Fordham University: DigitalResearch@Fordham
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Comac, Linda
No full textLinda Comac was born in 1948 in the Bronx and raised on Walton Avenue near 164th Street, where she lived until 1969. Her family had deep roots in the borough, dating back to the 1930s. She grew up across from Joyce Kilmer Park, which she remembers fondly, as well as frequenting local shops and hangouts along 161st Street, including Addie Valens ice cream parlor and the corner candy store near “the rocks.” Her building and neighborhood were overwhelmingly Jewish, and she recalled a strong sense of community and safety. Comac’s family kept kosher, and Jewish cultural traditions shaped much of her upbringing. Her father was an observant Orthodox Jew who was active in the local synagogue, Adath Jeshurun, while her mother cooked traditional Ashkenazi dishes like gefilte fish, gribenes, and chicken soup.
Linda attended PS 114, then Jordan L. Mott Junior High School (JHS 22), where she was in the Special Progress (SP) program, completing junior high in two years. She went on to attend William H. Taft High School, where she emerged from the shadow of her academically gifted sister and thrived socially and intellectually. Her early passion for writing led her to major in English literature in college, though her career path was varied—ranging from advertising and publishing to teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), where she eventually became director of the English Language Institute at New York Institute of Technology. Linda was politically aware but not heavily involved in the hippie or anti-war movements, although she reflected later in life on her shifting views on Vietnam and feminism.
Though she moved out of the Bronx in 1976, she carries vivid memories of her childhood and expresses a deep love for her home borough. She reflects nostalgically on its vibrant sense of community and mourns both the loss of that closeness and the displacement caused by modern gentrification
Unnatural Climate Solutions: The Naturalizing Practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine
No full textCan we really save the world with trees, solar panels, and ‘net zero’ sustainable business? These are the mainstream solutions proposed by powerful actors–however these are largely false ‘Natural’ solutions that embrace greenwashing and ignore environmental justice. The rhetoric of ‘Nature’ has led to the violation of indigenous sovereignty and urban green gentrification in the name of ‘Conservation’ and carbon offsets. But what does ‘Natural’ truly mean, what is at stake when we use the word, and what does it mean for humanity? Through interviews and public observations in Flushing, Queens I learned how the Chinese diaspora naturalizes the city through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine and how these practices can create the political and cultural will to change in light of the climate crisis. This paper explores what their knowledge has to offer in the fight for our planet and for urban environmental justice. Chapter 1 explores the impacts on marginalized people of false solutions for the climate crisis and why they are in-fact false solutions. Chapter 2 analyzes the sociological and political context of why these false solutions are pioneering the mainstream narrative of climate solutions. Chapter 3 discusses the theory of Chinese medicine as well as the history of it in the United States. It also dives into my study of the naturalizing practice of the Chinese diaspora in the city. Chapter 4 unveils the environmental injustice in Flushing and how the diaspora ‘practices’ nature. Chapter 5 outlines how the natural practice of Chinese medicine can create the political will needed to address the root issues of climate change
Waste In Relation to Populism: The Case of Tunis
No full textThroughout this body of work, I explore the challenges faced regarding proper waste management and its interconnectedness in political developments. Specifically, I examine this subject in the case of the greater metropolitan area of Tunis. Having lived in Tunisia each summer since I was born, I have seen the many stages of the country’s waste issue. I came to my research to discover the conditions that have led to illegal dumpsites and Tunisia’s growing waste management issue. The waste management sector regressed post-2011 revolution. With this, I have always assumed that the waste issue is intertwined with the country’s political and governmental issues. Going to Tunisia this past summer with this question in the back of my mind, I have come to discover much more about this subject and its significance. I have discovered the world of barbechas (waste collectors) and privatized recycling companies. Three entities are involved in Tunisia’s waste management: privatized companies, the government’s role, and local groups. I have gathered the following research articles and books that will help me put into more detail and perspective Tunisia’s waste management issue, which can also be seen as a global issue. The framework I have chosen to approach this research with is infrastructure and urbanism
Student Activism in Post-Colonial Societies: An Analysis of Egyptian and Indonesian Government Intervention in Student Movements
No full textStudent activism is a central component of many political movements against authoritarian hegemony. This paper focuses on multiple instances of student activism in Egypt and Indonesia over the past fifty years. As such, the following questions are considered: how have the post-colonial systems of government impacted legislation that enforces the limits of free speech and mobilization? How has student activism evolved in the digital age? How have governments responded to the changing digital landscape, and how might their tactics evolve in the future? These questions are considered within the framework of violence and its multiple forms, as Johan Galtung, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, and Philippe Bourgois propose. The post-colonial public sphere of each country is assessed through enacted legislation, as contextualized by Nicholas Onuf\u27s work on center-periphery relations. As such, it is argued that violence enacted by the state in their post-colonial forms is not only an extension of the means of subjugation utilized by colonial forces but also evolved in its approach to student activism in the digital age, which has been censored in a variety of ways. This assessment bears relevance as we encounter ever-evolving media and political landscapes, which are increasingly subject to government interventio
