Digital Commons Network^™

Homelessness And Taphonomy: A Multidisciplinary Study, Chloë Angst

Master's Theses

In this thesis, I present multidisciplinary research applicable to deceased unhoused individuals in urban San José, California. I present the problem of homelessness through a “hybrid collectif,” a conceptual framework that encompasses the factors that drive homelessness in life and death. I use taphonomic methodology to examine the problem of homelessness in this urban region by experimentation with porcine carcasses in simulated death scenarios. I utilize total body score (TBS), accumulated degree days (ADD), and predictive entomological species identification to examine decomposition trends. I also introduce “human survival scavenging” as an agent of decomposition, provide an account of ecological succession …

Family Perceptions Of Mental Health Service Use Among Mexican Americans, Vickie Gayle Nethercott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMexican immigrants are less likely to use psychiatric services compared to people from other race or ethnic groups in the United States, yet little is known about the reasons why the Mexican American population are less likely to seek mental health services. A qualitative descriptive study, guided by Leininger's culture care diversity and universality care theory, was used to explore the perceptions of mental health service use and barriers to psychiatric services for Mexican American immigrants living in the United States. After institutional review board approval was obtained, flyers were placed in five churches in a northwestern U.S state where …

Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence In Liberia, Nathaniel Benjamin Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The phenomenon of sexual violence against women in Liberia is a disturbing problem. Despite the significant number of individuals who have faced sexual assault in this country, little is known about the roots and long-term implications of this phenomenon within the context of Liberia, as well as the instruments that could be effective in remedying its effects. This study was conducted to understand how conflict-related sexual violence affects women in Liberia and suggest ways to help address it. The research questions addressed the effect of war-related sexual violence against women in Liberia and the strategies that are necessary to remedy …

Homophobia In Jamaica And Its Impact On The Victimization Of Homosexual Adult Males In Montego Bay, St. James, Dr. Shahila D. Edwards-Grey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractJamaica has been listed among the most unfriendly nations for homosexual males. Previous research indicated that due to the biopolitical and sociocultural norms of the Jamaican society, homosexual males continued to be targets of various forms of discrimination based on their sexual orientation. However, research reflecting the lived experiences of homosexual males in Jamaica is sparse. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to provide details on the encounters of victimization due to homophobia of adult homosexual males in the parish of St. James, Jamaica. Data were collected through observations and in-depth interviews with eight men who identified as …

‘Why Aren’T You On Prep? You’Re A Gay Man’: Reification Of Hiv ‘Risk’ Influences Perception And Behaviour Of Young Sexual Minority Men And Medical Providers, Kevin Hascher, Jessica Jaiswal, Julianna Lorenzo, Caleb Loschiavo, Wanda Burton, Amanda Cox, Kandyce Dunlap, Benjamin Grin, Marybec Griffin, Perry N. Halkitis

Faculty and Staff Publications

Public health models and medical interventions have often failed to consider the impact of reductionist HIV 'risk' discourse on how sexual minority men interpret, enact and embody biomedical knowledge in the context of sexual encounters. The aim of this study was to use an anthropological lens to examine sexual minority men's perception of HIV risk and experience within the medical system in order to examine the influence of risk discourse on their health, behaviour and social norms. In-depth interviews (n = 43) were conducted with a racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of young sexual minority men and explored …

Distraction By Any Other Name? The Impact Of Music On Social Exclusion Recovery, Sydney G. Wicks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across three experiments, this work investigated whether the effectiveness of music on social exclusion recovery was greater than that of other distracting noises. I hypothesized that listening to music would be effective in improving needs satisfaction after instances of rejection (being explicitly disliked; Study 1) or ostracism (being ignored; Studies 2-3). Further, I examined whether this effectiveness was mediated by reduced rumination, increased emotional engagement (feeling moved by audio), and increased parasocial experiences (sense of one-sided psychological bonds). Ultimately, music was shown to be effective (albeit, relatively) in improving one’s needs when compared to a baseline condition. Additionally, listening to …

Music Icons, Allegories And Symbolic Representation : Iconological Analysis Of Thai Murals Along The Mae Klong Riverside, Traitrung Ploymong, Poonpit Amatyaku, Narongchai Pidokrajt, Manus Keawbucha

