Queer Teachers in Catholic Schools: Cosmic Perceptions of an Easter People

Queer-teacher lives aren’t easy! They experience isolation and bifurcation of their lives on a daily basis. How much more difficult must life be for these teachers in the theologically heteronormative context of the Catholic school? Yet, these teachers remain educators in these institutions, sensing goodness in what they are doing and in the future of these schools. Inspired by this interesting reality of tension, this study asks two important questions. First, how do queer teachers understand their identities as constructed in a Catholic school? Secondly, it wants to know what action teachers will take when they have come to an answer about their constructed identities. This dissertation incorporates queer studies, liberation theology, and critical pedagogy into a bricolage theory to fully address the intersectional lives of its participants. With a methodological approach informed by the ethics of culturally responsive research, this participatory action research begins from a moment of dialogical praxis towards the hope of social engagement. Crafted as a retreat in which queer educators share their stories of working in these institutions, this unique research incorporates the participants into the analysis process as essential actors in understanding the meaning of their own lives. The study reveals the perceptions of queer teachers about the ways that schools make meaning of their role in the educational environment as well as how they make meaning of their lives. Three major themes, “doing queer,” “being queer,” and “enforcing queer” show that these teachers are part of a complex reality in which their identities and performances in Catholic schools are dictated by the pull and push of fear enforced x through many channels in the Catholic school. These themes also show that teachers are actively making new meaning about themselves and acting in ways that seek to dismantle oppression in their institutions. The study also reveals a vibrant spirituality which emerges from the daily experience of being queer in a Catholic school. Geared towards social justice, this spirituality invites us to reimagine that work for social justice may mean pushing into oppression through a paschal victimhood which transforms institutions fundamentally from within

Mexico's Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformacion: economic nationalism at work

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityAssuming the reader's unfamiliarity with the Mexican scene, the first chapter presents a bird-eye's view of the Mexican terrain. its climate, vegetation and inhabitants, along with a broad and comprehensive view of Mexican history since 1519. The effect of the land and its resources upon the history of Mexico is shown to have sparked the Mexican revolution, which, instigated in 1910, has far from completed its course. The greater part of Chapter I is devoted to an objective exposition of the bloody campaigns, military groups, heroes and villains of the earlier years of the Revolution, along with an account of its course during the past two relatively peaceful decades, in which the revolutionary fervor has been diverted to the task of raising the standard of living of the people of Mexico through extremely nationalistic economic policies. This account is designed to acquaint the render in a general manner with current-day Mexico in preparation for the much more specialized areas of inquiry comprising the following chapters. Its major contention is that, contrary to what many non-Mexican observers incorrectly maintain, the Revolution lives on [TRUNCATED

Comparing the Seed Cotton and Wheat Marketing Chains in Sindh

This paper contrasts the operation of seed cotton and wheat marketing systems in Sindh. Analysis of marketing margins indicates that the private sector cotton marketing chain appears to be working efficiently, given the many adverse aspects of its socioeconomic environment. There is evidence that higher domestic prices resulting from alignment with world markets have been transmitted through the marketing chain to producers, and that production has increased. In contrast to cotton, the government continues to be heavily involved in wheat procurement and storage, with private traders usually acting as intermediaries between the Food Department and the grower. Despite expensive involvement of the same private traders as in cotton, the wheat market is characterised by bureaucratic failure and rent-seeking behaviour, leading to stagnation of incentives and production. For cotton, the primary recommendations are to sustain liberalisation of the market and to support the developing beneficial model of private competition through improvements in communications and transport infrastructure. The practical means to improve the grading of cotton lint and seed cotton should also be developed and promoted to provide incentives for higher quality output. For wheat, the main recommendations are to liberalise farmgate prices, reduce the state’s role in procurement, and privatise government godowns. Research is needed on how this might best be achieved, with attention to the conditions necessary for private financing of storage activities, and to ways of minimising price and supply fluctuations. The impact of higher flour prices on poor consumers also needs to be addressed.

