Graduate Dissertations

Abstract: Semi-structured interviews, participant observations along with ethnographic and autoethnographic approaches have produced a grounded theory on the racialization process People of African Descent (PAD) encounter in Poland. The Racial Consciousness Continuum (RCC) provides "scaffolding" and "language" scholars in Poland and other European locales can use to describe how PAD individuals interpret their relationship being "Black" among other racialized categories the RCC model delineates. Conversations pertaining to a "Disconnected Diaspora" arose from the data, providing a nuanced view of community (or the lack of it) PAD individuals feel and the RCC model provides a way to capture these conversations. Autoethnography provides another way to explain the relevance and relationship a PAD American researcher encounters as he researches Antiblack racism in an understudied part of Europe. The RCC theory is inspired by the work of Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Dubois to further contextualize and scholarly frame Antiblackness conversations. My project answers questions on prevailing scholarly conversations in the region on Antiblack racism and what gaps exist and persist in prevailing literature in the American sociological academy.

This defense will be conducted virtually. If you would like to attend, please contact Brenna Fitzmaurice.

Join in person or on zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/dJx-mkeTRgmiuXVOjN7K9A (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/dJx-mkeTRgmiuXVOjN7K9A)   

Dissertation Title: "Towards Real-World Multimodal Determination of Sleepiness and Cognitive Degradation Based on Conversational Spontaneous Speech and Wearable Electrodermal Activity". Degree: Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering.

Dissertation Title: Advancing the Understanding of the Influence of Freezing and Annealing Kinetics on the Lyophilization Process. PhD Candidate: Mohsina Rahman Academic Advisor: Dr. Robin Bogner Field of Study: Pharmaceutical Sciences

Raising Allies: White Children's Anti-Racist Development and The Impact of Color-Conscious White Racial Socialization by Parents Dissertation for the completion of a PhD in Developmental Psychology

Evaluating Phosphorus and Potassium Application Rates on Yield, Nutrient Uptake, and Post-harvest Soil Testing for Fall Cabbage and Corn Julie-Ann Adorno is a second-year plant science master's student and graduate research assistant at the University of Connecticut under Dr. Haiying Tao. Her current research involves evaluating sustainable fertilizers in a greenhouse setting, and field evaluation of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer application rates on fall cabbage and corn yield, nutrient uptake, and post-harvest soil testing. The current recommendations based on critical soil test values and optimum phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization rates are derived from poorly documented, decades-old research conducted in outdated agricultural production systems and under historic climate conditions. In the NE region, the last collective effort for soil fertility trials was funded by the USDA more than 20 years ago, with a limited scope on understanding responses to P and K fertilizers. Robust soil test correlation and calibration data are needed for many modern crop varieties in the region. This research will help modernize critical soil test values for crop yield response and responsible nutrient management.

Abstract: Environmentalism is increasing among the general public, with more people believing in the severity of anthropogenic climate change and adopting green behaviors. This paper studies the change in levels of environmentalism over time and which individual-level factors—namely, gender, race, and class—play a significant role. Drawing on data from the General Social Survey in the years 1993, 2000, 2010, and 2021, I use factor analysis to develop three components of environmentalism: concern, attitudes, and behavior. Relying on T-tests and linear regression models, I find some evidence that suggests environmentalism has increased in 2021 among both men and women when compared to previous surveyed years. Still, for some variables, women are more likely than men to be environmentally concerned, have positive attitudes toward pro-environmental efforts, and engage in environmentally friendly behavior across all years. Environmentalism is also influenced by race, occupational prestige, education, political affiliation, age, and parenthood status, although there are no interaction effects between race, class, and gender. Contrary to my hypotheses, there are no significant gender differences regarding the belief that climate change is extremely bad for the world, willingness to pay more to protect the environment, or participation in environmental activism. These results imply that while gender may still be a significant predictor of some types of environmentalism, these distinctions are evolving in complex ways.

