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Reckoning with race: Black men in Jean-Léon Gérôme's Orient
No full textIn December 1855, Jean-Léon Gérôme departed for Egypt and the Holy Land on a government-sponsored mission to study “the most striking types of different races.” One of the first Orientalist paintings that he completed upon his return was "Egyptian Recruits Crossing the Desert," a frieze-like panoply of foreign figures. Critics responded favorably to this new ethnographic direction in Gérôme’s work, emboldening him to paint people of color in a variety of narrative contexts. This dissertation examines the myriad paintings of exotic Black men that Gérôme produced between the Salon of 1857 and his death in 1904 and contextualizes them within the overlapping histories of scientific racism, slavery, and colonialism. It draws on unpublished correspondence, the travel writings of Gérôme and his contemporaries, and period criticism to deconstruct the most recurrent Black male types in Gérôme’s oeuvre: soldiers, performers, animal workers, and eunuchs.
Chapter One considers four paintings of Black bashi-bazouks, or irregular soldiers. Hired during times of conflict to strengthen the Ottoman army, they were characterized as ruthless combatants in the European press yet appear manifestly harmless and picturesque in Gérôme’s oeuvre. Chapter Two analyzes several scenes of secular and religious spectacle that feature Black performers or audience members. Western travelers were predisposed to view the Orient as a racial pageant, and Black entertainers were pivotal actors in that drama. Chapter Three investigates a group of works that feature Black men working alongside or conquering animals, both wild and domesticated. It considers the power dynamics between Gérôme’s human and animal protagonists and the stereotypes underlying their interactions. Chapter Four dissects five paintings of Black eunuchs either chaperoning harem women or guarding the tombs of Ottoman dignitaries. It explores Gérôme’s vexed efforts to represent the contradictory physique, sexuality, and social status of eunuchs. Together, these four thematic chapters reckon with race in Gérôme’s Orientalist paintings of Black men.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Varieties of contingent experience: practicing pragmatism in the twenty-first century academy
No full textThis dissertation develops, analyzes, and enacts a pragmatic understanding of Pragmatist contingency to innovate a new form of the dissertation as genre. In both its form and content, “Varieties of Contingent Experience” theorizes and performs an experientially-inflected understanding of relations-in-flux in order to: a) consider the manifestation of Pragmatist relationality in the literary careers of two prominent American authors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; b) examine the perpetual “crisis” plaguing graduate study in the humanities in the twenty-first century; c) promulgate an understanding of writing pedagogies that is attuned to epistemological relationality and contingency; and d) reimagine the genre of the “dissertation,” and, by extension, the institutional roles and values to which it ostensibly relates. Taken as a whole, this dissertation offers a Pragmatist and pragmatic reconsideration of what a dissertation can do when conceived as a document that locates the conditions of knowledge creation not in coherent absolutes (institutional; pedagogical; epistemological), but in the experience of relationality itself: the liminality of proximate contact. In modeling a new version of the genre rooted in that brand of experience, this dissertation respects and reflects the conditions of contingency that suffused its making. Central to the argument I advance about what that genre might do is a reflection on my own dissertation-writing process. This self-reflexive critique—which attends to the contingency-inflected experiences inherent in the roles of doctoral student and non-tenure-track full-time instructor—is Pragmatically valuable in that it serves as a metonymic reflection of the institutions, habits, and presumptions that govern the dissertation-as-genre and its relation to contemporary academic life.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Subjectivity, agency, catharsis, and the power of writing in Italian women's literature
No full textThe central focus of this dissertation is to analyze the writing of Italian women authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who wrote works of fiction, or at least works presented as such, and the role that the act of writing plays within them. All the works analyzed in this project have female protagonists at their centers, struggling with structural, societal, and personal battles and traumas. The protagonists all, in one way or another, process, grapple with, and analyze these milieus through their writing, wrestling with their statuses as women in a male-dominated society, and all the responsibilities, expectations, and oppositions inherent in Italy due to their gender, and in some cases even their race, in order to find solace, agency, and catharsis through the power of the written word.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The literature of Black and Indigenous encounter in early America
No full textMy dissertation argues that Black and Indigenous authors rewrote European literary genres, tropes, and narratives to construct a distinct literary tradition that reimagined American history from a Black and Indigenous perspective. By restaging European narratives of New World discovery and recasting them with Black and Indigenous actors, authors like John Marrant, Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak (Black Hawk), and even some white authors like Leonora Sansay, challenged a colonial literary tradition that defined Black and Indigenous people solely through their relationship to Europeans – as either White/Black or Settler/Indigenous. Over the course of the long eighteenth century, Black and Indigenous authors argued that their histories and experiences were co-constituted, that what it meant to be Black in early America was fundamentally entwined with what it meant to be Indigenous – and vice versa. What brings these voices together under the umbrella of a distinct literary tradition, however, is that they framed their assertions of Black and Indigenous relationality using colonial genres predicated on its impossibility. I offer a new approach to the early American canon by showing how many eighteenth and nineteenth-century texts traditionally read within exclusively Black or Indigenous literary traditions were actually deeply invested in the overlap of both.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Sources of individual differences in 14 to 18-month-old’s counting recognition
No full textPrevious work suggests that infants can recognize and benefit from counting by 14 months of age. Just like most group-level findings in psychological research, infants’ group-level success contains wide individual-level variability. Here we aim to explore where these individual differences come from, focusing on parental input and home learning environment based on previous work. We utilized an online looking time paradigm to assess 14-to-18-month-old infants’ object tracking benefit from watching a familiar English counting sequence and an unfamiliar Japanese counting sequence. We found that infants’ object tracking benefitted from both English and Japanese counting. Additionally, we found that parental counting input, numerical activities, and literary activities predicted infants’ English counting recognition above and beyond infants’ object tracking capacity, whereas literary activities also predicted Japanese counting recognition above and beyond English counting recognition. These findings pave the way for future investigations of the origins and long-term impacts of early counting experience in infancy.M.S.Includes bibliographical reference
Gene expression and induction of secondary metabolites in Nepeta cataria L. (catnip)
No full textCatnip (Nepeta cataria L.) is an emerging medicinal and aromatic crop valued for its essential oil rich in nepetalactones. Nepeta species have numerous traditional uses across cultures and exhibit promising biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, bioherbicidal, and insect repellent properties. Many of these bioactivities are attributed to nepetalactones and other iridoid monoterpenes unique to the Nepeta genus. As commercial interest grows in catnip cultivation, strategies to enhance its production of bioactive metabolites are needed. This dissertation contributes novel insights to the growing body of work surrounding catnip and related species through the following aims: (1) investigate the effects of rooting adjuvants on the adventitious rooting of catnip stem cuttings; (2) determine the ability of salicylic acid to stimulate nepetalactone biosynthesis and induce related pathway genes in catnip; and (3) examine the untargeted metabolomic profiles of catnip flowers, leaves, and roots. Chapter 1 introduces the ethnobotanical applications of Nepeta species and their unique biochemistry. Recent discoveries have elucidated the pathways that biosynthesize nepetalactones which are regulated by iridoid synthase and nepetalactol dehydrogenase enzymes. This chapter also provides a review of the literature surrounding the use of abiotic elicitors on several species in this genus and others within the greater Lamiaceae family. Since the optimization of clonal propagation techniques is crucial for breeding programs and commercial production, Chapter 2 investigates the use of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and various aqueous solvents on the adventitious rooting of catnip stem cuttings. These rooting treatments neither stimulated nor inhibited catnip rooting. This is likely because catnip produces sufficient levels of endogenous auxins. This chapter also evaluates the allelochemical effects of diluted catnip essential oil (EO) on catnip, basil, and oregano stem cuttings. The EO treatments not only inhibited rooting, but also reduced the survival of these species suggesting potential herbicidal activity. Nepetalactones, iridoid monoterpenes unique to the Nepeta genus, contribute