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Electoral Certainty and Policy Uncertainty in Authoritarian Regimes: Russia as a Case Study
Under the guidance of Professor Rivera, I attempted to study two hypotheses using the data on perceptions of Russian elites. The two hypotheses respectively question the influence of (1) Russian elites on electoral uncertainty and (2) Russian elites on policy uncertainty. First, I explored the established relationship between authoritarianism and uncertainty, especially from a comparative perspective with case-studies from authoritarian countries around the world. Second, I investigated the case of both electoral and policy (un)certainty in Russia to explain why it is reasonable to use Russia as an empirical case to test the hypotheses. Followed by the literature review section, I will present the data analysis on uncertainty in electoral and policy outcomes, especially by looking at predictive perceptions rather than past results (i.e., perceptions of political succession and stability in the future). The conclusion will demonstrate whether the data confirms my hypotheses and how my study contributes to the current literature resources on this topic
Appendix 6: [Richard McNemar’s Memorial to the New Lebanon Ministry concerning Military Pensions, 1833.]
When the Tutor Is a Lady: Exploring the Gendered Dimensions of Writing Center Work
Sociological literature has demonstrated that workplaces may serve as sites of gender regime reproduction, reinforcing broader social attitudes about men and women’s competencies and presumed roles within society. However, scholars have devoted less attention to the study of workplaces in more progressive climates, such as colleges and universities. To fill this gap, I conducted eight hours of participant observation and sixteen interviews with peer tutors and students at an elite private college’s writing center. I situate my study within gender regime theory, scholarship on gender and work, and literature on emotional labor. This study finds evidence for both gender parity and inequity within Elite College’s Writing Center. Men and women tutors engage in comparable amounts of emotional labor, but men are perhaps more resistant to this labor than women. There is also preliminary evidence that tutors may engage in strategies to mask gender dynamics within conferences, such as when women tutors adopt more serious tones with male students or when men tutors sit farther away from female students. Cumulatively, these findings contribute to the literature on gender and work by demonstrating that gender typifications are not as strongly pronounced in social spaces where power is lateralized rather than hierarchical. Furthermore, they lend themselves to policies that might improve the experiences of student employees, such as counseling to prevent burnout and training that prepares women to manage challenging or disrespectful clients
Late to the Club: Small Group Membership and the Secondary Socialization of January Admits
This project investigates the mechanisms that allow January admissions students at Hamilton College – colloquially referred to as “Jans” – to become fully integrated members of the college community. In this paper, I work to understand the role of student-led groups and non-organized opportunities for socialization and how they affect new students’ sense of belonging on campus. This research supplements gaps in existing literature on mid-year admissions students by providing a student-driven understanding of what it means to begin college as a first-year student in the spring semester and the effects of this alternative schedule on the first-year socialization processes. Over the course of the research period, I completed 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews with six participants, chronicling Jans’ experience adjusting to college over the course of their first few weeks on campus. This data demonstrated that academic success and small-group membership were key factors in student satisfaction and that members of small groups were more confident than other Jans when imagining their future at the college. Throughout the interviews, Jans expressed a strong sentiment of belonging on campus and reported tremendous confidence in their ability to become fully integrated members of the college community
First-Generation Nation: Analyzing the College Transition Experiences of First-Generation Students at an Elite Postsecondary Institution
This research project aims to analyze the experiences of first-generation college students as they transition to an elite postsecondary institution—namely, a private liberal arts college—which is the setting where they are the least represented yet the most marginalized. I hope to answer two primary research questions. The first is concerned with examining the formal and informal processes that shape the college transition experience for first-generation students, and to what extent such processes work to their advantage or disadvantage relative to their non-first-generation peers. To elaborate, from an institutional standpoint I examine the role administrators play in implementing programs or providing resources geared specifically towards addressing the needs of first-generation students, and how a prevalence or absence of such supports determines whether this population struggles or succeeds in transitioning to college life. Furthermore, on an individual level, I inspect how the particular social and cultural context of a college campus shapes the everyday lives of these students, particularly whether and how they find community and a sense of belonging among their peers similar or dissimilar to themselves. I employ two primary research methods. The first is a quantitative survey that is intended to record demographics of the first-generation population at the study site, along with information that can provide an initial portrait of first-generation students’ beliefs and sentiments regarding their college transition experiences. My next research method is qualitative by contrast and involves 15 to 20 in-depth interviews with self-identified first-generation students who will be recruited from the campus-wide survey initially distributed to the larger student body. My purpose is to acquire a more holistic understanding of the ways in which first-generation students attending elite colleges conceptualize, experience and navigate the college transition process, from an institutional and social/cultural perspective
Rethinking Time, Culture, and Socioeconomic Organisation in Bronze Age Transylvania
South-west Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Age Europe, helping to facilitate the development of increasingly hierarchical societies. The absence of a radiocarbon-based chronology for Transylvania, however, has impeded understanding of the region\u27s role within broader socioeconomic networks. Here, the presentation of the first radiocarbon chronology for the Wietenberg Culture in south-west Transylvania allows the authors to highlight the importance of interregional exchange and reliable access to metal for Bronze Age European societies, and emphasise that resource-procurement zones follow unique trajectories of socioeconomic organisation
Unlearning
A three part conversation from the Unlearning Workshop organized by the Central New York Urban Humanities Working Group held on December 9, 2020. Published by Platform, a digital forum for conversations about buildings, spaces, and landscapes.
Part I - Swati Chattopadhyay, Mabel O. Wilson, and Peter Christensen
Part II - Ana María León, Charles Davis II, and Lawrence Chua
Part III - Samia Henni, Lesley Lokko, Victoria Young, Ana María León, Charles Davis II, Lawrence Chua, Peter Christensen, Lisa Trivedi, Mabel O. Wilson, Swati Chattopadhya
Friendship and Partiality: Toward a Theory of Virtue
We take our friends to be different from others. Unlike the people we pass while walking or acquaintances we have from our work, our friends carry a special sort of value to us. That is to say, we are partial to our friends. This much is seen regularly – maybe when we help our friend who is struggling with work as opposed to any other co-worker. But, what sort of theory supports this claim to partiality? In this paper I will outline a number of accounts, all of which attempt to explain our partiality. I will argue that each of these accounts is lacking and then give my own account of partiality. A distinctly virtue ethical theory of partiality will prove to be best so far as it positively maps onto our intuitions of friendship (especially as a moral phenomenon)
Improvisation: Trust Us, This Is All Made Up!
I aim to offer a sociological explanation of the creative process of comedic improvisation. I investigated three improvisation ensembles in midwest with the mixed methodology of participant and direct observation and ethnographic interviews. Sociologists define creativity from a structural, organizational and collective lens. Sociologist have studied improvisation but the majority of the focus is on jazz musicians; very little has been written on unscripted, live theatre. Within this study, I review the literature and provide qualitative data on the collective process of improvising using the theoretical background of Art World, Schools of Activity and Collaborative Circles