Digital Commons Network^™

The Heterotopia Of Flight: Resisting The Domestic, Sarah Elizabeth Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The familiar image of a woman fleeing danger is a well-worn convention of heroine-centered fiction, a plot device inevitably resolved when the heroine returns safely to her home and family. This dissertation proposes a new reading of that narrative by asserting that rather than serving as a space of protection, the home poses the greatest threat to an individual's autonomy. If we understand the domestic as a space in which bodies are ordered and, more specifically, gendered, classed, and raced, the trope of flight from the domestic can be read as an act of resistance to subjugation. This act is …

Getting Out Of The Ghetto: Harm Reduction, Drug User Health, And The Transformation Of Social Policy In New York, Rachel Faulkner-Gurstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a qualitative study of the emergence and evolution of harm reduction drug policies in New York City. It examines harm reduction as a case of the institutionalization of a public health policy movement. Harm reduction seeks to treat the medical and social consequences of drug use without requiring abstinence. The dissertation examines the process by which harm reduction has managed, in the words of one informant, to 'get out of the ghetto' and become increasingly integrated into New York's public health establishment. Harm reduction has undergone three stages of institutionalization. It began as an activist policy movement. …

On The Biology, Behavior, And Conservation Of The Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus Sp., Gregory Jeff Barord

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chambered nautiluses are unique molluscs that differ from their closest relatives, octopus, squid, and cuttlefish, in many ways. Most obvious, nautiluses possess the ancestral trait of an external shell; a shell that has protected them for hundreds of millions of year but is dooming them today. Although nautiloids have survived all five mass extinction events, the lineage is under siege in the current 'sixth mass extinction'. Unregulated, unmanaged, and ongoing nautilus fisheries, particularly in the Philippines and Indonesia, have been depleting populations in a matter of years, some to local extinction, to supply a worldwide demand for the ornamental shell. …

Social-Ecological Resilience In The Viking-Age To Early-Medieval Faroe Islands, Seth Brewington

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation aims to evaluate the development and maintenance of social-ecological resilience during the settlement-period (ca. 9th through 11th centuries CE) in the Faroe Islands. In particular, the core objectives include the identification of the key social and natural variables involved, the examination of how these variables contributed to overall resilience, and the investigation of the initiation of the Faroese domestic economy.

This research focuses primarily on an analysis of the 9th through 13th century archaeofaunal assemblage from the site of Undir Junkarinsfløtti, located on the island of Sandoy. This analysis represents the first detailed study of the Faroese settlement-period …

American Dreamer: First-Time Homeownership And The Affective Geographies Of Dwelling, Stephen Boatright

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research examines the experiences novice homebuyers in New York City and Oakland, CA have during the home search and decision-making processes. Using a mixed-method approach that combines ethnography with critical discourse analysis and non-representational theory, this work examines the ideology of homeownership as well as the tensions that stem from its emotional affordances. It addresses a lacuna in the housing literature regarding the turbulent everyday emotional tensions that buyers confront as they navigate the highly professionalized real estate industry. Homeownership is lauded for being a relatively low-risk tool for highly leveraged investment; however, using data drawn from a series …

The Symbiosis Between Villa-Lobos's Carnaval Das Crianças And Momoprecoce: A Comparative Study, Vanessa Rodrigues Cunha

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), one the most important figures in Brazilian music, played a crucial role in establishing nationalism in Brazil through musical explorations of the unique character of Brazilian culture. This culture, a cacophonous mix of European lineage and African and indigenous influences, is exemplified in the country's most popular and authentic celebration: the carnival. This dissertation explores Villa-Lobos's musical portrait of the carnival through analysis of Carnaval das Crianças for piano, and that work's reconfiguration as the piano fantasy Momoprecoce, focusing on a comparison of the two works to illuminate how Villa-Lobos kept the core of the original …

Dangerous Spaces: The Structural Context Of Violence Against Foreign Nationals In South Africa, Alexandra Hiropoulos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since South Africa's heralded democratic transition in the mid-1990s, ongoing patterns of violence specifically targeting people on the basis of their race and nationality have been observed throughout the country. This dissertation study examines the spatial nature of violent incidents against foreign nationals in the Republic of South Africa and the effect of structural conditions on the occurrence of anti-foreigner violence.

While international migration has been historically accompanied by resentment and ill-treatment of migrants worldwide, this phenomenon is inadequately studied in developing countries such as South Africa. Since nationwide riots targeting foreign nationals in townships in 2008, there has been …

View From The Front Gate: A Comparative Study Of Nyc Schools From A College Admissions Perspective, Sharon Hardy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluated patterns of college applications from NYC Schools to CUNY. Specifically, a cohort of former large high schools that were reorganized into small schools of choice (SSCs) under the City's Children First education plan were studied. Coupled with the assessments of college admissions directors, the study concluded that despite an increase in applications, the outcomes of student academic quality and college preparation from a college admissions perspective were mixed.

Incipient Speciation In Freshwater Fish Species From Two Isolated Watersheds, Paula Gore Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The process of speciation occurs as a result of restricted gene flow between segments of an interbreeding population occupying different geographic areas. This separation may result in isolated populations which undergo genetic and phenotypic changes. The Wisconsin glacial period, which ended approximately 17,500 years ago, dramatically altered the geography of North America. The glacier covered almost the entire North America as it advanced. Areas that were not covered with ice provided suitable habitats (refugia) for relict species that were previously widespread in the northern section of the continent. As the ice sheet retreated, animals and plants were able to return …

Turning To Culture In Times Of Crisis: Global Toolkits And Urban Reinvestment In Buenos Aires, Jacob H. Lederman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As cities transition from industrial to post-industrial forms of development, new activities based on leisure and entertainment have come to comprise a greater share of urban economic growth. Drawing upon 10 months of qualitative fieldwork, this research examines the emergence of new urban policies, increasingly reliant on cultural and touristic production, which gained importance in Buenos Aires after Argentina's devastating 2001-2002 economic crisis. Through interviews and fieldwork with policymakers, everyday cultural producers, and the urban poor situated at the margins of these changes, the dissertation seeks to illuminate how local officials reconceived of culture as a form of economic development …

Housing And The Environment: Smoking Triggers And Tobacco Smoke Exposure, Shannon Farley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Despite decades of smoking prevalence declines and more recent smoke-free indoor and outdoor air laws, smoking causes 400,000 preventable deaths and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure leads to 40,000 deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular disease among non-smokers annually. Built and social environment factors linked to smoking include tobacco retailer density and neighborhood poverty. Housing environments including multiunit housing are linked to SHS exposure and adverse health outcomes.

Objectives: To investigate possible associations of different environmental factors with smoking, SHS exposure, and SHS-related health outcomes.

Methods: Many data sources were used: New York City Community Health Survey, Department of Consumer Affairs, …

Health Exposure, Socio-Economic Vulnerability, And Infrastructure At Risk To Current And Projected Coastal Flooding In New York City, Lesley Patrick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work uses a GIS-based methodology to develop and map a composite physical exposure, social vulnerability, and critical facilities index for New York City populations exposed to the current and predicted 100- and 500- year coastal floods. The objective is to illustrate how sea-level rise may affect future 100- and 500-year coastal floods in New York City, how these changes in future flood scenarios will affect the number and distribution of people at risk and their associated physical and socioeconomic impacts, and how these impacts will vary among neighborhoods.

Sea-level rise throughout the 21st century will result in increased flood …

Income Inequality And Vulnerabiility To Flood Hazard In Brazil, Rebecca Rasch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social theorists suggest that income inequality within a society leads to a breakdown of social cohesion, spatial segregation, and as a result, uneven public resource access. I will assess whether this social phenomenon is important to consider when measuring vulnerability to climate change in urban, middle-income countries. To test this relationship, I create a flood hazard vulnerability index at the municipality level and determine whether income inequality, measured at the municipality level, is a predictor of municipality vulnerability to flood hazard. The flood hazard vulnerability index incorporates socioeconomic, built environment and natural environment data, providing a more holistic approach to …

Technology And The Glass Imagination: Isolation And Closeness From The Window To The Screen, Sarah Elizabeth Welsh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In computer and cell phone screens, as in 19th-century architecture, glass employs a frame to show a specific picture, and keeps us at a distance from what lies behind it. Glass' dichotomies in technology (transparency and reflection, isolation and closeness) have become stronger metaphors for our experience with technology. This paper will look at the similarities between the language and metaphors created by glass in 19th-century architecture and 21st century technology, and glass' role in connecting us to and alienating us from the world 'outside.' In so doing, the role of glass in the imagination and its impact on modernity …

Essays On The Economics And Methodology Of Social Mobility, Benjamin Zweig

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three essays which aim to extend the methodology and analysis of the study of social mobility. In the first essay, differences in intergenerational mobility across race and across the parent's earnings distribution are explored through a nonparametric framework. Components of mobility are differentiated and analyzed separately in order to get a comprehensive account of heterogeneities in mobility. Several important differences are found including higher expected mobility for white households, higher idiosyncratic mobility for black households, larger disparities in expected mobility at the high end of the earnings distribution, and much higher rates of overall intergenerational persistence …

Psychosocial Sequelae Of Homicide Among Murder Victims' Family Members: An Appraisal Of Depression, Grief, And Posttraumatic Stress, Sarah Kopelovich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current investigation explored what is known regarding the psychological sequelae of the post-homicide experience for murder victims' family members and friends (MVFM). Participants were also asked about whether they felt they had attained closure, a term which populates anecdotal and theoretical accounts of MVFM's experience. Previous literature guided a theoretical definition of closure as a dimensional construct that represents adaptive functioning following a murder, and includes (1) absence of disabling symptomatology, (2) absence of ruminations about the event or murder victim, and (3) subjective return to baseline functioning. This quasi-experiment consisted of a between-subjects cross-sectional design. The dependent variable …

No Shortcuts: The Case For Organizing, Jane Frances Mcalevey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation will explore how ordinary workers in the new economy create and sustain power from below.

In workplace and community movements, individuals acting collectively have been shown to win victories using a variety of different approaches. In this dissertation, I will argue that different approaches lead to different outcomes, often very different outcomes. I will use a framework throughout of three broad types of change processes; advocacy, mobilizing, and organizing, though my emphasis is on the latter two. And I will argue that each is productive of a different kind of victory.

In arguing my case, that advocacy, mobilizing, …

The State Of The Oligocene Icehouse World: Sedimentology, Provenance, And Stable Isotopes Of Marine Sediments From The Antarctic Continental Margin, Daniel William Hauptvogel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Oligocene Epoch (34-23 Ma) was a dynamic time in Antarctica, with previous ice volume estimates suggesting fluctuations from below 50 % up to 140 % of modern all while atmospheric CO₂ decreased from above 1,000 ppm in the Early Oligocene to near modern levels by the Late Oligocene. Most of what is known about the Oligocene Antarctic cryosphere however, is derived from distal sedimentary records that can only provide a generalized view of the cryospheric dynamics in Antarctica. To better understand regional differences in Antarctic glacial dynamics, proximal records are needed. This dissertation advances our understanding of these …

Do Cultural And Perceptual Factor Matter?: An Investigation Of Factors Impacting Intelligence Test Scores Of Latinos/Hispanics In The United States, Mary E. Ignagni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper examined societal and cultural explanations regarding the score differences seen between Latinos/Hispanics and Whites on intelligence tests through focusing specifically on possible explanations for the scores obtained by Latino/Hispanic test-takers. In this paper, it was argued that additional unique factors may impact the test scores of Latino/Hispanic test-takers. Specifically, racial and ethnic self-identification, ethnic centrality, acculturation, cultural distance, test perceptions, and ethnicity were explored as possible unique factors. In addition, an attempt was made to explain within group differences. A non-experimental study was utilized in which a final sample of 194 participants completed an intelligence test and measures …

The Ones Left Behind: Making The Connection Between Poverty And The Achievement Gap, Audrey Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The achievement gap has been a major issue plaguing the education system in the United States for decades. There has been much research conducted with the goal of identifying the reasons for the achievement gap. One of the main reasons for the achievement gap is poverty. In fact, I argue that there is a direct correlation between academic achievement and poverty, in other words school and society are inextricably connected. The focus of this paper will be the elementary school level as there is an abundance of information on elementary schools in New York City. To further demonstrate the fact …

Archiving The City: A Guide To The Art Of Urban Interventions, Olatokunbo Adeola Enigbokan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The topic of this dissertation is the development and exploration of alternative methodologies for understanding and relating to everyday urban experience. The project is a psychogeographical exploration of methodologies used in contemporary art and architectural practice to create street-level "urban interventions." For the purposes of this study, urban interventions are defined as actions, performances, installations and objects created by artists, and or activists and sometimes architects, and inserted into, or responsive to, everyday urban environments, usually taking place outside of official art spaces, such as museums and galleries. In most cases these interventions are unexpected, express a "do-it-yourself" aesthetic and …

Ecomusicology: Back To The Roots Of Sound/Music And Environmental Sustainability, Tiffany Challe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We are currently living in the midst of a global warming crisis, and running against the clock to counter the rapid depletion of natural resources in an increasingly technology-run world. The first step toward sustainability is to care for our world that is full of vibrant ecosystems and that we must work together to preserve. While the visual arts have served as a cogent platform for the environmental movement, this paper will argue that sound and music have been vastly overlooked in sustainability topics. Place-making music can capture a place's unique spirit and connect listeners with their local ecologies. Therein …

Narratives Of Interiority: Black Lives In The U.S. Capital, 1919 - 1942, Paula C. Austin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation constructs an urban, social and intellectual history of poor and working class African Americans in the interwar period in Washington, D.C. Although the advent of social history shifted scholarly emphasis onto the "ninety-nine percent," many scholars have framed black history as the story of either the educated, uplifted and accomplished elite, or of a culturally depressed monolithic urban mass in need of the alleviation of structural obstacles to advancement. A history of the poor and working class as individuals with both ideas and subjectivity has often been difficult simply because there are limited archival sources.

