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AL-AZHAR RE-IMAGINED: STATE APPROPRIATION, RELIGIOUS CAPITAL, AND POLITICAL TRANSNATIONALISM, 1924-2024
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until August 2026.One of the critical lacunas in the existing literature on al-Azhar, Egypt’s official religious establishment, and its intersection with politics is that most studies are anchored in national methodological frameworks. This dissertation represents a deliberate epistemological and methodological shift from conventional methodological nationalistic frameworks within which al-Azhar has been predominantly explored. Adopting a historical sociological paradigm, this dissertation explores the intricate interplay between al-Azhar and political dynamics from a transnational perspective. It delves into the historical evolution of the religious institution’s involvement in global politics over the past century and examines the ramifications of institutional changes it has undergone on its engagement, or absence thereof, in global political affairs.Drawing upon primary historical sources as well as interviews with officials at al-Azhar Sheikhdom, Al-Azhar University, and Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Terrorism, the dissertation argues that institutional changes influenced al-Azhar's engagement with global politics across three distinct temporal stages. In the initial stage, spanning from 1924 to 1961, the religious institution maintained a degree of autonomy from the state and actively participated in global politics independently. This autonomy was notably evident in its pivotal role in addressing the “Caliphate Question” and organizing the “Global Caliphate Conference” following the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. This stage, however, concluded in 1961 with dramatic institutional changes encompassing the institution’s regulative, normative, and cognitive dimensions. This crucial juncture was marked by the rise of President Nasser and the enactment of the 1961 Al-Azhar Law, which coercively redefined the Ulamā’s (Muslim Scholars) identity and led to what this dissertation terms the “Egyptianization” of the religious institution where Al-Azhar’s connections beyond the Egyptian borders were limited to state-sponsored channels. An extended period of institutional stasis or “equilibrium” followed, in which al-Azhar was coercively restricted from active involvement in global politics, instead focusing on state-sanctioned interactions and bolstering regimes in exchange for control over religious discourse within Egypt. This period of stasis persisted until the Egyptian uprising of 2011 when al-Azhar liberated itself from the constraints imposed by the state, achieving a level of independence unprecedented since the era of Nasser. Concurrently, the institution secured legal and constitutional privileges, empowering it to assume an important role not only within Egypt but also on the global political stage. This was most conspicuous in its relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the latter leveraged the former’s “religious capital” to advance its global political agendas and to brand itself as the champion of peace in the region. This dissertation deconstructs the secular-religious dichotomy by arguing that religion can play an important role within the increasingly secular domains. It highlights how al-Azhar, as the epitome of institutionalized Islam in Egypt, is not just a passive observer but a prime example of how religion can be an active participant in global politics , thereby emphasizing its relevance and importance2026-08-1
Microeconomic Studies of Economic Development in Vietnam
Get PDFThis dissertation presents three microeconomic studies on economic development in Vietnam. The first essay, How does business regulation affect firms? Evidence from Vietnam, examines the impacts of business regulations on the entry rate, size, labor productivity for entrant firms, and size, labor productivity and profit for incumbent firms. I leverage a large-scale business deregulation policy in Vietnam, which initiated in October 2017 and varied across industries in the manufacturing and service sectors. I use the Vietnam Enterprise Census from 2011 to 2020 and the Difference-in-differences and the Event-study approaches to examine the average and dynamic effects of the reform on the interested outcomes. The findings reveal that business deregulation facilitates the entry of firms; entrant firms are smaller in terms of size and labor productivity. These findings are consistent with the prediction of theories of firm dynamics. Importantly, the regulatory reform proves instrumental in fostering job creation. Furthermore, the reform also benefits incumbent firms. Following the reform, incumbent firms show higher performances in terms of size, revenue and productivity. In the second essay, I (jointly with Anh Pham) examine how a drastic change in the tax rate in 2013–2014 at the industry and regional levels affects household businesses in Vietnam, which are small businesses. First, we note that the average compliance rate is about 11 to 25 percent. Specifically, a one percentage point increase in statutory tax rates is associated with an average increase of 0.11 to 0.25 percentage points in effective tax rates. Second, at the industry-regional level, a one percentage point increase in the tax rate is associated with a decrease of approximately 31 in the number of unregistered firms. This effect is not symmetric: a decrease in tax rate increases the number of unregistered firms, while there is no evidence for the opposite effect. Conversely, we do not observe effects on the number of registered firms. Third, at the individual firm level, surprisingly, we observe an increase in firm revenue as the result of a tax increase. We also note a negative effect of tax changes on whether businesses have paid workers but this impact is negligible in the linear impact evaluation. However, there is no evidence of changes in employment, fixed assets or reported tax liabilities. The impact on business registration depends on the specifications. In the third essay, The impacts of ride-hailing platforms on platform drivers: Evidence from Vietnam, we, along with Duong Le, Daisuke Fukuzawa, Hieu Nguyen examine the effects of ride-hailing platforms on income, work hours and hourly wage of platform drivers in Lam Dong and Quang Ninh provinces in Vietnam. Using data from the Labor Force Survey spanning 2015 to 2019, we use difference-in-differences approach to estimate the intent-to-treat effect of ride-hailing platforms. We find that the income and work hours of platform drivers experience an approximate increase of 10 and 5 percentage points, respectively, following the introduction of ride-hailing platforms. However, we do not observe any impacts on hourly wage of platform drivers due to ride-hailing platforms
Optimizing Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory Performance for Serverless Storage
Get PDFIntel Optane DC Persistent Memory (Optane PMem) presents a promising solution
for developing a serverless storage service. Leveraging its unique attributes of persistence,
substantial capacity, and memory-like speeds, this innovative technology holds potential
to serve as efficient storage media, offering low latency and high throughput for a variety
of applications running on serverless platforms. However, the dynamic and unpredictable
characteristics inherent in serverless computing workloads pose challenges to the effective
utilization of Optane PMem.
