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“Earth Took of Earth”: Melancholy and Earth in Late Medieval English Literature
No full textThis dissertation is grounded in the claim that late medieval literature imagines melancholy not as an individual, isolated experience, but as one that creates a web of relationships between the sufferer, those around them, and the natural world in which they live. Melancholy in a medieval understanding can be both caused and solved by social ties, a disruption which goes hand in hand with melancholy’s humoral association with earth. I examine melancholy’s representation in works from the late Middle Ages, beginning with an exploration of melancholy’s relationship to sociality in the poems St. Erkenwald and Book of the Duchess. I then move on to an exploration of melancholy affects in memento mori poetry, a genre which is usually meant to generate piety and remembrance of one’s fragility but also leaves space for less generative emotions like melancholy. Then, I explore the explicit connection in late medieval literature between writing, bureaucracy, agricultural labor, and melancholy, taking as a case study the poetry of Thomas Hoccleve. In my conclusion, I turn to twenty-first century retellings of medieval stories in order to argue that the connections between nature and melancholy that are highly present in medieval literature are also at play in contemporary writing about the environment, especially the sense that melancholy is both an anti-social emotion and the cause of a system of relationships between human beings and the natural world
Scripted for Surveillance: Parole Revocation Hearings and the Performance of Procedure in New York
Get PDFThis thesis examines parole revocation hearings in New York as complex performances that extend carceral control beyond prison walls. Drawing on a composite vignette from the Bronx parole court, it analyzes the interplay between procedural reform, constitutional due process, and neoliberal governance. Using a dramaturgical framework informed by Michel Foucault’s discourse analysis and Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, the study identifies four interrelated processes: the judge as director, who orchestrates hearings according to institutional priorities; normalization, where repetition embeds structural inequality as routine; type-marking, the classification of parolees into predefined roles through accumulated records and cues; and the extension of surveillance into daily life through self-governance and community-based monitoring. Legislative developments such as the Less is More Act and the precedent set by Morrissey v. Brewer are shown to frame parole as fair, efficient, and rehabilitative, while in practice reinforcing ongoing supervision and limiting the parolee’s agency. The analysis reveals how these hearings sustain the appearance of individualized justice while functioning as mechanisms of governance that perpetuate inequality, extract value from those under supervision, and integrate community institutions into the carceral network. By reframing revocation hearings as staged performances, the thesis illuminates the structural and symbolic forces that shape outcomes and highlights the need for further inquiry into the spaces where law, performance, and resistance intersect
Critical Race Theory Pedagogy of Black American Horror Television in \u3ci\u3eLovecraft Country\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eThem\u3c/i\u3e
No full textThis thesis examines the pedagogical role of Black American horror television in advancing Critical Race Theory (CRT) through the analysis of Lovecraft Country (HBO, 2020) and Them (Amazon Prime Video, 2021-2024). Situated in a cultural and political moment where CRT is increasingly contested, restricted, and even banned from formal education, this project argues that television horror functions as an alternative and accessible site of public pedagogy. By employing horror aesthetics such as monsters, violence, fear, and the supernatural, these series make abstract and often inaccessible CRT concepts such as colorblindness, intersectionality, race as a social construct, fear of the Black body, and white power through police brutality both tangible and emotionally resonant for audiences. Drawing on scholarship by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Derrick Bell, bell hooks, Victor Ray, Kevin Wynter, and others, this study situates horror television as a vital space for counter-storytelling, cultural resistance, and racial awareness. Audience responses demonstrate that the visual dramatization of historical atrocities and systemic racism prompts reflection, dialogue, and further investigation and research, even among those unfamiliar with CRT as a framework. Ultimately, this thesis contends that Black American horror television, through its narratives of trauma, resistance, and survival, functions as both entertainment and education, challenging dominant ideologies, preserving erased histories, and offering a powerful medium for teaching the realities of systemic racism in the United States
Origin and Maintenance of the Andean Bird Fauna
No full textThe origin and maintenance of the tropical montane diversity have been evaluated over multiple decades using various techniques and perspectives. Despite major progress in understanding phylogenetic relationships, diversification patterns, distributional data, and general ecology in the Andean biota, large gaps in our understanding remain, particularly in the synthesis across scales. To fill these gaps, I aimed to explore patterns and processes that underlie species diversification in birds of the tropical Andes of South America by combining different approaches using phenotypic, phylogenetic, and genomic data in multiple temporal and spatial scales.
In the first chapter, I examined the macroevolutionary patterns of species diversification and ecological factors (morphological disparity and spatial segregation) interact to facilitate species accumulation in Neotropical montane clades. I found that montane clades have evolved under equilibrium and nonequilibrium dynamics. This result suggests that, at macroevolutionary scales, ecological factors interact to generate and maintain the high avian diversity in Neotropical mountains, but that regional diversity may be less constrained by ecological limits.
In the second chapter, I collected birds\u27 phenotypic data (external morphology and color data) to test the hypothesis that competitive interaction mediates the strong elevational replacement patterns in communities occurring in Neotropical mountains. I found that in one clade characterized by vivid colors (oscines), species with similar coloration replace in elevation (competitive exclusion), whereas more dissimilar species can co-occur in their distribution (character displacement). I did not find this same relationship when considering the morphological data, suggesting that competition, in terms of species recognition but not for resource access, may determine the elevational replacements in tropical mountains.
In the third chapter, using a landscape genomic approach, I investigated the role of neutral and adaptive variation in the spatial genetic divergence in the eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. By sampling 175 genomes from ten bird species, I found that the overall genetic variation was mainly associated with precipitation-related variables. However, when using just the putative adaptive variation, genetic differentiation was better linked to temperature-related variables, suggesting that adaptive processes might be important in explaining the population divergence in mountains.
Taken together, I provide evidence of how stochastic and non-stochastic processes may work in concert, driving gradients of population genetic structure to assemblage-level phylogenetic structure across an elevational gradient, which helps explain the origin of species richness patterns from micro- to macro-evolutionary levels. At macroevolutionary scales, these dynamics result in different eco-evolutionary trajectories given the differential contribution of historical and ecological factors among clades. Therefore, my work shows a link between microevolutionary adaptive processes and the mountain’s environmental attributes that contribute to the building of the origin of regional diversity patterns, while competitive interactions, inferred from phenotypic data, facilitate the maintenance of such diversity patterns at the ecological and evolutionary time scales
An Interpolating Regime for the Extreme Values of a Random Zeta Model
Get PDFWe study the large values of a random model of the Riemann zeta function over short intervals. The extreme value statistics depend on the interval size: the log-correlated regime governs intervals of order one while the i.i.d. regime emerges over longer intervals. The main focus is to describe the transition between these two well-understood regimes as the interval varies in length. This thesis shows that there is an intermediate regime where the behavior of the zeta model’s maxima cannot be entirely captured by either extreme— i.i.d. or fully log-correlated. This suggests that the Riemann zeta function exhibits correlations around its extreme values and does not behave like a collection of independent random variables.
To study the hybrid statistics, we analyze the model over intervals that are parame- terized by α ∈(0,1). The main result gives matching upper and lower tail bounds for the distribution of the maximum, and describes the intermediate regime. The tail bounds in- terpolate between that of the log-correlated and i.i.d. regimes. This result refines the work of Arguin, Dubach, and Hartung, who identified the interpolating subleading term of the maximum but not the precise tail behavior or order-one fluctuations.
Further, we study the moments of the random model over the same parameterized inter- vals and obtain a new, α-dependent normalization. This analysis reveals a regime transition at α= 1/2. The inspiration for this thesis is the Fyodorov-Hiary-Keating conjecture, which pioneered the framework for studying the local maxima of the Riemann zeta function
Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus for POL1101 (American Government: Practices and Values)
Get PDFIn this course, we will analyze the ideas, history, and values of American politics and government. This course is divided into three parts. First, we will examine the foundations of American politics by looking at America’s founding documents, early American political thought, and the history of civil liberties and civil rights. Second, we will read about political behavior and discuss what motivates political participation in America. Third, we will look at American political institutions in the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judiciary. This class will provide students with an introductory understanding of key concepts, theories, debates, and ideas that relate to the study of American politics
Education First Year Seminar, EDF101 Fall 2025: Syllabus
Get PDFThe Education First Year Seminar (EDF 101) is required of all new students majoring in Education. Its goals are to introduce students to the liberal arts, campus culture, and the education field. The course also aims to develop a better understanding of the learning process and acquire essential academic skills. Taught by ELA faculty and supported by Peers Advisors and co-curricular professionals, this course addresses issues related to contemporary college life and to the field of education (birth through 12th Grade).
Entering college marks the beginning of a journey towards greater knowledge, the discovery of a new identity as a student and future graduate, and the search for career opportunities. This seminar will help you get started
With this exploration. The themes of this course are many, but we will especially focus on: (1) culturally responsive teaching, (2) equality, equity, and social justice, (3) personal and professional well-being.
We will hold important conversations and discussions on the field of teaching, and what the state of the profession is, in light of recent social developments as well as nation-wide issues. Along with these discussions, we will explore well-being/mindfulness to keep us grounded, focused, and energized with positive outlooks. We will explore what mindfulness means and various ways we can practice
Social Science in Early Childhood Education Open Syllabus
Get PDFThis syllabus provides a week-by-week outline of resources for teaching early childhood social studies for preservice teachers at the associate\u27s level
Armed by Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba\u27s Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America (OSPAAAL)
Get PDFThis book reflects on the intersection of graphic design and political solidarity work of OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based in Havana, Cuba, OSPAAAL produced nearly 500 posters, magazines, and books beginning in the late sixties. Their output provides one of the most robust examples of political design ever seen; it offers a wealth of opportunities for thinking about how design is—and could be—deployed today in the search for more egalitarian social transformation.
Armed By Design brings together artists and thinkers from around the world whose work has been impacted by the legacy of OSPAAAL. These contributions reflect on impacts of OSPAAAL’s work on regional movements, including in the Arab world and Korea, design iconography, the evolution of tricontinentalism, our present-day relationship to OSPAAAL posters as a commodity, and authorship and reproduction