Student Theses and Honors Collection
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Library, Information, & Technology Services (LITS) established the electronic Student Theses Collection in 2005. It contains over eight hundred e-honors theses created by MHC seniors from across the disciplines. By archiving your honors work in the Institutional Archive, you are contributing to the legacy of excellence in student scholarship at the College.
To submit an honors thesis to the collection, please start by reviewing the information found here.
Once you are ready to submit, click on the "Login" link within the "My Account" box on the lower right side of this page. Click on the MHC logo, and then enter your MHC username and password. You will be redirected back to the Institutional Archive homepage. Scroll down to the "My Account" box and click on "Submissions. Then choose "Student Theses Collection."
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Item Open Access Seeing Walls: A Study of Separation and Connection in Manila(2025-06-04) Heller, Micah; Darling, NaomiA careful reading of the form and materiality of colonial infrastructure in Manila exposes the extent and limitations of the colonial dominated archive. Seeing Walls reveals a history of material resistance against the walls that divide the city through informal architectural additions throughout the city. Given the strategic location of the archipelago that make up the Philippines, Manila provides a site in which walls – understood broadly as both divisive and connective - are part of the landscape. For example, the ocean offered a protective wall to early inhabitants but, with the development of boat technology, that same water became temporarily habitable and permeable. The oceanic wall thus enabled extensive trade routes that connected the Pacific Islands and China. Since then, architectural walls have been built as part of colonial projects and, likewise, have been subverted through transient and perishable interventions. As examples, the Intramuros fortification was built during the Spanish colonial rule to separate Spanish and native Filipinos. But, woven throughout, Sari Sari shops and food carts inhabit this colonial infrastructure. These small moments of deliberate “misuse” complicate our understanding of the planned use of the city fabric. The simple act of providing people shade and respite from the tropical weather are evidence of colonial refusal. These documented examples of resistance expand the archive and recontextualize historical images. My thesis considers the rich history that produced precedents of resistance and proposes a design strategy that deconstructs and transforms the Postigo de La Nuestra Señora De Soledad, a small hidden gate in the Intramuros fortification. By partially obscuring and inhabiting this section of the fortification, using bamboo scaffolding of coastal villages and textile boat sails in juxtaposition with the stone wall, my aim is to circumvent the reproduction of colonial ideology in architecture.Item Open Access Geopolitics at Play: Trans and Intersex Athletes in Elite Sports(2025-03-28) Kearney, Amanda; Smith, Sarah StefanaAt the foundation of many iterations of the conversation around trans and intersex athletes in competitive sports, there is a common foundational understanding that there ‘must be a male winner, and must be a female winner,’ thus justifying the exclusion of trans women from competing. In attempting to combat this kind of exclusion, I was struck by the question, ‘why is that? What is at stake? In this project, I work to investigate the gendered, racial, and global implications of winning, especially considering competitive sports’ position on an international scale and its connections to what Earl Smith defines as the Athletic Industrial Complex (AIC). The AIC is an institution with immense influence to produce/reinforce imperial hegemony due to its location in the global economy and its entanglements with other institutions of power (Smith, 2014, p. 72). I conduct a discourse analysis on the sensationalized stories of elite athlete Caster Semenya and high school student-athletes Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. In this process, I engage with Black Feminist, Marxist, Critical Trans and Critical Sports theorizers to frame the the continuums and congruences connecting capital and imperial interests of transmisogynoir-istic legislation across time and space. The first chapter historicizes the social construction of biological sex dimorphism to disrupt the notion that there is an unbiased, objective truth. Black feminist and Marxist analyses of sex and gender help frame sex and gender as inextricably racialized and classed with serious material consequences that allows for exploited gendered labor to persist as well as (re)inforces pathologization of Black people’s bodies. The second chapter begins our discussion about Semenya, Miller and Yearwood and point out the ways that their treatment is connected to/occuring in the afterlife of slavery, thus informing the basis for their subjugation. Reading the discourse of these athletes together contours the boundaries between liberal conceptualizations of human and non-human subjectivities and their relation to the state. The third chapter explores the ways in which winning is embroiled in accumulation of capital and alienates the production of labor from athletes – particularly racialized athletes. In