Digital Commons Network^™

Asynchronous Student Engagement In Analysis Of Climate Data Achieves Learning Objectives Related To Climate Change Understanding, Statistical Competence, And Climate Anxiety, Thomas Meixner, B. Ciancarelli, E. P. Farrell, D. Silva Garcia, T. Josek, M. M. Kelly, Paul Antone Meister, D. Soule, Rebekka Darner

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Learning in asynchronous online environments has gained importance over the last several decades, and educational environment shifts from the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have increased this need. Science educators and students need information about which approaches work in the asynchronous environment where informal feedback tends to be reduced, compared to other teaching modalities. In this study, we asynchronously implemented a learning module across 5 institutions that guided students (N = 199) from prescriptive data analysis through guided inquiry and eventually to open inquiry. The module focuses on the science behind climate change. Students work with the same authentic data sets …

Successes And Barriers Of Health Information Exchange Participation Across Hospitals In South Carolina From 2014 To 2020: Longitudinal Observational Study, Kausik Lakkaraju, Aniket Gupta, Biplav Srivastava, Marco Valtorta, Dezhi Wu

Publications

Sentiment Analysis Systems (SASs) are data-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that output polarity and emotional intensity when given a piece of text as input. Like other AIs, SASs are also known to have unstable behavior when subjected to changes in data which can make them problematic to trust out of concerns like bias when AI works with humans and data has protected attributes like gender, race, and age. Recently, an approach was introduced to assess SASs in a blackbox setting without training data or code, and rating them for bias using synthetic English data. We augment it by introducing two …

Negotiating Infrastructural Citizenship Beyond The State: Philanthropy, Non-Profit Organizations, And The Flint Water Crisis, Melissa Heil

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

The urban infrastructure literature has explored how infrastructure is tied to the politics of citizenship: states’ use of infrastructure to include/exclude populations and marginalized populations’ use of infrastructure to claim fuller citizenship. Often, this literature focuses on the relationship between governments and city dwellers, neglecting the role of other actors, like NGOs and philanthropic organizations, that influence infrastructural citizenship. A hallmark of neoliberalism in the Global North has been the transfer of responsibilities from the state to the non-profit sector, increasing these organizations’ power to shape urban citizenship. This paper examines how non-profit organizations participate in the politics of infrastructural …

Teaching Information Literacy In An Undergraduate Class On The Geography Of The Middle East, Reecia Orzeck

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Geography instructors have a role to play in helping their students to become more information literate. This is especially important today, given the complex and dynamic nature of our informational landscape, and given the evidence that young people lack much of the knowledge that is needed to engage with information critically. This paper reports on the effectiveness of an information literacy module that was included as part of a course on the Geography of the Middle East. It describes the design and rollout of the module, and the results of a study designed to assess the effectiveness of the module …

New Green Revolution In Ghana: Perceived Benefits, Challenges, And Implications For The Environment, Daniel Kpienbaareh, Abubakari Ahmed

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

This paper reflects on Africa's new green revolution (NGR) movement by drawing data from Ghana as an illustrative case to assess the benefits and challenges of NGR and discuss the long-term environmental implications of NGR interventions. We draw insights from agrarian change theory to understand the complexity of local, national, and international factors that interact to produce changes in agricultural systems that affect smallholder farmers in poor settings. Data were collected using qualitative methods based on the lived experiences of farmers and analyzed to understand farmers’ perspectives. We identified increased yield and income levels as crucial benefits of the NGR. …

A Geospatial Approach To Assessing The Impact Of Agroecological Knowledge And Practice On Crop Health In A Smallholder Agricultural Context, Daniel Kpienbaareh, Jinfei Wang, Isaac Luginaah, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Esther Lupafya, Laifolo Dakishoni

