Digital Commons Network^™

The Korean Hanok As A Model For Sustainable Architecture In South Korea, Jordan Oh

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the traditional Korean hanok within the Western framework for sustainability across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. It then cross-references the findings of this analysis with existing theory on the cultural role of architecture to elucidate how the traditional Korean hanok can serve as a model for sustainable architecture in South Korea. Through a comprehensive analysis this thesis highlights the importance of architectural vernacular to define a sustainable building, and critiques contemporary Western ideas of sustainable architecture. Furthermore, this thesis synthesizes two current approaches to sustainable development in South Korea, the u-eco-city and the Green Standard for Energy …

Pathways For Recognition: Indigenous Land Rights In Panamá, Caruna Gillespie, William Ascher

CMC Senior Theses

Indigenous communities in Panamá face the same challenge that many Indigenous communities experience around the globe: a lack of recognition of their land rights. Over the last several decades, the Panamanian government has developed policies and ratified international agreements that recognize Indigenous rights. The comarcas that institutionalize these rights have had some success. However, despite a seemingly progressive framework for recognition, Indigenous communities across the country continuously have their rights violated by conservation projects and resource extraction efforts in the name of economic development. The Panamanian government crafts recognition policies using loopholes, exceptions, and ambiguous language that allow for them …

Grappling With Real Property Supremacy In Us Urban Climate Finance, Julia Wagner, Mark Kear, Sarah Knuth, Sahar Zavareh Hofmann, Zac E. Taylor

Student Publications [Scholarly]

In US cities, drives to secure property value against climate risks have become a preoccupation for mainstream climate finance. This real property bias sidelines non-owners and inhabitants of historically marginalized housing types, limiting their capacity to prepare for and recover from climate change events. In this intervention, we survey major pathways of existing climate finance, before turning to emerging trends for residential ‘climate-proofing,’ retrofitting efforts that bring climate finance ‘home’ to the building level. Building on the concept of ‘real property supremacy,’ we demonstrate how resourcing climate response is limited by the privileging of real property in the structure and …

Climate Risk, Insurance Retreat, And State Response, Mark P. Nevitt, Michael Pappas

Faculty Articles

Climate change is fundamentally destabilizing the private insurance industry, with many high-profile insurance companies exiting states in the face of catastrophic, climate-­induced risk. This rapid "insurance retreat" represents a major market signal in response to climate-exacerbated risks. Private businesses are making actuarial decisions, assessing that some locations are just too vulnerable to insure. At the same time, this insurance retreat also poses a policy challenge for states as they react to the mounting insurance gaps left by exiting private insurers.

This Article analyzes insurance retreat, its attendant policy challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from state responses. It …

Affects Of Air: A More-Than-Human Study Of Atmospheres And Sustainable Development In Bang Kachao, Leonie Hueppe

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This paper investigates urban air as an agentic force shaping the relationship between Bangkok and Bang Kachao, its designated "green lung." Traditional sustainable development frameworks often overlook air's dynamic role, treating it as a passive environmental component rather than an active participant in urban ecologies. Drawing on ethnographic research in Bang Kachao, this study argues that an affective, more-than-human analysis of urban air provides crucial insights for rethinking sustainable urban development beyond anthropocentric paradigms. Employing an urban assemblage approach and the concept of affective atmospheres, the paper explores how the materializations of urban air — specifically heat, wind, and pollution …

Beyond The 'Grand Line': One Piece’S Radical Reimagining Of Global Politics, Titipong Mahattanasin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This thesis explores how the long-running Japanese manga One Piece functions as a radical political archive that reflects, critiques, and reimagines global politics across three historical eras. Drawing from the fields of International Relations and Development Studies, this research analyzes how the manga stages fictional yet deeply resonant struggles over power, freedom, and justice. Through close readings of key narrative arcs—Alabasta, Skypiea, Enies Lobby, Marineford, Dressrosa, and Wano—this study situates One Piece within real-world political contexts including post–Cold War liberal triumphalism, the global War on Terror, and the protest movements of the 2010s. The thesis draws upon theoretical insights from …

นโยบายการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศของสหรัฐอเมริกา : ความต่อเนื่องและการเปลี่ยนแปลง (ค.ศ. 2009-2024), วรวรรณ ท้วมแสง

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วิทยานิพนธ์ฉบับนี้อภิปรายความต่อเนื่องและการเปลี่ยนแปลงของการดำเนินนโยบายการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศของสหรัฐอเมริกาในรัฐบาลบารัค โอบามา รัฐบาลโดนัลด์ ทรัมป์ และรัฐบาลโจ ไบเดน โดยนำกรอบการศึกษาการเมืองเกี่ยวพัน (Linkage Politics) มาใช้สำหรับการวิเคราะห์ความเชื่อมโยงระหว่างปัจจัยจากการเมืองระหว่างประเทศกับการเมืองภายในของสหรัฐอเมริกา ปัจจัยภายในประเทศที่นำมาวิเคราะห์ประกอบด้วยบทบาทของผู้นำและผู้มีอำนาจในการกำหนดนโยบายต่างประเทศ สภาพเศรษฐกิจและบทบาทของกลุ่มอิทธิพลและกลุ่มผลประโยชน์ กอปรกับปัจจัยภายนอก ที่ประกอบด้วย เหตุการณ์ทางการเมืองในระบบระหว่างประเทศ บรรยากาศทางการเมืองระหว่างประเทศและนโยบายต่างประเทศของประเทศต่าง ๆ ซึ่งส่งผลต่อการดำเนินนโยบายต่างประเทศของสหรัฐอเมริกา วิทยานิพนธ์ฉบับนี้แสดงให้เห็นถึงรูปแบบการดำเนินนโยบายของวอชิงตัน การคาดการณ์แนวโน้มในการดำเนินนโยบายและบทบาทด้านการเปลี่ยนแปลงสภาพภูมิอากาศระหว่างประเทศของสหรัฐอเมริกาในอนาคต รวมถึงอธิบายกระบวนการและสาเหตุที่ส่งผลต่อประสิทธิภาพของการดำเนินนโยบายดังกล่าวของสหรัฐอเมริกาต่อประเด็นสภาพภูมิอากาศโลก

Political Economy Of The Landbridge Project With A Focus On Ranong Development, Wipawadee Panyangnoi

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This thesis examines the policy process of the Ao Ang–Laem Rio Landbridge project, with a focus on Ranong Province, to explore the institutional and power dynamics underpinning the formulation of infrastructure development policy in Thailand. The study draws upon the frameworks of institutional and power-centered political economy, environmental justice, and place-based development to analyze the relationships among the state, capital interests, political actors, and local communities. The findings reveal that the promotion of the Landbridge project operates within a centralized policy structure that prioritizes macroeconomic and corporate interests over local capacities and community needs. Although the state has framed the …

The Implications Of Legal Pluralism To Understanding Mining Conflicts: A Socio-Legal Study Of Thailand’S Chatree Gold Mine, Sara Kimberly Phillips

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This thesis explores the conflict surrounding Thailand’s Chatree gold mine through a socio-legal analysis grounded in the conceptual framework of legal pluralism. As mineral extraction becomes increasingly central to global sustainability agendas, including the clean energy transition and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, this research critically examines how competing normative orderings shape actor relations, conflict dynamics, and perceptions of justice in contested mining contexts. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, including interviews and focus groups, the study investigates how various actor groups engage with, navigate, and seek to reshape largely interconnected normative systems. These systems include formal legal mechanisms, customary and …

Are All Renewable Energy Sources The Same? A Comparative Analysis Of Public Perceptions And Preferences For Renewable Energy Types In Southeast Asian Cities, Daniel Del Barrio Alvarez, Nan Wang, Masahiro Sugiyama, Masako Numata, Truong Dang Thuy, Azlina Abd Aziz, Rosalina Palanca-Tan, Aung Ze Ya, Ariel Anshory Yusuf, Awang Noor Abd Ghani, Gem Castillo, Martin Daniel Siyaranamual, Sengprasong Phrakonkham, Vilas Nitivattananon, Wunna Swe

Economics Department Faculty Publications

The realization of a sustainable energy transition in Southeast Asia will require the overcoming of the current high reliance on fossil fuels in the energy mix and the steady and rapid growth in energy demand in the region. To achieve an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable energy transition in the region, it is vital to utilize all available renewable energy sources to the greatest extent possible. It is therefore essential to gain an understanding of how citizens in each country perceive the available renewables. However, the majority of existing literature in this region has been constrained by a narrow focus …

Reducing Short-Chain Pfas Levels In California Water Supplies, Manu Prabandham

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis proposes twelve specific policies based on precedents set by prior regulation of persistent organic pollutants (such as PCBs), the costs and benefits of short-chain PFAS, technologies available to remove and destroy short-chain PFAS, and the roles and limitations of California’s regulatory institutions. The twelve policies are chosen to be politically and financially feasible, effective at removing short-chain PFAS from water supplies, and equitable towards lower-income and minority Californians, who suffer the most from the consequences of PFAS and other environmental pollutants. The new definitions, education campaigns, studies, taxes, bans, standards, testing, and filtration systems proposed are intended to …

Essays On Impacts Of Natural Disasters, Fang-Yu Yeh

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study how natural disasters affect households and individuals. The first chapter examines how Kentucky’s housing market responds to changes in flood risk information. The second chapter looks at disproportionate drinking water non-compliance post-disaster. The third chapter studies the effect of flooding events and the national school meals program in Kentucky on education outcomes.

The first chapter examines Kentucky’s housing market response to changes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood maps and how the responses differ depending on whether an area has been flooded recently. I use Zillow’s ZTRAX property transaction data …

Costuming The Californian Apocalypse: Sartorial Speculations Of Los Angeles's Future, Isabel Kramer

Scripps Senior Theses

With this project, I use fashion design as a medium to visually speculate a range of futures that exist in relation to different temporal apocalypses and dystopian world endings under the current capitalist structure. Three questions guided my thinking and creation of this project: What will people be wearing in 100 years in Los Angeles if we continue down our current path of late capitalism-induced climate change? How will this look differently for people who exist alongside different axes of oppression and who are affected by environmental racisms that manifest in the built environment of Los Angeles? How do dystopian …

Greening The Grounds: Mitigating Compost Contamination And Expanding Onsite Composting Practices In A Small Liberal Arts College Setting, Loren Mello

Scripps Senior Theses

In response to the growing need for sustainable waste management practices, the Farm Manager at Pomona College proposed redirecting food waste from offsite industrial composting to onsite composting at the Pomona Farm, expanding beyond kitchen waste to include student plate scrapings. This research aimed to address the anticipated challenges associated with this transition, including increased compost contamination, Farm staff labor, and operational work hours. To gain insights, a pilot program was conducted at Frank Dining Hall for one week, focusing on compost contaminants, food waste weight, collection and composting time, and additional qualitative measures. Findings from the pilot indicated that …

The Climate Crisis And The Class System: An Ethical Analysis, Alia Baig

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Climate change is a concerning subject that more and more people are beginning to care about. The climate crisis is continuing to affect populations across the globe and shows no signs of slowing. While everyone has been affected by climate change in some capacity, the climate crisis disproportionately affects low-income communities around the world and, specifically, within the United States. I plan to research the ethics of the relationship between climate change and the class system and the goal o f this project is to prove the claim that the class system is the reason for climate change's disproportionate effect …

Climate Change And Critical Agrarian Studies, Ian Scoones, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Amita Baviskar, Marc Edelman, Nancy Peluso, Wendy Wolford

Publications and Research

Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat to humanity today and plays out as a cruel engine of myriad forms of injustice, violence and destruction. The effects of climate change from human-made emissions of greenhouse gases are devastating and accelerating; yet are uncertain and uneven both in terms of geography and socio-economic impacts. Emerging from the dynamics of capitalism since the industrial revolution — as well as industrialisation under state-led socialism — the consequences of climate change are especially profound for the countryside and its inhabitants. The book interrogates the narratives and strategies that frame climate change and examines the …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio: Practicing Idealism, Ana Maria Palacios Figueroa

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Ana Maria Palacios Figueroa's Master of Social Work Portfolio, including narrative and appendices.

Understanding Pluriversal Ontology: The Cases Of Three Alternative Agriculture Communities In Sisaket Province, Northeastern, Thailand, Thita Ornin

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In reaction to the global development paradigm, the concept of Pluriverse has played a pivotal role in exploring alternatives to development, aiming to foster a world that accommodates multiple worlding with the goals to facilitate various approaches to collective well-being, moving away from anthropocentric, linear growth within the modern capitalist development. This thesis seeks to understand alternative agriculture cases in the Northeast of Thailand through the Pluriversal ontology conceptual framework and to determine its usefulness through the following proposed framework; (1) alternative agricultural development discourse analysis, (2) friction and assimilation with modernity and (3) post-development values. Taken an inspiration from …

Net Zero And Settler Futurity, Jesse Goldstein

Sociology Publications

Net Zero ideology promises that current and ongoing emissions can be partially offset by ‘negative emissions’ strategies such as carbon capture and sequestration, allowing carbon intensive firms to narrate themselves as agents that are solving – not causing – the climate crisis. This represents a shift in liberal and corporate environmentalism away from both denial and delay, towards a new strategy acknowledging the need to end fossil fuel use while urgently deferring transformations to a future made possible by not-yet developed technological innovations. This paper argues that a through-line of settler futurity provides affective infrastructure potent enough to transect opposing …

Foodways: An Ethnographic Analysis Of Cwu International Students’ Perception Of The Role Of Culturally Relevant Food In Their Sense Of Belonging, Joy Ihuka

All Master's Theses

International students face unique challenges adjusting to new academic environments, including developing a sense of homesickness and lack of belonging. Studies have shown that consuming culturally relevant food helps international students relieve homesickness, fostering a sense of belonging. Curiously, nonetheless, literature on student belonging rarely focuses on food. Within this gap, this thesis explores the significance of culturally relevant food in fostering a sense of belonging among international students at Central Washington University. Using ethnographic interviews, this research examines how culturally relevant food (including how food is prepared) or lack thereof may influence international students’ perceptions of belonging. This study …

Spatial Predictors Of Human–Black Bear Interactions In Nova Scotia, Canada, Jason I. Airst, Tricia B. Fleming

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The increased global frequency of human–wildlife conflict with large, wild carnivores and omnivores negatively impacts human, wildlife, and ecosystem health. The goal of this study was to determine what landscape characteristics best predicted where human–black bear (Ursus americanus) interactions occurred in Nova Scotia, Canada, to support management efforts. We compared the location of 3,278 human–bear conflict reports and 867 non-conflict reports collected between 2017 and 2021 to 12,000 randomly generated locations. Data were analyzed using logistic additive mixed models. We found that interactions (conflict and non-conflict reports) occurred near roads and farther from forests and surface water features. …

Spatial Distribution And Significance Of Burdens To Environmental Justice In Parramore, Florida: An Urban Resilience Perspective, Lex Tracton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In response to climate change, economic instability, and rapid urbanization, the notion of urban resilience has gained prominence in city planning and governance. Urban resilience is the ability of a system to adapt to new baseline conditions developing as a result of disturbances. This study is focused on one of urban resilience’s sub-tenets, ecological resilience. Ecological resilience is the ability of a system to sustain ecosystem services following a disturbance (i.e. droughts, flooding, heat waves). The health of the environment prior to a disturbance informs post-disturbance ecological resilience. An already stressed and unbalanced system, or an ecosystem with degraded health, …

Coalescence: A Carnivore Coexistence Curriculum That Braids Indigenous & Western Ecological Knowledge Into A Relevant And Experiential Learning Opportunity For Youth, Stephanie Anne Barron

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horriblis) begin to reoccupy more of their historic range, and as humans and large carnivore populations continue to increase, incidences of human carnivore conflict are on the rise. A decolonial curriculum designed in collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s wildlife biologists stands to increase awareness of Indigenous ecological knowledge and teach youth about the importance of coexistence with carnivores. Additionally, this project could greatly influence youth perceptions of grizzly bears and other large carnivores. This research project examines the development and implementation of a carnivore coexistence curriculum for youth that is guided by …

