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'Chance Favors the Prepared Mind': The Librarians' Moment to Promote Research Visibility for our Faculty and our Institutions
Get PDFSince 2020, the librarians at Clark University have worked to promote visibility of the research output of our faculty to highlight our university’s work in creating positive change in our world. This visibility is crucial to university rankings which then impact student enrollment. As experts in bibliographic data and research support, librarians are in an ideal position to support our faculty and university in this way. While faculty may be selectively active in developing their online presence, the utility of accurate Scopus profiles, and rich ORCID profiles can be less clear, and viewed as burdensome. Through preparation, we have capitalized on moments of chance to make progress raising visibility for our faculty’s inspiring work.
Following a 2021 exploration of publications in Scopus, the librarians noticed that the numbers in faculty and publications affiliated with Clark were being underreported and did not reflect research output from Clark. The librarians designed materials and training that were shared over several years. But we had a chance opportunity to present on this topic at a faculty assembly meeting in November of 2024, on the morning following the US Presidential election. Our call to action was conveyed at the perfect time and was made possible through our years of action and preparation. Within a month, faculty reached out to confirm that their profile on Scopus was affiliated with Clark in rates we had not previously seen. We will share how we have quantified the impact to share with our administration and our institutional research office.
The goal of this presentation is to empower participants to develop similar efforts. We will share documentation that can be adapted to other institutions. We will share methods used to support faculty with developing their online presence profiles in ways that shine light on their work while being respectful of the nuances of identity, rank, discipline, and time constraints
Investigating the effect of physicochemical properties of nanomaterials on the NLRP3 inflammasome
No full textWith the growing use of nanomaterials for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, it has become essential to understand their interaction with the immune system, specifically the innate immune system. The innate immune system acts as the first level of defense against any injury or foreign material. A key component of the innate immune system, the NLRP3 inflammasome, is known to be responsible for various inflammatory disorders in the body. Recent studies have shown that apart from common stimuli like pathogens, extracellular ATP, and RNA-DNA hybrids, nanoparticles are also capable of effecting NLRP3 activation and subsequent inflammation, via nanoparticle-associated molecular patterns (NAMPs). Understanding these NAMPs and the physicochemical properties that affect them, is crucial in the design of more effective materials.
To facilitate this understanding, I synthesized and characterized three different nanomaterials with different properties such as hydrophobicity and surface charge, shape, and composition. The effect of these nanoparticles on the NLRP3 inflammasome was evaluated in macrophages via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The cell viability and internalization of these particles were also investigated. To visualize the effect on the NLRP3 inflammasome ASC Speck analysis was done. Finally, to gain some mechanistic insight, I performed lysosomal rupture, calcium influx and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) studies. Through this work, I hope to shed light on some of the physicochemical properties that need to be considered when designing new materials.Master of Science (M.S.)2030-05-1
Haunted World-Ecologies And Collapsed Environments In Contemporary Haunted Houses Across The Americas
No full textThis thesis proposes an expansion of ecocriticism and Ecogothic studies into oiko-criticism and oiko-gothic studies. Thus, it proposes to read haunted houses across the Americas as haunting manifestations of Jason Moore’s oikeios, which refers to the bundles of co-production between agents that make the web of life. Through its haunting reclamation of agency, the haunted oikeios deranges then the Capitalist world-ecology, and its capacity of reproducing environments organized by Cartesian binaries
and therefore exploitable subjects. The first chapter compares the haunting oikeios of La casa lobo (dirs. Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, 2018), a Chilean stop-motion animation film, and the United States novel House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski, 2000). In it, I propose to expand Esther Pereen’s concept of the living ghost of the disappeared to the realm of what the world-ecology has deemed as extra-human nature. For both cases, the excess of disappeared land comes back to haunt the world-ecology to
reclaim its agency within the haunted oikeios. The second chapter compares the Argentinian novel Bestias afuera (Siccardi, 2013), and the Canadian-Mexican novel Mexican Gothic (Moreno-Garcia, 2020). In it, I augment Pereen’s use of the spooky medium into the haunted house and its estate to explore how it creates haunted geographies and reveals the haunted oikeios, which nullifies the Capitalist fantasy of what Moore understands as ecological revolutions.Master of Arts (M.A.
GHAR KI BAAT: NARRATIVES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TRAUMA IN INDIAN FILM
No full textThis thesis compares the representation of domestic violence trauma in two Hindi-language Bollywood films, Thappad [tr. Slap] (dir. Anubhav Sinha, 2020) and Darlings (dir. Jasmeet K. Reen, 2022), both of which focalize modes of recourse for abuse along with individual and structural implication in gendered violence. The first chapter explores the sociocultural context of the films and the stylistic choices used to depict the protagonists’ post-traumatic stages, applying current turns in trauma studies, such as postcolonial trauma theory, to critique the prescriptive aesthetics of foundational trauma studies scholarship from the 1990s. In the second chapter, I formulate the notion of exceptional and unexceptional trauma, framing an analysis of the law’s response to domestic violence through character positionality and genre. I argue that the characters’ respective strategies for redressal, legal and illicit, allow them to recuperate a sense of agency after trauma from systemic and structural gendered violence. The concluding chapter shifts redressal to the domestic sphere, where the protagonists implicate their families and immediate communities in patriarchal discourses and gendered violence and establish intergenerational solidarity, which opens an intervention into the didactic potential of Thappad and Darlings.Master of Arts (M.A.)2026-05-1
THE IMPACT OF DRAWING AND TRACING ON VISUAL LONG-TERM MEMORY
No full textThis dissertation explores the impact of drawing and tracing on subsequent visual long-term memory of object images. Aim 1 tested whether producing a secondary representation (through describing) or gaining additional visual experience (through drawing) was more beneficial for learning visual materials. We found that performance was considerably better for images that participants described and drew compared to items that were studied, with a slight advantage of describing over drawing. This contrasts with studies of verbal content in which drawing leads to significantly better memory than describing.
Aim 2 explored how describing, drawing, and tracing impact memory precision. In this experiment, participants viewed images of objects and either copied the image, traced the image, described the image, or simply studied the image. They then completed a 3-alternative forced choice test with very visually similar alternatives. We found that memory was much better for items that were drawn and described compared to items that were traced or studied, with a benefit of drawing over describing. This shows that, in comparison to Aim 1, when the goal is very detailed visual memory, drawing is superior
to describing. Aim 3 and Aim 4 of this dissertation explored how drawing and tracing impact the binding of object features in memory. In these experiments, participants viewed images of colored objects in a specific location in a box and either copied the image, traced the image, described the image, or simply studied the image. To test binding, participants were presented with an image of the object and selected the color and location of it. Aim 3 was conducted with younger adults and Aim 4 was conducted with older adults. For young adults, describing and drawing led to the best memory binding.
For older adults, describing and studying were optimal.
Overall, this work shows that drawing and describing are useful strategies for learning images compared to simply studying. In addition, it emphasizes that the optimal learning strategy depends on the content, the test format, and the age group.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
A Comparison of Assessment Methods for Selecting Text to Support Fluency Development During a Remote Repeated Reading Intervention
No full textReading fluency, has been conceptualized as the “bridge” that connects word-level reading skills to meaningful passage comprehension. Therefore, it is often the target of intervention for struggling readers (Hudson et al., 2020, p.20). Repeated reading of familiar text is a well-studied strategy to improve oral reading fluency (Therrien, 2004); However, there is minimal research examining what types of text to use within repeated reading interventions (Therrien, 2008). The present study used existing programmatic data to compare instructional level assessment procedures, and fluency outcomes associated with a remote repeated reading intervention for elementary students (n=38), facilitated by America Reads tutors (n=10) during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study explored the reliability of the initial reading level assignments between three evaluation procedures, teacher estimates, running records, and CBM oral reading rates. Additional research questions explored whether the instructional reading level assignment produced from the initial running record, were accurate when selecting text during the intervention period. Finally, this study examined whether this intervention protocol benefitted students overall. The results reveal that teachers’ estimates of students’ instructional levels were within one level of the level produced by correlation conversions, and a lengthy running record process (~ 19 hours), about 80-90% of the time. When running record instructional level classifications were compared to those derived from passage reading fluency (PRF) rates, only about one third of students were consistently classified as meeting/exceeding or below grade-level standards. Additionally in this study, running records almost always assigned students to texts more difficult than the instructional level captured by PRF rates within unpracticed leveled text, especially among the students identified as struggling readers. On average, the students in this sample demonstrated greater fluency gains within intervention materials slightly more difficult than the instructional level classified by oral reading fluency rates. Pre-post intervention fluency rates further confirmed repeated reading as an effective intervention for fluency development, that can be implemented remotely by minimally trained tutors with a moderate effect (d=0.67). Students identified as fluent (n=19) and non-fluent (n=18) demonstrated comparable growth as a result of participation. While running records were used in this study to assign students to leveled texts, an alternative method using passage reading fluency rates was proposed as a feasible, well-studied (Burns, 2024), and efficient (~ 3 hours) way for educators to select intervention materials that would challenge students with tutor support.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
AN EXAMINATION OF ROLE IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S SPORT FANDOM
No full textExtensive research into sport consumer behavior has shown that sport fandom was a social experience that fostered belonging. Belonging referred to a feeling of connection with others who shared an interest in a sport team or league (Cornwell & Jahn, 2023; Sloan, 1989). These connections often led to a strengthened fan identity, which yielded social and psychological benefits (Inoue et al., 2020; Wann, 2006) and drove consumption behaviors such as purchasing merchandise or attending games (Biscaia et al., 2023; Mazodier et al., 2018).
However, most of this body of research has centered men’s sport contexts (Delia et al., 2021; Lebel et al., 2021). Only seven percent of sport consumer behavior research has examined women’s sport contexts (Delia et al., 2022), limiting insight into how fans of women’s sport make meaning of their fan identities. Prior researchers have suggested that fans of women’s sport were motivated by values such as a desire to support gender equality (Clarke et al., 2022; Delia, 2020), which signaled a need for deeper inquiry into the unique meanings associated with fandom in women’s sport.
Fans of women’s sport often navigated structural challenges (e.g., limited media visibility and inconsistent merchandise availability; Clarke, 2019; The Collective, 2023; Hytner, 2020) and negotiated their fandom alongside other role identities, such as parenting or advocacy. Identity theory posited that individuals carry overlapping role identities, and that the salience and social validation of these roles influenced behavior and self-understanding (Stryker & Serpe, 1994; McCall & Simmons, 1978). As such, this theoretical lens offered a useful framework for exploring the experiences of fans of women’s sport through the lens of their interlocking role identities and understanding the meanings attached to being fans.
Guided by identity theory and a social constructionist epistemology, I conducted a generic descriptive–interpretive qualitative study (Elliott & Timulak, 2021) with fans of teams within the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). These findings contributed to identity theory and offered new insights for organizations seeking to better understand and engage fans of women’s sport.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Three Essays on Equity Duration and Term Structure
No full textUnderstanding the economic meaning behind major equity risk factors in asset pricing poses a significant challenge due to the complexity of relating these factors to common economic fundamentals. Contemporary research indicates that equity duration plays a crucial role in explaining various common equity risk factors. This dissertation comprises three essays that empirically and theoretically study equity duration and term structure.
In the first paper, I address the question: if duration drives return, what factor drives duration? My study highlights the critical role of firm-level political risk in explaining firm-level equity duration. Specifically, I find a significant, negative impact of firm-level political risk on equity duration. By constructing a theoretical model, I demonstrate that firm-level political risk influences equity duration at the firm level through the cash flow channel instead of discount rate channel. Periods of Democratic leadership can mitigate the negative impact of firm-level political risk on equity duration. Furthermore, I document that firm lobbying activities and institutional investor ownership serve as effective mechanisms to mitigate the adverse impacts of firm-level political risk on equity duration.
In the second paper, I build a model to explain the time variation of the equity term structures theoretically. I address the importance of non-Gaussian features of the conditional consumption growth process in explaining the equity term structure and extend the long-run risk (LRR) model by incorporating non-Gaussian time-varying distributed shocks into the consumption and dividend growth processes. This trackable LRR-based asset pricing model not only explains a wide range of realistic non-Gaussian features observed in consumption growth and asset price moments (i.e., excess return, variance risk premium), but also explains time variation of equity term structures.
In the third paper, I examine how agents' perceptions of risk influence the prediction of equity claims with varying maturities. Utilizing the Graham and Harvey CFO 1-year and 10-year S\&P 500 return expectation survey data, I demonstrate that agents' expectations of both short-term and long-term volatility are sticky and heavily influenced by past variance. The analysis indicates that prices of equity claims with different maturities do not respond sufficiently to changes in volatility; thus, increases in current expected variance negatively predict equity returns across all maturities, while past variance positively predicts them.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Waging War by the Book: American Libraries and Texts in Vietnam, 1946-1975
No full textUnder the auspices of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Asia Foundation (TAF), the United States engaged in cultural programs that transported thousands of American books and textbooks to Vietnam between 1946 and 1975. While USIA and TAF believed that their book operations represented American exceptionalism, many Vietnamese came to view USIA reading centers, known abroad as United States Information Service (USIS) Libraries, as acts of cultural imperialism. The American book program in Vietnam represented the combination of USIA and TAF operations in an attempt to influence the Vietnamese by promoting anti-Communism, modernization theory, inclusion in a ‘Free World’ community, and other historical texts intended to portray the United States as the global leader during the Cold War and the Chinese as aggressors.
USIS Libraries and other American reading centers that the United States controlled in Vietnam were unable to stay separate from military escalation by the mid-1960s. These reading centers, intended to symbolize American exceptionalism in a decolonizing world, became centers of nationalist resistance as the South Vietnamese protested outside these spaces. American journalists like I.F. Stone and the New York Times reporter R.W. Apple Jr. denounced these spaces as propaganda sites. The American book program calls into question the country’s altruism, commitments to cultural understanding, and American exceptionalism’s role in decolonized countries, including Vietnam.Humanities and Fine Arts FellowshipDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Intelligent Cost-Performance Optimization for Big Data Analytics Systems
No full textBig data analytics systems in the cloud have revolutionized data-driven insight discovery for businesses and organizations. Yet, intelligent cost-performance optimization for big data analytics remains fraught with complexities: (i) accurately modeling performance amidst multiple factors (job characteristics, data distributions, system states) (ii) balancing cost and latency in multi-objective optimization while ensuring good coverage, consistency, and efficiency, and (iii) dealing with fine-grained or adaptive controls (e.g., MaxCompute partition-level tuning, Spark’s adaptive query execution) that introduce hierarchical and runtime re-optimization challenges. Motivated by these points, this dissertation focuses on two key questions: (1) how to build accurate, robust models for analytical jobs in big data analytical systems, and (2) how to systematically recommend optimal configurations across diverse system granularities and objectives to achieve cost-performance optimization.
The first contribution in the dissertation introduces a model server capable of learning job properties from both black-box traces and white-box query plans. For black-box scenarios, it employs an autoencoder (guided by specialized losses) to extract job embeddings from runtime metrics, whereas white-box cases leverage graph-based neural networks for SQL query plans. Synthetic data generation further extends coverage to out-of-distribution workloads, enabling robust predictive performance.
Next, the optimization suite uses a principled multi-objective optimization (MOO) process to balance monetary cost and job performance. A unified data analytics optimizer (UDAO) tackles high-dimensional parameters, employing a gradient-based solver to quickly locate Pareto-optimal solutions. Two specialized optimizers then refine control at finer granularities: (1) a stage-level resource optimizer for MaxCompute that schedules millions of partition instances in sub-seconds, reducing latency by 37–72% and cost by 43–78% in production; and (2) a hybrid compile-time/runtime optimizer for Spark SQL, fine-tuning parameters (query, subquery, stage) and dynamically re-optimizing queries with updated runtime statistics, yielding over 60% latency cuts on TPC-DS and TPC-H.
Evaluations show that this intelligent optimizer consistently outperforms existing heuristic or partially automated strategies, achieving faster solving times (under one second) and better Pareto-frontier coverage. In summary, this dissertation demonstrates that intelligent cost-performance optimization, anchored in advanced modeling and multi-objective parameter tuning, enables big data systems to meet stringent performance goals while effectively managing cloud expenses.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.