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Rubicon: The Dialectic, Marcos Carrasco Yanez Jan 2021

Rubicon: The Dialectic, Marcos Carrasco Yanez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Rubicon: The Dialectic is a virtual reality (VR), multi-channel, video-art installation, created after researching interactivity, virtual reality, 2D and 3D animation, filmmaking, philosophy, and music. I intend to manifest my feelings as a Venezuelan, a Latin-American, and a free thinker by sharing with the spectator a VR immersive piece representing my inner struggle in these times of political meltdown. Attempting to go beyond the two orders that structure reality according to French structuralist psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, The Imaginary and The Symbolic, I am searching to approach the third Lacanian order that structures human existence--the one that opposes and exists beyond …

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Liminality Of Culture In Studio Art: A Biographical Investigation Of A Second Generation Filipino American Experience, Danielle Culibao Powell Jan 2021

Liminality Of Culture In Studio Art: A Biographical Investigation Of A Second Generation Filipino American Experience, Danielle Culibao Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Danielle Culibao Powell manifests the disconnectedness of a second-generation immigrants' cultural disorientation into colorful collage paintings, reconciling cultural history with contemporary identity while building a connection between herself and her parents' homeland the Philippines. The evolution of Powell's studio art practice follows entering a transcultural marriage and researching the art created by the Filipino women artists before her. This thesis documents that evolution both visually and conceptually. It elaborates the history of both the cannons of Western Art and lesser-known Filipina art and expressed in art rooted in cultural plurality.

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Model-Form Uncertainty Quantification In Prognosis And Fleet Management With Physics-Informed Neural Networks, Arinan De Piemonte Dourado Jan 2021

Model-Form Uncertainty Quantification In Prognosis And Fleet Management With Physics-Informed Neural Networks, Arinan De Piemonte Dourado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Prognosis and health management play an important role in the control of costs associated with the operation of large industrial equipment. By properly comprehending hardware degradation and accurately predicting the remaining useful life of such equipment, we can significantly lower operational costs by reducing asset downtime and maintenance interventions. However, complex interactions between operational conditions and component capability make accurately modeling damage accumulation for large fleets a daunting task. Unforeseen factors such as aggressive missions introduced by operators, exposure to harsh environments, manufacturing issues, amongst many others, can lead to large discrepancies between predicted and observed useful life. Motivated by …

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Beyond The Second Sidewalk: A Study Of Collective Efficacy At Institutions Of Higher Education And Surrounding Communities, Rebecca Decesare Jan 2021

Beyond The Second Sidewalk: A Study Of Collective Efficacy At Institutions Of Higher Education And Surrounding Communities, Rebecca Decesare

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Social disorganization theory (Shaw 1942; 1969) suggests that communities with greater racial heterogeneity, residential mobility, and low socioeconomic status will be less organized, thereby less able to collectively repel criminal behavior. These characteristics describe many institutions of higher education (IHEs), so we should expect that IHEs would have higher crime rates than neighboring areas with greater social organization. However, recent explorations of social disorganization have considered the mitigating concept of collective efficacy. This research suggests that the characteristics of social control, social cohesion, and trust present in communities will mitigate crime (Sampson 1997). These community characteristics also describe many IHEs. …

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Solid Materia And Multiphase Detonations Wave Dynamics In A Rotating Detonation Engine, Ian Dunn Jan 2021

Solid Materia And Multiphase Detonations Wave Dynamics In A Rotating Detonation Engine, Ian Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Coal dust explosions can be hazardous; however, they can also generate a significant rise in stagnation pressure if adequately harnessed. Rotating detonation engine combustors seek to take advantage of the stagnation pressure rise phenomenon in a more sustained and controlled manner via confinement to a physical annulus, leading to increased overall thermodynamic efficiency. This investigation presents an analysis of detonations fueled by Carbon Black, a solid particulate consisting of virtually pure carbon molecules and lean Hydrogen-Air mixtures. As was previously realized with the addition of Carbon Black, an increase of operability limits and detonation velocities over that of a pure …

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Algorithms And Lower Bounds For Ordering Problems On Strings, Daniel Gibney Jan 2021

Algorithms And Lower Bounds For Ordering Problems On Strings, Daniel Gibney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This dissertation presents novel algorithms and conditional lower bounds for a collection of string and text-compression-related problems. These results are unified under the theme of ordering constraint satisfaction. Utilizing the connections to ordering constraint satisfaction, we provide hardness results and algorithms for the following: recognizing a type of labeled graph amenable to text-indexing known as Wheeler graphs, minimizing the number of maximal unary substrings occurring in the Burrows-Wheeler Transformation of a text, minimizing the number of factors occurring in the Lyndon factorization of a text, and finding an optimal reference string for relative Lempel-Ziv encoding.