Breathing Hard In Beautiful Places, Lars Chinburg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chinburg, Lars, M.S., Spring 2024

Breathing Hard in Beautiful Places, Abstract

In Breathing Hard in Beautiful Places, Lars Chinburg explores his connections to the people and places that have made him who he is in a collection of personal essays. The collection is inspired by the talents of many writers–Bill Bryson’s wry travel observations, Norman Maclean’s lyricism on the interplay of nature and family, Sigurd Olson’s gorgeous descriptions of place, and David Sedaris’ knack for drawing hilarity out of the prosaic, among many others.

Many of the essays touch on the power of play as a force for good and …

The Pedagogical Value Of Clinical Amicus Advocacy, Steven J. Alagna

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Essay makes a case for why clinical appellate amicus advocacy is particularly well suited to foster valuable experiential learning in the public interest. First, the Essay explores amicus advocacy in general, including its purposes and effectiveness. The Essay then turns to a survey of the educational benefits of amicus opportunities. Importantly, the process of identifying and pursuing amicus-eligible cases is rife with pedagogical benefits, including maximizing student engagement by broadening the kinds of cases to which students can engage (especially incorporating an element of choice that empowers students to engage with legal questions that carry a personal valence), teaching …

Cap-And-Trade And Air Quality: Which Communities Benefit The Most?, Nicole Bobbs

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Air Quality significantly impacts public health, particularly for individuals with respiratory issues. Cap-and-trade (CAT) programs aim to mitigate emissions, focusing on greenhouse gases to improve air quality. This paper evaluated the long-run effectiveness of CAT programs, comparing multi-sector and single-sector initiatives, and their impact on air quality across counties with varying economic statuses. Using a difference-in-difference approach, comprehensive data spanning recent years up to 2023 is analyzed. The dataset includes air quality measures, population, personal income, average temperature, precipitation, and vehicle registrations enabling a thorough examination of the programs’ effects. Results reveal a complex relationship. Both programs’ initiatives create a …

Richmond Watts For Families: An Action Plan To Bring Multifamily Community Solar To The City Of Richmond, Daniel P. Rafferty

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Seeking to advance community solar energy for multifamily residents within the City of Richmond, Virginia, the Richmond Watts for Families (WFF) is a plan to guide the city in developing robust multifamily community solar program(s). Community (shared) solar has emerged as an alternative approach to traditional rooftop solar energy by allowing customers to subscribe to a portion of a solar array that is shared among other subscribers, which has the opportunity to increase participation by marginalized communities and those currently without the financial or physical means to install solar This plan aids the city in implementing its recently adopted climate …

The Green Infrastructure Network: Mapping Hopewell's Social & Natural Assets, Derek J. Cathcart

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This capstone plan provides a map of the network of physical green infrastructure (GI) and the actors involved in GI projects in Hopewell. Green Infrastructure is mapped spatially with GIS and distinguishes between the various forms of GI present in the city. A network map visualizes the relationships between actors and their relationships with GI in Hopewell. This plan analyzes Hopewell’s GI network of social-ecological assets and their relative interactions. While the capstone plan is not a resilience plan on its own, it fosters resilience in Hopewell by connecting actors like city departments, state agencies, residents, business owners, and local …

Msw Portfolio, Rachel Elizabeth Andrade

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

My MSW portfolio consists of my detailed journey throughout the coursework through U of M and practicum experiences.

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Amber Thornton

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This reflection on my journey through the Master of Social Work (MSW) program highlights the transformative influence of critical self-reflection, research, policy analysis, and leadership in shaping my development as a social worker. The program has equipped me with key competencies to engage effectively with individuals, families, groups, and communities, promoting empowerment and advancing social justice. Through hands-on experiences in individual engagement, family assessment, group intervention, and organizational evaluation, I have gained a holistic understanding of social work that emphasizes empathy, tailored interventions, and systemic change. My involvement in policy practice and advocacy has underscored the importance of evidence-based research …