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

In the context of food insecurity in resource-poor settings, agroecology (AE) has emerged as an important approach promoted for improving crop productivity, yet few studies have demonstrated how a combination of agroecological methods can improve crop health and thereby crop productivity. Using a geospatial approach, this study investigated whether agroecological practices can improve crop health in smallholder contexts. We compared leaf area indexes (LAIs) of crops on AE and non-AE farms and prospectively predicted the impact of AE using vegetation indexes (VIs). We found that crops on AE farms produced higher average growing season LAIs for maize and pigeon peas …

People Move, Policies Don’T: Discursive Partition Against Climate-Impacted Dwellers In Urbanizing Bangladesh, Efadul Huq, Tanzil Shafique

Environmental Science and Policy: Faculty Publications

In Bangladesh, internal climate displacement will continue pushing millions to the urbanizing centres where migrants make homes in informal settlements. These settlements, too, are sites for climate hazards such as heat stress and flooding, affecting climate-displaced and economic migrants alike. The demands of growing migrant populations and long-term informal settlement dwellers converge around rights to secure land and housing, acknowledged in policies at both national and urban scales. Yet, settlements continue to face evictions, revealing a significant mismatch between policy aspirations and concrete urban planning strategies. Based on our ongoing research in the informal settlements of Dhaka, Bangladesh, we point …

Kenyan Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions Of Global Health Engagements In Relation To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Erick Amick

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the past 30 years, there has been a significant increase in opportunities available for individuals living in high-income countries (HICs) to participate in programs that provide health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These global health engagements (GHEs) have become common in many LMICs around the world, including Kenya. Prior to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the research exploring individuals’ perspectives of GHEs were situated from the viewpoint of participants traveling from HICs to participate in global health programs. Few studies have examined perspectives of constituent groups in LMICs, such as healthcare professionals (i.e., healthcare …

Spiritual Direction : A Discipleship Experience For Christian Leaders, Minnie Anderson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Meeting The Lord On The Mountain : Cosmic Mountain Imagery And Parousia In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Stephen J. Knisely

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Interdependent Leadership : Practices That Develop Interdependent Relationships, Brian W. Scott

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Mexican Underworld: An Exposé In Human Trafficking, Maria F. Barragan Trevino

GLO 100 Introduction to Global Studies: Policy Analysis Papers

Human trafficking is a continuously growing issue around the world. Mexico is a known hotspot for this due to its geographic location between South and Central America and the United States. This not only incentivizes trafficking across borders but attracts thousands of immigrants to Mexico. This group is one of the most susceptible to human trafficking, meaning there are millions of immigrants being trafficked throughout Mexico. This policy paper outlines the main factors that aggravate the prevalence of this crime, such as migration, gender violence, organized crime, and corruption. Furthermore, it evaluates two protocols and a program instituted by the …

A Scientific Method For International Taxation?, Luiza Leite De Queiroz

Emory International Law Review Recent Developments

Fractioning and fairly distributing parts of a whole is never quite straightforward. Whether we speak of justly portioning and dividing scrambled eggs between siblings or jurisdictional claims over the ocean space between nations, reckoning with the dilemmas of sharing is an integral part of the human experience. Acknowledging that, this essay contends that contemporary discussions on fairness in international taxation ought to be situated within this broader context. It is centrally argued that justly allocating taxing entitlements over cross-border wealth is a task contingent on the same subjective predicaments seen in the division process of any given valuable whole. The …

Tibetan Buddhism And The Tibetan Autonomous Region, Sean Butler

Masters Essays

This paper explores the uncertain future of Tibetan Buddhism within the TAR based on historical and contemporary indicators. This paper demonstrates that Tibet and China are at a critical juncture that, if mishandled, will result in disastrous effects for Tibetan Buddhism. This paper is not seeking to predict the future of Tibetan-Chinese relations but uses available evidence to gauge the most likely outcome for Tibetan Buddhism inside the TAR. In doing so, it becomes evident that in the next decade, Tibetan Buddhism within the TAR will likely experience heightened oppression, a crackdown on any dissent towards the CCP, and a …

Alexandra Kollontai, Bolshevik Feminism, And Zhenotdel, 1917-1930, Shauna Payne

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Let's Not Do Anything Drastic: Processes Of Reproducing Rural Marginalization In Education Policy Decision-Making, Julia M. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

At a school board meeting in micropolitan Athens County, parents of children attending the district’s smallest elementary school, Chauncey Elementary, packed in to defend the school against consolidation. They made calls for a levy to cover the impending budget shortfall and offered to reduce their classrooms by half if other schools would also bear some of the costs. They spent their holiday season defending their school, a source of vibrancy in the small town, from being closed. In the meeting, someone advocating for alternatives to closure suggested cutting administrator positions. The board response, according to one parent-leader? “Let’s not do …

The Conditions Of Oregon's Latinx Farmworkers, Kevin Alejandrez

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

The goal of this three-paper dissertation is to better understand inequalities that Latinx farmworkers endure and the ways through which these inequalities can be addressed. As such, this dissertation examines pertinent inequalities Latinx farmworkers experience in the United States, their responses to resulting hardships, and the effects that crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic have in both exacerbating hardship and expanding opportunities to challenge inequitable systems in place. This is done through an intersectional analysis of a multi-year ethnographic study conducted in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

First, paper one, titled, “Subordinate Adaptation: Intragroup Hierarchies Among Blueberry Pickers,” explores the ways in …

His 2050g : Us History: Building Latino/A/E Communities, History

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

The Challenges And Transformative Experiences Of Promoting Nonkilling With Anti-Nuclear Weapon Activists And Realists, Roland Joseph

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Decades ago, Glenn D. Paige questioned killing and violence in politics, presenting nonkilling political science as an alternative. Activists and researchers from other disciplines have joined the movement by considering this new paradigm in their disciplines. Since then, some scholars analyzed the experience of activists promoting notions related to nonkilling, including peace and nonviolence. However, no previous research focuses specifically on the experience of scholars promoting nonkilling to anti-nuclear weapon activists and realists. To fill this gap and give voice to nonkilling and nuclear weapon risks, a qualitative phenomenological study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted to answer the …

Economics Ba International Studies Option, Economics

Program Revisions/Additions

No abstract provided.

Political Science Ba International Studies, Political Science

Program Revisions/Additions

No abstract provided.

Determination Of The Trace Elemental Signature Of Drywall Dust And Its Implication As Forensic Evidence, Emilee Holmes

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Drywall is found in most homes built in the United States of America because it is cost effective, light weight, and easy to install. Its brittle nature makes it less resistant to impact which can cause dust to form if a force is exerted on it. Airborne dust can settle on anything or anyone around it and can be considered trace evidence for its ability to connect suspects, victims, and scenes; however, this type of dust is not emphasized as trace evidence and is not always collected due to a lack of understanding of their forensic signatures.The seven producers of …

Information Use And Decision-Making For Evacuation At Fuego Volcano, Guatemala, Beth A. Bartel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For populations living with risk to rapid-onset environmental hazards, an effective early warning system (EWS) may be the most viable short- to mid-term solution for risk reduction. At Fuego volcano, Guatemala, more than 60,000 people distributed between more than 30 small communities live within the identified hazard zones for pyroclastic density currents (PDCS), highly lethal hot avalanches and surges of volcanic gases, rock, and ash. Despite ongoing risk reduction efforts by scientific and civil protection authorities, more than 400 people died during a paroxysmal eruption on 3 June 2018 when PDCs reached populated areas. A high-end resort, La Reunión, evacuated …

Supporting Team Innovation With Design Thinking Cognitive Strategies, Lisa M. Casper

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Innovation is a 21st-century skill needed to design new systems, solve challenging problems, and develop novel solutions. Design Thinking (DT) is a tool used to support team innovation. In this experiment, 145 students (47 teams) used one of two DT methods during a semester-long project to come up with an innovative solution to one of the UNESCO 17 sustainable development goals. The key experimental manipulation was during the DT Ideate phase where teams brainstormed potential solutions. Teams either used a baseline DT Ideate strategy or an expanded one with additional prompts during a 10-minute period. Results indicated that teams using …

A Chinese Fallacy Of Communist Lynchpin And American Retort In Nepal, Ashis Adhikary

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Why are Chinese and American activities escalating in Nepal? This research question frames the objective of this study. To opt for an answer, the paper delves into two distinct areas: the rise of Nepal’s communist forces and the corresponding influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the historic role of America in curbing communism inside Nepal. It argues, the visible Chinese intent of forming a favorable communist power in Nepal, especially during and after the general elections of 2017, is a fallacy as it undermines American presence to limit the communist influence. Conceptually, the paper claims that the recent …

Urban/Rural Differences In Food Security In America’S East North Central Region, Eva Marie Long

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The literature on food insecurity in America is extensive, but there is still a lack of understanding of urban/rural differences. Food insecure populations in urban communities undoubtedly experience different and unique challenges to food access than food insecure populations in rural areas. While urban households may face a lack of options for fresh produce, rural households may find that they live an inaccessible distance from the nearest grocer. Through analysis of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and Food Security Supplement, this project seeks to discover common, underlying variables in food-insecure communities in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in America’s East …

Contemplative Nearby Nature: A Design Proposal For Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, Russell Corbin

Pomona Senior Theses

In this Environmental Analysis thesis project, I analyze what contemplative landscapes are, why they are important, and how to design them, and then implement those learnings in a design proposal for a contemplative landscape at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park. In addition to this writing component of the thesis, I created diagrams, drawings, section renderings, a plan, and two 3d models that all help inform the intentions, meaning, and components of my design. These elements have been woven into the writing and attached as additional documents. Five key contemplative design elements have been identified which I hope can prove useful for …

For Everyone's Eyes Only: Digital Art As Public Art (Agency, Accessibility, And Aura), Linda Dai

Pomona Senior Theses

Should digital art qualify as public art? This thesis aims to explore the significance of this question in a contemporary context by cross-examining the two genres in terms of creative agency, accessibility, and aura. Through various interviews and case studies with global artists, I examine similarities and differences in materiality and engagement in public and digital art and the implications of my findings under broader, theoretical frameworks. I further seek to understand how the relationship between technology, art, and society has shifted over time. Ultimately, I argue that the fluidity of digital art allows to exist in public and private …

Upwelling, Climate Change, And The Shifting Geography Of Coral Reef Development, Richard Aronson, Victor Rodriguez-Ruano, Lauren T. Toth, Ian C. Enochs, Carly J. Randall

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The eastern tropical Pacific is oceanographically unfavorable for coral-reef development. Nevertheless, reefs have persisted there for the last 7000 years. Rates of vertical accretion during the Holocene have been similar in the strong-upwelling Gulf of Panamá (GoP) and the adjacent, weak-upwelling Gulf of Chiriquí (GoC); however, seasonal upwelling in the GoP exacerbated a climate-driven hiatus in reef development in the late Holocene. The situation is now reversed and seasonal upwelling in the GoP currently buffers thermal stress, creating a refuge for coral growth. We developed carbonate budget models to project the capacity of reefs in both gulfs to keep up …

The Correlation Between Perceived Maternal Parenting Style And Perceived Emotion Regulation In Seventh-Day Adventists In Southern Brazil, Camila Cardoso Masotti

Master's Theses

Problem.\

One's ability to regulate his/her emotions utilizing coping mechanisms and dissuasive mental strategies is partly attained due to the correct functioning of innate biological systems and to life experiences that promote learning/training in this area (cf., e.g., Matsumoto & Hwang, 2012). The field of emotion regulation studies has extensively elaborated on a multivalent description of human emotional development, in which emotions are part of essential mental strategies for an individual's conscious and unconscious goals in life (cf., e.g., Lang & Bradley, 2010; Levenson, 1999). Therefore, as a partly learned ability, one's emotion regulation skills have been shown as positively …