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Form Versus Function: Experimental Archaeology and Identity in the Study of Iron Age Mediterranean Loom Weights
No full textThe Mediterranean world experienced a transformative early prototype of prehistoric Mediterraneanization from 1200 BCE to circa 750 BCE. Cultural interconnectivity and dimensions of interaction and exchange viewed through the lens of archaeological evidence for exploration and colonization have become a fruitful arena of Mediterranean research. This reflects a shift away from traditional World Systems and core-periphery analytical frameworks and towards a postcolonial view of adaptation and adherence of cultural identities in the face of intense social interaction and entanglement that occurred at the group and individual levels. The archaeology of gender in Iron Age Sicily and other areas of the Mediterranean has more recently been approached from a postcolonial perspective focusing on the materiality of identity and acculturation in the context of the household and at the level of the individual. This thesis presents a proof-of-concept study utilizing an amalgamated methodological approach that applies experimental archaeology and theoretical perspectives to identity and maintenance activities as they relate to gender, culture contact and the technical limitations posed by material culture. Using loom weights from three sites in Iron Age and Archaic Sicily as a case study, this thesis explores the interplay between form and function in material culture, with the broader aim of establishing a replicable methodology applicable to other cultural contexts and artifact types. Loom weights played a pivotal role in textile production during ancient times and their design had symbolic and socio-cultural significance, contributing to the construction of social identities within Iron Age communities. By reproducing loom weights from Iron Age contexts in Sicily and conducting weaving experiments with them under controlled conditions, this research demonstrates how systematic analysis of the physical attributes of an object category can reveal insights into both its functional aspects (the weaving process) and its potential for cultural expressions (social identity). While focused on loom weights, this proof-of-concept study provides a methodological framework for investigating the nuanced relationships between form, function, identity, and cultural practices in material culture more generally. The interpretations offered are preliminary and illustrative, intended to demonstrate the potential of this approach rather than to draw definitive conclusions about Mediterranean cultural entanglement. This interdisciplinary study contributes to the field of archaeology by providing a new tool for investigating questions of identity, cultural interaction, and material culture. By demonstrating the viability of this methodology through a specific case study, this thesis inspires further research and modifications of the model across various archaeological contexts, ultimately leading to a more comprehensive understanding of how material culture reflects and shapes cultural interactions and identity formation processes in ancient societies.2027-05-1
RESILIENCY IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN MILWAUKEE FROM 1940 TO 2015
No full textContemporary disparities in pockets of Black Milwaukee have historic explanations. Trendy projects on the perils of the African American-populated 53206, along with adjacent zip codes expose poverty and distressed living conditions. Various scholars, organizations, and reports have brought to light the adversities in housing, employment, education, and social safety facing Black residents of the city. These conditions are primarily the result of historical adversity. African Americans have faced multiple obstacles in Milwaukee between the years of 1940 and 2015. In the earlier portion of the twentieth century, they were constrained to living primarily in one area of the city. They were discriminated against in employment, and even after gains were made in the industrial sector, African Americans were soon negatively impacted by deindustrialization as early as 1970. Failed urban renewal policies exacerbated the erosion and dilapidation of multiple areas of Black Milwaukee in the mid-twentieth century. Educational uncertainties, social terror, and strained relationships with law enforcement have impacted Black Milwaukee since its inception. African Americans have struggled to gain institutional footing in Milwaukee. Yet, exposing the adversity of Black Milwaukee’s past only illustrates one side of its history. African Americans have autonomously challenged the adversity in each institution with targeted efforts. While facing compounded adversity, Black Milwaukeeans opened businesses, created schools, generated legislation for fair housing, and formed social service organizations to build community. However, even with valiant efforts, many residents of Black Milwaukee continued to suffer from the perils of institutional adversity. While not being wholly victorious, Black Milwaukee has been resilient by consistently innovating methods of autonomy throughout the community’s history. This dissertation argues that even with an absence of full victory, African Americans have been resilient by autonomously challenging institutional adversity in Milwaukee
Implementation of an Internship/Co-op Program at a Two-Year Post-Secondary School
No full textPlan BThis paper examined the implementation process of an internship/co-op program at a two-year
post-secondary institution. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to gain insight into
what is needed to start, maintain, and develop a meaningful internship/co-op at the two-year
post-secondary levels. The results of this study showed that flexible scheduling, personalized
learning, having an active advisory board, and up-to-date accreditations, standards, and outcomes
are essential to starting, maintaining, and developing a program
Characterizing Individual Differences in Behavior and Neural Activation Through the Organization of Social Semantic Information
No full textSenior Honors Thesis, Department of Neurobiology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonThis thesis investigates whether individual differences in the semantic organization of social information correspond to differences in neural activation. Building on recent critiques of the assumption of cognitive universality, this study embraces an individual-focused approach to conceptual representation. Participants completed a triadic judgment task using DALL·E-generated face stimuli, allowing for the construction of participant-specific conceptual spaces via ordinal embedding. These behavioral motifs were compared to fMRI data collected during a face-viewing task using both anatomical and functional analyses. Functional connectivity matrices were generated using the fusiform face area (FFA) as a seed region, and individual differences were explored through ROI analyses, Procrustes alignment, and representational similarity metrics. While behavioral data revealed two dominant motifs emphasizing race and gender, neural connectivity profiles varied widely, with limited overlap across subjects. A Mantel test revealed a strong negative correlation between behavioral and neural dissimilarity matrices (r = –0.975), indicating that shared semantic judgments can emerge from divergent neural architectures. These findings provide preliminary evidence that semantic motifs reflect not only behavioral but also neurobiological individuality, and support calls to move beyond group-averaged cognitive models in favor of more personalized frameworks
Improving Chinese primary school students’ oral English proficiency through interdisciplinary teaching
No full textA seminar paper presented to the graduate faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science – English EducationIn the context of accelerating globalization, English serves as a key tool for international communication and plays a vital role in developing Chinese primary school students’ oral communication skills for their future growth. However, traditional primary school English teaching methods, such as the grammar-translation method and the audiolingual method, have obvious limitations in cultivating students’ practical oral English skills and are difficult to meet the students’ needs of using English for communication in real-life situations. The Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition) in China actively advocates interdisciplinary teaching, providing a new direction for the reform of primary school English teaching. This study aims to deeply explore the specific paths, application status, challenges faced, and effective implementation strategies of interdisciplinary teaching in improving the oral English proficiency of Chinese primary school students. Through an extensive literature review, the theoretical foundations and key research findings on interdisciplinary teaching are synthesized, and the current application of interdisciplinary approaches in primary school oral English instruction is examined. With the help of the case analysis method, successful cases of interdisciplinary teaching are analyzed, and experiences and lessons are summarized. The study finds that interdisciplinary teaching has been applied to a certain extent in primary school oral English teaching, but there are still some problems. At the teacher level, difficulties in integrating subject knowledge, coordination issues of teaching time, and the shortage of teaching resources restrict the effective implementation of interdisciplinary teaching. At the student level, v individual differences make it difficult for some students to adapt to interdisciplinary teaching, and unclear learning objectives impede learning. At the teaching management level, the imperfect evaluation system and insufficient training and support also hinder the promotion of interdisciplinary teaching. In response to the above problems, this study proposes a series of targeted teaching strategies. Teachers should improve their ability to integrate subject knowledge by participating in training and self-study, plan teaching time reasonably, and make full use of network resources and school support to enrich teaching resources. They should pay attention to students’ individual differences, clarify learning objectives, and guide students to learn independently. Schools and educational departments need to improve the evaluation system, strengthen the training and support for teachers, and create a favorable environment for interdisciplinary teaching. These strategies have achieved certain results in practice, which helps to improve the oral English proficiency of primary school students, enhance students’ learning interest, and improve their comprehensive literacy. This study enriches the theoretical research on interdisciplinary teaching in primary school English, provides teachable practical guidance for educators, and is of great significance for promoting the reform of primary school English teaching and cultivating talents who meet the needs of the times