Manusya, Journal of Humanities

This article examines the Thai music iconology – with a focus on the instruments and ensembles and their symbolic representations – of monastery murals along the Mae Klong riverside. It also investigates how Thai music iconology links to broader views on Thai music, including those from Buddhism, culture, and social realms. Thirty-eight murals from the Ayutthaya period to the King Rama V period were selected for analysis. Improvised tools from Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2020) inter-semiotic, multidimensional approach and Panosfky’s (1962) concepts of iconography were employed in the data analysis. Additionally, an in-depth interview was conducted with key informants, including …

กล่องคอมเมนต์แห่งความเกลียดชังในบริบทสังคมไทย: กรณีศึกษาแฮชแท็กข่าวอาชญากรรมบนเฟซบุ๊ก, รมิดา แสงสวัสดิ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การศึกษาวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษารูปแบบและลักษณะของข้อความที่แสดงถึงความเกลียดชังต่ออีกฝักฝ่ายในประเด็นที่เกี่ยวข้องกับข่าวอาชญากรรมในประเทศไทยบนแพลตฟอร์มเฟซบุ๊ก รวมถึงปัจจัยที่ส่งผลต่อการรับรู้ และการรับรู้ข้อความที่แสดงถึงความเกลียดชังของผู้ใช้งานเฟซบุ๊ก และเพื่อศึกษามาตรการควบคุมการแสดงความคิดเห็นที่เป็นการแพร่กระจายความเกลียดชังบนสื่อสังคมออนไลน์ต่อบุคคลอื่น โดยใช้วิธีการวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพด้วยการวิจัยแบบเอกสาร การรวบรวมข้อมูลเอกสารที่เป็นข้อความที่แสดงถึงความเกลียดชังใต้โพสต์ข่าวอาชญากรรมในคดีฆาตกรต่อเนื่อง 6 ศพ คดีอดีตผู้กำกับใช้ถุงคลุมหัวผู้ต้องหายาเสพติด และคดีฆาตกรรมเน็ตไอดอล และการสัมภาษณ์แบบกึ่งโครงสร้างต่อผู้ให้ข้อมูลสำคัญ 15 คน ผลการวิจัยพบว่า รูปแบบข้อความที่แสดงความเกลียดชังต่ออีกฝักฝ่ายที่พบเหมือนกันทั้งสามคดีคือ การแบ่งแยกแบบไม่ตั้งใจต่อกลุ่มเป้าหมาย ลักษณะของข้อความที่พบมักเป็นการบอกกล่าว การชี้นำ และการแสดงความรู้สึก ซึ่งสอดคล้องกับความคิดเห็นของผู้ให้ข้อมูลสำคัญต่อข้อความที่แสดงความเกลียดชังใต้โพสต์ข่าวอาชญากรรม ส่วนปัจจัยที่ส่งผลต่อการรับรู้นั้นพบว่ามีอยู่ 3 ปัจจัย คือ (1) ปัจจัยด้านจิต ได้แก่ แรงจูงใจส่วนตนและวัฒนธรรม (2) ปัจจัยด้านสังคม ได้แก่ การได้รับการยอมรับ การเลียนแบบหรือการคล้อยตามผู้ที่เคารพนับถือ ความต้องการในการปกป้องกลุ่มตน และการอบรมเลี้ยงดู และ (3) ปัจจัยด้านสภาพแวดล้อม ได้แก่ การเข้าถึงง่าย ความเป็นนิรนาม กฎหมายและการขาดผู้ตรวจตรา ขณะที่การรับรู้ข้อความที่แสดงถึงความเกลียดชังล้วนได้รับอิทธิพลมาจากปัจจัยการรับรู้ทั้งสามและการนำเสนอข่าวของสำนักข่าวอันจะเป็นการกำหนดทิศทางให้การตอบสนองมีความแตกต่างหลากหลาย มาตรการควบคุมการแสดงความคิดเห็นที่เป็นการแพร่กระจายความเกลียดชังบนสื่อสังคมออนไลน์ นอกเหนือไปจากกฎหมายและนโยบายแพลตฟอร์มที่มีอยู่ ควรมีการจัดตั้งหน่วยงานภายใต้สังกัดกระทรวงดิจิทัลเพื่อเศรษฐกิจและสังคมเข้ามาช่วยประสานการแก้ปัญหาและดำเนินคดีระหว่างภาครัฐและเจ้าของแพลตฟอร์ม เปิดโอกาสให้ผู้ที่มีความรู้ความชำนาญเกี่ยวกับระบบโครงข่ายคอมพิวเตอร์เข้ามาร่วมติดตามและตรวจสอบ บรรจุวิชาความรู้เท่าทันสื่อเป็นส่วนหนึ่งในกิจกรรมแนะแนว สร้างกลุ่มศิลปินดาราตัวอย่างประชาสัมพันธ์เรื่องสิทธิเสรีภาพ สร้างสื่อเรื่องสั้นที่เข้าถึงคนทุกเพศทุกวัย จัดตั้งพื้นที่สำหรับแลกเปลี่ยนปัญหาการใช้สื่อสังคมออนไลน์ในระดับชุมชน จัดตั้ง Online Community เพื่อแลกเปลี่ยนความเห็นต่างในระดับสังคมแบบไม่เปิดเผยตัวตน

Disruption And Emergence: How To Think About Human Rights Futures, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This article suggests that humanity may be approaching a critical juncture, since a confluence of macro-historical changes might—individually or collectively—fundamentally transform the field of human rights, and usher in a second human rights era. In particular, it suggests that the confluence of tectonic geopolitical changes, system-wide shifts in climate and energy, and fundamentally new developments in science and technology might lead to a rupture of the same scale as the cluster of events that heralded the onset of the current rights regime. This argument builds on a number of literatures, especially those focused on norms cycles, rights generations, and what …

Exploring The Barriers To Education And Employment For Hmong Women In Sapa, Vietnam, Connor John Kidd

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In the mountainous region of Sapa, Vietnam, the Hmong community navigates the complex interplay of preserving their cultural identity amidst immense pressure to modernize. This thesis, centered on Hmong women, delves into their selective adaptation to contemporary challenges, particularly in education and employment. Using document research, a survey, and fieldwork this study draws from both historical data and firsthand accounts. These findings highlight significant disparities in educational attainment and employment opportunities when compared to the national average. Notably, issues of linguistic barriers, cultural priorities, and systemic underrepresentation emerge as primary obstacles. This research illuminates the unique socio-economic dynamics faced by …

Exploring Dual Roles In Law Enforcement Officers Who Administer Naloxone, Regina Sullivan Wachenheim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the introduction of law enforcement-administered naloxone, officers are assuming the dual role of law enforcer and caregiver with opioid users. This study used cognitive role theory and Thorne’s interpretive approach to explore the dual roles experienced by officers. The purpose of this study was to understand (1) how officers who administer naloxone describe their experience of the dual role, and (2) how the officers describe the role expectations of law enforcer and caregiver. Seven officers completed semi-structured, one-on-one, telephone interviews. The eight themes that emerged were related to the officers’ views of (1) saving and changing opioid users’ lives; …

Controlling Images: Black Male And Female Representations, Peyton Gindrow

Capstone Showcase

American culture has a very rich history that has shaped our society in the present day. One thing in history that has stayed with us throughout the years is racism. This phenomenon has had a big impact on our society throughout the years. And if it never came into existence, our world would be a much different place. Racism affects any and everything imaginable. It affects the way we see each other, communicate, and interact with each other. Slavery was a turning point for racism and it allowed for racism to flourish by dehumanizing people just because of the color …

Understanding American Nationalism And White Supremacy Through The Legacy Of Christopher Columbus, Júlia Da Silva

Capstone Showcase

Christopher Columbus’ landfall in 1492 was a pivotal historical event which set in motion several political, economic and social processes. Despite the horrors and atrocities instigated by his actions, Columbus continues to be celebrated across the world, particularly in the United States. Although there has been a recent rise in critical scholarship on Columbus, his legacy remains an intrinsic part of the construction of American nationalism. I argue that American national identity and the representations of Christopher Columbus are intertwined, as they have sustained each other across time and collectively reinforce colonial tools.

The Yak Is Back: Creating Community On The Digital Bathroom Stall Wall, Georgia Bates

Scripps Senior Theses

Offering access to an expanded world of contacts, activities, and self-expression, the internet has been changing the traditional landscape of the college experience for nearly two decades. The manner in which students interact with the world around them is augmented and transformed by the affordances of digital social networks like Yik Yak, an anonymous, hyperlocal networking app that has found its main market on college campuses. A hybrid ethnographic approach to Yik Yak based on participant observation and in-depth interviews spanned from Fall 2021 to Spring 2023, engaging with concepts of place and affect as they were intertwined with student …

The Role Of Porn Literacy In Comprehensive Sex Education To Reduce Endorsements Of Gendered Sexual Violence And Support Healthy Adolescent Development, Kiana Harnish

Scripps Senior Theses

Due to stigmatization of sex and insufficient sexual education, modern-day adolescents rely on free online pornography as a source of education about sex and relationships. This thesis provides a review of the connections between adolescent porn use and the socialization of sexual violence (SV) and coercion against women, comprehensive sex education (CSE) and healthy adolescent sexual development, and porn literacy (PL) and sexual attitude or behavior changes. Porn literacy aims to equip adolescents with tools to critically analyze sexualied media and messages, to empower them to make informed decisions to engage or disengage with porn and their sexuality in a …

The Weightless State: Powerpoint And The Everyday Work Of Making Senegal Matter, Caroline Melly

Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Executives at APIX, Senegal’s state investment-promotion agency, cast their office as the vanguard of a new kind of state formation, one remade through decades of austerity and resolutely focused on the nation’s future. They imagined PowerPoint as especially critical to this mission, as it had the potential to move the state beyond the confines of paper form and parochial bureaucratic routine and into the wider world. In this article, I explore the complex relationship between this state agency and this presentation software package. More specifically, I examine how preoccupations with weight shape state work and technological practice. By attending to …

Canadian “Dreamers”: Access To Postsecondary Education, Elise Mercier, Sean Rehaag, Francisco Rico-Martinez

All Papers

Youth with precarious legal status (PLS) in Canada are entitled to access primary and secondary education regardless of their immigration status. However, once they graduate from high school their opportunities for postsecondary education are highly constrained. This article sets out an argument for expanding postsecondary educational opportunities for PLS students, drawing on the example of the only existing program in Canada targeting such students: York University’s “Access for Students with Precarious Immigration Status Program”. The article considers possible legal impediments to the establishment of such programs, including offenses under Canadian immigration legislation, and argues that charges against postsecondary institutions or …

Transgender Erasure: Barriers Facing Transgender Refugees In Canada, Sean Rehaag, Alexandra Verman

All Papers

This paper explores the experiences of transgender refugee claimants in Canada’s refugee status determination system, using mixed methods: quantitative analysis of data obtained from the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), reviews of published and unpublished decisions, country condition documentation packages and IRB guidelines, as well as interviews with refugee lawyers. Using these methods, we explore how credibility arises in transgender refugee claims, noting the impact of medicalization and country conditions materials on transgender claims, and drawing parallels between medical gatekeeping and credibility assessments in refugee claims. We identify potential explanations for low recorded numbers of transgender claims as rooted in …

An Imperial History Of Race-Religion In International Law, Rabiat Akande

All Papers

More than half a century after the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the International Convention on the Prohibition of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), efforts are underway to formulate a protocol to the landmark convention. Much of the momentum for that endeavor comes from sustained local and global advocacy against racism. An integral part of contemporary anti-racism efforts is a push for legal recognition of the intersectional dimensions of racial domination and subjugation to address the unique precarity of persons inhabiting marginalized axes of identities and experiences. United Nations (UN) debates over repowering the ICERD have therefore featured …

How Bollywood Has Influenced Cinema And Viewers Both Locally And Globally, Bhumi Patel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The evolution and impact of Bollywood cinema follows its journey from silent films to contemporary masterpieces. Bollywood reflects India's rich cultural heritage while adapting to societal shifts and embracing progressive themes. From timeless tales of romance to modern explorations of feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and mental health, Bollywood has evolved into a dynamic force for social commentary and cultural expression. Through integration of deep emotions and universally enjoyable music and dance, Bollywood transcends language and cultural barriers, captivating audiences worldwide. While facing setbacks such as lack of diversity, Bollywood is gradually embracing inclusivity and evolving with the times. By addressing taboo …

Comparison Of Bone Robustness Between Fore- And Hindlimb In Neonatal And Infant Galago, Jeremy Busken

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

According to Wolff’s law, bone is constantly subject to change based on loading patterns (Ruff et al., 2006). Those subjected to greater stress become more robust by increasing bone mineral density and often changing geometric properties. Previous studies of primate anatomy have found significant differences in bone robustness between the fore- and hindlimbs in adult leaping primates. Because leaping primates, such as Galago senegalensis and Galago moholi, subject their hindlimbs to much greater stress, this difference in robustness may come as a result of bone functional adaptation/Wolff’s law. This study sought to investigate this possibility by testing neonatal and infant …

Technology Law, Rights & Ethics - One Choice, One Future, G.A. Walker

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Seeking A Common Theme: A Study Of Ceramic Effigy Artifacts In The Pre-Hispanic American Southwest And Northern Mexico Using Computer Image Pattern Recognition And Phylogenetic Analysis, Lee Roger Tallier Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Effigy artifacts are found throughout the Pre-Hispanic American Southwest and Northern Mexico (PHASNM), as well as in other cultures around the world, with many sharing the same forms and design features. The earliest figurines within the PHASNM were partial anthropomorphic figurines made from fired clay, dating to between A.D. 287 and A.D. 312 (Morss 1954:27). They were found in a pit house village of Bluff Ruin in the Forestdale Valley of eastern Arizona, and they appeared to be associated with the Mogollon culture. The temporal range of the samples examined in this study is from approximately 200 A.D. to 1650 …

Black Deathways: An African Methodist History, 1829-1916, Christina M. Varney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study will focus on the transformations of death practices and the shifting roles of death workers from 1829-1916. The Postbellum portion of this study will focus on African Methodist communities in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee as practices and people moved West to the states of Montana, Colorado, and California. These practices experienced changes as a result of rising literacy rates, the establishment of Black churches, and from the movement of Black people within the South. More changes occurred with the creation of mutual aid societies and Black-owned funeral homes. Black funeral directors …

Umfc #12: A Comprehensive Forensic Analysis Case Report, Kaylee M. Hinds

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The University of Montana Forensic Case 12 (UMFC) is a human skeleton with an MNI of one that was recovered in August 1983 from an old schoolyard in Helena, Montana, by construction workers who were building a highway. The individual was given to the University of Montana Anthropology Department following the authority’s investigation. At the time, the University of Montana aided in the analysis of the skeletal remains and both departments had deemed the case as forensically insignificant and historic. The initial recoverers believed that the individual was a descendant of the Last Chance Gulch era and reflected Chinese ancestry, …

Variation In Body Composition In Deer Mice: The Biogeography And Ecophysiology Of Energy Allocation, Cole Joseph Wolf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Body composition, the percent of lean and fat mass, is a snapshot of an individual’s energetic state at a moment in time. Wild organisms should allocate energy to optimize fitness, so tracking changes in body composition provides a window into how priorities may shift throughout the year or across environments. While seasonal variation in body composition is wellcharacterized in systems such migrating birds (Scott et al. 1994) and hibernating mammals (Hellgren 1998), much less is known about how this trait varies across species ranges and thus how organisms modify their body composition and to meet local environmental challenges. For my …

Chinese Material Culture Signatures In Native North America: A Preliminary Study Of National Museum Of The American Indian Online Collections And Plains, Erin Drin Rosenkrance, Erin D. Rosenkrance

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rosenkrance, Erin, M.A. Autumn 2023, Department Anthropology

Chinese Material Culture Signatures in Native North America:

A Preliminary Study of National Museum of the American Indian Online Collections and Plains cultural heritage

Chairperson: Dr. Kelly Dixon, Anthropology. University of Montana

This research explores and identifies Chinese Material Culture (CMC) incorporated into Plains Tribal Culture Artifacts Collections (PTACs) within the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) online collection. The study seeks to establish the historical context and rationale for this investigation and aims to provide a visual analysis of the identified CMCs, laying the groundwork for future research. Through an exploratory …

Report Of The Symposium On Street Vendors And The Law: Practices, Hierarchies, And Economic Citizenship, Slr Editorial Board

Socio-Legal Review

On 21 January 2023, the Socio-Legal Review and Centre for Civil Society jointly organised a one-day symposium on “Street Vendors and the Law: Practices, Hierarchies, and Economic Citizenship in New Delhi.”1 The symposium was an attempt to explore the reality and life of the law that regulates street vending in India. The symposium discussed not only the Street Vendors Act, 20142 but also local statutes on town planning and municipal regulations, law enforcement through the police, and the judicial system of the country. The aim of the symposium was to interrogate how these legal frameworks operate along with the informal …

Full Issue, Socio-Legal Review

Socio-Legal Review

No abstract provided.

Sound Speed Estimation For Distributed Aberration Correction In Laterally Varying Media, Rehman Ali, Trevor M Mitcham, Melanie Singh, Marvin M Doyley, Richard R Bouchard, Jeremy J Dahl, Nebojsa Duric

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spatial variation in sound speed causes aberration in medical ultrasound imaging. Although our previous work has examined aberration correction in the presence of a spatially varying sound speed, practical implementations were limited to layered media due to the sound speed estimation process involved. Unfortunately, most models of layered media do not capture the lateral variations in sound speed that have the greatest aberrative effect on the image. Building upon a Fourier split-step migration technique from geophysics, this work introduces an iterative sound speed estimation and distributed aberration correction technique that can model and correct for aberrations resulting from laterally varying …