19468 research outputs found
Sort by
New Munitions for Freedom: America's Commandeering of Hungarian Refugee Youth to Fight the Cold War, 1956-1957
No full textThis thesis follows US state objectives in aiding Hungarian refugee youth after the revolt of 1956, relating them to the wider context of the Cold War. The refugee population that fled into Austria was remarkably young, educated, and to the capitalist world represented the failure of communism to provide for its youth. Observing these trends, the federal government undertook unprecedented interventions into refugee affairs to absorb Hungarian refugee youth and to capitalize on the moral, economic, and propaganda boons provided by their youthful status to further Cold War objectives. Through reliance on primary source research in seven archives, this thesis reveals collaborations between the state, voluntary refugee agencies, and civil society demonstrating that young refugees in particular were perceived by the state as valuable commodities through which the US could advance national and geopolitical goals. From unaccompanied minors spiritually assimilated into US society through a system of “morals-based resettlement” to contrast communist atheism, to university students integrated into American academia through a federally-assisted scholarship program to close the technical gap, and to other students recruited for a CIA-backed propaganda tour to Asia, each subset of refugee youth represented an asset for the US in their long crusade against communism. Compiling these narratives for the first time demonstrates that Hungarian refugee youth broadly speaking, with all their associated vitality, vigor, and promise, were instrumentalized to bolster the US position in the Cold War.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
The Road to Connectivity: Designing a Framework for Actor Engagement in Wildlife-Vehicle Conflict Mitigation
No full textWildlife-vehicle conflict (WVC) impacts wildlife conservation efforts, driver safety, and has costly economic implications. For successful mitigation of WVCs, coordination is required among various actors which can be challenging due to the lack of a clear framework for effectively engaging those actors. My goal is to understand and document the best practices for engaging diverse actors in WVC mitigation, using Loudoun County (Virginia, USA) as a case study. We conducted interviews of key state and local actors, along with background research and a literature review on successful implementation, to identify the best methods of actor engagement. Research findings are incorporated into a translational framework model. My findings include the primary barriers and motivators of key actors with funding and public support being the most crucial. This report aims to increase local knowledge and accessibility of information related to local level decision making related to WVC mitigation strategy implementation
Tales of Freshwater Speciation: Build Your Own Dichotomous Key
No full textGrade Level: High school Biology (9th-12th), AP Biology, and AP Environmental Science.
Student will apply skills acquired in younger grade levels on dichotomous keys to have students build their own utilizing freshwater fishes from Virginia housed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (online photographs or collection-based specimen loans)
The Aesthetics of Liberation: a Critique of Art Under Capitalism
No full textIn my thesis I examine the commodification of art in late-stage capitalism by looking at Karl Marx's early writings and relevant literature in the Frankfurt School of critical theory, especially Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. The question I have is whether mass culture, popular art, etc are a progressive force as Benjamin argues or a suppressive one as Adorno suggests. I also investigate the loss of a certain disinterested, distanced aesthetic attitude in modernity; it seems that art has become "closer," more usable, and more political in the digital age when anybody can make, say, a meme. My research connects the current situation of popular art with Benjamin's ideas about the loss of a certain spirituality or "aura" in reproducible art (e.g. photography and film), as opposed to the art of the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods. Ultimately I argue that the reproducibility of art in the modern digital age has endowed it with radical possibilities to agitate the masses.PhilosophyBachelors of Arts (BA
Exploring the Social Life of Cohousing: Community in Context
No full textHousing and the communities it shapes are consequential social determinants of health, influencing a person’s likelihood of disease, lifespan, and overall life satisfaction. Despite boasting the world’s largest economy, Americans have insufficient access to public housing. Within the private market, Americans are increasingly isolated from diversity and even their closest neighbors. Cohousing represents a neoliberal option for individuals who feel the current housing systems are inadequate. It is a form of intentional, collaborative living in which residents reside in private-owned homes but cultivate shared spaces to encourage casual social interaction. Residents participate in the community's structural (governance and physical) design. Using inductive interview methods and social network analysis, I explore how cohousing operates within the private housing market, constrains and enables social capital, and influences life outcomes of its practitioners. How do cohousing communities’ social and physical design shape its residents’ relationships, attitudes, and opportunities? I find that cohousing communities, often unintentionally, develop strict in and out groups to maintain their social capital and the ability to curate a seemingly idyllic lifestyle. This results in social capital hoarding which I define as the act of social network-wide cultivation and maintenance of exclusive access to intellectual, physical, and social capital resources.Interdisciplinary StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