Examining Incivility in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Benjamin York will defend his thesis titled "On the classification of l-adic and adelic Galois representations attached to elliptic curves with complex multiplication" in the Department of Mathematics. The work of this thesis sits at the intersection of algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry.

Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Jinhong DongTitle: “An Activator by Any Other Name: Mechanisms of Gene Activation and Repression by Essential Transcription Factor ZNF143"Major Advisor: Dr. Michael GuertinLocation: Cell & Genome Sciences BuildingEdmund and Arlene Grossman Auditorium, R1210400 Farmington AvenueVia Zoom: https://uconn-edu.zoom.us/j/98321765411?pwd=VgRkJLGvdpid1rOaK6PkPsrjMrX07C.1 (https://uconn-edu.zoom.us/j/98321765411?pwd=VgRkJLGvdpid1rOaK6PkPsrjMrX07C.1)Meeting ID: 983 2176 5411Passcode: 003581

Turkey Faces Anatolia: Postcolonial Perspectives on Kemalism Doctoral Field of Study: Political Science

The work pursues the goal of a robust method to predict progressive damage and failure in both polymer– and ceramic–matrix composites evaluated at both the macroscale and mesoscale levels. Analytical results and comparisons to experimental test results for both material systems are presented and discussed.

El Instituto's MA student, Ruth Edward's, is presenting their thesis presentation and everyone is welcome to join! Title: "A Home in Both Places: Gender, Afro-Caribbean Migration, and Transnational Homemaking in Central Brooklyn, 1924–1980" by Ruth Edwards. Brief Description:The history of Afro-Caribbean migration to New York City is often studied starting in 1965 with the post-racial promises of the Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act as it precedes the direct increase of Afro-Caribbeans moving abroad. This has framed the Caribbeanization of New York City as a later development, and obscured the ways that Afro-Caribbean women, who migrated before this period, cultivated transnational networks of care that have served as the structure for other migrants—family and not—who came before them, after them and persist in the present. Examining the lives of four Afro-Caribbean women through a historical lens, this thesis recognizes the role of gender in processes of transnational homemaking in Central Brooklyn as a way to build a picture of some of the dynamics which shaped Afro-Caribbean migration between the years of 1924 and 1980. I consider archival documents from The Martha Gayle Collection provided by The Center for Brooklyn History in order to illustrate Afro-Caribbean life during this time. Altogether, I argue that these stories depict a different landscape for Afro-Caribbean life, and the Caribbeanization of New York City, before the 1970s in ways that transform the ways in which we conceive of the lives of Afro-Caribbean women as they sustain transnational relationships and networks of migration beyond traditional economies

A Cell-Based Approach for the Functional Analysis of Germline Variants in the Mismatch Repair Genes MSH2 and MSH6. Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense. Biomedical Sciences.

Doctoral Defense Title: Modeling the impact of baryonic physics on the cosmic matter distribution in CAMELS Field of Study: Astronomy Department: Physics

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pathobiology with concentration in Virology.

AbstractThis study examined how message framing and information source impact risky investment decision making across two experimental studies with undergraduates as participants. A novel risk measurement known as the Risk Index Factor was developed in order to assess risk levels in participants investment portfolios. Participants allocated fake money into their portfolios based on message condition and information source. Results showed that across both studies, the investment source of financial influencers produced the riskiest portfolios. Additionally, in Study 2, gain framed messages consistently generated higher portfolio risk scores. Lastly, financial well-being was found to moderate the relationship between FOMO condition and portfolio risk scores. These findings challenge FOMO's impact on risk, display message framing's influence, and highlights impacts of different information sources. Implications for Prospect Theory and financial literacy are discussed."  Use the following link to join the Webex meeting: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/ndc11002 (https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuconn-cmr.webex.com%2Fmeet%2Fndc11002&data=05%7C02%7Cmichael.melnik%40uconn.edu%7Cebe937318832476f7c4e08dd79141c6c%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C638799849460293585%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=CQxojVI6w1eziU0vWVf5H4Y0fcb5XzngsAZY43ODFHI%3D&reserved=0) or arrive in ARJ 225 at 1pm on April 29th.