Stepping Towards Sustainability: Analyzing Walkability in Urban Environments
No full textThis paper examines path walkability in the urban environment and its various impact levels on different neighborhoods. One of the most accessible forms of sustainability is walking, as it produces zero carbon emissions and can harvest a greater sense of care for the human environment. In a growing urbanized world, providing citizens easy access to clean and safe sidewalks, parks, grocery stores, local restaurants, and religious organizations is essential. Accessible walking routes are vital in large, urban cities. The first chapter analyzes the need for walkable cities concerning ecosystem services and their functions. A brief history of New York’s urban planning is mentioned in the next part of the chapter. Green areas are significant in promoting walking in cities, fulfilling ecological and recreational functions, and making more aesthetic communities. Walkable neighborhoods in urban areas can be socioeconomically or racially discriminatory. As explored in chapter two, environmental justice exists in commutes to work, food sources, and religious organizations. The third chapter discusses how new infrastructure, like newly paved sidewalks, crosswalks, and landscaping elements, can implore neighborhood residents to walk and shop more in their neighborhoods. In the fourth chapter, the political policies and economics of building greener areas and how increased walking can boost the community\u27s economic standing will be brought forth. The fifth chapter provides how New York City achieved its high walkability and the importance of obtaining walkability in all cities.
Key Words: Walkability, infrastructure, equitable, economics, sustainability, urbanized, transportation, environmental justice, urban environmen
Examining Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Treatment Outcomes in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Offenders: A Randomized Controlled Study
No full textIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social problem with 30% of women suffering abuse at least once in their lifetime. Treatment for individuals that have committed an IPV offense targets maladaptive behavioral and cognitive patterns to prevent future violence. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers a promising treatment framework for IPV offender populations as it integrates many aspects of the leading interventions (i.e., RNR and CBT). The current study was the first to use a RCT to evaluate violent and non-violent recidivism outcomes for DBT and anger management (TAU) therapies in a sample of individuals that had committed an IPV offense. Additionally, it was one of the first to specify violations of order of protections (OOP) as a non-violent outcome variable. Participants (N = 43) were randomly assigned to either DBT (24 bi-weekly sessions of group and individual therapy) or TAU (18 weeks of individual sessions) groups. There were not significant differences between groups in age, education, racial identity, or diagnoses of substance abuse disorder, ASPD, or BPD. There was no significant difference in the rate of treatment completion between the TAU (n = 20) (76.9%) and DBT (n = 11) (64.7%) treatment arms despite the increased rigor of DBT. Although individuals in the TAU group committed a higher percentage of total offenses (n = 6) (24%) compared to those in DBT (n = 3) (17.6%), it was not to significance (X2 (1, N = 42) = .243, p = .716, φ = .622). The study was underpowered due to a small sample size and overall low rates of both nonviolent (n = 6) and violent (n = 5) reoffending over the course of the study. The moderate effect size (φ = .622) indicates that increasing the sample would increase the likelihood that DBT participants would re-offend significantly less compared to their counterparts. Despite limitations, this study is a successful demonstration of DBT as an alternative intervention framework for IPV offenders. Though DBT may ultimately be comparable to current treatment options, future research should continue to explore the utility of DBT, even in modified forms, for this population
Essays on Environmental Factors, Policies, and Health Outcomes
No full textEnvironmental hazards such as air pollution and heat waves can adversely influence health outcomes. In Chapter 1, I use a 2SLS approach to identify the causal relationship between air pollution and these dispatches. I find that single unit increases in seasonal ambient PM2.5 and NO2 lead to significant increases in EMS dispatches for conditions of interest per zip code-day across NYC, and find that more of these dispatches caused by pollution take place in disadvantaged communities relative to non-disadvantaged communities. I find these effects despite PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations meeting annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards for each year in the study. My results provide evidence that these pollution concentrations present in a single season can still cause dangerous health emergencies and that those living in disadvantaged communities are most likely to experience these emergencies and bear the associated costs.Heat waves are predicted to become more frequent and more severe in the wake of climate change. In Chapter 2, I examine how these heat waves affect the number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Dispatches made for traumatic injuries and mental health conditions. I find that heat waves defined using relatively low-temperature thresholds have the largest effects on these dispatches, likely because people are unaware that these temperatures are dangerous and, therefore, do not take precautions or adjust their behavior to stay cool on these days. My results indicate that temperatures