International and Area Studies Commons^™

Our New Iscsc Social Media Presence, Bibi Pelić

Comparative Civilizations Review

Social media presence is essential, we could say even critical to any organization today. Social media can for itself be a topic for a discussion on civilization, as social media is today shaping mindsets, for better or worse.

Realizing this major development in our ever-more digitalized world, the ISCSC has undergone, in the past year, significant changes in the direction of establishing its social media presence.

Purity, Exclusion, And Political Order In Colombia, Osha Smith-Gittelman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the relationship between purity and order, and the ways this relationship informs and reproduces exclusionary forms of governance. The starting point for this analysis is the puzzling use of the language of limpieza social [social cleansing] as a justification for violence in Latin America. Such language is publicly disseminated by vigilantes, criminal organizations, paramilitaries, and other extralegal armed actors as a frame for violence against those presumed to be criminals, drug users, sex workers, unhoused, LGBTQ, or mentally ill. Much has been written on criminal and political violence in the region, but there has been less emphasis …

The Euro And Bumps In The Road: Historical Patterns Of Nonresident Holdings In Eurozone Bonds, 1980–2018, Michael H. Scarlatos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A developed bond market which attracts nonresident investors both enables and reflects a host currency’s transition from domestic to international status. My analysis of historical private nonresident holdings of Eurozone portfolio debt securities spanning the euro’s 1999 creation and its subsequent 2008 crisis reveals diverging patterns.

This analysis, complemented by coefficient stability tests, discovers that the conversion of national currencies to the euro was reflected by a pickup in nonresident holdings of bonds issued by countries adopting the euro, especially those of the periphery (Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain) relative to the core (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, and the …

From Perfect Victims To Collateral Damage: How Nigerian Women Are Implicated In And Impacted By Contemporary French Anti-Trafficking Policies And Discourse, Oladunni Patricia Oduyemi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although the Nordic Model has been embraced by the international anti-trafficking movement, recent studies, and closer examinations of France’s approach to the issue of sex trafficking reveal a strong anti-migrant and anti-sex work bias. In this thesis, I use studies of the impacts of France’s 2016 anti-trafficking bill on migrant sex workers, feminist critiques of neo-abolitionism and the Nordic Model, and examples of France’s hypocritical anti-migrant position, to explore how Nigerian women are harmed by the contemporary French fight against sex trafficking. The pervasive influence of anti-sex work radical feminism on anti-trafficking protocols which define the sex industry as analogous …

Minds Circumscribed By Fear. A Review Of Garrisoned Minds: Women And Armed Conflicts In South Asia, Edited By Lazmi Murthy And Mitu Varma, Kushal Srivastava

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Innovation Culture Assessment: An Exploratory Diagnosis Of A Taiwanese Manufacturing Company, Yong Keong Tay

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The purpose of this research study is to better understand how manufacturing firms in Asia are trying to make innovation work and the challenges they are facing in creating and capturing new value. Based on a real-life case study of a medium-sized OEM lock manufacturer in Taiwan (“3ST”), the study sheds light on key building blocks of a robust corporate innovation culture with focus on ‘Values’, ‘Behaviours’, ‘Climate’, ‘Resources’, ‘Processes’, and ‘Success’, using a valid and reliable diagnostic innovation culture framework developed by Rao & Weintraub (2013).

Besides the identification of critical gaps in 3ST’s innovation culture based on Rao …

Strata Plan Cancellations In Australasia: A Comparative Analysis Of Nine Jurisdictions, Seng Wei, Edward Ti

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A growing number of Australasian jurisdictions now permit a supermajority of owners to terminate a co-owned building scheme allowing proprietors to redevelop, or more commonly, sell the underlying land. This planning tool aids municipal rejuvenation, prevents urban sprawl and provides new housing. In this paper, I examine the provisions pertaining to cancellation of unit plans under nine jurisdictions – New Zealand and all eight jurisdictions in Australia. This comparative analysis highlights several unique aspects of the Unit Title Act 2010 (NZ) such as the way its voting thresholds are calculated and the idiosyncratic application of the ‘just and equitable’ standard …

Property In Whose Name? Intrahousehold Bargaining Over Homeownership In China, Jia Yu, Cheng Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Previous research typically examined homeownership inequality across individuals or households, overlooking the intrahousehold allocation of homeownership. Using couple-level data of the 2016 China Family Panel Studies, our study addresses the gap by examining the bargaining over homeownership between husbands and wives in China. Descriptive results reveal a large gender gap in homeownership: only about one-quarter of couples listed the wife as an owner on the Housing Ownership Certificate, whereas about 92% listed the husband. The gender gap in ownership, however, has narrowed among couples married after 2000. Multivariate analyses show that economic autonomy, relative resources, housing purchase conditions, and modernization …

