Digital Commons Network^™

Refugees And Media Framing During The Refugee Crisis, Alyssa Carol Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

At the end of 2018, more than 68.5 million people were displaced from their homes. Of these displaced persons, 22.5 million of these people were forced to leave their homes and find safety in another country. These people are known globally as refugees. Many of these refugees in recent years have fled to Western countries in Europe and North America. This immigration and the general subject of refugees and their integration into their host countries have recently been a large subject for media. Many of these refugees came from countries and cultures that may carry stigmatic backgrounds including Middle Eastern …

Exploring Local Environmental Factors Influencing Geographic Distribution Of Black-Legged Tick Questing Activity, Chong Di

Theses and Dissertations

The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis or I. scapularis), also known as the black-legged tick, is the primary vector that transmits Lyme Disease (LD) in Northeastern United States. To contain the geographic expansion of Lyme disease ticks across the US in recent decades, ecological studies have been conducted to understand the biotic and abiotic environmental factors affecting tick activity. We observed in preliminary surveys that the tick host-seeking activity varies across small local areas. The primary objective of this project is to identify the environmental factors that impact deer tick questing activities at the micro-geographic scale. From 2017-2018, we …

Carbon Capture And Synergistic Energy Storage: Performance And Uncertainty Quantification, Christopher Stephen Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Energy use around the world will rise in the coming decades. Renewable energy sources will help meet this demand, but renewable sources suffer from intermittency, uncontrollable power supply, geographic limitations, and other issues. Many of these issues can be mitigated by introducing energy storage technologies. These technologies facilitate load following and can effectively time-shift power. This analysis compares dedicated and synergistic energy storage technologies using energy efficiency as the primary metric.
Energy storage will help renewable sources come to the grid, but fossil fuels still dominate energy sources for decades to come in nearly all projections. Carbon capture technologies can …

Behind Closet Doors: Horror And Dislocation In The Queer Closet, Corey C. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

“Behind Closet Doors: Horror and Dislocation in the Queer Closet,” is composed of a collection of sculptures, videos, and sound works that are directly associated with themes of horror and anxiety derived from the precarious space of the queer closet as detailed in this thesis of the same name.

Climatic Variables Are Strong Predictors Of Allonursing And Communal Nesting In Primates, Alexandra Louppova

Theses and Dissertations

Allomaternal care (AMC) is widespread throughout the primate order, previous studies have focused on benefits and costs to individuals. However, our understanding of environmental impacts on AMC behaviors in primates is still limited. Our study examines how ecology and environmental factors can predict certain AMC behaviors more than others.

A Humanitarian Lens: The World War Ii-Era Photo Books Of Thérèse Bonney And David Seymour, Jane H. Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes two World War II-era photo books, one by Thérèse Bonney, and the other by David Seymour. Both depict children in dire situations throughout Europe. Published in 1943 and 1949 respectively, these two photo books divulge many themes and tropes that reflect the humanitarian trends of their times.

Localizing Orientalism: Mariano Fortuny Between Morocco And Spain, Susie Sofranko

Theses and Dissertations

The works of Mariano Fortuny y Cabral (1838-1874) illustrate the exploration of an individual's identity that mirrored that of the Spanish nation as a place geographically, temporally, and politically caught in-between, thus confronting the genre of Orientalism by subjecting it to the specificities of a Spanish context.

"Mute Flesh": Women's Death-Worlds In David's Story And Waiting For The Barbarians, Kate Finley

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis expands upon Achille Mbembe's theory on necropower and death-worlds to incorporate the consideration of gender. This is done using the lens of violence against women during South African apartheid and through an examination of two novels: Zoë Wicomb's David's Story and J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians.

A Bite Of The Big Apple: The Anthropology Of Pesticide Use In New York City, Faye O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations

Pesticide exposure in the developing world is well described in anthropology. How pesticide use and exposure is ordered and experienced socially, economically and culturally in Western urban communities is less well studied. The long-term consequences of synergistic pesticide exposure is not easily measurable, which this research addresses through social inquiry.

Culture As Sustainability: The Case Study Of Govardhan Ecovillage And Vedic Culture In India, Danielle Lella Bartolone

Theses and Dissertations

This project investigates the relationship between sustainability and Vedic culture of India. The ethnographic research at Govardhan Ecovillage seeks to understand how sustainability is embedded in culture. I employ grounded theory for my research methodology which reveals three key themes explaining fundamental and interrelated dimensions of Vedic culture as sustainability.

The Usage Of Songs In Arabic As A Foreign Language Classes: Teachers' Perceptions And Practices, Yahia Moshtahari

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) teachers' perceptions towards the usefulness of songs in fostering language acquisition in AFL classes, in addition to the practices they employ, and the alignment between teacher perceptions and practices. Perceptions and practices are examined further through a focus on the purposes for using songs in class, the activities teachers use with songs, and the challenges they face with using songs in class. In addition, the study evaluates whether there are any demographic features that distinguish teachers who use songs from those who do not. The aforementioned topics were investigated through an …

Of Bodies And Borders: Syrian Migration To Egypt Through Sudan, Banan Abdelrahman

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores Syrian migration movements to Egypt through the Sudanese smuggling route. By grappling with notions of sovereignty, critical geography, mobile subjectivities, and modes of governance, the thesis unpacks the recent flux on the route through describing the journey itself, as well as the way different bodies cross the border and settle. Through the multiple sites the research was conducted in, it seeks to contribute to growing discussions surrounding new understandings of migration. The thesis followed and traced the migration journey, from its beginnings in Khartoum, through Aswan, and ending in Cairo using various methodologies- namely: engaged ethnography and …

Law, Love And Violence: Interfaith Romance In Modern Egypt, Mariam El-Maghlawy

Theses and Dissertations

For the past few decades, many incidents of sectarian violence have been triggered by rumors of interfaith sexual and romantic relationships between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt. This thesis argues that the ways in which the Egyptian modern state chooses to govern women’s bodies and address the Coptic question has inevitably enabled sectarian violence witnessed today to take on its current form. One of the main implications of the modernization of the Egyptian legal system was the state’s ability to “jam” women, family, sexuality and religion into the private sphere, as opposed to the public sphere. This essentially has …

Through The Keyhole: Ethnographic Analysis Of Cyber Violence In Egypt, Radwa Fouda

Theses and Dissertations

Internet has long existed in Egypt, however sudden scholarly interest came after the 2011 revolution. The global scholarly body tended to couple internet accessibility to the so-called Arab-spring, without studying the other forms and politics of internet as an evolution, and almost none have delved in the dungeons of Cyber violence in the MENA Region, needless to say in Egypt. It focuses mainly on individual-to-individual perpetration of violence, how, when and why people variably define unsolicited intervention with their data as "violence", and how, when and why, they choose other notions to define such incident(s). By doing so, it opens …

Somalia's Struggle To Integrate Traditional And Modern Governance: The 4.5 Formula And 2012 Provisional Constitution, Nasteha Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this project is to assess the impact of Somalia’s 4.5 power sharing formula on the consolidation of post-conflict governance. Per the peace agreement, seats in parliament are awarded to the four major clans which also dominate the election process. This has led to the perpetuation of many of the same social dynamics that lead to conflict in the past. Even though the 4.5 formula was not included in the constitution adopted in 2012, the elections methods from the formula were utilized in 2017 presidential elections. Although the goal is to move towards a one-man-one vote system, the …

Life, Death, And Corporeal Resistance In Immigration Detention, Jana Michelle Moss

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes corporeal strategies of resistance used by immigration detainees in the global North. Corporeal resistance is defined as an act of protest that physically harms the actor but is not intended to harm anyone else. Examples include hunger strikes, lip sewing, self-immolation, and other forms of public suicide. In response to the prevailing public opinion that detainees' acts of self-harm or suicide are simply acts of desperation by disenfranchised people who have nothing to lose, I argue that they can be a logical and strategic response to state necropolitics. Detainees take back corporeal necropower by reasserting control of …