Low-frequency Gravitational Wave Searches and Data Analysis with Hamiltonian Sampling
No full textThe pulsar timing array (PTA) community has found evidence for a correlated stochastic signal following the Hellings-Downs pattern indicative of an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB), opening up a new area of gravitational wave astrophysics in the low-frequency regime. The most likely source of such a background is a population of supermassive black hole binaries, and particularly loud individual sources could be detected in future datasets. Searching for these single continuous gravitational wave (CW) sources adds additional computational complexity to an already time-intensive analysis. This increases the already large number of parameters needed to be sampled concurrently and introduces strong covariance into the model, namely between binaries emitting at low frequencies and the GWB. In this dissertation we discuss the development of data analysis methods aimed at addressing the computational roadblocks facing PTA science. We focus on the implementation of the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) sampling algorithm, which uses sample proposals based on the gradient of the model likelihood to more efficiently explore the high-dimensional covariant parameter spaces compared to the random-walk techniques currently employed. The HMC method was originally introduced for the studies of quantum chromodynamics but this marks the first time it is broadly adapted for methods of nanohertz GW detection. We present an end-to-end pipeline for performing joint Bayesian searches for both a GWB and CW sources using Hamiltonian sampling, and produce a collection of benchmarking and consistency tests to display its improvements over current methods. In particular, we show that our work will scale more favorably towards future PTA datasets in terms of computational cost saved, as we continue to add more pulsars to our array and increase our data volume. Lastly we shift our focus to yet another area of GW astrophysics, the millihertz frequency regime that will be analyzed by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We begin to explore whether a Hamiltonian sampling pipeline can aid in the inference of extreme mass ratio inspiral sources, an as of yet unsolved problem for LISA data science
Assessment of Forestry Professional Development Needs in Wisconsin
No full textA well-trained workforce is imperative to managing effects of climate change, wildfires, stakeholder conflicts, and spread of pests and diseases. We conducted a survey to assess forestry training needs across Wisconsin. Our questionnaire addressed (i) skill gaps and training preferences of forestry professionals, (ii) barriers that prevent training engagement, and (iii) training outcomes that motivate participation. Survey participants represented urban forestry and forest management employment areas. Survey results indicate that tree and forest health, GIS, and conflict resolution are the most significant skill gaps for forestry professionals in Wisconsin. Job responsibilities and lack of awareness of training were most preclusive to professional development participation, while respondents were motivated by learning new skills and performing their job more effectively.
Study Implications: Professional development is an intrinsic element to the forestry discipline. Providing relevant, valuable, and accessible training opportunities supports the continued development of a robust workforce. Our study confirms the discipline has neither sufficiently closed certain skill gaps, nor has it sufficiently addressed persistent barriers that impact training participation. Training providers may apply our findings and recommendations to refine their offerings and amplify their impact in helping professionals advance the forestry discipline.USDA McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Progra
An Analysis of Marine Mollusk Exploitation at Río Chico, Ecuador
No full textHumans have long been exploiting marine resources, a subsistence practice that is thought to be an important part of the overarching evolution of modern humans. This project examines the shell remains from two temporal periods at Río Chico, a coastal archaeological site in Southern Ecuador. The collections are housed in the Salango Research Center, which in addition supplied a shell comparative collection that was utilized for identification purposes. A component of the archaeological collections is from the Valdivia cultural settlement, 4th millennium BCE; it is representative of one of the oldest cultural periods recognized along coastal Ecuador. An additional component is from the Guangala cultural period, 1st millennium BCE into 1st millennium CE, representing a phase in Ecuador's history that underwent significant cultural transformations. The data collected analyzes foraging patterns over time, to