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Pillaging Antiquity: Structure, Narrative Intent, and Indo-European Parallels in Math uab Mathonwy
No full textThe Welsh Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi [The Four Branches of the Mabinogi] were four related stories written by an unknown author based off of Welsh oral tradition, which contained elements of their old mythology. Among these stories was Math uab Mathonwy, which is notable for its complicated nature. This paper seeks to look at how the narrative structure and rhetorical purpose of the author of the Pedeir Keinc Mabinogi transformed the mythological material that was incorporated into Math uab Mathonwy, using the proto-Indo-European idea of the warrior and his sins as an example. For this purpose, the historical background and the milieu that Math was passed down orally and then written down in was established. Then, the paper will look at Christian influence and the nature of the family seen in Math. From there, the paper examines the reflective structure of the narrative and shows how the narrative demonstrates the importance of social codes by portraying conflict between those in favor of order and those living outside of societal norms. Finally, the paper looks at the proto-Indo-European warrior, as formulated by Georges Dumezil, and demonstrates that it was transformed and bifurcated in Math into the figures of Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Gwydion ab Don, in order to fit with the narrative structure and purpose of the author.Religious StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
Ethics and the Public Reading of Scripture: b. Megillah 30b–31a on the Haftarot for Annual Holidays
No full textImproved Bounds for the Index Conjecture in Zero-Sum Theory
No full textThe Index Conjecture in zero-sum theory states that when n is coprime to 6 and k equals 4, every minimal zero-sum sequence of length k modulo n has index 1. While other values of (k,n) have been studied thoroughly in the last 30 years, it is only recently that the conjecture has been proven for n>1020. In this paper, we prove that said upper bound can be reduced to 4.1*1014, and lower under certain coprimality conditions. Further, we verify the conjecture for n<1.8*106 through the application of High Performance Computing (HPC).MathematicsBachelors of Science (BS
Exploring Collaboration: A Content Analysis Of Special And General Educator Collaboration Within The Standards Driving Initial Teacher Preparation Programs
No full textMost U.S. students with disabilities are served in general education classrooms, and this practice has resulted in the need for collaboration between general and special educators. Yet, educators feel unprepared to engage in teacher collaboration to support their students’ needs. The goal of this study was to improve P-12 teacher collaboration and student outcomes by improving teacher preparation at the pre-service level. This study examined how the standards driving the curricula of initial teacher preparation programs describe the need for and process of teacher collaboration, specifically through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), and Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards. Through basic and interpretive content analysis, this study explored (a) the degree to which teacher collaboration is addressed, (b) representation of teacher collaboration, and (c) embedded learning experiences related to teacher collaboration within the standards. Findings suggest that teacher education programs can support teacher collaboration within their candidates by designing and facilitating learning experiences that involve dialogue, decision-making, action, and evaluation. These learning experiences should be diverse and complex in nature and engage candidates in reflective practices. Further implications are discussed for program faculty, program leaders, and accrediting bodies so that each group can help future educators collaborate effectively with one another.EducationDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Contextual Influences in TP(A)CK Research: Bronfenbrenner and Beyond
No full textThis critical review examines the past 15 years of scholarship about contextual influences in TP(A)CK to better understand its theoretical bases. While Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is usually applied in this work, either implicitly or explicitly, its articulation is most often incomplete and/or inaccurate, with some confusion evident about the nature and foci of multiple, intersecting systems of contextual influences. We argue for a more comprehensive way to theorize context in future TP(A)CK research, using Bronfenbrenner’s systemic explanations of the complex and interdependent aspects of contextual influences and actors. We also recommend additional focus upon indirect, intersectional and sociocultural influences upon teachers’ TP(A)CK-based knowledge and action.Educatio
Use-Wear Experiments And Analysis Of Quartzite Tools From Slocan Narrows, British Columbia
No full textSince they were declared extinct in 1956, the history of the Sinixt First Nation has been rendered invisible on the Canadian landscape. The Sinixt’s traditional homelands spanned from present day Revelstoke, BC to present day Kettle Falls, WA. Archaeological sites on this landscape, such as the Slocan Narrows Pithouse Village in British Columbia, serve as visible traces of Sinixt presence on their traditional homelands through time. Quartzite tools, likely sourced from Kettle Falls, remain the most common type of tool found at Slocan Narrows, thus offering insights into Sinixt historical activities. Previous studies on quartzite from this region have been purely morphological in their analyses. Because morphological analysis is not sufficient to infer lithic tool function, I employ use-wear experiments and analysis to better understand quartzite tool use and Sinixt activities at Slocan Narrows. For the present study, I created an experimental assemblage of 22 quartzite tools to scrape deer hide, cedar, or both. I examined all 22 experimental tools and select quartzite tools from excavations at Slocan Narrows under a microscope to identify use-wear patterns on their edges. Results suggest that quartzite tools had multiple uses throughout Slocan Narrow’s history, showing the tools’ versatility.AnthropologyMaster of Arts (M.A.
