VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Reconfiguration of Homosexuality in Beijing Comrades
Keywords:  Stanford Global Studies
Stanford Global Studies
East Asian Studies
Homosexuality
Queer Literature
Gay Literature
Beijing Comrades
China
Thesis

Beijing Comrades (1998) by Beitong is among mainland China’s earliest, best known, and most influential contemporary gay novels. It narrates the intricate romance between two men, Chen Handong and Lan Yu, whose love for one another is constantly challenged by various biases against homosexuality in postsocialist China. In this paper, I argue that Beijing Comrades reconfigures homosexuality through the self-seeking narrative of Handong, who transforms from an elite cadre’s son, a successful businessman, and an adventurous conqueror into a man who loves another man. This paper demonstrates that Beijing Comrades challenges the institutionalized, biased knowledge of homosexuality in postsocialist China.
This paper addresses the following questions through a detailed textual analysis of Beijing Comrades, based on the novel’s English version translated by Scott E. Myers. What are the deep-seated biases against homosexuality in Beijing Comrades? How does the story challenge these biases? Realizing his love for Lan Yu, how does Handong’s view on homosexuality change? What kinds of struggles does he experience in his self-seeking process? Furthermore, what is the core message behind Handong’s self-seeking narrative?
The Repatriation Dilemma: European Countries and Islamic State Foreign Terrorist Fighters
Keywords:  Center for International Security and Cooperation
Center for International Security and Cooperation
foreign terrorist fighters
foreign fighters
repatriation
Islamic State
ISIS
Thesis

Why have some European countries repatriated Islamic State foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) while others have not? Following the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (IS), the United States urged its allies and partners in Europe to take back their citizens who travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for the caliphate. This thesis is the first study to explain the variation in responses to this request. Using an original dataset of FTF repatriation across 16 European countries, I apply a nested analysis research design to evaluate four explanatory variables: a country’s history of jihadist attacks, the quality of a country’s legal system, a country’s NATO aspirations, and the prevalence of anti-Muslim views in a country’s population. I test these hypotheses through a medium-N cross-national analysis and case studies of the United Kingdom and the Republic of North Macedonia. I find that NATO aspirants are more likely to repatriate FTFs and that evidentiary challenges in the domestic prosecution of FTFs present a hurdle to repatriation. This thesis expands the counterterrorism scholarship to address an unresolved question regarding a salient policy debate and offers policy suggestions to improve the handling of FTFs.
The Role of Rabid Competition Adaptive Mindset in Stress Level and Coping Strategies among Chinese International Students in an American University
Keywords: Chinese International Students
Higher Education
Coping
Mindset
Stanford Graduate School of Education International Comparative Education
Thesis

There is consensus among researchers and university administrators that support for international students require improvements. To enhance their support, we need to know more about how students’ cultural backgrounds shape the way they perceive and cope with stress. In spring 2020, six undergraduate and graduate Chinese international students at an elite American university participated in a study that examined how their native cultural backgrounds impacted their stress levels and coping strategies while studying abroad. Evidence from semi-structured interviews suggests that participants exhibited a Rabid Competition Adaptive Mindset (RCAM). Those who expressed deeper connections with Chinese culture manifested greater degrees of RCAM. RCAM was exemplified in students’ statements that they were motivated academically by a desire to be competitive on the job market. Evidence also suggests that attendance at American universities made these students more open about their stress-related issues, possibly because they had been exposed to Western individualist mindsets.
The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Subjective Social Mobility andSocial Mobility Beliefs: Evidence from Urban China
Keywords: Subjective social mobility
Social mobility beliefs
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Urban China
Stanford Graduate School of Education International Comparative Education
Thesis

Socioeconomic status (SES) is regarded as a key factor influencing people’s thinking about themselves and the world around them. This paper takes an interdisciplinary perspective borrowing elements from sociology and psychology to investigate how SES is associated with subjective social mobility and social mobility beliefs for people in urban China. The dialogue between the two disciplines provides a macroscopic picture of subjective social mobility patterns and a glimpse of potential cognitive processes behind it. By analyzing existing data collected through the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2010 (Study 1) and original survey data of 309 Chinese adults (Study 2), we find that higher-SES individuals not only subjectively perceive more social mobility than lower-SES individuals, but also hold more positive general beliefs towards social mobility as a whole. Furthermore, we find that income is the strongest predictor of social mobility beliefs, compared to education and occupation.
The Semantics and Pragmatics of Gringo
Keywords: Symbolic Systems Program
Department of Linguistics
Slurs
Semantics
Pragmatics
Culture
Thesis