investigate the resource exploitation habitats and strategies employed by the Río Chico population, ranging from the intertidal zones to the deep sea. This analysis is interpreted through the theoretical lens of Optimal Foraging Theory (OTF), a biological framework that is often used within dietary studies. One of the shellfish represented in the collection is Spondylus, which was a coveted resource both for consumption and as a trade good. Spondylus is found in deep waters, and specialized diving skills are required to retrieve it. Archaeological evidence suggests that deep diving for Spondylus began in Ecuador around 3000 BCE, about 500 years before the initial occupation of Río Chico, and it has been previously recorded in all cultural periods at Río Chico. The results gathered by this shell analysis indicate that taxa from intertidal families such as limpets and chiton maintain a steady importance, while the presence of Spondylus increases through time. Such shifts in the exploitation of Mollusca indicate changes in foraging strategies from the Valdivia and Guangala cultural phases, especially concerning the increased risk of retrieving deeper water species. The results of this investigation will enable future research into shell remains from comparable contexts in coastal Ecuador and beyond, applying it to studies on: coastal foraging communities, overexploitation, community resource management, climate change, systematic trade of marine resources through history, and the interconnections of communities linked by Spondylus exchange systems
The role of Chinese social media Xiaohongshu in English acquisition
No full textA seminar paper presented to the graduate faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of science in education - English educationThis research paper reviewed the role of language acquisition on social media. Being a fast growing multifaceted Chinese platform where people post articles, pictures, and videos,
Xiaohongshu (RedNote or Little Red Book) was used by many users to learn English. The paper
explored how learners in China acquire English on Xiaohongshu and the advantages and
challenges they encounter while using it. In this study, library research was conducted to find
relevant information and review previous findings on foreign language acquisition on social
media. The study also analyzed selected cases on Xiaohongshu, including relevant posts (content
and form), bloggers (native or non-native) related to English learning, followers, likes, and
interactive comments. The analysis highlighted various ways of acquiring English on
Xiaohongshu, explained the role of Xiaohongshu has played in English acquisition in China, and
some concerns that learners must pay attention to
PFAS OCCURRENCE AND INTERACTION WITH NATURAL MATERIALS IN THE SUBSURFACE
No full textPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been widely used in industrial and consumer products due to their water- and grease-repellent properties. However, PFAS are persistent in the environment, and their widespread contamination has raised concerns about their potential health and environmental risks. Understanding the occurrence and interaction of PFAS with natural materials in the environment is crucial for assessing their long-term impact on ecosystems and human health. Knowledge of how PFAS transport, accumulate, and interact with minerals, sediments, and groundwater helps inform remediation strategies and guide policy development to mitigate their harmful effects.Understanding the historical occurrence of PFAS is crucial for assessing their extent of contamination, environmental persistence, and fate and transport. Historical samples provide valuable insights into the history of PFAS usage, shedding light on past industrial practices and their long-term impact on the environment. Given their persistence, PFAS interact with natural materials such as soils, aquifer sediments, and colloids, which can influence their transport and adsorption behavior. Analyzing these interactions and adsorption trends helps in understanding how PFAS migrate and accumulate in the environment. Modeling studies are an effective approach to simulate PFAS transport, but to ensure accuracy, these models require high-resolution data for calibration. Therefore, the need for comprehensive and high-resolution datasets is paramount to improve the precision of such models and better predict PFAS behavior in natural systems, facilitating the development of effective remediation strategies. This dissertation (1) analyzed historical PFAS concentrations in aquifer materials in Wisconsin, revealing a steady increase in PFAS contamination over time, (2) determined a high-resolution vertical profile of PFAS in aqueous film-forming foam-impacted soils, suggesting that vadose zone could be a long-term PFAS source, (3) explored PFAS adsorption onto natural colloids and soil in rainwater and groundwater, shedding lights on the influence of colloid-facilitated PFAS transport, and (4) examined the adsorption of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) by aquifer materials, highlighting the role of dolomite and chemical properties in PFAS adsorption. This study provided valuable insights into the persistence and transport of PFAS in the environment, contributing to the development of effective strategies for remediation and risk management.2027-05-1