Digital Commons @ Colby
Not a member yet
16478 research outputs found
Sort by
When Welfare Bites Back: The Consequences of State Intervention on the Future Attitudes and Participation of Children
No full textOver the course of their childhood, 37 percent of children in the United States will be reported to child protective services. This large group of children experienced not only potential abuse or neglect, but also a coercive and discretionary intervention by the state. This paper addresses the understudied policy attitudes and participatory behavior of children who interact with the child welfare system. I argue that children who perceive their interaction with the child welfare system as less justified- in terms of investigations, service provision, and removal from the home- will be less supportive of government spending on welfare programs. While factors such as poverty and educational attainment are correlated with interactions with the child welfare system, they are insufficient on their own to explain variations in support for welfare programs. The interaction with the criminal legal system through the punitive rather than preventative programs of child welfare also increase the likelihood that these children are later arrested, especially among those who perceive their investigation as justified. These interactions with the child welfare state and attitudes towards welfare spending were investigated through an original national online survey of 2,500 respondents aged 18 to 24. Ultimately this paper aims to contribute to work at the intersection of the welfare state and criminal legal system by better understanding the attitudes, values, and political behavior of children after contact with the child welfare system
Who’s Laughing Now? Satire’s Effect on Negative Partisanship
Get PDF“Negative partisanship,” most basically defined as the phenomenon whereby Americans largely align against one party instead of affiliating with the other, has grave implications for democracy: it has already affected productivity in Congress, the acceptance (rather, lack thereof) of election results (e.g. 2016), and watered down the importance of ideology in American politics. Parsing the independent variables that influence negative partisanship is vital in combating its detrimental effects, and this project proposes satire as a possibility. An analytical history of both topics is explored. Interestingly, psychological mechanisms for interpreting satire and the out-party share many similarities in mechanisms of subjective interpretation (e.g. self-reinforcement, intertextuality, and motivated reasoning). The importance of research investigating a link between satire and negative partisanship is heightened by the money-driven algorithmic realities that power contemporary media consumption. An analysis of the cross-sectional, experimental survey (N=2,839) conducted in this study revealed surprising and complicated demographic trends linking satire and negative partisanship. Most demographics reported higher levels of negative partisan attitudes when exposed to out-party satirical stimuli, and older female Democrats were the most “provoked” in this way. Interpretive theories are briefly explored, including low-exposure “misinterpretations” and high-exposure “echo chambers.” The study then discusses recommendations and implications, exploring the responsibilities of both producers and consumers of satire as well as the political entities that represent them
A Call Away: Investigating a Solution to Healthcare Access Barriers in Remote Communities
Get PDFThis project focuses on the fact that there exist communities in the United States that are underserved in terms of healthcare. Whether this is due to the community’s geographical (remote) location, lack of education, or other factors, the members of these communities experience disproportionate levels of care. My focus with this project will be the idea that everyone deserves adequate healthcare, regardless of where they live. I focus specifically on one community: Jackman, Maine, which has recently implemented a telemedicine program called ‘FirstNet’ to aid its previously struggling clinic. The Jackman Community Health Center is the only health clinic in Jackman, and is not an adequate size or scope to address the needs of the community without additional assistance. FirstNet, which embodies telemedicine, connects medical professionals with patients in need of care, has served to lessen the strain felt by the few medical assistants on site at Jackman Community Health Center. The project emphasizes the problems faced by rural and remote communities in the context of inadequate healthcare and the potential solution of implementing telemedicine programs to aid its residents and decrease barriers to care. Telemedicine encompasses monitoring, consultation, diagnostic, and post-operative practices, offering the promise of improved healthcare resources to under-resourced communities. By supplying the members of these communities with remote-presence medical devices, I hypothesize they will see increased access to the professional healthcare resources that they may not otherwise have access to
Food and Fuel: Investigating expert perspectives on the intersection of solar development and farmland in Maine
Get PDFMaine has established lofty goals including a 100% renewable portfolio by 2050 and increasing local food production by 30% by 2030 (Final, 2020; Maine, 2020). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted a study on state technical potential for solar installation and included 4% of Maine farmland, equivalent to 52,000 acres being taken out of the food system for energy generation (State, 2021). Increased pressure on farmers and demand for solar installations has created a land-use conflict. This study investigates expert perspectives on the intersection of solar development and farmland in Maine. A total of 17 interviews with farmers, policy advocates, and developers were conducted using a semi-structured interview protocol. Qualitative data analysis was used to identify and compare themes among stakeholder groups. Solar on farmland can be an additional source of income and reduce electricity bills, increasing the resilience of Maine’s food system. Farmers expressed concerns over the loss of farmland as a result of solar development, as well as uncertainty regarding the future of Maine’s farmland given a generational transition is in progress. Leased land is a particular concern because landowners are incentivized to lease to solar developers instead of farmers by the extreme financial disparity. The scale of both solar arrays and farms will dictate what a successful arrangement on farmland will look like in Maine. Investigating the optimal strategies for siting location and type of panel arrangements, along with coordination among stakeholder groups, will create a path forward for successful solar projects that provide mutual benefits to all parties
Map, Census, Museum: Imagining the Malaysian Nation-State and the Malay Identity
Get PDFUsing historian Benedict Anderson\u27s framework from his seminal text Imagined Communities of examining nation-building and identity construction through colonial artifacts, this thesis turns to maps, censuses, and museums to better understand the colonial and post-colonial imagining of the country that is now known as Malaysia. Reconciling with regional histories that predate the nation-state and defy the contemporary boundaries of territoriality, this thesis largely seeks to elucidate the contestation between colonially-imposed ideas of spatiality, categorization, and the reproduction of history with the modern Malaysian nation-state and the conflation of ethnicity with nationalism from which much of this contestation is derived from
The Art of Influence: A Study of Leverage in US-Israel Relations
No full textIn its attempts to serve as an ‘honest broker’ for peace, the US has at times used its unique aid relationship with Israel as a source of leverage, seeking to influence Israeli policy to fall into compliance with US goals in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. When successfully leveraged, US assistance has served as a powerful diplomatic asset which has given the US great sway over Israeli policy. Successfully translating aid into influence, and that influence effectively catalyzing change in Israeli policy, however, is a complex process that demands navigating the competing interests of a variety of actors both in the US and Israel.
These influence attempts utilizing aid have employed strategies of coercion, inducement, and combinations of both. Utilizing expert interviews and relying on case studies of US influence attempts across time, I investigate the US approach to aid-as-influence attempts on Israel within the context of the Israel-Palestine peace process and the variables which limit or enhance the efficacy of these attempts, as well as those which should be considered in the future. When US leverage has found a degree of success, it has generally arisen from a strong US president who can overcome the domestic political price incurred by pressuring Israel. Further, in Israel, the issue of settlements and the peace process is especially salient, and Israeli leaders must carefully weigh their coalitional constraints, the state of Israeli public opinion, and the political cost of resisting US influence attempts. I find that, over time, as US leaders have opted for influence strategies led by inducements rather than coercion, Israeli leaders have become increasingly comfortable resisting US pressure while the value of inducements has progressively diminished. Additionally, I find that US leaders face significant domestic limitations on utilizing coercive leverage due to the influence of the pro-Israel community, enhancing the Israeli ability to withstand pressure from the US
Food as a vector for change: lessons from the third sector on improving livelihoods with nutritional knowledge in Medellín and Bogotá
Get PDFIn this thesis I argue that improving diet in communities depends on building nutritional knowledge. In examining the role of community level organizations, I look specifically at how knowledge is conveyed through agriculture and gastronomy. This project analyzes how civil society organizations work to reintegrate individuals into food systems, compelling consumers to take agency over their diets and pursue better livelihoods. The industrialization of food systems has fundamentally changed the way humans connect with food and diet. In Colombia, internal displacements and urban migration have accelerated a loss of connection with the land and food processes. At the same time, Colombia and countries around the world suffer from epidemic rates of obesity and non-communicable disease. The education processes and community initiatives introduced by organizations seek to build nutritional knowledge and connect people to food systems. Through interviews with community members and civil society leaders, I paint a picture of what knowledge-based diet interventions look like in Medellín and Bogotá. The actions of organizations at the community level represent one tool in a landscape of interventions needed to reverse diet-related disease. Interventions range from policy changes at the government level to broad changes across corporate food systems. This project focuses specifically on the unique positioning of civil society. In creating my argument for how dietary changes can serve as a vector for social change, I also unpack the historical context shaping the current food and nutrition landscape and the implications that history has for current interventions. In contrast to humanitarian efforts aimed at providing temporary solutions to endemic issues of poverty and malnutrition, I look at the ways organizations foster agency through education and community building
Finding the Common Denominator: Understanding the Shared Experiences of Female Math Majors
No full textDespite efforts to increase gender diversity in STEM fields, women remain underrepresented in mathematics, especially in advanced academic and research positions. This study aimed to explore the experiences of female math majors as they attempt to navigate this male-dominated space. Through qualitative interviews with seven female math majors, two female math professors, and a focus group with education majors at Woodbridge College, small liberal arts college in the United States, several common themes were identified that define the experiences of female math majors. The findings suggest that math is held at an elevated status in society and that there is strong sense of gender solidarity within the mathematics department at Woodbridge College. However, women also have an apprehensive identity within the mathematics due to a lack of gender diversity within the discipline. The study also found that female math majors developed strategies to navigate these challenges, including seeking out female mentors and peers, forming study groups, and engaging in outreach efforts to inspire and support other women in math. The findings suggest that fostering supportive and inclusive communities for female math majors could help address the challenges they face and promote greater representation of women in mathematics. This research offers valuable insight into the daily experiences of female math majors and revealed that gender played into feelings of apprehension, but deep internal motivators allowed the participants to continue pursuing mathematics. These findings contribute to the understanding of the experiences of female math majors and highlights the importance of community-building efforts to increase gender diversity in mathematics
I versus We: Social Regulations Exacerbated Tension Between Individualism and Collectivism during China’s Twenty-first Century Public Health Emergencies
Get PDFSince 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global public health problem, which stimulated restrictions like lockdowns, public service closures, and strict border controls that disrupted individuals\u27 life patterns to mitigate the potential transmission within communities. Intriguingly, with its adherence to the “zero-COVID tolerance” policy, China represented a unique case in the overall global reopening trend after three years of the pandemic. Such an unwavering, uncompromising stance reflected conflicts between individuals and the Chinese government regarding COVID regulations, which exposed the tension between individualism and government-proposed collectivism.
This thesis investigates strict social regulations and the exacerbated tension between individualism and collectivism in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine this topic, I research the dynamics between technology and society in the context of the STS field and Chinese society. The concepts of individualism and collectivism are also explored. Then the thesis analyzes such dynamics with China\u27s twenty-first-century public health emergencies as case studies, which are the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic. For the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance technologies and public health sciences were applied as the instrument and authorizations for authoritarian social control measures. Such a novel application galvanized the public to express critiques and enact protests against the collective ideology and associated impingement on individual civil liberties. Thus, the strict social regulations unveil the exacerbated tension between individualism and collectivism, which also hint at the adverse implications on China’s social stability and democratic humanity
The Colby Echo (March 2, 2023)
No full textPublished by the students of Colby College since 1877, The Colby Echo is the weekly, editorially independent student-run newspaper of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Published monthly, 1877-1886; semi-monthly, 1886-1897; and weekly during the academic year, 1898-present