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Social Criticism and the Risk of Unreasonableness
No full textThis dissertation offers a Kantian defense of unrestricted social criticism within contemporary debates in critical theory concerning methodological egalitarianism and authoritarianism. It examines social criticism as an everyday communicative activity with enlightenment and moral progress as ends. By showing that social critics can not only fail to realize those ends, but also undermine them and thereby lapse into malpractice, it argues that if social criticism’s ends require that the activity be unrestricted, as Kant and his successors indicate, promoting its ends requires accepting rather than avoiding the risk of malpractice. To substantiate this risk, it traces a tension in the Kantian framework, in which the ends of social criticism require critics to proceed both with and without respect for persons. The dissertation offers a program called revisionary autonomism to productively navigate this tension. Revisionary autonomism takes a temporalized, open-ended relation to the question of whether or not to enact respect in given episodes of social criticism, and advocates for courage and humility so as to mediate between the fearlessness of Marx’s methodologically authoritarian, ruthless critique and the modesty of Allen’s contextualist methodological egalitarianism
Leveraging Microvillus Inclusion Disease Causing Patient Mutations to Investigate Myosin 5B Motor Function
No full textMicrovillus Inclusion Disease (MVID) is a rare neonatal congenital diarrheal disorder. Mutations in the unconventional myosin, Myosin 5b (MYO5B) cause MVID. These MYO5B mutations, which cause loss of function, lead to the mis-trafficking of apical components in enterocytes, resulting in congenital diarrhea and the mislocalization of apical components. MVID can manifest in two phenotypes: in both the intestine and the liver or the liver alone. Many previous studies have utilized MYO5B knockout mouse models to help elucidate the pathology of MVID; however, many patients have missense mutations that lead to the expression of a dysfunctional MYO5B. The mechanisms by which these point mutations lead to a broad spectrum of disease severity and the development of two distinct disease phenotypes are still not fully understood. To investigate the effect of MVID patient mutations on the function of the MYO5B motor domain, I developed an in-cell assay to evaluate MYO5B motor function independent of cargo binding. This was done by tagging a truncation version of MYO5B containing only the motor head, neck, and a small portion of the coiled-coiled domain, with a triple tandem citrine repeat. This construct was then introduced into LLC-PK1-CL4 cells that produce microvilli, and I was able to use confocal imaging and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to evaluate the effect of mutations on motor function. The patient mutations demonstrated a range of effects in these assays, from rigor-like behavior (P660L) to loss of actin-binding (I408F). Additionally, analysis of FRAP turnover kinetics suggests that some mutations impact the MYO5B actin binding kinetics. Collectively, the findings of my work indicate that patient mutations affect the MYO5B motor domain in diverse ways, consistent with the spectrum of phenotypes observed in patients
Frequency Modulation Absorption Spectroscopy of Cryogenic Free Radicals
No full textFrequency modulation (FM) absorption spectroscopy provides a powerful way of detecting weak optical transitions with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this work, we implement FM absorption spectroscopy to probe barium monofluoride (BaF) molecules produced in a cryogenic buffer gas cell. By phase-modulating a continuous-wave laser, passing it through the BaF sample, and demodulating the transmitted signal, we obtain both in-phase and in-quadrature components of the molecular absorption. This method achieves a twenty-five–fold improvement in SNR compared to direct absorption, enabling the detection of otherwise inaccessible molecular transitions. We develop a detailed theoretical model of the FM signal, implement the experimental setup for FM spectroscopy, and identify key mechanisms of residual amplitude modulation (RAM). We suppress RAM through careful polarization alignment, reduction of parasitic etalons, and active EOM temperature stabilization. This work demonstrates FM absorption spectroscopy as a powerful tool for precision optical measurements of weakly absorbing, low-density molecular samples, providing a pathway for future high-resolution studies of cryogenic free radicals. The techniques presented here are directly applicable for monitoring the density of radioactive molecules of interest in the cryogenic buffer gas cell, as well as identifying transitions required for laser cooling and optical cycling for future precision measurements.College of Arts and ScienceDepartment of Physics and Astronom
A Combined Analysis of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly Experiments in Search of a Sterile Neutrino
No full textThe Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly refers to a collection of short baseline reactor experiments () used in a 2011 analysis searching for oscillations into a sterile neutrino, which found a deficit in the overall antineutrino yields with 98.6\% confidence. While later analyses of these experiments exist, none have fully included the spectral information from all experiments that have it. Here, an analysis was performed of the original reactor anomaly experiments incorporating all the spectral information, using modern fluxes and an updated cross section. The fluxes tested were the 2012 Huber-Mueller flux, the 2017 Daya Bay flux (modifying the Huber-Mueller flux with a 7.8\% reduction for U), and the 2019 Estienne flux. Each flux was also tested with the addition of a Gaussian bump near to the U flux, which various experiments have indicated exists. Statistical assumptions were made such that the significance levels given would be upper bounds. Without the bump, a possible sterile neutrino was indicated at a significance level of up to , though the highest significance came with the oldest flux (Huber-Mueller). A consistent deep minimum in the is present at , being the deepest minimum for the Daya Bay and Estienne fluxes. With the 5 MeV bump the highest significance was with the Estienne flux, and the deepest minimum is located at for all fluxes, but the goodness of fit was generally worse
Beyond Postmodernism: David Foster Wallace and the Creation of New Sincerity
No full textEnglish Department Honors Thesis.The common interpretation of David Foster Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest sees the text as a work of postmodernism, falling in line with the literary tradition of postwar American authors who emphasized the use of irreverence, irony and cynicism in their novels. While Infinite Jest is indeed in conversation with the postmodern movement, I believe that this reading of the novel is incomplete because it fails to account for the rest of David Foster Wallace’s canon. When understanding Infinite Jest as one part in Wallace’s larger body of works, it becomes clear that the novel is not postmodern, and is instead a deconstruction of postmodern tropes that begins to establish the formal and thematic framework for a new movement called new sincerity. New sincerity is an ongoing movement that began to develop in the early 2000’s. Its aim is to answer the question of whether or not sincere art – art that demonstrates honesty from the creator to the consumer about intention and motivation – can exist in a commodified media landscape. In my project, I examine the use of metafictional characters and texts in Infinite Jest and David Foster Wallace’s unfinished novel, The Pale King, to illustrate the ways in which his novels mark the beginning of the new sincere movement instead of the end of the postmodern movement.College of Arts and ScienceEnglish Departmen
The Future of the STEM and Manufacturing Workforce is HER
No full textLeadership and Learning in Organizations capstone projectThis Capstone centers on Ford Motor Company’s BlueOval Learning initiative, a workforce development effort designed to prepare students in West Tennessee for careers in electric vehicle manufacturing. The project explores how school–industry partnerships can be strengthened to better support girls in STEM, addressing long-standing gaps in representation and access. Using a mixed-methods approach that included interviews, surveys, and document analysis, the study examined how current programs operate and where they fall short. The findings point to the need for early exposure, meaningful mentorship, and stronger infrastructure to ensure more girls can see themselves—and succeed—in the future of manufacturing
“They’ll Think I’m Crazy”: A Qualitative Exploration Into South Asian American Mental Health And Unwellness
No full textThis thesis investigates the complexities of mental health within the South Asian American community, exploring how mental illness is framed, negotiated, and resisted across cultural, intergenerational, and linguistic dynamics. The objective of this study is to understand how South Asian American young adults, aged 18-30, navigate their mental health struggles within a context shaped by cultural stigma, generational differences, and language barriers. By challenging conventional understandings of stigma, this research frames mental health as a negotiation between collective cultural values, personal agency, and societal expectations. Utilizing qualitative methods, the study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis and grounded theory to analyze in-depth interviews with participants recruited through snowball sampling. Frameworks of collective psychiatry, systemic thinking, and racial melancholia are used to understand how cultural stigma and collectivism influence experiences of mental illness and access to care. The findings suggest that South Asian American young adults experience mental health struggles as deeply intertwined with familial expectations and cultural identity. This study underscores the importance of acknowledging cultural dynamics in mental health treatment. By contributing to ongoing conversations about mental health in marginalized communities, this research offers new insights into how cultural factors shape mental wellness and challenges existing frameworks of mental health care
“I Am the Datum”: Microaggressions, Coping, and Well-Being among Black Ph.D Students
No full textThis qualitative study examines how Black Ph.D. students experience microaggressions, the emotional and academic impact of these encounters, and the coping strategies they use to navigate them. Based on sociodemographic surveys, journal entries, and interviews with 55 Black Ph.D. students across the United States, this study identifies five key types of microaggressions: (1) interpersonal (e.g., having one’s authority challenged due to perceived incompetence), (2) vicarious (e.g., hearing about or witnessing microaggressions toward others), (3) environmental (e.g., limited presence of Black faculty members in the department), (4) anticipatory (e.g., expecting to encounter some degree of bias), and (5) ambiguous (e.g., experiencing uncertainty over whether bias was involved). Students reported emotional impacts that ranged from sadness, anger, discomfort, and annoyance, alongside academic impacts including uncertainty about pursuing a future in academia, disengagement from class discussions, and a sense of being surveilled in their career choices. To manage these stressors, students employed nuanced coping strategies, including validation from social support networks, vigilant coping, and connecting with cultural communities. Building on these findings, this study considers implications for higher education and policy; specifically, recommendations around diverse syllabi, interdisciplinary mentorship networks at universities, and safe feedback systems to address the microaggressions Black Ph.D. students encounter. I also highlight the broader significance of centering Black Ph.D. students in research, noting that understanding their graduate school experiences can offer insights into how they approach their diverse career paths after graduation
Trials of Sincerity: The Novel and Subjecthood in the Age of Revolution
No full textThis dissertation explores sincerity as an animating force of radical politics—shaping its philosophical commitments alongside its novelistic experiments. Defined as the belief that sustained self-reflection and honest communication could ground political transformation, radical sincerity functioned both as a philosophical method and a formal challenge. As English radicals embraced sincerity as a counter-normative virtue, the novel offered a uniquely dialogic space in which to stage its promises and contradictions, mirroring the epistemological demands of sincerity itself. I contend that the methodology of the radical novel and the practice of sincerity are not merely aligned; they are co-constitutive, each testing the boundaries of truth-telling, ethical consistency, and political legibility.