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Novel Liquid Crystal Photonic Devices Enabled By Liquid Crystal Alignment Engineering, Ziqian He Jan 2021

Novel Liquid Crystal Photonic Devices Enabled By Liquid Crystal Alignment Engineering, Ziqian He

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Liquid crystals (LCs) are self-assembled soft materials composed of certain anisotropic molecules with orientational orders. Their widespread applications include information displays and photonic devices, such as spatial light modulators for laser beam steering and tunable-focus lens, where achieving desired LC alignment is pivotal. In general, LC alignment is influenced by several factors, including chemical bonding, dipolar interactions, van der Waals interactions, surface topographies, and steric factors. Here, we focus on three alignment techniques for aligning rod-like LC molecules and highlights the photonic devices enabled by these techniques: 1) Two-photon polymerization direct-laser writing-induced alignment, 2) Weigert effect-based reversible photoalignment, and 3) …

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Mechanically Reconfigurable Materials And Devices Based On Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Layers, Emmanuel Okogbue Jan 2021

Mechanically Reconfigurable Materials And Devices Based On Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Layers, Emmanuel Okogbue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The recent advances in electronic technologies are geared towards a combination of continued miniaturization in device components and their integration onto unconventional platforms. These efforts are aimed towards achieving electronic devices with various form factors and novel functionalities which are unattainable from traditional devices. Among these envisioned 'futuristic' technologies, electronic devices which are mechanically reconfigurable and operable under harsh operational conditions in the form of stretching, twisting and folding offer tremendous amount of unparalleled opportunities. This dissertation studies two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDs), a distinct class of materials with peculiar optical, electrical and mechanical properties for mechanically reconfigurable electronics. …

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Analyzing The Blockchain Attack Surface: A Top-Down Approach, Muhammad Saad Jan 2021

Analyzing The Blockchain Attack Surface: A Top-Down Approach, Muhammad Saad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Blockchains enable secure asset exchange in a distributed system, thereby facilitating innovative applications such as cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Although the cryptographic constructs of blockchains are highly secure, however, their practical deployments are vulnerable to various attacks due to their application-specific policies, and their peer-to-peer (P2P) network intricacies. In this work, we take a top-down approach towards exploring those attacks, starting with the application-specific abuse of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies and concluding with the network conditions that violate the blockchain consistency. In the top-down approach, we first analyze the application-specific abuse of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies by uncovering (1) covert cryptocurrency mining in the …

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Help In The Time Of Covid: Informational, Emotional, And Instrumental Support Among Graduate Students During A Pandemic, Teanna Staser Jan 2021

Help In The Time Of Covid: Informational, Emotional, And Instrumental Support Among Graduate Students During A Pandemic, Teanna Staser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study examined graduate students' experiences with social support in relation to stress and uncertainty during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Graduate students as a population have significant levels of stress and uncertainty which may have negative effects on their lives and academic experiences. Graduate students often utilize social support as a way to cope with or mitigate the effects of stress and uncertainty. This qualitative study consisted of six focus groups, ranging from three to six participants, total of 22 participants, who were found using a purposeful snowball sampling method. The participants were masters and doctoral level students in communication …

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When Fairness Fails: Using Territorial Behaviors To Cope With Uncertainty, Christopher Stein Jan 2021

When Fairness Fails: Using Territorial Behaviors To Cope With Uncertainty, Christopher Stein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Research on territorial behaviors in organizations is an emerging field (Brown, Crossley, & Robinson, 2014). Current theoretical approaches to territoriality rely heavily on a psychological ownership perspective; however, there is a wealth of theory organizational scholars can integrate from other disciplines (Altman, 1975; Ardrey, 1965; Brown, Lawrence, & Robinson, 2005). The purpose of this dissertation is to integrate an evolutionary perspective into organizational scholarship to explore new antecedents of territoriality. This research draws upon uncertainty management theory to hypothesize a moderated-mediated model predicting territorial behaviors. A measurement instrument is developed to test territoriality and findings from a three-wave field study …

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Low-Profile Wireless Passive Temperature Sensors, Ectis Velazquez Jan 2021

Low-Profile Wireless Passive Temperature Sensors, Ectis Velazquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis explores design challenges and promising solutions for temperature sensors for high temperature environments such as combustion turbines. To survive this high temperature environment of over 1000 °C the sensors are required to be robust in their electrical and mechanical properties. Wire connections for these high temperature environments are a complex problem due to the physical limitations of most materials at those high temperatures. In this thesis, robust ceramic sensors based on microwave resonators are demonstrated for high temperature environments, with some studies into optimizing the techniques used to measure them, as well as the distance at which their …