below heat thresholds that NYC issues official advisories for should be warned against so that people can take defensive action.In Chapter 3, my co-author and I study investments in charging stations, as these can increase electric vehicle (EV) adoption, thereby reducing transportation-related air pollution and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. NYC strives for widespread EV adoption but faces a major challenge as a large percentage of families live in homes with no garage access and thus require access to public charging stations for refueling. We show that EV adoption and charging station investments have been concentrated in wealthy and White neighborhoods thus far. Increasing public investment in charging station infrastructure in under-served locations could help bring the benefits of vehicle electrification to lower-income and Black and Brown communities. This paper presents the factors in the city that affect private investment and have led to inequitable under-investment in charging stations in under-served communities. We provide a framework for understanding equitable investments in charging stations, and present policies that can help bring about a more equitable transition to electric vehicles in NYC
Effect of Video Psychoeducation Intervention on Negative Parental Attributions of Parents of Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
No full textPrevious research suggests that parents of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience higher levels of negative parental attributions, which refers to the parents’ view that their child’s misbehavior is intentional and consistent (Williamson & Johnston, 2015). As negative parental attributions increase, so does the child’s misbehavior (Dix & Grusec, 1985; Dix, Ruble, Grusec, & Nixon, 1986). The current study sought to investigate the effectiveness of a brief psychoeducational video intervention on negative parental attributions and levels of ADHD knowledge. Thirty-five parents of children between the ages of 5 and 13 that had been diagnosed with ADHD within the past 12 months completed measures assessing levels of parent stress, negative attributions, and ADHD knowledge. They also viewed one of two psychoeducational videos, one with a focus on neurobiological models of ADHD (experimental, n = 18) and one with a broader approach to ADHD (n = 17), and then completed the same questionnaires 2 weeks later. Results found that there was a significant positive relationship between parent stress and negative parental attributions for both groups. There were no significant main effects or interaction effects of the intervention. There was also no significant increase in ADHD knowledge among participants in either group. These results inform us that more research is needed to develop effective psychoeducation interventions in order to decrease negative parental attributions among parents of children with ADHD to improve treatment outcomes and parent-child relationship quality
Principal’s Leadership Practices for Implementing Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education to Support English Learners
No full textThis dissertation presents a comprehensive case study aimed at addressing the disparity in New York State English Language Arts Regents exam pass rates between English Learners (ELs) and their non-EL peers at Hudson High School, a pseudonym. Grounded in Adaptive Leadership Theory and Culturally Responsive School Leadership Theory, the study focuses on implementing Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CRSE) strategies to narrow the achievement gap. The intervention, spanning 15 weeks, utilized three improvement science Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, targeting instructional improvement through CRSE practices, professional development, and collaborative teacher efforts. Data collection relied on reflective leadership journals and analytic memos, highlighting the complexities and challenges of equity-focused improvement work. Key findings underscore the significance of collaborative decision-making, distributed leadership, and sustained support for teachers, particularly in implementing CRSE. The study emphasizes the critical role of reflective leadership in assessing leadership styles and practices, with implications for fostering inclusive learning environments and promoting equitable outcomes. By offering insights and practical lessons from personal experiences, this dissertation contributes to advancing equity-focused improvement efforts and enhances the understanding of effective educational leadership practices
Identity Management: Jesuit Universities Preserving Mission and Identity With Online Program Managers
No full textThis qualitative study explores how five Jesuit universities in the United States maintain their mission and identity when partnering with online program managers (OPMs) to develop and support online degree programs. Focusing on the history of online learning and Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy, and using cultural reproduction theory as a lens, this study involved semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, including administrators, faculty members, and OPM representatives. The findings revealed that although mission and identity are not explicitly included in OPM contracts, faculty engagement and providing context on Ignatian principles enables the practical integration thereof. Though OPMs aim to distinguish programs, best practices and customization generally occur based on each school’s needs and faculty members’ expertise. The results suggest that communicating the mission and involving faculty members helps mitigate risks of mission dilution. Further, the alignment of these programs with service-focused careers indicates students seek to leverage degrees to fulfill their own missions versus solely adopting a university’s mission. Recommendations include keeping instructional design responsibilities in-house and recognizing the importance of student advising, as exemplified by OPMs. Overall, careful communication of the mission and collaboration with faculty members are vital to preserving identity when expanding online learning through third-party partnerships