this chapter, I also investigate the connections of winning, nationalism, knowledge production, and imperialist hegemony. Finally, in framing the question of what is to be done, I problematize inclusionary-based politics within our current neoliberal capitalist context, particularly as it is positioned as liberatory.Item Restricted (In)validating the KPFM Method for Estimating the Trap Density of States in Organic Semiconductors(2025-03-05) Yuan, Sophia; Aidala, KatherineDue to the complex structure of organic semiconductors, accurately estimating the trap density of states (DOS) within these materials is a challenge. In the past few decades, multiple techniques have been developed that estimate traps in organic materials. However, each technique has some limitations. This thesis focuses on improving our understanding of one less commonly used technique that employs Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy to measure the surface potential of a thin semiconducting film. We used OghmaNano to simulate this measurement of trap DOS within P3HT, a p-type material. OghmaNano computationally solves the drift-diffusion equation and incorporates non-equilibrium Shockley-Read-Hall formulism, which describes the physics of carrier traps in these materials. Our analysis employs analytical equations derived by previous groups that relate the density of states to the surface potential of a thin film as a gate voltage is changed. While this technique has been employed experimentally, the trap DOS was not known in those materials. In our simulations, we define the trap DOS, run the simulation to calculate the potential, and then apply the analysis used by others. We are unable to extract the correct trap DOS. We investigate the reason for this, examining the role of temperature and whether our use of SRH trap dynamics is sufficient to explain the difference. We were not able to conclusively determine the cause at this time.Item Open Access The Art of Witnessing: An Ethnography of SUD Treatment in Rural Vermont(2025-01-22) Pugh, Christine; Aulino, FelicityThis thesis explores the lived experience and structural conditioning of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment in rural Vermont. It is based on seven months of ethnographic research with an SUD recovery center, where I participated in various modalities of clinical and social treatment for those with SUD. In this text, first I highlight the interconnections between biomedicine and policing as they come into conflict with the care goals of individuals with SUD, resulting in a need for advocates in the form of Recovery Center staff. I then discuss the moral stakes of SUD in the local area, with particular attention to the dimensions of social suffering related to SUD. Finally, I look into the ways in which current shortcomings in this realm might be addressed through the usage of art and art therapy, not just as treatment for SUD in and of itself, but also as a tool for advocacy that can affect the landscape of stigma and subsequent treatment of people with SUD.Item Restricted Quel Tramonto Gentile: Validating the Tribulations of Girlhood in Lidia Ravera & Marco Lombardo Radice's PORCI CON LE ALI(2024-07-08) Gagnon, Gabriella; Frau, OmbrettaA jarring and underappreciated book, Lidia Ravera and Marco Lombardo Radice’s 1976 novel Porci con le ali: Diario Sessuo-Politico di Due Adolescenti narrates the relationship of two Roman highschoolers, Rocco and Antonia. Originally published under the collective pseudonym of the two protagonists, this story gives voice to the difficulties of navigating the choppy waters of youth against the backdrop of Italy’s politically treacherous Lead Years (gli Anni di Piombo) and the unspoken societal norms that impacted Rocco and Antonia’s everyday decisions. Despite there existing very little scholarship dedicated to this book, Porci con le ali garnered much attention upon its publication due to the vulgar language the characters use to communicate with each other and the nature of their erotic relations. While Rocco and Antonia are both average teenagers, it is Antonia who leads this story—and their relationship—with a stronger sense of self following the blatant disrespect and disregard for her bodily autonomy that she receives from her Rocco. My thesis seeks to defend the crudeness with which Antonia’s adolescence is handled as the story progresses. Because this novel is written in the journal format, it gives the audience a comprehensive window into the emotional turmoil she experiences in addition to appealing to a sense of nostalgia. With her own internal struggles of identity, Antonia alternates between bouts of maturity and childishness as she grapples with the notion that the only person who cares about what she has to say is herself. Through an in-depth character analysis of both characters, Antonia’s colorful use of language, and an exploration of how her sexual encounters further distance her from contemporary expectations, my work aims to circulate Lombardo Radice and Ravera’s novel back into modern feminist conversation due to its depiction of female adolescence.Item Open Access The Ethics of Ideal Animal Farming(2024-07-03) Savid, Sofía; Harold, JamesIndustrial animal farming has been rejected in academic as well as non-academic spheres for several reasons, in particular its negative impact on animal welfare and the environment. As an alternative, people have turned to “organic,” “small