VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
'Old School' in a New Millennium? Exploring Literacy Across Three Generations: a Qualitative Study on One Multi-Generational Mexcan-Descent Family Living in California

Abstract/nThe focus of this study took into account the collective literacy and language learning experiences of one multi-generational Latino family in relation to their community public school. I sought to understand better the persistent contentions between public schooling literacy education and second language learners. I used a qualitative interpretive design to determine the types of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with the lens of reading the word through content analysis of selected historical documents and the interviews of 22 family participants pooled from one multi-generational extended family./nEach participant was held accountable to the conditions of learning based on the influences of concurrent selected policy reforms. The major findings revealed that only 3 participants received instruction that included Spanish support. The remaining 19 participants from third to fifth generations experienced learning to read in English only mainstream classes. The discourse analysis of uptakes, footings, and frames showed that some participants responded to their learning experiences through uptake styles supporting attitudes of resignation, conflict, and assimilation. Even though policies for literacy reform purport to alleviate risks of illiteracy, risks for children with vulnerable language needs continue to lack adequate attention and support while meeting the demands of higher educational expectations./nUnderstanding learning to read from varied family experiences responding to institutional offerings is an important contribution to recognizing the complexities of navigating school culture for culturally and linguistically diverse children as they develop academic par with peer group native speakers of English.

Advisor: Warshauer-Freedman, Sarah
Essays in Microeconometrics

This dissertation consists of four chapters contributing to the development of microeconometric methodology, with a particular emphasis on questions of identification. The methodological problems discussed are motivated by substantive questions about the causes of urban segregation and of long term unemployment./nChapter 1 develops static and dynamic models of sorting in which location choices depend on the location choices of other agents as well as prices and exogenous location characteristics. In these models, demand slopes and hence preferences are not identifiable without further restrictions because of the absence of independent variation of endogenous composition and exogenous location characteristics./nFour solutions of this problem are presented and applied to data on neighborhoods in US cities: The first three use exclusion restrictions, based on either subgroup demand shifters, the spatial structure of externalities, or the dynamics of prices and composition in response to an amenity shock. The fourth tests for multiplicity of equilibria in the dynamics of composition, using the test proposed in chapter 2. The empirical results consistently suggest the presence of strong social externalities, that is, a dependence of location choices on neighborhood composition./nChapter 2 proposes an estimator and develops an inference procedure for the number of roots of functions which are nonparametrically identified by conditional moment restrictions./nThe estimator is superconsistent, and the inference procedure is based on non-standard asymptotics./nThis procedure is used to construct confidence sets for the number of equilibria of static games of incomplete information and of stochastic difference equations. In an application to panel data on neighborhood composition in the United States, no evidence of multiple equilibria is found./nChapter 3 proposes a test for path dependence in discrete panel data based on a characterization of stochastic processes that are mixtures of Markov Chains. This test is applied to European Community Household Panel data on employment histories. The data allow to reject the null of no path dependence in all subsamples considered./nChapter 4 discusses identification in nonparametric, continuous triangular systems. It provides conditions which are both necessary and sufficient for the existence of control functions satisfying conditional independence and support requirements. Confirming a commonly noticed pattern, these conditions restrict the admissible dimensionality of unobserved heterogeneity in the first stage structural relation, or more generally the dimensionality of the family of conditional distributions of second stage heterogeneity given explanatory variables and instruments. These conditions imply that no such control function exists without assumptions that seem hard to justify in most applications. In particular, none exists in the context of a generic random coefficient model.

Advisor: Powell, James L
Nonlinear Stability Criteria for Elastic Rod Structures

Branched elastic rod structures are abundant in engineering and nature, in applications ranging from MEMS devices to human spine models. While buckling is well-understood for problems of this type, stability is often difficult to assess, especially when the model is derived from a nonlinear rod theory. The purpose of this research is to establish criteria for determining nonlinear stability, based upon the minimization of an energy functional. By utilizing variational principles, and Legendre's/nclassical work in particular, a new necessary condition for stability featuring the existence of bounded solutions to a set of Riccati differential equations is established. For a single rod, building on classical results, this condition is also shown to be sufficient for stability./nThe stability criteria are demonstrated on a number of examples using a simple, planar rod theory. These examples range from a classical strut under axial load to a branched tree-like structure composed of several rods. In the branched model, the stability analysis consists of finding bounded solutions to a set of Riccati equations, which are coupled at branching points. The number of Riccati equations corresponds to the number of rods in the structure. The resulting condition is only necessary for stability of a branched structure, as a sufficient condition could not be established. However, this is the first instance of a stability criterion for branched structures that is based on the second variation of the total energy. The advantage is that this method provides a systematic means of identifying unstable, and therefore physically unrealizable, configurations of a branched structure. Finally, an extension of the stability criteria to other rod theories is discussed.

Advisor: O'Reilly, Oliver M
Majorana fermions and Dirac edge states in topological phases

In part 1, we study a realization of a chain of Majorana bound states at the interfaces between alternating ferromagnetic and superconducting regions at a quantum spin Hall insulator edge. In the limit of well separated Majoranas, the system can be mapped to the transverse field Ising model. The disordered critical point can be reached by tuning the relative magnitude or phases of the ferromagnetic and superconducting order parameters. We compute the voltage dependence of the tunneling current from a metallic tip into the Majorana chain as a direct probe of the random critical state. In part 2, we present an analytic prescription for computing the edge dispersion E(k) of a tight-binding Dirac Hamiltonian terminated at an abrupt crystalline edge. Specifically, we consider translationally invariant Dirac Hamiltonians with nearest-layer interaction./nWe present and prove a geometric formula that relates the existence of surface states as well as their energy dispersion to properties of the bulk Hamiltonian. We further prove the bulk-boundary correspondence between the Chern number and the chiral edge modes for quantum Hall systems within the class of Hamiltonians studied in the paper./nOur results can be extended to the case of continuum theories which are quadratic in the momentum, as well as other symmetry classes.

Advisor: Moore, Joel E
Shells on a Sphere: Tectonic Plate Motion and Plate Boundary Deformation

Plate motion models have matured from being based only on geology and seismicity to incorporating space-based geodetic methods like GPS. I use a block modeling approach to incorporate both rigid block rotation and near-boundary elastic strain accumulation effects in a formal inversion of GPS velocities./nIndependent Okhotsk and Amurian microplate motions are tested using GPS velocities that constrain the plate kinematics of northeast Asia. Modeling favors scenarios with independent OKH and AMU motion, based on the application of F-test statistics. The plate-motion parameters of the independent plates are consistent with the kinematics inferred from earthquake focal mechanism solutions along their boundaries./nGPS-measured velocities (15 from continuously recording stations within the stable India plate interior) geodetically constrain India plate motion, intraplate strain, and plate boundary deformation around the India plate. Dense station coverage from previously published studies allows rigorous testing of boundary parameterizations. I develop robust India plate motion parameters and see good agreement between predicted plate directions from the preferred model and the seismological data./nAvailable GPS data in and around the Aegean region is combined and used to evaluate plate motion models, elastic plate boundary deformation and its relationship to seismogenic coupling along the Hellenic subduction zone. The A.D. 365 M ∼8.4, the A.D. 1303 M∼8 Crete suggest that portions of the plate interface must be locked. The primary focus of this study is to examine potential upper plate deformation resulting from a locked subduction interface, active hanging-wall extension, or both. I consider multiple model scenarios in an attempt to interpret the both the horizontal and vertical geodetic signals in the region and its implications for earthquake hazard assessment.

Advisor: Burgmann, Roland
Asymmetric and Organometallic Catalysis Mediated by a Chiral Supramolecular Host

Chapter 1. An overview of supramolecular catalysis is presented with attention to the diverse strategies used in developing these materials. Different strategies for the design and preparation of chiral supramolecular structures are described along with their applications to enantioselective binding and catalysis. The intrinsically chiral M4L612- supramolecular assembly developed by the Raymond group is introduced, and its catalytic scope is reviewed./nChapter 2. The development of an asymmetric variant of the aza-Cope transformation is presented. Application of the resolved Ga4L612- assembly to this catalytic transformation gives modest but significant enantioselectivity (up to 64% ee) with a varied scope of allyl enammonium cations. This represents the first reported example of asymmetric supramolecular catalysis with substantial enantioselectivity and catalytic turnover. Use of a relatively unreactive substrate allowed characterization of a host-substrate complex by X-ray diffraction, giving insight into the means of enantiodifferentiation by the chiral host. Additionally, the structure of the M4L612- assembly was modified by substituting other trivalent cations (Fe3+, 3+) into the M4L612- host, modulating the enantioselectivity of the rearrangement. Efforts to emulate allosteric regulation using externally associated chiral cations are also described./nChapter 3. The engineering of a high-turnover supramolecular catalyst containing a cationic ruthenium complex is described. The RuCp(PMe3)(MeCN)2+ cation, an allyl alcohol isomerization catalyst, was incorporated into the Ga4L612- assembly. While encapsulated, the organometallic complex experiences only mild rate attenuations, while maintaining its remarkably high activity. This hybrid catalyst is capable of more than 1000 turnovers, eclipsing other known supramolecular catalysts. The kinetics of catalysis are also analyzed, revealing inhibition both by acetonitrile and the allyl alcohol substrates. The protection offered by encapsulation in the assembly also allowed the preparation of the larger RuCp*(PMe3)(MeCN)2+ complex, which is both stable and catalytically active. Preliminary investigations of this complex are described./nChapter 4. Cationic gold(I) catalysts encapsulated inside assembly 14L6 assembly, R3PAuX (X = Cl, Br) complexes have been found to lose their halide ligand and reside in the nanovessel's cavity as the free cation. This host-guest complex is catalytically active in both the hydroalkoxylation and hydroamination of allenes, generating cyclic, chiral ethers and amines. The rate of catalysis for the bound gold cation is observed to be higher than that for the bulk-solution gold species by about an order of magnitude. Efforts to incorporate this gold catalyst into the resolved Ga4L612-assembly are detailed, though this family of organometallic catalysts has thus far been incompatible with the resolved Ga4L612- assembly.

