Digital Commons @ Colby
Not a member yet
16478 research outputs found
Sort by
Music and Healing in Aotearoa New Zealand: The Harmony of The Land, Placehood, and Community in Māori and Pākehā Experiences of Healing
No full textI explore the relationship between music and healing in Aotearoa New Zealand, and how healing is administered through the triadic relationship of the land, placehood, and community, using music as a vehicle for the carriage of this healing. In January of 2024, I traveled to Aotearoa New Zealand to gain a first-hand experience and account of this relationship through my own observations, and conducting interviews with Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) individuals, and Pākehā (non-Māori) music therapists. Within this paper, I begin by providing context for this research within the fields of medical ethnomusicology, Indigenous studies, Māori studies, and music therapy, and explain my methodology for my fieldwork. I explore the relationship and influence of the triad of the land, placehood, and community on musical healing, with specific attention to my explorations of the theme of placehood in healing, as it has not been previously identified in scholarship within medical ethnomusicology as a cornerstone of Māori healing. Through my research and fieldwork, speaking with music therapists Rachel Foxell, Holly McPhee, and Emily Wills, and Māori individuals Jodie Owen, Huitau Elkington, and Vera Cheffers, I conclude that in musical healing in Aotearoa New Zealand, the land, placehood, and community exist harmoniously, where the utilization of one as healing inherently involves all three. Lastly, I postulate potential explorations of place within Indigenous communities in the field of medical ethnomusicology, acknowledging that my research is the beginning of a much larger conversation on music and the connection to place
From Arrival to Citizenship: Assessing Refugee Resettlement in Canada
No full textIn this thesis, I examine the role of private sponsorship mechanisms in the resettlement of refugees in Canada. Private sponsorship allows citizens and organizations to do more to help those who need assistance, though there are positives and negatives to this program and concerns about its long-term stability. My thesis discusses the impacts of these resettlement mechanisms as a whole, based on a review of prior scholarship and interviews conducted in Montreal and Toronto. I focus on the refugee experience before arrival and the role of different application processes and culture in Quebec. After arrival, the paper examines economic and social integration in host countries as refugees develop a sense of belonging in their host communities. I find that more direct assistance does prove important in ensuring positive integration experiences. However, this is something that is enhanced by characteristics that lead to faster integration which are more prevalent amongst privately sponsored refugees
Responding to Hurricane Maria: The Role of Mutual Aid Societies in Withstanding Federal Failures
Full text linkThrough a combination of research and interviews, this paper unpacks the policies that expose colonialist realities and how Puerto Rican mutual aid societies engaged with those policies in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Policies and decisions such as cabotage law under the Jones Act; the quality of Puerto Rican bonds being triple-tax exempt; the inability to refinance or default on debt; the Insular Cases and other Supreme Court cases; and PROMESA, have established a colonial relationship with significant material and political consequences for Puerto Rico. These consequences were brought to light after Hurricane Maria, where the U.S.’s inadequate response resulted in an unprecedented loss of lives. Following the hurricane, Puerto Rico experienced a surge of mutual aid societies and non-profit organizations that were crucial in providing disaster relief as they supplemented many gaps left by federal disaster relief. By interviewing some mutual aid societies, I excavate their perspective on the sharp growth of the third sector and analyze their short-term work providing disaster relief as well as long-term efforts towards the recovery, rebuilding, and resiliency planning of the island. These mutual aid societies underscore Puerto Rico’s new agency, providing unique insights into the ways colonial policies restrict the island’s self-determination while simultaneously providing a model for decolonizing at the root. I hope this project helps delineate the colonial policies that informed or exacerbated the federal response but also recognizes the growth of mutual aid networks as a source of material gain and hope
“The Best and the Rest”: The Equity Effects of Specialized High Schools
No full textSpecialized high schools, or public high schools with admissions requirements such as an entrance examination, have received significant criticism in recent years because of the exclusionary nature of their admissions processes. While the admissions processes at specialized high schools have received large amounts of attention, less attention has been paid to life “on the inside” of specialized high schools (i.e., the experiences of students who attend specialized high schools). By interviewing community members at one specialized high school, this study sought to explore the relationship between equity and specialized high schools.
My interviews with community members at one specialized high school illuminate three primary themes about the relationship between equity and specialized high schools. First, specialized high schools promote equity for their students by catering to student needs, holding all students to high expectations, preparing students for college, providing all students with access to extracurriculars, allowing students to influence the curriculum, and creating opportunities for students to develop relationships with teachers and administrators. Second, specialized high schools have changed over time from less equitable educational environments to more equitable educational environments. Third, despite promoting equity for their students in a number of ways, the admissions processes at specialized high schools act as a gatekeeper to equity, creating a “best and the rest” dynamic where select students get access to a rigorous specialized high school education while other students are not provided with the same level of educational opportunity
Baseball: A Vehicle for Exchange Between Two Complicated Global Powers
No full textBaseball, America’s “national pastime,” has a similarly prominent role in Japanese culture and the nation’s history. Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, baseball at professional, collegiate, high school, and youth levels has become increasingly prominent within each nation. As baseball became increasingly central to each nation\u27s social and cultural identities, it also began to play a critical role in furthering the nations’ bilateral relationship.
The paper explores various periods where baseball has influenced diplomatic relations, especially “soft diplomacy” and cultural exchange between each nation’s citizens. This includes baseball’s institutionalization into Japan’s education systems during the Meiji Restoration, as well as the 1930s “Baseball Tours,” when American and Japanese professional ballplayers played against one another despite pre-war tensions, and the post-war era when U.S. officials reintroduced baseball to Japan to democratize the citizens and social conditions of “new Japan.” The study also assesses Japanese players’ impact on Major League Baseball and how their success has furthered cultural exchange, challenged racial stereotypes, and increased collaboration between the two nations’ economic and political structures.
Much more than just a game, baseball continues to develop in both nations and is becoming arguably more significant in a world of increasingly globalized athletics. Overall, this honors thesis aims to emphasize how baseball has repeatedly connected the citizens of both nations and helped further the robust U.S.-Japan alliance that we see today
Full Issue - Spring 2024 - volume 111, issue 1
No full text05. Building on Traditional Strengths in the Sciences, Colby Plans for ‘New Ways of Knowing’ 14. A Place Where Anything is Possible38. Embracing Unmastery60. News AI for Everyone64. ‘A Compass for the Field’70. Class Notes92. In Memoria
Indigenous Peoples, Environmental Policy, and The State: Examining the Effects of the Developmental State Model on Political Equity and Environmental Justice in Taiwan
No full textWhile Taiwan has a reputation internationally as being a more progressive democratic government with a comparatively better relationship with Indigenous peoples, is this reputation well founded in a real positive relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state in Taiwan? Through the lens of environmental justice issues, I analyze the relationship of Indigenous peoples to the state in Taiwan over time, taking specific note of the structural influence of certain institutions and ideologies established during the developmental state model period in Taiwan. Based in post-colonial theory, Indigenous studies, historical institutionalism, path dependency theory, and the developmental state model, this paper provides a new framework through which to better understand the intricate and changing web of relations between Indigenous peoples and the state in Taiwan
The Fourth Industrial Paradigm: The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a Business Tool for Startups and Technology Companies
No full textSociety is currently living in an era known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), which is primarily defined by technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, which provide prediction capabilities for businesses across all industries. But how are small technology companies and startup businesses navigating the influx of future possibilities of AI? This thesis examines how governments and consulting firms portray the future possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Using Sheila Jasanoff’s concept of sociotechnical imaginaries, the research explores how these imaginaries shape AI narratives through primary documents like the Biden Administration\u27s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and McKinsey & Company\u27s The Economic Potential of Generative AI. Discursive analysis of these two documents reveals the role of governments and consulting firms in promoting techno-optimistic views of AI. Additionally, interviews with a CEO from Silicon Valley and an associate from a startup demonstrate how these companies independently leverage AI to improve their operations. The findings suggest that while external narratives influence AI\u27s perceived potential, startups play a crucial role in shaping their own AI futures
The Impact of Signing Bonuses, Age, and Country on MLB Success: Evaluating Investment Returns in the MLB International Amateur Free Agent Market
Full text linkMLB’s International Amateur Free Agent Market provides teenagers across the world opportunities to sign, develop, and potentially fulfill their dreams of playing in the MLB. It also allows teams to sign players at young ages, increasing the amount of time players can develop within a team’s minor league system. While signing bonus decision-making is backed up by a team’s scouts and data, the signing bonus a player receives is rarely a reflection of their future value. I argue that teams are not spending this money optimally. However, in an environment where players have low acquisition costs and volatile performance outcomes, is there such a thing as optimal spending? With minimal evidence, I conclude that teams shouldn’t change their spending habits when signing amateur hitters because of the existing equilibrium amongst teams. In addition, teams may be better off avoiding sixteen-year-old pitchers and instead waiting for them to show more maturity in their development