scale,” and “local” animal farming, treating it as an ethical solution to many, or perhaps all, of the problems caused by industrial animal farming. However, Tom Regan’s paper, “The Case for Animal Rights,” and Christine Korsgaard’s paper, “Getting Animals in View,” note that there is something morally wrong that happens when we use animals—both human and non-human—as resources. Therefore, Regan and Korsgaard’s arguments seem to ultimately reject any kind of animal farming, including “organic,” “small scale,” and “local” animal farming. In this thesis, I use these two papers by Regan and Korsgaard as well as Peter Singer’s paper, “All Animals Are Equal,” as the foundation of my own argument. I introduce the ideal animal farm as the perfect animal farm which is ethical and ideal in every way we might want it to be, and I argue that even ideal animal farms can be unethical because of what Regan and Korsgaard note in their papers. I identify exploitation as a necessary part of many cases of animal farming, and I argue that exploiting non-human animals is always morally wrong. I am additionally interested in the stark contrast between our treatment of humans and non-human animals, even in ideal farms, which implies that exploiting a human is morally worse than exploiting a non-human animal. This thesis looks closely at what I think are the strongest arguments and explanations in defense of this contrast in treatment, and I ultimately conclude that the defenses are not strong enough to justify systemically treating non-human animals, and not humans, as resources.Item Restricted Optimizing the dose-response of Interleukin-4 (IL-4) to further investigate its role in the association between Maternal Allergic Asthma and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Ragoonaden, Shanthini; Schwartzer, JaredClinical studies have demonstrated that allergic asthma during pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring. The Schwartzer Lab has developed a Maternal Allergic Asthma (MAA) model that has established a role for Interleukin-4 (IL-4) connecting MAA to neurodevelopmental deficits in the offspring. A forthcoming research project will examine the sufficiency of IL-4 by evaluating whether elevations in maternal IL-4 dosage have a dose-dependent effect on offspring behavioral deficits. However, it remains unknown the appropriate IL-4 dosage to be administered in a mouse model to replicate the IL-4 response observed in MAA. The goal of this research is to identify the optimal IL-4 dosage needed to mimic the inflammatory responses observed in MAA. To test this, Experiment 1 investigated the best time to take blood samples from female C57 mice when exposed to OVA and when injected with 5μg of IL-4. In Experiment 2, we aimed to investigate the IL-4 dose response by injecting 2 different doses of IL-4 in the mice. In both experiments, blood samples were analyzed using Bead-Based immunoassays to measure IL-4 biomarker concentrations. Findings show that IL-4 IP injection has a higher rate of decay post-exposure, when compared to MAA OVA exposure. We also estimate an IL-4 dose of 0.025 ug suitable for IP injection in a mouse model aimed at investigating the cytokine’s sufficiency in causing neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring. This thesis research project was positioned to derive an IL-4 dose-response curve, thereby providing guidance in determining the optimal injection dosage for future studies exploring the causal link between maternal IL-4 and MAA.Item Open Access Refining the Formation of Fissures on EuropaGrobe Perlman, Eliana; Dyar, DarbyEuropa is a large moon of Jupiter with an icy crust and a subsurface ocean. Europa orbits close to Jupiter and is tidally locked, so it experiences tidal forces that cause the tectonic, magmatic, and volcanic processes that shape its surface. This relationship has formed two prominent terrain types: ridged plains and chaos terrain. While the ridged plains are dominated by ridges and the chaos by pits and domes, both are home to fractures and gorges (fossae). Studying these landforms could prove useful in deciphering the subsurface's physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics. Current models of the crust posit a two-layered system with a thinner, brittle outer layer and a thicker, ductile one. However, the exact thickness of these layers and whether this thickness varies over the surface is as controversial as their chemical compositions. Europa's subsurface processes are also debated. The many models of linear landform formation fall into two broad categories: formation via tidal tectonics and formation via indirect tidal forces like tidal heating. The maps and morphological analyses of the landforms in this thesis have contributed to the conversations regarding Europa’s subsurface processes and characteristics. This thesis finds an overabundance of wavy and jagged linea compared to tectonic model predictions. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that indirect tidal processes such as diapirism are at least partially responsible for these landforms. Bethel (2018) explains that tidal forces will preferentially deform regions of the thinner crust, while on planets with uniform crusts, tidal forces will act more symmetrically. The results of this thesis fit the ladder explanation and thus question the idea of a homogenous Europan crust. The landforms mapped in this thesis could be of speleogenic and geochemical interest. However, the quality and quantity of current Europa data have made this dataset incomplete. Thus, once better data is acquired, this list should be refined and expanded upon before it is used for geochemical or spelogenic research.Item Open Access Exploring Variation of Female Genital Morphology in Hydrolagus colliei (Spotted Ratfish)Garcia-Israel, Jennifer; Brennan, PatriciaFemale genitalia are found to be more diverse than previously thought, yet they have been historically understudied in the scientific world. Hydrolagus colliei is a particularly interesting model for studying female genital morphology. Female ratfish have paired vaginal openings, as well as a paired vagina and oviducts. We investigated how female ratfish genital morphology varies through body size and ontogeny, and how the female ratfish genitalia may have coevolved with male ratfish genitalia by examining the histology of the vagina in females of different sizes. We also examined the anatomy of the anal pad, a fleshy structure present only in females on the ventral side of the tail. I found that the relationship between vaginal shape and body size is significant, vaginal thickness increases with size of the female ratfish, and that vaginal density does not appear to vary significantly. I also found that the anal pad has a thick layer of collagen that increases in thickness with body size. This study shows that vagina shape changes with body size in females, and that male and female genitalia are coevolving in ratfish. It also provides evidence that females evolve other specializations that differ from males, likely in a reproductive context.Item Open Access Analysis of the Longitudinal Spread of Impulsive SEP Events Uisng Time-Intensity Profiles and Energetic Ion Spectra(2024-07-02) Lee, Amelia; Filwett, Rachael; Smith, SpencerImpulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events occur when protons, electrons, and heavier nuclei are accelerated to high energies (hundreds of MeV) in solar flares and are then observed in interplanetary space. Impulsive SEP events typically last a few minutes to a few hours and have heightened 3He/4He and Fe/O ratios compared to solar wind abundances1. Typically, these events have a longitudinal spread of 20°-40°. However, for unknown reasons, some impulsive events have been observed to have a wide ( 130°) longitudinal spread. Understanding why some impulsive SEP events are not constrained to a small longitudinal spread or perhaps undergo cross-field diffusion helps us increase our understanding of energetic particle transport and the interplanetary magnetic field configuration. In this study time-intensity profiles and energetic ion spectra for Helium (Helium-3 and Helium-4 when available), Carbon, Oxygen, and Iron in energy ranges from a few keV to 70 MeV are used to examine the longitudinal spread of six SEP events. These events are April 2-3, 2019, April 4, 2019, April 20-23, 2019, July 11, 2020, July 20, 2020, and May 24-25, 2021, which were previously identified in Mitchell et al. (2023) or Mason et al. (2020). The analysis used four different spacecraft: Parker Solar Probe/IS⊙IS/EPI-Lo, ACE/ULEIS, STEREO-A/IMPACT/LET, and Solar Orbiter/EPD/SIS. We use the findings to discuss the longitudinal spread of heavy ion spectra which show a wide range of longitudinal spreads from event to event.Item Open Access The effect of BhB on severe TBI in Drosophila Melanogaster(2024-07-02) Hardin, Andreana; Woodard , CraigToday, there are very few treatment measures for long-term brain injury, leaving it to be one of the leading causes of death. Autophagy is a natural process that degrades old cellular components to recycle amino acids and proteins to support the synthesis of new cellular structures in a turnover of cytoplasm. In autophagy, cytosolic vesicles fuse with a lysosome to turn over cytoplasmic contents for reuse. Autophagy has been linked to increased immune defense, tumor suppression, apoptosis, and the prevention of neuronal degeneration, leading many to explore the psychopharmacological benefits it may have for brain injury. In Drosophila, autophagy is regulated in part by the Atg8a protein. The ketogenic diet and ketone body supplementation have been known to increase rates of autophagy. For this experiment, I inflicted traumatic brain injury on Drosophila fed on both a ketone-supplemented diet and a control diet. I hypothesized that Drosophila raised on a diet with ketone body supplementation will exhibit a higher rate of autophagy than Drosophila raised on control food. To achieve traumatic brain injury, the flies are put in a “High Impact Trauma” (HIT) device. Drosophila were then returned to control or ketone-supplemented food for 72, 24, or 6 hours. Then, their CNS was dissected for analysis in two ways. First, I used a Western Blot approach to quantify autophagy via the ratio of lipidated to unlipidated Atg8a protein. Confocal microscopy was also used for analyzation. Images from the confocal microscope were analyzed quantitatively with Image J. After analyses, I saw that there was a suggested difference between the sample groups, and the there was a lower rate of autophagy in flies raised on a BHB supplemented diet and remained on a BHB supplemented diet post TBI than flies raised on a control diet and remained on a control diet post TBI.Item Open Access Comparative Analysis of the Morphological Characteristics of the Retractor Penis