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Liberal Feminism and Laïcité: The Role of French Liberal Feminist Support in the Neocolonial Erosion of Women’s Rights
No full textThis research project seeks to understand the influence of French liberal feminist groups on support for laws which suppress religious expression, hinging upon the distinctly French principle of Laïcité. Laïcité has a treasured legal history and underwent a rhetorical repurposing in the late 20th century to focus on Islamic religious expression, leading to its current role as a neocolonial tool of oppression and forced homogenization. Liberal feminists engage in this colonial practice to allegedly liberate women facing patriarchal oppression. In answering the question of whether these groups are more likely insisting support for anti-Muslim suppression, this paper can shed light on one aspect of a tradition in which feminism is misappropriated and used to uplift a privileged group of women at the expense of another. This practice does not engage with the larger systems which oppress everyone, but instead vie for conditional acceptance into the hegemonic group
Federal Reserve Monetary Policy and Information Statements: What is the impact on U.S. Residential Investments?
No full textThis paper examines the dual impact of Federal Reserve monetary policy and its accompanying information statements on U.S. residential investments. Using a closed-economy IS-LM framework combined with cost-minimization models, the study tests the hypothesis that Fed interest rate decisions—when paired with forward guidance from FOMC announcements— significantly shape housing market dynamics and REIT returns. By analyzing four distinct scenarios that blend expansionary and contractionary policies with positive and negative informational cues, the research disentangles the direct effects of rate changes from the market’s response to qualitative economic signals. The study demonstrates how favorable information can counteract contractionary measures and negative information can weaken expansionary policies. The research demonstrates that Fed announcements act as a strong influence on investor behavior and market trends while disputing traditional beliefs about monetary policy success
May God Protect Us: The Effect of Perceived Existential Threat and White Christian Nationalism on Political Participation Among American Evangelicals
No full textEvangelicals have become a major political bloc in the United States, with enormous implications for American democracy. The underlying current of perceived threat in the Christian nationalist and evangelical literatures have not been connected to political participation among evangelicals who subscribe to white Christian nationalist beliefs. This presents a major challenge to understanding the implications of political participation among evangelicals in America. This thesis seeks to fill that gap. Thus, the research question is: How does perceived existential threat and alignment to white Christian nationalism influence the type and level of political participation among American evangelicals? This thesis constructs a theory of perceived existential threat, drawing on downgrading and ontological insecurity to understand how perceived threats to the status quo and perceived victimhood are salient to evangelicals who may be susceptible to white Christian nationalist ideas. A survey of evangelicals measures perceived existential threat, alignment to white Christian nationalism, and political participation to distinguish between the political behaviors of evangelicals who engage in white Christian nationalism, and those who do not. This study found a correlation between perceived existential threat and white Christian nationalism. However, the two independent variables did not seem to impact the type and amount of political participation that evangelicals were engaged in
Abundance and Ecotypes of the Culex pipiens Complex in Wooster, Ohio
No full textMosquitoes are among the most significant vectors of disease worldwide, with the Culex pipiens complex playing a major role in transmitting arboviruses such as West Nile virus in the United States. Despite its importance, the number of species and ecotypic variations within Culex pipiens populations remain insufficiently characterized in certain regions. This study aimed to evaluate the abundance and ecotypes of Culex species in Wooster, Ohio. Mosquitoes used in this study were collected using gravid traps on four different suburban locations throughout Wooster and later sorted morphologically. DNA was isolated from a small amount of sample specimens, and PCR-RFLP analysis was done using certain specific primers which would help in the differentiating species within the Culex pipiens complex. In addition, nested PCR was used to identify different ecotypes of Culex pipiens. A total of 157 Culex mosquitoes were collected, with 74 used for DNA isolations, and molecular analyses. The Gel electrophoresis confirmed the amplification of 32 samples, even though some results were inconclusive. The initial findings point to the presence of Culex pipiens and potential hybridization with Culex quinquefasciatus showing diversity within the local population of Culex in Wooster. Both ecotypes of Culex pipiens including form pipiens and molestus were found in Wooster. This study provides baseline data on Culex species distribution in Wooster, Ohio, and highlights the need for further research on their impact and potential implications for disease transmission
One-Shot Facial Recognition Using Siamese Neural Networks
