deseo, Clara J. O'Rourke

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

This article evaluates and compares the ways in which women are dehumanized and limited to the role of "objects of desire". The concept of the male gaze is used to depict how women are objectified in La invención de Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Rosario Tijeras by Jorge Franco, including it's cinematic interpretation by Emilio Maillé. Ultimately, all authors and directors sexualize female characters by limiting them in passive roles, depicting them as exotic objects in the eyes on the audience, the characters in the stories, and through narration and cinematography. This objectification reinforces passive female roles and a …

Rape And Sexual Violence: Questionable Inevitability And Moral Responsibility In Armed Conflict, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Wartime sexual violence is a critical human rights issue that usurps the autonomy of its victims as well as their physical and psychological safety. It occurs in both ethnic and non-ethnic wars, across geographic regions, against both men and women, and regardless of the “official” position of commanders, states, and armed groups on the use of rape as tactic of war. This problem is current, pervasive, and global in spite of the status of wartime sexual violence perpetration as a crime against humanity and the capacity of the international criminal court to indict offenders. Though some scholars have argued that …

Sites Prioritization Of Commercial Solar Photovoltaic Systems Using Gis Resources In Massachusetts, Zifeng Li

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

ABSTRACT SITES PRIORITIZATION OF COMMERCIAL SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS USING GIS RESOURCES IN MASSACHUSETTS ZIFENG LI

My summer internship at SolarFlair Energy Inc. was conducted from May 20 to August 21 in 2015, where I cooperated with two supervisors for my work; Dodge A. Travis and Daniel T. Greenwood. I was working as a Geographic Information Science analyst to help generate business and sell commercial solar panel systems. By using available GIS databases to assess viable sites for solar installations, analyzing sites using and prioritizing potential sites through multi-criteria analysis, I successfully generate business lists for a variety of towns in …

Gis Professional Portfolio For William Thoman, William M. Thoman

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Portfolio Overview

The following professional portfolio demonstrates the use of Geographic Information Systems and associated fields such as remote sensing, computer programming, and spatial statistics in order to explore environmental and human phenomena and the interactions between humanity and the environment. The following projects transition from more narrowly focused remote sensing or spatial statistics projects to those which combine a number of skills and knowledge bases

Worcester, Ma Bike Share Feasibility Study, Corinne Jachelski

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The Worcester, MA Bike Share Feasibility Study was conducted to determine whether the City of Worcester is suitable for a city wide bike share. This study includes a general history of bike shares; their benefits based on major categories of social, environmental, economic, and transit; and overview of demographic composition of Worcester. Several cities of similar population size to Worcester that have implemented bike share systems are reviewed as context for system size. Other completed bike share feasibility studies informed the methods employed in this study, as well as provided more information broadly and specifically about all of the elements …

How Endogeneity Matters In Framing Legalization: A Case Study Of Urban Self Help Groups In Ethiopia, Bisrat Kabeta

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The future of an estimated 20,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Ethiopia is uncertain because they lack legal status and, therefore, are unable to access funds and service for their members. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) does not recognize the SHGs as unique development groups, but only offers to register them as Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) or cooperative societies, which are solely economic entities that serve more narrow functions than SHGs do. There has not been any coherent explanation for why the SHGs need a formal status, but should not register as anything but SHGs. From May to August …

Gas And Development: Rural Territorial Dynamics In Tarija, Bolivia, Leonith Hinojosa, Anthony Bebbington, Guido Cortez, Juan Pablo Chumacero, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Karl Hennermann

Sustainability and Social Justice

Framed by concepts of territorial project, social coalitions, and scalar relationships, we analyze rural territorial dynamics under conditions of rapid expansion in natural gas extraction. Analyzing recent economic, political, and territorial transformations of Bolivia's gas-rich region, Tarija, we argue that pre-existing territorial projects of a diverse set of subnational and national actors have: (i) shaped the influence of the gas industry on local dynamics; (ii) changed the scale relationships between local communities, the state, and companies; and (iii) mediated the transformation of territories in ways determined by the nature and aspirations of these territorial projects.

Gis Software Development: Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Zikang Zhou

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper describes my personal internship experience during the summer of 2014. I worked as a part-time student research assistant at Clark Labs and focused on the development of new modules for IDRISI GIS software. I created the new LANDSAT module for importing and preprocessing Landsat Archive imagery. I also created an option in the TassCap module for performing Landsat 8 Tasseled Cap transformation. Through collaboration with GIS and remote sensing professionals at Clark Labs, I successfully applied my geospatial knowledge to real-world software development works. This experience also sharpened the skills I learned at Clark University and was directly …

Energy Poverty And Justice: Using Renewable Energy In Marginalized Countries To Overcome Climate Change And Support Human Development, Drema Khraibani

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Energy poverty is limited to no access to affordable, reliable, and efficient form of energy. Currently, there are 1.3 billion people living in energy poverty, being deprived of their basic need. Providing access to a billion people has become a global goal and movement for energy justice. With IPCC warning about global fossil fuel consumption, energy development has moved towards renewable options. Renewable energy provides those previously without access an ability to meet rudimentary needs. It can uplift communities and families from extreme poverty by easing their labor and extending the time they have to work after dark. Renewable energy …

Cyanobacteria Monitoring In The Charles River Lower Basin: Water Quality Assessment And Implications For Future Practice 2006-2014, Anjana Tamrakar

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The resurgence of cyanobacterial blooms in the Lower Charles River basin is of great concern to public and ecosystem health due to the potential hazard of cyanotoxins produced by these colonial cyanobacteria. In response to public concern about the condition of the river, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) is conducting cyanobacteria monitoring program to improve the water quality since 2006 and developing a solutions to watershed problems. This report is a concise overview of the cyanobacterial bloom monitoring results, its relationship to trophic state and temporal dynamics and potential solutions for future monitoring to serve recreational users of the Lower …

An Organizatonal Approach To Meaursing The Impact Of Mentoring On Mentors: A Research Study With Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Central Massachusetts/Metrowest, Shala Murray

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This Master’s paper is an approach to assessing the impact of mentoring on volunteers at the mentoring agency Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Massachusetts/Metrowest (BBBS). The mentoring research field is one in which the focus has solely been on the mentee and their developmental changes. Entities have not taken into consideration the developmental changes of the mentor; however, Bronfenbrenner’s theory on reciprocal dyads serves as the overarching rationale for why this is critical. A literature review was conducted to provide a framework in understanding why an organization would take on mentoring, exploring specifically the ways in which mentoring transforms …

Gis And Database Management: Summer 2014 Internship With The Town Of Andover, Massachusetts, Heather Marie Cormier

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

My internship with the Town of Andover, Massachusetts took place during May, June, and July 2014. I worked directly with one supervisor, Laura DeGroot, for all projects, which included editing GIS administrative layers (e.g. boundaries, roads, zoning and school districts, etc.), creating new maps for recycling routes and septic systems within the town, analysis of census data, GPS data collection, and template design for online hiking trail maps. This report also details the mission of the town and how my internship played a role in achieving many of the overarching goals for data availability and communication, along with a reflection …

Aquaculture And Coastal Habitats Mapping Of Vietnam, Thailand And Cambodia: Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Xiao Xiao

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The report provides a detailed description of my internship experience with Clark Labs during the summer of 2014. As a research assistant, I was involved in the Aquaculture and Coastal Habitats Mapping project. This project was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. My responsibility was to create a baseline map of coastal habitats and the distribution of aquaculture (mostly shrimp) in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The internship was valuable, and gave an opportunity to learn and grasp more skills. It will influence my career goal in the future. I will definitely recommend this internship to people who have …

Examining The Effectiveness Of An Online Community Of Practice: The New Tactics Program, Frances Mary Rashmi Boehnlein

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The purpose of this Practitioner’s paper is to develop a clear understanding of the basic elements needed for a successful online community of practice. I will explore what The Center for Victims of Torture’s New Tactics (NT) in Human Rights program is currently doing, distinguish effective-based best practices and offer recommendations to the program as to what they could improve to support the vision of a thriving online community of practice. This paper draws on both literature focusing on communities of practice, as well as my experience working with the NT program. I conclude that for as many participants who …

The “Art Of Rent”: Painters, Tourists, And Change In San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, Laura Riddering

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This qualitative case study explores artisanal painters’ views on tourism and their impacts on cultural change in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala. They struggle with new cultural and economic identities through art. Painting is a way to overcome historical discrimination based on their identity, while they explore, develop, and communicate their cultural identities to themselves and outsiders. By selling paintings of cultural scenes that are of interest to them and to tourists, they strengthen their voices in the marketplace. Harvey’s (2002) concept of “space of hope” and Appadurai’s (2004) concept of “capacity to aspire” frame an understanding of this process …

Trilogy Of Violence: Religion, Culture And Identity The Abused Muslim Woman In The Age Of Secular Modernity, Hasnaa T. Mokhtar

