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Gaussian Graphical Models: An Exploration and Application of Learning Conditional Independence
Get PDFThis paper is an application and exploration of how precision matrices signify conditional independence between Gaussian random variables, and what this conditional independence means for the simplification of probabilistic graphical models. We worked with atmospheric data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Skamarock, William C., et al., 2012) to determine conditional independence between Gaussian mean variables. We also generated variables from an ordinary differential equation system and looked at the resulting precision matrices. This research details one potential avenue to create precision matrices and probabilistic graphical models from a set of Gaussian random variables, then determine conditional independence. It also explores the setup for a problem relating precision matrices to an oscillating system of ordinary differential equations, and potential applications of this method.</p
The Relationship Between Refugees’ Gratitude and Contributions, and Host Citizen Prosocial Behavior
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The current study examines the relationship between gratitude expressions and contributions by refugees and the subsequent prosocial behavior by host citizens, as moderated by host citizens’ individual prosociality orientations. This research question has implications for the integration and circumstances of refugees arriving in host countries and could inform programs that help refugees adapt to their new environment. It was hypothesized that gratitude expression, contribution, and higher prosociality orientations would all have significant effects on prosocial behavior. There were 181 people in the original sample, and 167 were used for analysis. There was not found to be any significant main effect between any of the variables and the prosocial behavior. There were also no significant interactions between any of these variables that impacted prosocial behavior. Previous research has established a link between prosocial behavior toward refugees and individual prosocial orientations, which this study failed to replicate (Böhm et al. 2018). Past literature has also found a relationship between gratitude expression and prosocial behavior, which was not found in the current study (Grant & Gino, 2010). This discrepancy with previous studies may indicate limitations with the current study, including small sample size, construction of the refugee, and participant perceptions of the study itself. </p
We Shall Overcome: Women in the American Workforce, On- and Off-Screen (1960-1989)
Get PDFThis thesis analyzes three films depicting women in the workforce, along with the historical and cultural contexts that they evoke, specifically focusing on one film per decade—A New Kind of Love (Melville Shavelson, 1963), Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979), and Baby Boom (Charles Shyer, 1987). Each becomes the foundation for understanding women’s professional evolution during their respective times. Furthermore, covering this wide three-decade range demonstrates both the limited progress and the circularity in cinematic portrayals of working women. A New Kind of Love and Baby Boom share many similarities, while Norma Rae distinguishes itself as a fleeting depiction of a working woman in Hollywood cinema. Moreover, this thesis encourages readers to think critically about the relationship between women’s professional evolution on- and off-screen, as well as advertising’s role in shaping their identities. Rooted in Second-Wave Feminism and its history, this piece ultimately questions, as any sociopolitical movement requires, what next steps we can take to support and empower the world’s many Norma Raes.</p
Misogyny's New Microphone; Analyzing the Ideology of Red Pill/Alpha Male Content Creators.
Get PDFThis study uses qualitative data analysis to examine the emergence of self-proclaimed“alpha male” and/or “red pill” content creator’s ideology and the impact of their ideology oncollege-age students. It also seeks to replicate findings about pathways into the consumption ofthis content. This study provides information regarding current and emerging research on maleextremist organizations online that relate to these content creators. It also discusses these contentcreator's ideologies based on established sociological theory. Through a content analysis of fivepopular content creators who fall into the category of being red-pilled/alpha male contentcreators, four propositions about the core concepts of their ideology were created. From thoseconcepts, a twenty-eight-question survey was created to assess the prevalence of that ideology incollege-age students. These core concepts are related to what is considered to be extremistideology. The survey attempted to assess if the students who consumed this content were morelikely to believe these core ideologies. Those concepts included traditional gender roles, doublestandards between male and female partners, hypergamy, and victim blaming when it comes tosexual violence. Although findings about the impact of alpha male and red pill content creators'ideology remained inconclusive due to low sample sizes from that population, findings aroundthe beliefs about these ideologies based on gender identity proved to be fundamentally differentregardless of consumption of the content. Women who do not watch the content tend to have aunifying opposition to extremist ideology while men who do not watch the content tend to havemore spread out beliefs about the extremist ideology.</p
The Economic Impact of Natural Disasters Across the United States: Evidence from Housing Prices, Population, and Income
Get PDFThis paper explores the effects of natural disasters on housing prices, population, and percapita personal income, both individually and collectively. This model uses a panel-data ap-proach with fixed effects and lagged variables to determine whether certain disasters had amore measurable effect on various economic indicators. The primary sample for housing pricesincludes years between 2016 and 2020, whereas for population and income, all years from 2010to 2023 are included. This paper found that before 2021, a natural disaster reduced estimatedhousing prices by 0.512% at the margin. Population was initially associated with an increaseafter a disaster, followed by a reduction in the growth rate of 0.05% after a year. Per capitapersonal income was associated with the strongest positive effect, with income increasing after2 years by 0.282%.</p
A Study on the Relationship Between Art and Elections
Get PDFThis thesis seeks to understand the relationship between art and election through thesocial media platform X. Though art in social change movements and how people win electionsare thoroughly studied, the role of art in elections is drastically understudied. To understand thisrelationship, this thesis first examines how art on X correlates with polling and exit poll data inthe 2024 United States presidential election through an empirical analysis. Then through asubjective study on how this election impacted the art of the author in four original paintings.This study found that art on social media does, though only marginally, impact Democraticcandidates but not Republican candidates. Furthermore, the author was greatly influenced by theelection and thus their art was as well. They were able to understand their thoughts and feelingson the election through this process. Together the two studies showcase the role of art in the 2024US presidential election.</p