Advisor: Raymond, Kenneth N.
Bergman, Robert G.
Essays on Gender, Competition, and Educational Outcomes

Recent experimental economics research documents substantial gender differences in the willingness to compete in a tournament, suggesting that women may be underrepresented in positions of power because they lack competitive drive. The second chapter of this dissertation examines whether competitive inclination measured in the lab is predictive of the subsequent propensity to take a competitive and highly consequential high school entrance exam in rural China. Using a discrete choice mixed logit model, I estimate individual parameters of competitive inclination from lab data for my sample of ethnically diverse middle school students. I find that a middle school student with a taste for competition one standard deviation above the mean is 7.2 percentage points more likely to take the exam, controlling for prior test scores. Contrary to results from studies in adult populations, no gender differences were found in competitive inclination. Likewise, no gender difference was found in exam taking behavior, controlling for prior test scores./nThe underrepresentation of women in leadership roles could also reinforce gender differences in competitive inclination in a "low" equilibrium. The third chapter of this dissertation studies adult competitive inclination in China, a country which has deliberately sought to move to a "high" equilibrium through massive coordinated government action. Competitive inclination is elicited from three ethnic groups in a "cultural laboratory": the majority Han Chinese, a matrilineal minority group, and a patrilineal minority group. The Han Chinese exhibited no statistically significant gender differences in competitive inclination. Women in the patrilineal minority, where clan leaders arrange marriages, are less competitively inclined than the men, and the men are as competitively inclined than the Han Chinese. Women in the matrilineal minority are as competitively inclined as the Han Chinese but the men are more competitively inclined. This non-intuitive result may be explained by the special non-exclusive nature of "marriages" in the matrilineal group. These findings suggest that coordinated government action can shape competitive preferences, which have the potential to lead to organic increases in gender diversity in leadership roles. More broadly, they support the case for quotas for women in parliament and corporate boardrooms.

Advisor: Miguel, Edward
Kariv, Shachar
From Jester to Gesture: Eastern European Jewish Culture and the Re-imagination of Folk Performance

This dissertation examines the rise of folk performance as a national and social(ist) symbol in modern Eastern European Jewish culture, focusing on the wave of fascination with the badkhn (rhymester/jester), the folksinger, the klezmer, and above all the purim-shpiler (player in the traditional Purim play) between the two world wars. This upsurge of interest, I argue, marks a radically modern turn to the past which aims to construct an alleged lineage of secular Jewish culture. Investigating such varied fields as literature, film, theater, memoirs and historiography, I look into the ways in which traditional types of Jewish performance were reclaimed and used as tropes, cultural symbols and models for alternative poetics./nTo provide the historical context for the innovations of the interwar era I examine in the first chapter the ways folk performance was imagined by the Haskala movement of the nineteenth century, the starting point of modern Jewish culture. Notwithstanding their contempt for traditional Jewish performance, the Haskala writers, I claim, introduce the performer into the realm of art, rather than folklore, and thus constitute the first phase in the modern project of reclaiming traditional performance as the roots of- and a model for- modern Jewish culture./nIn chapter two I investigate the fervent and highly politicized scholarly discourse that evolved around traditional forms of Jewish performance, which provided the essential theoretical framework for the dramatic, literary and cinematic appropriations of folk performance. Through the writing and cultural production of Zigmunt Turkow I strive to corroborate my claim about the interconnections between scholars, artists and other cultural activists, who together contributed to the construction of Jewish folk performance as cultural heritage./nUsually perceived as oppositions, modernist high-art and popular mass culture of the interwar period are discussed in this study as interlinked arenas of cultural production that address the same modern challenges of secularization, urbanization and immigration. I thus look at the experimental reclaiming of the purim-shpil and the broder zinger in the modernist poetry and drama of Moyshe Broderzon alongside the commodified appropriations of folk performance in Yiddish cinema of the late thirties, including the films Yidl mitn fidl, Der purim-shpiler and Der dibuk. By exploring the various ways in which Eastern European Jewish folk performance was re-imagined, be they rejection, veneration, mimicry or reproduction, I shed new light on the modern Jewish project of self-reinvention and self-remodeling, as well as on the complex relationship between modernism, mass culture and folk creativity.

