Digital Commons Network^™

Found Words, Lost Homes: Immigration And The Language Of Identity, Ali Motamedi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the relationship between personal experience and public space through a body of work that moves between image, text, and material. Rooted in an intimate perspective and extending into streets, landscapes, and communal environments, the practice examines how nomadism—both physical and conceptual—shapes ways of seeing and making. Drawing from my background in engineering, a deep connection to Farsi literature, and the lived experience of immigration, the work reflects on themes of displacement, belonging, and identity.

To Protect The Sky From Falling, Charles Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Using ceramic, found objects, metal and wood, my practice is a meditation and questioning of care, efficiency, repair, structure and place. Architectural elements of support rendered in clay are the initial point of entry to give a soft, lived-in quality to a built environment that is often devoid of the mark of the hand and body. Imprints of the hand are left, and the objects are often deformed in ways to subvert the perceived functionality. The focus on ceramics centers around a play with the binary of soft and hard and the external changes that create its transformation. The work …

Fugitive Colors, Natalie Rose Eddings

Theses and Dissertations

My objects are meditations on intertwining themes of labor, rest, and interiority and their shadow sides—power, subjugation and the gaze. I couple materials that have millenia-long histories such as metals, glass, paper and clay with found objects and plat materials to illustrate narratives and exhume memories. Drawn from nature and technologies of land, plant stewardship and the domestic realm, I imagine my sculptures as life supporting vessels or magical enclosures.

Through sculpture, photography and printmaking, I build structures that are space of quiet to be filled with thought, healing and development. Like incubators and seed pods, my work is protective …

Notes From The Field - Conference Proceedings, Summer Fellows 2024, Center For Latin American, Caribbean, And Latino Studies (Clacls)

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

CLACLS presents proceedings papers from the second CLACLS Summer Fellows Showcase Conference, held on November 7, 2024. The day-long event showcased fieldwork results of CLACLS 2024 Summer Fellows, and was curated into five panels: “Feminist and Queer Critical Perspectives”, “Transnational Exchanges/Diasporic Experiences”, “Ecocritical Lenses”, “Social Movements, Cultural and Economic Practices and Political Imagination", and "Countering State/Official Narratives.”

Community-Level Analysis Of Anti-Asian Hate Crime, Jisoo Cho, Jinuk Jeong, Christopher Han-Fai Seto

Publications and Research

Motivated by the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines the community characteristics associated with the likelihood of their occurrence from 2020 to 2023 through interracial conflict and social disorganization perspectives. Analyzing data from the New York City Police Department and the American Community Survey across 2,198 census tracts, we find that communities with higher levels of Asian population, racial heterogeneity, and residential instability have higher odds of experiencing anti-Asian hate crime. However, concentrated disadvantage and defended neighborhoods (White, Black, and Hispanic) are not significant across all estimated models. These findings have important implications for …

Open Educational Resources For A More Just Romanticism, Leila Walker

Publications and Research

Efforts to diversify the field of Romanticism, long overdue, have intensified

recently, and many Romanticist organizations now sponsor programmes

aimed at amplifying Black and Brown voices. Most of these efforts have

focused on content: how to present Romanticism as a global movement

and include non-white authors in our anthologies and syllabi. While these

much-needed changes address some of the field’s traditional blind spots,

they do little to materially benefit our most vulnerable students or to

address the structural barriers that maintain Romanticism’s exclusionary

status quo. Open educational resources, or OERs, are one way to begin

productively transforming the way the …

Geochronology Of Senèze, Eric Delson, Sébastien Nomade, Sevket Sen, Evelyne Debard, Jean-François Pastre, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Qingfeng Shao, Christophe Falguères

Publications and Research

The age of the Senèze mammalian fauna has been discussed since it was first reported in 1892. 40Ar/39Ar ages reported by Nomade et al. (2014) and recalculated here to agree with current standards placed the deposits between 2.20 and 2.07 Ma. Paleomagnetic data collected in 2001 and 2004 help to narrow the age range, especially of the levels yielding fossils in 2001–2006. In the western sector, fossils can be securely dated between 2.10 and 2.08 Ma, while in the southeastern sector, they are slightly older, between 2.20 and 2.18 Ma. Senèze is one of the few later Cenozoic European sites …

Culture Of German Speaking Countries, Monica Rossi-Miller

Open Educational Resources

LG401 FNET is a 3 hours, 3 credits course with ENGL101 as a pre or co-requisite. It is an upper level course, however, no previous knowledge in Cultures of German speaking Countries is required, nor any knowledge of German language. The focus will be on cultures of countries in which German is an official language such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It fulfills 2A of the Common Core, WI (Writing intensive) requirement and Humanities elective.