to the bioactivity of its volatile EO. Thus, Chapter 3 explores the ability of 0.5 mM and 1.0 mM salicylic acid (SA) treatments to induce nepetalactone production and the expression of its related biosynthetic genes in hydroponically grown catnip. Both the 0.5 mM and 1.0 mM SA treatments resulted in upregulation of GPPS and NEPS1. Correlation analysis revealed a low positive co-expression strength between the two genes. However, within the 24-hour time course of the study significant changes in nepetalactone yield were not observed. Chapter 4 expands on the work completed in Chapter 3 by evaluating the effects of SA for a longer time period. Our results did not reveal statistically significant differences in nepetalactone yield between plants treated with SA and untreated plants, but we did observe higher nepetalactone yields in older plants indicating time as a significant source of variation. Also, the relative gene expression of NEPS1 was transiently upregulated during the 1-week time course. This suggests that exogenous treatments can influence the expression of genes in catnip and potentially have downstream effects on the production of its bioactive metabolites. Lastly, Chapter 5 analyzes the global metabolome of Nepeta cataria. This untargeted metabolomics approach uncovers and compares the metabolite profiles of three catnip organs: flowers, leaves, and roots. Multivariate analyses reveal significant differences in metabolite enrichment between the three organs. The enriched metabolic pathways correspond to the specialized ecophysiological functions of each plant organ. Integrating metabolomics data with other omics datasets can improve our mechanistic understanding of catnip biochemistry from the cellular level to the systems-level.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Developing and operationalizing a critical disability physics identity framework: investigating the experiences of neurodivergent physicists at various career stages
No full textNeurodiversity is the celebration of the diversity of minds. It is the understanding that people think, sense, and behave in different ways, and the assertion that the non-normative ways which people and their minds operate are, in fact, good. Neurodivergent people are beginning to access higher education at much higher rates than ever before. Yet, disability studies scholars note that, once inside, success in navigating academia remains inaccessible for many neurodivergent students. On the other hand, neurodivergent students oftentimes report qualities which otherwise make them successful STEM professionals, such as different ways of solving problems, different spatial reasoning, or different methods of working. In this dissertation, I present a tool for investigating the identity formation of neurodivergent physics students, the Critical Disability Physics Identity (CDPI) framework, which takes a strengths-based approach to understanding identity through resource use and political agency. I operationalize this CDPI framework and use it to investigate and hold space for the experiences of neurodivergent postbaccalaureate nonacademic physicists, physics undergraduates, and physics graduate students. I conclude with a call to action for disability justice in physics.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Genetic biomarkers and origins of aneuploidy: evaluating embryonic competence
No full textInfertility affects approximately 10-15% of couples of reproductive age. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART), particularly in vitro fertilization (IVF), has been able to significantly improve live birth rates in couples struggling with infertility. For some couples, the use of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) may be warranted to transfer a single chromosomally normal (euploid) embryo, increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy outcome. However, even with the use of PGT-A, pregnancy loss and adverse pregnancy outcomes may persist, with some couples experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). This thesis focuses on two markers that may help evaluate embryonic competence to provide the greatest chance of a successful IVF outcome. The first is a new genetic marker that predisposes couples to the risk of early and late miscarriages known as the M2 haplotype, and the second allows prediction of the origins of aneuploidy. The M2 haplotype consists of four point mutations in the core promoter of the Annexin A5 gene which decreases Annexin A5 protein (ANXA5) levels. Decreased ANXA5 increases the risk for thrombophilia in the placenta leading to placental mediated pregnancy complications. Forty-four percent of couples attempting in vitro fertilization (IVF) are carriers of the M2 haplotype compared to 15% in the general population. Importantly, evidence suggests the M2 haplotype is embryonal, and that the risks of pregnancy complications originate with the carrier status of the embryo. A novel qPCR based genotyping method was developed and validated to screen IVF patients as well as preimplantation genetic embryos for the M2 haplotype with an accuracy of 100% and 97-100%, respectively. In