Book Review: Michela Coletta. Decadent Modernity: Civilization And ‘Latinidad’ In Spanish America, 1880-1920, Jeremy Smith

Comparative Civilizations Review

There are too few perspectives in civilizational analysis that examine Latin America. One exception is found in the work of Shmuel N. Eisenstadt on multiple modernities and the Americas. Eisenstadt’s research is a point of departure for Michela Coletta’s Decadent Modernity: Civilization and ‘Latinidad’ in Spanish America, 1880-1920. Through chapters on the so-called Latin Race, rural and metropolitan identities, national education, and what Coletta calls the ‘aesthetics of regeneration’, the author explores cultural, sociological, and political trends in Southern Cone countries Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina in the fin de siècle era of European and American modernities. This is a …

The Impact Of Fear Of Losing Out (Folo) On College Students’ Performance Goal Orientations And Learning Strategies Insingapore, Haelim Choi, Chi-Ying Cheng, Sheila Xi Rui Wee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The current research investigated the influence of the Fear of Losing Out (FoLO) mindset on learning strategy via performance goal orientation and its interaction with social comparison amongst Singaporean college students. In Study 1, a positive relationship between FoLO and performance goal orientations (i.e., avoidance and approach) was found. Study 2 replicated this finding and further revealed a downstream effect of FoLO on surface learning via performance goal orientations. In addition, social comparison moderated the link between performance goal orientation and surface learning in the mediation model. Specifically, in downward social comparison conditions, FoLO facilitated high performance-avoidance goal orientation, which …

Access To Power: Electricity And The Infrastructural State In Pakistan, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Pakistan would desperately like to produce enough electricity, but it usually doesn’t. This is the rare issue on which government and private sector can unite, and it is the cause of suffering for rich and poor alike across the entirety of the country. Despite prioritization by successive governments, targeted reforms shaped by international development actors, and featuring prominently in Chinese Belt and Road Investments, the Pakistani power sector still stifles economic and social life across the country. This book explores state capacity in Pakistan by following the material infrastructure of electricity across the provinces and down into cities and homes. …

Visualizing Politics In Indonesia: The Design And Distribution Of Election Posters, Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Where studies have shown that visuals are the primary means of political communication, research continues to focus largely on text-based information. To add to our understanding of visual-political communications, this article analyses Indonesian election posters since the 1950s. Drawing on historical materials and on a content analysis of 4,000 election posters, it asks why election posters have been designed and distributed in particular ways. Findings indicate that in the past, posters used singular, though powerful, social symbols to mobilize demographic groups behind political parties. However, contemporary posters are more visually complex and more candidate-centered, making arguments as to what the …

Rosenberg Institute For East Asian Studies At Suffolk University Annual Report For 2021-2022, Rosenberg Institute

Rosenberg Institute Annual Reports

These reports summarize the activities of the Rosenberg Institute during the academic year, including information related to public programming, visiting scholars, cooperation with the Asian Studies program at Suffolk College of Arts & Sciences, promotion of Suffolk's Asia-related activities, community outreach, and funding. Most reports also contain photographs of scholars, staff, and events.

Corporate Actions And The Manipulation Of Retail Investors In China: An Analysis Of Stock Splits, Sheridan Titman, Chi Shen Wei, Bin Zhao

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We identify a group of “suspicious” firms that use stock splits, perhaps along with other activities, to artificially inflate their share prices. Following the initiation of suspicious splits, share prices temporarily increase, and subsequently decline below their presplit levels. Using account level data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, we find that small retail investors acquire shares in firms initiating suspicious splits, while more sophisticated investors accumulate positions before suspicious split announcements and sell in the postsplit period. We also find that insiders sell large blocks of shares and obtain loans using company stock as collateral around the initiation of suspicious …

Exhibiting Transnationalism After Vietnam: The Alpha Gallery In Pursuit Of An Authentic Southeast Asian Art Form, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay examines how the Alpha Gallery, an independent artists cooperative established by Malaysians and Singaporeans, curated and staged art shows in the 1970s that advanced its project to unearth and promote an intrinsically Southeast Asian aesthetic. The cooperative pursuit a transnational vision of inter-regional connections between the Bengali Art Renaissance of the early twentieth century and Balinese folk art. It also harbored ambitions of sparking a cultural renaissance in Southeast Asia, though these were ultimately unfulfilled. Importantly, as this essay shows, the cooperative’s transnational vision mirrored the racist thinking and paternalism of Euro-American colonial discourses about civilizing the region’s …

Secured Transactions Law In Asia: Principles, Perspectives And Reform By Louise Gullifer And Dora Neo, Wee Ling Loo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Secured Transactions Law in Asia: Principles, Perspectives and Reform is the third in a series of works that critically examine secured transactions law reform around the world. From a focus on reforms in Europe in the first book to reforms in Africa in the second, this third volume looks at Asia, and specifically at reforms in 13 major Asian jurisdictions: China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Singapore. The collection of essays by leading experts from academia, legal practice and the World Bank Group was first presented at a 2018 conference jointly …

Corporate Shareholders In Singapore: Retail Shareholders, Effective Empowerment And The Unfulfilled Promise Of The Digital Revolution, Pearlie M. C. Koh, Hwee Hoon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Under Singapore’s companies legislation, shareholders are vested with significant powers, placing them in the position to play an important monitoring role. Although there are discernible corporate governance benefits to encouraging shareholders to take on a more participatory role, many have argued against shareholder empowerment. Indeed, it is often asserted that shareholders are ill-equipped to play any role in corporate governance for a variety of reasons, including the generally-held view that shareholders, in particular retail investors, are rationally apathetic. The situation is presumed to be exacerbated in Singapore’s “concentrated shareholding” corporate environment. In this research, we sought empirical data to assess …

Experiential Learning: The Case Of Training Mba Students In An Asian School, Chiyachantana N. Chiraphol, Kuan Yong David Ding, Jack Jiajun Hong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Consulting for a startup company is an effective way for Master of Business Administration (MBA) students to learn about management consulting, and the ways and means of a startup company. This paper discusses the experience of an MBA startup project within the context of a core corporate finance course. The project requires the active engagement of several groups of stakeholders—MBA students, the university’s entrepreneurship incubator, a selection of startup companies, and the project’s academic collaborators. In line with the literature, we find that entrepreneurship education through student-startup collaboration contributes to the students’ entrepreneurial learning, and that the offering of an …

Individual Perceptions Of Climate Anomalies And Collective Action: Evidence From An Artefactual Field Experiment In Malaysian Borneo, Terry Van Gevelt, T. Zamanb, K.N. Chanc, M.M. Bennettd

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We explore the effect of individual perceptions of climate anomalies on collective action within a context of environmental complexity and uncertainty. To do so, we construct two competing propositions that are theoretically robust but with very different real-world implications. Our first proposition suggests that collective action to adapt to climate change is likely to be more effective when perceptions of climate anomalies converge within a community. Our second proposition suggests the opposite: that convergence is likely to hinder adaptation behaviour. We use a community co-designed measure of perceptions and an artefactual field experiment to test our propositions and explore the …

Watering The Desert, Draining The Oasis: Navigating Drought, Development, And Irrigation Politics In The Draa Valley, Morocco, Jamie Fico

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Changes In Sociocultural Stressors, Protective Factors, And Mental Health For Us Latina Mothers In A Shifting Political Climate, Amy L. Non, Elizabeth S. Clausing, Kimberly L. D’Anna Hernandez

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Background To investigate changes in sociocultural stressors and protective factors, and mental health in Latina mothers before and after the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Methods We examined changes in sociocultural stressors, protective factors, and mental health from two prospective cohorts of Latina mothers from interior and border US cities (Nashville, TN, n = 39 and San Diego, CA, ns range = 78–83; 2013–2020).

Results We identified significant longitudinal increases in depression, anxiety, and perceived stress in the border city, and reductions in protective factors (e.g., optimism, social support, and familism) across sites. Discrimination varied by location, and was associated with …

Changes In Sociocultural Stressors, Protective Factors, And Mental Health For Us Latina Mothers In A Shifting Political Climate, Amy L. Non, Elizabeth S. Clausing, Kimberly L. D’Anna Hernandez

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Background To investigate changes in sociocultural stressors and protective factors, and mental health in Latina mothers before and after the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Methods We examined changes in sociocultural stressors, protective factors, and mental health from two prospective cohorts of Latina mothers from interior and border US cities (Nashville, TN, n = 39 and San Diego, CA, ns range = 78–83; 2013–2020).

