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Chemogenetic Inhibition of the Basolateral Amygdala in a Modified Risky Decision Task: A Model of Gambling Disorder
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/5398bb7e-9a94-4606-88aa-5440558220ef/thumb/128.jpgGambling Disorder (GD) is a maladaptive pattern of risk-taking behavior, closely paralleling substance addiction in its neurobiological underpinnings. Despite advances in behavioral and pharmacological treatments, effective interventions targeting the core neural mechanisms of GD remain elusive, particularly those that consider sex differences in risk assessment. Traditional rodent models of risky decision-making conflate reward and punishment, poorly capturing the decision dynamics of real-world gambling. This study introduces a modified paradigm that separates risk (foot shock) and reward (food), attempting to model actual mechanisms of gambling more accurately. Using chemogenetic inhibition via Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs), we targeted the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a region implicated in risk discrimination. We hypothesized that BLA inhibition would impair risk discrimination and influence suboptimal choice. Behavioral data revealed a decrease in risky choices at higher shock intensities, particularly among male rats, but no significant effects of BLA inhibition were observed across treatment groups. Task completion was hindered at moderate shock probabilities, raising questions about motivational factors and the impact of unpaired aversive stimuli. Our findings suggest that while the BLA may contribute to risk assessment, methodological limitations warrant further investigation. This work highlights both the promise and limitations of chemogenetic models in capturing the complexity of gambling-related behavior and provides groundwork for refining translational models of GD
(Un)Making Resource: The Removal of the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/ff1623e1-f41e-41fc-84e6-5869be803461/thumb/128.jpgFrom 2022 to August of 2024, four dams along the Klamath River - Copco 1, Copco 2, J.C. Boyle, and Iron Gate - were fully removed. Running through Southern Oregon and Northern California, the Klamath, once teeming with salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and lamprey, suffered an extreme ecological decline after the construction of the four dams during the early 20th century. This removal has been pursued by tribes that have been fishing the Klamath for hundreds of years, including the Yurok, Karuk, Shasta, Hoopa, and Klamath tribes. Water, like timber in the Pacific Northwest, is heavily disputed and the long-fought removal was an incredibly complicated process spanning the 21st century. Understanding this story means tracing the tangled history of the Klamath, the people that have lived through it, and both small and large scale processes that have changed its course. This thesis seeks to understand in this project the ways that the process of the dam removals complicates notions of resource making and unmaking and the conception of nature as a singularly definable entity. The construction of the dams, as well as their removal, are entrenched in colonialism and continually interact with this entanglement in different ways that push against it and work within it as well. While understanding the restoration of the Klamath as a ‘return to wilderness’ is common both within media and in opposition to the removals of the dams, this conception does not capture the intentions of those who advocated for the dam removals and the complex paths that have led to the removals and continue to lead into the uncertain future of the river. This thesis argues that the inability of the Klamath to adhere to one definition is inherent in its embodiment and continues to be shown through the multiplicities that have been active in its damming and undamming
Transgressive Rejoicing: Re-incorporating the Dionysiac into Aeschylus' Agamemnon on the Contemporary Stage Thesis abstract
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/fb27574f-84a9-4dba-9ef9-035087f0d1d4/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis is an interdisciplinary study of the role of Dionysos in Athenian tragedy and the potential benefits of re-incorporating a Dionysiac framework into a contemporary production of one such work, Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, which I directed in Reed’s Black Box Theatre in March of 2025. This study will take place in four distinct stages. The first chapter will survey Dionysos’ manifestations in the historical record prior to the emergence of the Athenian democracy and establish the elements of the Dionysiac that can be ascertained from his cult worship and mythology. In the second chapter, I will examine his presence in Athenian polis-cult and the role of the Dionysiac in the birth of Athenian tragedy, concluding in a study of the scholarly debate over the closeness of the relationship between the Dionysiac and the tragic genre. These two chapters will form the historical understanding of Dionysos and his presence within Athenian tragedy that will serve as the foundation through which the remainder of the thesis will rely. My third chapter will a close reading of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon through this foundational lens, focusing particularly on the role of women in the tragedy and their connection to the Dionysiac. I argue that they were written with the intention to re-assert suppression of female agency in the Athenian polis and how a contemporary reading through a Dionysiac lens might subvert that original aim. The final chapter will review the production process for the staged version of the Agamemnon, translated by Anne Carson, that I directed in the spring of 2025. Ultimately, I hope to open up a conversation for those interested in contemporary adaptations of tragedy, asserting that a re-incorporation of the distinctly liberatory religious context in which they were written may give way to new, generative pathways of meaning and transformative experience in performance
An unserious epic? Sexual Violence in Statius’s Achilleid
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/5a1b99cf-ab6e-4b09-84b9-c009d541b338/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis explores the literary function of sexual violence in Statius’s incomplete Latin epic poem, the Achilleid. Statius’s Achilleid foregrounds sexual violence in its depiction of the early life of the epic hero Achilles. This thesis investigates the ways in which Statius presents sexual violence, particularly in his development of a programmatic language of sexual violence and in his use of intertextual allusion in this process. The goal of my thesis is to offer a reading of the Achilleid’s depiction of sexual violence and to articulate the effects of this depiction on the text as a whole and on Statius’s poetic self-fashioning. This thesis was also motivated in part by a desire to critically consider the role of sexual violence in Latin literature and the ways in which sexual violence can be downplayed and erased in translations of classical texts. In Chapter One, I will explore how Statius interacts with the martial-heroic epic tradition. In Chapter Two, I will conduct a close reading of Statius’s treatment of sexual violence across the text and suggest the broader effects of this treatment. In Chapter Three, I will engage extensively with Statius’s allusive program in the Achilleid, and explore the ways that Statius uses intertextual models to undermine closure in the poem. Finally, in Chapter Four, I will bring my reading of the text to bear on two translations of the Achilleid, and I will investigate how translators may obscure the Achilleid’s poetic project by downplaying sexual violence
Some Mathematical Foundations of Convolutional Neural Networks
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/874d17d3-f9fc-4ceb-ba80-82f055deea83/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis explores the structure and behavior of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), with a focus on their ability to process shifted input data. It presents the mathematical basis for CNNs using tools like circulant and shift matrices, show- ing how convolution operations are linear and shift-equivariant. While effective for translation-based tasks, standard CNNs perform poorly on transformations such as rotations and reflections. To address this, the thesis applies concepts from Geometric Deep Learning (GDL) and implements Group Equivariant CNNs (G-CNNs) that handle a broader set of symmetries. These models are tested on a Rubik’s Cube solver, where various architectures—including standard CNNs, deeper ResNets, and symmetry-aware G-CNNs—are compared
The CFA Franc and ECOWAS: A case for economic sovereignty
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/0bb6e262-ba4f-4c4b-90d4-1b02efc27883/thumb/128.jpgThe recent departure of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has prompted the need for a reexamination of the community, given the claims leveled against them. Only by examining these neocolonial accusations that the above countries have leveled against ECOWAS can we begin to unwind the links between ECOWAS, France, and the CFA franc. This paper focuses on the CFA franc in West Africa and France’s neocolonial projections on the region. By repurposing Regional Security Complex Theory into Regional Economic Complex Theory, ECOWAS can be analyzed not just as a regional community, but THE regional community. Studying cases of countries that left ECOWAS also helps in the analysis of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali’s claims against ECOWAS’ neocolonial ties. Neocolonial theory is also used, given the that these countries are accusing the organization of continuing and spreading neocolonialism. The CFA franc and UEMOA have been picked as the counterexample because of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali’s membership. It seems hypocritical that these countries would denounce ECOWAS as neocolonial while remaining tied to a currency whose monetary value is still dictated by France. This paper aims to examine this seemingly hypocritical move by Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. Keywords: ECOWAS, West Africa, France, CFA franc, neocolonial, colonial legacie
"Normal is a Myth” - An Examination and Guide to Accommodating Performers with Invisible Disabilities in Theatre
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/b6cda510-bd91-4347-a856-9db0a0a3a61b/thumb/128.jpgThe idea of the unrelenting production is a belief and ideal that is immensely damaging to the culture and community around theatre and encourages us to embrace the culture of pushing ourselves to the limit and poor health as something not just normal but almost something to enjoy. When directors or peers praise performers for their “resilience” or “commitment” because of intense work, this action, whether intentionally or not, forms an inherent ableism against those who, for whatever reasons, cannot fill that expectation. While visible disabilities certainly deserve attention and focus, existing academia and acknowledgement of invisible disabilities are extremely lacking. If theatre-makers want to strive for a world that is more supportive of invisible disability, the way the systems of theatre currently exist are not feasible. What I will do is examine the existing processes of accommodation for actors within theatre and ask the question: How can we implement meaningful change into the system as it currently stands and strive for a better future? To do this examination of accommodation for actors within theatre, I will discuss my process of directing my Spring 2025 thesis production, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, with book by Joe Tracz and music/lyrics by Rob Rokicki. My intent is, via a combination of research around accommodation of actors and in-rehearsal work with actors, to find, define, test, and report various methods of accommodating invisible disabilities within a rehearsal space. Accommodations are often seen by directors or even performers as “deviations” or “issues” to work around, in a way that makes those who prefer or require such accommodations feel “othered,” as though their needs are unusual and a burden to the process of theatre. I wish to demonstrate that it is not a matter of quality or safety in theatre, that I can implement practices like these without needing to sacrifice the quality of the show as so often may be thought of, and that, by building accommodations for invisible disabilities into the format of rehearsals, it can benefit the process for all, not just those with invisible disabilities
Modulated Signal Filtering: Wouldn’t it be Noise?
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/d358fc20-1365-48a0-b923-375bb0c8d023/thumb/128.jp
A Mathematical Exploration Into The Field of Abstract Interpretation
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/cf885b3b-5b36-4272-b4f9-5d7ffa08e056/thumb/128.jpgIn modern systems, especially safety-critical technologies like autonomous vehicles, en- suring correctness and safety across all possible system behaviors is an essential yet chal- lenging task. Direct analysis of such systems is often computationally infeasible due to the vast number of possible states and execution paths. Abstract interpretation provides a mathematically rigorous framework for sound approximation of system behaviors, al- lowing us to reason about large or infinite state spaces through symbolic representations. This thesis explores the mathematical foundations of abstract interpretation, focusing on Galois connections, abstraction and concretization functions, and fixpoint computations. By formalizing the relationship between concrete and abstract domains, we establish how abstract interpretation enables scalable, sound analysis of complex systems. Applications such as verifying safety properties in neural networks and program verification illustrate the practical power of this approach. Through these theoretical and applied lenses, this work highlights abstract interpretation as a critical tool for bridging the gap between math- ematical rigor and practical system analysis
A Phylogenetic Approach to Delphinium Delineation in the PNW and a Search for Variation within the Chloroplast Genome
No full texthttps://rdc.reed.edu/v1/resources/6bfce864-258b-4d18-bec4-db38b0561b08/thumb/128.jpgThis thesis serves to investigate six species of Delphinium found within the Pacific Northwest, whose evolutionary relationships seem to have been influenced by geological changes in the region caused by the Missoula Floods, but have not yet been sufficiently defined or described. Species distinctions and evolutionary relationships are poorly understood in these Delphinium but are important for understanding the biodiversity of this group and for their future conservation. Previous studies of Delphinium estimating their evolutionary relationships and attempting to determine species boundaries have found limited amounts of variation within their sequences. My goal was to shed light on the complicated evolutionary processes driving the speciation of these six Delphinium and find regions of variability within their genomes. Sanger sequencing was used to produce a set of sequences for five regions of the chloroplast genome to look for variation between six species, with twelve individuals sampled overall. Regions were picked based on the evolutionary rate of comparable species for the regions between well known, well studied and well documented genes whose sequences were readily available for many taxa. 132 sequencing reactions were completed to generate 38,684 base pairs worth of usable sequences. These sequences produced for the single nuclear and five chloroplast regions that I chose provided little insight into the phylogenetics of these Delphinium. Despite this, an increasing knowledge of the evolutionary processes that drove speciation within these species is important for future research in species delineation for these six larkspurs. The rapid speciation and relatively recent diversification of these larkspurs have made it such that regions that are usually used for low level phylogenetic analysis show little variation between species