Digital Commons Network^™

'Making It' Through Migration: Success (Im)Mobility And 'Development' In The Gambia, Martin J. Aucoin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Contemporary scholarly and journalistic literature consistently represents migration from and through The Gambia using the lens of “crisis”. While these representations normally focus on Gambian migration to European states – a movement that is highly politicized – this thesis presents a case study of Gambian migration to a less-politicized destination, North America, in order to explore the relationship between lived experiences and representations of migration absent the discourse of crisis that pervades other scholarly and journalistic works. Drawing on the mobilities paradigm, feminist geographies of migration, critical race theory, transnationalism, and literatures on bordering, humanitarianism and development, I examine, through …

Joby Talbot’S Path Of Miracles: Musical And Dramatic Analysis, Joseph Stuligross

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This project investigates Joby Talbot’s choral composition Path of Miracles, focusing on interpretive insight as well as musical and extra-musical understandings related to the subject matter, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. It explores the sources and methods of generating dramatic intensity and seeks to understand how the composer achieved particular dramatic effects. The project proceeds along two related modes of inquiry. The first involves musical evaluation, particularly of pitch, motive, harmony and rhythm techniques, in a somewhat traditional analysis. The second investigates the ways in which musical techniques generate the …

"Treading On The Footprints Of History": American Catholic Pilgrimage As Public History, Charlotte Vester

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this thesis, I demonstrate how Catholic pilgrimage is a public history phenomenon. I define public history as public engagement, understanding, and use of the past. While I assert that pilgrimage is a public history phenomenon both in the past and in the present, my thesis will focus on American Catholic pilgrimage at the turn of the twentieth century. Each individual chapter will demonstrate that through pilgrimage, the faithful are engaged in public history in its various forms. Catholics actively took part in past-making and identity-construction in their roles as pilgrims. Through pilgrimage, Catholics were involved in the preservation and …

Palmprint Gender Classification Using Deep Learning Methods, Minou Khayami

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gender identification is an important technique that can improve the performance of authentication systems by reducing searching space and speeding up the matching process. Several biometric traits have been used to ascertain human gender. Among them, the human palmprint possesses several discriminating features such as principal-lines, wrinkles, ridges, and minutiae features and that offer cues for gender identification. The goal of this work is to develop novel deep-learning techniques to determine gender from palmprint images. PolyU and CASIA palmprint databases with 90,000 and 5502 images respectively were used for training and testing purposes in this research. After ROI extraction and …

'Amageddon': The Unholy Trinity Of Class Monopoly Rent In The Emerald City, Elijah Connor Hansen

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Intense redevelopment has steamrolled across Seattle’s South Lake Union and Belltown neighborhoods, home to the headquarters of the world’s largest ecommerce corporation, Amazon. After the corporation established a presence in what is now referred to as ‘Amazonia’ in 2007, the surrounding urban landscape underwent a colossal metamorphic overhaul as high-tech and biotech industries, along with bourgeois luxury high rises, replaced old warehouses and empty parking lots. These new industries have attracted tens of thousands of people to the city, resulting in an oversaturated housing supply and an ensuing housing affordability crisis as rents have continued to skyrocket year after year. …

The Spatial Historian: Creating A Spatially Aware Historical Research System, James P. Schindling

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The intent of this study is to design a geospatial information system capable of facilitating the extraction and analysis of the fragmentary snapshots of history contained in hand-written historical documents. This customized system necessarily bypasses off-the-shelf GIS in order to support these unstructured primary historical research materials and bring long dormant spatial stories previously hidden in archives, libraries, and other documentary storage locations to life. The software platform discussed here integrates the tasks of information extraction, data management, and analysis while simultaneously giving primary emphasis to supporting the spatial and humanistic analysis and interpretation of the data contents. The premise …

Statistical Assessment Of The Significance Of Fracture Fits In Trace Evidence, Evie K. Brooks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fracture fits are often regarded as the highest degree of association of trace materials due to the common belief that inherently random fracturing events produce individualizing patterns. Often referred to as physical matches, fracture matches, or physical fits, these assessments consist of the realignment of two or more items with distinctive features and edge morphologies to demonstrate they were once part of the same object. Separated materials may provide a valuable link between items, individuals, or locations in forensic casework in a variety of criminal situations. Physical fit examinations require the use of the examiner’s judgment, which rarely can be …

