Showing 1 - 10 of 2039 Items
Indigenous Rights in International Law: A Focus on Extraction in the Arctic
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Aine Healey Lawlor
Access: Open access
- This paper seeks to evaluate the evolution and future of Indigenous rights in extractive industry on a global scale and uses the Arctic both to explore the complexity of these rights and to provide paths forward in advancing Indigenous self-determination. Indigenous rights lack a strong international foundation and are often dependent upon local and domestic regimes, yet this reality is currently shifting. The state of extraction internationally, particularly in the Arctic, is also facing major uncertainty in the coming decades as demand continues to rise. Indigenous rights and the rules governing extractive industry intersect because much of the world’s remaining mineral resources are on or near Indigenous territories and Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by the environmental degradation and socio-cultural consequences of extractive development. The Arctic is arguably the most important setting for the world’s future resource needs and is also home to many Indigenous peoples who operate in complex legal, political, and social webs. This paper argues that as a result of these dynamics, the Arctic offers opportunities to advance forms of non-traditional sovereignty and to promote recognition of Indigenous self-determination through diffusion and international norm development. This paper proposes a multi-faceted approach to further promote Indigenous rights on the international level which involves using the Arctic Council as a platform for diffusion, the US ratification of UNDRIP, the creation of standards and guidelines for transnational corporations in development projects, and investment in Indigenous communities to support Indigenous empowerment, advocacy, and voices.
Clones, Corporations, and Community: Cyborg Bodies Onstage
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Grace Kellar-Long
Access: Open access
- For my honors project, I selected, wrote, directed, and produced an adaptation of a science fiction novella for the stage. I chose Nino Cipri's Defekt as the source material for my adaptation because I wanted to adapt a text where the novum, or science fiction novelty, is located in the bodies of the actors. During the written adaptation process, I worked from my memory of the novella, highlighting and expanding on the themes of queer found family, empathy, and anti-capitalism that were already present in the text. I repeatedly attempted to contact the author, their agent, and the publisher to secure the rights to adapt the novella, but I did not receive a reply from any of the copyright holders. After I adapted the novella into a script, I conducted a staged reading. Following that reading and further revisions of the script, I began rehearsals for the full production. During the rehearsal process, I guided the actors to create a shared vocabulary of movement to communicate that they were portraying clones, the embodied novum I focused on in my adaptation. In addition to leading rehearsals, I also coordinated the logistics to produce the play, including working with two designers, creating rehearsal schedules, and working with the tech staff in the Theater Department. The final performance examined the boundaries between human and non-human bodies, inviting audiences to think about how capitalism and empathy determine how we interact with marginalized bodies. This packet contains the program and program notes from the production.
Re-envisioning the Tropics: Nick Joaquin's Philippine Gothic
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Ella Marie Jaman
Access: Open access
- This paper examines selected stories from Filipino author, Nick Joaquin, through a gothic lens. Drawing from recent development in Gothic studies, I work within a tropical gothic and postcolonial gothic framework to suggest a localized "Philippine gothic" represented within Nick Joaquin's work. Stories examined include the novel "The Woman Who Had Two Navels," as well as the short stories "Summer Solstice, Mass of St. Sylvestre," and "The Order of Melkizedek."
A Comparative Perspective on Colonial Influence in the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid in South Korea and Algeria
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Viv Daniel
Access: Open access
- South Korea and Algeria are both formerly colonized nations with a history of dependence on foreign aid. Their former colonizers, Japan and France respectively, collaborated closely throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, despite colonial linkages and similarities in early developmental trajectories, South Korea has grown into a donating member of the OECD and one of the world’s largest economies, while Algeria continues to struggle both economically and politically. This paper engages existing literature on postcolonial development and foreign aid by arguing that the attitudes towards colonization and the motivations for undertaking it on the part of colonial powers can have as large an impact on the success of foreign aid as the endogenous circumstances of the states receiving such aid.
Characterization and Quantification of AST-C Peptides in Homarus americanus Using Mass Spectrometry
Date: 2015-05-01
Creator: Amanda Howard
Access: Open access
- Neuropeptides are small signaling molecules found throughout the nervous system that influence animal behavior. Using the American lobster, Homarus americanus, as a model system, this research focused on an allatostatin type-C (AST-C) peptide, pQIRYHQCYFNPISCF (disulfide bond between underlined cysteine residues), and a structurally similar crustacean peptide, SYWKQCAFNAVSCFamide. These neuropeptides influence cardiac muscle contraction patterns and stomatogastric nervous system activity in the lobster. To understand their roles, this study sought to develop a method to quantify peptides in the pericardial organ (PO) and other crustacean tissues. Overall analysis involved microdissection to isolate tissues, tissue extraction, extract purification and concentration, and analysis by chip-based nano-electrospray ionization-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (nanoESI-LC-MS). In the present study, pQIRYHQCYFNPISCF was identified in the PO. To quantify target peptides, internal standards were tested as recovery and calibration references. However, experiments with pQIRYHQCYFNPISCF and other peptides showed evidence of adsorptive losses during sample preparation and analysis, with improvements in recovery resulting from the use of isopropanol-prewashed polypropylene vials. Preliminary results also suggested that introducing polyethylene glycol (PEG) in solution reduced adsorptive losses for hydrophobic peptides, but may have compromised hydrophilic peptide detection. Future directions include characterizing other sources of analyte loss and developing techniques to recover these signals. Since both target peptides as detected in the lobster are post-translationally modified, other directions include identifying modified and unmodified forms of these peptides in H. americanus. Ultimately, quantifying AST-C peptides and viii identifying their modified and unmodified forms will help explain how neuropeptides regulate behavior within the lobster and more complex systems.
Leadership from Within: Founders, advocates, and organizational networks operating in Maine's immigrant community
Date: 2019-05-01
Creator: Samuel Robert Kenney
Access: Open access
- Much of the discourse surrounding African immigration to Maine has centered on the provision of public services that facilitate community development and integration. This project investigates different types of leadership strategies employed by African individuals in Maine that advance community objectives. When African immigrant leaders are empowered to affect public policy, they re-frame traditional conceptions of aid-dependency and vulnerability commonly applied to African immigrants in media and popular culture. Through leadership in nonprofit and civic spheres, African immigrant community leaders translate grassroots connectivity with informal networks into meaningful influence in the realm of public policy. This project focuses on the evolution of community leadership in Maine’s Somali community, the network of immigrant-serving organizations that provide specialized public services across the state, and the capacity of one organization in particular, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC) to ensure accurate representation of policy initiatives to civic officials for individuals unable to participate in the electoral process. This project evaluates the political utility of ‘lived experience’ as a component of diversity in the realm of public policy.
Mechanisms underlying variable responses to isoforms of the neuropeptide C-type allatostatin (AST-C) in the cardiac neuromuscular system of the American lobster, Homarus americanus
Date: 2019-01-01
Creator: Evalyn Mackenzie
Access: Open access
- Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) are neural networks that produce steady, rhythmic patterned outputs that activate particular muscles and consequently create recurrent rhythmic movements. The cardiac ganglion (CG) of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a useful model system for the study of CPGs. Neuropeptides modulate cardiac contractions driven by the CG in H. americanus and accordingly elicit a range of effects. Post-translational modifications such as amidation can impact function of a peptide neuromodulator. C-type allatostatins (AST-Cs) are a group of neuropeptides that modulate the cardiac neuromuscular system of H. americanus. The objective of this study was to determine what structural aspects of the peptides were responsible for the similarity in responses elicited by AST-C I and AST-C III and the difference in responses evoked by AST-C II in comparison. AST-C I and AST-C III are not C-terminally amidated, whereas AST-C II is C-terminally amidated. We first hypothesized that amidated AST-C peptides would evoke similar responses to one another in contraction amplitude and frequency. Our second hypothesis was that exchanging the amino acids alanine and tyrosine at a specific location in AST-C II and AST-C III would affect the conformation of the peptide, and consequently impact peptide binding and elicit different effects. In contrast to our predictions, we did not see similar responses evoked by all amidated or all non-amidated peptides among lobsters. In support of our second hypothesis, there was a significant difference in percent change in contraction amplitude elicited among AST-C II Y, AST-C II and AST-C III.
Interview with Awa Diaw (Class of 2011) by Aisha Rickford
Date: 2019-11-09
Creator: Awa Diaw
Access: Open access
- Awa Diaw ‘11 talks about the experience of moving from the diverse community of Harlem, New York to snowy Brunswick, ME, and how it was one of her first times being around white students in an academic setting, which she calls a “cultural transition.” Diaw, reflects on learning to use Bowdoin’s resources and how to get support where she needed it, and recalls incidents of racial bias experienced by Bowdoin students during her time at the College. One of these culminated in a moment in Diaw’s junior year when, frustrated with the administration’s response to a particularly disturbing incident, Diaw and a committee of other students created a campaign called I Am Bowdoin, which elevated the voices of students who felt marginalized at Bowdoin.
Interview with Randy Stakeman by Marcus Williams
Date: 2019-11-10
Creator: Randy Stakeman
Access: Open access
- Randy Stakeman came to Bowdoin in 1978, not as a student, but as a member of the faculty. He discusses the history of the Africana Studies program, which he chaired from 1989 until his retirement in 2006. Stakeman also discusses his position as Acting Dean of Students, which he held for a brief period of time early in his career. He worked diligently to help bridge the achievement gap between black and white students. Stakeman partnered with faculty across the college to give special attention and support to underachieving students. He remembers fondly the role of the John B. Russwurm Center, where black students could congregate and find support. He says the house created a community, which he cherished.