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Strategic Ties That Bind: How Founder Identity Shapes Enduring Imprints Across The Firm And Community, Michelle Gras

All Dissertations

This dissertation examines how founder identity creates long-lasting imprints on organizations and the communities in which they operate by researching a historical case study in the U.S. textile industry.  This research responded to calls in the imprinting literature for greater attention to secondhand imprinting mechanisms, multiple sensitive periods, and durability of founder influence over time (Marquis & Tilcsik, 2013; Marquis & Qiao, 2025) and draws upon the theoretical lenses of founder identity theory (Fauchart & Gruber, 2011) and organizational imprinting theory (Stinchcombe, 1965; Marquis & Tilcsik, 2013).  The findings suggest that founder identity persistence is not solely a consequence of …

Equity In Healthcare: Exploring The Viability Of Reparations As A Means To Address Racial Health Inequities, Invest In The Community, And Bestow Reconciliation For African Americans, Alesia A. Smith

All Dissertations

Racial health inequities remain among the most persistent forms of health disparity in the United States, despite decades of policy efforts to eliminate them. African Americans, in particular, continue to experience disproportionately poor health outcomes rooted in generations of institutional racism and in inequities in the social determinants of health, income, wealth, education, housing, and access to care, disparities that the COVID-19 pandemic further exposed and intensified. These enduring, structurally produced harms strengthen the case for reparative investment as a potential intervention.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine whether reparations, framed as a community-based investment in health, …

Transgender And Gender-Diverse Healthcare Through Virtual Social Networking, Francis Peter Furmanek Iii

PhD of Social Work

This study examined the behavior of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) utilizing virtual social networking (VSN) to address their healthcare needs. Presently, the TGD community has been facing discrimination in policy and social structure across the United States. Accepting safe spaces are vital to survival and growth of TGD people, and the current wave of anti-trans legislation seeks to eliminate these spaces. This phenomenological mixed-methods study examined mechanisms that TGD people use to address healthcare needs in virtual spaces alongside a backdrop of negative healthcare experiences in traditional settings. Informed by Intersectional theory, Minority Stress Theory, and considering Andersen’s Behavioral …

Confronting Founding Injustices: Reconstructive Constitutional Adjudication And Constitutional Legitimacy In Postcolonial States, Mutasim Abuzeid

International Studies (MA) Theses

Why do some postcolonial constitutions achieve higher constitutional legitimacy than others? Across the Global South, constitutions have proliferated while legitimacy remains uneven and contested. Existing scholarship explains variation in constitutional legitimacy in postcolonial states through three dominant paradigms. Institutionalist theories equate legitimacy with procedural design and endurance, presuming that stable institutions generate compliance and, over time, diffuse support. Transformative constitutionalism locates legitimacy in social justice, emphasizing judicial doctrines such as proportionality and reasonableness to advance equality and material inclusion. Transitional justice approaches, by contrast, locate moral repair largely outside constitutional law—through truth commissions, reparations, and memory projects—often leaving the constitutional …

Shifting Faith Among Indigenous People In Arunachal Pradesh, India: Revisiting Greenfeld's Civilizational Framework, M. Amin Khan

Comparative Civilizations Review

This paper examines changing religious demography in Arunachal Pradesh through Liah Greenfeld's theory of civilization as a self-generating and self-reproducing symbolic reality. Using decadal Census data (1971–2011), it traces the demographic decline of Indigenous/Tribal religions classified under “Other Religions and Persuasions” (ORP) alongside the widespread growth of Christianity and the more limited growth of Hinduism. The analysis argues that these demographic shifts reflect more than religious conversion; they reveal differential capacities for cultural reproduction. Whereas civilizations endowed with codified first principles and enduring institutions sustain continuity across generations, Arunachal Pradesh's largely localized and orally transmitted indigenous traditions have proven less …

Professor Greenfeld’S Last Class: Notes For Online Lectures On “The Science Of Humanity,” Delivered To Students And Scholars Primarily From India, July 2025, Liah Greenfeld

Comparative Civilizations Review

The question for this class is: What is humanity?

We all believe we all know what it is, don’t we? After all, there is hardly any subject more important for us, a question on the answer to which other subjects depend — political, social, economic. Answers to questions such as: what are human economic needs and desires; what political structures are optimal for humans; is democracy, for instance, a universal human desire; should politics in every nation be democratic, or, perhaps, authoritarian governments are better; is freedom a natural need, does it make life better, does equality?