"Narratives of Interiority" …

Luti Masculinity In Iranian Modernity, 1785-1941: Marginalization And The Anxieties Of Proper Masculine Comportment, Robert Joseph Bell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper offers a genealogy of changing conceptualizations and performances of masculinity in 19^th and early to mid-20^th century Iran, and examines in particular a unique group of masculine subjects known as the lutis. The first component of the analysis traces the historical lineage of these lutis, situating their emergence out of Persian Sufi brotherhoods, bandit clans ('ayyar), and guild-like organizations (futuwwa) from the period of the 15th to the 19th century CE. This section provides an account of the most pertinent and distinguishing rites, attitudes, and practices of the …

Blessed Disruption: Culture And Urban Space In A European Church Planting Network, John D. Boy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

New Protestant churches are being founded in cities around the world. They are the product of a conscious effort on the part of evangelicals to found, or ``plant,'' new churches in urban areas. Behind this effort are a whole host of actors, including denominations, churches, seminaries, and parachurch organizations, who come together in church planting networks to establish theologically conservative churches that will speak to young urban professional audiences. The hope is that these efforts will scale up and turn into a movement bringing about religious revival among culturally influential groups. Among the focal areas for these efforts are European …

Growing Up Online: Identity, Development And Agency In Networked Girlhoods, Claire M. Fontaine

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Young women's digital media practices unfold within a postfeminist media landscape dominated by rapidly circulating visual representations that often promote superficial readings of human value. Meanwhile the dominant framing within educational policy and practice of digital media literacy insufficiently captures young people's motivations for engaging in multimedia production, online gaming and blogging. In addition to using digital media for social purposes, and to navigate dimensions of social difference like race, class and gender, working class young women of color also use digital media to develop internal awareness of their selves. The processes of documenting the self, reflecting on the documented …

Black Migrant Literature, New African Diasporas, And The Phenomenology Of Movement, Christopher Ian Foster

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black Migrant Literature, New African Diasporas, and the Phenomenology of Movement examines immigration, diaspora, and movement in late twentieth and twenty-first century African literature. "Migritude" describes the work of a disparate yet distinct group of contemporary African authors who critically focus on migration within the context of globalization, emphasizing that the "past" of immigration is irreducibly entangled with colonial processes. These writers often refashion the politics or discourses of earlier movements within the black radical tradition, such as Négritude or pan-Africanism, as a way to engage immigration in the present. I argue that although immigration as a system developed as …

Carbon Emission Policy In The United States: State Patchwork Vs. National Policy, Samuel T. Frank

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The lack of a national law in the United States to mitigate climate change has prompted many states and cities to take the lead in implementing policies to reduce their carbon emissions and adapt to the threats posed by a warming planet. This project adopts two established systems that classify states by their relative involvement in climate policy (Wheeler 2010; Lutsey et al. 2008) and combines them into a single, six-point ranking scale. States are then cross-tabulated against EPA data showing the amount and trajectory of each state's carbon emissions from the electrical power sector over the period 2005-2010. States …

Foreign Direct Investment And The Chinese Economy: Theory And Impact, Gerasimos Seriatos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Chinese economy has sustained a high rate of growth during the last three decades. This economic growth has been the outcome of an innovative strategy, which the Chinese leadership has been implementing within the model of the state directed economy. This strategy has been manifested in a variety of tactical moves one of which is the utilization of Foreign Direct Investment as a source of finance and industrial know-how. The argument in this study is that Foreign Direct Investment has positively contributed to the phenomenal growth of the Chinese economy. Moreover, the performance of Foreign Direct Investment in China …

Obstruent Voicing And Tone In Siklis Gurung, Danielle Ronkos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines proposals for the tone system of Gurung, a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nepal, in light of data collected from a speaker of Siklis Gurung. Although Gurung is widely acknowledged to be a tonal language, existing descriptions of Gurung disagree as to how these tone categories should be defined and whether word-initial obstruent voicing is phonemic or allophonic. The data presented in this paper suggests that, despite claims otherwise, voicing is phonemic in some dialects of Gurung. It also suggests that Siklis Gurung is best analyzed as having three tone categories: a low tone that occurs with breathy …