Advancing Infrastructure And Environmental Monitoring With Deep Learning And Satellite Imagery
No full textThe convergence of satellite imagery analysis with deep learning techniques has significantly advanced our capabilities to understand social and environmental phenomena. This has been true across a wide range of domains, with scalable, satellite-based analyses now possible in the context of coastal vegetation, marine debris, landcover, the estimation of poverty, population, conflict, migration, education, and others. This dissertation contributes to this growing body of literature in three parts. First, using high-resolution aerial imagery and data from the NOAA's Continually Updated Shoreline Product (CUSP), semantic segmentation models are trained to map and classify shoreline stabilization structures in coastal Virginia. A semi-automated toolkit, pyShore, was proposed for shoreline structure classification in ArcGIS. Second, combing Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), a transfer-learning workflow was proposed to explore the potential of mapping coastal tidal marsh communities in Virginia. Finally, the last chapter introduces BathyFormer, a transformer-based architecture to predict nearshore bathymetry from multispectral satellite imagery at pixel level. These three chapters advance our understanding of many of the challenges unique to computer vision in the context of satellite data, and provide guidance on the application of deep learning for coastal resource management.Applied ScienceDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Children Of Empire: Whiteness And Place In American Orphan Narratives, 1911–1928
No full textThis dissertation studies the function of whiteness in early twentieth-century American orphan narratives. Building upon previous scholarship on literary orphans, postcolonial studies, and Critical Race Theory, this dissertation links the study of literature, whiteness, and imperialism to the forces behind the renegotiation of race in the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines close readings of primary texts from different literary genres with theoretical frameworks ranging from scholars such as Karl Marx to bell hooks in order to examine how race relates to and is informed by place. Divided into four chapters that each focuses on a different American orphan narrative, this dissertation examines the complex dynamics that shape ideas and perceptions about race, citizenship, and imperialism. Chapter One argues that The Secret Garden (1911) by Frances Hodgson Burnett interrogates the fraught relationship between domestic seats of empire and Othered colonies, which is manifested when a white orphan raised in India is sent to live in an ancient manor in the Yorkshire countryside. There, whiteness is located in the eponymous secret garden and the novel’s orphans must shed their Other-coded traits in order to gain entrance. Chapter Two looks at how whiteness is informed by consumerism, eugenics, and changing ideas of citizenship in Dear Enemy (1915) by Jean Webster. For the orphans to become useful Americans, they must shed their familial connections, perform chores, and are taught the importance of money and self-reliance. Whiteness resides in an orphan asylum in upstate New York. Disabled children are considered beyond salvation are refused tenure. Chapter Three looks at American Indian Stories (1921) by Zitkala-Ša and argues that Indian Boarding Schools function as institutions of whiteness that forced Indigenous children into cultural orphanhood. Using the Marxist theory of alienation as well as scholarship on different types of timekeeping, the chapter argues that forced changes to the perception of time, labor, families, and learning brought about by settler colonial practices intentionally estranged Native children from their families and nations, thereby rendering them cultural orphans that are more easily–albeit conditionally–brought into the white supremacist settler colonial fold. Chapter Four analyzes the novel Quicksand (1928) by Nella Larsen and proposes the term “traveling orphan narrative” to explore the long history of literary orphans on the road. Here, whiteness follows the orphan wherever she travels, and her orphanhood status is complicated due to having a dead, white immigrant mother and an unknown Black father. Throughout the novel, motherhood is a fraught position, and mothers and maternal figures continuously fail the protagonist. In the end, she herself becomes a mother, but her choices mean that her children will become orphans, too. By uncovering the portentous relationship between whiteness, orphanhood, and space in early twentieth century American literature, this study provides new layers of possible interpretation that enrichen the fields of literary studies, whiteness studies, gender studies, and research on American imperialism.American StudiesDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Colonial Williamsburg At Carter’s Grove / Decolonizing Colonial Williamsburg
No full textThe first chapter, “Colonial Williamsburg at Carter’s Grove: Interpreting Slavery within Public History” focuses on the Carter’s Grove Plantation property, owned and interpreted by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. Throughout the time of Colonial Williamsburg’s management, extensive historical interpretation was developed around the reconstructed enslaved living quarters on the site; the Carter’s Grove property offers a representation of many of the changes that occurred within public history, especially regarding the interpretation of plantation slavery. The second chapter, “Decolonizing Colonial Williamsburg: Indigenous History at a Settler Colonial Museum” takes a broad look at Indigenous historical interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg throughout its long history. The paper especially focuses on the beginning of Colonial Williamsburg’s outreach to Native communities starting in the 1990s and the changes in Indigenous interpretation starting after the creation of the American Indian Initiative, a dedicated program for Native interpretation, research, and outreach.HistoryMaster of Arts (M.A.
In the Fabric of Experience: Exploring Time and Self
No full textHow do we perceive time? How should we understand it within our consciousness? These two inquiries probe into the existence of time in our conscious experience. They anchor the concept of time experienced by us, from a first-person perspective. Therefore, this thesis attempts to understand time in a phenomenological approach. The realm it delves into centers not on the metaphysics of time. It does not seek to unveil the true essence of time. Specifically, it revolves around the writings of phenomenologists such as Edmund Husserl and Jean-Paul Sartre -- centering on Husserl's theory of inner time-consciousness and his tripartite temporal structure encompassing protention, primal impression, and retention and critically assessing their merits and limitations. In essence, this thesis argues that while Husserl's tripartite temporal structure undeniably exists in our conscious experience, it is insufficient. It is necessary to acknowledge the presence of an ego as another essential element. Time, together with self, constitute the two inseparable elements in the infrastructure of our conscious experience.PhilosophyBachelors of Arts (BA