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"I Have My Coven Now": Transgender Experience In The Central Florida Pagan Community, Alison Whitmore Jan 2021

"I Have My Coven Now": Transgender Experience In The Central Florida Pagan Community, Alison Whitmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis analyzes Transgender experience and dynamics in the Pagan community of Central Florida. Religion plays an important role as part of social structure for many people in the United States. It can also be a source of strife and conflict between culture groups and within cultures. In the US, predominant religious traditions stem from monotheistic Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam); however, Wicca, a Neo-Pagan polytheistic religion, is practiced by a small but growing number of people. Based on nearly one year of ethnographic engagement with the Central Florida Wiccan community, this study presents an analysis of participants experiences …

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Couples With Infertility: The Influence Of Quality Of Life, Relationship Satisfaction, Resilience, Depression, And Shame, Nikole Wilson Jan 2021

Couples With Infertility: The Influence Of Quality Of Life, Relationship Satisfaction, Resilience, Depression, And Shame, Nikole Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the directional relationship between fertility related quality of life, relationship satisfaction, resilience, depression, and shame amongst individuals and couples with infertility. This study tested the hypothesized directional relationship that individuals and couples with infertility (N = 556) with a greater level of fertility related quality of life (FertiQol) would have (a) increased relationship satisfaction (CSI), (b) increased resilience (CD-RISC), (c) decreased depression (PROMIS), and (d) decreased shame (FSCRS), through structural equation modeling (SEM) and the actor partner interdependence model (APIM). Also, the researcher tested the dyadic influence of fertility related quality of …

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Robust Acceleration Of Data-Centric Applications Using Resistive Computing Systems, Baogang Zhang Jan 2021

Robust Acceleration Of Data-Centric Applications Using Resistive Computing Systems, Baogang Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

With the accessible data reaching zettabyte level, CMOS technology is reaching its limit for the data hungry applications. Moore's law has been reaching its depletion in recent studies. On the other hand, von Neumann architecture is approaching the bottleneck due to the data movement between the computing and memory units. With data movement and power budgets becoming the limiting factors of today's computing systems, in-memory computing using emerging non-volatile resistive devices has attracted an increasing amount of attention. A non-volatile resistive device may be realized using memristor, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), or spin-transfer torque magnetic …

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Biophysical Analysis Of The Structure And Aggregation Of Amyloid Beta Peptide, Faisal Abedin Jan 2021

Biophysical Analysis Of The Structure And Aggregation Of Amyloid Beta Peptide, Faisal Abedin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the major cause of dementia and is characterized by neuronal death and brain atrophy. The amyloid ß (Aß) peptide is tightly associated with neuronal dysfunction during AD, but the molecular mechanism underlying the neurotoxic effect of Aß is poorly understood. Extracellular fibrillar deposits (plaques) of Aß were initially believed to be the cause of AD, but currently there is overwhelming evidence that the prefibrillar Aß oligomers are the major toxic entities. Structural characterization of Aß oligomers and fibrils is important for understanding the structural features determining the toxic potency of the peptide. This project has studied …

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Identifying Biomarkers Of Alzheimer's Disease From The Dakhleh Oasis Kellis 2 Cemetery Using Icp-Ms, Emily Barron Jan 2021

Identifying Biomarkers Of Alzheimer's Disease From The Dakhleh Oasis Kellis 2 Cemetery Using Icp-Ms, Emily Barron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Alzheimer's disease is a prevalent disease that affects roughly 5.4 million individuals each year (Fisher et al., 2018). Understanding the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease within the bioarchaeological record can help anthropologists gain an understanding of a population's health while also understanding the potential social ramifications. Trace element analysis is a valuable tool that allows bioarchaeologists to gain insight into individuals' health and development within the context of the past. In bioarchaeological studies, hair analysis has been used to map the nutritional status and migration patterns of individuals of past peoples, with recent studies focusing on disease prevalence. Analysis of hair …

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The Bikini Line: Race, Gender, And Embodiment In Texas Beauty Pageants, Chelsea Belanger Jan 2021

The Bikini Line: Race, Gender, And Embodiment In Texas Beauty Pageants, Chelsea Belanger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In 2019, for the first time in history, Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe were all Black women. However, in Texas pageantry, where 12 former state titleholders have become Miss America or Miss USA are from, racial representation is scant. Since their inception in 1937 and 1952, only three Black women have won title of Miss Texas America and two Black women have been crowned Miss Texas USA. This study analyzes the motives for competing in Texas beauty pageants, experiences of preparing and competing, and the perceptions of race and racial inequalities among racially and ethnically …