The first chapter traces the political redefinition of sincerity in the wake of the French Revolution, focusing on Richard Price and William Godwin. It argues that sincerity shifts from a private moral disposition to a radical political virtue—one grounded in individual conscience, public critique, and the unfinished legacy of the Glorious Revolution. Chapter Two turns to feminist pedagogical novels by Mary Hays and Elizabeth Inchbald, examining how women writers reframe sincerity as a mode of resistant subject-formation. Against the polite fictions of conduct literature, these texts imagine sincerity as both a feminist ethic and a risky practice of unlearning. The third chapter examines the courtroom as a space of affective management and disciplinary spectacle, where political sincerity is staged, scrutinized, and often rendered illegible. Through readings of Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, it shows how the sincere individual is placed at the mercy of juridical massification and emotional containment. The final chapter moves to colonial and racialized contexts in the works of Charlotte Smith and John Thelwall, where the radical ideal of sincerity confronts the contradictions of empire. These novels map fugitive forms of sincerity, yet still gesturing toward epistemological alternatives.
Ultimately, this dissertation is not a story about sincerity triumphant, but about what happens when sincerity becomes radical disidentification. Trials of Sincerity follows that praxis into collision with the structures that constrain it, finding in the novel a form capacious enough to hold sincerity in process, not perfection
Reframing Power: Black Women, Broad-Based Organizing, and the Architecture of Leading Change
No full textLeadership and Learning in Organizations capstone projectThis study examines how Black women leaders experience and implement organizational change, with a particular focus on how racialized and gendered identities influence these experiences within institutional contexts. In partnership with the Groundwater Institute (GWI), a national network that supports senior leaders across sectors in advancing equity, particularly racial equity, we examined how organizational structures themselves mediate change through their design and the exercise of power.
To explore these dynamics, we employed a mixed-methods design grounded in ethnographic principles, combining survey research, focus groups, and exploratory qualitative interviews.
Our findings surfaced six key insights for GWI’s leadership network and the broader field of organizational change:
1. Organizing Practices as Strategy: Regardless of formal authority, Black women consistently rely on broad-based organizing strategies, mobilizing relational networks, building alliances, and engaging coalitions, to drive change and enhance their perceived legitimacy.
2. Institutional Resistance: Racial and gender-based resistance significantly shapes Black women’s leadership journeys, limiting their authority while demanding heightened strategic acumen to navigate power-laden environments.
3. Compounded Barriers at the Top: Those in executive and middle management positions report the most acute exposure to structural, cultural, and interpersonal constraints, illustrating the compounded nature of barriers at higher levels of leadership.
4. Intra-Group Resistance: Black women often encounter resistance from colleagues who share their racial or gender identity when advancing non-normative leadership approaches.
5. Strategic Emotional Labor: In response to such resistance, Black women draw on care, emotional labor, and collective power to sustain leadership and advance change.
6. Call for a New Model: While relational capital is a critical source of power, many participants emphasized the need for a new model of change leadership, one that better translates relational power into sustained, strategic action.
These findings contribute to the discourse on racialized leadership, expand the field’s understanding of institutional change, and offer practical implications for organizations seeking to develop equity-centered leadership models responsive to those leading from the margins of power