This thesis delves into the utilization of Optane PMem as storage media for serverless
computing workloads. Through simulations of real-world serverless applications with diverse
workload characteristics and performance requirements, we analyze the limitations of
Optane PMem and their impact on latency and throughput service-level agreement (SLA)
metrics. Our findings reveal that concurrent execution of applications sharing persistent
memory leads to performance degradation and unpredictable behavior from Optane PMem.
Moreover, these limitations pose contractual challenges for cloud providers, affecting their
ability to meet SLAs
The Brain Anatomical Structure of Sex Differences in Trust Propensity
Get PDFThis dissertation’s findings from two studies explored the neuroanatomical bases of sex differences in trust propensity (TP) in the context of trust game (TG). Through voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the research showed that higher TP in males correlates with increased gray matter volume (GMV) in critical decision-making regions, while in females, TP showed a positive association with white matter connectivity strength (WMCS) in the left cingulum (left CING) tract. These findings provided a nuanced understanding of the underlying neural structure of sex differences in TP, revealing how specific brain regions and pathways are differently involved. Moreover, the results underlined the importance of considering sex differences in the underlying neural structure of trust behaviors, which could have significant implications for interpersonal partnerships, financial transactions, and societal engagements. The integrated insights from gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) studies emphasized the complex interplay between brain structure and TP, offering a deeper comprehension of the social brain's architecture
UNSUPERVISED CLUSTERING-BASED ANOMALY DETECTION USING POLYCHRONOUS NEURONAL GROUPS
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until August 2026.This dissertation investigates the use of a biophysical, dynamic network, specifically aPolychronous Spiking Neural Network (P-SNN) and more specifically the P-SNN’s neuronal encodings produced by spatiotemporal data referred to as Polychronous Neuronal Groups (PNGs), to meet the challenge of finding anomalies in spatiotemporal data. Spatiotemporal anomaly detection is an increasing challenge today due to its inherent high dimensional complexities, sub-sequence joint behaviors, and the sparsity of events. These challenges are compounded today by the explosion and continuous generation of streaming data through systems that record sequential observations of remote sensing, mobility, wearable devices, and social media. Unfortunately, classical spatial anomaly detection methods are not effective with these high dimensional, expanding spatiotemporal data. Additionally, Deep Learning approaches to address the classical approach shortfalls have created overly complex architectures with an expansive set of hyperparameters to tune, transfer learning to implement, input data to reconstruct, and extensive training data required. Biophysical networks like the P-SNN and its PNG encodings offer an alternative to meet this challenge with their natural and efficient ability to encode complex, noisy, multi-scale, spatiotemporal data in a 1-layer architecture with just a single sample and no hyperparameter tuning nor transfer learning nor input data reconstruction. However, applying biophysical networks like the P-SNN and its PNGs for anomalies are an under researched area today as these biophysical networks are largely used for neuroscience cognitive research. These types of networks have been developed to study the brain’s response to visual and auditory sensory stimuli in creating neuronal encodings for short- and long-term memories. Some research has extended the P-SNN or PNG use to supervised classification tasks, however, neither the P-SNN nor its PNGs have been used to date for unsupervised anomaly detection tasks. This research therefore investigates the feasibility of applying the P-SNN’s PNG neuronal encodings for unsupervised anomaly detection using hierarchical clustering. To perform this, the PNGs’ encoding behaviors are codified into a set of five core features. The features’ statistics are then used to help detect the PNG encoded neurons created by the anomaly. A set of three experiments are composed to capture, record, and compare how the feature statistics can be applied to the PNGs’ neurons to create the greatest information loss against the anomaly. Three benchmark spatiotemporal data types are shown for anomaly detection which include Moving Bars, Binary Digits, and MNIST Handwritten Digits. The experiments show how the P-SNN’s PNGs can achieve high accuracy, be robust to variations of the spatiotemporal data, and whose unsupervised methods are generalized across the three different spatiotemporal data types to perform clustering-based anomaly detection, thus paving the way for advancements in unsupervised anomaly detection with complex spatiotemporal data.2026-08-1
Jessica Lynn Fontaine, PhD
