28647 research outputs found
Sort by
Clearview AI, Ownership, and the Digital Face-Image in the Age of Facial Recognition Technology
Full text link24 pagesThe American facial recognition company Clearview AI created an app that allows clients—including police departments and government agencies such as the FBI and Department of Defense—to use photos to search a database of over 30 billion photos that have been scraped from the Web. Clearview’s activities have raised alarm bells and fueled conversations regarding data ethics, privacy, and the ownership of personal data. Clearview AI deals specifically with a type of personal data called the face-image, or a two-dimensional, photographic representation of the real human face, as in a reflection or digital photo. The scholarship thus far has mostly neglected to explore the ramifications of the face specifically as a form of data and potential object of possession. To understand the face as data and the face as a potentially owned object, it will be necessary to develop how the face operates in terms of the ethical/social relations between humans and what happens when the face is captured in a static face-image and its data extracted through facial recognition technology. Many have speculated that the face acts as a window into the soul or as a canvas for the emotional and moral inner lives of human beings, but how does the face in all of its transparency and opacity operate when two distinct human consciousnesses encounter each other? Using Levinas and Sartre, I will argue that the face acts as a medium for discursive, ethical relations between humans that then becomes objectified upon being seen or captured (Morris 2015, 67). Furthermore, I will also argue that current facial recognition technology further transforms the objectified face-image by extracting its features and mining it for quantitative data. Given the status of the face, I recommend clear, specific policy delimiting when the processing of digital data is allowed and mandating consumer education about data processing, such that netizens enter digital spaces with complete information regarding the potential for the distribution of their data, including their face-image
Mechanisms for Social Justice Outcomes at the Intersections of Public Policy Advocacy and Identity-Based Festivals
Full text link107 pagesThis thesis aims to determine potential public policy mechanisms in identity-based festivals that may lead to social justice outcomes. The purpose of identity-based festivals (with particular focus on film festivals) and public policy advocacy is explored. By synthesizing literature surrounding (film) festivals, social movements, and social justice outcomes, this qualitative study reviews relevant existing literature and analyzes an in-depth case study of an existing identity-based festival. A conceptual framework of the relationship between both film festivals and social movements with identity at their focal point is articulated. The central findings of this study are threefold, framed by a focus on purpose, mechanism, and opportunity. 1.) Identity-based film festivals are a reaction to and a symptom of the current discourse and socio-political climate with the purpose of acknowledgement and amplification. 2.) Public policy advocacy supporting the progress of social movement can look different depending on the mission and scope of the activists. 3.) An opportunity exists for identity-based (film) festivals to impact public policy advocacy in support of social movements. Ultimately, the purpose of this study is to open greater avenues for research regarding how the arts’ modes of exhibition may be theoretically situated in the public policy process toward social justice outcomes
Tale of the Two-Spot: Three Investigations into the Evolutionary History of the Octopus
Full text linkCephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus) are a diverse class of species that are famous for their morphological innovations including their unique body plans with sucker- bearing arms, complex nervous systems, and camouflaging abilities. By examining sequencing datasets of cephalopods, we can learn about how their collection of novel traits has evolved. In this dissertation, I explore the evolutionary history of the California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) in three different projects. In Chapter II, I assemble a high-quality genome assembly and annotation which we harnessed to determine the transcriptional cell types of the octopus visual system. In Chapter III, I discovered that octopus have a sex chromosome and show that it is shared across all extant cephalopods. Finally, in Chapter IV, I conducted a descriptive population genetics study on O. bimaculoides and its sister species, O. bimaculatus, to show that their genetic diversity and divergence are consistent with their life history strategies. Together, my dissertation explores the evolutionary past of the octopus. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material
The Guarayo Justice System and Neo-colonial Pressures in Bolivia: Indigenous Resistance, Cultural Survival, and Futurities