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Like many religious traditions, men use Islam to justify and sustain patriarchal control of women. Islam is stigmatized as inherently violent and oppressive to women. The dominant rhetoric among Muslim feminists attributes the aggression to the misinterpretation and misreading of sacred Islamic texts. However, an on-site observation and exploration of the 2014 gathering of Rihla in Konya, Turkey revealed that misinterpretation is but one of many causes and justifications of cultural Violence Against Muslim Women. The purpose of this research is to explore a new dimension of cultural violence against women in the name of Islam by examining the intersection …

Microbuses And Mobile Homemaking In Exile: Sudanese Visiting Strategies In Cairo, Anita Fábos

Sustainability and Social Justice

Paying home visits to mark social events and maintain networks is an established cultural pattern in Arab countries.Northern Sudanese displaced in Cairo in the 1990s made significant efforts to continue visiting each other in their temporary homes, despite having to travel long distances to members of their widely scattered networks.The deterioration of the legal and political status of Sudanese living in Egypt during the 1990s contributed to longer-term uncertainty for those who sought safety and security in Cairo.In this article, I argue that this long-term uncertainty constitutes a protracted refugee situation, and that Sudanese visiting practices constituted a mobile homemaking …

Vulnerability Assessments, Identity And Spatial Scale Challenges In Disaster-Risk Reduction, Edward Carr, Daniel Abrahams, Arielle T. De La Poterie, Pablo Suarez, Bettina Koelle

Sustainability and Social Justice

Current approaches to vulnerability assessment for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) commonly apply generalised, a priori determinants of vulnerability to particular hazards in particular places. Although they may allow for policy-level legibility at high levels of spatial scale, these approaches suffer from attribution problems that become more acute as the level of analysis is localised and the population under investigation experiences greater vulnerability. In this article, we locate the source of this problem in a spatial scale mismatch between the essentialist framings of identity behind these generalised determinants of vulnerability and the intersectional, situational character of identity in the places where DRR …

A Critical Corporate Profile Of Li & Fung, Robert J.S. Ross, Dana Patterson, Brendon Yadegari, Chris Wegemer

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Behind the prominent Brand names and Retail stores of global supply chains are intermediaries who provide services to large volume buyers. A key feature of the global apparel industry is complex supply chains with many contractors and subcontractors and intense competition among factories – induced by the buyers – to reduce cost and increase speed. Over the past two decades, scholars have noted the dramatic increase of market power of international retail corporations gained at the expense of the fragmentation of centers of production. Enter Li & Fung, a Hong Kong based firm which is the largest sourcing agent in …

Anatomy Of A Regional Conflict: Tarija And Resource Grievances In Moraless Bolivia, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Anthony Bebbington

Sustainability and Social Justice

In 2008, the Department of Tarija became the epicenter of national political struggles over political autonomy for lowland regions at odds with the Morales administration. In September, following a series of regional referenda on autonomy and a national recall election, citizen committees in Tarija mobilized urban-based sectors and organized a general strike against the central government. It is unhelpful to understand the strike as simply an act of political sabotage orchestrated by racist regional elites. The factors driving protest and interest in autonomy are varied and deeply related to patterns of hydrocarbons extraction in the department that have allowed for …

Extraction, Territory, And Inequalities: Gas In The Bolivian Chaco, Denise Bebbington, Anthony J. Bebbington

Sustainability and Social Justice

Conflicts over extractive industry have emerged as one of the most visible and potentially explosive terrains for struggles over distribution, territory, and inequality in the Andes. We explore these relationships in Bolivia, focusing on gas extraction in the Chaco region of the southeastern department of Tarija. We consider how the expansion of extractive industry intersects with territorializing projects of state, sub-national elites, and indigenous actors as well as with questions of inequality and inequity. We conclude that arguments over the territorial constitution of Bolivia are inevitably also arguments over gas and the contested concepts of equity underlying its governance. © …

Mining And Social Movements: Struggles Over Livelihood And Rural Territorial Development In The Andes, Anthony Bebbington, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Jeffrey Bury, Jeannet Lingan, Juan Pablo Muñoz, Martin Scurrah

Sustainability and Social Justice

Note: this full-text download is the accepted and/or submitted version of this work.

Social movements have been viewed as vehicles through which the concerns of poor and marginalized groups are given greater visibility within civil society, lauded for being the means to achieve local empowerment and citizen activism, and seen as essential in holding the state to account and constituting a grassroots mechanism for promoting democracy. However, within development studies little attention has been paid to understanding how social movements can affect trajectories of development and rural livelihood in given spaces, and how these effects are related to movements' internal …

Urban Refugees: Introduction, Anita Fábos, Gaim Kibreab

Sustainability and Social Justice

No abstract provided.