Proximity and Partition: Geographies of Childhood, Choice, and Co-Location in New York City Schools

In New York City, the majority of public schools are co-located—or sited in the same building—with another school. Yet scholarship on co-location has been limited, and existing policy studies have primarily focused on quantitative measures such as test scores and crowding. This dissertation offers a geographic analysis of co-location policy using qualitative and archival research methods. I consider drivers, experiences, and effects of co-location across and between scales, asking what co-location reflects, produces, and reproduces. Following an initial review of the literature, the second chapter of this study presents a history of co-location policy, its implementation, and contestation in New York City. I trace the emergence of co-location as policy (from precedents to initial “incubation” of charters to widespread practice), demonstrating that public school building partition has served as a spatial fix enabling charter school proliferation, and that public school space came to be understood as real estate through this process. The public school losses with co-location are material, spatial, and personal; they also echo processes of gentrification. I argue that, because co-location has made the movement of public resources into charter schools obvious and tangible for many New York City parents and teachers, the policy has facilitated the sustained public attention to and contestation of this giveaway of public resources to charter schools. Three ethnographic chapters of the study examine the spatial dynamics of co-location in a school building where a progressive, intentionally-diverse charter school is sited within a longstanding historically-Black neighborhood public school zoned solely for adjacent public housing. I draw on a semester of participant observation in the zoned public elementary school, mapmaking activities with children from both schools, child-led tours of the building with public school students, group and individual interviews with parents and teachers in both schools, and individual interviews with school administrators in the public school. I offer reflections on my engagement with Nancy Mandell’s “Least-Adult Role in Studying Children” in my field work. At the neighborhood level, I found co-located schools to be situated within uneven urban geographies and a landscape of “school choice.” Different orientations to the co-located schools underscored different geographic relationships to “community.” For white professional charter school parents, co-location offered a resolution to the contradictions of home ownership and schooling in a gentrifying neighborhood, literally making space for a school that fit their desires. Public school parents made ongoing enrollment decisions that complicated the assumptions and premises of school choice, arriving at the school through limitations on their participation in the school “marketplace” but also drawn by tangible acts of care in the public school that signified literal and figurative closeness to home. The partitioning of the school building reinforced the partitioned geographies of the surrounding neighborhood; at the doors of the building, interactions between security and between parents in different schools reinscribed affinities and differentiation, and shaped perceptions of school choice. Co-location is an ongoing process, navigated in the daily life of staff and teachers in the building. Tensions from early struggles over charter siting and expansion echoed in the building a decade later, as teachers described tense interactions between the schools, and a sense of “colonization.” Ongoing management required by the public school office underscored the ways that co-location is not a one-time giveaway of space, but an ongoing relationship of dispossession. For children, co-location had material effects shaping their physical realities—late lunches, gym class held in alternate locations, crowded stairwells. They noticed disparities: public school children worked to understand why and how the schools had different demographics and resources, developing theories hinging on whiteness, special talents, and special needs. Charter school students expressed developing liberal subjectivities and spoke of the public school with pity as a place they would never want to attend. I theorize co-location as not only a form of group differentiation but also as pedagogical: a site of dynamic, instructional, and experiential learning in which children tested out perspectives and developed theories. Rather than a neutral administrative practice, co-location both reproduces and teaches children (and adults) about value, deservingness, and racial capitalist mechanisms of difference. Co-location has served to deplete resources from already under-resourced schools, further illuminating how choice policy alone won’t “fix” schools. Even beyond the stresses and tensions of the early years of siting struggle, the proximity and partitions in the co-located building lay bare the lines of access, money, class, race, and futures. This dissertation demonstrates how co-location policy is spatial reorganization in service of the marketization of schooling, a spatial manifestation of school choice that limits the terrain of public struggle, serves as a form of accumulation by dispossession, and shapes lived experiences

Finding Peer-Reviewed Research

This is a short assignment that teaches studens about the role of peer-review as well as how to find and identify peer-reviewed research

The Giants of Coercion: Major Powers and the Mobilization of Global Sanctions Coalitions

This dissertation examines the conditions under which sanctions-sending states can successfully mobilize broad international support for coercive measures on a target state for violating international security norms. Using the case of international sanctions on Iran from 2006 to 2016, I develop a theory of how sanctions senders mobilize support for, and cooperation with, coercive measures on target states. The theory has two parts. First, states seeking international sanctions against a target with broad participation and support need unity and cooperation on the part of major powers in the international system. Second, securing the unity and cooperation of major powers makes it possible to broaden support for coercive measures among a critical mass of other states. The lead sanctions senders, typically democracies, first need the support and cooperation of democratic major powers. Democratic major powers’ cooperation on sanctions is bolstered by their membership in a pluralistic security community. But their support for coercive measures ultimately depends on whether they believe the international security threat the measures are intended to contain is real. Non-democratic major powers Russia and China are not part of that pluralistic security community, though they may share some of the security concerns. Non-democratic major powers usually condition their support on securing specific incentives: exemptions from the coercive measures, a narrowing of their scope, or some other compensation. With major powers united, it is possible to bring most of the rest of the world along for the ride. Unity among major powers opens the door to a United Nations Security Council endorsement and large-scale bandwagoning of support among small and middle- power states. I show the decisive importance of major-power cooperation across six post-Cold War cases of violations of international security norms in which lead sanctions senders sought to build broad international support for coercive measures on a target state. The main case study is sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in 2006-2016, which I analyze using in-depth interviews with former senior government officials and diplomats, government documents, and other sources. I also apply my theory to five other cases: Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait; North Korea’s nuclear weapons; Syria’s atrocities against civilians and use of chemical weapons; Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; and the first Trump administration’s attempt to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran. I also examine a more recent trend of democratic governments joining forces to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities to promote human rights and other norms, inspired by the 2016 US Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. With non-democracies hostile to Global Magnitsky-style sanctions, democratic sanctions senders have had to rely on small ad hoc coalitions for coordinated multilateral sanctions actions, rather than global-scale coalitions. This reinforces my theory about the importance of major-power cooperation to secure broad international support for coercive measures

Titian’s Bacchus and His Two Loves

Titian\u27s Bacchus and Ariadne represents not only Bacchus\u27 attraction to Ariadne, as has long been recognized, but also his infatuation with a boy-satyr, Ampelos, who struts at the centre of the composition. The little satyr\u27s identity, recognized in the seventeenth century, but overlooked by modern scholars, is confirmed by newly revealed pentimenti. Titian was probably the first to embed this homoerotic love story in a painting depicting the Bacchus and Ariadne myth. The textual impetus for Titian\u27s inclusion of the Ampelos myth was Nonnos\u27 Dionysiaca. Guided by Nonnos\u27 text, Titian alludes not only to Bacchus\u27 love for Ampelos, but to the boy\u27s transformation into a grapevine. His metamorphosis prompted Bacchus\u27 discovery of wine, which precipitated his identity as the god of wine, hence his prominent position in the painting. Titian\u27s portrayal of Bacchus\u27 overwhelming ardour for the negligently dressed Ariadne, along with his former dalliance with the engaging, rosy-cheeked boy-satyr Ampelos, was never meant to represent celestial or marital love as has been claimed. Such an ennobling interpretation is disproved through an analysis of contemporary descriptions of the picture and its ancient literary sources

Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy for Studying Photocatalytic Processes at Nanoscale

Semiconducting materials play a crucial role in photocatalytic systems that harness solar energy, providing promising pathways toward sustainable energy solutions. Despite their promise, the search for semiconductors combining high efficiency, stability, and cost-effectiveness remains challenging. Local variations in semiconductor-liquid interfaces significantly influence the kinetics of photocatalytic reactions, while surface heterogeneities—stemming from native defects or catalytic modifications—further complicate structure-function analyses. Understanding these complexities requires advanced tools like scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), as they can directly reveal local variations in behavior and provide valuable insights into how the different structural motifs influence light absorption, carrier recombination, or reaction kinetics. Combining SECM with nanoelectrodes enables high-resolution imaging at the nanoscale, allowing in situ direct probing of active sites, a significant advantage distinguishing it from other characterization tools. This thesis focuses on developing and applying high-resolution photo-SECM techniques to investigate overall water splitting (OWS) and other catalytic processes at the nanoscale, providing direct visualization and quantification of hydrogen and oxygen generation. The combination of high spatial resolution, quantitative measurements, and in situ capabilities positions photo-SECM as an indispensable tool for the future development of photocatalytic systems. Chapter 1 introduces the foundational principles of SECM, emphasizing its versatility in probing electrochemical processes. Key advancements in nanoelectrode fabrication and technical challenges of nanoscale SECM are discussed. Chapter 2 presents advancements in photo-SECM instrumentation, particularly a through-tip illumination approach coupled with a contactless optical system. This method allows localized illumination of a microscopic portion of the sample surface, with the tip simultaneously serving as a nanoelectrode for electrochemical measurements. An improved experimental setup was introduced to eliminate mechanical interactions between the optical fiber and the piezo-positioned tip. This innovation significantly enhances mechanical stability and allows high-resolution, artifact-free imaging and reliable nanoscale photoelectrochemical analysis, paving the way for more precise investigations of photoelectrochemical processes. Chapter 3 presents the first direct observation of OWS at individual Al-doped SrTiO3 photocatalyst microparticles, achieved using high-resolution photo-SECM. This work confirms stoichiometric H2/O2 evolution on unbiased particles under illumination. Photoelectrochemical experiments on a single microparticle attached to a microelectrode tip further revealed particle-to-particle heterogeneity in activity and underscored the importance of single-particle studies to avoid masking individual contributions in bulk measurements. Chapter 4 explores single phosphorus-doped BiVO4 microcrystals, revealing significant kinetic heterogeneity across the crystal surface, consistent with facet-dependent charge separation, where the {010} facet preferentially accumulates electrons, and the {110} facet favors holes. This study demonstrates photo-SECM\u27s ability to probe sub-facet photocatalytic processes. Chapter 5 introduces a theoretical framework for SECM measurements of electrocatalytic reaction rates involving kinetically controlled tip currents. The developed theory addresses challenges inherent to inner-sphere electron-transfer processes at nanometer-sized electrodes, enabling accurate quantification of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) rates. Chapter 6 investigates voltage-driven molecular catalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, demonstrating how the electrostatic potential drop across the double layer drives electron transfer between molecular catalysts immobilized directly on the electrode surface and dissolved reactants in a solution, enabling uphill reactions like water oxidation. This PhD research contributes to the advancement of SECM as a powerful tool for studying photocatalytic and electrocatalytic processes at the nanoscale. Facilitating the illumination of a microscopic portion of the semiconductor while simultaneously quantitatively measuring the local fluxes of reaction products with high spatial resolution allowed a thorough investigation of the fundamental processes that govern photocatalysis. The methodologies developed in this research bridge fundamental science and practical applications, offering insights into the rational design of catalysts for energy conversion

Environmental Enrichment Reduces Cue-Induced Reinstatement of Heroin-Seeking Following Prolonged Use and Reverses Region-Specific Heroin-Induced Neuroadaptations

Background: Relapse remains the greatest barrier to long-term recovery and the consequential rising overdose-related mortality in heroin use disorder (HUD). Currently available behavioral and pharmacological interventions fail to extend their benefits beyond the duration of the treatment. Additionally, opioid agonist-based medications accompany harmful neurobiological risks and propensity to promote further drug-seeking post-treatment. We have shown that environmental enrichment (EE), as a therapeutic strategy applied after drug intravenous-self administration (IVSA), can effectively facilitate abstinence and reduce reinstatement of drug-seeking in animal models of drug abuse. Moreover, dopamine receptors like D1 and D3, and mu-opioid (MO) receptors are well known for their implication in HUD, and there are recent studies also implicating the ghrelin system and receptor GHS-R1a in drug reward. However, the robustness of EE has not been demonstrated in a compulsive heroin use model yet, and the associated neuronal adaptations mediating effects of EE on reinstatement are also understudied. Objective: To determine if EE can have anti-relapse effects after prolonged heroin use, it is crucial to investigate if EE can extend its positive effects to the long-access (LA) drug IVSA model that captures characteristic compulsive drug taking in HUD, and to identify potential translational neurobiological targets for relapse-focused pharmacotherapies. The aims of this dissertation thesis were to determine if EE can also reduce cue-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking when applied after LA heroin IVSA, and to begin to identify the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of EE. Methods: 1) To determine effects of EE in the LA model, rats were moved to non-EE or EE housing following LA IVSA, followed by extinction and cue-induced reinstatement. Lever presses were measured for all phases to compare cue-induced reinstatement between groups. 2) To quantify heroin- and EE- induced changes in D1R, D3R and MOR mRNA expression, we conducted two experiments: in Exp. 1, rat brains were analyzed following saline or heroin IVSA; in Exp. 2, brains were analyzed from rats that underwent heroin IVSA, followed by 15 days of either non-EE or EE housing assignment. 3) To determine heroin- and EE- induced region-specific changes in GHS-R1a expression in non-EE and EE rats, brains were collected and analyzed after the cue-induced reinstatement test from the LA IVSA experiment (1). Results: EE, applied after LA heroin IVSA, facilitated extinction and reduced cue-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking. Using RNAscope, we found that heroin-use leads to D1R mRNA upregulation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) but downregulation in the insular cortex (IC). Interestingly, EE significantly reversed the accumbal D1R changes but not in the IC. The Western Blotting assays showed that in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and NAc, heroin upregulated GHS-R1a expression and, interestingly, EE reversed these changes. We did not find any significant differences in D3R and MOR mRNA with heroin or EE in the NAc and IC. There were also no significant differences observed in GHS-R1a expression in the substantia nigra (SN), amygdala (AMY), hypothalamus (HYPOTH) and hippocampus (HIPPO) regions. Conclusion: Altogether, these results confirm the efficacy of EE in reducing reinstatement after prolonged heroin use and offers a deeper understanding of the associated underlying neurobiological substrates. Our findings highlight the translational scope of EE implementation in addiction treatments and provide promising avenue for advancement in potential addiction behavioral and neurobiological therapies aimed at reducing relapse

Approaches For Identifying And Characterizing Microplastics In Biosolids Using Density Separation And µFTIR Spectroscopy

Wastewater biosolids are a direct source of microplastics to the terrestrial environment because they are often applied in agricultural settings to increase field and soil nutrients. At present, the research community is struggling to standardized analytical methods for addressing this emerging environmental concern. This research aims to address this lack of standardization by developing a protocol to extract, count, and identify the types of microplastics in biosolids collected from two wastewater treatment locations in a large urban city. Our approach utilizes a density separation and a Fenton digestion as main components to collect microplastics and to allow their analysis with µFTIR spectroscopy. Data analysis was achieved using an iterative comparison and cross-validation of two separate spectral libraries – a commercial library available with the instrumentation and Open Specy, an online and open-source library used more frequently in support of microplastic researc

Legacies of Caribbean Lyric: Kamau Brathwaite’s Early Works and the Instability of ‘The Lyric I’

My thesis investigates how a reading of Bajan poet Kamau Brathwaite’s early works can provide us with a story of his disillusionment with and subversion of the representational form of lyric subjectivity in service of a Caribbean literary tradition rooted not in coherence but in rupture. I argue that Brathwaite’s poiesis stages the disintegration of lyric’s representational schema. What emerges from its residue is a poiesis attuned to an unstable, catastrophic sociality. Reading across Brathwaite’s oeuvre in this way is a novel approach which makes comprehensible the rhetorical and theoretic decisions that led up to the creation of some of his most prominent works

Peacekeeping in Sierra Leone and Mali

This thesis examines the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions in promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and implementing Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs in post-conflict Sierra Leone and Mali. By analyzing the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), this research explores the impact of these missions on Mali still in conflict and long-term peacebuilding. The study focuses on three critical areas: supporting democratic governance, ensuring human rights protections, and successfully reintegrating former combatants into society. Through a comparative approach, this research analyzes why some peacekeeping missions succeed and then fail. Identifies the successes and challenges of peacekeeping efforts in both countries, emphasizing the role of local political dynamics, security conditions, and international support. The thesis argues that while peacekeeping contributed positively to the democratization process, human rights protections and DDR implementation in Sierra Leone were successful, and in Mali, persistent challenges related to political instability, security threats, and economic difficulties have hindered the full realization of these goals. Lessons from both missions provide insights into improving future peacekeeping operations in fragile states

Somewhere in Me Is an Understanding of Ends

Somewhere in Me Is an Understanding of Ends is a collection of poems that explore loss, love, longing, and the precariousness in relationships