Human Geography Commons^™

America's Best Cities: Mountain West Cities, Katie M. Gilbertson, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr., Fatma Nasoz

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet reports the rankings of Mountain West cities, based on perceived desirability for living, visiting, and investment. Resonance Consultancy’s “America’s Best Cities 2020,” report examines the nation’s largest cities on six key metrics: “Place,” “Prosperity,” “People,” “Product,” “Programming” and “Promotion.” Nine Mountain West cities are ranked within the top 100 in the United States.

Nevada Population Density Maps, 2015 - 2019, Jaewon Lim, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet reports the population distribution for the 687 census tracts in the State of Nevada between 2015 and 2019. Mapping population distribution by census tract can misrepresent population density. Oftentimes, in rural regions with low population density, large census tracts are home to a small number of people. Likewise, urban cores have many small census tracts, each with high population density. Using a method for constructing density-equalizing projections, or cartograms (i.e. maps that show statistical information in diagrammatic form) by Mark Newman and Michael Gastner at the University of Michigan, the constructed maps in this fact sheet better …

Pornography: Social, Emotional And Mental Implications Among Adolescents, William Kelly Canady

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will explain the historical development of pornography. It will highlight four segments: 1- Porn’s impact on brain development of reward pathways, ultimately increasing the appetite for more porn. 2- Porn can be a false substitute for real intimacy, resulting in decreased sexual satisfaction with a real person and increased verbal and physical aggression. 3- Porn promotes sex trafficking, promotes multiple sex partners and reduced STD prevention. 4- A review of interventions available to assist clients in navigating a lifestyle away from pornography.

Socioeconomic And Other Dynamics In The Geographical Distribution Of Success In The English F.A. Cup, Edward Genereux

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The F.A. Cup, which is England’s primary football (soccer) knockout competition, is the world’s oldest competition in the sport, but no comprehensive study into factors that correlate with success has been undertaken. The purpose of the present thesis is to fill this void by assessing the strength of the nine regions of England, as well as the collective strength of non-English clubs in the competition. The coefficent formula used by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for ranking member associations is utilized in a form adapted for the generally single-legged nature of the F.A. Cup. The figures ascertained are …

In-Flux: Economic And Community Adaptations Of Former Timber Mill-Towns In The American West, Cherilyn P. Ashmead

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Once built around natural resource extractive industries, rural communities’ economies are changing as the United States is transitioning away from its industrial past. While much research has focused on rural economic shifts from natural resource production toward amenity-driven economies (Morzillo et al., 2015; Winkler et al, 2007), less research has explored the economic and demographic trends in areas pursuing new modes of production. This two-part study focuses on an understudied region with historic ties to timber in dry mixed-conifer forests, much of which are under federal land management. With few natural amenity draws, the region has largely maintained production-based sectors. …

Debilitating Debts And Recapacitating Loans: How Fintech Made Markets For Unsecured Consumer Debt Using Alternative Data And Machine Learning, Michael Joshua Mccanless

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This thesis investigates the production and management of consumer debt on digital platforms. First, this study investigates how borrowers navigate spaces of debt and indebtedness created by fintech consumer lenders. Second, this thesis analyzes the process and impact of ‘alternative’ data and machine learning on fintech credit scoring models. As consumer lending ‘moves online’, this research analyzes the increasingly important role of digital spaces in the creation and management of debt. Tracking the interfaces and algorithms used by online consumer lenders, I weave together insight from digital and financial geographies to argue that digital technologies are enabling firms to marketize …

Evaluating The Spatial Trends And Statistical Determinants Of Residential Solar Uptake In Washington State, Caleb Michael Valko

All Master's Theses

Washington State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act and other state and federal policies encouraging solar power make Washington a ripe candidate to examine growth, trends, and potential determinants or barriers to residential solar uptake. In this thesis, residential solar is cumulatively and annually mapped by county (2000-2019) and Census tract (2017-2019) across the state to identify trends over time and space. Each variable (income, age, households, race, education, solar insolation, cost of solar per watt) was isolated individually to analyze the relationship (if any) to the dependent variable (i.e., residential solar installations). The covariates are then combined into a multiple regression …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Religious Travel: Present And Future Trends, Daniel H. Olsen, Dallen Timothy

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had dramatic effects on both the health and economic stability of countries around the world. While several scholars and media commentators have suggested that the pandemic would be a good time to reset an unsustainable tourism system, left out of these discussions has been the impacts on religion and religious travel. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious travel, including the tensions that have arisen between religious communities, governments and health officials. The paper then discusses potential futures regarding religious travel in a …

The Islamic Parties In Power Experience In Both Egypt And Turkey: A Political Economy Comparative Study As Stated By Michael Mann's Theory Of " The Sources Of Social Power", Durgham Shtaya

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

The study aimed to compare between the experience of Turkish Justice and Development Party (JDP), and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in power, by using Mann's theory (1986, 1993) of social power, which depends on four power networks (Ideological, Economic, Political and Military networks) through applying this theory to the Turkish and Egyptian cases. It has been found out that the (JDP) has invested its control in the political network, particularly through its success in the elections, to penetrate and control the other power networks. It has achieved that by adapting its flexible ideology, which has contributed to the solution of many …

Libraries At The Centre Of Community Transformation: A Bibliometric Study (2009-2019) Of The Influence Of Libraries On Segments Of Human Communities In Nigeria, Tochukwu Victor Nwankwo, Adizetu A. Ali Dr, Boniface U. Asadu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose – The objective of the research was to undertake a bibliometric study (2009-2019) on the influence of libraries on segments of human communities in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to determine the bibliometric newspapers, databases, and institutional repository components of the Nigerian Academic, Social, Economic, Judicial, Political, Health, Cultural, and Religious Communities.

Design/methodology/approach – The method adopted was the descriptive survey research design; specifically the online content analysis technique was co-opted. The study covered all the publications published for or about Library Transformation in Nigeria by both Nigerians and foreigners (2009-2019); that are domiciled in Nigerian Online Newspapers, Online …

A Defense And Expansion Of The Theory Of Capitalist Ground Rent: Speculation, Securitization, And Struggles Over Land And Housing, Francesca Manning

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Why are the rents so high? Who is responsible for homelessness, for urban and rural displacement? How can these problems be combatted?

Recent literature addressing these questions has pointed to gentrification and the financialization of land and housing, faulted financialized landlords, hedge funds, and the irredeemable logic of finance, and pointed to the importance of land and housing regulation to prevent displacement.

However, theories of displacement—in both land and housing, on both urban and rural terrain—suffer from a lack of an underlying theory of the logic, tendencies, and limits of ground rent extraction in capitalism.

This dissertation develops a theory …

Changing Faces, Changing Places: Understanding Immigration, Housing Market And Native Out-Migration In Established And New Destinations In The United States., Anqi Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation concerns residential incorporation and the socioeconomic impact of immigrants primarily from Latin America and Asia with their rapid geographical dispersal in the U.S. I adopt econometrics methodologies and GIS techniques to examine how immigration affects housing price changes and white out-mobility in established and new destinations, utilizing datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The first part examines the effects of immigration into the U.S. established and new immigrant destinations on housing prices using county-level data that span 2011 to 2017. Using the global and local Moran’s I statistics, I demonstrate …

Downtown Population Growth In Southwest And Mountain West Metros, Peter Grema, Eshaan Vakil, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

Summarizing data from Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program’s May 2020 research brief “big city downtowns are booming, but can their momentum outlast the coronavirus?,” this fact sheet includes an overview of population growth in downtown and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) between 1980 and 2018 in the Southwest and Mountain West regions of the United States. We focus on Mountain West states (Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico) in our analysis. In addition, we include the metros that comprise the Southwest Megapolitan Triangle (Southern California, alongside Las Vegas, NV, and Phoenix, AZ metropolitan statistical areas).

Neighborhood Change In Las Vegas, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This Fact Sheet analyzes indicators of demographic and economic change in Las Vegas neighborhoods and suburbs, provided by “American Neighborhood Change in the 21st Century,” a study published by the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity (IMO) at the Minnesota Law School. Researchers reviewed data from the 2000 U.S. Census and the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) for the top 50 largest metros in the U.S. The study reports levels of neighborhood change, including economic growth, poverty concentration, gentrification, and low-income displacement. Data pertaining to the Las Vegas metropolitan region are synthesized to measure indicators of economic viability and housing availability.

House Ownership In Selangor: A Qualitative Study On Consumers Preferences And Challenges, Packeer Mohamed Nur Syafiqah

Student Works (2020-2029)

The residential real estate market in Selangor offers diverse house types following the fact that the state has highest number of workers. It is important for a proper decision-making process by taking consider a few factors such as financial and neighbourhood factors in a house purchase. Based on residential housing market data in Selangor, Petaling district was found to have the most purchases and the 2 to 2 and a half storey house type is the most purchased out of the variety, and there are also cases where there are completed houses that were not purchased by the residents, even …

Reclaiming Indiana: The Politics Of Crisis Amid The Failures Of Liberal Capitalist Modernity, Chris Grove

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnography examines grassroots political responses to the economic crisis that began in 2008, foremost in the US Midwest, which arguably laid the groundwork both for the election of President Donald Trump and presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders. President Obama launched his $787 billion stimulus plan in Elkhart, Indiana, in early 2009. At the height of the crisis, unemployment skyrocketed from four to 20 percent in Elkhart, and it became central to struggles over the political direction of the US. With few safety nets, Elkhart residents struggled to meet their basic needs, creating conditions for political organizing on both …

Anchorite Sacred Caves In Serbia: Balancing Between Pilgrimage And Religious Tourism Development, Aleksandar Antić

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Serbia is a country with diverse karst terrain, full of various surface and underground karst formations. This terrain is one of the factors that influenced the development of cultures and civilizations in this area. Many archaeological findings indicate that prehistoric people found refuge, safety and peace in many caves in present-day Serbia. The natural environment has also influenced many spiritual endeavours, which have shaped cultural identities throughout history. In this study, Orthodox anchorite sacred caves in Serbia are explored, as well as their related pilgrimage activities and potential for religious tourism development. For the purpose of this research, three pilgrimage …

Immigrants And Their Voting Power In Nevada, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This Fact Sheet presents the number of both documented and undocumented immigrants in Nevada, synthesizing data provided by New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research non-profit organization. To estimate the total number of immigrants in the U.S. and across each of the 50 states, researchers reviewed various data sources including the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, the Center for Migration Studies, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

"Currency Is A Most Poisonous Tool": State Capitalism, Nonmarket Socialism, And The Elimination Of Money During The Cambodian Genocide, James A. Tyner

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Between 1975 and 1979, the Communist Party of Kampuchea sought to establish a non-monetary and non-market economy. In the process, however, upwards of 1.7 million men, women, and children perished. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the CPK’s decision to eliminate money in its attempt to transform Cambodia’s pre-revolutionary economy into a communist mode of production. First, I provide some general remarks on Marx, money, and markets; the purpose here is to establish a common foundation for readers, in order to properly assess Khmer Rouge monetary policies with those of orthodox reading of Marxism. Second, I position CPK macro-economic …

How Do Farmers Experience Agroecology In Rural Communities Of Northern Ecuador?, Neil Michael Ayala Ayala

Latin American Studies ETDs

Agroecology, a concept in continuous evolution embraces science, practice and sociopolitical aspects. Its meaning is gaining space of debate and global interest as an alternative for building sustainable food systems and resilient communities, not only from the environmental perspective, but from all the dimensions of sustainability. The Andes region is recognized for its agrodiversity and for its history of agricultural activity; nevertheless, the effects of unsustainable agricultural practices inspired in the principles of the so called “Green Revolution” are evident. Conventional agriculture has decreased the capacity of resilience of the agroecosystems and their associated communities. Agroecology is often perceived as …

Migration Of Millennials And Seniors In The Mountain West, Ashley Leclair, Mary Blankenship, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Demography

This Fact Sheet examines trends in intraregional migration of millennials and seniors since the Great Recession, with a focus on the Mountain West. The data presented were originally published in a report by the Brookings Institution, titled “How migration of millennials and seniors has shifted since the Great Recession.”

Rural Poverty And Urban Proximity In Sabah, Malaysia, Joseph Jeron

Student Works (2020-2029)

One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to eradicate extreme poverty globally by 2030 in all countries including Malaysia. While Malaysia is close to achieving this target, poverty still persists in the state of Sabah. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of household poverty in rural Sabah with a focus on urban proximity. A purposefully designed survey instrument was used to gather primary data on a total of 407 rural households in 78 villages, spread across 16 poorest districts of Sabah. In addition, Geographic Information System (GIS) data on sample households and villages was collected to construct …

Brain Drain In The Mountain West, Ember Smith, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Economic Development & Workforce

This Fact Sheet highlights the effects of major shifts in geographic mobility patterns of highly-educated citizens in the Mountain West (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado). The phenomenon, dubbed “brain drain” by experts, is characterized by the out-migration of a group of highly-educated people. “Brain gain” describes the opposite: when a location attracts highly-educated people. Several states are keeping and welcoming more highly-educated adults, while other states are rapidly losing talent. This migration pattern has important implications for social, political, and economic issues facing the country.

