IDA Mount Holyoke College Institutional Digital Archive
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Layers of Invisibility: Bisexual+ Asian American Women's Experiences and Perspectives on Identity and Intersectionality
No full textThis study was a qualitative interview project that explored the experiences and perspectives of bisexual+ Asian American women in terms of their identity and the different intersections of their identities. As a note, bisexual+ refers to bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, queer, and other sexual identities that indicate attraction to more than one gender. Existing literature suggests that individuals of multiple minority identities are subject to increased marginalization compared to individuals with fewer or one minority identity. However, there has yet to be research that specifically focuses on bisexual+ Asian American women, despite the growing number of studies on LGBTQ+ individuals, Asian Americans, and women. The present research aimed to address this gap in literature by gaining insight on how bisexual+ Asian American women experience, perceive, and connect to each of their identities and the different intersections of their identities. As a part of the data collection, eight bisexual+ Asian American women (n = 8) have participated in in-depth semi-structured qualitative one-on-one interviews over Zoom or over the phone. They were asked questions about their racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, the different intersections of their identities, and what community and representation may look like for bisexual+ Asian American women. Afterward, interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to organize and analyze the data.Psychology & Educatio
Optimising a Method to Assess CNS Barrier Integrity and its Application to a Drosophila Model of Glial Tauopathy
No full textThe vertebrate blood brain barrier (BBB) allows for optimal functioning of billions of neurons and glia by regulating the diffusion and transport of toxins, inflammatory mediators, ions, and metabolites into and out of the central nervous system (CNS). While the BBB exists primarily as a result of specialised properties of CNS endothelial cells, its function is facilitated by glial cells lining the cerebral vasculature. In organisms that do not possess a vascularized circulatory system, such as Drosophila melanogaster, two layers of glial cells themselves establish a compound barrier that is molecularly and functionally homologous to the vertebrate BBB. As such, Drosophila is increasingly recognised as a viable model for investigating BBB function and the factors that influence it. In this study, we developed optimal approaches to dissection and analysis procedures to assess the integrity of this barrier. We then applied these approaches to examine the effect of glial tau expression on CNS barrier disruption post traumatic injury. We hypothesised that glial tau expression would exacerbate barrier disruption post traumatic injury. However, we failed to support this hypothesis after examining the effects of both pan-glial and barrier-associated glial cell tau expression. As such, this work functions to elucidate our current understanding of the optimal methods to assess CNS barrier function and effect of glial tau expression in a D. melanogaster model.Neuroscience and Behavio
Crossing Gender: Phenomenology and Speculation in the “Female Husband” Archive
No full textWhat are the limits of the archive in representing queer gender in the eighteenth century? This is one question which I seek to explore through the archive of “female husband” narratives—a genre of newspaper stories published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries about people assigned female at birth who lived as men and legally married women. I engage with Sara Ahmed’s theory of queer phenomenology, which “emphasizes the importance of lived experience, the intentionality of consciousness, the significance of nearness or what is ready-to-hand, and the role of repeated and habitual actions in shaping bodies and worlds” (Queer Phenomenology: Objects, Orientations, Others 1). I consider two methods of queer phenomenology through two narratives of gender crossing from the eighteenth century—a mobility-based approach, and an object-based one—in order to develop a new methodology of phenomenological speculation. Phenomenological speculation acknowledges the inherent speculation involved in asking the phenomenological question what do objects do as well as the speculative elements of stories about gender crossers. This methodology, which is deeply indebted to Saidiya Hartman’s theory of critical fabulation, engages speculative fiction grounded in phenomenological thinking as a valid method of writing (hi)stories.
