Geography Commons^™

Assessment Of The Tourism Experience In The Castles Of Ajloun And Alkarak In Jordan On The Electronic Websites, Aseel Dbaisi, Nidal Alzbuon

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The aim of this study is to determine the destination image of Al karak and Ajloun castles according to visitors’ reviews on TraipAdvisor and to compare between them. The study used the qualitative approach to reveal the opinions of tourists on their visit to Al karak castle and Ajloun castle, using the content analysis method by analyzing visitor comments that were written on TripAdvisor, which allows visitors to express their tourism experience by writing comments and presenting it to million users of this site. The data was analyzed through the MAXQDA software, which allows us to import, analyze and encode …

Beyond Poverty: Exploring The Spatial Variability And Healthcare Determinants Of Opioid Mortality In West Virginia, Opeyemi Ojo

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study aims to investigate the multifaceted factors contributing to opioid-related deaths in West Virginia, focusing on healthcare determinants and regional disparities. Opioid mortality has become a critical public health issue in the United States, particularly in states like West Virginia, where rates of opioid-related deaths are disproportionately high compared to national averages. This thesis tends to investigate the impact of healthcare determinants on opioid mortality rates and explore the spatial variability of opioid-related deaths in West Virginia. To achieve these objectives, data was collected from secondary sources such as the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, the National Center for …

Macalester College Commemorative Landscape Critical Audit, Jordan Brasher, Annabelle Adachi, Zari Baker, Beya Hull, Mona Marshall, Ryan Przespolewski

Geography Department Class Projects

This critical audit examines the commemorative landscape at Macalester College, focusing on how its commemorative landscape features – with a special focus on campus building names – (do not) reflect the institution’s stated values and commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and global citizenship. Rather than a traditional audit which is focused on examining financial records and transactions to ensure accuracy, compliance, and accountability for financial management purposes, this critical audit evaluates Macalester’s compliance with its institutional mission and vision through its commemorative landscape. Starting from the position that commemorative place naming always involves selective decisions about whose legacy and contributions …

Why Is Grant Lake A Reservoir? A Brief Geological And Human History, From The Pleistocene To The Present, Robert B. Marks

Eastern Sierra History Journal

Drawing on a range of archival resources and illustrative material, Prof. Marks probes why and how Grant Lake in the Eastern Sierra of California became a reservoir. The process is long and involved, and has much to do with a remote and ancient lake ultimately being developed to serve the water needs of the distant city of Los Angeles.

Evaluating Quoddy Region Archaeological Site Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise And Erosion Through The Integration Of Gis Modeling And Surveys (Data Files), Katelyn Dewater, Arthur Anderson, Gabriel Hrynick, William Kochtitzky

Geographic Information Systems Data Projects

Modeling coastal archaeological site erosion often depends on regional site databases that record sites accurately but with variable precision or do not define site extent. This case study examines the impact of sea level rise and erosion on 10 coastal archaeological sites in the Quoddy Region of Maine through the comparison of sea level rise models and field observations. Three sea level scenarios were modeled to predict the vulnerability of sites: current sea level, a 0.457 m increase (Low 2050 scenario), and a 0.914 m increase (High 2050 scenario), reflecting levels recommended by the Maine Climate Council for preparation efforts. …

Streets For The People: Rethinking Urban Mobility, Mariya A. Vahanvaty

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This lesson embarks on an exploration of how America’s deep-rooted car culture emerged and its lasting impact on modern life. Students will understand the decline of early public transportation systems and how World War II catalyzed rapid technological advancements, leading to a shift in infrastructure and business priorities. They'll analyze how post-war economic prosperity fueled mass motorization, with cars becoming a status symbol for Americans. Three key drivers—post-WWII technological advancements, urban sprawl, and the rise of car culture—serve as a framework for understanding the U.S.'s car reliance. Through evidence-based analysis, students will then apply these concepts to case studies, deducing …

Understanding Gold Textiles: Case Studies Of Gold Threads From The Bronze Age And Antiquity In Europe, Karina Grömer, Francesca Coletti, Francisco B. Gomes, Kayleigh Saunderson