No full textTraditional deep learning models, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), have demonstrated significant success in facial recognition tasks. However, these models encounter limitations when faced with insufficient data or when classifying rare classes. Few-shot learning has emerged as an effective solution to address these challenges. It is especially valuable in scenarios with limited data or when the environment is dynamically changing, as it is less resource-intensive and does not require retraining each time the data changes. This thesis explores the application of Siamese Neural Networks (SNNs) for facial classification, leveraging one-shot learning. An SNN model was trained using pairs from the Olivetti Faces dataset, achieving an accuracy of 68.07% on 10-way one-shot trials, where it classified unseen classes based on a single image per class. The model’s generalization capabilities were further tested on the Yale Face Database without retraining or fine-tuning, where it achieved a classification accuracy of 44.27% in a similar 10-way one-shot scenario. These results highlight the SNN’s ability to adapt to extreme scenarios with minimal data and still produce accurate results. However, they also emphasize the need for more diverse and complex datasets to improve generalization and reliability. Future work will focus on enhancing the model by exploring more diverse datasets and optimization techniques, such as modifications to loss functions and the application of optimization strategies like data augmentation
The Human Person, Fully Alive: A Case Study of Identity and Purpose in Anglican Monasticism
No full textThis paper aims to illustrate an example of how Anglican monastic communities make sense of their identity and purpose. By focusing on Anglican monasticism, this paper addresses a gap in existing literature on monastic identity and purpose. Holy Cross Monastery—an Anglican Benedictine monastery for men in West Park, New York, USA—is the case study used in this project. Using interview data from six individual interviews with monks at Holy Cross, this paper demonstrates the importance of values such as seeking God and being one’s true self in the monastic life. The paper examines the monastery environment and monastic practices as avenues through which monastic identity and purpose are made. The paper is written in a narrative, conversational tone, and extended quotes from the interviews are included on their own as interstitial chapters to foreground the voices of the monks
More Than a Game: The Political Impacts of Participation in Mega Sporting Events
No full textSince the conception of the modern-day Olympic Games, the development and expansion of mega sporting events has provoked the involvement of politics on behalf of the involved states. To understand the connection between the athletic and political arenas, this research seeks to find causality between participation in mega sporting events and the subsequent political interactions that take place following clashes between politically rivaling states involved in competition or controversies at mega sporting events. While research on the general relationship between politics and sport has been introduced, the field of research is yet to see any direct causation or proof that sports influence politics. This research is important for supporting the advertised goal of mega sporting events of promoting peace and international cooperation. To find causality, this research analyzes four significant cases where political rivals were involved in controversies through participation in mega sporting events. The following process tracing links subsequent political interactions to the clashes that took place at the events. This research is valuable for understanding the intended outcomes of mega sporting events and their true impacts
Pollinator Performance and Pollen Limitation: A Conceptual Primer and Case Study in Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra Cucullaria)
No full textInsect pollination represents one of the most important mutualisms on the planet. Many flowering plants are completely reliant on their insect pollinators in order to reproduce, indicating that researching and understanding these relationships has huge implications within the world of conservation. With my independent study, I aim to contribute to this broader research and understanding within the field of pollination biology. The first chapter of my independent study is a primer, offering an in-depth introduction to the concept of pollinator performance and its role in the broader field of pollination biology. The second chapter of my independent study details a research project that I conducted to understand the pollination ecology of a spring ephemeral herb, Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), native to temperate deciduous forests of the Northern United States. This study set out to better understand this pollination system through two research goals: (1) to identify and quantify instances of pollen limitation among populations of D. cucullaria and to (2) quantify the single visit pollinator efficiency of queen bumblebees for D. cucullaria. We found evidence of pollen limitation among D. cucullaria within Wooster Memorial Park in the spring of 2024. Additionally, we found that a single visit from a queen bumblebee was enough to spur pod development, but that queens were not efficient enough to consistently facilitate ovule fertilization. Future research should focus on the effects of pollen limitation on the population demographics of D. cucullaria and the possibility of self-pollination within this system