In chapter one, I consider the emergence of a binary sex system during the eighteenth century in order to contextualize my reading of Henry Fielding's 1746 narrative “The Female Husband.” Then, I use queer phenomenology to examine the extreme mobility of Charles Hamilton, the central gender crossing figure of that narrative. In chapter two, I turn to the most popular “female husband” narrative, that of James Howe, originally published in 1766. I adjust my phenomenological method, focusing not on mobility but on two conspicuous objects in the narrative which shaped James Howe’s life. Using these objects, I develop an analysis of the effect of James Howe’s class position and return to womanhood on the public reception and popularity of the narrative about them. I consider the speculative elements of their gender crossing and eventual detransition. In the third chapter, I turn in more detail to the methodology of phenomenological speculation, providing a critique of standard queer historiographical methods and advocating for the use of speculative fiction in writing queer history. To conclude, I discuss Jordy Rosenberg’s speculative historical fiction novel Confessions of the Fox, and José Esteban Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia, which reflect the possibilities of queer history and futurity.Critical Social Though
Towards an Abolitionist Pedagogy: Epistemologies of Liberation in the Neoliberal University
No full textWith a growing recognition in the national consciousness of the presence of policing in schools, there has been much recent discussion of the need for change within educational systems. National organizations such as the Cops Off Campus Coalition work towards the removal of “all forms of policing and police involvement” from schools, locating these demands within such broader movements as prison and policing abolition, calls to abolish the military industrial complex, and the Land Back movement. These and other abolitionist organizations work towards anti-carceral education in recognition of the disproportionate policing of students of color, the surveillance endemic within both public and private educational institutions, and the broader harm created within communities as a result of police intervention. In this thesis, I engage with these traditions of education for liberation, by turning to pedagogy as a method of producing the kinds of epistemologies, curiosities, and freedom dreaming central to abolitionist praxis. This work will outline the tensions between academic and abolitionist practice, by looking to the field of critical university studies; trace the practice of freedom dreaming across historical and current activist practices; and sit with the uncertainties of abolitionist work, with the ultimate goal of beginning to outline the shape of a pedagogy that enables the epistemological elements of abolitionist thought.Gender Studie
Dark Matter in the Darkest Galaxies: Exploring the Structure of Low Surface Brightness Spirals
No full textDark matter in our universe is not evenly distributed: some galaxies are lacking it entirely, and some galaxies have it in abundance. While its existence is generally agreed on, its distribution within galaxies is hotly debated. Low Surface Brightness (LSB) spirals are a class of galaxy with peculiarly low star-formation rates, and one possible explanation for this points to an overabundance of dark matter relative to normal (baryonic) matter. LSB spirals tend to be dark matter-dominated at all radii, which makes them an ideal place to probe the structure of galactic dark matter haloes. In contrast, “normal” High Surface Brightness (HSB) spirals are baryon-dominated at the core, which obscures the central structure and muddles the apparent mass distribution of the galaxy. Currently, LSB spirals appear to be compatible with a “cored” halo, possibly due to early central star formation driving baryons out of the center, which dragged dark matter out along with it, thereby transforming a cuspy halo into a cored one.
This thesis explores both the mystery of LSB spirals and the mystery of dark matter, pairing them together to shed light on the evolutionary difference between LSB and HSB spiral galaxies and begin examining cusp-core transformation. Optical emission line-derived velocity fields are used to determine the dynamical mass at different radii in a sample of eight LSB spirals, and archival Spitzer IRAC images allow the stellar mass at different radii in these galaxies to be determined. This results in a robust estimation of the structure of each galaxy's dark matter halo. We conclude that LSB spirals indeed tend to be dark matter-dominated at all radii, and highlight UGC 4179 as a likely case of solid-body rotation. Additionally, a peculiar trend in the [OII] to [OIII] ratio in these spectra is apparent, possibly supporting the truncated IMF hypothesis to explain LSB spirals.Astronom
Reimagining Reductionism through Extended Cognition: Whose Afraid of the Teletransporter?
No full textSometimes, it can be difficult to draw different factions of philosophy together and make them play nice. Other times, though, there is a wonderful collision of science and theory and intuition that allows for previously disparate thought to intersect with one another. That has been my understanding of the metaphysics of personal identity, feminist conceptions of identity, and extended cognition. Extended cognition, briefly, is the idea that people do not only think or cognate with their brain, instead also using things like notebooks or friends or photo albums to do things like remember, form intentions, and reflect. If we take this idea of extended cognition seriously, particularly in the arena of tracking metaphysical identity over time, we are able to achieve what Derek Parfit rejects - we are able to be reductionists that think our identity only consists in fact about bodies and brains and minds, but also maintain that identity matters - that it isn’t enough to identify psychological relation, but that being able to know that I will persist or not is not only important but able to be answered. If we think a psychological criterion of identity that is both reductionist and stands firm in the belief that identity matters, then… what next? I describe what a physically extended conception of personhood looks like, as well as what a socially extended conception of personhood looks like. I also address the general benefits and drawbacks of taking extended cognition seriously, which is where I bring in feminist theory to inform my background assumptions about why it is that identity matters anyway. By taking seriously the connections between people and their contexts and coupling that with their cognitive processes, we are able to track identity over time with flexibility and care.Philosoph
Folding Bodies: Tracing Desire Lines
No full textAs a trans and nonbinary artist, I challenge the normalization of trans identity through mainstream media, seeking to create a form that is leaky and uncontainable. My art practice consists of an expansive process of working with graphite and ballpoint pen on print, butcher, and handmade paper with incorporations of naturally dyed fabric. I intricately crease and fold paper to locate rather than label a fluid state of being. Through the accumulation of my marks and folds to create pages and then books, I articulate the necessity of repetition in reaching new possibilities, existences, and expressions. The folds and cuts that form my mutant books become the unifying factor across my body of work as marks of my decision-making and agency. Although resistant to a single definition, mutant books are typically 16-page Zines that can be cut in a variety of ways to achieve different patterns, folds, and structures. Through my use of mutant books, I reach a form of representation that keeps my trans body intact, positioning transness as a way of seeing and being seen, unexpected, and filled with potential. In both my life and making, I navigate the consequences and tensions of visibility and invisibility. Furthermore, in my writing and creating, I am informed by Sara Ahmed’s concept of queer orientations, Jack Halberstam’s trans haptic, and José Esteban Muñoz’s queer futurity. Through the different cuts, creases, folds, and rendering, I construct landscapes and portraits through revisiting moments, relationships, and places that I have been given by my family and have found through my desires. In mapping out my experience of coming into and existing in a queer orientation, I identify points in which I have come into contact with different bodies and objects to reshape my own. I employ the form of the mutant book as an adaptable and moving art object to invite opportunities for reinvention and becoming that disrupt the agenda of heteronormativity and embrace queerness.
