The Accessible Toilet Design Resource

This Accessible Toilet Design Resource has been produced from new primary research carried out within VivaCity 2020, a large university-based research consortium that is developing tools and resources to support the design of socially inclusive cities. The consortium is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It was set up in 2003 and will complete its work in 2008. The Resource is concerned primarily with the design of the accessible toilet cubicle that should be provided for customer or public use wherever there is standard toilet provision. Though it may make reference to other types of toilet cubicles, urinals, automatic public conveniences (APCs) or grouped toilet provision, the location and design of these facilities are not addressed in great detail here. The location and design of accessible toilet facilities merits this independent, detailed scrutiny because it is essential to provide these facilities and to design them correctly, so that disabled people can participate on equal terms to able-bodied people in every aspect of city life

Intergroup Contact through Study Abroad: An Investigation of Effects of Study Abroad on Student Engagement with Racial and Religious Diversity

This study examines the effects of participation in study abroad on undergraduate students\u27 engagement with racial and religious diversity to identify outcomes and patterns that support the prominent goals in higher education of promoting global learning and enhancing inclusion and diversity on university campuses. Based on the framework of intergroup contact theory, I use hierarchical regression models to analyze data from the National Survey of Student Engagement collected at Clemson University in 2013 and 2015. Among undergraduate seniors, participation in study abroad is significantly associated with greater engagement with topics related to racial and religious diversity, and engagement with diverse peers. The results corroborate previous findings that study abroad has significant effects on students\u27 perspectives and behaviors, and suggest that the prejudice reduction effects of intergroup contact that may result from study abroad experiences generalize to subsequent interactions on students\u27 home campuses

Sanctuary : Shaping Frames and Shifting Perspectives

Sanctuary: Shaping Frames and Shifting Perspectives is a multimedia, site-specific dance inspired by and created in the sanctuary space of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. I chose Redeemer because I have attended that church for over seven years and have always had a fondness for the architecture. I fulfilled my idea of a site-specific dance in this space by collaborating with the architecture and the dancers in my cast. To inform my collaborative process, I researched notable choreographers who focused on site-specific dance, as well as current experts in architecture and design. Sanctuary was never performed live due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The performance was intended to take place at Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan on March 26th, 2020, and we were asked to stop rehearsing one week prior to our performance. To replace the live performance, I created a video of the most recent rehearsal footage to be viewed by a selection of peers. They responded with feedback via email. Sanctuary has three sections representing three visual perspectives: Frontal View, Profile View and Bird’s Eye View. Through creating Sanctuary, I expected to show evidence that this dance could bring new life to a space that originally was intended for a different purpose. In order to accomplish this, I planned to shift the audience’s perspective and shape the frame of their view by having the dancers perform on top of, under, and in between the pews, as well as along the columns and back wall. My rehearsal video demonstrates how I planned to use live movement and film to challenge, reveal, and enhance the audience\u27s awareness of the sanctuary space

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the heterogeneity in patterns of aging and the factors throughout the life course that shape them. By focusing on variability within the population we are able to advance our knowledge of how circumstances throughout the life course affect the way individuals age. We find that the paths to disease and longevity are diverse and that the social environment plays an important role in shaping these patterns. Our results support a wide body of literature showing that morbidity is not an inevitable consequence of aging, even in the oldest old population. Health status and longevity are shaped by the historical circumstances and social environments that we live in. This study offers three innovative and significant contributions to the understanding of biological and environmental determinants of aging by (1) disentangling the biological and temporal sources of trends in cancer incidence among the elderly, (2) investigating the possible social and physiological effects of fertility history on comorbidity trajectories after age 65, and (3) studying heterogeneity in the heritable contributions to variation in longevity across early life family and social environments

Distribution Patterns in Appalachian Table Mountain Pine and Pitch Pine Stands

Flammable pine stands are often located on the driest slopes of forested landscapes in the Appalachian Mountains, but there appears to be regional variation in the topographic distribution of these pines across the southern Appalachian forests. A matrix of stands dominated by oaks and other hardwood trees covers each landscape, with patches of pines embedded within the matrix. Disturbances, such as fire, and gradients of abiotic factors such as moisture availability have influenced these forest patterns. This study uses Southeast GAP Analysis Project land cover data at twelve landscapes of 8 km by 8 km to explore the spatial distribution of pine stands in protected areas of the southern Appalachians. The distributions of the pine stands were analyzed with respect to topographic variables including heat load index, slope, elevation, incoming solar radiation, topographic wetness index, and topographic exposure index. These variables were derived from digital elevation models. Across the twelve landscapes, pine stands are consistently found on dry topographic positions. However, the pine stands vary in terms of the aspects they occupy. Pines primarily occupy the south- and southwest-facing slopes in the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, while at the northern end of the study region, pines shift towards the west- and northwest-facing slopes. This regional shift in the aspects covered by pine stands likely reflects an interaction between regional climate, vegetation, fire regimes, and local terrain

