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Hermeneutics of the Polis: Arendt and Gadamer on the Political World
No full textThesis advisor: John SallisThis dissertation raises the question of the political world, and pursues it as central theme in the political thought of Hannah Arendt and the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Within the phenomenological tradition, world refers to a referential context of relations between beings, within which those beings appear as meaningful. Since Heidegger, the concept of world has been inextricably linked with that of understanding, the disclosedness that guides any interpretation of beings and allows them to appear as what they are. In what sense is the world political? In what sense does the political constitute a world? For Arendt, the political concerns human beings in their plurality. It concerns the relations between members of a polis, who are related to each other by the world that they share in common in action and speech. The polis is not simply a city or a political entity, but a space within which both things and human beings appear according to a distinctively political mode of disclosedness, a plural understanding. In this, Arendt operates within a hermeneutical ontology, though it is often unthematized or underdeveloped within her work. Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy makes it possible to explicate and develop this ontology, illuminating the complex reciprocal relationship Arendt develops between the worldliness of human beings and the space of appearance that arises out of the exchange of interpretive judgments: the political world. The central theme of the political world serves to uncover the hermeneutical underpinnings of Arendt’s political thought, as well as the political implications of Gadamer’s philosophy. Part I shows how an embryonic and unthematized concept of the political world arises from the analysis of being-with [Mitsein] in Heidegger’s Being and Time. Part II proposes a novel systematic interpretation of The Human Condition, situating the conceptual distinctions of the vita activa within a hermeneutical ontology, with particular emphasis on Arendt’s appropriation and development of the concept of world. Part III turns to Gadamer’s treatment of tradition and historically-effected consciousness [wirkungsgeschichtliches Bewußtsein] in Truth and Method, arguing that the handing-down of tradition describes an historical activity of plural understanding, from which the political world emerges. Part IV traces the development of Arendt’s theory of judgment in tandem with her account of δόξα, the discursive mode proper to plural understanding, and proposes a revisionist interpretation of her mature theory of judgment. Gadamer’s fusion of horizons, rather than a Kantian extended mentality, emerges as an apt description of the space of appearance that emerges within plural interpretive discourse.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Philosophy
TheConditions of Trust:
No full textThesis advisor: Richard AtkinsThesis advisor: Daniel McKaughanTrust is vital for much of what we know and do. Yet, standard accounts of trust face a problem. Either they analyze trust in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions such that they face counterexamples, or they fail to explain trust’s role in social practices. To address this problem, I develop and defend a view that I call pragmatic pluralism. Pluralism is the view that trust comes in many forms. I show how pluralism can address counterexamples and preserve the insights of standard theories of trust. However, pluralism neglects to explain how the diverse interests of different parties coalesce in cooperative social practices. In turn, pragmatism provides an explanatory strategy for uniting various forms of trust according to their function. Specifically, I examine trust’s role in disposing parties to rely on each other to achieve their goals. This shared, dispositional function explains how various forms of trust can facilitate cooperative social practices. I argue that pragmatic pluralism is plausible given developments in empirical trust research. I then apply insights from pragmatic pluralism to disputes about values in science and trust in artificial intelligence. I contend that well-placed trust in each case requires a normative view about the appropriate conditions of trust. While pragmatic pluralism is a descriptive account of trust, I conclude that it provides resources for inquiring about the normatively appropriate conditions of trust—those conditions according to which a trustee is worthy of trust.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Philosophy
We Believe in God, the Father Almighty: Liturgy, Ethics, Dominance, and Vulnerability
No full textThesis advisor: James F. KeenanThis dissertation presents an ethical examination of power dysfunctions within liturgical practices, with a specific focus on the portrayal of God as an omnipotent monarch. This depiction propagated through rituals, contributes to a culture of unaccountability among clergy and undermines the active participation of the faithful in the liturgy. The study utilizes performative theories from philosophers such as Judith Butler and theologians like Louis-Marie Chauvet to explore how the repetitive use of language and iconography that enacts domination also opens possibilities for resistance. A significant aspect of this research involves an ethical analysis of non-Christological images of God from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. This investigation uncovers a resilient agency among the faithful, who actively resisted the monarchicalization of God and God’s ministers. The dissertation posits that addressing this power dysfunction requires a revival and promotion of depictions that portray divine vulnerability. This conceptualization of vulnerability, inspired by feminist philosophers, is reimagined not as a weakness but as a capacity for responsiveness and the ability to attend to others’ wounds. The dissertation argues that vulnerability is a foundational element in building communities of solidarity that resist injustice. By promoting such imagery, there is a potential to encourage ethical responses and foster openness to others’ claims. This shift can lead to a transformation from a culture of unaccountability to one that upholds the equal baptismal dignity of the faithful, thereby redefining the dynamics of power within liturgical settings.Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry.Discipline: Sacred Theology
Genital Hair Removal and Sexually Transmitted Infections: A History and a Systematic Review of the Literature
No full textThesis advisor: Christopher S. LeeBackground: Genital hair removal is a popular practice in Westernized cultures and has been associated with the belief that removal is necessary for hygiene. A body of literature exists that has found that genital hair removal is associated with adverse health outcomes, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This dissertation aims to detail the history of the practice, why the hygiene belief exists, and to systematically review the existing literature that assesses genital hair removal and STIs. Methods: Historical, socio-cultural analysis from the feminist perspective was performed on the literature to outline why genital hair removal was adopted at a population level. The STI/genital hair removal literature was systematically reviewed and analyzed utilizing PRISMA guidelines. The data generated did not support meta-analysis. Results: Genital hygiene removal has been normalized in Westernized culture as a compulsory component of genital hygiene, particularly for women. Genital hair removal decreases pubic lice infestations. Genital hair removal increases the incidence of gonorrhea and chlamydia infections in women. The data does not support that genital hair removal is necessary for genital hygiene and may be harmful to genital health. Conclusions: Healthcare providers should ask about genital hair and genital hygiene practices when taking a sexual health or preventative care history. Health care providers can educate patients that genital hair removal is not necessary for genital health. New research inquiries on this topic must account for the normalization of the genital hygiene belief.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing.Discipline: Nursing
Expect the Unexpected: The Impact of Natural Resource Price Volatility On Governance and Corruption
No full textThesis advisor: Geoffrey SanzenbacherDespite growing importance in the global economy, many of the countriees with large natural resource economies are among the poorest. In this paper, I first construct a theoretical model that provides a framework for the harm of natural resources on corruption levels and governance. Then, I construct what I call the Resource Volatility Index. This measures both a country's level of dependence on a category of resources and the price volatility of these resources themselves. Finally, I use Correlated Random Effects models to show that both average and year-varying levels of this index can explain the level of corruption and the quality of governance in a given country. The nagative impacts I find on both variables confirms previous economic theory on governments funded by natural resources.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Economics.Discipline: Scholar of the College
Three Essays in Corporate Finance:
No full textThesis advisor: Edith HotchkissMy dissertation focuses on how the way firms are funded, particularly in periods of financial distress, affects their employment and investment choices. It consists of three papers. The first paper studies how bank lending patterns change after a shock leads some firms to become non-viable. Banks will often continue to lend to poorly performing firms, but it is difficult to distinguish cases where they are lending to viable firms suffering a temporary setback or whether they are ”evergreening”, lending to nonviable firms to help them avoid or delay default. We use a shock to firm growth from the implementation of tolls in a previously free-to-use highway system to attempt to disentangle the two groups of firms. We find evidence more consistent with evergreening: once firms have received a loan in distressed circumstances, they are far more likely to receive a subsequent loan while remaining in a distressed situation. The second paper studies the composition of bank lending in Portugal during the sovereign debt crisis. We provide evidence that banks distort the composition of credit supply in order to comply with ratio-based capital requirements in times of economic distress. An unexpected intervention by the European Banking Authority provides a natural experiment to study how banks respond to falling below minimum required capital ratios during an economic downturn. We show that affected banks respond by cutting lending but also by reallocating credit to distressed firms with underreported loan losses. We develop a method to detect underreported losses using loan-level data. The credit reallocation leads to a reallocation of inputs across firms. We calculate that the resulting increase in input misallocation accounts for about 13\% of the decline in productivity in Portugal in 2012. The third paper uses US Census data to study the impact of private equity deals on employment. Private equity transactions are associated with employment reallocation and job losses (Davis et al. 2014, Olsson and Tag 2017, Arnold et al 2023). However, there is divergence around the role PE firms play in worker outcomes. In this paper we test three hypothesis for why workers are laid off after private equity buyouts: use of market power, breach of trust, and efficient reallocation.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management.Discipline: Finance
The Effect of Social Engagement and Family Support on the Depression Levels Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in China
No full textThesis advisor: Alyssa GoldmanAs China encounters rapid aging transformation, information on the mental health of older adults is essential. This study examines the influence of social engagement and family support on depression levels among community-dwelling older adults in China. This study selects a sample of 5,187 respondents who participated in the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in order to investigate the relationships between these factors and mental health. The results show that both social engagement and family support are negatively associated with depression levels. Moreover, social engagement acts as a partial mediation effect between family support and depression levels. This demonstrates the role of an active social life in the prevention of mental health deterioration in older adults. The research findings contribute to the discussions about how social support such as social engagement and strong family tiese can alleviate depression in Chinese older adults.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology.Discipline: Departmental Honors
Strengths-Based Home-School Collaboration to Support Children's Early Math Learning:
No full textThesis advisor: Eric DearingThe value of home-school collaboration has been repeatedly touted in psychology and education (e.g., Pomerantz et al., 2007). However, impacts on learning may depend on whether home-school relationships are, in fact, truly collaborative. Indeed, the importance of educators having asset-based partnership attitudes – viewing families as partners who bring strengths to the collaboration, including knowledge, skills, and cultural capital – and the pedagogical skills to make use of these assets has become clear in the literature (McWayne et al., 2022). Yet, many questions remain around how asset-based partnership practices can be supported for teachers working with marginalized and disadvantaged families, especially around teaching early math.The present dissertation study examined preschool teachers’ and families’ uses of early math home-school collaboration kits—Family Math Kits—that were co-designed to build asset-based home-school partnerships in 24 Head Start classrooms in the Boston area. The study aimed to examine implementation testing and correlational indications of kit impact on teachers and families. Four key findings emerged.
First, there were large differences in fidelity of implementation both across study sites and within study sites. While site and center leadership was likely critical to some of these differences, teacher and family focus groups also revealed both implementation challenges and opportunities that deserve future attention in the field. Second, despite variability in implementation fidelity, the kits were not only enjoyable for families, but the kits also provided meaningful early math learning opportunities (i.e., uncovering family strengths in their daily lives) that families could communicate with teachers. Third, while teachers were able to learn more about their families (i.e., family strengths) via the kits, challenges remained as to how to best utilize experiences from families in the classroom. Fourth, kits appeared to be positively associated with changes in teachers’ beliefs and attitudes such that teachers who implemented the kits with higher fidelity displayed a trend toward improved attitudes and beliefs (e.g., general pedagogical beliefs to specific beliefs around early math and home-school collaboration), especially around teachers’ math confidence. However, the use of the kits appeared to have somewhat mixed associations with family attitudes and beliefs. Taken together, these study findings underscore the importance and challenges of effective home-school collaboration for early math learning that is strengths-based.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology
The Hidden Influence of Socioeconomic Differences on Elementary Students' Help-Seeking Networks and Mathematics Performance:
No full textThesis advisor: Lillie R. AlbertIn a world where collaborative learning and social interactions play pivotal roles in educational success, this study explores the dynamics of elementary students’ help-seeking behaviors in mathematics education. Employing Social Network Analysis (SNA), regression models, and comprehensive statistical analyses, the study explores the association between students’ mathematics help-seeking networks and their performance, while also examining the potential moderating effect of socioeconomic status (SES). Furthermore, the study investigates the influence of SES on students’ selection of helpers when facing academic challenges in mathematics. The findings reveal a positive association between students’ mathematics help-seeking indegree centrality—indicative of being nominated as a helper—and their performance. Conversely, a negative association is observed between mathematics help-seeking outdegree centrality—reflective of seeking help from others—and performance. However, these associations were not found to be significantly moderated by SES. Instead, SES influences the choice of helper sources, demonstrating a disparity in access to educational support. Students from wealthier backgrounds tend to rely on outside-of-school resources such as parental support and private tutoring to a greater extent than expected from a random sample, while students from less affluent backgrounds depend more on within-school resources, such as teachers and peers. The study emphasizes the importance of cultivating classroom cultures that value constructive help-seeking, which is integral to enhancing understanding and creating collaborative learning environments. Additionally, the study sheds light on educational inequalities linked to cultural capital, particularly concerning the accessibility of help resources. To address these disparities, strategies such as parental engagement workshops and the development of comprehensive digital platforms are recommended to promote equitable access to assistance across socioeconomic spectrums. Moreover, the potential of Artificial Intelligence in education is noted as a promising tool for providing personalized student support, capable of bridging socioeconomic and cultural gaps. This research concludes with a call to action for educators, policymakers, and community stakeholders to establish educational environments that encourage help-seeking as an effective learning strategy and support equitable access to resources. Such initiatives are crucial for promoting equal opportunities for educational resources and empowering every student to reach their full potential.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teaching, Curriculum, and Society
Linear modeling of biomarkers of cardiac and central nervous system histopathology in macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus:
No full textThesis advisor: Marc-Jan GubbelsComorbidities of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are the leading cause of HIV-associated mortality in the United States. Some of the most prevalent comorbidities include cardiovascular disease and HIV-associated neurocognitive deficit. Common to both cardiovascular disease and HIV-associated neurocognitive deficit is chronic inflammation, elevated soluble markers produced by monocytes and macrophages, and the accumulation of monocytes and macrophages in tissue. Recently, galectin-3 and interleukin-18 have been identified as biomarkers of cardiovascular disease, and galectin-9 has been identified a biomarker of HIV-associated neurocognitive deficit. Galectin-3, interleukin-18, and galectin-9 play important roles in the innate immune response and can be produced by, or act on monocytes and macrophages. Galectin-3, interleukin-18, and galectin-9 are most often studied independent of one another and as specific biomarkers of either cardiovascular disease or neurocognitive deficit. We asked if these biomarkers increased in both cardiovascular disease and neurocognitive deficit, rather than being selective for either comorbidity. Using a model of simian immunodeficiency virus infection which results in AIDS with cardiac and/or central nervous system histopathology, we find that these biomarkers are not selective to either pathology. We show that galectin-3, interleukin-18, and galectin-9 correlate with the monocyte activation marker sCD163 and monocyte turnover by the percentage of BrdU+ monocytes in blood 24 hours post-pulse. Using linear mixed models, we identify interleukin-18 as a potential prognostic marker of co-developing cardiac and central nervous system histopathology. These findings suggest that cardiovascular disease and neurocognitive deficit in people living with HIV are linked manifestations of innate immune system activation, rather than independent phenomena.Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Biology