Analysis of pre-colonial, Ancient American genomes for archaic introgressed haplotypes and alleles
Get PDF Ancient DNA is critical in unraveling recent historical events in human evolution, including the discovery of interbreeding between humans and several groups of archaic hominins, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. In this study, we explore the extent of archaic hominin introgression in the genomes of Indigenous, pre-contact Americans, compare the percentage of admixture to other global populations, and look for specific genes or genome regions with uniquely higher levels of archaic ancestry. We collected 39 pre-Columbian ancient Indigenous genomes from the existing literature, processed them, including variant calling, and used admixfrog to detect Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry. In preliminary analysis of the 21st chromosome of six individuals, we found comparable levels of archaic ancestry to modern Eurasian populations. This is an impactful area of study because aDNA is a rapidly growing field, however, political barriers, technical difficulties, and sampling bias have all contributed to sparse sampling of ancient American genomes. Failure to include Indigenous stakeholders with sovereignty over ancient individuals and Eurocentric allele screenings have impacted the accessibility of usable Indigenous genetic data. Ancient American genomic studies are crucial to understanding modern American populations, including cross-disciplinary understanding of ancient migration, archaic introgression patterns, and contemporary Indigenous American population structures. </p
ROLL FOR HEALING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY INTO THE EFFICACY OF VIRTUAL WEST MARCHES AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL
Get PDFRoll for Healing is a qualitative study involving grounded theory and narrative analysis of the Virtual West March medium. While Tabletop Role-Playing Games have been studied extensively for the way that they help develop social skills and manage traumatic experiences in their players, the intimately private, community-based Virtual West March medium has been neglected in the scholarship. The difficulty of finding these communities, and their protectiveness of their players, contribute to this gap in knowledge. A Virtual West March Discord server was created to host the study, and eleven players were interviewed regarding their experiences. It was found that while accessibility and the potential for an autonomous, fantasy-based narrative are major draws of the hobby, it is the Out of Character Community that contributes the most to feelings of enjoyment, and that these spaces can operate self-directed in ways similar to group therapy. However, there is significant risk posed by administrative mismanagement of these spaces, emphasizing the importance of competent, attentive, and impartial leadership. Given this, there is high potential for the utility of West Marches as a therapeutic tool.</p
Psychological Safety and Learning in Diverse Teams: The Role of Race and Team Racial Composition
Get PDFThis study examines how racial identity and the racial composition of a team influence psychological safety and learning behaviors in undergraduate teams. Guided by social identity theory and distinctiveness theory, this study looks at how (1) racial composition within teams relates to the psychological safety of individuals on those teams and (2) levels of individual and team psychological safety relate to learning behaviors critical for student success (i.e., vicarious, contextual, and reflexive learning). Data were collected from 253 undergraduate engineering students participating in a year-long senior capstone project. I found no statistically significant differences in psychological safety between racial groups based on team racial composition or significant associations between psychological safety and learning behaviors. However, I did find significant associations across different learning behaviors. Moreover, several weak-to-moderate, positive trends suggest potential relationships that may be obscured by my study’s limited sample size and high rate of attrition. These findings contribute to diversity literature and expand on existing research by looking at distinct learning behaviors in relation to psychological safety. </p
The Tyranny of Taste: An Exploration of American Fashion in the Mid-1800s
Get PDFIn mid-19th-century America, clothing served multiple roles. It symbolized racial
superiority for the white elites by drawing on Western traditions, styles, and history to establish
dominance. Clothing also reinforced highly defined gender roles, as women's attire compensated
for men’s more drab attire. However, most relevant to this paper is how clothing was used to
divide social classes. This paper explores how fashion evolved during the decade before, during,
and after the American Civil War, focusing on its role as a marker of social class. The period
from the 1850s to the 1870s was tumultuous in American history, as abolitionists clashed with
Southern enslavers in a struggle over American identity, all against the backdrop of expanding
industrialization. Clothing served as a key player in this struggle, as it legitimized the authority
of different ruling classes. The findings of this research are that elite Americans' monopoly over
fashion, and tight control of who could wear what devolved as industrialization and
modernization fundamentally changed how people interacted with clothing. Elite’s continued to
use European court fashion to associate themselves with a hierarchical system, but new
technology allowed more and more people to afford and take part in this industry. Men's fashion
remained relatively stagnant during this time moving toward a more egalitarian style as
industrialization lowered production, labour, and time costs. In contrast, women's fashion
changed enormously over the three decades. Women were often used as symbols by men to
display wealth, as new developments in manufacturing, trade, and synthetic production allowed
for more elaborate stylistic expression. As styles came and went the role of fashion publications,
fashion patterns, and industrial manufacturing opened up elite styles to the lower classes. This
transition began the decline of elite control over clothing. Because clothing is such a visual
representation of class and social mentality, examining how people regulated their attire in the
past provides a deeper understanding of history as a whole. To analyze these dynamics, this
paper utilizes a combination of magazines, etiquette guides, and daguerreotypes to investigate
how fashion during the three decades surrounding the Civil War evolved and reflected class
hierarchies. It specifically examines how the American elite dressed on the East Coast, with a
primary focus on New York City and other major metropolitan centers of the era.</p
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