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Jison Jiei: Offensive Realism And Imperial Japan's Spiral Toward Regional Hegemony, John William Dodd

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis examines Imperial Japan’s march from the Mukden Incident of 1931 to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 through the lens of offensive realism. It asks to what extent Japan’s prewar grand strategy can be understood as a bid for regional hegemony, and what that interpretation reveals about the relationship between power politics, international law, and future great-power crises. Rather than treating Japanese expansion as irrational madness or reducing it only to ideology or militarism, this thesis argues that Japanese leaders acted according to a recognizable strategic logic.

Proceeding from theory to historical analysis, this project first situates …

Religious Practice And Attitudes Toward Immigration And Racial Justice In America, Amya Douglas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This study aims to understand how Christians’ knowledge of Scripture and involvement in the church have an impact on their social-political views, specifically, racial justice and immigration. By using the survey responses from the 6th wave of the Baylor Religion Survey, more frequent church attendance and reading Scripture were correlated with a greater recognition of racism in terms of being against white supremacy and white nationalism, supporting racial justice when asked about racial gaps, and possessing greater support for immigrants. This study highlights the distinction between religious affiliation and religious practice, and it suggests that certain policy sentiments can be …

Oak Savanna Expansion: Indigenizing Psu's Urban Landscape, Ash Herb

University Honors Theses

Since time immemorial Indigenous Peoples have resided in what is now named Portland of the Pacific Northwest in the Willamette Valley. For hundreds of years, this forested Land has been colonized, razed to stumps and covered in cement in order to build the urban landscape. Due to such destruction on a broad scale, we are experiencing the results of climate catastrophe. By finding ways to reclaim our relationship with Land and returning to Indigenous epistemologies, our urban landscape has the opportunity to shift towards restoration and prosperity. Indigenous plants have existed here, supporting humans in a reciprocal relationship, for thousands …

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2025-2026, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Market Rate Survey & Narrow Cost Analysis: 2026 Data Collection Incentive Plan, Nh Department Of Health And Human Services

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

No abstract provided.

Beyond Beliefs: Factors That Shape Agricultural Plastic End-Of-Life Management Among California Strawberry Growers, Kyle Y. Cahitas

Master's Theses

The practice of using plastics in agriculture is so prevalent it has earned its own name: plasticulture. One key plasticulture tool is polyethylene (PE) mulch film, a thin plastic sheet laid over the field for a single growing season and pulled out before the next. Because PE film is hard to recycle, most of it ends up in a landfill, yet how growers decide what happens to used plastic mulch has rarely been studied. To identify what shapes that decision, this study draws on a survey of California strawberry growers (n = 126). Twenty variables, spanning grower attitudes, farm characteristics, …

Genocide As Patriotic Duty: The Outcomes Of Ultranationalism And Dehumanization From World War Ii Genocide Orchestrators, Corie R. Blais

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The thesis provides a contribution to the field of history how nationalism

often transforms individuals during wartime to become dehumanizing

ultranationalists through patriotism and its connection to genocide.  Also, it gives

insight into the many ways that genocide orchestrators during World War II,

relied on propaganda of racism, religion, and “othering” in order to justify their

incentives to expand territories and dehumanize victims through medical

experimentations and sexual violence.  While research materials in the context of

Nazi Germany were ample, one challenge in my research was finding

documentations on Stalin’s People Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD)

police unit which carried …

Unruly Curly Hair: The Role Of Latina Hair Stylists In Disrupting Beauty Hierarchies, Katie Duarte

Latin American and Latino/a Studies: Faculty Publications

Women of color use aesthetics to challenge and reproduce racialized, classed, or gendered marginalization, yet few sociological studies have examined women of color service workers as agents who negotiate, reproduce, and resist racialized beauty norms for their clients. This study utilizes a transnational ethnography of a beauty school course and Latina-owned curly and natural hair salons, primarily serving Latinas and Afro-Latinas, in New York City and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Through its analysis, this article identifies different forms of gendered labor that stylists perform to introduce “specialized body labor,” thereby disrupting racialized beauty norms that devalue natural and Afro-textured hair. …