Beetles and spiders as indicators of recovery on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014.Commercial logging is among the most important disturbance factors affecting forest biota. An indirect effect of commercial logging is minimal understory within young even-aged forests, which can decrease forest biodiversity. To improve management of young even-aged forest stands within the Tongass National Forest (TNF), foresters are testing alternative forestry practices under the Tongass-Wide Young-Growth Studies (TWYGS). However, little is known about how the new thinning treatments included in the TWYGS will affect forest biota and the recovery of young even-aged forest stands as they transition back into old growth forests. To investigate the effects of thinned secondary growth on forest biota in the TNF on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, I compared spider and beetle biodiversity in thinned secondary growth to old growth forest stands, clearcuts, and un-thinned secondary growth. Pitfall traps, Berlese funnels, and Lindgren© funnel traps were used to collect spiders and beetles in each forest type to compare species richness, diversity, and assemblages, as well as to identify possible ecological indicators within each habitat. I hypothesized that thinned secondary growth would have a mix of old growth and clearcut species and be further in the process of recovery than un-thinned secondary growth. I found that (1) spider and beetle species richness and diversity from thinned secondary growth were not significantly different from other forest treatments; (2) spider assemblages in thinned secondary growth were significantly different from other forest treatments, whereas beetle assemblages were not different; (3) spider and beetle assemblage structure was mainly influenced by Leaf Area Index (LAI) and; (4) spider and beetle ecological indicators of clearcuts and old growth stands were found within thinned and un-thinned secondary growth stands. These findings support my hypothesis that thinned secondary growth would have both old growth and clearcut species; however, thinned secondary growth was not found to be further in the process of recovery than unthinned secondary growth at the time of this study. Although thinned secondary growth was not further in the process of recovery, it did not adversely affect the biodiversity of spiders and beetles. My results suggest that logging on Prince of Wales Island can change spider and beetle assemblages, but it doesn't negatively impact species richness or diversity. Thinned secondary growth spider and beetle biodiversity may be in the process of recovery to the biodiversity seen in old growth forests. Therefore, spider and beetle biodiversity may resemble old growth forest biodiversity as LAI values increase with closing canopy in thinned secondary growth forest stands. In addition, a checklist of arthropods collected on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, as part of this work, combined with records from other projects and publications, are included followed by a description of a new species I discovered, Caurinus tlagu Sikes & Stockbridge 2013 (Mecoptera, Boreidae, Caurininae).Chapter 1. Introduction -- 1.1. Commercial Logging Effects on Arthropods -- 1.2. Coastal Temperate Rainforests -- 1.3. Old Growth vs. Young Even-Aged Stands -- 1.4. TNF Management -- 1.5. Ecological Indicators -- 1.6. Goal of Study -- Chapter 2. Methods -- 2.1. System Descriptions -- 2.1.1. Study Area -- 2.1.2. Tongass-Wide Young-Growth Studies Sites -- 2.2. Study Design -- 2.3. Field and Laboratory Methods -- 2.3.1. Collection of Beetles and Spiders -- 2.3.2. Vegetation -- 2.3.3. Laboratory -- 2.4. Statistics -- 2.4.1. Beetle and Spider Data -- 2.4.2. Species Richness and Diversity -- 2.4.3. Assemblages -- 2.4.4. Feeding Groups -- 2.4.5. Linking Arthropod Biotic Structure to Vegetation Variables -- Chapter 3. Results -- 3.1. Species Richness and Diversity -- 3.1.1. Spiders -- 3.1.2. Beetles -- 3.1.3. Spiders and Beetles -- 3.2. Taxonomic Assemblages -- 3.2.1. Spiders -- 3.2.2. Beetles -- 3.3. Feeding Groups -- 3.4. Vegetation Correlations -- 3.4.1. Spiders -- 3.4.2. Beetles -- 3.4.3. Spiders and Beetles -- Chapter 4. Discussion -- 4.1. Overview -- 4.2. Species Richness and Diversity -- 4.3. Assemblages -- 4.4. Ecological Indicators -- Chapter 5. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices