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Enhance your library research with AI
No full textThis presentation examines how generative AI can enhance the library research process by providing more efficient tools and strategies. Topics covered include selecting AI tools suited for research tasks, crafting effective prompts to produce high-quality results, and integrating AI into existing research workflows. The session also highlights best practices for verifying and fact-checking AI-generated content, citing AI tools responsibly, and using AI to assist with citation management. Designed to offer practical guidance, the presentation equips participants with actionable methods for leveraging generative AI in academic research. This presentation was delivered in six separate Zoom sessions for members of the Boston University community during Spring 2025, on March 18, March 20, March 31, April 3, April 14, and April 17. The same content was presented at each session. The slides from the April 17 session are included here for reference
What comes next: detained youths’ perspectives on school reentry
Full text link2025Formerly incarcerated youth often face disproportionately low school attendance and high dropout rates, yet little research centers their voices in understanding these outcomes. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of seven youth, aged 14 to 18, currently detained in hardware-secure facilities within the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS), and their plans for school reentry. The purpose was to examine internal and external factors that motivate or deter these youth from returning to school following their release from detention. Data were collected throughsemi-structured interviews to reflect participant perspectives. Major themes emerged including relationships with teachers and school staff, family influence, desire for social connection, and future aspirations. Positive relationships with school adults, peers, and supportive families motivated participants, while stigma, cultural disconnect, and strained peer relationships served as deterrents. Participants described school as a pathway to career and life stability, frequently connecting education with goals like college, trade work, or financial security. Every participant planned to earn a high school credential, though the reality of these plans post-release remains uncertain. Findings inform recommendations for schools, juvenile justice agencies, and future researchers. Emphasizing student voice and grounded in Positive Youth Development (PYD), this study highlights the need for restorative, relationship-centered practices that address barriers to reentry and foster belonging for justice-involved youth
The sound of han across generations: a theological response to intergenerational trauma in the Korean diaspora
No full text2024This dissertation examines the problem of intergenerational trauma within the Korean American context and proposes a Korean feminist trauma theology of han in response. Seeking a transgenerational approach to theology, I draw on the lineage of Korean(-American) theology of han, where the term han has been developed as theological language for expressing the traumatic wounds of minjung. This project focuses particular attention on the aesthetic dimension of han, evident in early works by Suh Nam-dong. Then, using a trauma framework and creative works by second-generation Korean diasporic authors, I can span generations and re-envision hope through recovering the theological language of han. By reimagining both the expressions of death and life within the language of han, this project reexamines the dynamic energy of ungrievability in the expression of death and uncovers expressions of life embedded in the han-ridden lives of those directly impacted by the traumatic event of the Korean War. Chapter one analyzes the historical engagement of Korean(-American) theologians—Suh Nam-dong, Chung Hyun Kyung, Andrew Sung Park, and Wonhee Anne Joh—with han against sin-centered theology. Chapter two turns to the aesthetic witness of the ongoing impact of silence and secrecy regarding the Korean War on subsequent generations, as described in creative writings of second-generation Korean diaspora writers—Chang-rae Lee and Grace M. Cho. Chapter three situates these generational experiences within the historical and political factors shaping Korean American diasporic trauma and its complicated relationship to ongoing violence of derealization, by drawing on works by Judith Butler, Dan P. McAdams, and Bruce Cumings. The final chapter returns to creative expressions of han in Korean minjung and diasporic literature to develop a constructive theology of han. Particular attention is given to the “sound of han,” depicted through the auditory imagery and expressions of clamorous haunting, which reverberates with the whispers of minjung’s resistance against derealization, seeking a witness.
This project proposes a more life-affirming constructive theology of han that has the potential to shape theologies of hope for younger generations of the Korean diaspora and Korean churches. By reclaiming han’s dynamic and creative energies, this dissertation makes an important contribution to growing literature in feminist trauma theologies of the Spirit/witness.2027-05-15T00:00:00
The effects of lexical stress, lexical type, and voicing context on symptom expression in individuals with adductor laryngeal dystonia
Full text link2025The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 3 linguistic factors (lexical stress, voicing context, and lexical type) on voice symptoms in individuals with adductor laryngeal dystonia (AdLD). Fifty individuals with AdLD produced stimulus sentences containing a balanced set of words that varied across these factors. AdLD symptoms (frequency shifts, creaky voice, and voicing breaks) were then identified from the audio recordings. Analyses were performed in order to examine how each of those linguistic factors affected symptom expression. Findings indicate that stress and onset voicing had an overall significant effect on symptom expression, and the effects of stress varied by onset voicing and lexical type. These findings contribute to our understanding of the context-specific nature of voice symptoms in speakers with AdLD
Historical discourses of American higher education and the preparation of future practitioners
Full text link2025Across the United States, graduate programs in Higher Education Administration (HEA) strive to prepare their students to be competent stewards of the profession. While supporting an ever-growing and more diverse population of students, the need for practitioners with a deep understanding of the lived experiences and contexts their students bring is critical. HEA practitioners, particularly those in student-facing roles, set the tone for how welcomed an increasingly diverse student population feels on campus. Future HEA professionals are tasked with creating socially just contexts in which their students can thrive. Therefore, it is paramount that their own education dives deeply and critically into themes of social justice, inclusive practices, and support around these complex ideals.Over the course of a semester or an academic year, HEA students engage with coursework that surveys the long history of higher education from the colonial era to the present day. This survey course weaves the fascinating narrative of the American post-secondary institution, persisting through civil and world wars, social movements, and the introduction of federal laws. This dissertation is concerned with the preparation of future HEA practitioners, specifically in the context of the aforementioned foundational course. When engaged in a study of the history of American higher education, a seminal text, the Yale Report of 1828, makes an appearance. In the field of Higher Education, there is an element of reverence for the Yale Report of 1828 and what it says about the past and future of higher education. What relevance does an almost 200-year-old text have and how does it relate to modern higher education practitioners? If we are to ask aspiring leaders of higher education to grapple with this text, it is imperative that we guide them to examine intentionally what the text attempts to tell the reader about its era, about the purpose of higher education, and about the quintessential student who deserves to be educated. In order to facilitate this deeper learning, this dissertation situates the Report in conversation with another, less cited historical document, The Future of Our Culture Dillard University commencement address by educator, Leslie Pinckney Hill.
Through a critical race framework, this dissertation presents a discourse analysis on these two historical texts, the Yale Report of 1828 and Future of Our Culture, before considering best practices and pedagogical choices to be used to teach these documents in a HEA classroom. This research will be of particular interest to course instructors of Higher Education Administration programs
Expanding the synthetic notch signaling toolkit for regulating gene expression in response to diverse extracellular cues
No full text2025Multicellular processes, such as development and tissue regeneration, rely on precise signaling coordination between cells and their environment. In natural systems, this coordination is partly achieved through cell surface receptors. These receptors enable cells to detect external stimuli and translate them into intracellular changes, guiding the appropriate cellular responses. Inspired by the mechanisms of natural receptors, researchers have developed engineered receptors to control and reprogram how cells detect and respond to their neighbors and microenvironments. For example, synthetic Notch (SynNotch) receptors function like natural Notch proteins and can be used to install customized detect-and-respond capabilities into mammalian cells. In this Thesis, I describe the design and validation of new SynNotch-based tools that can be used to endow cells with the ability to detect a diverse set of biochemical and biomechanical information, including those based on cell-generated forces, the activity of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), and in response to the folding state of naturally-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Specifically, the first part of the thesis discusses the design and validation of fluorescein-based signaling adaptors, which were exploited to regulate the activity of a fluorescein-binding SynNotch with dose-dependent and spatiotemporal control. Through such adaptors, cells could be made to detect extracellular chemical transformations (including a bio-orthogonal ligation and a photochemical reaction) and enact customized gene expression activities as a response. This strategy was further applied to enable cells to detect and distinguish between folded and unfolded collagen-I proteins, the latter of which is a biomarker for various disease states. The second part of the thesis discusses important biophysical parameters needed for cells to exchange biomechanical information at cell-cell interfaces, as evaluated using synthetic mechanoreceptors in combination with a Delta-like 1 (DLL-1)-based transmembrane ligand protein. Thirdly, I describe a synthetic strategy for programming cells to detect extracellular proteolytic activities (including that of disease-associated MMP enzymes) and activate customized cell signaling outputs as a response. Using a structure-guided protein engineering strategy, I developed novel and modular transcriptional ‘switches’ through which extracellular protein cleavage events can be converted into actionable information—including the induction of synthetic gene expression activities and the modulation of endogenous cell signaling outcomes. The generality of this approach was demonstrated through the design of distinct protease-sensitive switches, including secreted and receptor-based constructs that can be selectively activated by corresponding proteolytic enzymes with specific and tightly regulated control. Overall, by leveraging chemical, structural, and biophysical insights, this Dissertation introduces new chemogenetic and biomechanical components that can be used to direct synthetic signaling activities in engineered cells or to redirect natural pathways, including those that are associated with disease. The future implementation of these systems will provide powerful approaches for programming cell behaviors in response to their microenvironment.2027-06-08T00:00:00
Salient, resurgent, or a flash in the pan? A comparative legislative study of American industrial policy
Full text linkThis paper will conduct a comparative study of American industrial policy, focusing on the policies enacted during the late 1980s and under the Biden administration in response to high- tech challenges from Japan and China, respectively. It will build upon a model of transformation packages to understand how and why industrial policy gets implemented to argue that the recent pivot towards intervention and investment in federal decision-making stems from a good-faith desire to enhance innovation. That model will be deployed to theorize how the US will continue to compete with China into the future, and if new legislation like CHIPS and the IRA represent one-off measures or are part of a broader shift in American economic policymaking
Almost sure central limit theorems via chaos expansions and related results
No full textFirst author draf
Computational and experimental investigation into the self-limiting nature of electrodepositing ultrathin polymer films
Full text link2025This master’s thesis presents a combined computational and experimental investigation of the electrodeposition process for ultrathin polymer films, with a particular focus on the self-limiting nature of the process. A numerical model, implemented using smoothed particle hydrodynamics within the LAMMPS framework, integrates Butler-Volmer kinetics and Stokes-Einstein equation-based approximation for polymer diffusion. The model, applied to both planar and pore electrode geometries, exhibits a distinct two-phase growth mechanism: an initial rapid deposition phase followed by a diffusion-limited regime which is continuously hindered by the forming polymer network and leads to self-limiting film growth. Complementary ex-situ and in-situ atomic force microscopy experiments corroborate the simulation results and are consistent with the two growth phases theory. These findings not only enhance the fundamental understanding of the electrodeposition process but have also laid the groundwork for future in-situ experiments and computational models
Quantifying pathological changes to myelin with high resolution birefringence microscopy and deep learning
Full text link2025In the central nervous system (CNS), myelin, the insulating sheath around axons, enables rapid communication between brain regions, coordinating complex tasks such as cognition, memory, and motor function. However, insults to myelin due to neurodegeneration, aging, or injury lead to functional deficits, the underlying mechanisms of which remain incompletely understood. Accurate assessment of myelin integrity across large brain regions is essential for understanding disease progression and evaluating potential therapeutics. Electron microscopy and various optical imaging techniques have been demonstrated for high-resolution imaging of myelin pathology in post-mortem brain tissue, but lack the necessary imaging throughput and quantitative analysis required for true structural imaging of myelin. There remains a critical need for an imaging technique that combines high-resolution and high-throughput analysis of myelin, providing deeper insight into the impact of myelin degradation in different contexts. Birefringence microscopy (BRM) is an emerging technology which enables widefield (camera-based), label-free imaging for structural imaging of individual myelinated axons for analysis of myelin pathology. In this thesis, I present technical advancements that optimize BRM for high-throughput and multiscale structural imaging of myelin. I develop new imaging and analysis methods to enhance the quantitative capabilities of BRM, and identify key sample preparation protocols required for reliable, high-resolution imaging of individual myelinated axons. These optimizations establish BRM as a scalable tool for analysis of myelin integrity.
Building on this, I validate BRM for identifying myelin pathology in two rhesus monkey models of myelin damage: (1) circumscribed cortical injury and (2) age-related cognitive decline. I also implement deep learning tools to aid in the automated quantification of myelin pathology across large brain regions. In both models, BRM enables robust detection of myelin defects and their spatial distribution, which are compared to behavioral and functional metrics. Finally, in the cortical injury model, I evaluate the efficacy of treatment with mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) for promoting myelin repair, demonstrating BRM’s ability to detect treatment-driven changes in myelin structure. Together, these investigations highlight BRM as a powerful tool for scalable, high-resolution analysis of myelin damage and repair, with broad applicability to studies of neurodegeneration, injury, and aging