Description: Students will be exposed to and discuss cultural developments in German-speaking countries including their role in the European Union. They will read …

Locational Data And The Public Interest, William A. Herbert, Micahel Goodchild, Richard Appelbaum, Jeremy Crampton, Gary Langham, Krzysztof Janowicz, Mei-Po Kwan, Katina Michael, Lisa Schamess

Publications and Research

This article presents a paper developed by the AAG Organizing Committee on Locational Information and the Public Interest through a summit held in Santa Barbara, California in June 2022. The summit resulted in goals and ideas for addressing the issues that arise from the present environment for geodata, whereby public, private, and third-sector entities can tap into publicly available locational information with relatively little regulation on its access or use. The Committee articulates four goals: (1) develop a research agenda extending across disciplines, (2) outline educational resources and strategies to guide ethical practice, (3) devise a pathway to increase public …

Comprehensive Data-Driven Analysis Of Nyc Real Estate Transactions: Insights Into Pricing Dynamics, Neighborhood Evolution, And Socioeconomic Influences, Ruiming Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project provides a comprehensive analysis of New York City’s real estate market, focusing on its historical evolution, shifting demographics, and the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing trends. Utilizing data from trusted sources like Zillow, the NYC Department of Finance, and the U.S. Census Bureau, the study investigates how property values have changed over time, highlights neighborhoods undergoing notable transformations, and identifies the economic, cultural, and social factors driving these changes. The research aims to reveal the complex forces shaping the market while offering insights into its future direction and the reasons behind current trends. A key …

The Perspectives Of Play Advocates On Children’S Unstructured Play In Turkey, Bengi Sullu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has established children’s rights to non- discrimination, development, participation and the observance of their best interests. With this recognition, there has been a growing global interest in acknowledging play as a right. Yet unstructured play, in which children can choose when, where and how to play, with control over their play, has not received the same attention, support and investment as organized, structured play (UNCRC General Comment 17, 2013). The way adults perceive and support play shapes the play opportunities that are available to children (Bianquin, 2018; Göl-Güven, 2017). Additionally, institutions and …

Synchronizing Work And Teaching Practices With The Spatial Dna Of Distributed Work And Learning, Manju Aishwarya Adikesavan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Phygitality, the seamless and synergistic integration of physical and digital realms, is an indispensable and irrevocable part of contemporary office-based work. Phygitality facilitates spatially and temporally distributed or multi-local working where employees work from diverse locations such as their home, office, and third places at any time of day or night. It also makes nonterritorial working at temporary workspaces accessed on a session-by-session basis possible.

This dissertation examines how phygital, multi-local, and nonterritorial working reshape individual and group work behaviors, organizational spatial practices, work-centric settings, non-work-centric settings, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The Spatial DNA of Distributed Work encapsulates a conceptual …

Mad At The System: The Mental Health Act Uk: Power And Control Of Racialized Women, Maithreyi Rajeshkumar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Whilst experiences of madness are multiple, fluid and multi-dimensional across spiritual and collective dimensions globally, the categorization and regulation of ‘madness’ have direct foundations in European colonial-capitalist-patriarchal frameworks, policies and systems. This work focuses on the institutions and structures of power, turning UK legislation and those who are trying to reform or change it, into objects of study. A particular piece of United Kingdom legislation is the primary case study for this work – the Mental Health Act 1983 which covers the rights, assessment and treatment of people diagnosed with a ‘mental disorder’. Women, who are detained under this Act …

Destabilizing The Nuyorican: Rivera’S Women And Nuyorican Cinema, Judith R. Escalona

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rivera’s Women, the Capstone, is a TV segment I produced for the CUNY-TV show Latinas that first aired June 27, 2023 (Pride). It grew out of an hour-long interview I conducted with playwright and screenwriter José Rivera as part of my research on Nuyorican Cinema, the films of the Puerto Rican Diaspora.