addition, using large data banks, population wide phenotypic associations were made to characterize the M2 haplotype. Imputation methods were validated to infer the M2 genotypes of the UK Biobank (UKBB) data set with an accuracy of 97%. Validated imputation methods were applied to the UKBB and severe pre-eclampsia was reported in M2 carriers at a frequency of 31% compared to 22% in non-carriers. The utility of PGT in carrier patients will be assessed as a means for embryo selection as opposed to conventional low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) treatment. A clinical trial recruited 166 couples, 23 of those couples elected for PGT for M2 to select non carrier embryos, and 11 IVF outcomes have been reported. In addition to screening for the M2 Haplotype, improvements to PGT-A may help increase the success of IVF. The use of PGT-A has become increasingly common over the last few years. However, most methods of PGT-A are limited to copy number analyses that can lead to false positive diagnosis of mosaicism. Mosaicism, defined as the presence of mitotic errors in the embryo, has been difficult to classify and report with current PGT-A methods and is currently being overreported by many PGT laboratories. The second focus of this thesis is to improve PGT-A methods using both copy number and SNP genotyping data to predict the parental and cell division origins of aneuploidy. This may lead to determining the true prevalence of mosaic embryos and provide more accurate diagnoses of preimplantation embryos. After validating a method to predict the origins of trisomies with 99%-100% accuracy on truth models it was applied to a cohort of embryos where parental DNA was available and meiotic aneuploidy was responsible for 27% of aneuploidy and mitotic aneuploidy only 2%. With the development and validation of both methodologies, embryonic competence may be evaluated providing patients with a higher chance of IVF success.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Conflict-related sexual violence and laws concerning violence against women: an exploration of backlash to feminist mobilization
No full textHow does conflict-related sexual violence during war affect violence against women perpetrated after the end of the armed conflict? Some studies suggest that women mobilize after armed conflict, which leads to societal conditions that encourage the adoption of harsher laws concerning violence against women. Other studies suggest that unchecked violent masculine norms during armed conflict leads to greater tolerance for violence against women after armed conflict. Drawing insights from both literatures, this thesis demonstrates whether and how high levels of sexual violence in armed conflict leads to stronger laws addressing violence against women. This same relationship does not apply to the enforcement of these laws as women's mobilization is best geared to bringing about national institutional change, such as the adoption of laws, but that patriarchal backlash manifests itself to a greater degree in their enforcement, slowing the progress of this mobilization.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Embodying change: personal and public mediations of gendered disruptions
No full textThere are times when our bodies change in unexpected or undesirable ways, challenging our sense of self. Medical sociologists have largely discussed this phenomenon using the concept of “biographical disruptions”, which frames illness as a disruptive event to our social identities and personal biography. Yet, this framework leaves many unanswered questions regarding the mechanisms via which physical stimuli cause biographical disruptions, as well as how individuals make meaning of or potentially resolve disruptions. My dissertation addresses these gaps by drawing upon work within medical sociology and the sociology of culture and cognition. I use two cases of bodily change-pregnancy and mastectomy-to explore these intersections within a gendered context. My dissertation revolves around three central questions: 1) How do physical stimuli come to be perceived as disruptive? 2) How did individuals draw upon their personal biographies and public scripts to mitigate disruptions? 3) How are these processes shaped by individuals’ institutional contexts and, in particular, medical expectations of legitimacy? Over three chapters, I argue that bodily disruptions like pregnancy and cancer are simultaneously shaped by personal schemas and public expectations. Bodily disruptions were regularly caused and shaped by individuals’ own identities and gendered values; yet these individuals also interacted with public narratives of femininity and the body that scripted experiences of disruption and conveyed gendered expectations. The personal and public nature of bodily disruptions consequently created shared experiences within shared social locations (e.g. gender, race, age, class, and sexuality) and created distinctions across them. I argue that these findings expand our knowledge of biographical disruptions and advance our knowledge of embodied cognition.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference