3948 research outputs found
Sort by
TheInfluence of Race, Gender, and Body Socialization on the Self-Perceptions and Relationships of Black/White Multiracial Emerging Adult Women:
Get PDFThesis advisor: Usha Tummala-NarraThesis advisor: Belle LiangIn 2015, one-in-seven U.S. infants was Multiracial, nearly triple the amount in 1980, and one of the fastest growing subgroups of this population is Black/White Multiracial people (Pew Research Center, 2015). Black/White Multiracial emerging adult women have not received adequate attention in research, despite the growing population. Black/White Multiracial women receive implicit and explicit messages about their racialized physical features including skin color, hair, and body size from family members and peers (Root, 1998; Kelch-Oliver & Leslie, 2007; Buckley & Carter, 2008). Additionally, remnants of racist and sexist stereotypes of Black women such as the Jezebel, a hypersexualized archetype of a light-skinned Black woman, still permeate U.S. culture and impact Black women (Watson et al., 2012). However, there is no research that explores how such interactions with family members, peers, and the larger social context impact Black/White women’s perceptions of themselves and relationships with others. The present study conducted semi-structured interviews of 10 Black/White Multiracial emerging adult women to explore the socialization messages that they receive around race, gender, and body, and how those messages influence their self-perceptions and relationships. Through conventional content analysis, the findings of the present study revealed themes including a lack of discussion about race within families, gendered, racialized messages, often rooted in anti-Blackness, about the bodies of Black/White Multiracial women within families and peer groups, intrapsychic conflict to make meaning of conflicting messages, authentic relationships, and the expression of identity. Implications for clinical practice, community level interventions and research are discussed.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology
Trisubstituted Alkenes through Stereoretentive Cross-Metathesis for Natural Product Synthesis:
No full textThesis advisor: Amir H. HoveydaChapter One: Stereoretentive Cross-Metathesis of Trisubstituted Olefins
The development of stereoretentive olefin metathesis catalysts has solved a long-standing problem in the field, allowing for trisubstituted alkenes to be synthesized in high stereochemical purity and under kinetic control. E- as well as Z-isomers of trisubstituted alkenyl halides, nitriles, and allylic alcohols can be accessed through cross-metathesis of commercially available and easily accessible alkenes. Through the use of the same strategy, macrocyclic trisubstituted alkenes have been accessed in either isomeric form through stereoretentive ring-closing metathesis of the corresponding diene starting materials. Thus, for the first time, a wide range of E- and Z-trisubstituted alkenes can be obtained selectively through olefin metathesis, regardless of the underlying thermodynamic preferences.
Chapter Two: Development of Catalytic Stereoretentive Cross-Metathesis of Trisubstituted Alkenyl Bromides
We have introduced a general and widely applicable strategy for the synthesis of E- and Z-trisubstituted alkenyl bromides through cross-metathesis. The reaction is applicable to terminal, disubstituted, and trisubstituted olefins bearing a variety of functional groups including alkenes with α-, or β-branches. The requisite stereodefined cross-partners, E- and Z-2-bromo-2-butene are commercially available and can be synthesized with ease in one step from abundant starting materials. This represents a notable improvement over our previous approach, where the non-halogenated alkene starting material had to be prepared through cross-coupling in high stereochemical purity to ensure high stereoretention in the subsequent cross-metathesis. Catalysts derived from Mo monoaryloxide pyrrolide complexes, some of which are commercially available, are optimal for this transformation. The applicability of the approach is underscored through the formal synthesis of phomactin A with improved overall yield and step count.
Chapter Three: Total Synthesis of Ambrein
We have completed a total synthesis of ambrein, a terpenoid isolated from whale secretion, a much sought perfume ingredient. The approach involved joining two fragments through formation of the central trisubstituted alkene. Our route entailed a sequence of cross-metathesis of alkenyl bromides and cross-coupling, providing access to a previously difficult-to-access trisubstituted olefin with high efficiency and selectivity. One fragment was generated from a readily accessible enantiomerically enriched compound, sclareolide, and the other from inexpensive methylcyclohexenone. The stereogenic center of the latter was established through a NHC-Cu-catalyzed enantioselective allylic substitution, which was followed by differentiation of these alkenes through site-selective epoxidation. The total synthesis is more efficient and offers a more practical route to ambrein.
Chapter Four: Stereoretentive Cross-Metathesis of Trisubstituted α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds
We have developed a strategy for the synthesis of Z- and E-Trisubstituted α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds through stereoretentive CM involving commercially available or easily accessible alkene substrates. The method is applicable to a variety of α,β-unsaturated esters, thioesters, and acyl fluorides. Furthermore, mono-, di-, and trisubstituted alkenes can be used as starting materials. Transformations may be carried out on gram scale and, in some cases, with commercially available Mo catalysts. The utility of the catalytic approach was highlighted through synthesis of previously accessed intermediates more directly and with improved efficiency.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Chemistry
Legislating Free Commercial Societies: Montesquieu on the Nature and Morality of Commerce
No full textThesis advisor: Christopher J. KellyThis dissertation aims to understand the origins, effects, and limits of commerce in the modern world, taking Montesquieu as a guide in The Spirit of the Laws. It asks: To what extent is commerce natural, and how does commerce shape or constrain our understanding of happiness? I consider the extent to which commerce changes our nature, how it effects this change, and why it might fail to effect this change universally or permanently. Finally, I give an account of the best remedies or solutions for the problems we necessarily encounter in free commercial societies.
We moderns are superior to the ancients, Montesquieu claims, on account of the knowledge we have gained concerning commerce. I argue that this epistemic superiority consists in knowledge concerning the best arrangement between the two sexes: “a kind of equality between the two sexes” that attaches men for the first time to “commerce with women.” Against standard readings that put forth political liberty or moderation as Montesquieu’s standard of the good in The Spirit of the Laws, I argue that Montesquieu also points to equality between the sexes as an alternative standard of the good. To show why and how his idea of sexual equality emerges with commerce, I begin by examining the natural origins of modern commerce.
Modern commerce originates in the diversity of non-human nature, or a diversity of climates; so I begin by arguing that climate, Montesquieu’s new understanding of nature, is the natural basis of modern commerce. After elaborating on this new natural philosophy, I show how commerce, amidst this nonhuman natural diversity, paradoxically results in human uniformity or homogeneity: “everywhere there is commerce, there are gentle mores.” Commerce revolutionizes our mores by appealing to human flexibility and the ease of changing manners and mores rather than laws. Commerce does not result in a political universalism but a consensus concerning the most desirable sexual mores. Equality between the sexes is introduced by nature (as an accident of the physical environment), but a moral consensus only emerges through “history”: by comparing mores across time and place we see which mores are most desirable. However, neither reason nor passion is sufficient to secure these mores. Only by unleashing the imagination can we introduce equality between the sexes and attach men to “commerce with women” not by love itself, but by the “illusions” and “accessories” of love.
The nature and history of commerce show, however, the limits of this human flexibility and this new standard. After all, why does sexual inequality persist, not least in despotisms and republics? On the one hand, humans are not only flexible and imaginative but also inflexible and attached to virtue in accord with “pure mores.” On the other hand, commerce is not, in fact, necessarily accompanied by gentle mores (and the luxury and vanity that accompany these mores): in contradistinction to “commerce of luxury,” “economic commerce” depends less on the imagination than on reason. These two alternatives (the life of virtue and that of economic commerce) not only show the limits of universalizing this new morality rooted in sexual equality but also clarify the challenges of reconciling the realms of domestic and political governance, or commerce at home with commerce abroad.
Nonetheless, anyone unwilling or unable to retreat from the “worldliness” of modern commerce or insufficiently lucky to be born in a commercial republic should heed Montesquieu’s advice for how best to live rationally and freely in commercial societies. Thus I turn to his solutions for how to reconcile an openness to human diversity and strangers (as commerce consists of communication among diverse peoples) with a preservation of natural differences and “strength.” By conceiving of gentleness as a political virtue and cultivating a conventional form of jealousy, we can reconcile the demands of commerce with those of the virtue of humanity properly understood.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Political Science
Science fascination: Investigating change over time in middle school students' fascination in science using a Learning Activation framework
Get PDFThesis advisor: Michael RussellThis paper describes the construct of fascination in science, a non-cognitive trait combining interest, curiosity, and mastery skills, and the particular relevance of fascination in science for students during middle school. Grounded in the theory of Science Learning Activation and employing data from the longitudinal Activated Learning Enables Success study of 2014 (ALES:14), cohorts of sixth and eighth graders were measured on fascination five times over two school years, allowing for an investigation of change over time. Multilevel models were constructed for each grade-level cohort in an effort to determine patterns of change, while also testing for relationships with several student-level characteristics and class-level instructional variables. Results suggest discontinuous patterns of change in fascination, with declining fascination scores in grade 6 boosted over the summer break and declining fascination scores in grade 8 rising the following school year. While the impact of instructional variables was negligible, relationships with several individual covariates were observed, primarily indicating the importance of family support for science. Future research should focus on context-specific elements of in-school activities, along with additional out-of-school factors that may influence fascination.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation
Stereoselective Radical Cascade Cyclizations via Co(II)-Based Metalloradical Catalysis:
No full textThesis advisor: Xiao-Xiang ZhangThesis advisor: James MorkenThis dissertation will present three projects focusing on the development of stereoselective radical cascade reactions via metalloradical catalysis (MRC) using Co(II) D2-symmetric chiral amidoporphyrins [Co(D2-Por*)] as the catalyst. The first project demonstrated the feasibility of applying MRC for asymmetric radical cascade processes by achieving an enantioselective radical bicyclization of 1,6-enynes with diazo compounds, which constructed multi-substituted cyclopropane-fused tetrahydrofurans bearing three contiguous stereogenic centers and one trisubstituted alkene. Detailed mechanistic studies including EPR studies and DFT calculation unveiled a radical-based stepwise mechanism. The synthetic utility of this reaction was demonstrated by a series of diastereoselective transformations of the bicyclic products. In the second project, this strategy was expanded to the application of Co(II)-based MRC to catalyze radical cascade reactions involving hydrogen-atom abstraction (HAA) process. A broad array of homopropargyl ethers reacted with diazo compounds to generate enantiomerically enriched ɑ,β-disubstituted tetrahydrofurans in good yields with high diastereoselectivities and enantioselectivities. The third project explored the utilization of the established strategy to accomplish more challenging bicyclization of 1,6,8-dienynes for the construction of cycloheptadiene-fused tetrahydrofurans in regio- and diastereoselective fashions. Such 5,7-fused ring system has been widely found in natural products and bioactive species.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Chemistry
College Enrollment, Attainment, and Persistence Among Immigrant Youth: Generational Differences Between and Within Racial/Ethnic Groups With a Focus on Asian Immigrants
Get PDFThesis advisor: Eric DearingThe education and successful integration of immigrant youth are imperative for the U.S. economy. Indeed, first- and second-generation immigrants are estimated to account for 93% of the nation’s working-age population growth over the next three decades (Pew, 2013). However, existing empirical work on postsecondary outcomes among immigrant youth mainly focuses on differences between pan-racial/ethnic categories, potentially masking within-group differences (e.g., ethnic/regional variations) arising from unique pre- and post-migration contexts and experiences. This dissertation aims to uncover heterogeneity within and between immigrant racial/ethnic groups’ trajectories in higher education. A special focus is placed on Asian immigrants, a pan-racial group that represented about 28% of the immigrant population in 2018 but comprised several distinct ethnic and regional groups with considerable variation in pre- and post-immigration experiences (Pew, 2018). The dissertation also helps advance current knowledge by simultaneously examining variations by ethnic/regional groups and generational statuses for Asian youth. Utilizing data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, the first part of the dissertation explores enrollment, attainment, and persistence differences among pan-racial/ethnic groups and, in turn, disaggregated analyses specifically for Asian ethnicities and regions. Second, the dissertation examines variations in postsecondary outcomes as a function of immigrant generation (i.e., first, second, or third generation, focusing on both within– and across–racial and ethnic group differences). For this second aim, variations within and between Asian ethnicities and regions are closely examined. The findings indicate that pan-racial/ethnic differences follow patterns previously highlighted in the literature; however, evidence of generational differences within and between groups in this study extends the existing literature. For example, there was evidence of generational advantages in educational outcomes for first- and second-generation youth compared with the third generation for Asian and Black youth. On the other hand, there was evidence of disadvantage among first-generation Latinx youth. The disaggregated analyses for Asian immigrants also revealed several important findings. For example, the second-generation advantage found at the pan-racial level for Asian immigrants persisted for Southeast Asians and partially for Chinese and South Asian immigrants. However, it disappeared for other Asian ethnic/regional groups for several outcomes. These findings have implications for the discourse around immigrants by challenging current pervasive pan-racial/ethnic narratives. In particular, for Asian immigrants, often stereotyped as the “Model Minority,” the immigration and assimilation process is not monolithic. Therefore, postsecondary outcomes reflect these complex and heterogeneous processes.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology
Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Inclusive Education: The Impact of Dialogue
Get PDFThesis advisor: David ScanlonDespite the often-claimed purpose of equity, inclusive education has been defined and interpreted in different ways that paradoxically marginalize students. Teachers play a primary role in enacting inclusion, their concept of inclusion is, therefore, critical to inclusive practices and outcomes. This qualitative case study explored the impact of dialogue on preservice teachers’ understanding of inclusive education, using three major research questions: a) How do five preservice teachers conceptualize inclusive education before and after participating in a series of group dialogue? b) How do preservice teachers negotiate meanings of, perspectives on, and beliefs toward inclusion during the group dialogues when they face challenges around the concept and practice?, and c) How do facilitations—content/topics, guiding/follow-up questions, and supplementary materials and activities—mediate those negotiations?The participants were five female under-/graduate students in a teacher education program at a private Catholic University in the Northeastern United States, who were completing practicum at the time of the study. Data were collected from multiple sources, including surveys, follow-up conversations, pre/post-dialogue journal entries, individual semi-structured interviews, six group discussion sessions and accompanying artifacts (mind-maps and self-reflections), and field notes.
For the first research question, qualitative content analysis and pre/post comparisons of individual participants’ journals and interviews were examined, to identify how the pre-service teachers changed their conceptualizations of inclusive education through their participation in the dialogue series. The commonalities and variations in their conceptualizations following the dialogue series were synthesized through cross-case analysis. For the second and third research questions, discussion segments and post-dialogue interviews were analyzed via constructivist grounded theory along with review of the supplementary artifacts.
The findings suggested that group dialogues provided a learning space for the preservice teachers to deepen their understandings of inclusive education. A synthesis of the five single case studies revealed that, after the dialogue series, the preservice teachers conceptualized inclusion as a) a channel to prepare students for transition from the classroom/school to society, and b) a means to empower marginalized students under the rhetoric “for all,” as well as c) viewed teachers as a mechanism of inclusive action/enactment. Five themes emerged, revealing the ways in which the preservice teachers negotiated meanings of, perspectives on, and beliefs toward inclusion as they addressed challenges around the concept and practice through interactions, as well as the ways in which the facilitation mediated their negotiations. The five themes included: a) Convergence, b) Expansion Through Convergence, c) Divergence, d) Inconclusiveness, and e) Multiple Patterns. Further, the facilitation set the context where the preservice teachers could think through concrete examples in practice, provoked them to develop new ideas and perspectives and to (re)think about the issues critically enriching the discussions, and fostered their collective and individual sense-making.
This study adds to knowledge on inclusive education and teacher dialogue as a learning tool, providing in-depth descriptions of how pre-service teachers developed a deeper understanding of inclusive education through facilitated group discussions that problematized taken-for-granted notions and practices of inclusion. It also provides a new instructional method of research that elucidates preservice teachers’ negotiation processes in dialogues.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction
Motivation and Commitment to Activism: A Group Differential Approach to Investigating Motivation and Motivational Change Among Black and Latinx Adolescents Across High School
Get PDFThesis advisor: Scott C. SeiderEngagement in sociopolitical activism, such as protesting, has important implications for youth of color and for the communities in which they live (Ballard & Ozer, 2016; Ginwright, 2010; Hope & Spencer, 2017). Critical Consciousness (CC; Freire, 1970/1998; Watts et al., 2011) and Youth Sociopolitical Development Theory (Youth SPD; Watts & Flanagan, 2007) are two prominent frameworks for investigating sociopolitical activism among youth of color. Although both frameworks position motivation as one of the key factors influencing youth activism, motivation is narrowly defined as a single construct—one’s sense of efficacy to effect change. Using motivation constructs from two established motivation frameworks, Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000) and Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT; Higgins, 1997), this dissertation investigated the multidimensional nature of motivation in relation to Black and Latinx adolescents’ commitment to activism. Drawing from a longitudinal data set examining Black and Latinx adolescents’ civic development over four years of high school (N = 733), I used group differential approaches (latent profile analysis, latent profile transition analysis, and latent profile moderation) to (a) identify distinct combinations of motivations among Black and Latinx high school students in ninth, tenth, and twelfth grade, (b) assess whether and the extent to which adolescents changed profile membership across high school, (c) examine motivation profiles in tenth grade as predictors of commitment to activism in twelfth grade, and (d) examine motivation profiles in tenth grade as moderators of the relation between adolescents’ analysis of social problems in tenth grade and their commitment to activism addressing these problems in twelfth grade (controlling for their initial commitment to activism).
I identified two motivation profiles in ninth grade, four motivation profiles in tenth grade, and four motivation profiles in twelfth grade. At both tenth and twelfth grade, I named the motivation profiles: “Low Motivation,” “High Motivation,” “Moderate Motivation, Low Autonomy,” and “Moderate Motivation, High Autonomy.” At both time points, the “Low Motivation” profile comprised the smallest proportion of the sample and the “Moderate Motivation, High Autonomy” profile comprised the largest proportion of the sample. Most youth shifted to a different motivation profile over time. Adolescents in the “High Motivation” profile at the end of tenth grade reported the highest average commitment to activism at the end of twelfth grade; however, this number was only statistically significantly higher than the “Moderate Motivation, Low Autonomy” profile. Contrary to expectations, youths’ social analysis in tenth grade was not predictive of their commitment to activism in twelfth grade; thus, there was no latent profile moderation in relation to social analysis and commitment to activism. Instead, I did find evidence that motivation profile membership moderated the relation between commitment to activism at the end of tenth grade on commitment to activism at the end of twelfth grade. Overall, results suggest that adolescents’ motivation is multidimensional and incredibly dynamic. Future CC/Youth SPD research should consider investigating a more complete set of established motivation constructs in relation to youths’ sociopolitical development.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology
Exploring Predictors and Outcomes of Gender Differences in Math Classroom Participation:
Get PDFThesis advisor: Marina VasilyevaMotivated by the underrepresentation of women in math-related majors and occupations, the present dissertation explored the possibility that disparities in frequency of classroom participation—a measure of engagement prone to gender differences—could be partially responsible for gender differences in belonging and identity in math contexts. Via the introduction of a novel psychological construct, class participation confidence threshold, and the adoption of a Regulatory Focus Theory framework, the present work aimed to investigate mechanisms underlying gender differences in math classroom participation, as well as how these disparities might contribute to more distal outcomes.The dissertation consisted of two studies conducted with undergraduate students. Both studies tested a theoretical model that posited potential predictors and outcomes of gender differences in classroom participation. Study 1 (N = 161) was a cross-sectional investigation of students’ participation frequency, reported based on their general experience in current math and social science classes. Study 2 (N = 269) investigated the same associations using a daily diary methodology, including pre- and post-measures of relevant constructs.
Results indicated that, when considering opportunities for participation, women participated less than men—both in math and the comparison domain of social science. In addition to less frequent participation, women generally displayed higher stereotype threat susceptibility and confidence thresholds in both domains. Women also demonstrated higher levels of a prevention focus in math compared to social science, while men’s regulatory orientation was similar across domains. With respect to the proposed outcomes of participation (i.e., belonging, identity, and career interest), women exhibited lower levels than men in math and equal or higher levels in social science.
Path analyses revealed that students’ regulatory focus predicted their classroom participation and that this relation was mediated by their confidence threshold. Importantly, these results persisted even when controlling for motivational variables traditionally regarded as predictors of classroom participation according to Expectancy-Value Theory. The results suggest that an increased prevention focus in the math domain may lead women to set higher confidence thresholds and participate less frequently.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology
ThePneumatology of Marius Victorinus: A Rhetorical, Philosophical, and Theological Commentary on Adversus Arium III
Get PDFThesis advisor: Brian DunkleCaius Marius Victorinus (c. 285-c.365CE), the famed professor of rhetoric in Rome who brought Neoplatonic philosophy into the Latin theological tradition, wrote several treatises of trinitarian theology shortly after his conversion late in life. The uniqueness and sophistication of his homoousian trinitarian thought has been recognized. His contribution to pro-Nicene theologies of the Holy Spirit has likewise been noticed in patristic scholarship, but has received little direct scholarly attention. The key contention of my dissertation is that in Book Three of Adversus Arium (written c. 361) Victorinus expounds a sophisticated pneumatology consonant with the developments in pro-Nicene theology. The true purport of his pneumatology is difficult to grasp because of Victorinus’s complex and fluid use of language which has led some scholars to consider his theology incoherent and his argumentation obscure. A careful reading of Adv. Ar. III allows us to assess his doctrine of the Holy Spirit for its precocious and idiosyncratic assertions while making a contribution to scholarship on early Christian thought, especially as relates to pro-Nicene Trinitarian theology and pneumatology before Constantinople I (381).Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Theology