No full textInstitutions of higher education have increasingly needed to balance college affordability with their own financial sustainability. There is a growing need for financial innovation and few examples within higher education for adoption of innovation frameworks. This qualitative dissertation examines phases of adoption of income share agreements (ISAs) at four U.S. institutions of higher education. Eight institutional leaders from the four schools were interviewed about the decision-making process their institution underwent when considering and implementing ISAs. General systems theory (GST) was used as a framework to consider inputs, throughputs, and outputs of the adoption process. Environmental inputs include the need for discretionary funding, an adaptive leadership culture, and a defined crisis. Behavioral throughputs include low to high levels of direct leadership engagement with the innovation adoption process. Outcomes and success metrics were impacted by the closure of the ISA programs, but the model includes confirmatory returns on investment and smaller-than-anticipated student cohorts. While the ISAs were ultimately dissolved at all four schools, analysis of the adoption of financial innovation process at each institution offers insight into how future institutions can approach adoptions of their own
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5612.01
Get PDF“The primary objective of this paper was to provide one of the first confirmations and validations regarding the candidate exoplanet TOI 5612.01 discovered in 2022 by the transit method. All observations used in this study were from ground-based telescope observations at the George Mason University Observatory. Utilizing AstroImageJ to complete the necessary data processing steps, we plotted a light curve based on over a hundred sets of viable data. However, after analyzing the given processed and graphed data, we were unable to reach any conclusive decision regarding whether there was truly a transit for our data at our specific observation period. This paper aims to outline our methodology and analysis in reaching such a conclusion; we also provide suggestions for future research.
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5561.01
Get PDF“The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest dwarf stars in the sky. In order to do this, along with discovering new exoplanet candidates, ground-based observations are needed to confirm that the candidates, the TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs), are planets. This paper presents the results of a follow-up ground based observation conducted on the candidate exoplanet TOI 5516.01. The goal of this investigation was to determine if there was a transit detected for TOI 5516.01 and if it occurred near the expected star, and at the expected time, with the expected duration and orbital depth. Employing data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and ground-based observations from George Mason University's 0.8m telescope, AstroImageJ was used to carry out multiple processes including data-reduction, plate-solving, aperture photometry, multi-aperture photometry, and NEB analysis in order to allow for light curve generation. Our observations and data resulted in an inconclusive outcome, where we are unable to precisely conclude whether a transit was detected or not.
A NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF HOW KOREAN AMERICAN WOMEN PERCEIVE THE EFFECT OF THEIR RACE, GENDER, AND CULTURAL INTERSECTIONALITY ON THEIR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
Get PDFAbstractA NARRATIVE INQUIRY OF HOW KOREAN AMERICAN WOMEN PERCEIVE THE EFFECT OF THEIR RACE, GENDER, AND CULTURAL INTERSECTIONALITY ON THEIR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP JOURNEY Esther L. Kim, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2024 Dissertation Director: Dr. Supriya Baily Despite Asian Americans being the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S., Asian American women are largely underrepresented and unresearched in education leadership. Racial discrimination and racial and cultural stereotypes make it difficult for them to succeed and rise to the top. This qualitative narrative study explored how the intersectionality of race, gender, and culture impacted the educational leadership journey of Korean American women. This was viewed through the theoretical frameworks of Asian Critical Theory and Critical Race Feminist Theory. This study highlighted the challenges the women faced in their leadership journey and the strategies they used to respond to them. The study's main findings emphasized how each facet of their intersectionality influenced their leadership development in different ways. Both race and gender revealed themselves to be strengths and weaknesses. The complex cultural identities of the women allowed the development of transferable leadership skills. The opportunities the women took to dispel racial misconceptions and prejudice also eventually helped pave the way for fostering future leadership in Asian American women
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5585.01
Get PDF“Starting in 2018, the NASA TESS mission identified numerous candidate exoplanets. Follow-up observations have been conducted on many of these candidate exoplanets, often involving using a light curve plot to determine whether the object of interest transits. The aims of this follow-up observation of TOI 5585.01 were to identify a transit using light curve analysis and confirm whether the details of transit, such as duration and depth, matched what was recorded by TESS. The follow-up was conducted using George Mason University’s 0.8m telescope to first gather images on TOI 5585.01 during a predicted transit. Then, AstroImageJ was used to process these images, creating a final light curve and other plots and tables containing information on details of the observation data. Finally, these products were interpreted and compared to the information obtained by TESS. The results of our observation were inconclusive because a transit could not be detected due to missing data and excess noise during data collection.