International and Area Studies Commons^™

Assessment Mission Report Ghana, Henrik Nilsson, Adama Sy, Amadou Ndiaye, El Hadji Mar Gueye, Dramane Cissokho, Marisa FernáNdez

MARENDA

Assessment report and training needs for port information technology and oil spill preparedness in Ghana for the MARENDA project.

Assessment Mission Report Cameroon, Henrik Nilsson, Adama Sy, Amadou Ndiaye, El Hadji Mar Gueye, Dramane Cissokho, Justin Kom, Marisa FernáNdez

MARENDA

Assessment report and training needs for port information technology and oil spill preparedness in Cameroon for the MARENDA project.

Gis And Database Management: Summer 2014 Internship With The Town Of Andover, Massachusetts, Heather Marie Cormier

Sustainability and Social Justice

My internship with the Town of Andover, Massachusetts took place during May, June, and July 2014. I worked directly with one supervisor, Laura DeGroot, for all projects, which included editing GIS administrative layers (e.g. boundaries, roads, zoning and school districts, etc.), creating new maps for recycling routes and septic systems within the town, analysis of census data, GPS data collection, and template design for online hiking trail maps. This report also details the mission of the town and how my internship played a role in achieving many of the overarching goals for data availability and communication, along with a reflection …

Energy Poverty And Justice: Using Renewable Energy In Marginalized Countries To Overcome Climate Change And Support Human Development, Drema Khraibani

Sustainability and Social Justice

Energy poverty is limited to no access to affordable, reliable, and efficient form of energy. Currently, there are 1.3 billion people living in energy poverty, being deprived of their basic need. Providing access to a billion people has become a global goal and movement for energy justice. With IPCC warning about global fossil fuel consumption, energy development has moved towards renewable options. Renewable energy provides those previously without access an ability to meet rudimentary needs. It can uplift communities and families from extreme poverty by easing their labor and extending the time they have to work after dark. Renewable energy …

Cyanobacteria Monitoring In The Charles River Lower Basin: Water Quality Assessment And Implications For Future Practice 2006-2014, Anjana Tamrakar

Sustainability and Social Justice

The resurgence of cyanobacterial blooms in the Lower Charles River basin is of great concern to public and ecosystem health due to the potential hazard of cyanotoxins produced by these colonial cyanobacteria. In response to public concern about the condition of the river, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) is conducting cyanobacteria monitoring program to improve the water quality since 2006 and developing a solutions to watershed problems. This report is a concise overview of the cyanobacterial bloom monitoring results, its relationship to trophic state and temporal dynamics and potential solutions for future monitoring to serve recreational users of the Lower …

Front Matter

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Cover, editorial board, submission guidelines, subscription information, and table of contents for Vol. 9, No. 2.

Smu Announces Development Plan To Enhance Its City Campus, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

Singapore Management University (SMU) today announced that it will embark on a two-year development project that will not only add new and much-needed additional learning, teaching and group study spaces to its current campus in the city, but also transform the landscape of the Civic District by injecting energy, zing and activities to the SMU Campus Green, with a vision to bring back the buzz and revive the ‘Bras Basah spirit’. The project will enhance the opportunities for SMU to engage with the community, and showcase the talent and vibrancy of the SMU campus and Singapore’s youth. Key features to …

Aquaculture And Coastal Habitats Mapping Of Vietnam, Thailand And Cambodia: Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Xiao Xiao

Sustainability and Social Justice

The report provides a detailed description of my internship experience with Clark Labs during the summer of 2014. As a research assistant, I was involved in the Aquaculture and Coastal Habitats Mapping project. This project was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. My responsibility was to create a baseline map of coastal habitats and the distribution of aquaculture (mostly shrimp) in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The internship was valuable, and gave an opportunity to learn and grasp more skills. It will influence my career goal in the future. I will definitely recommend this internship to people who have …

The “Art Of Rent”: Painters, Tourists, And Change In San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, Laura Riddering

Sustainability and Social Justice

This qualitative case study explores artisanal painters’ views on tourism and their impacts on cultural change in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala. They struggle with new cultural and economic identities through art. Painting is a way to overcome historical discrimination based on their identity, while they explore, develop, and communicate their cultural identities to themselves and outsiders. By selling paintings of cultural scenes that are of interest to them and to tourists, they strengthen their voices in the marketplace. Harvey’s (2002) concept of “space of hope” and Appadurai’s (2004) concept of “capacity to aspire” frame an understanding of this process …

Trilogy Of Violence: Religion, Culture And Identity The Abused Muslim Woman In The Age Of Secular Modernity, Hasnaa T. Mokhtar

Sustainability and Social Justice

Like many religious traditions, men use Islam to justify and sustain patriarchal control of women. Islam is stigmatized as inherently violent and oppressive to women. The dominant rhetoric among Muslim feminists attributes the aggression to the misinterpretation and misreading of sacred Islamic texts. However, an on-site observation and exploration of the 2014 gathering of Rihla in Konya, Turkey revealed that misinterpretation is but one of many causes and justifications of cultural Violence Against Muslim Women. The purpose of this research is to explore a new dimension of cultural violence against women in the name of Islam by examining the intersection …

A Study In How Linking Social Capital Functions In Community Development, Julie Burress Jordan

Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explores how linking social capital is mobilized in community development and proposes an analytical framework for studying linking social capital relationships unique from bonding and bridging social capital. Linking social capital defines those relationships that are acting to bridge individuals across institutional boundaries and can be particularly important in rural, less developed regions. Although not frequently used in empirical studies, linking capital is typically measured by counting membership in external groups or associations. This study revealed the most direct benefit from linking social capital was financial support from intermediary agencies. Additionally, linking social capital has indirect community …

Examining The Effectiveness Of An Online Community Of Practice: The New Tactics Program, Frances Mary Rashmi Boehnlein

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this Practitioner’s paper is to develop a clear understanding of the basic elements needed for a successful online community of practice. I will explore what The Center for Victims of Torture’s New Tactics (NT) in Human Rights program is currently doing, distinguish effective-based best practices and offer recommendations to the program as to what they could improve to support the vision of a thriving online community of practice. This paper draws on both literature focusing on communities of practice, as well as my experience working with the NT program. I conclude that for as many participants who …

An Organizatonal Approach To Meaursing The Impact Of Mentoring On Mentors: A Research Study With Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Central Massachusetts/Metrowest, Shala Murray

Sustainability and Social Justice

This Master’s paper is an approach to assessing the impact of mentoring on volunteers at the mentoring agency Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Massachusetts/Metrowest (BBBS). The mentoring research field is one in which the focus has solely been on the mentee and their developmental changes. Entities have not taken into consideration the developmental changes of the mentor; however, Bronfenbrenner’s theory on reciprocal dyads serves as the overarching rationale for why this is critical. A literature review was conducted to provide a framework in understanding why an organization would take on mentoring, exploring specifically the ways in which mentoring transforms …

Diplomatic Normalization Between The Us And Cuba In Light Of Recent Changes In Us Foreign Policy More Generally, Ethan Zawatsky, Ashley Gemma

Senior Honors Projects

We analyze normalization of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. We first examine the causes of previous normalizations with Vietnam and China. From these cases, we identify factors that are key to the normalization process. These include political turnover, economic interests, other special interest groups, public sentiment, and what we refer to as the Lawnmower Effect. This effect is observed when one or both nations attempt to reopen diplomatic ties only to continually fail to establish relations due to the endurance of underlying political issues. We use the Multiple Streams Framework (a policy formulation theory) in order to evaluate …

Rush To Judgment: The Sti-Treatment Trials And Hiv In Sub-Saharan Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon, Larry Sawers

Economics Faculty Publications

Introduction: The extraordinarily high incidence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa led to the search for cofactor infections that could explain the high rates of transmission in the region. Genital inflammation and lesions caused by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were a probable mechanism, and numerous observational studies indicated several STI cofactors. Nine out of the ten randomized controlled trials (RCTs), however, failed to demonstrate that treating STIs could lower HIV incidence. We evaluate all 10 trials to determine if their design permits the conclusion, widely believed, that STI treatment is ineffective in reducing HIV incidence.

Discussion: Examination of the …

Undocumented Youth Living Between The Lines: Urban Governance, Social Policy, And The Boundaries Of Legality In New York City And Paris, Stephen P. Ruszczyk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation compares the transition to adulthood of undocumented youth in New York and Paris, along with analysis of the construction of illegality in each city. In both the United States and France, national restrictions against undocumented immigrants increasingly take the form of deportations and limiting access to social rights. New York City and Paris, however, mitigate the national restrictions in important but different ways. They construct "illegality" differently, leading to different young adult outcomes and lived experiences of "illegality." This project uses seven years of multi-site ethnographic data to trace the effects of these mitigated "illegalities" on two dozen …

Family Resilience And Sojourning Japanese Families In The U.S., Mitsuyo Izumi

Dissertations

This study examined processes of family resilience sojourning Japanese parents reported using while raising children (between the ages of 4 and 8) in the U.S., the relationship between family resilience and child behavior and impact of stressful life events, and predictors of the impact of stressful life events and child behavior. Seventy mothers and 37 fathers from six Japanese educational institutions completed self-report questionnaires. Measures included Japanese translations of the Family Resilience Assessment (Duncan Lane, 2011), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997), the Impact of Stressful Life Events Scale (Hasui et al., 2009), the Kansas Marital Satisfaction (Schumm et al., …

A Refugee Paradox? Processes Of Inclusion And Exclusion Of Bosnian Refugees In Germany And Sweden, Brittany S. Beyer

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The aim of this project is to explain what factors account for the differentials in treatment of Bosnian refugees in Sweden and Germany. Although both of these states are signatories of the same international conventions that govern states’ humanitarian obligations toward refugees, the resources available to the refugees varied greatly between both countries, which in turn influenced the lived experiences of the Bosnian refugees. This paper examines these discrepancies within the contexts of ideas about national citizenship, the existence of governmental institutions designed to foster refugee integration, and external, non-state factors such as the media and other charitable organizations that …

A Path To Peace: Reconciling The Sunni-Shi’A Conflict In Iraq, Kelsey L. Modica

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The Iraqi state has a long history of division between Sunnis and Shiites. This conflict has often been violent and continues even today. Ultimately, this division dates back to the seventh century after the death of Muhammad. In order to better understand why there is a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and not other countries, it is essential to understand the similarities and differences between their ideologies but also how they have been rooted against each other throughout history. Therefore, I begin with a description of the similarities and differences between Sunnis and Shiites to show the common …

Localizing The International: Examining How Fieldworkers Combat Adolescent Pregnancy In Northern Ghana, Alexandra C. Sloss

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

International aid is often ineffective because it is delivered without an understanding of local ideologies and contexts. My Capstone examined whether or not international aid in northern Ghana could be effective when addressing adolescent pregnancy. The Ghanaian programs I address in my Capstone are six non-governmental organizations, a government sub-district clinic and government junior high schools. The majority of my data was collected through interviews with individuals at all levels of the organizations, including directors, staff members, volunteers and individuals seeking the organization’s services. Alongside interviews I also spent time in the field, participating in youth group discussions, visiting regional …