An unknown part of U.S. independent cinema, these diasporic films destabilize the way independent films continue to be categorized through gender, race, ethnicity, and language. Using the Capstone as a guide, I examine two of Rivera’s recent screen works that situate him within Nuyorican Cinema because of his …

My Wings Are Not Broken: Black Males, Carcerality, And Education, Crystal M. Welch-Scott

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Historically, educational spaces have been sites of racialized inequality for Black youth, creating disparate educational outcomes. The disproportionate divide between young Black and White men continues throughout the life of their academic journey, and this research seeks to examine its impact on dropping out of school. The experience of Black young men being “othered” – compared to their White counterparts – coupled with the myriad ways Black youth must navigate normalcy creates additional challenges they must carry. This dissertation employs critical race theory and ecological systems theory as theoretical frameworks. It utilizes hierarchical regression modeling of the High School Longitudinal …

A Benjaminian Rumination Of Grasses And Tomatoes In Contemporary Anatolian Film, Ceren Izci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis interprets the intersection of history, ecology, and politics through two contemporary Anatolian films: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses and Murat Fıratoğlu’s One of These Days When Hemme Dies. We focus on the films’ portrayal of social relations and relationships to other living beings through interpreting the temporal layers and historical tensions present in the plots of the films. We introduce the paper by pondering over the question of whether these films are political. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s concepts of “first nature” and “second nature”, the first chapter introduces the philosophical framework for understanding the connection between …

Decades Of Division: Analyzing Hate Crimes In The Usa (1991–2022), Sangeeth Sajan Baby

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project comprehensively analyses hate crime data in the United States, leveraging advanced data analysis and visualization techniques to unmask patterns and insights. By utilizing datasets of criminal offenses reported by law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, this study explores the dynamics of hate crimes across racial, religious, gender, and sexual orientation groups. The analysis reveals key findings, including the disproportionate targeting of African Americans and LGBTQ+ individuals, the prevalence of hate crimes in specific locations like residences and educational institutions, and the consistent patterns of attack types and locations across different racial groups. Analysis of crime data over …

Quantifying Educational Impacts Under The Nypd's Stop-And-Frisk Era, Matthew T. Stanton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project examines the educational and economic impacts of the New York Police Department's "Stop, Question, and Frisk" (SQF) program, implemented predominantly under "Operation Impact" from 2003 to 2022. Using data from the NYPD and the American Community Survey, the study explores correlations between high rates of stop-and-frisk encounters and reduced educational attainment among targeted demographics, primarily Black and Hispanic young men. It contextualizes the socioeconomic consequences of SQF policies, including their effect on lifetime earnings and community trust. The project highlights the limitations of data correlation, advocates for further longitudinal and qualitative studies, and suggests frameworks for mitigating inequities …

3bb: Loss And Remembrance In The Anthropocene, Amanda J. Woolsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Undisputedly, we are living in a time of tremendous and unprecedented ecological loss. Various forms of life on earth are disappearing at a rate unheard of in human history, with a growing amount of evidence suggesting that we are in a period of mass biodiversity loss and extinction. This extinction event is marked by a series of environmental catastrophes that vary in acceleration, intensity, and impact, such as climate-change driven weather events wiping out an endemic island species, to habitat loss and fragmentation leading to the slow death of a once-common species. One such piece of supporting evidence is Rosenberg …

The Evolution Of The Electrical Market: A Texas Journey, David A. Sastre Perez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The journey of electricity, transitioning from a scientific marvel to an indispensable service, has profoundly shaped our society. In the landscape of the United States, the power market of Texas stands out as a unique case study and offers us a peek into a future where renewables are not only possible but integral in the energy mix. Through a series of interactive data visualizations, this project aims to expose the rapid surge in renewables and their current state. This analysis will reveal some of the selective pressures that will determine the evolution of the electrical market in Texas and the …

Geospatial Machine Learning Approaches For Studying Urbanization Impact, Surface Reflectance Patterns, And Groundwater Health Risks, Bibhash Nath

Theses and Dissertations

Geospatial machine learning techniques have been used to study: the impact of urbanization on land use and land cover change, surface reflectance patterns in boreal regions, and groundwater health risks from arsenic in India. These studies combined spatial data, remote sensing, and predictive models to gain valuable insights for sustainable living and protecting human health.