Valuing present and future benefits provided by coastal wetlands and living shorelines
No full textMarshes are important natural capital assets for many coastal communities, providing a range of ecosystem services such as coastal protection, nutrient removal, habitat, and recreational opportunities. We explored the present and future distribution and economic value of tidal marsh (natural marsh and living shorelines) ecosystem services for coastal communities in Virginia, US, using an interdisciplinary mixed-methods, spatially explicit valuation approach. First, a benefit transfer analysis was conducted using literature-derived values adjusted for site-specific conditions. Then, two stated preference surveys were implemented, targeting recreational users and individuals engaged in shoreline management decision-making. We leveraged a wide range of spatial information on the local environment to both adjust values and also develop realistic scenarios in surveys. Survey responses were used to assess service values as well as tradeoffs in shoreline decisions. Marsh values were found to be a significant asset for communities, amounting to ∼$90M/yr in benefits, or 3.3 % of annual GDP for the region. Assuming marsh migration into undeveloped lands and the installation of living shorelines for coastal protection where suitable, future discounted service values were predicted to increase slightly. Marsh service values varied spatially, with storm risk reduction (the highest ranked service by community decision-makers) displaying the greatest variation. Recreational opportunities were ranked low by community decision-makers, yet recreational fishers placed a high value on marshes. This highlights that without consideration of locally important services, shoreline management decisions may unknowingly affect local economies. Valuing marsh services can improve social efficiency in shoreline management decisions while also advancing natural capital accounting
GIS Data: 2025 Lancaster County, Virginia. Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, & Marsh Migration Corridors
No full textDisclaimer: The Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) provides these data with the understanding that they are not guaranteed to be correct or complete, and conclusions drawn from the data set are the sole responsibility of the user. Every attempt has been made to ensure that these data and the documentation are reliable and accurate. CCRM, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program assume no liability for any damages caused by inaccuracies in the data or documentation; and make no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warrantyThe 2025 Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, and Migration Corridors layers for the City of Lancaster were generated using on-screen, digitizing techniques in ArcGIS® Pro v. 3.x while viewing conditions observed
in Bing high-resolution oblique imagery, Google Earth, and 2021 imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). A geodatabase was developed named Lancaster_ShlInventory_NatBuffers_MarshCorridors_2025
containing the following eight features classes displaying bank conditions, shoreline features, natural buffers, and marsh migration corridors:
Lancaster_BankHeightSlope_2025, Lancaster_RecreationalStructures_2025,
Lancaster_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Line,
Lancaster_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Polygon,
Lancaster_BeachesAndDunes_2025, Lancaster_TMI_2025,
Lancaster_MarshMigrationCorridors_2ft_2025 and
Lancaster_MarshMigrationCorridors_4ft_2025.This project was funded in part by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through Grant # NA24NOSX419C0026 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio
Crusader Colonialism: Statecraft, Society, and Struggle in the Latin Levant, 1098–1131
No full textThis thesis analyzes how the crusader states established during and after the First Crusade were colonial entities. Examining the crusaders’ policy toward the conquered, cross-cultural interaction between peoples, and the development of a Latin identity, it argues that the Latin Christian crusaders transplanted their government and religion by force upon the Levantine peoples. These peoples, Eastern Christians and Muslims both, were excluded and segregated from the Latin conquerors, and in both the political and social sphere the Latins reigned supreme even if some positive inter-Christian relations occurred on the margins.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
Partial Wave Analysis of the photoproduction γp→K+Λ0
No full textWe obtained the parameters of the intensity equation for the photoproduction γp → Λ0 K+ in bins of t. A fit with four-dimensional observable space was done to obtain five free real-valued parameters. The five parameters, Σ, T, P, Ox, and Oz, that are unknown for real data, resemble that of quantum numbers of the exchange particle of the reaction. The beam asymmetry Σ aligns mostly with +1, which correlates with a natural exchange particle in the photoproduction collision. Determining parameters to various equations is a common goal in particle physics with unknown variables that nature has set. Using partial wave analysis we can determine the coefficients describing the photoproduction reaction. We used data from the GlueX experiment at Jefferson Lab to fit the intensity equation and determine these parameters.PhysicsBachelors of Science (BS