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Harvesting Heat From Safer, Energy-Dense Slow Pyrolant Mixtures For Future Space Missions, Katerina Chagoya Jan 2021

Harvesting Heat From Safer, Energy-Dense Slow Pyrolant Mixtures For Future Space Missions, Katerina Chagoya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Energy sources powering space missions range from highly energetic nuclear reactions to short-lifetime and low-output batteries. The proper selection of a power system is dependent on the mission duration and destination and oftentimes energy sources that may be optimal for the former may be unsuitable for the latter. Various limitations of these power sources hinder the capacity for regular and frequent space exploration. However, the ability to harvest heat for electrical power generation would allow for long-distance and long-duration missions at a reduced cost. By employing a regulated, self-propagating, exothermic chemical reaction between solid fuel and oxidizer, we hope to …

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Implication Of Manifold Assumption In Deep Learning Models For Computer Vision Applications, Marzieh Edraki Jan 2021

Implication Of Manifold Assumption In Deep Learning Models For Computer Vision Applications, Marzieh Edraki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The Deep Neural Networks (DNN) have become the main contributor in the field of machine learning (ML). Specifically in the computer vision (CV), there are applications like image and video classification, object detection and tracking, instance segmentation and visual question answering, image and video generation are some of the applications from many that DNNs have demonstrated magnificent progress. To achieve the best performance, the DNNs usually require a large number of labeled samples, and finding the optimal solution for such complex models with millions of parameters is a challenging task. It is known that, the data are not uniformly distributed …

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Evaluating Carbon Uptake And Storage Potential Of Three Pine Species Across Environmental Gradients In Florida, Alicia Formanack Jan 2021

Evaluating Carbon Uptake And Storage Potential Of Three Pine Species Across Environmental Gradients In Florida, Alicia Formanack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Natural climate solutions, such as reforestation, are increasingly called for to lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations and prevent further warming of the climate. Predictive modeling of forest stand dynamics provides a quantitative framework that can be used to select the tree species with the highest carbon (C) uptake potential for restoration efforts based upon site-specific and species-specific data. To simulate stand dynamics and compare C uptake and storage potential of three pine species across Florida, I developed individual-based models that combined environmentally-sensitive tree growth models with background mortality taken from the literature. Growth model parameters were estimated using space for time …

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High Risk Environmental Conditions Attenuate Distance, Speed, And Performance Efficiency Index In Ncaa D1 Female Soccer Players, Maxine Furtado Mesa Jan 2021

High Risk Environmental Conditions Attenuate Distance, Speed, And Performance Efficiency Index In Ncaa D1 Female Soccer Players, Maxine Furtado Mesa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of environmental conditions on running performance and performance efficiency index (Effindex). METHODS: Performance data recorded using Polar Pro sensors from eight collegiate female soccer players in nine matches were analyzed during the 2019 competitive season. Effindex and running performance, including total distance covered relative to minutes played (TDREL) and distance covered in five-speed thresholds, were examined for indications of fatigue with rising environmental conditions, including ambient temperature and relative humidity. Matches were separated into three groups based on environmental condition risk: low (Low-Risk; n= 2 matches), moderate (Moderate-Risk; n=3 matches), or high (High-Risk; n=4 matches). …

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Evaluating Ozone And Granular Activated Carbon Treatment For Control Of Disinfection By-Product Formation For A Central Florida Groundwater Supply, Devon Higgins Jan 2021

Evaluating Ozone And Granular Activated Carbon Treatment For Control Of Disinfection By-Product Formation For A Central Florida Groundwater Supply, Devon Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A pilot investigation that compared ozone oxidation with an integrated ozone and granular activated carbon (GAC) process for the control of regulated disinfection by-products at the University of Central Florida's water plant located at the Orlando campus has been completed. Treatment effectiveness was measured by monitoring the parameters pH, temperature, non-purgeable dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultraviolet absorbance at a wavelength of 254 nm (UV254), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), excitation emission matrices (EEMs) and the associated formation of the DBP chemical groups total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). Groundwater that contained an average of 2.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L) DOC …

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Can Pushing Employees To Recover From Work Backfire? The Joint Effect Of Perceived Pressure From The Supervisor To Perform And To Recover On Daily Employee Outcomes, Reka Lassu Jan 2021

Can Pushing Employees To Recover From Work Backfire? The Joint Effect Of Perceived Pressure From The Supervisor To Perform And To Recover On Daily Employee Outcomes, Reka Lassu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