The Effects Of Gentrification On Residents’ Sense Of Place And Group Cohesion: A Study Of Pittsburgh Neighborhoods, Bernard Digregorio

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many researchers have studied gentrification. Much of the existing research on gentrification has focused on the extent of population displacement and changes in the community economic profile. Others have focused on the experiences of residents during and after gentrification. In this paper, I take the latter approach. Using data from the 2018 Pittsburgh Quality of Life survey, I examine the effects of gentrification on a range of community-related attitudes (e.g. sense of place and group cohesion). Specifically, I compared residents who reside in gentrifying or gentrified neighborhoods with those who live in neighborhoods that have not gentrified. My two main …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Used For Comparison Of Removal Of Anionic And Cationic Hazardous Azo-Dye: Kinetics And Equilibrium Studies, Tuba Tarhan

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The purpose of this study was to compare the adsorption behavior of cationic and anionic dyes onto a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanostructure that was rich in a negative charge. Herein, the hBN nanostructure was synthesized using boric acid as a precursor material. The characteristic peaks of the hBN nanostructure were performed using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopies. The morphology and the particle size of hBN nanostructure were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). During the studies, various essential adsorption parameters were investigated, such as the initial dye concentration, pH of the dye …

Saint Paul's Trial Narrative In Acts: Imperium Romanum Vs. Vasileia Tou Theou, Thomas E. Simmons

South Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

Retribution As Ancient Artifact And Modern Malady, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Lewis & Clark Law Review

One of the oldest and most entrenched goals of punishment is retribution, which is the idea that inflicting pain on someone who has committed a wrong is a worthwhile goal, regardless of any other benefits or harms that may result. Retribution has been the justification for increasingly punitive policies in the United States, the effect of which has decimated communities of color, strapped taxpayers with huge associated costs, and increased crime rates. It is difficult to understand why we perpetuate harmful policies based on “just deserts” until we consider that the foundation of these policies is moral outrage—a powerful, automatic, …

Workforce Housing And Housing Preference Policies Under The Fair Housing Act, Jeffrey D. Jones

Lewis & Clark Law Review

The workforce housing movement grew out of two urgent realities. First, the lack of affordable housing near where workers are employed has a substantial impact on local economies and local business. Second, the lack of affordable housing near where workers live undermines the twin goals of inclusive com- munities and reversing historical patterns of segregation. The latter remains a primary obstacle to equality of opportunity throughout the United States. There is no one definition of “workforce housing.” The leading definition of workforce housing is provided by the influential Urban Land Institute (ULI). The ULI defines workforce housing as housing that …

An Oceanographic Perspective On Early Human Migrations To The Americas, Thomas C. Royer, Bruce Finney

OES Faculty Publications

Early migrants to the Americas were likely seaworthy. Many archaeologists now agree that the first humans who traveled to the Americas more than 15,000 years before present (yr BP) used a coastal North Pacific route. Their initial migration was from northeastern Asia to Beringia where they settled for thousands to more than ten thousand years. Oceanographic conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum (18,000-24,000 yr BP) would have enhanced their boat journeys along the route from Beringia to the Pacific Northwest because the influx of freshwater that drives the opposing Alaska Coastal Current was small, global sea level was at least …

An In-Depth Look At A Comprehensive Diversity Training Program For Faculty, Nancie J. Hudson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This ethnographic research project examines a five-month diversity training program that 16 faculty participated in voluntarily at a university in the western United States. In addition to reviewing diversity issues and challenges in higher education, this article provides information about the program, describes my participant-observer experience, and provides evidence that assesses the program’s effects on teaching practices. This annual program includes learning, reflection and application and helps the participants develop new inclusive teaching strategies for the courses they teach. A post-program survey of the participants indicates that the majority felt that the program had a lasting beneficial effect on their …

Professional Childminding In Ireland: Ecocultural Perspectives, Miriam O’Regan

Doctoral

The present study seeks to address the dearth of research focussed on childminding in Ireland, despite its significant role in national childcare provision. The overarching aims of this research are to interrogate the concept of professionalism and to explore the cultural models and praxis of childminders. The research has been conducted in an ecological theoretical framework: Ecocultural Theory (ECT) (Weisner 1993, 2002) predominantly, also referencing Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-Ecological Model (2006) and Attachment Theory. The history of childminding and current policy in Ireland, Europe and the USA are reviewed, including an overview of international research into childminding in the last 30 years. …

"That's A Man:" How Trans Men In The South Bolster Their Claims To Manhood, Megan Y. Phillips

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

While several studies have explored manhood acts and compensatory manhood acts in cisgender men (Ezzell 2012; Sumerau 2012), few have examined them in the trans community. This research fills gaps in the literature by examining an understudied population in the South, an area of the country where queer lives are often ignored. Additionally, it allows us to continue to separate masculinities from only those born with male bodies. Using 51 interviews with trans men, I examine the experiences of trans men in the South and the manhood acts they employ to enhance their masculinity and compensate for their presumed lack …

Dare We Speak Of It: The Teaching Of Evolution In Private Schools Of An Urban Middle Georgia Setting, Eric J. Thompson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions, experience, and thinking of teachers at three private schools in Middle Georgia to determine how different private schools approach the teaching of evolution. For this project three private schools were included representing a secular, non-religiously affiliated private school, a Catholic affiliated private school, and an independent, Christian private school. The research was designed to answer one research question and three sub-questions. The primary research question was: How do private schools of the Middle Georgia area teach the theory of evolution? The three sub-questions were (2) Does the type of …

Imagined Communities: The Individual And The Nation In Aw's Map Of The Invisible World And Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Yu Chia Chang

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the relationship between the individual and the nation in Tash Aw’s Map of the Invisible Worldand Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Incorporated Benedict Anderson’s theory of “imagined communities” into the reading of both of the novels, this thesis discusses the limitation of nationalism and the imagination of individuals, aiming to show that it is the diversity of a nation that turns the stagnant imagined communities into fluid imagining communities.

Patterns Of Identity, Tameka S. Phillips

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

People interpret and categorize visual cues not only to create a concept of an identity. We assume who a person is, and what their personality is like, based on these visual cues that are in turn plagued with established norms and biases that can connect or divide. Cultural norms, such as gender, sexuality, race, or political standing can be further expressed visually through textile patterns, motifs, and color. Even so, the many cultural signifiers serve only as clues to a person’s identity that encompasses many different cultural aspects, despite common practice to relate to only one. Through my textile statues, …

Gradate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Nudging Evolutionary Mismatched Behaviors: Implications For Social Psychology And Public Policy, Mark Van Vugt, Lianne P. De Vries, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Evolutionary mismatch is an important concept in evolutionary social psychology and may play a significant role in accounting for numerous maladaptive choice preferences of humans living in evolutionary novel environments. Here we review evidence in support of mismatched preferences in the context of romantic relationships, work settings, politics, and healthy and sustainable lifestyles. In developing interventions to change mismatched preferences (e.g., via nudges or incentives), it is crucial to consider the constraints and opportunities of our evolved psychology.

White Women Who Lead: God, Girlfriends, And Diversity Projects In A National Evangelical Ministry, Kelsy Burke, Amy Mcdowell

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

A robust body of literature has used feminist analysis to study white evangelical women in the United States, but few of these studies have addressed the reproduction of racial inequality. Beginning with the assumption that women-led evangelical ministries are racialized organizations, the authors examine the relationship between racial and gender ideologies and the messages of white evangelical women leaders at the IF:Gathering, a popular annual Christian women’s conference in the United States. On the surface, the women who lead IF embody a contradiction: they support the conservative gender ideology of evangelicalism while challenging this religious tradition by encouraging all Christian …

Mutual Influence? Gender, Partner Pregnancy Desires, Fertility Intentions, And Birth Outcomes In U.S. Heterosexual Couples, Colleen M. Ray, Sela R. Harcey, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Competing hypotheses exist with regard to how men’s and women’s pregnancy desires and intentions are associated with births among contemporary heterosexual couples. There are compelling cultural and structural reasons to support either the hypothesis that men’s desires and intentions (patriarchal) or that women’s desires and intentions (matriarchal) will have more influence, or that both partner’s desires and intentions will be associated with births (mutual influence). In addition, patterns of change are likely to differ for couples that have children at wave 1 compared to those who do not. Path analyses of the of heterosexual couples (n = 615) who completed …

Competing Forces Of Withdrawal And Disease Avoidance In The Risk Networks Of People Who Inject Drugs, Elspeth Ready, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We analyze a network of needle-sharing ties among 117 people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico, using exponential random graph modeling to examine whether network members engage in partner restriction to lower their risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV), or in informed altruism to prevent others from contracting these infections. Although sharing of used syringes is a significant risk factor for transmission of these diseases among PWID, we find limited evidence for partner restriction or informed altruism in the network of reported needle-sharing ties. We find however that sharing of needles is strongly reciprocal, and individuals …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

“Caballo”: Risk Environments, Drug Sharing And The Emergence Of A Hepatitis C Virus Epidemic Among People Who Inject Drugs In Puerto Rico, Roberto Abadie, K. Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: Sharing drug injection equipment has been associated with the transmission of HCV among PWID through blood contained in the cooker and cotton used to prepare and divide up the drug solution. While epidemiologists often subsume this practice under the sharing of “ancillary equipment,” more attention should be paid to the fact that indirect sharing takes place within the process of joint drug acquisition and preparation.

Methods: We employed an ethnographic approach observing active PWID (N = 33) in four rural towns in Puerto Rico in order to document drug sharing arrangements involved in “caballo”, as this practice is locally …

Financial Economics Of The Shadow Banking Sector In The Provision Of Safe Monetary Assets In The Uk, Dominic J Silman

Plymouth Business School Theses

We study the role of the so-called 'shadow banking' sector in innovating aggregate money supply and providing safe assets to meet demand from assetholders with a need for low-risk, high-liquidity monetary services. We consider the measurement and literature around shadow banking to date, econometrics of modelling money demand, and latent factor approaches. In doing so we contribute to a literature around shadow banking founded on the papers of Pozsar, Adrian, Shin, Gorton, Metrick, and their various co-authors. We set the shadow banking sector within the financial frictions paradigm espoused by Bernanke and co-authors, and our empirical approach builds on the …

A Pragmatist Context-Based Assessment Of The Economic Implications Of Eating Patterns In A Small Sub-Saharan Developing Economy: Focus On Togo, Corinne D. Tomta-Heinrich

Plymouth Business School Theses

Healthy nutrition is recognized as essential to a productive workforce and strategic in preventing healthcare costs. Meanwhile, food supply system proficiency requires socially coherent organizational efficiency. Sub-Saharan Africa is widely presented in agro-food economics literature as a cultural block whereas it enfolds context-specific nations with specific biophysical and historical ties. This thesis aims to determine the importance of investigating country-specific diets’ effects on economic welfare. Equally, it emphases national food system governance on which globalization, socio-economic and demographic transitions are increasingly influential. Normative, critical and grounded in poststructuralism and cultural/relativist pragmatism, the thesis shifts focus from generic material challenges emphasized …

‘Not Shap’D For Sportive Tricks:’ Representations Of Disability In Film And Digital Broadcast Cinema Adaptations Of Early Modern Drama, Grace Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In films that feature disability, we see the recursive and discussion-limiting impulse to say “this representation is negative. Therefore, the representation should not be seen,” based on critical theories and methodologies outside the purview of film studies. Unfortunately, the overlay of an English, narratological, sociological, or medical methodology and terminology onto a film representation of disability is ultimately recursive and self-limiting; critical and advocate calls for accuracy to the lived experience of people with disabilities in on-screen representations decline to engage with the visual construction of cinematic representations of disability and the often fascinating cinematographic and thematic patterns that emerge …

Impacts Of Transportation Infrastructure On Water Quality, Sediment Loads, And Fishing Opportunities In The Gwich’In Settlement Area, Northwest Territories, Matthew Teillet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The addition of gravel sediment to build ferry landings on the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers has been an ongoing concern for the Gwich’in communities of Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic that depend on the rivers for their livelihoods. Specifically, there are concerns that gravel from ferry landings is degrading water quality, harming fishing opportunities, and altering river morphology downstream. Previous reports concluded that ferry operations were not impacting downstream ecology. However, past studies had methodological shortcomings and community concerns about the ferry landings remain. To study the impact of the gravel landings on water quality, I utilized a multidisciplinary study design …