Different cultural backgrounds can lead to the intention of a speaker being misunderstood by a listener. My study aimed to answer the following research questions: Is there a cultural gap in the way the term gringo is perceived? And, more broadly: How does culture affect the way language is perceived and intended? To answer these questions, I began by surveying people in Mexico, the USA, and Spain about how offensive they regarded the word. The results showed that the word by default has a derogatory connotation. However, my personal experiences had shown me that the term had a neutral, and oftentimes positive, connotation. I then proceeded to take a step back and get a sense of what people really thought this word meant. To do this, I used a process called “word association” (asking participants what are five words that come to mind when they think of the word gringo). I surveyed again Spanish, Mexican and American participants, as well as participants from two new groups: Central and South America. The results showed that the majority of people surveyed from Latin America and South America used words related to “geography & language” (e.g., English, US Citizen, American) when describing gringo. This was definitely not as noticeable for Americans and Mexicans, who used more negative or racially loaded words (e.g., offensive, bad, white, blond). Then, I decided to look for instances of the word gringo in the media, in Costa Rican newspapers. The paper concludes that the term gringo is considered in American culture a primarily racial term, and this is not the case for any other countries that participate in the exchange of such.
Theory and applications of time-resolved spectroscopies
Keywords: Applied Physics.

Time-resolved spectroscopies of materials provide a wealth of information on material dynamics, and have been a focus of study for decades. With increasing energy and time resolution, time-resolved spectroscopies have been able to detect quasiparticle dynamics, details of electron transport, and ultrafast phase transitions. More recently, as a novel technique, time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (trRIXS) is developed and used to investigate spin and charge orders in strongly correlated materials. In this dissertation, I will review the theories of equilibrium and nonequilibrium spectroscopies, with an emphasis on the development of trRIXS theory. Numerical simulation of trRIXS is performed on a single-band tight binding model under the high frequency limit and low frequency limit, revealing Floquet physics and real-time charge oscillation respectively. I will also give examples of applications of time-resolved spectroscopies, especially trRIXS: detecting photoinduced chiral edge states in a graphene nanoribbon and investigating charge excitations in a pumped Mott insulator. Specifically, for the graphene nanoribbon, trRIXS has the potential to selectively probe certain edge states at given energies, providing a conclusive answer to the existence of photoinduced chiral edge states. Finally I will discuss some technical aspects in my implementation of trRIXS code for noninteracting systems. I hope this dissertation can deepen the understanding of pump-probe spectroscopies, especially the novel trRIXS, and provide resources to help design future experiments
Thermal transport in two-dimensional and wide band gap materials
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

The semiconductor industry has seen much interest in materials beyond silicon. Among these, two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are known to exhibit distinct evolution of chemical and physical properties as the material thickness is scaled from bulk to atomic layers. Wide band gap (WBG) materials have also attracted attention due to their promising applications in power electronics and short wavelength photonics. This work begins by summarizing the thermal properties of 2D materials, including thermal conductivity, thermal boundary conductance, and thermoelectric properties. We then study thermal and electrical transport in WTe2, which is a semimetallic 2D material. Thermal properties of WTe2 devices are extracted from the device electrical characteristics using an analytical model. We also use finite element simulations to estimate the current density improvements by novel heat dissipation structures, including capping layers such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). This work demonstrates that WTe2 can carry high current density despite its low thermal conductivity, which shows its potential applications as a thermal barrier or electrode in phase-change memory. Next, we discuss thermal conductivity of crystalline AlN and the influence of atomic-scale defects. AlN plays a key role in modern power electronics and deep-ultraviolet photonics. In these devices, heat dissipation is important during high-power and high-temperature operation. Using the 3ω characterization method, we measure temperature dependent thermal conductivity of AlN single crystals, between 100 and 400 K. Experimental data are compared with analytical models. We also investigate size effects and accumulated thermal conductivity of AlN thin films, which are widely used as buffer layer or capping layer in power electronic devices or light-emitting diodes. This work improves the understanding of AlN thermal conductivity and demonstrates how this material influences heat dissipation in wide band gap devices. We also study the temperature reduction of GaN devices with polycrystalline diamond top capping layer by Raman thermometry. Experimental results are compared with an analytical model and finite element simulations. These results provide a fundamental understanding of how to improve heat dissipation in GaN transistors. Combined, these studies shed light into the fundamental thermal properties of 2D and WBG materials. In addition, these results also serve as the foundations to design 2D and WBG devices and systems with better heat dissipation capabilities
Thoughts on the Field of Obstetrics’ Response to COVID-19: A Qualitative Research Project
Keywords: Community Health and Prevention Research
COVID-19
pregnancy
obstetrics
maternal care
OBGYN
telehealth
Thesis

Background: COVID-19 has affected the delivery of healthcare across the globe, including pregnancy care and childbirth, which are essential and cannot be deferred. Furthermore, pregnancy care has historically involved frequent ultrasounds and other procedures that require in-person visits. Implementing telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize in-person contact has affected these and other aspects of pregnancy care.
Objective: To gain insights into obstetric providers’ perceptions of how COVID-19 has affected pregnancy care from preconception to postpartum based on their experiences in their practices.
Methods: One-on-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with seven obstetric providers who have been practicing in the Bay Area during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: Seven major topics were identified from the interviews and themes were identified within each major topic. The following are the primary themes within each major topic presented as “primary theme (corresponding major topic)”: patient anxiety (concerns about patients), providers contracting COVID-19 (concerns about providers), increased use of telehealth (future of obstetrics), receptive and understanding responses (patient behavioral responses), communication (provider behavioral responses), positives (thoughts on changes to care), and positives (thoughts on telehealth).
Conclusions: Overall, the interviewed providers were content with the changes made to pregnancy care and were mostly concerned about patient anxiety and their own occupational risk. These results could inform how obstetric units handle any future disease outbreaks and the factors they should consider in doing so.
Thriving Together: An Exploration of Nonbinary Asian/Asian American Identity Formation and Identity-Based Communities
Keywords: Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
CSRE
Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
CCSRE
Asian American Studies
ASNAMST
nonbinary
identity formation
community
Thesis

This research explores two topics: the ways nonbinary Asian Americans conceptualize and reconcile with the intersections of their race and gender and the role of identity-based communities in identity formation. I conducted semi-structured interviews with five individuals who identify as Asian/Asian American and nonbinary, and all individuals either currently live or have lived in the Bay Area. All research participants, including myself, are also involved with APIENC (also known as API Equality - Northern California), an identity-based, queer and trans Asian and Pacific Islander organization based out of San Francisco Chinatown. Analysis of interview transcripts identified the different and unique experiences of nonbinary Asians/Asian Americans in order to better understand their processes of identity formation and their experiences in identity-based communities. Findings indicate that identity formation for nonbinary Asians/Asian Americans can involve internal and external tension, but the self-identification of nonbinary ultimately brought feelings of affirmation, completeness, and liberation. Furthermore, participants sought out identity-based spaces for community, and while some had previous negative experiences, all participants ultimately held deep love and appreciation for communities such as APIENC. APIENC was particularly successful at fostering belonging and community because of its focus on values-based organizing, accessibility, and deep relationships. Further research is needed to explore the impact of other axes of identity and the differences between intersectional and non-intersectional identity-based spaces in their capacity to foster inclusivity and community.
Ties That Bind: U.S. Dual-Use Dependence on China
Keywords:  Center for International Security and Cooperation
Center for International Security and Cooperation
U.S.
China
U.S.-China relations
supply chains
supply chain security
economic interdependence
dependence
Thesis

U.S.-China relations have become increasingly complex and competitive. This thesis seeks to explain why the United States government allowed key industries producing dual-use products, those with both commercial and defense applications, to become so dependent on China for their supply chains. Although many industries have sought lower-cost supply chains in China over the past several decades, dependencies for dual-use products pose particular vulnerabilities from a national security perspective: these products directly impact defense readiness and mobilization. Examples of dual-use products with high dependence on China include rare earth metals, printed circuit boards, lithium-ion batteries, pharmaceuticals, and more. I propose three theoretical models to explain high levels of dual-use product dependence on China: the formerly low prioritization of China as a security threat, the lagging integration of economic and security policies within the U.S. government bureaucracy, and lobbying by private sector industry associations. Examining evidence from a wide range of sources, including trade data, industry assessments, and government speeches and reports, I find that the U.S.’ dual-use dependence on China is significant, has been growing, and is widespread across industries and defense applications. Evidence further suggests that government dynamics better explain U.S. dual-use dependence on China than private sector factors like interest group influence do. I find that entities within the U.S. government long recognized the threat of dual-use dependence on China, but because China was not prioritized as a security threat or portrayed as a competitor, this dependence was allowed to persist and grow. Lagging integration of the U.S.’ economic and security policies exacerbated the lack of focus on this issue. Notably, private sector interest group influence does not appear to have played a major role. This thesis thus offers critical insights: it explains how America’s dual-use dependence on China came to be and reveals the economic and security interests that have shaped U.S.-China relations through time.
Tilli: A game-based, social-emotional learning tool on feelings, bodies, and boundaries
Keywords: metacognition
social-emotional learning
empathy
critical thinking
sexual assault prevention
Graduate School of Education
Thesis

Every year, an estimated 246 million children are subject to some form of gender-based violence, including mistreatment, bullying, psychological abuse, and sexual harassment. Twenty-five percent of children experience physical violence and thirty-six percent experience emotional violence (WHO, 2016c) We envision a world where no child grows up to be either a victim or a perpetrator of sexual violence or assault. Tilli is a game-based learning tool for young learners (5-10 years) that helps parents and teachers curate meaningful conversations about trust, boundaries, bodies, and consent. The game helps kids practice empathy and critical thinking within real-world contexts, giving them a strong sense of agency and ownership over their own bodies, feelings, and relationships. The learning tool focuses on three skills; metacognition, empathy and critical thinking as means of achieving two key learning outcomes. Firstly ensuring that a young learner is able to recognize an unsafe situation (person or relationship) and seek help in avoiding it and secondly to ensure that a young learner has empathy and self-awareness to not create such a situation for someone else.
Time-lapse inversion of anisotropic velocity linked to geomechanics
Keywords: Computational and Mathematical Engineering.

Seismic reservoirs undergo production-induced changes, such as fluid saturation, realignment of the stress field, and variations in pressure. Repeated seismic surveys, conducted before and after production, can provide a wealth of information about those changes. Traditionally, the analysis of these surveys is limited to seismic attributes, such as reflectivity, impedance, etc, from the backscattered energy on reflections. In this study, we show how to retrieve reservoir properties directly from the seismic data by analyzing the transmission effect on reflections. We use fully-coupled flow and geomechanical simulations to invert for those properties in an integrated approach. The methodology relies on a time-lapse application of the full-waveform inversion (FWI) algorithm. By linking geomechanical models to seismic properties, we can build an initial anisotropic seismic model that represents the study area. Production-induced changes in the seismic velocity and anisotropy parameters are estimated using third-order elasticity theory. From numerical studies of the model, we conclude that velocity changes can be estimated from the seismic data with limited offset (less than 5 km), but changes in anisotropic parameters are only sufficiently constrained with long offset data. We then apply the time-lapse FWI approach to a 3-D dataset acquired at the Genesis field in the Gulf of Mexico, using a total-variation regularization on the model differences. To address the computational challenges this poses, we use large-scale cloud computing and manage to finish time-lapse FWI on a 3D model within one day. A velocity decrease is recovered in the overburden above the reservoir, extending from the reservoir to the ocean bottom. This phenomenon can be explained by production-induced reservoir compaction and overburden dilation. The agreement of the numerical results from the seismic data and the geomechanical modeling verifies the validity of our method