High performance demands made to employees by supervisors can be perceived as motivating or abusive depending on the "eye of the beholder" (Bies et al., 2016). One of the ways in which supervisors make high performance demands is by putting pressure on their employees to successfully complete their job tasks. However, the extant literature is inconsistent in terms of the outcomes of experiencing general performance pressure. Some studies show that it leads to functional outcomes (e.g., Eisenberger & Aselage, 2009), while others show that it leads to dysfunctional ones (e.g., Mitchell et al., 2018). Recent work integrates these findings, explaining …

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Characterization Of Hydrogenated Boron Carbide And Boron Carbon Nitride Thin Films And Applications, Shraddha Dhanraj Nehate Jan 2021

Characterization Of Hydrogenated Boron Carbide And Boron Carbon Nitride Thin Films And Applications, Shraddha Dhanraj Nehate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Dimension scaling has been the driving force for improved performance of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) for the past few decades. While the semiconductor industry continues to achieve returns on Moore's law, the resistance-capacitance (RC) delay remains a critical bottleneck towards further performance improvement. To support advanced computing performance, the development and integration of new low dielectric (low-k) materials to reduce the capacitance of interconnects are crucial. Apart from the low dielectric constant value, one of the other vital parameters to replace the current dielectric material is mechanical stability. Materials in the boron, carbon, and nitrogen ternary triangle have emerged promising …

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Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long Jan 2021

Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Marine turtles are distributed in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical waters and beaches worldwide, often in areas heavily impacted by humans. Although there are many threats to marine turtle populations, the growing threats of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms are relatively understudied despite their widespread impacts on coastal marine ecosystems that marine turtles depend on. By studying juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, where nutrient pollution and HABs are a widespread and longstanding issue, I aimed to conduct a case study of how these threats may affect this federally Threatened species. In Chapter 2, I …

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Spermidine Rescued Ptpn2/22 Function In Crispr-Cas9-Edited T-Cells With Ptpn2/22 Snps Linked To Crohn's Disease And Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ameera Shaw Jan 2021

Spermidine Rescued Ptpn2/22 Function In Crispr-Cas9-Edited T-Cells With Ptpn2/22 Snps Linked To Crohn's Disease And Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ameera Shaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Inflammatory autoimmune diseases like Crohn's Disease (CD) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) share some of the same single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor types 2 and 22 (PTPN2/22), which contribute to their pathogenesis. In clinical CD and RA samples, PTPN2:rs478582 and PTPN22:rs2476601 were found to exacerbate a number of inflammatory processes associated with CD and RA. To confirm the role of these SNPs in CD and RA pathogenesis, CRISPR-Cas9 was used to induce the SNPs in T-cells. Cells were also treated with the naturally occurring polyamine, spermidine, to restore PTPN2/22 function and reverse the inflammatory effects of the …

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Past, Present, And How To Proceed: Creating My Actor Tool Kit, Joshua Kimball Jan 2021

Past, Present, And How To Proceed: Creating My Actor Tool Kit, Joshua Kimball

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As theatre graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, the message they hold close to their hearts is "Go forth and act." The next day, week, or month the question becomes very clear, "HOW?" This thesis focuses on a practical problem facing theatre graduates whose goals are pursuing the field of acting professionally. Theatre students are given the basic tools for honing their skills but are unequipped to create a viable, sustainable career in the field. The objectives in this paper are to outline problems actors encounter when attempting to build a career and offer practical advice for …

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Hospital Readmission After Major Abdominal/Colorectal Surgeries: A Mixed-Methods Study, Ansu Sebastian Jan 2021

Hospital Readmission After Major Abdominal/Colorectal Surgeries: A Mixed-Methods Study, Ansu Sebastian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Hospital readmission after major abdominal and colorectal surgeries is a complex phenomenon that impacts the quality and affordability of healthcare. A comprehensive review of the literature after implementation of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program in 2012 revealed a paucity in studies that analyzed patients' perceptions regarding the phenomenon of readmission. In addition, there is a need for randomized trials that assess the impact of interventions on the rate of readmission among complex surgical patients. A mixed-methods study was conducted to combine descriptive factors impacting hospital readmission with patients' perceptions to produce meaningful data. The results indicated that although discharge education …

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Memoria: Re(Member)Ing How To Heal, Vilma E. Portocarrero Jan 2021

Memoria: Re(Member)Ing How To Heal, Vilma E. Portocarrero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This serves as a contextualization of my family history and a reflection of my lived experience as a first-generation Nicaraguan American woman living in the United States. In my writing, I explore displacement caused by political unrest and the intergenerational impact of war on families. This work is multi-genre, incorporating elements of creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and oral history.

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