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

The production of textiles, in terms of weaving techniques, has a long history in Europe, and dates back to the Stone Age, the time during which the first farming communities arrived in the Mediterranean and Central Europe, in the 7th/6th millennium BC. The first evidence of textile tools, like spindle whorls and loom weights, demonstrate that people made an important step forward in mechanizing this craft, not only twisting fibers and interlacing strands purely by hand, but also inventing tools to increase efficiency. Through the development of textile techniques, we see the unleashing of enormous creative power that stimulated even …

“What’S In A Name?” Toponyms And Loanwords In European Textile Cultures, Dimitra Andrianou, Klara Dankova, Nade Genevska Brachikj, Angela Huang, Meghan Korten, Elena Miramontes, Jasemin Nazim, Marie-Alice Rebours, Joana Sequeira

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles as man-made products have been exchanged over distances for millennia. They can and have been produced almost anywhere; they are also, as a product, highly differentiated and quickly adjustable to changing demands. This brings with it naming practices to communicate about the goods in question. Textiles are labeled so that people can form expectations about them and rely on the reputation tied to the product’s identity. The terminology of textiles and textile items arises and develops in unison with technical innovations, discoveries, fashions, and trade patterns. Although the occurrence of toponyms e.g., in preindustrial trade (10th to 18th century …

The Terminology Of Soft Furnishings In Ancient Babylonia, Greece, And Rome: A Comparative Approach, Dimitra Andrianou, Elena Miramontes, Louise Quillien

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Various kinds of textiles were used to furnish domestic spaces in Antiquity, such as curtains, covers, hangings, pillows, cushions, mattresses, rugs, tapestries, tablecloths, and towels. These objects have practical and everyday functions, they embellish and add to daily comfort in the house and speak to the owner’s prosperity. Being made of perishable materials, furnishings have, on the whole, not survived in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Apart from a few excavated pieces of textiles found in tombs, our information comes primarily from written testimonia and iconography.

It is thus essential to consider soft furnishings in their own right, in order …

Textiles, Dress And Politics: A Diachronic Perspective Through The Case Studies Of Ancient Rome And Medieval Iceland, Meghan Korten, Zofia Kaczmarek

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

People dress for more than just aesthetic reasons. Over the centuries, dress became a sign of human civilization, allowing us to identify the origin, gender, and status of the wearer. Textiles and clothing influence our body, posture, movements, and the way we are perceived by society. Textiles are also a tool used by people to further their agenda, that is why they found their place in the political life of many ancient and modern societies.

According to Michel Foucault, power can be understood as a set of activities influencing the life of the other: It provokes, forbids, or permits, but …

Mapping And Spatial Analysis To Expand Rural Broadband Access, John C. Kostelnick, Jonathan B. Thayn, Koushik Sinha

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

High-speed broadband internet access is a critically important issue for many aspects of daily life, yet populations in rural areas are often unserved or underserved with reliable internet connectivity. Expanding broadband internet coverage in rural areas may have significant economic potential, especially since it enables precision farming which in turn increases yields, particularly for row crops such as corn and soybeans. This paper introduces methods that utilize GIS spatial analysis and remote sensing to assist in efforts to expand rural broadband access using case study counties in Illinois. Specifically, the methods presented here: (1) quantify current cropland production as well …

Considerations For Enhancing Participation And Data Accuracy In Geospatial Research In Rural Areas: Experiences With Pgis In Northern Malawi, Daniel Kpienbaareh, Isaac Luginaah, Rachel Bezner Kerr

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Rural environments are experiencing rapid changes that must be explored to understand, enhance, and facilitate positive changes and adapt to detrimental changes. However, the information researchers can obtain about the environment to identify effective management strategies for rural resources is hindered by several factors. Participatory geospatial research presents an approach that integrates local voices to map the facts and values of rural people and represent environmental changes. Here, we draw on more than six years of participatory geospatial research in rural northern Malawi to identify and present various considerations that participatory geospatial researchers and planners should be mindful of when …

Geomorphology, Sedimentology, And Depositional Chronology Of The Christmas Dunes And Their Implications For Proglacial Lake Drainage In The Lake Superior Basin, Abigail Fischer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Megaflood (or catastrophic flood) landscapes resulting from overflow or outburst flooding processes have been a focus of geoscientific inquiry dating back nearly 150 years. In these landscapes, the geomorphic forms, both depositional and erosional, have been used to elucidate on the magnitude, frequency, chronology, and landscape evolutionary processes during these high-magnitude events. In addition, recent research has pointed to the landscape altering consequences of these events in creating and/or reorganizing drainage basins downstream of where these events originate – creating new hydrogeomorphic systems. Two significant questions remain in this research: 1) what is the genesis of megaflood depositional dune-like landforms …

Suburbanization Of California's Deserts, Mike Kohout

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Short-Term Rentals On Neighborhoods: Crime, Economic Development, And City Ordinances In Rochester, Minnesota, Ethan Smith

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The concept of online-based peer-to-peer (P2P) short-term rental (STR) lodging, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, is still a relatively recent phenomenon that has experienced rapid growth in the past decade. Due to the rapid growth of STRs, many areas of this phenomenon have been left relatively unexplored, such as the relationship between STRs and neighborhood crime. The association between neighborhood crime and STRs is attributed to the negative spotlight in the news, causing STRs to develop a negative connotation due to their perceived impacts on neighborhoods. Due to that connotation, it is believed that STRs contribute to neighborhood crime because …

A Study Of Multimodal Accessibility Equity And Spatio-Temporal Relationships Between Transit, Job Density And Modal Split, Seyedsoheil Sharifiasl

Planning Dissertations - Archive

In North American cities, the land use and transportation systems are associated with low-density, suburban-type urban development, where the built environment contributes to a mobility pattern that is extremely reliant on automobiles. Several studies in the past decades have documented noticeable and concerning patterns of unjust and unsustainable transportation in this context. As a result, for those population groups with limited access to private transportation, this form of urban structure is equivalent to limited access to opportunities, leading to various environmental and social problems. These problems exacerbate inequities in access to transportation, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. From a sustainable development …

Sauntering Spirituality: Walking Through Environmental History In Audio, Jamie E. Hinrichs

Eastern Sierra History Journal

Walking provides pathways into environmental history, and environmental history enriches our walking. Sauntering Spirituality is conceived as an audio documentary series that invites listeners into this intersection of perambulation and the past. Each episode would explore how walking – as “sauntering spirituality” – has shaped the American land ethic.

Regional And Landscape Scale Examination And Attribution Of Vegetation Changes To Social-Environmental System Drivers In Kazakhstan, Venkatesh Kolluru

Dissertations and Theses

Kazakhstan (KZ) experienced widespread changes in ecosystem structure and function. The country is a climate and land cover/use change “hotspot” owing to political reforms, intensified grazing, and extreme climatic events. Despite their importance, there is a lack of consensus about vegetation changes, trends, and drivers in KZ. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for effectively managing and restoring grassland ecosystems. However, a pressing challenge is discerning anthropogenic-driven vegetation changes from climate variability and decomposing the responses to the complex human-environmental forcings. Motivated by these challenges, I employed statistical and machine learning algorithms to detect and attribute vegetation changes to social-environmental …

A Combinatory Approach To Understanding The Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence And Financial Labour Markets, Michael Samers, Yujia He

Geography Faculty Publications

This paper provides a critical conceptualization of the relationship between artificial intelligence and financial labour markets in the United States. In doing so, we ask first, what are the characteristics of ‘actually existing AI’ in the financial sector? Second, what are the various ways in which the relationship between AI and its effects on financial labour or employment over approximately the last decade are approached theoretically, conceptually, or methodologically? Third, what are the (spatial) consequences of AI for financial labour markets in the United States? In responding to these questions, we develop a combinatory approach that integrates a ‘financial ecologies’ …

The Impact Of Dissolved Organic Matter On Photodegradation Rates, Byproduct Formations, And Degradation Pathways For Two Neonicotinoid Insecticides In Simulated River Waters, Josephus F. Borsuah, Tiffany L. Messer, Daniel D. Snow, Steven D. Comfort, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt

UK CARES Faculty Publications

The influences of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on neonicotinoid photochemical degradation and product formation in natural waters remain unclear, potentially impacting the sustainability of river systems. Therefore, our overall objective was to investigate the photodegradation mechanisms and phototransformation byproducts of two neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, under simulated sunlight at the microcosm scale, to assess the implications of DOM for insecticide degradation in rivers. Direct and indirect photolysis were investigated using twelve water matrices to identify possible reaction pathways with two DOM sources and three quenching agents. Imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and potential degradants were measured, and reaction pathways identified. The photodegradation …