Sari-Sari Stores As Community Pharmacies? A Qualitative Exploration Of Sari-Sari Stores Selling Medicines In The Philippines, Melissa Louise M. Prieto, Gamaliel P. Galigao, Ana Rica S. Navarra-Cruz, Louise Gabriel R. Jimenez, Gideon Lasco

Medical Anthropology

Background and Objective. Despite laws prohibiting the sale of pharmaceuticals outside licensed pharmacies, sari-sari stores continue to informally sell medicines, bridging access challenges especially in remote areas. The study explores the roles and perceptions of sari-sari stores as informal medicine providers. Methods. The study draws on ethnographic insights from key informant interviews with fourteen (14) sari-sari store owners or tinderas, probing into medicines sold in sari-sari stores and their perceived effectiveness. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results. Sari-sari stores serve as informal yet critical points of access to common medicines for everyday illnesses, especially in remote areas where …

Bringing Women Into Focus: Adapting Traditional Lesson Standards To Incorporate Women In U.S. History, Emma M. Wilson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis Plan-B project is creating women centered lesson plans for middle and high school social studies curriculum. As a result of male dominance in education the standards, practices, and curriculum have largely focused on a male-dominant narrative. This project works to remedy this imbalance by taking standards directly from the State and adapting lesson plans to highlight historical women actors as the focus, while still aligning with core outcomes. The current male-centered approach to the broader social studies curriculum does not account for the wide array of viewpoints experienced for those living in the United States. Re-envisioning lessons to …

Using A Social-Ecological-Technological Systems Approach For Assessing Vulnerabilities Downstream Of Dams, Michael J. Englert

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Dam failure is rare, but when it occurs the consequences can extend far beyond the structure of the dam itself. This project assessed vulnerabilities downstream of Utah’s 189 state-regulated, high-hazard dams using a Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) approach. The purpose of the project was to look beyond engineering and structural risk alone and identify the people, protected ecosystems, critical infrastructure, and land cover types located within mapped dam inundation zones.

Potential inundation zone maps were obtained from the Utah Division of Water Rights Dam Safety Section. They were processed using ArcGIS Pro and integrated with publicly available nationwide geospatial datasets to …

The Legend Of The Bear Lake Monster, Melissa Anderson Asay

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The Bear Lake Monster is a legend that has persisted for centuries. This monster is rooted in Shoshone oral traditions and hold the potential to be based off of fossils found in the Shoshone territory. This living legend was later amplified by Mormon settlers. One settler in particular, Joseph C. Rich, played a significant role in shaping its narrative. Though he eventually admitted to fabricating sightings to encourage settlement, belief in the creature remains alive today. The serpent’s presence in local lore has undeniably influenced the Bear Lake region, shaping both its identity and tourism industry. This legend serves as …

A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Texas History Curriculum Discourse, Maribel Santoyo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study examines how race, citizenship, nation-building, and belonging are constructed across Texas history curriculum discourse. Grounded in Fairclough's three-dimensional model of discourse, Machin and Mayr's (2012) multimodal framework, Weedon's (1987) theory of subjectivity, Foucault's (1980) concept of power/knowledge, and Anderson's (1983) concept of imagined communities, the study investigates how official curriculum texts shape the histories students are invited to know and the civic identities they are invited to inhabit. Findings suggest that the Texas history TEKS, SB3, and Texas history textbooks for Grades 4 and 7 work together as an interconnected discourse system through which official knowledge is …

Secure Agricultural Futures: Re-Defining And -Imagining Agricultural Water Landscapes In The Us West, Britta L. Schumacher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Aridity is swiftly becoming the US West’s new normal. As agricultural communities adjust to persistent growing-season scarcity, they find their livelihoods under increasing threat. This points to the urgency of finding paths toward more secure water futures. A piece of this future puzzle includes water (re-)distribution – taking excess from one place and delivering it to another in need. To begin thinking about (re-)distribution, this dissertation engages with three mixed-methods and multiscale studies. The first study pairs county-level data across the 11 westernmost US states with survey data collected from individual producers in Utah to assess past and current trends …

Social Support As A Resource In Emerging Adulthood: Examining Siblings' Unique Potential, Leslie A. Page

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation consists of three studies that examined the influence of multiple relational processes and partners across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Drawing on family systems (Bowen, 1978; Cox & Paley, 1997) and social convoy (Antonucci et al., 2013) theories, social support was conceptualized as a relational dimension that shapes how close others function as resources during key developmental transitions. With this perspective, siblings were included as important, but relatively understudied, members of the social convoy who may provide enduring and flexible support that is extremely relevant for this population. In Study 1, support was treated as an outcome of longitudinal …

Impact Of Chronic Stress And Nutrition On Functional Connectivity And Neural Networks In Young Kichwa Children From The Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, Matthew L. Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Early childhood is a critical period for brain development. Positive and negative experiences during this time can have lasting effects on learning, health, and well-being. However, most research on children’s brain development has been conducted in wealthy, industrialized nations, leaving important gaps in our understanding of how children develop in other cultural and environmental contexts.

This study examined brain development in Indigenous Kichwa children living in two rural communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. The goal was to better understand how chronic stress and nutrition may influence a child’s developing brain during early childhood. Children participated in noninvasive brain assessments …

Challenges To Longevity Among Native Americans In The Four Corner States, Ashley Lenarz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Previous research has shown that Native Americans within the Four Corners States of the United States experience poor health outcomes and premature mortality. The Four Corners States include Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Research examining COVID-19 pandemic outcomes has also suggested that Native peoples within the Four Corners States have been especially hard hit with high rates of infection and mortality. Our research seeks to (1) understand how life expectancy trends and differences changed among non-Hispanic Native Americans and Whites in the Four Corners States during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) examine how much of these trends and differences …

Developing A New Uas Method For Estimating Heat Exposure On Western Us Trails, Jared Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Heat exposure and the risks to human health that stem from it have been studied extensively in the context of urban and occupational settings. Less studied however, is the effect of heat exposure in a recreational setting such as on hiking trails. What makes this fact more surprising is that recreation, especially in the Western US, is extremely popular, with national parks such as Zion and Arches bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. With millions of recreationists exposed to the hazard of heat every year, it is critical that recreationists are made aware of the dangers they …

The Influence Of Mental Illness Stigma On Support For Capital Punishment, Laura Strong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Support for capital punishment, though consistently favored by the majority of the US population, has remained highly controversial due to biases in its application. This issue is particularly pressing for Black Americans and people with mental illnesses, as both populations are over-represented on death row. While support for capital punishment is primarily driven by socio-demographic characteristics such as political affiliation and race, existing literature indicates that White Americans who exhibit heightened racial stigma towards Black Americans are more likely to support capital punishment. The mechanisms that link racial stigma to support for capital punishment may exist for mental illness stigma …

Guest Editor’S Introduction: Liah Greenfeld And The Future Of Comparative Civilizational Studies, Monika Monika, Guest Editor

Comparative Civilizations Review

Every scholarly life leaves behind unfinished questions. Professor Liah Greenfeld was acutely aware of this. Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, her research never settled into the repetition of established arguments. Each major work emerged from the unresolved problems of the previous one, enlarging both the scope of its inquiry and the range of disciplines with which it engaged. Nationalism led her to questions of modernity (Greenfeld, 1992) and the foundations of economic development (Greenfeld, 2001). The growth of the modern economy and the emerging new forces of globalization, in turn, raised broader questions about the self and …

In Memoriam: Liah Greenfeld A Reflection From The President Of The Comparative Civilizations Forum, Bibi Pelić

Comparative Civilizations Review

It is with sorrow and gratitude that the Comparative Civilizations Forum dedicates this special 2026 Fall issue of the Comparative Civilizations Review to the memory of Professor Liah Greenfeld, who passed away in May of this year.

Professor Liah Greenfeld was a sociologist, an anthropologist, a political scientist — and more than any single label can hold. Across four decades at Harvard and then at Boston University, she built a body of work, from Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity to The Spirit of Capitalism to Mind, Modernity, Madness, that stepped outside the boundaries the modern academy likes to draw. …

Liah Greenfeld: Scholar, Thinker, Friend, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Professor Liah Greenfeld and I met several years ago when she submitted an article to the Comparative Civilizations Review. Her thoughtful demeanor and personal kindness to all were quickly evident, but so, too, was her scholarship, especially her probing theories of state, society, and civilization.

Friends Of The Library Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2026, Hillary Richardson

Fant Library News and Reports

No abstract provided.