Across my body of work, I hope to involve the viewer in my path of becoming queer: a process of deviating and reorientating one’s self, often in the face of discrimination, that puts new objects and bodies in reach. In the curves, planes, and renderings of my work, I invite the onlooker to navigate the twists and turns of my assembled table and field, hoping that they get lost and see the potentiality of going astray.Art Studi
United Nations Peacekeeping: Reevaluating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeepers
No full textIn 2004, UN Peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti to protect civilians and bring stability to the region. Reports from the United Nations Stabilizing Mission in Haiti, however, tell a story of exploitation, abuse, and egregious harm to civilians – including children – by the very peacekeepers deployed to protect and serve them. Over 130 UN Peacekeepers exploited children in Haiti between 2004 and 2007, and although 117 were sent home, none were ever criminally prosecuted. The case in Haiti is unfortunately not an anomaly. SEA has been reported in every peacekeeping mission over the last 30 years, including in all fourteen active missions where UN peacekeepers are currently deployed. UN Peacekeeping missions are deployed in conflict and crisis zones, with explicit mandates to protect civilians from harm and violence. Yet, UN peacekeepers are often perpetrators of violence themselves, in the form of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA). The UN has taken multiple approaches to address the perpetration of SEA by UN peacekeepers, but SEA continues to be a major problem and there has been little accountability for both individuals and institutions involved in perpetrating SEA. SEA is harmful to the survivors and communities where it is perpetrated, and it de-legitimizes the UN’s humanitarian mission and mandates to protect civilians. The continued perpetration of SEA by UN peacekeepers across time and place merits the question of why SEA continues to persist, and what are the factors and conditions contributing to an environment where SEA is perpetrated with little accountability?
This project examines the previously under-studied structural conditions contributing to UN peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA on several levels: host states and troop-contributing countries (TCCs), international financial institutions and the United Nations, and capitalist, neo-colonial, and patriarchal world systems. By using data analysis and case examples, my study is an attempt to analyze the role of laws, financial agreements, and institutions, all situated within a global capitalist system, in perpetuating gender, race, and class-based discrimination and violence, which in turn allows SEA to continue being perpetrated by UN peacekeepers. UN peacekeeping operates within a context of neoliberal power and capital that reflect older and persistent traditions of colonialism and patriarchy. Starting with this understanding, I present my argument that SEA perpetrated by UN peacekeepers is a manifestation of gender-based violence intrinsic to capitalist, neo-colonial, and patriarchal institutions, laws, and financial policies and that critically analyzing these systems is a prerequisite to effectively eradicating UN peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA.International Relation
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on BIPOC versus White students' mental health
No full textThis study aimed to investigate if there are any differences in stress levels between college
students who were part of the BIPOC community versus their White counterparts after the
COVID-19 pandemic. 20 participants were interviewed from Mount Holyoke College, which is a
small liberal arts college in western Massachusetts and asked a series of qualitative questions on
their experiences as a college student during the pandemic. It was determined that there were
some differences in students who were living on campus versus those who were at home with
their families and STEM students spoke about their frustrations with the Module system. The
results suggested the need for further research to investigate what factors contribute to increased
stress levels in the BIPOC community in order to help students cope better in the educational
setting.Psychology & Educatio
The effective allocation of vaccination resources under Covid-19
No full textIn this paper, a SEIRHD model with travel and vaccination is provided
to simulate the transmission of Covid-19 between two places and the vac-
cination and hospital cost. In the simulation, different policies on travel,
contacts, and vaccination have been tested. The results show that for a high
vaccinated society, travel restriction is necessary for keeping low contact.
When number of contacts has been limited, the impact is immediate and
significant. Both reduction in hospitalization and delay in time reaching the
peak of hospitalization can be seen. The cost of vaccinating more people is
minimal compared with the cost of hospital bill it reduces, which indicates
that increasing vaccination rate is desired.Mathematics & Statistic