Full text linkAfter decades of Indigenous organizing, in 2010, Bolivia passed the Law of Jurisdictional Demarcation to clarify the system of legal pluralism that was established in the 2009 Plurinational Constitution of Bolivia. This law established the existence of an Indigenous jurisdiction that would operate at the same level as ordinary (or state) and agro-environmental justice. However, it was not until 2023 that the Indigenous Justice Tribunal was active and functioning in the lowland Indigenous Guarayo nation. While the passing of this law and even the ratification of the new constitution, among other reforms, may seem historic and “progressive” – this case of stagnation in effectuating the rights outlined in this law point to significant structural and systemic barriers in Bolivia, erected by the state, that intend to maintain Indigenous subjugation and weaken self-governance. This exploratory study argues that said barriers are the product of neo-colonialism under the state, given the ways in which they work to maintain colonial socioeconomic hierarchies based on race. Through semi-structured interviews with research collaborators from the Central Organization of Native Guarayo Peoples (COPNAG) and two experts, three main barriers impacting the Guarayo nation and their justice system were revealed: neo-colonial continuities in the guise of reform, state sponsorship and reliance upon extractive industries, and the disruption of Indigenous solidarity. While these neo-colonial obstacles are significant, this thesis also highlights how the Guarayo peoples, and Indigenous peoples throughout Bolivia, have persisted in their resistance and enacted futurity– utilizing tools that are at their disposal, through everyday communal practices, to dream and realize the wishes of ancestors, current kin, and future relatives. Struggles aside, research collaborators emphasized their hope that the Indigenous jurisdiction could eventually benefit the community and their commitment to enacting this possibility. This thesis contributes to broader discussions on Indigenous rights and decolonization by examining the neo-colonial dimensions of state action and reforms in Bolivia, with the aim of encouraging critical assessments of other decolonial projects and their capacity to genuinely serve Indigenous peoples from the perspectives of these peoples themselves
Wide-Sense Clave: Towards a Trans-Diasporic Rhythmic Grammar
Full text link34 pages.This thesis begins to develop a systematic cross-cultural framework for wide-sense clave, proposing that the rhythmic organizing principles most famously found in Cuban tradition are in fact only a single manifestation of a deeper concept shared across Afro-Diasporic musical traditions. Building on prior scholarship, the project argues that clave should be understood not simply as a regionally bound pattern but as a trans-diasporic logic for evaluating rhythmic alignment, orientation, and structural coherence. In part, this thesis is a proposed answer to Lehmann’s request for a “hierarchical…contour…for the short-range directionality of the clave/timeline period.” (Lehmann, 2002: 71) The first part of the thesis critiques Toussaint’s pulse-saliency approach to quantifying meter in African music, resulting in a corrected statistical analysis that accounts for clave direction, revealing consistent hierarchical syntactic weights across traditional timeline patterns from around the African Diaspora. These weightings form the basis of an analytical methodology capable of systematically classifying rhythms, identifying clave-neutral or clave-ambiguous rhythms, and potentially extending clave analysis beyond typical 16 and 12 pulse rhythmic cycles. This thesis will also propose future avenues of research, with particular attention to methodological approaches that may account for clave as a harmonically emergent phenomenon. The latter two sections of this thesis translate this framework into public-facing and performance-based forms: the beginnings of a comprehensive online rhythm repository designed to make clave concepts accessible to musicians and non-musicians globally, and a senior recital demonstrating wide-sense clave across traditions from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Guinea, Brazil, and multiple regions of Ghana
Operational Report for SDOT's AVIPC
No full text21 pagesThe Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) convened the Autonomous Vehicle Inclusive Planning Cohort (AVIPC) to directly engage with the community on the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into Seattle’s transportation system. This cohort, representing diverse community voices, aimed to ensure that AV deployment aligns with SDOT’s goals of equity, safety, mobility, sustainability, livability, and excellence. This report documents Seattle’s approach to AV integration under the guidance of their inclusive planning toolkit and through the engagement of the AVIPC. Developed in partnership between SDOT and the Urbanism Next Center and facilitated with Uncommon Bridges, it captures a collaborative, community-led process that ensures AV deployment is shaped by equity and transparency
Audio Similarity Analysis Using Data Science
Full text link60 pagesThe inconsistent application of copyright law is an ongoing issue in the music industry. For much of the past century, music artists have sought to resolve accusations of copyright infringement in the court room. These trials are often seen as ‘unfair’ and ‘inconsistent’ because of the basis on which verdicts are determined and how widely the results can vary. In this study, I analyze a limited number of select infringement cases from a data science perspective. I will employ objective, algorithmic methods to determine the similarities and differences between musical selections considering harmonic, melodic, and other data structures. The goal is to conceptualize and derive a ‘Total Similarity Score’ that seeks to determine possible copyright infringement without subjective judgment. To do this, I will (1) strip infringement case song pairs down to their “musical building blocks,” (Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Ed Sheeran) (2) algorithmically analyze and compare song metadata, (3) calculate a numerical degree of similarity, and (4) estimate an “Infringement Threshold” beyond which a copyright infringement is likely to have occurred. Finally, I will match these results with the corresponding trial verdicts to observe the efficacy of our current legal system using this proposed, objective standard. To narrow my focus, I will not analyze factors such as lyrics and timbre, although I do recognize that they can be used to evaluate similarity. The songs that I selected are taken from 10 notable copyright infringement cases of the past century (e.g., Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Spirit’s “Taurus”). I will also use Essentia, a C++ and Python library, to analyze the audio, extract metadata, and calculate factor similarity. The final comparative calculations and analyses will be completed using tools found in Microsoft Excel. Fairness requires a degree of consistency, which is arguably a natural by-product of objective data analysis. Adjudicating infringement based on examination of metadata would theoretically mitigate the perception of unfairness and legal manipulation. While reality is understandably more complex, contrasting the current system with one that is based on objective measures may prove to be both interesting and instructive. With this effort, I hope to present findings that could help future scholars to discuss, and perhaps improve, the manner in which courts decide infringement liability
“Documenting” the happiness of labor during the Great Leap Forward: Children’s film and the making of modern socialist childhood
No full text35 pagesChildren’s films have long been an underexplored topic in Chinese cinema studies. This article explores how Great Leap Forward children’s films in the form of artistic documentaries/documentary art films served both as a vehicle for state propaganda and, more importantly, as a dynamic space for constructing a ‘modern socialist childhood’. I demonstrate that children’s cultural productions, including literature and film, in the early PRC period did not begin as a rigid political mouthpiece. Instead, it passed through a phase of debates and artistic experiments from the early PRC to the Great Leap Forward before devolving into repetitive, low-quality vehicles of political messaging under intensifying ideological pressures. Meanwhile, by focusing on happiness as a central affect in these children’s films, this article reveals that the redefinition of childhood happiness marked a departure from the May Fourth–era evolutionary thinking and child-centered approach, giving rise to a revolutionary discourse rooted in collective labor essential for socialist construction
If It Heals, It Leads: An Integrative Framework of the Effects of Solutions Journalism on Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes
Full text linkThis dissertation examined how solutions journalism—news coverage that highlights both problems and their potential solutions—influences audience outcomes through specific psychological mechanisms. While traditional problem-focused journalism can contribute to audience disengagement and fatigue, solutions journalism offers a promising alternative approach. However, the underlying processes through which solutions journalism affects audiences remain understudied. To address this gap, this research introduced the Response Integrative Framework (RIF) to explain how solutions-oriented coverage shapes cognitive and behavioral outcomes through positive emotions and efficacy beliefs.
Two experimental studies with a representative U.S. sample investigated the effects of solutions journalism across different contexts: animal waste pollution (N = 513) and cancer prevention (N = 511). The findings provided strong support for solutions journalism's positive impact on audience outcomes compared to problem-focused coverage. Participants exposed to solutions-oriented stories demonstrated more favorable attitudes toward the news content and experienced higher levels of positive affect without diminishing the perceived importance of the environmental and public health challenges.
Mediation analyses revealed that solutions journalism operates through multiple pathways: it generates positive affect, which enhances both self- and collective-efficacy beliefs, ultimately improving behavioral intentions, news engagement, and attitudes. This sequential process held consistent across different story topics, suggesting solutions journalism creates an "adaptive response pathway" where problem awareness combined with actionable solutions boosts positive emotional responses and efficacy perceptions.
The research also found that issue importance moderated these effects. As perceived issue importance increased, solutions-oriented coverage yielded stronger positive affective responses compared to problem-oriented stories about animal waste pollution.
These findings contribute to both theoretical understanding and practical applications of solutions journalism. The study extends existing frameworks by demonstrating how solutions coverage can strategically balance problem awareness with solution pathways to foster constructive engagement. For journalism practitioners, the results provide evidence-based guidance for crafting news stories that not only inform but also empower audiences to engage with complex social issues