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Off the map: climate as a new security border in the EU, USA, India, & Australia
No full textAmong the 100 million refugees and displaced persons in 2022, the category of “climate refugees” has become more salient, yet countries still don’t know how to handle it. Around the world, climate refugees are increasingly visible in highly securitized migratory flows such as from the Latin American dry corridor to the US, Africa to the EU, Pacific Islands to Australia, and Bangladeshis to India. This dissertation examines the variance in security policies on climate displacement among the EU, USA, India, & Australia. It provides evidence that climate refugees were securitized within climate and migration legislation at the international, regional, and national stages. The securitization process itself varied and ranged from framing climate refugees as traditional state security threats to risk management measures. Utilizing a novel securitization framework, expert interviews and computational network tools, I identify and evaluate the factors explaining these variations. Four broad categories of outcomes were identified across the case studies – deterrence, humanitarian & economic, legal protection/pathways, and planned relocations. More specifically, I demonstrate that exclusive outcomes for climate migrants are a combination of active deterrent and development strategies used prominently by the EU and Australia, and increasingly by the US, through measures such as increased policing, criminalization, and detainment in third countries under an umbrella of humanitarian aid and capacity-building. Inclusive outcomes are a combination of legal protection measures such as the Temporary Protected Status in the US, regularizing labor migration e.g., Pacific Labor Mobility scheme in Australia, the military’s role in humanitarian operations through disaster diplomacy undertaken by India in South Asian region, and planned relocations of coastal communities in the US and India. The varying forms of exclusion and inclusion of climate refugees suggest two broad policy implications; One, where state actors transform climate driven migration flows as a border regime unto itself. Here the main idea is to keep out migrants and therefore use deterrent strategies and ineffective economic incentives to source and transit countries. The second option is to recognize the broad range of climate driven mobilities already taking place and regularize these flows through labor agreements, planned relocations, and humanitarian protection measures.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The meaning of engagement: community development nonprofits’ methods and motivations for engaging residents in Newark, NJ
No full textInspired by Arnstien’s work on participation and power (1969), the premise of this study is that participation is a pathway for community members to claim and wield power. Although poverty alleviating services and initiatives are important for fulfilling the immediate basic needs of impoverished individuals, scholars and practitioners would agree that civic engagement is important for designing and implementing effective and just urban community development initiatives. However, while some community development organizations thrive at engaging community members, others struggle. This project is a cross-sectional, mixed method comparative study of community development nonprofits in Newark, NJ. This study uses interviews with executive directors and community organizers to investigate why and how Newark nonprofits incorporate engagement in their community development work. Using the Ladder of Participation (Arnstein, 1969), the five measures of community development corporation capacity (Glickman & Servon, 2007), and the steps towards participating in social movements (Klandermans & Oegema, 1987) as frameworks, this study seeks to understand why and how community development nonprofits engage community members. The Mountain of Citizen Power is proposed as a framework for understanding the journey-like process of engagement and the power dynamics contained in nonprofits’ community engagement strategies. Alongside the Mountain, this study also introduces the Citizen Power Score (CPS), a continuous variable generated by assigning point values to the nine ordinal variables contained within the Mountain’s three power categories: active, passive, and dormant. This study used cross-tabulation analyses to compare organizations’ CPS with five measures of nonprofit capacity including. The cross-tabulation analysis found that large-budgeted organizations only scored in the dormant power category, organizations that that served many people did not score in the active power category, and organizations with low network capacity only scored in the dormant power category. This study also uses Klandermans and Oegema’s framework (1987) to understand the steps nonprofits take to facilitate engagement and found that most nonprofits conducted this work in an ad-hoc fashion in response to engagement needs that arise. This lack of strategy is a result of engagement resource constraints such as inadequate data management tools, small or nonexistent budgets, and insufficient staff time.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
"No need has been demonstrated": exploring the opposition to the 1986 New York City gay rights bill
No full textThis paper analyzes opposition to the New York City 1986 gay rights bill, known as "Intro. 2," by identifying the motivations and beliefs behind it, and the arguments used in testimonies before the New York City Council. Examination of five categories of testimonies indicate that there was a loose, disparate coalition with differing arguments and aims that were not easily reconciled. Sources are drawn from the City Council Collection at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, and they include letters sent to representatives in city council, pamphlets published to sway opinions, and the transcripts of two crucial hearings held on March 11th and March 20th, 1986. This paper analyzes the testimonies of five major categories of speakers during these two crucial hearings: Noach Dear, a councilmember from Brooklyn; Herb McKay, a community representative from the North Bronx; religious speakers from the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish faiths; Dennis Ahern, a spokesman for the New York City Transit Police Benevolent Association (PBA); and finally, the testimony of Peter Vincent, who spoke only for himself. These five speakers of vastly different backgrounds and affiliations were indicative of a coalition that lacked cohesion or the willpower to work together. This coalition was not able to articulate a clear message, and all argued different points.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
We must come out
