University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston: ScholarWorks at UMassNot a member yet
8618 research outputs found
Sort by
The TPSID Initiative: Opening Doors to Learning and Better Outcomes for Students with Intellectual Disability
Get PDFThis handout provides information on how the TPSID initiative supports the development and expansion of programs for students with intellectual disability, and the impact those programs have on students, faculty and the field of higher education
The Art and Artifacts of Solidarity
Get PDFIn Complex Adaptive Systems in a Contentious World I showed how viewing social systems as Complex Adaptive Systems exposes the systemic mechanisms that underpin their resilience and sustainability. In this article I show the utility of that approach for elucidating the role of art and artists in the evolution of resilient social movements. I do this by exploring the way in which art and artifacts were implicated in the evolution of the Polish Solidarność movement
Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Cambridge
Get PDFCambridge is a city of 116,892 residents, of whom 10.0%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents contribute 12.6% of the total population. In Cambridge, the largest resident population is White (60.9%). The Asian population is the second largest group in the city, making up 21.0%, followed by the Black population, which accounts for 11.2% of city residents.
Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Cambridge experienced 12.6% population growth, and all major ethnic-racial groups had increasing shares. Asians and Latinos grew by more than 30%, while the Black and White populations grew by 3.7% and 0.5%, respectively. Across the state, Latinos increased by 41.4% during this period, indicating below-average growth in the Latino population in Cambridge.
The remainder of this profile uses 2017–2021 American Community Survey data in order to analyze the demographic and economic characteristics presented in this profile.
Cambridge has long been a destination for international migrants, and today it has a greater concentration of foreign-born (29.1%) than the Commonwealth as a whole (17.3%). This is especially the case among Latinos. In Cambridge, 36.7% of the Latino population is foreign-born, which is higher than the Latino statewide share (32.1%).
The Latino population in Cambridge is a mix of Latinos from different origins and not dominated as much by Puerto Ricans and Dominicans as are many other Massachusetts towns and cities. Puerto Ricans are the largest single group in Cambridge, but Mexicans are the second largest, followed by Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Colombians. Statewide, the five largest Latino populations in Massachusetts in order of size are Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Mexicans
A Novel Approach: Engaging People Experiencing Homelessness in Climate Vulnerability and Coastal Resilience in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
No full textClimate change is one of the most pressing issues our society faces, and recent reports indicate it has reached “unprecedented” levels. It is broadly accepted now though that it is irreversible and only the rate of change can be mitigated. To prepare for and respond to climate impacts that can disrupt environmental, structural, and social systems, scientists and municipalities assess community vulnerabilities and develop initiatives intended to reduce disruptions and bolster resilience. However, some populations are largely overlooked within these efforts. Among those rarely engaged within climate discourse, science, and vulnerability assessments, are people living in homelessness situations. Since these populations are seldom engaged as participants or knowledge producers, there is little environmental data on them that decision makers can consult, which means adaption plans may not benefit these groups. In part, people experiencing homelessness may be overlooked because there are few examples or protocols for how to engage them in discussions about their environmental vulnerabilities, outside of social sciences, for researchers and municipalities to consult. Yet, continuing to overlook these groups within assessments and related environmental science and municipal processes can perpetuate a cycle of vulnerability among them. Also, national directives insist communities engage the “whole community” rather than just a few segments, in preparedness and response efforts. In response, this work engaged people experiencing homelessness as part of a case study in Barnstable, Hyannis, Cape Cod. This work is an example of how researchers can determine the extent homeless populations are exposed to climate, weather, and flooding, what makes them sensitive to these exposures, and the extent they are impacted by resilience efforts. To achieve this, I applied municipal, social, and environmental science methods as part of an integrated, mixed-methods, transdisciplinary approach. Overall, this effort generated new socio-environmental data, produced in user-inspired formats, not available elsewhere. Doing so helps fill a critical information gap on an overlooked population and contributes to developing an approach that benefits the whole community
Material Consumption of an 18th-Century Middling Urban Craftsman in Boston, Massachusetts
Get PDFThis thesis studies how Caleb Parker, a blacksmith and craftsman who lived in the early- to mid-18th century, viewed and utilized refinement and genteel behaviors using the glass and ceramic artifacts recovered from a privy at his home at 23 Unity Street in Boston’s North End. Background research explores the concept of “partible refinement,” which speaks to the notion that the “middling sorts\u27\u27 at this time, including craftspeople like Caleb Parker, had the agency to selectively use different components of refined gentility according to their personal consumer choice and tastes. This resulted in middling sorts incorporating both traditional and modern aesthetics within their consumption practices. Using this framework, the objects at the Parker house can serve as vectors by which particular social phenomena, like gentility, are expressed and performed in both public and private settings. Analysis includes form, function, minimum number of vessels (MNV), mean ceramic dating (MCD), and terminus post quem (TPQ) dating of the 1,149 glass and ceramic artifacts from the privy. This data is compared to that of other contemporary craftspeople in Boston using both archaeological collections and probate inventories. This analysis reveals that the Parkers were investing in some refined materials, present in both the archaeological assemblage and probate inventory. However, refined practices were something that the household was likely aware of but were not the only factors driving socializing and spending for this household. The Parker assemblage illustrates the role that craftsmen played within urban gentility and refinement, as well as the role that consumer choice, personal preference, and partible refinement played in the developing economy of pre-revolutionary 18th-century New England
A Re-Examination of the Role of Cognitive Reappraisal in Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder
No full textCognitive reappraisal is considered to be an ‘adaptive’ emotion regulation strategy as well as an important process and mechanism in cognitive therapies for the treatment of emotional disorders. However, findings from research investigating the association between cognitive reappraisal and emotional symptoms are contradictory and, furthermore, few studies have investigated cognitive reappraisal as a treatment process and mechanism. Aside from cognitive reappraisal, metacognitive emotion regulation strategies such as acceptance and self-compassion, may also represent important treatment processes. The primary purposes of the current study were to investigate the role and utility of the cognitive reappraisal in facilitating symptom change over the course of cognitive-behavioral group therapy for social anxiety disorder; and how cognitive reappraisal compares and interacts with metacognitive strategies. A sample of seventy-eight individuals with social anxiety disorder was recruited and participated in twelve weeks of cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT). Participants also completed self-report measures of social anxiety symptoms, cognitive reappraisal, acceptance and self-compassion at five timepoints over the course of treatment. Results indicated that gains in cognitive reappraisal over the course of treatment was associated with reductions in social anxiety symptoms. However, when examined in conjunction with acceptance and self-compassion, cognitive reappraisal no longer uniquely predicted change in social anxiety, while changes in acceptance and self-compassion emerged as robust predictors of symptom change. Additional analyses showed that changes in acceptance and self-compassion failed to moderate the longitudinal association between cognitive reappraisal and social anxiety. Mediation analyses revealed that acceptance and self-compassion may represent indirect pathways through which cognitive reappraisal leads to treatment-related social anxiety change
The Armenian Genocide as Presented by the American Press
No full textBetween 1915-1923, the Turkish government was responsible for the Armenian Genocide, a targeted killing of Armenians in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. While the massacres were occurring, people outside of the region were aware of the violence. In the United States, this knowledge was due to concerted press coverage of the events. This thesis focuses specifically on The New York Times, Daily Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. These papers help to present the American media response and contribute to an explanation of how the government ultimately chose nonintervention, a stance that was supported by the general public.
Before the United States joined World War I in 1917, American public opinion demonstrated an inclination to help the Armenians through humanitarianism. From 1915-1917, the newspaper articles contained numerous requests from smaller Armenian communities, mostly from cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, for economic contributions to alleviate the suffering. These efforts caught the attention of President Wilson who joined the cause. At a time when Americans preferred to stay out of global affairs, this humanitarianism allowed Americans to prove their prosperity and democratic ideals to other world powers without becoming too absorbed in the conflict.
After World War I, however, there was a concerted shift in American public opinion away from helping the Armenians. In 1919, the League of Nations proposed that America take on a plan, known as the Armenian mandate, to occupy Armenia and create a protected state for the persecuted Armenians. An examination of the four newspapers reveals how the public and politicians viewed the mandate as a threat to their newly and dearly bought peace.
The press also paints a picture of the assistance offered by common American citizens in various cities, missionaries, and the American Red Cross. However, as the genocide continued these groups faced serious limitations on their abilities to combat the massacres. Similarly, Armenians, both inside and outside of the United States, were unable to bring about substantial change, as they were affected by immigration bans, small numbers, and a lack of experience in American politics. This thesis demonstrates how the mandate shifted media rhetoric about aiding Armenians; ultimately, the newspapers studied here featured far more coverage about the perils of intervention rather than the possibilities of saving Armenians. The multiple articles on why the mandate would not succeed can also show the path the government and public took during the genocide and why, in their eyes, they were justified. This path continued throughout the century and can explain the relationship that developed between America and Turkey, keeping Americans from officially recognizing the genocide
Sartorial Practices and Daily Life: Examining Black Womanhood in Nineteenth-Century Boston
Get PDFDuring the nineteenth century, the northern slope of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood was home to a free African American community. Central to the Beacon Hill neighborhood was the African Meeting House, which operated as a Baptist church, home, school, and meeting space for Black community members. Archaeological investigations have revealed the story of not just the African Meeting House, but the surrounding vicinity and larger community. The African Meeting House collection provides a case study to understand the ways racism, sexism, and classism impacted the quotidian lives of Black women in freedom. Using Black feminism as a theoretical framework, this research analyzes objects of personal adornment and clothing-related advertisements placed in the newspaper, The Liberator. Sartorial practices provide insight into the everyday, lived experiences of the Black women occupying Beacon Hill. The cultural materials analyzed in this research are used to highlight the lives of Black women as they performed economic labor, maintained their households, and participated in political life
Limitations & Liberation: Republican Motherhood and Female Advancement in Nineteenth Century America
Get PDFFirst introduced by Linda Kerber in the 1970s, Republican Motherhood is the idea that described the role women were expected to play in the years following the American Revolution. Characterized by an expanded sphere of influence through the education of her sons to be prosperous future leaders of the nation and her daughters to be future mothers of American sons, Republican Motherhood played a significant role in the continuing development of gender relations in the early republic. To show the ways in which women utilized Republican Motherhood to reach self-actualization, I analyze the lives of Judith Sargent Murray, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Each of these three women utilized the opportunities Republican Motherhood provided them in a different way that allowed them a new form of agency over their own lives while also impacting the world around them, and through this, we are better able to analyze the ways in which Republican Motherhood contributed to the evolving gender culture of America’s early republic
Sex Identification of Mytilus edulis following 26 day treatment to EE2 and KZ
No full textBlue mussel M. edulis were exposed for 26 days to 50 ng/L 17alpha-ethinylestradiol or 30 ug/L ketoconazole for 26 days in four replicate tanks. Prior to exposure, mussel sex was identified using the VERL-VCL RT-qPCR assay on hemolymph collected from each mussel. Following exposure, mantle tissue was collected from each treated mussel and the VERL-VCL RT-qPCR assay was used to identify the sex of the mussels.https://scholarworks.umb.edu/data/1000/thumbnail.jp