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“These They Cut in Pieces, Bones and All…”: An Examination of Pequot Subsistence Practices during the Early 17th Century at the Calluna Hill Site, Groton, Connecticut
No full textBeginning in the early 17th century, the arrival of Europeans in southern New England led to rapid changes and cultural transformation as Indigenous lifeways were impacted by the introduction of foreign materials, cultural structures, and the onset of colonialism. Archaeological research has helped to demonstrate how individuals and communities navigated the pressures of colonialism and developed ways to survive and persist in the centuries that followed. The early 17th century is an archaeologically underrepresented time period in southern New England, limiting an understanding of how Indigenous people initially interpreted foreign material culture, negotiated changes in their lifeways, and in particular, integrated foodstuffs and technologies into existing subsistence economies. The discovery of Calluna Hill, a Pequot village in southern Connecticut that dates to the early 17th century, offers an opportunity to explore some of these early negotiations of colonialism. Using zooarchaeological analysis, this thesis analyzes the faunal remains from five shell middens at the site to consider Pequot subsistence practices and foodways as revealed by hunting choices, butchery practices, food preparation, disposal methods, and environmental use. The findings illuminate how Pequot hunters utilized woodland and coastal ecosystems to procure prey, focusing on large-bodied mammals, particularly white-tailed deer, which were transported to a specialized activity area at the site for processing. Large mammal bones were intensely fragmented to facilitate the extraction of marrow and grease during cooking and taphonomic patterns between the middens demonstrate different disposal practices marked by varying levels of burning and fragmentation. Pequot treatment of animal remains provides insights into their worldview and suggests that they processed, used, and disposed of bones in culturally prescribed ways specific to activities and species. Using a comparative framework, this thesis demonstrates how Pequot responses to colonialism and changes in practices over time are part of a larger process that occurred through everyday decisions and practices that were informed by longstanding cultural traditions
Yankee Gothic
No full textYANKEE GOTHIC tracks notions of loss, family, and a need for connection as they swim against post-industrial decay in Southern New England. Following predominantly blue-collar and childhood experiences, these five pieces deal respectively with queerness and friendship; addiction and repentance; siblinghood and faith; a small towns’ blindness to its own prejudices; and intergenerational connections to place
Generation of non-Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distributions during thermalization of interacting baths
No full textdata associated with all the figures in the publication
Of Blood and Bone
No full textOf Blood and Bone thematically explores the boundaries of family and one’s individual personhood within their family. This collection investigates the connection between the visceral truths our bodies hold and the private internal musings of our minds. The stories feature the voices of a determined ten-year-old girl, a wandering spirit mired in guilt, a young adult trapped within a distorted self-reality, and a man grieving a son who was never born. Focused on the subjects of loss, shame, and finding one’s place in relation to others, the thesis questions the veracity of the truths we know via emotion and intellect versus our more immediate sensory experiences. The thesis serves to answer the question: is emotional and cognitive truth compatible with the experiences of our bodies
Subnational Diplomacy as \u27Positive Fragmentation\u27: Our Best Hope for a Peaceful Collapse of the Nation-State?
Full text linkThe current phase of globalization is one of fundamental erosion in the efficacy of the territorial nation-state and slow implosion of traditional sovereignty-based models of the state system. Combined with the breakdown of the rationalist-universalist ‘consensus,’ sub-state entities up and down the “vertical axis” of diplomacy are increasingly asserting mutually exclusive concepts of power and self-determination that could lead to a potential fragmentation of the basic structures of governance. Linear theories of state development and traditional definitions of sovereignty, with its consequent forms of recognition, urgently need to be revised or the likelihood of a continued disruption of international collaboration, more isolationist or secessionist activism, and even conflict will inevitably rise. Using the state of California as an illustrative case, this is a call for a “positive fragmentation” of the current state-centric system, thus opening space for a truly “global” or “relational” order that is more equitable and provides for the participation of multiple types of entity
How Gaza Sees the 2023-2025 War and the Future of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Full text linkIn political science and international relations, as in foreign policy and military circles, a debate is ongoing between “realists” and “moralists” regarding the importance of material factors (territory, economy, security, etc.) versus value-laden factors (justice, ideals, identity, etc.) in motivating, sustaining, and ending wars. An early 2025 representative survey of Gaza’s population considers both sets of factors in how Gazans perceive the present and future states of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Comparisons with our previous studies in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe aim to extend this survey’s relevance beyond the current Israel-Palestine theater. The survey suggests that after waging many months of ‘total war,’ Israel may be further from pacifying Gaza than ever before. The war has hardened Gazans’ maximalist political goals for elimination of Israel, while offering virtually no backing for a binational democratic state “from the river to the sea” as advocated by Western pro-Palestinian activists. Although Hamas’s popular support has declined significantly, political alternatives draw even less support, allowing Hamas to maintain outsize influence over Gaza. Perhaps most important for the long term, Gazans retain strong core values related to national and religious identity and attachment to the land, values they indicate their intention to uphold even at great personal sacrifice. However, the survey also reveals what movement toward peace might involve, such as humanizing an enemy as a predictor of willingness to sacrifice for peace in wartime. A final overview of historical developments within and between Hamas and Israel’s Likud highlights their roles as peace spoilers
The Past in Practice: The Thompson Island Collection Through a Historical and Pedagogical Perspective
No full textThis thesis is both a history and an examination of Thompson Island’s Boston Asylum and Farm School for Indigent Boys (BAFS) and the Farm and Trade School (FTS). From 1835 Thompson Island functioned as a site of educational innovation. The school’s core mission was to rescue “worthy” but impoverished young boys from the temptations of city streets and shape their characters through productive labor, education, and moral guidance. The impacts were both consequential and enduring for the boys who attended. This study focuses primarily on the period between 1850 and 1920, a transformative era shaped by the leadership of superintendents Alfred B. Morse and Charles H. Bradley. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources housed in the Thompson Island Collection at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s University Archives and Special Collections, including institutional publications, headmasters’ reports, admission and discharge papers, Board of Directors’ reports, photographs, student records, and the Thompson’s Island Beacon this project employs a close analysis of the lived experiences of the boys and the ideological frameworks that governed the school’s daily operation.
This project also adopts a critical stance that blends institutional history with archival pedagogy. It recognizes the interpretive limitations of the historical records, particularly the absence of student-authored material, and embraces a methodology that reads with and against the grain of official documents. By employing this approach, it seeks to participate in broader conversations about education, youth, reform, and the politics of the archive. The analysis situates Thompson Island within intersecting histories of charity and regulation, arguing that the island school operated not only as a benevolent refuge but also as a space of physical labor, institutional surveillance, and ideological reproduction.
Included in the Appendix is a reflection on the use of the Thompson Island collection in undergraduate pedagogy. This study considers how place-based and archival learning can foster student agency and critical inquiry in the classroom and through course design. By extending historical inquiry into the undergraduate classroom, the project also argues for the transformative potential of teaching novice students in the archives by employing an ethically grounded inquiry-driven pedagogy rooted in historical complexity. These complementary values support the broader mission of universities to cultivate for students a sense of themselves as active participants in both a larger scholarly discourse and a shared physical community
How Can Yoga Help? An Exploration of Black Sexual Minority Women\u27s Experiences of Stress, Coping, and Perspectives on Yoga