No full textWe Must Come Out is a short story collection that centers Nigerian American experiences. This collection features narratives that traverse the challenges that accompany being a first-generation American. I explore parent-child relationships, highlighting the disconnect that often trails behind one generation and latches onto the next. I also delve into the intricacies of interracial love and the desire for reconciliation within oneself as they navigate their place in the world as a person of color.M.F.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Kowler, Eileen. Supplemental tables for "Bayesian approaches to smooth pursuit of random dot kinematograms: effects of varying RDK noise and the predictability of RDK direction"
No full textMicrobial ecology in continental hydrothermal and geothermal systems
No full textContinental hydrothermal systems are essential for identifying the limits of life here on Earth and are used as analogs to understand how life may have existed on other planets. Due to the exceptionally diverse nature of hydrothermal systems, additional research is needed to understand the full range of microbial ecology in hydrothermal systems and their potential for biosignature preservation. In this dissertation research, metagenomes in the context of their environmental geochemistry were used to investigate the microbial ecology of different substrates (i.e., water, mud, and fumarolic deposits) from Solfatara and Pisciarelli in Naples, Italy. Metagenomes were also used to assess the microbial ecology of Jotun Springs, a travertine-forming spring in Svalbard, Norway. Furthermore, the biosignature preservation potential and mode of preservation within Jotun Springs was evaluated. Finally, we investigated the contribution of horizontal gene transfer to biosignature preservation. Comparative geochemical and metagenomics analysis demonstrated that differences in microbial community structure across substrates from hydrothermal systems are not widespread but specific to the system. Results showed that microbial communities in Jotun Springs exhibit a spatial dynamic controlled by temperature, fluid availability, and possibly geochemistry, with these microorganisms employing several strategies to survive the extreme environmental conditions in the Arctic. Jotun Springs also revealed that systems that are not very productive in travertine formation or hot may produce significant carbonate buildups and provide environmental conditions favorable for fossilization via calcite and silica precipitation. Additionally, horizontal gene transfer analysis showed that the lateral transfer of genes involved in microbial processes that promote carbonate and silica precipitation between microorganisms can enhance microbial contributions to carbonate and silica precipitation, ultimately increasing the possibility of calcification and silicification. This dissertation research sheds light on the dynamics of microbial communities within hydrothermal systems, their role in biosignature preservation, and the mode of biosignature preservation in hydrothermal systems. Our findings contribute to understanding the geological and biological processes associated with hydrothermal systems on Earth and possibly Mars. It also provides valuable information about potential biosignature preservation on Mars.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The relationship between math achievement and functional connectivity in young adults with and without autism
No full textIndividuals with autism with average intelligence are often assumed to possess superior skills in the realm of mathematics, despite limited evidence supporting this claim. There is evidence, however, of under-connectivity in the brain as a feature of autism in adults that has been examined in resting-state functional connectivity research. This difference in connectivity is absent in neurotypical adults, underscoring the unique brain organization in ASD. The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is a region involved in numerical processing and magnitude comparison, crucial skills for mathematical achievement. Studies examining IPS connectivity in neurotypical (NT) adults have found that greater IPS connectivity is related to higher math achievement. However, in children, greater connectivity is related to worse math achievement. No studies of IPS resting state connectivity and math achievement in autism have been conducted to date in adults. In this study, we examined the relationship between math achievement and IPS connectivity through analysis of cognitive performance and neural activity. Performance was measured through standardized metrics of general intelligence and academic ability. Resting-state data was collected by instructing participants to stare at a fixation cross while letting their minds wander. Cognitive results showed the NT group outperformed the ASD group in math fluency. Whole-brain analyses revealed greater IPS connectivity to parietal and occipital cortexes in NT compared to ASD. Covariate analysis revealed positive relations between math ability and neural activity in the NT group, while negative relations were found between math ability and neural activity in the ASD group. In examining both groups, functional connectivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and left middle frontal gyrus were positively related to math ability in NT, but negatively related in the autism group. These results suggest that under-connectivity is a feature of greater math achievement in autism and that different brain organization may relate to strengths in math achievement in ASD. Future research studies should consider exploring measures in procedural math, as it relates to the detail-focused cognitive style in autism. The current study’s chosen measure of math ability combines conceptual and procedural math topics, obscuring individual effects on performance.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Gender justice in the vernacular: victims’ participation and empowerment at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECC)
No full textThis dissertation highlights the flow of the transitional gender justice cascade in Cambodia. The richness of global knowledge is reframed and vernacularized to fit within the local setting. The research used qualitative research methods based on semi-structured interviews and participant observations to seek answer to two main questions to what extent has transitional justice empowered victims, especially women, and what are the roles of civil society organizations in the process of empowerment? The court proceedings presented unique and creative TJ mechanisms, which had the potential to empower survivors of the KR, enabling them to heal their trauma through meaningful participation.The dissertation argues that the degree to which TJ mechanisms can empower women is determined by politics and power relationships surrounding the judicial process and the connections between global and local norms of gender justice. It is important not to neglect the influence politics and the power dynamic playing between different levels on the ground since they have the potential to shape and distort TJ.
The research found that due to the delayed establishment of the Victims Support Section (VSS) and investigation of GBV and rape, the court not only missed the opportunity to provide justice to victims and survivors of the crimes, but also never fully considered the complexity of traditional gender roles within Cambodian society. Through victim participation schemes, the NGOs and the ECCC provided a safe space and a favorable environment for survivors to gradually build trust in the process and ultimately share their past experiences. Inclusiveness and a victim-centered approach within the VSS of the ECCC and the NGOs were essential elements in enabling survivors to exercise their rights and use their agency to express their needs and concerns. The research contributed to define a concept of empowerment in TJ. The research also found that TJ practitioners and vernacularizers played very important roles in empowering survivors through their programs and creative projects; however, they became mired in the TJ imaginary, while many resilient survivors had already moved on with their lives by relying on traditional Buddhist beliefs. As a result, the vernacularizers missed the opportunity to create projects most responsive to the current needs of survivors. The TJ practitioners also made promises to survivors that they could not fully keep. As a result, though most victims of GBV felt empowered through their participation in the ECCC’s processes, some survivors became disappointed and lost hope in the ECCC. They thought the ECCC should have done more to improve human rights and democracy in the country and also enhance survivors’ living conditions.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Acyl and decarbonylative cross-coupling of amides and hemilabile nhc (nhc = n-heterocyclic carbene) ligands for gold catalysis
No full textThe amide bond represents one of the most prevalent functional groups in organic synthesis and biology. Given the widespread existence of amides in diverse bioactive compounds, pharmaceuticals, polymers, and advanced materials, it is crucial to develop new methodologies for selective and efficient activation of amides. In 2015, our group introduced the concept of activating amide bonds through ground-state destabilization. In this approach, amide bonds are activated through steric and electronic substitution, facilitating a wide range of transition-metal-catalyzed reactions of the N–C(O) bond for synthetic manipulations. In this context, numerous transition-metal-catalyzed transformations of amides using this concept are currently being developed.On the other hand, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have emerged as powerful class of ancillary ligands for transition-metal-catalysis in a broad range of fundamental organic transformations, including cross-coupling and alkene metathesis. NHC ligands show unique advantages in valuable synthetic transformations owing to their inherent properties such as strong -donation and modifiable steric environment. The design and development of new NHC ligands is currently in high demand to expand the toolbox of transition-metal-catalysis to elusive transformations.
The first part of this thesis describes the development of acyl and decarbonylative and cross-coupling of amides. This part includes: (1) the development of a sequential protocol for the divergent acyl and aryl cross-coupling between amides and arenes via dual Ir-catalyzed C–H borylation/Pd-catalyzed N–C(O) activation; (2) the development of Pd-catalyzed decarbonylative Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of N-mesyl amides by a tandem N–C(O)/C–C activation.
The second part of this thesis describes the development of a new class of hemilabile N-heterocyclic carbene ligands for the advancement of gold-catalyzed reactions. This part includes: (1) the development of highly reactive, well-defined L-shaped heterobidentate ImPy (ImPy = imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-3-ylidene) N,C ligands for oxidant-free Au(I)/Au(III) catalysis; (2) the development of heterobidentate ImPy ligands for C–H coupling of heteroarenes, such as indoles and pyrroles; (3) the development of ImPy ligands for a broadly general C–N coupling to furnish valuable amines; (4) the development of ImPy ligands for challenging Au(I)-catalyzed hydroamination of alkynes with dialkylamines; (5) the development of hemilabile ImQun N-heterocyclic carbene N,C ligands (ImQun = imidazo[1,5-a]quinoline) for a broad range of alkene difunctionalizations via oxidant-free Au(I)/Au(III) catalysis.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference