The Politics of Fertility: Population and Pronatalism in Ladakh

In India’s northwestern region of Ladakh, the linkage between reproduction, politics, and fertility is both complicated and contested, evident in increasing population discourses and the re-emergence of a Buddhist pronatalist movement. This paper examines the impacts of population discourses and pronatalism on women’s reproductive decision-making, as well as on the delivery of healthcare throughout Ladakh. Population discourses currently circulating produce two reproductive subjects—the “hyper-fertile Muslim woman” and the “vulnerable Buddhist”—both of which have been central in revitalizing Buddhist pronatalism. Data collected through a hospital-based survey and interviews shows that fertility behavior is shaped by religious interpretations, political mobilization, and pressure to be culturally loyal. Fertility decisions are not simply about one’s reproductive choices and desires—but are instead situated in a contested context where Ladakhis are worried about culture loss. While these cultural pressures differently impact Muslim and Buddhist women, the growing politicization of reproduction results in continued ethnic/religious conflict that has far-ranging impacts throughout the region

Awkward Voices: How Storytelling Challenges Preconceived Notions to Lessen Affective Polarization in American Politics

The United States is no stranger to violence, whether it be in the past or the present, structural or physical. In recent years, however, tensions within the country have increased, particularly between political parties. Operating under the philosophy that a better world cannot be built upon the mistakes of the past, and that peace is a radical act, it is necessary to urgently address this polarization in order to prevent further violence. This article explores the question of whether storytelling between conflicting groups is a method to address these issues. This paper is divided into two central parts. The first section outlines the problem of polarization. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of American Studies, I use theories of peace and conflict studies to outline how polarization is the predecessor to violence and war. I cite research in psychology to examine how dehumanization plays a role in violence and is a product of polarization. Then, I utilize research in political science to establish why political polarization (as opposed to other divisions in society, such as race, gender, or class) is a concern. Additionally, I differentiate between ideological and affective polarization, and examine what their measured levels in the United States illustrate. I look at all of this information through the American Studies lenses of analyzing systems of power, solving systemic issues, and the roles of race, gender, and class. This leads into the second part of the paper, which presents storytelling as a solution. It addresses the potential for storytelling to be both destructive and constructive. Many of what are known as “post-conflict” societies have had extensive, detailed experiences with storytelling on both sides that were meaningful for healing; from these examples I outline how storytelling can be practiced in order for it to be constructive, and the limits of storytelling as a method. I end with storytelling of my own, from examples in my own life and across the United States that showcase the power of storytelling

From Homeland to Here: Diasporic Belonging and Ethiopian Youth Performance in the Twin Cities

In Amharic, Tizita is often referred to as a type of musical scale or ballad, but the word itself means so much more. Tizita is also a way of expressing a feeling of longing and memory for the homeland of Ethiopia. As a practitioner and now researcher of Ethiopian cultural dance, this proposed American Studies Senior Capstone project examines the significance of Ethiopian cultural dance within diasporic identities, how it can unite different people of different ethnic groups within the Ethiopian diaspora through mutual understanding, and how it connects diaspora to roots that we only know through the stories of our parents (missing something we never had). Part of my interests and what I consider to be the urgent stakes of Ethiopian performance arts and building a youth dance community is about resisting assimilation, preserving culture, and creating a peaceful environment with each other while acknowledging history. In this paper, I examine Ethiopian history of politics and culture, and its impact on the diasporic communities in the Twin Cities as various political tensions immigrate to the U.S. with our parents and trickle down to the diaspora. I will analyze how this affects how the diaspora act towards and view each other, looking specifically at the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Traditional Ethiopian dance is also important in terms of representation to younger generations. This paper is also in part an autoethnographic exploration of my own journey as a choreographer and dancer within two Ethiopian youth cultural organizations for the past 5 years, since 2021. Through this case study I hope to better understand the role dance takes in other dancers\u27 lives and self identity. I aim to show how Ethiopian cultural dance as a practice is an important form of knowledge production because it teaches young people about cultural and political history, values, language, regional dynamics in Ethiopia

Unmaking and Remaking Crimean Tatar Identity Stalin’s Deportation, Sürgün Stories, and the Claiming of Indigeneity

The Crimean Tatars exist within a framework of historical and modern Russian settler colonial oppression. By examining their preferred form of identification, this thesis argues that claiming indigeneity holds promise for combating this colonial structure. Further, it identifies the construction of collective memories of the Sürgün (1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars) in virtual museum project Tamirlar’s oral histories as a form of discursive decolonization—the reclamation of cultural, linguistic, and historical representation and primacy on the land. Novel analysis of fifty interviews with Sürgün survivors preserves indigenous Crimean identity and challenges the retrospective settler colonial construction of Crimea as “Russian.

Spectral Characterization of Soils in South Africa and Kenya: Are Global Models Truly Generalizable?

Visible to near-infrared (Vis/NIR) reflectance spectroscopy offers a rapid, non-destructive alternative to soil analysis, prompting the creation of globally-trained machine learning models for spectral prediction. However, the accuracy of globally-trained models in underrepresented regions has not been widely researched. This study evaluated the performance of a locally calibrated Cubist regression model trained on Vis/NIR spectra from 775 soil samples collected  across South Africa and Kenya, and compared its predictive accuracy against the Open Soil Spectral Library (OSSL) estimation engine. The locally trained model was built using the same preprocessing, training, and testing procedures as the OSSL, but due to its training on spatially representative samples, it substantially outperformed the global model in predictions of several key soil properties, including soil organic carbon (C), pH, nitrogen (N), texture (silt, sand, and clay), and δ13C and δ15N. The local model achieved R2 values of up to 0.93 for clay, while the OSSL model had much lower accuracy for all traits due to its inability to generalize when predicting samples from unseen locations. Notably, the local model also produced strong predictions for δ13C and δ15N isotope ratios (0.75 and 0.81 respectively), and successfully predicted environmental variables including vegetation indices and climatic variables (R2 up to 0.93). Leave-one-spatial-cluster-out cross-validation, however, revealed poor transferability across geographically distinct locations. These results demonstrate that while locally calibrated models show strong predictive power, meaningful geographic generalizability remains limited without adequate spatial representation within training data. Therefore, expanding spectral libraries to capture regional specificities, and standardizing operating procedures will be critical to making Vis/NIR soil spectroscopy a globally reliable and accessible tool

Remove to Recruit: The Short-Term Efficacy of Invasive Shrub Removal in a Minnesota Floodplain Forest

Within Midwest floodplain forests, there is a lack of long-term studies focusing on native tree recruitment post invasive shrub removal. With interacting threats such as emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), invasive earthworms, and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), land managers need particular information about these ecosystems in order to better understand how to protect them. This study aims to explore the efficacy of the removal of Rhamnus cathartica and Lonicera spp. in promoting native tree recruitment within a Minnesota floodplain forest along the Mississippi River. Results revealed that post removal ash (Fraxinus spp.) seedling abundance increased, enhancing recruitment. Additionally, evidence showed moderate deer impacts on overall vegetation community structure

The Highs and Lows of Life in a Valley: Topographic Controls on Tundra Vegetation in a Warming Arctic

Topographic heterogeneity structures Arctic plant communities, impacting broader ecosystem responses to climate change. The role of topography in shaping leaf physiological, nutritional, and structural traits in the Arctic is important, yet not well characterized across diverse tundra landscapes. To address these controls, we examined plant community composition and measured leaf traits in a few representative species along a heath-slope-valley gradient in Varanger, Norway. Our results indicated that valleys are more biodiverse, driven by forb and graminoid dominance, whereas slopes and heaths had less diversity with high shrub abundance. Leaf physiology and structural traits did not vary across topographic positions, though Vaccinium myrtillus (deciduous shrub) and Cornus suecica (herbaceous shrub) showed significantly different trait means and variance, particularly on the slope, reflecting the complexity of this environment. Aspect modulates plant function on both sides of the valley through different mechanisms: it creates more microclimatic variation on the south-facing side with increased insolation, and shapes nutritional conditions indirectly through small herbivore activity on the north-facing side. This work shows that topography strongly shapes Arctic plant communities and biodiversity, but its influence on leaf traits is less direct, perhaps mediated by both species differences and microenvironmental heterogeneity inherent to complex landscapes

We Do Not Care To Be Silent: Resist the Demand to Self-Censor about Tyranny, ICE, and Genocide

Silence breaking, I argue, is a tool that must be employed as frequently as possible by as many people as possible. Using the tools of hope and courage, working through the barriers of fear and shame, we must be outspoken in our care for all people. This expression of care is so crucial because there are tyrannical forces at work across the globe who wish for nothing more than our silence. In that silence, the U.S. government is expanding its practices to unjustly detain and deport immigrants. To enforce this silence, the U.S. government, through ICE, is detaining journalists and activists. The end goal of these attacks on human dignity is complete unchecked power. As a colonial regime continuing to arm and fund genocides across the globe, any attempts by the United States government to further deflect accountability must be viewed with the utmost concern. It is humanity’s obligation to speak out against cruelty and violence wherever we see it. In working against oppressive forces and their violence, we lessen the capacity of those forces to cause harm