When Words Fail: The Use and Misuse of Narratives in the Prison Abolition Movement

Inspired in part by my experiences at that internship, and a newfound appreciation for the impact of stories, this paper explores the role of narratives in the way we talk and think about prisons. Narratives, or storytelling, are not neutral accounts of the way the world works but are rather informed by social structures of power and control, necessitating subjecting them to critique and analysis. When used for social movements, this becomes especially true. In this paper, I will analyze how narratives are written/spoken and disseminated as part of the abolition or criminal justice reform movement. In organizations and movements that are reformist, I demonstrate that narratives follow neoliberal logic, and are individualizing, rely on free market ideology, and depend upon short-term organizing. As a result, these narratives not only reflect the carceral state, but continuously uphold it. In opposition, narratives used by organizations that are expressly abolitionist resist individualization, short-term organizing, and recognize the carceral state’s operations as rooted in white supremacy, effectively pushing for abolition and improving the lives of incarcerated people. Overall, I argue that narratives are incredibly important tools for exposing the harsh conditions of incarceration and the truths of the carceral state; but when fighting for abolition, narratives must be subject to critique and analysis

Architectures of Solidarity: The Worker Cooperative Movement in Chicago

This article analyzes the worker cooperative landscape in Chicago, defining both the historical roots of the movement and the current barriers and supports faced by worker-owners. The paper takes two approaches. First, I compile existing research related to worker cooperatives, labor history, and the solidarity economy in order to trace the roots of Chicago\u27s present-day worker cooperative landscape. Secondly, to more specifically delineate the supports and barriers currently encountered by worker co-ops, I conducted descriptive interviews with several members of Chicago-based cooperative incubation and worker rights organizations. Thematic analysis of their comments helped me to outline certain factors at play in the viability of worker cooperatives and similar solidarity economy structures in the city, namely how the confluence of municipal, non-profit, and community support enables worker co-op development. Through these two approaches, I point to some of the support strategies within the worker cooperative ecosystem in Chicago, and contextualize the growing networks which lay a foundation for a robust solidarity economy in the city

Constructions of Pertenencia Fluyente: Latinx Religious Placemaking beyond Community & Belonging in the Midwest U.S.

How has the Latinx diaspora utilized the Catholic Church as a space to construct an environment of “home”? To answer this question, I draw upon five semi-structured ethnographic interviews conducted with parish members and leadership at the shared parish of San Miguel Arcángel, situated in the Upper Midwest. Understanding that community exists partly due to parish members\u27 distinct methods of community cultivation over the last twenty years, I question if belonging inherently follows. Analysis of interview responses shows that community, belonging, and tensions coexist within the parish. Puerto Rican scholar Felix Padilla’s 1985 study utilizes the term “situational identity,” while Peruvian American scholar Suzanne Oboler labels this same shifting actuality of belonging and expendability as “temporary sense of belonging.” In employing the terms, Padilla and Oboler attempt to highlight how minoritized communities are at times belonging and at other moments seen as dispensable in the eyes of dominant society. The transient implications of these two terms do not fully encompass the multifaceted and fluctuating Latinx experience at the case study parish. The Latinx sector of the parish of San Miguel Arcángel has transcended the unequivocal understanding of community and belonging, breaking the norms of temporality. To better describe their unique experience, I propose the concept of “Pertenencia Fluyente” (in English: “Fluid Belonging”). Understanding how community manifests within Latinx religious institutions is a launching point for learning from each other and nurturing solidarity

“Eating the Other”: Invisibilities and Inequalities Within Culinary Cosmopolitanism

In this study, I interrogate culinary cosmopolitanism, or food consumption practices reflecting an appreciation for cultural diversity, tolerance, and exploration. Culinary cosmopolitanism has grown increasingly popular amongst consumers, alongside the implicit assumption that society is genuinely moving towards acceptance of all cultures and people. However, I argue for a more critical perspective on the consumption practices of culinary cosmopolitanism. Using interviews and survey data with students at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, I also extend current theory on culinary cosmopolitanism, which has focused on older professionals, to an understudied age group. At Macalester, a small Midwestern liberal arts college that invests in a reputation as multicultural, diverse, and inclusive, cosmopolitan capital and authenticity negotiation emerged as strategies students took to align their experiences as emerging cosmopolitans with core tenets of cosmopolitanism: worldliness, exploration, and authenticity. Through these strategies, however, class inequality was reinforced and kept invisible, despite the importance of resources in how individuals explore food. Furthermore, a White American and European center of food culture was reproduced as a standard marker by which all Other cuisines and cultures are measured. Furthermore, ideals of culinary tourism espoused by students justified the exoticization and commodification of racial Otherness. Thus, despite assumptions that multiculturality and egalitarianism are norms of today’s food consumption, culinary cosmopolitanism in practice obscures the role of class privilege in our food consumption and serves the racial project of colorblindness by reinforcing whiteness as central yet invisible

Improvement of Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities Through Education and Contact

Two studies were conducted to investigate the impact of educational interventions and contact with individuals with disabilities on explicit and implicit attitudes towards people with disabilities. In study 1, 63 participants watched one of two videos, one on the social model of disability (experimental condition) and the other about wheelchair soccer (control condition). Participants also completed measures of contact, explicit, and implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities. Results from regression analyses indicated no significant effects of the videos or reported contact on either explicit or implicit attitudes, challenging previous findings that suggested positive effects of contact and education on explicit attitudes. To address potential issues, study 2 included 42 participants, and employed a more substantial educational intervention. Rather than a video, the intervention in this study consisted of four intermediate and advanced psychology courses, with a course specifically on disability acting as the experimental condition. Results from repeated measure ANOVAs indicated no significant changes in explicit or implicit attitudes by condition over time. Importantly, due to the severely underpowered nature of this study extreme caution should be taken when attempting to examine and interpret the data provided. If replicated and validated, however, both studies may raise questions about the efficacy of educational interventions in altering deeply rooted societal attitudes, emphasizing the need for even more substantial and intentional approaches. In conclusion, the research underscores the challenges in shifting societal attitudes, and future research may explore longer and more tailored interventions to foster meaningful changes in attitudes towards disability

Theorizing Folk Cinema

This honors project theorizes the concept of folk cinema. The project grapples with the complex history of the study of folklore and cinema’s historic inaccessibility as a medium in order to position folk cinema as a revolutionary project capable of reimagining both cinema and folklore. Avoiding concrete definitions or the urge to label any specific films as folk cinema, the project explores folk cinema theoretically through the experimental Spanish short film Aguaespejo Granadino, the films of the Bolivian Third Cinema filmmaking collective the Ukamau Group, and finally my own creative intervention via the creation of a short diary film

Designed for Life: Unearthing Just and Sustainable Urban Design Through the Daylighting of Phalen Creek

This thesis conceptualizes a relational approach to urban design. Often separated from justice, I argue urban design can shape spaces to enable respectful and reciprocal human and more-than- human relationships. Focusing on Phalen Creek in Saint Paul, Minnesota, I illuminate just and sustainable possibilities between ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive design. Phalen Creek was a natural waterway buried in a pipe during 20th century urbanization to be partially reconstructed through daylighting. The Indigenous and Immigrant stories driving restoration expand urban design’s liberatory potential. Combining just sustainabilities with infrastructure theory and Indigenous Knowledges, I contend urban design offers a relational approach to implementing Just Sustainabilities

The forget time for random walks on trees of a fixed diameter

A mixing measure is the expected length of a random walk on a graph given a set of starting and stopping conditions. We study a mixing measure called the forget time. Given a graph G, the pessimal access time for a target distribution is the expected length of an optimal stopping rule to that target distribution, starting from the worst initial vertex. The forget time of G is the smallest pessimal access time among all possible target distributions. We prove that the balanced double broom maximizes the forget time on the set of trees on n vertices with diameter d. We also give a precise formula for the forget time of a balanced double broom

Exploration of CIC-DUX4 Sarcoma Surfaceome

CIC-DUX4 sarcoma (CDS) is a rare and aggressive subtype of undifferentiated round-cell sarcomas, primarily impacting adolescents and young adults, with a median survival of less than 2 years. Its molecular and cellular aspects remain poorly understood, particularly concerning the CDS surfaceome, cell surface membrane proteins. Understanding the cancer’s surfaceome is important for understanding how tumors interact with their surroundings and laying the basis of developing targeted treatments. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the CDS surfaceome using RNA-Sequencing data obtained from CDS cell lines. Through the integration of various analytical approaches, we identi- fied a distinctive subset of 20 surface proteins that encapsulate critical biological attributes, serving as potential therapeutic targets for CIC-DUX4 sarcoma. Beyond gene expression profiling, we utilized advanced Network Science tools such as ego networks and personalized PageRank centrality. Leveraging existing biomedical literature databases, we identified therapeutic interventions targeting the candidate genes identified in our analysis. Our findings highlighted the potential of computational tools in discovering novel biomarkers and therapeutic avenues for CDS, thereby advancing precision medicine for rare cancers

China\u27s Grand Strategy and its Hegemonic Aspirations

The rise of China has sparked a debate on two core questions: what are China\u27s intentions, and, more specifically, does China aspire to become a global hegemon? At the heart of these questions lies the enduring topic of China\u27s grand strategy, its implementation, and its narratives. This paper addresses these questions by examining China\u27s statements regarding its national rejuvenation strategy and its use of military power. The analysis concludes that China harbors aspirations of first becoming a regional hegemon and then challenging the US-led world order. Moreover, the paper suggests that China is at a turning point in that strategic project, becoming increasingly assertive in pursuing its goals