Advisor: Kronfeld, Chana
Seidman, Naomi
Geometry of Generalized Permutohedra

We study generalized permutohedra and some of the geometric properties they exhibit. We decompose matroid polytopes (and several related polytopes) into signed Minkowski sums of simplices and compute their volumes. We define the associahedron and multiplihedron in terms of trees and show them to be generalized permutohedra. We also generalize the multiplihedron to a broader class of generalized permutohedra, and describe their face lattices, vertices, and volumes. A family of interesting polynomials that we call composition polynomials arises from the study of multiplihedra, and we analyze several of their surprising properties. Finally, we look at generalized permutohedra of different root systems and study the Minkowski sums of faces of the crosspolytope.

Advisor: Ardila, Federico
Beck, Matthias
Racial Socialization and Ability to Navigate Racism: The Experiences of Multiracial Black Adults Raised in Cross-Racial Families

Using qualitative in-depth interviews with multiracial and transracially adopted adults of African descent, the purpose of this study was to investigate: (1) the ways in which Cross Racially Raised individuals experience racism in educational settings, (2) the ways in which Cross Racially Raised individuals perceive their parents/guardians' efforts toward racial socialization, (3) the coping strategies Cross Racially Raised individuals employ to navigate racially hostile environments, and (4) the ways in which experiences of racism, coping strategies, or perceptions of parent/guardian approaches to racial socialization differ for multiracial individuals of African descent raised with a Black parent or guardian present in comparison to those raised without the presence of a Black parent or guardian. Findings suggested that racial socialization processes varied by the racial composition of the family; that is, families in which there was at least one Black parent or guardian present tended to more openly address issues of race and racism in comparison to families in which there was no Black parent or guardian present. Studying racial socialization among those on the margins of race illuminated examples of agency in developing a sense of racial competency when parents did not talk about race or provide supports for navigating racism. Findings from this study hold theoretical implications for how racial socialization is conceptualized and practical implications for child welfare programs and policies.

Advisor: Nasir, Na'ilah
Becoming Like the World: Korean Articulations of Globalization in the Global Zones, 1987-present

After democratization and the successful hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games, various South Korean political actors, including the government, have criticized the reckless urban redevelopment projects under past regimes. The public clamour about the need to address the failings of developmentalist regimes has triggered the emergence of a new urban discourse that emphasizes considering non-economic aspects of development, such as environmental justice and broader citizen participation. In particular, the government has embarked on remaking South Korean landscapes in a series of urban renaissance projects through a deployment of "culture," or what I call the cultural city discourse./nThis dissertation examines the processes by which architectural aesthetics and spatial practices in Global Cultural Zones in Seoul rearticulate "Korean cultures" as well as those of "others." Using the methods of urban history, critical theory, and geographical inquiry, this study examines how economic liberalization and the transnational movement of people have shaped changing urban discourses surrounding development projects. Each chapter analyzes a different urban redevelopment project in a Global Cultural Zone; these represent the city government's efforts to promote an understanding of "Korean cultures" and the concept of a "multicultural society." First, by examining the cases of remodeled hanoks in Bukchon, this study challenges the assumption that vernacular architecture represents the opposite of high architecture. Instead, it highlights the ambiguous status of the former. Then, I look at the construction of "Korean cultures" in Insadong, which takes the form of nostalgia-fueled resistance to change that can be detrimental to cultural diversity. At the same time, I examine how the government's effort to build a "multicultural society" functions as a political ideology that aims to ease the tension arising from participating in the global economy. This study then turns to the construction of the Design Plaza and Park in Dongdaemun and questions the thesis that design-oriented spaces bring further economic growth, let alone producing "cultural space." Lastly, the construction of "multicultural streets" in Itaewon is examined to show that the emergence of ethnic and cultural diversity in Itaewon is the result of coincidental historical events rather than consistent government policy./nThis research shows that the emphasis on Korean "traditional culture" is not a simple reflection of a desire to re-enact past customs but a project with an objective of reconfirming the modernity of the present. By examining the interlocking relationship between the state and civil society, this study illustrates the dialectical processes of globalization. This dissertation suggests that diversification of the rationales behind urban projects--the simultaneous emphasis on "Korean tradition" and a "multicultural society"--serves as a tool for the continuation of a growth-centered economic framework.

Advisor: AlSayyad, Nezar