Rooftop Recipes For Relating: Ecologies Of Humans, Animals, And Life, Noha Fikry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the particularly lively rooftops of Cairo through which interspecies intimacies unfold. On these rooftops, various animals (such as chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, goats, and rabbits) are raised to be later eaten and consumed for sustenance. Throughout the various thesis chapters, I try and expose the various patterned modalities, terms, and codes bringing these different species together in their sustained long-term relationships. I follow these interspecies relations as they narrate wonders of life-and-death, collaborations, various instantiations of home, social gift exchanges, marital rituals, and grieving patterns. These relations involve different tasks, requiring a very specific and complex gendered …

The Implied Reader And The Recovery Of Childhood: A Study Of J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Hobbit, Georgette Talaat Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit uses a storyteller-narrator and a child/adult implied reader to guide child readers towards maturity and allow adult readers to reengage with the world of childhood. The storyteller replicates traditional fairytale and epic storytelling, a tradition which simultaneously engages adults and children. The novel's language, intertexts, themes, humor and the reader's encouraged identification with the hobbit, Bilbo, suggest that the implied reader is both an adult and a child. The novel invites the reader to adopt Bilbo's development of a childlike perspective valuing the immaterial over the material. The life-like nature of time …

Dawsha W Al-Qāhirah: Listening To Power And Possibilities In Cairo’S Everyday, Noor Salama

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the notion of 'dawsha' (an Arabic word, indicating noise or sound out of place) as an order-word that stratifies social worlds in Cairo and marks and crystallises differences within aural taxonomies along various axes of difference and marginalisation. It also investigates dawsha as a space and a site for resistance, and for the making and unmaking of relationships in contemporary Cairo.

Cross-Mediterranean Egyptian Migrants: A Discursive Analysis, Sara Hussein

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how the Egyptian migrant subject who chooses to cross the Mediterranean through irregular means to reach Europe is discursively constructed in Egyptian media, particularly in the wake of the 2016 Rashid boat sinking. In both official and public discourse, this highly visible and well-documented accident raised questions on accountability and the role of the state in this situation. By identifying and analyzing the themes represented throughout a diverse collected fieldwork corpus of various Egyptian media, statements by public officials and organizations, newspaper articles and editorials, television talk show programming, and popular cultural production, this thesis offers a …

Reconstructing The Demographic History Of The Critically Endangered Black-And-White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia Variegata) In Ranomafana National Park, Aparna Chandrashekar

Theses and Dissertations

Due to heavy fragmentation of their remaining range, the Critically Endangered black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) is facing catastrophic population declines. Skyline analyses at Ranomafana National Park show the ruffed lemur effective population size declining by 84% starting around 1,500 years ago.

Hrísheimar: Fish Consumption Patterns, Wendi K. Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I examine the fish remain patterns at Hrísheimar, which have provided archaeologists with further evidence that inland sites such as those in the Mývatnssveit Region utilized both local freshwater and marine fish from the coastal regions as a part of their subsistence pattern.

21st Century Learning Skills In Education And Employability, William Xavier Toro

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to research a diverse school in Westchester County, New York to analyze whether it is aligned to 21st century practices. This study used both qualitative and quantitative data from focus-group interviews, surveys and non-participant observations with administrators, teachers and department chairpersons to determine whether the school is aligned with 21st century practices to create an employable 21st century student. Furthermore, this study attempted to determine what gaps exist to make a student employable according to the needs of today and the future.