No full textBackground: Black sexual minority women (SMW) experience complex forms of identity-based stress rooted in the intersections of racism, heterosexism, and gendered oppression. While yoga is often promoted as a practice that supports stress reduction and well-being, little research has examined its relevance, accessibility, or cultural responsiveness for Black SMW, or in the context of identity-based stress. This study examines how Black SMW cope with identity-based stress and explores, through the perspectives of both Black SMW and key informants, how yoga may serve as a supportive resource in this context. Methods: This two-phase qualitative study used content analysis to examine interview data. In Phase 1, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 Black SMW (ages 18–54). Themes were developed related to identity, stress experiences, coping strategies, and perspectives on yoga. In Phase 2, interviews were conducted with six key informants—practitioners with expertise in mental health, psychology, yoga, and somatics—who reflected on Phase 1 findings and offered insights for culturally responsive practice. Results: Phase 1 participants described identity-based stress arising across racial, sexual, and gender lines, with stressors occurring in public, professional, and familial domains. They reported both physiological symptoms (e.g., muscle tension, breathing difficulty) and psychological vigilance. Coping strategies included emotion-focused (e.g., music, support, humor), problem-focused (e.g., speaking up, environmental control), avoidant (e.g., distraction, isolation), body-based (e.g., movement, breath work), and cognitive (e.g., mindfulness, perception management) strategies. Participants identified yoga as emotionally and physically beneficial, but noted barriers such as cultural appropriation, lack of racial and body diversity, and lack of autonomy and variations. Phase 2 key informants emphasized the importance of relational, culturally grounded, and trauma-informed approaches.They advocated for practices that affirm bodily autonomy and ancestral lineage, and highlighted the need to attend to the spiritual, political, and communal dimensions of healing. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of culturally responsive and trauma-informed yoga spaces that center the lived experiences of Black SMW. While yoga holds promise as a coping resource, its accessibility and impact are shaped by broader structural and cultural forces. This study contributes to scholarship on minority stress, embodiment, and the role of non-clinical, body-based and community-rooted practices in supporting mental health and well-being among Black SMW
An Examination of How the Ethno-Racial Socialization Process Influences Women of Color’s Engagement With Mental Health Treatment
Full text linkWomen of Color (WOC) are uniquely deterred from engaging with traditional mental healthcare services due to the generational harm that has been wrought to Communities of Color when accessing support in generations’ past and present (Godoy-Ruiz et al., 2015). Thus, to protect WOC from further marginalization, parents and caregivers disseminate messages to WOC about their gender and racial identity during the ethno-racial socialization (ERS) process. While this process is intended to be protective, an unintended consequence is that it can socialize WOC to be distrustful of others and reluctant to engage with mental health services to support their mental health. Informed by Black feminist theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989, 1991) theory of intersectionality, focus group interviews were conducted to explore how the messages relayed to South Asian (N = 3), Black (N = 5), Latina (N = 4), Biracial (N = 4), and Southeast Asian (N = 4) women during their respective ERS processes influenced their willingness to engage with mental healthcare services. Intragroup and intergroup findings revealed the following themes: 1) WOC often question whether mental health treatment is right for someone with their identities and lived experiences; 2) WOC take their mental health education onto themselves; 3) WOC experience similar social and systemic barriers to mental healthcare; and 4) WOC have identified what they need from the mental health profession in order to feel comfortable seeking support. With these findings, implications are offered surrounding how the mental health field can support WOC’s engagement with treatment in the future
The Gendered Role of Friendships for Advanced Care Planning and Health in Later Life
Full text linkFriendship is becoming more pertinent to older adults because they are increasingly living with fewer family ties in later life due to changing social and demographic trends (Fiori et al., 2020; Verdery et al., 2019). However, friendships are not as extensively studied as compared to family relationships (Blieszner et al., 2019). Thus, additional research is needed to better understand the influence of friendships on health and health behaviors in later life.
This dissertation includes three studies that focus on the association between friendship and loneliness, advanced care planning, and cognitive function, examining the role of gender in these three studies, which extend the limited literature on friendship, health, and health behaviors among older adults. The dissertation also highlights the strengths and limitations of the Convoy Model of Social Relations and the utilities and challenges of large, omnibus national surveys employed to support the Convoy Model.
Additionally, the dissertation demonstrates that the ways friendship are measured in these datasets are limited when studying loneliness, advanced care planning and cognitive function among older adults. Therefore, there is a need to create more refined measures of friendship in survey research. Additional cross-cultural comparative studies are required to gain better insights to the association between friendship and health in later life. On the whole, findings from the studies in this dissertation open the possibilities for future research work that can be employed to improve our understanding of the role of friendship play among older adults’ health outcomes and health behaviors