Using Spatial Network Analysis To Explore Migration Of Extended Families In Historical Research, Rock Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This project proposes a geoinformatics approach for understanding the migration of extended families in historical contexts. It uses full-count longitudinal census data (developed by the Minnesota Population Center) and graph methods to define multi-generational extended family relationships and to model the locational structures of these families as a spatial network. Graph algorithms and mapping methods are used to interrogate these structures as reflections of the patterns of family outmigration and extension over time. The study is based on a set of extended families resident in a 15-county study area in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky in 1870, and their evolution …

Forest Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Using Nasa Gedi Lidar Waveforms And Global Tree Allometry, Ian Grant

Theses and Dissertations

Above-ground forest biomass plays a crucial role in global carbon cycles, yet accurately estimating biomass at global scales remains challenging. This thesis addresses two key challenges in processing NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) space-borne lidar data to estimate above-ground biomass density (AGBD): accounting for global variation in forest structure and developing robust physical interpretations of lidar returns. The first component of the thesis analyzes global patterns of tree allometry using the Tallo tree allometry dataset, examining relationships between tree dimensions across biomes, continents, and plant functional types. This analysis reveals consistent allometry across continents for some biomes (e.g., tropical …

Equity's Garden, Nicole A. Barreras

Theses and Dissertations

Equity’s Garden is a narrative-driven video game that explores fairness and communication through the framework of a community garden. Players take on the role of the director of a garden's allocation committee, responsible for distributing planting spaces among neighborhood residents. Through branching storylines, players navigate the consequences of their decisions.

Art As Resistance: Challenging Colonial Legacies Through The Eyes Of South Asian Diasporic Women, Sofina Tanni

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how South Asian diasporic women artists in New York utilize art to resist colonial legacies and express their multifaceted identities. Through ethnographic research, it highlights how themes of nostalgia, preservation, community, and activism shape their work, fostering collective resistance and transformative decolonial pathways.

You Get That From Me, Robyn Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

You Get That From Me is a mixed-media, collage-based film that integrates personal portraits, allegorical maps, and digital collages with spoken narration to craft a stylistic memoir of a pivotal period in my life: the transition from childhood to motherhood.

Burn, Deborah Rolf

Theses and Dissertations

Burn is a hybrid documentary that explores the collective experience of being “burned out” through interviews and lumen photography. Burnout is a syndrome associated with improperly managed workplace stress. Lumen printing is an alternative photographic process where photographic paper is exposed to daylight.

Self-Awareness And Identity Transformation In The Latinx Experience: A Comparative Analysis Of Gloria Anzaldúa’S Borderlands/La Frontera, Yuri Herrera’S Signs Preceding The End Of The World, And Corrido Music By Los Tigres Del Norte, Kimberly Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how literature and music, including titles by Yuri Herrera, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Los Tigres del Norte, reflect evolving Latinx identities amidst socio-political pressures. It emphasizes self-awareness as a tool for change, portraying Latinx identity as dynamic, shaped by history, and continuously negotiated in resistance to marginalization.

Body Of Work: Wax As Medium In Art And Science In Enlightenment Bologna, Kristen Pou

Theses and Dissertations

Eighteenth-century Bologna is well known for its body of accurate and precise wax anatomical models. However, wax was also used for non-scientific purposes: for portraiture and religious artworks. This paper sets forth an argument to explain the scholarly neglect of enlightenment Bolognese waxworks that did not depict anatomized human bodies.

Adaptation For Whom? Understanding The Impacts Of Dyke Policies On Small-Scale Farmers In Ca Mau Province Of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Quang, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Vo Chau Ngan, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Low-lying deltas worldwide are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise. As the risks of climate-induced flooding become increasingly clear, the thirst for infrastructure-driven adaptation increases. This highlights a patent need to understand the impacts of engineering adaptation solutions, especially those targeting built structures such as dykes and sluices, on farmers from a bottom-up, farmer-centred perspective. The study addresses this call by examining cases where dyke policies, while successful in some dimensions, have undermined small-scale farmer livelihoods in Ca Mau ― Vietnam’s southernmost rural province. It identifies areas in need of attention and adds empirical data related to this group of farmers. …