By analyzing the literature review, the researcher developed a conceptual framework. …

Factors Associated With Hospital Readmissions Among United States Dialysis Facilities, Amber B. Paulus

Theses and Dissertations

Hospital readmissions are a major burden for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). On average, one in three hospital discharges among patients with ESRD are followed by a readmission within 30 days. Currently, dialysis facilities are held accountable for readmissions via the ESRD Quality Incentive Program standardized readmission ratio (SRR) clinical measure. However, little is known about facility-level factors associated with readmission. Additionally, unlike other standardized measures of quality in the dialysis setting, incident patients within their first 90-days of dialysis are included in the performance calculation. This study analyzed CMS Dialysis Facility Report data from 2013 to 2016 …

Technology And Economy Analysis Of Waste Truck Tires Management, Irina Tsiryapkina

Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this work was to develop a waste truck tires recycling facility for the Siberian coal transportation company “SibTreid NK” in the Kemerovo region, Russia. For years, the company has been stockpiling old scrap tires at their warehouse or dumping them into open strip mines. Taking this into account as well as existing environmental concerns due to the continually growing coal industry in the Kemerovo region, it is highly necessary to make an operational facility to deal with the large number of accumulated waste truck tires.

To achieve this goal, this project reviewed different methods and technologies …

Interactions Of War: Exhibiting World War Ii And The Holocaust, Taylor Aspinwall

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses the use of interactive elements in museums that deal with difficult subject matter, such as war or genocide. This research involves interviews with museum personnel at the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Georgia, the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia, the Museum of History and Holocaust Education in Kennesaw, Georgia, and the World War II Home Front Museum in St. Simons Island, Georgia. This research also discusses the design of a potential exhibit using interactives about women in the resistance movement during Nazi occupation.

Transformational Leadership In Dual Language Immersion Programs; Exploring Secondary School Leaders' Perceptions On Best Practices In Southern California, Jordi Solsona-Puig

Theses and Dissertations

Dual Language Immersion programs (DLI) were designed as enrichment programs, mostly implemented at the elementary level, that have been proven effective in improving achievement for all participant students. Research and practice review show that effective school leadership is quintessential in improving student. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of best leadership practices of Secondary Dual Language Immersion (SDLI) school leaders. Data was elicited using semi-structured face-to-face interviews from nine SDLI school leaders working in four different public school districts in Southern California. These leaders were selected by an expert sampling method, utilizing a double layer …

Leadership Strategies To Improve Healthcare Outcomes, Roxanne Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The disparities in health care and the challenges of healthcare leaders in achieving positive health outcomes are a priority in America. Much discourse and policy is currently evolving in the legislative and executive branches of government. The United States has the highest health expenditures in the world and is classified as one of the unhealthiest countries. Many factors contribute to the disparities. These factors include socioeconomic, cultural competency, social determinants, policy, and health leadership. The challenge for health leaders is to identify strategies to improve the trends and the status of health quality and well-being for all Americans. This study …

Disrupted Leadership: Strategies And Practices Of Leaders In A Vuca World, Victoria Kimball Brodie

Theses and Dissertations

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected through intricate networks in technology-laden environments, leadership has become exponentially more complex. This VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) context disrupts long-held leadership constructs. Historically, leaders have been able to reflect on past decision making to guide their current and future decisions. No longer is this practice viable; leaders now require new skills to lead competently in this rapidly iterating ecosystem. With its challenges, this dynamic environment also offers opportunities for those who are able to capitalize on the next waves of disruption. Social entrepreneurs, tackling the world's most pressing challenges, are leading systems-wide …

The Seed Of Transformation: A Disorientation Index, Tonya Gander Ensign

Theses and Dissertations

Transformation is all around us. It spans geography, time, cultures, religions and disciplines. Throughout life, events occur when something we thought was certain becomes uncertain and our current mental model cannot make sense of it. This experience causes disorientation and offers a choice: to transform our perspective or remain unchanged. When we revise our mental model to make meaning of our experience we are transforming our perspective. This is a special type of learning called transformative learning (Mezirow, 1978a, 1991a). Across disciplines, a disorienting experience is widely believed to be a catalyst for transformation, however, aspects of this experience remain …