Geography, Trade, And Internal Migration In China, Lin Ma, Yang Tang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper quantitatively studies the local welfare impacts of inter-city migration in China. We structurally estimate a trade model with endogenous migration decisions using data from 279 prefecture-level cities. The results suggest that inflows of migrant workers increase welfare in the destination cities between 2000 and 2005 despite their negative impacts on congestion and nominal wage. The positive local impacts of migration depend crucially on the endogenous firm entry. The positive impacts in the destination cities also spill over to the neighboring cities through inter-city trade, often leading to higher welfare gains in the nearby cities than the destination cities …

The Rise Of Anti-Immigration Populist Radical Right Parties: The Effect Of The Syrian Conflict On Refugee Resettlement And Migration Policies In Germany And Austria, Sara Kouchehbagh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of Syrian migration in Europe have revolutionized refugee resettlement globally. Most immigration and refugee problems have historically been settled similarly post WWII, however, Syria is the largest refugee crisis since WWII. It is important to learn how to respond to future conflicts with displacement and resettlement affecting Western countries that are unprepared to respond to a conflict of such magnitude. This thesis will compare previous conflicts and the Syrian conflict, while highlighting the resilient political momentum of reactionary new political groups in European states, particularly Germany and Austria.

The research and results from this study will include data …

Commercials As Social Studies Curriculum: Bridging Content & Media Literacy, Shanedra D. Nowell

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This essay explores ways television commercials can teach both media literacy skills and social studies content knowledge. Because of their brevity and concise messages, commercials offer teachers a wide assortment of engaging, content focused lesson topics that can be used to introduce new ideas, as writing or discussion prompts to further explore concepts, or as creative media projects to assess the content and media literacy knowledge. I examine different approaches to integrate commercials into social studies classes and include resources to guide students through deconstructing commercials, understanding advertisers’ creative techniques and appeals, and creating their own commercials.

Institutional Arrangements For The Blue Economy: Marine Spatial Planning A Way Forward, Daud Hassan, Md. Ashraful Alam Ashraf

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Blue Economy is one of the important aspects of Sustainable Ocean Governance as it refers to sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and improved livelihood by maintaining healthy marine ecosystem. In order to achieve sustainable ocean governance, it is important to implement the contemporary and newly developed principles and concepts including Blue Economy and Ecosystem based management (EBM). As an implementation toll for sustainable ocean governance, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) can play an important role to achieve the objectives of Blue Economy. Due to various reasons, the current institutional arrangements for sustainable ocean govern as well as exploring …

Runaway: A History Of Postwar New York In Four Factories, Andy Battle

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At midcentury, New York City was among the preeminent manufacturing centers in the United States. Within a generation, this manufacturing economy suffered an extraordinary collapse. Beginning in the 1950s, workers and their unions began to use the term “runaway” to describe factories that pulled up stakes in New York and set them back down in other climes. This dissertation explores the deindustrialization of New York City through case studies of “runaway” plants, or factories that left New York for the American South or abroad between the years 1945 and 1975.

In general, the manufacturers that remained in New York at …

Market Making: Crises And The Global Production Of Shipbreaking In Chittagong, Bangladesh, Elizabeth A. Sibilia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Shipbreaking is a dismantling process with a primary objective of extracting large amounts of steel from ocean-going vessels, oil tankers, bulk cargo carriers, and container ships. As mobile forms of fixed capital, these devalued vessels have experienced a gradual or sudden loss of value. The removal of devalued ships from the world fleet, through an increasingly sophisticated global demolition market and expanding domestic shipbreaking markets, have played a critical role in helping the global shipping sector solve its crises of overproduction since the mid 1970s. Since the early 1990s Bangladesh has become one of the most important domestic shipbreaking markets. …

Las Vegas And Reno, Nevada Renter Migration, Peter Grema, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Demography

This Fact Sheet summarizes and expands upon the findings of Apartment List’s Renter Migration Report. The data presented herein focuses on renter search inquiries (both inbound and outbound) regarding Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada.