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Drawing of Eleanor Holmes Norton
No full textDrawing of Eleanor Holmes Norton saying 'Physically distant yet socially connected we shall overcome.
Street view of Logan Hardware
No full textStreet view of Logan Hardware with a storefront window reading 'We miss you, stay strong' and a heart. A person with a mask walks by on the sidewalk in front of the store
THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF PUBLIC GOODS PROVISION: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA
No full textCitizen engagement remains a crucial element for strengthening governance and the relationship between states and citizens. In studying political behavior, scholars have often found socioeconomic factors like income and education to be determinants of political participation in advanced democracies. However, in emerging democracies and hybrid regimes like those in Africa, education and income do not predict participation. Therefore, what explains political participation? A huge aspect of the research on political behavior in Africa also posits that neopatrimonialism and clientelism shape participation in African countries. Contrary to conventional explanations of state-society relationships that focus on clientelism and neopatrimonialism, this study moves from the macro-level explanations to more micro-level explanations for understanding governance in sub-Saharan Africa. This dissertation study is focused on questions of service delivery and citizen engagement in the developing world. An overarching theme is to understand state-society relationships and governance in younger democracies.Using Nigeria, as a case study, I examine the link between service delivery and political participation. I ask what the determinants of citizen engagement and political participation in sub-Saharan Africa are; and argue that political attitudes differ depending on who provides the basic goods and services. I argue that state-provision of goods and services increases various forms of political participation and citizen engagement; and that non-state provision reduces political participation and leads to a weak state. In addition, this study delineates the differences among various non-state provision, arguing that self-provision further diminishes participation and weakens state-society relationships. There has been a lot of research done on the determinants of basic goods and services like education, health, and basic infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the research on the effects of these goods, particularly on political attitudes, and more broadly, democratic institutions, is relatively scarce. This study fills this gap by examining the effects of various providers of basic goods and services on the proclivity of citizens to engage and participate in politics and governance. This dissertation therefore examines the political consequences of the provision of basic goods and services. To answer the research questions posed in this dissertation, this project uses an original micro-level survey experiment conducted during field research in Nigeria in 2018 and 2019. In addition to survey and quantitative data, this dissertation also employs other qualitative data from field research including in-depth interviews of civil society actors, government officials, political elites, academics and researchers, members of staff of NGOs, ordinary citizens and focus group discussions. By examining the political consequences of the provision of basic goods and services, this dissertation is a theoretically driven attempt to explore state-society relationship and to further understand governance in younger democracies. The question of goods and service provision has implications for the state, non-state actors, and citizens, and provides a comprehensive approach for understanding development in Africa.Political scienceAfrican Politics, Governance, Political Economy, Political Participation, Service Delivery, Voting BehaviorGovernmentDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Government. American Universit
Angel statue wearing a face mask
No full textSeated angel statue wearing a bandana face mask on 11th Street NW
Tim Brady Interview, October 7, 2020
No full textAn overview of pre-war life before the Vietnam War alongside a summary of Mr. Tim Brady’s actions on the USS Hugh Purvis, DD-709, which was stationed off of the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. Mr. Tim Brady is a Rockville, Maryland native who enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. He was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin from 1968 until 1969.
Interview conducted virtually via TheirStory
The Status of the Human Preimplantation Embryo as a Person in the Thought of Karol Wojytla/Pope John Paul II in Light of His Theological Anthrpology in Dialogue with Contemporary Molecular Genetics
No full textKarol Wojtyla in his pre-papal philosophical work maintained that the human person possesses an objective goodness. This allowed him to develop a personalist approach in his philosophical works and theological teachings as John Paul II.Wojtyladelineated his understanding of the human person in The Acting Personand later in his papal teaching in the Theology of the Body.He argued that man is revealed through the activity which is proper to him as a person: conscious, ethical acting. His first encyclical Redemptor hominisholds that the capacity for freedom is the basis and condition for the true dignity of the human person. He also speaks of the dignity of every person from fertilization until natural death in his encyclical Evangelium vitaeand previously in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Donum vitae. While John Paul II appears to refer to the embryo as a “person” he never systematically addressed the status of the human embryonic organism—nor how it relates to his own philosophical analysis of the person. This study addresses the status of the embryo as a person in the pope’s mind by engaging Wojtyla’s vegetative dynamism of the person as well as some of John Paul II’s theological documents.EthicsMoral Theology/EthicsDegree Awarded: S.T.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of Americ
Shadowy Resemblances: Natural Justice in Augustine's City of God
No full textChristianity teaches that man does not find his end in this world, but transcends all earthly political ends. This doctrine implies a natural question for political philosophers: can men who do not accept the teachings of revealed religion act justly? Can they promote the common good and give God his due?In this thesis, I argue that Augustine recognizes a natural virtue of justice that can be cultivated by pagans and that there is a fitting earthly peace that follows upon it.
I begin with a chapter that provides a general sketch of Augustine’s City of God, focusing on his position that all human societies are made up of citizens of the two cities. I then provide a brief introduction to the problem of pagan justice posed by Augustine’s treatment of Rome in book nineteen.
The second chapter defends the existence of a natural virtue of religion in Augustine. In it I consider the religious practices of the two cities, with particular focus on Augustine’s use of historical figures as archetypes for presenting his vision. I propose that Augustine believes that pagan religion, though always disordered, exists on a continuum from depravity to naturally virtuous forms.
The third chapter addresses justice and peace. I first consider the nature of man’s true happiness and then posit that even pagans can take part in religious acts that are not entirely unjust to God. I then consider A) Augustine’s Ciceronian argument in book nineteen that Rome was never a commonwealth and B) how Augustine’s new definition of a people allows for pagan polities to find political unity in cultivating common loves. I then argue that Augustine’s account of peace implicitly presumes the existence of a natural virtue of justice. This kind of justice can lead to what Augustine refers to as the peace of Babylon.
Using the conclusion of my investigations in chapter two, I speculate that this peace exists in an even fuller way when it is pursued by those who act as justly as a pagan can towards God. I close with a consideration of the ecclesia permixta, the doctrine that the two cities are intermingled in this world, followed by some remarks on how the pagan virtue of justice and its consequent peace are worthy of cultivation in Augustine’s view, despite the fact that they are not salvific.PhilosophyAugustine, Integralism, Justice, Politics, Theology, VirtuePhilosophyDegree Awarded: M.A.--Philosophy. The Catholic University of Americ
Identifying the Mechanism and Impact of hnRNP K Regulation by K19
No full textKeratins have been widely utilized as diagnostic and prognostic markers in cancer. One keratin with a strong link to cancer is keratin 19 (K19), which is overexpressed in several cancer types including breast cancer. Higher levels of K19 significantly correlate with worse overall survival of breast cancer patients. However, mechanisms of how K19 promotes breast cancer are not well understood. A previous study done in skin cancer showed that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) binds to a keratin similar to K19, leading to tumor cell growth and invasion. hnRNP K is a DNA/RNA-binding protein that can impact all steps of gene expression and are expressed in all tissue types. In various cancers, overexpression or cytoplasmic localization of hnRNP K promotes cell proliferation and metastasis. Based on the clinical evidence, we hypothesized that K19 promotes cell proliferation by interacting with hnRNP K which would then induce expression of genes involved in cell proliferation. To examine potential interaction between K19 and hnRNP K in breast cancer, we generated knockout (KO) or K19 in MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Our data shows that KRT19 KO cells exhibit reduced proliferation compared to parental control cells. We also found that hnRNP K interacts with K19, and we saw decreased levels of hnRNP K in the cytoplasm of KRT19 KO cells. To identify transcripts dependent on K19 and hnRNP K for expression, we performed RNA-seq experiments and also performed Photoactivatable-Ribonucleoside-Enhanced Crosslinking and Immunoprecipitation (PAR-CLIP) to identify RNAs bound to hnRNP K. By integrating PAR-CLIP and RNA-seq data, we found that K19 stabilizes hnRNP K targets, and this regulation is mainly through 3’UTR and introns of target genes. Pathways that were significantly dependent on K19 among hnRNP K targets included p53 pathway, and decreased level of p53 was confirmed in KRT19 KO cells. With this study, we identified how a cytoskeletal protein affects the transcriptomic landscape of breast cancer cells through its interaction with an RNA-binding protein. In the future, we can use the knowledge gained to develop an effective strategy to combat cancer.BiologyBiologyDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Biology. The Catholic University of Americ
Development as Growth in Virtue: Assessing Recent Development Ethics through Thomistic Virtue Theory
No full textDespite improvements that the Capabilities Approach has made in the field of development studies and its ethics, three concerns rooted in its anthropological and ethical individualism remain insufficiently addressed by its proponents, especially from the perspective of Catholic social doctrine. The first is the persistence of viewing human persons as rational, self-interested, utility-maximizers. The second is the inability to convincingly incorporate notions of social personhood within the Capability Approach’s framework of liberal individualism. The third is the establishment of autonomy as the prime value and end of development theories and initiatives.This dissertation posits that by understanding development as growth in virtue rather than capabilities, one can retain the benefits that the Capabilities Approach has offered development ethics while addressing its liabilities. In the first chapter, I outline key contributions to the academic field of development ethics and introduce the concept of integral human development from Catholic social doctrine as a point for comparison of their respective visions for development. The second chapter assesses the Capabilities Approach with special attention to the work of its seminal thinkers Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, investigating philosophical foundations and key concepts which include: dignity, agency, justice, well-being, flourishing, and the common good. The third chapter proposes a virtue approach to development grounded in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and illustrates the ways it might meet and exceed the ethical prospects of Capabilities Approach. These include the advancement of the concept of habitus as a bridge concept between capability and functioning, an appreciation for the role that tradition and community play in virtue acquisition, and the perfective role that virtues play in leading a human person to the end of development understood as flourishing and the common good. In the fourth chapter, I explain important points of convergence that each of these two approaches has with Catholic social doctrine while identifying and responding to points of divergence regarding integral human development, concluding with an account of the special benefits that a Thomistic virtue approach can have for accommodating the supernatural horizon of integral human development without invalidating its natural and temporal relevance.TheologyEthicsEconomic theorycapabilities approach, Catholic social doctrine, development ethics, integral human development, Thomas Aquinas, virtueMoral Theology/EthicsDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of Americ