Results We identified significant longitudinal increases in depression, anxiety, and perceived stress in the border city, and reductions in protective factors (e.g., optimism, social support, and familism) across sites. Discrimination varied by location, and was associated with …

Can Geopolitics Help Restore Missing Tools To The U.S. Trade Toolbox?, Matthew Schaefer

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

When U.S. trade negotiators and trade litigators seek to increase market access for U.S. goods and services abroad, they look in their toolbox to see what might be the best tool. The more well-stocked the toolbox, the more possibilities for increasing foreign market access. Today, when U.S. trade negotiators look in their toolbox, they see several traditional tools missing, specifically legally-binding, comprehensive (including tariff-cutting) regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and large package deals within the World Trade Organization (WTO). Their trade litigator colleagues face a similar circumstance of missing traditional tools, specifically the loss of binding two-level dispute …

China Containment In East Asia: Preventative Or Provocative?, Rachel Solsman

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed and maintained its strategic alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and has worked to contain China through bolstering its deterrence strategy. However, after a century of humiliation, China is modernizing its military capabilities, improving in trade, and increasing political cohesion to become a regional hegemon. In light of these changes to the international order, the United States must re-evaluate its involvement in East Asia, particularly concerning its alliances and current military and economic deterrence strategy against China. This paper will draw on a variety of …

Digital Agriculture In Africa: An Ethnographic Study Of Global Online Networking And Resource Mobilization On Mfangano Island, Ian James Muir Smith

Senior Theses

In one of the most isolated parts of Kenya, on an island in Lake Victoria, small-scale farmers are using newfound internet access in a unique and innovative way. New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming agriculture around the world, and due to a political, infrastructural, and entrepreneurial environment conducive to ICT innovation, Kenya leads the African continent in this field, known in the media as “Digital Agriculture”. In the face of the climate crisis and environmental degradation, people living on and around Mfangano Island are using self-managed volunteering platforms, crowdfunding sites, and social media in order to network with …

Feminism At The Borders: The Navigation Of Gender Issues By Mexican-American Women Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Carolina Fuentes

Capstone Collection

Feminist movements have taken on various iterations since they first began, particularly as the movements expanded beyond predominantly Western and white spaces. This research study explores how gender equality is perceived and navigated along the U.S.-Mexico border area, taking into account the various Latin American and U.S. feminist developments that have shaped the current landscape of the border. 11 Mexican and Mexican-American women living in U.S.-Mexico border states were interviewed to gain an understanding of their definitions, perceptions, and opinions on feminism and gender-related issues given their bicultural contexts. These conversations revealed that ideas of rights and equality were central …

Manual Of Sustainable Urban Practices Towards Long-Term Conservation, Haley Kilmer

Capstone Collection

This paper analyzes how urban living and design can be detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems and how it is directly affecting the biodiversity loss of an area. To answer this question, I first did extensive background research on urbanization, climate change, and biodiversity loss as it relates to urban ecosystems. Then, the public’s perceptions were collected through surveys and interviews in order to make meaningful suggestions in the construction of an interactive, biological corridor map. The results showed that increasing the biodiversity of an urban area can help to mitigate many of the common environmental challenges associated with living in …

The Long Migration Route: Exploring Social Implications For Asylees In The Us And Policy Creation In Transit Countries As A Result Of Immigration Patterns Of African And Haitian Asylum-Seekers Traveling Through Latin America To The United States, Brendan Rupprecht

Capstone Collection

The number of asylum-seekers from African nations and Haiti traveling from their origin countries, through Latin America, and then to the United States is increasing. This capstone explores why Africans and Haitians are choosing to embark on this journey, what the experience is like for the asylum-seekers (including mapping the physical route taken), and what policies have been developed in transit countries, specifically Panama and Mexico, as a response to this phenomenon. To fulfill the objectives of the study, data was collected by conducting semi- structured interviews with 4 individuals who currently work in the field of international migration and …

Does Microcredit Reduce Poverty? An Empirical Exploration In India, Aneel Karnani, Seema Sahai

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Microcredit has grown dramatically over the last few decades and its supporters have made extravagant promises about its potential impact on reducing poverty. However, much recent research has shown that microcredit has no significant impact on reducing poverty. In this exploratory study we interview 205 clients of for-profit microcredit to better understand the causes of why microcredit has not lived up to its promise. We find the basic problem is that the lending policies of the microcredit organizations are designed to lower the costs and risks, and hence increase the profits of the organization, and are not responsive to the …

The Eastern Atomic Rise: Defining Nuclear Hegemony In A Multi-Lateral World, Eric Rodriguez

Capstone Collection

Most existing literature in the field of international relations on the hegemonic dimension of nuclear technology is written from a realist, western perspective within the context of the Cold War. It focuses on its military, defense, and security dimensions, non-proliferation and safety, and some analyses of hegemony from a cultural media perspective. This theory-building paper offers contrasting understanding of nuclear hegemony, which recognizes three recent developments: 1) diminished Western Hegemony in nuclear technology; 2) growing Chinese nuclear capacity in energy geopolitics; and 3) growing concerns about global energy security. This paper begins with an overview of these developments and a …