Magnus in Snake Copulation(2024-07-02) Lee, Autumn; Brennan, PatriciaUntil now, little was known about the morphological characteristics of the retractor penis magnus and its relationship with the hemipenis during copulation. Prior research describes only the basic function of pulling back in and retracting the everted hemipenis. However, more recent studies have observed morphological aspects of the retractor penis muscles suggesting a function beyond retraction. In addition, observations in the Brennan Lab of the muscle compared to the hemipenis have also suggested that size does not necessarily correlate between the two structures, raising further questions regarding the purpose and function of this structure during copulation. Through histological analysis, we gained a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between form and function of this structure, enabling us to draw more accurate conclusions about its function. In particular, there is evidence that this muscle provides rigidity to the hemipenis during copulation by its fiber arrangement. The findings from this study could offer broader implications for understanding sexual selection, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary patterns in snakes. Through this multidisciplinary approach, the study aims to enhance our understanding of the complex interplay between form and function in snake reproductive organs, offering valuable insights into the evolutionary biology of snakes and potentially other reptiles.Item Open Access Campus Lawn Alternatives at Mount Holyoke College(2024-07-01) Williams, Eliza; Darling, NaomiThe purpose of this thesis is to encourage Mount Holyoke College to adopt a more sustainable landscaping plan. The historically significant way that lawns came about is important to consider as these spaces do provide certain cultural and aesthetic benefits. However, the environmental costs are too high to continue this form of ultimately unproductive landscaping. Using case studies as attainable alternative examples I have compiled a variety of techniques for Mount Holyoke to employ. This, along with many other considerations like student and staff opinions, how we and other species use our landscape, and site evaluations, led to the creation of a final proposal which includes the possibility of potential pilot projects.Item Open Access Fractured Conversations: Interactions between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities on TikTok(2024-07-01) Barrera, Jude; Castro, EstherWith over 1 billion active TikTok users, the social media application is shaping up to be a central part of our lives, impacting the way we communicate and consume, yet despite its global scale, the application creates a monolingual experience for its users. TikTok’s videographic format brings a level of vulnerability for its creators. Creators are critiqued on not only the quality of their content but also their appearances and voices. On the other hand, TikTok’s comment section offers a sense of anonymity that can encourage users to interact with creators in a distant, detached way. This strenuous relationship between creator and commenter is further tested in situations where there is a language barrier between the two. Some methods that TikTok employs to create a monolingual space for users on the app are more overt, such as continuously recommending videos in a user’s preferred language and the app’s new automatic translation feature that provides translated subtitles for videos in foreign languages. One less explicit method of maintaining a monolingual experience is in the organization of the comment section. For example, English comments are prioritized on accounts that have English as their preferred language, to the point where Spanish comments that have double or triple the likes of their English counterparts are pushed to the bottom of the comment section, even if the video those comments were posted on is in Spanish. For the English-Spanish bilingual communities that use the application, it creates an inorganic linguistic vacuum, wherein speakers presume that only one language is being used. Studying the ways in which comments in English attempt to relate to or position themselves to Spanish-language content demonstrates the ways that a monolingual user-experience creates barriers from meaningful, reciprocal interactions. Constructing a linguistically equitable space on TikTok, starting with the comments section could promote a further integrated, transnational bilingual community on the platform.Item Open Access Inedible Girl: To Be Vulnerable Is To Be Consumed(2024-07-01) Kirk, Jennifer; Williams, Marianna DixonTo present in a feminine manner according to heteronormative patriarchal ideals is often to perform, to be aware, and to be at risk of consumption. As a queer individual who has spent their life presenting in such a way, I have a deep understanding of the potential of violence which faces heteronormative femininity, particularly in a world which is panopticonal and built off the male gaze, and the ways in which the general public feels welcome to looking, staring, and consuming through the eyes. This work is an exploration into the ways this occurs, what can be done to disrupt the modern norm which allows it, and how the queering of feminine gender and the unveiling of femininity as a performance works to elevate the self from typical social order. The heart of this thesis is performance art, in which I interact with the world while wearing exaggerated makeup, somewhere between clown and drag, intended to embody hyper-femininity. I explore how I am treated when I present as something that does not adhere to patriarchal beauty standards—even which potentially satirizes them—and compare it to how I am treated when I present the way society intends me to, secretly filming myself throughout the process. Collections of projected videos, collages, and makeup wipes imprinted with my makeup each bolster this work, as they investigate a different element of, or background behind, this performance of hyperfemininity. These elements are the shifting into a new presentation, the vulnerability I refuse to confront, and a selfhood that becomes hidden behind the mask of makeup. Each of these elements of exploration are deeply informed by the work of artists Nan Goldin, Leigh Bowery, Sin Wai Kin, and Sophie Jung, each of whom unpick what it is to know the self, to know others, and to be seen through it all. I attempt to force the viewer, within my own work, to see me and interact with me, and to confront themselves as a voyeur. Within this, in making myself an intentional spectacle in an attempt to cover the self underneath, this begs the question: if I consent to being seen, am I still consumable?Item Open Access PERFORMANCE PROCESSES IN MINUCA PUGNAX ACROSS TEMPERATURES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NORTHERN RANGE EXPANSION(2024-07-01) Mancini, Eli; Brodie, Renae; Gillis, GaryThe Atlantic Marsh fiddler crab, Minuca pugnax, has migrated north of its historic range edge in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and can be found in central Maine (Johnson pers comm.). The migration of M. pugnax leads toward the Gulf of Maine, a climate change hotspot. We studied the possible influences of expanded range temperatures on performance by investigating the effects of temperature on the respiration rate, running speed, and heart rate of M. pugnax. Both the respiration rate and running speed experiments were conducted in temperature-controlled chambers that were held at a single temperature for each trial. The temperature in the chamber ranged from 15°C to 35°C in increments of 5°C. Before the respiration rate experiment, each crab was placed in an individual glass beaker with a scannable sticker on the inside of the glass. Respiration rates were then measured using a PreSens Fibox 4, which recorded the oxygen consumption as a proxy for respiration rate over the course of an hour. Female M. pugnax did not show a significant change in respiration from 20°C to 35°C, while males had a peak respiration rate at 25°C. Running speed was measured using an entirely linear “racetrack” made of acrylic plexiglass, the surface of which was covered by a thin layer of damp sand to mirror the intertidal environment of M. pugnax. One crab was placed on a racetrack at a time to get individual running speeds and was encouraged to run by being “chased” using a popsicle stick. Female M. pugnax had a significantly higher running speed at 20°C through 35°C. Males had a peak running speed at 30°C. For both the running speed and respiration rate experiments, both male and female M. pugnax had significantly depressed performance at 15°C. Heart rates of M. pugnax were measured using voltage signal sensors connected to a Newshift AMP03 Heartrate Monitor over a 15°C to 35°C ramp. Both female and male M. pugnax showed no significant differences in heart rate. Our data implies that although the heart rate of M. pugnax may not be affected by the colder expanded range, issues for performance may arise in running speed and respiration rate.Item Open Access Escaping the Birdcage: Complicating Narratives of Agency and Victimhood through Maternal Metaphors of the Female Tigers in the LTTE(2024-06-24) Rao, Madhavi; Medhi, AbhilashIt is hard to imagine genocide, war and violence without imagining women. Cruelty against women, or more essentially mothers, represents the darkest aspects of war against a people. To humanize a group, you invoke their mothers – symbols of the capacity of those people to love and be loved. However, in many contexts, womens and mothers are not only victims of violence, but its perpetrators as well. During the Sri Lankan civil war, it was Tamil women within the militant separatist organization of the LTTE who disproportionately enacted mass violence against both soldiers and civilians. Women became perpetrators, not victims. And yet, their violence was assigned a maternal virtue – a mother’s divine wrath and extreme urge to protect. The association of women as docile, servile and above all self-sacrificing dispelled any sense of empowerment that female combatants might have gained when they picked up their weapons. Their participation in an extremist movement was attributed to the manipulation of their maternal instincts, not to an active choice fueled by their beliefs. By reducing women to different aspects of motherhood – the mother of a people, the ever-giving mother, the mother goddess – they are stripped of their agency and bound to their “nature”. This thesis attempts to complicate narratives of violent women as only acting upon and being exploited through their most maternal instincts. To this end, this thesis will engage with propaganda about and by Tamil female militants, mythical and religious depictions of mothers within nationalist rhetoric and the bodily autonomy of women fighting the Sri Lankan civil war to assert their identities as militants, not mothers.Item Open Access Characterization and Spatial Analysis of Official and Unofficial Caldera and Coronae Populations on Venus(2024-06-21) Woerner, Jess; Dyar, M. DarbyVenus is often considered Earth’s evil twin due to their similarities in structure, but its surface conditions render it a volcanic hellscape. Through the mapping of previously defined populations of calderas and coronae on Venus using ArcGIS Pro, many features considered “caldera-like” and “coronae-like” were identified, prompting the creation of potential caldera and potential coronae catalogues. Heat maps were created to assess the spatial distribution of these features across the surface of Venus and it was found that 61% of the identified potential calderas were contained within or closely associated with the official caldera population, while 85% of the identified potential coronae were contained within or closely associated with the official coronae population. Further analysis of high-density feature clusters uncovered a significant presence of coronae with depressed topography as well as relationships between highly deformed terrain and coronae formation on the surface. A previously undocumented coronae cluster was identified in the Bereghinya Planitia quadrangle, outside of the distinct geologic settings in which coronae are most common. Upcoming missions to Venus will produce higher-resolution radar maps of the surface, allowing closer research of these findings.Item Open Access How do Pigeons Find Their Way Home?(2024-06-21) Schlein, Silvie; Lawlor, Andrea; Yu, WesleyIn an exploration of what it means to construct queerness with and without language, my thesis aims to bring a new perspective to Chaucer’s work while also engaging in the current conversations surrounding queer identity. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath and Pardoner are reimagined as modern characters living in New York City. As they struggle to understand the strange pigeon-like reflections they have been seeing in the mirror, they end up helping each other through an unlikely friendship. Throughout this project, my process was rooted in an interest in queer and medieval theory, as well as in a love for the questions of identity that humans share across centuries. Incorporating illustration, fabulism, poetry, and prose, I pull from queer and medieval traditions to create a narrative that grapples with the abstract constructions of identity, gender, queerness, and pathology.Item Restricted Regulation of Insulin Signaling by Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 in Drosophila melanogaster(2024-06-21) Stichter, Madigan; Woodard, CraigInsulin sensitivity declines progressively with age in mammals, potentially leading to diseases such as metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this decline are not well understood. Matrix metalloproteinases or MMPs are multifunctional Zn2+-dependent protease enzymes that play key roles in tissue development, cell organization, cell cycle control, and response to stimuli and signaling in a wide variety of animals, including mammals and the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Many MMPs are attached to the cell membrane by the protein glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), which enables them to interact with the cell’s extracellular matrix (ECM) (Cieplak & Strongin, 2017). Previous studies of MMPs in D. melanogaster indicate that MMP1 and MMP2 work cooperatively and distinctly to degrade ECM components, particularly type IV collagen and laminin, during tissue remodeling of the larval fat bodies (Jia et al., 2014, 2017). MMP2 overexpression causes premature fat body remodeling in larvae and is both necessary and sufficient to induce fat body dissociation in D. melanogaster (Bond et al., 2011). I investigated the role of MMP2 in insulin signaling using D. melanogaster, which is a great model organism with a short life cycle that requires minimal culturing effort. Despite the fruit fly having low genetic redundancy, it still has a 75% similarity to all human genes implicated in disease. This makes it an ideal model organism to study the insulin signaling pathway. Previous studies show the indirect involvement of MMP2 in insulin signaling in D. melanogaster, and overexpression of an MMP (MT1-MMP/MMP14) in mouse hepatic (liver) tissue showed direct cleavage of the insulin receptor, thus suppressing insulin signaling (Guo et al., 2022). I hypothesized that in D. melanogaster, MMP2 has direct involvement in the insulin signaling pathway through cleavage of the insulin receptor. In my investigation - inspired by the mouse study - I overexpressed MMP2 in the fat body of transgenic flies and quantified the effect on insulin signaling via western blot analysis. Quantification of the western blot by downstream protein biomarkers of autophagy, Atg8a proteins, resulted in a surprising decrease in autophagy in the fat bodies of MMP2 overexpressing transgenic flies compared to the control group. Despite that outcome, it was notable that early fat body remodeling occurred in MMP2 overexpressed flies, which is consistent with the findings of Bond et al., (2011). In future studies, more western blots should be performed to gain a higher n value, and tissue samples should also be taken from feeding 3rd instar larvae when insulin signaling is at its highest (Chen, 2020).