Inclusive Design of 'Away from Home' Toilets

This book chapter was the culmination of Bichard’s work for the EPSRC-funded VivaCity2020 research consortium (http://www.vivacity2020.co.uk, 2003-2008). The edited book focused on design for sustainability of the 24-hour city from the multidisciplinary perspective of the VivaCity2020 project (physical and social sciences, engineering and design). Considering key issues of sustainability and quality of life, it highlights innovative decision- making in urban planning and environmental design. Bichard and Hanson’s (UCL) chapter presents inclusive design research undertaken by Bichard for the project on sustainable city toilet provision, and includes a design guidance review and results from an audit tool applied to 101 cubicles around England. The audit found that no cubicle had fully followed design recommendations. Interviews with 250 people identified challenges to toilet access within the city and informed the design of 42 ‘personas’ as ‘decision-making tools’ for architects, designers and planners. Design templates for the layout of cubicles for a range of abilities, including the need for an adult changing bench, were also presented. Bichard’s work on the VivaCity2020 project also included a design guide, The Accessible Toilet Resource (1147 Downloads from 18 countries), a further book chapter, ‘Designing accessible technology’, four journal articles (for Senses & Society and Access by Design, the journal of the Centre of Accessible Environments), six conference papers, two conference posters and two book reviews (for Social & Cultural Geography and Gender, Place & Culture). Bichard received funding for further work as co-investigator on Tackling Ageing Continence through Theory, Tools & Technology (TACT3) funded by the cross-Council ‘New Dynamics of Ageing Programme’ (£1.3m, 2008–12), and as principal investigator of Robust Accessible Toilets (RATs), funded by the cross-Research Council Connected Communities Programme (£12,000, 2011). In addition, she was guest editor of a special issue of The Design Journal on inclusive design (2013)

Invariant differential derivations for reflection groups in positive characteristic

Much of the fascinating numerology surrounding finite reflection groups stems from Solomon's celebrated 1963 theorem describing invariant differential forms. Invariant differential derivations also exhibit interesting numerology over the complex numbers. We explore the analogous theory over arbitrary fields, in particular, when the characteristic of the underlying field divides the order of the acting reflection group and the conclusion of Solomon's Theorem may fail. Using results of Broer and Chuai, we give a Saito criterion (Jacobian criterion) for finding a basis of differential derivations invariant under a finite group that distinguishes certain cases over fields of characteristic 2. We show that the reflecting hyperplanes lie in a single orbit and demonstrate a duality of exponents and coexponents when the transvection root spaces of a reflection group are maximal. A set of basic derivations are used to construct a basis of invariant differential derivations with a twisted wedging in this case. We obtain explicit bases for the special linear groups SL(n,q) and general linear groups GL(n,q), and all groups in between.Comment: 31 page

Gender Mainstreaming in the Management of the Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

This report aims to make a small contribution to the above challenge by compiling practical cases of marine and coastal management from different regions that have integrated a gender perspective in their design, implementation and evaluation, at community, project and policy levels. The report aims to draw out practical lessons and recommendations from the case studies that can be useful for policy makers and project managers involved in integrated coastal and marine planning

A Virtual Community Literacy Partnership: A Place-Based Reading and Writing Initiative between College of Education Students and Urban Middle School Students

How can I reflect on my practice as a literacy teacher? “I want to be the type of teacher who inspires great writing from my students, and makes them yearn for more knowledge.” As a reading professor, I am inspired by the words Justin wrote in the pre-project survey at the beginning of the semester. In the midst of a pandemic, how could I create a learning experience to facilitate a literacy collaboration with local middle school students? I planned the community literacy partnership in the context of a College of Education grant written the previous year. This format anticipated a face-to-face environment and opportunities for field trips between educational spaces as a forum for writing and visual literacy conferences. In light of current circumstances, it was time to change my paradigm and adapt to the circumstances. However, my commitment to the initiative remained strong. I hoped the impact—for both university and middle school students—would persist. This experience led me to consider the following questions— “In what innovative ways can educators partner with local students and foster collaboration?” and What lessons from online learning can inform future in-person teaching and learning?

Help for the heartland? The employment and electoral effects of the Trump tariffs in the United States

We study the economic and political consequences of the 2018-2019 trade war between the United States, China and other U.S. trade partners at the detailed geographic level, exploiting measures of local exposure to U.S. import tariffs, foreign retaliatory tariffs, and U.S. compensation programs. So far, the trade-war has not provided economic help to the U.S. heartland: import tariffs on foreign goods neither raised nor lowered U.S. employment in newly-protected sectors; retaliatory tariffs had clear negative employment impacts, primarily in agriculture; and these harms were only partly mitigated by compensatory U.S. agricultural subsidies. Nevertheless, consistent with expressive views of politics, the tariff war appears to have been a political success for the governing Republican party. Residents of regions more exposed to import tariffs became less likely to identify as Democrats, more likely to vote to reelect Donald Trump in 2020, and more likely to elect Republicans to Congress. Foreign retaliatory tariffs only modestly weakened that support