Honors Projects

Showing 121 - 130 of 564 Items

Evaluating Dam Relicensing and River Herring Habitat Restoration from a Broad, Multi-Ecosystem Perspective

Date: 2022-01-01

Creator: Matthew L. Thomas

Access: Open access

This study investigates the potential benefits of using a broad, multi-ecosystem analysis in the licensing and relicensing of hydropower facilities. Specifically, it considers the impact of river herring restoration on coastal food webs and cod and other groundfish populations in the Gulf of Maine. The past two decades of research on fisheries management, ecosystem connectivity, and the connection between river herring and groundfish in the Gulf of Maine have resulted in a better understanding of the ways in which human activities, such as dam building, influence ecological processes. The paper analyzes two case studies of six Maine dams currently engaged in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) hydroelectric dam relicensing process. The analysis illustrates the shortcomings of the Federal Power Act’s provisions that address the balancing of ecological and power generation concerns. Following the case studies, a series of policy recommendations are presented to encourage a more transparent and predictable relicensing process that adequately values both ecological and power generation goals. Changes are suggested for both the FERC process itself and the process by which state and federal resource agencies may provide comments regarding how a proposed dam licensing or relicensing affects natural resources under their jurisdiction. The proposed policy recommendations will increase the resilience of natural systems as they adapt to climate impacts.


The Soviet and American Wars in Afghanistan: Applying Clausewitzian Concepts to Modern Military Failure

Date: 2020-01-01

Creator: Artur Kalandarov

Access: Open access

This paper evaluates the validity of three concepts from Carl von Clausewitz’s On War as they relate to contemporary military conflict. Utilizing the Soviet and American Wars in Afghanistan as case studies, the paper also offers a model for comparative conflict analysis by expanding upon Clausewitz’s culminating point concept. It argues that – despite limitations to Clausewitz’s theory of war – his concepts of culminating points in military operations, mass and concentration, and changing war aims provide useful insights into counterinsurgency military failures. Chapter One identifies the Soviet and American culminating points. Concluding that the concept of a culminating point is not applicable to the means and objectives of insurgents, it expands upon Clausewitzian theory by presenting an effectual substitute: the Counterinsurgent Acceptance Point. This is the author’s idea, and it is defined as the moment at which the counterinsurgents first publicly call for negotiations with the enemy. As the first public acknowledgment that the insurgents have denied the counterinsurgents a strictly military resolution to the conflict, it marks a crucial shift in the political framework of the war and is a fitting antithesis to the culminating point. Chapters Two and Three show how an inadequate troop presence and unclear war aims harmed Soviet and American efforts in Afghanistan. The development of insurgencies in both wars are studied to pinpoint when both country’s leaderships failed to adopt a Clausewitzian view of war, despite calls to do so by General Colin Powell in 2001 and Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov in 1979.


Tradition et Nouveauté: Une étude du baccalauréat et de la réforme Blanquer

Date: 2020-01-01

Creator: Fiona Carey

Access: Open access

The baccalauréat exam has played a significant role in the lives of French high schoolers for more than two centuries. Not only does the exam determine a student’s eligibility for university, it is a long-standing national tradition and an important aspect of French identity. The baccalauréat consists of a core curriculum and a choice of specialties, all of which prepare students for the exams that they will take in their last two years of high school. In 2018, Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer announced a reform to the baccalauréat that would drastically alter the content and structure of the exam. Blanquer’s reform offers students a wider variety of specialties and in doing so hopes to eliminate the supposed hierarchies which have historically valued sciences over other subject matters. This reform revolutionizes the system while simultaneously remaining deeply rooted in tradition. While Blanquer’s reform introduces changes to the core curriculum and an entirely new list of specialties, it preserves other aspects of the French education system, particularly the mandatory study of philosophy. This thesis examines the contrasting novelty and tradition of Blanquer’s baccalauréat. In order to understand the intent and implications of his reform, this thesis studies a series of historic reforms, provides a detailed explanation of Blanquer’s changes, and finally discusses a selection of anonymous survey responses concerning its potential impacts. In discussing these survey responses, I highlight three main themes: (1) hierarchies and freedom of choice, (2) collectivity and individuality, and (3) the role of nationalism in the baccalauréat.


Miniature of Computational Investigation of the Ground States and Luminescent Excited States of Ruthenium(II) and Platinum(II) Photoactive Complexes: Insights into the Design of New Ruthenium(II)-Based Molecular Photocatalysts and Enhanced Understanding of Metal-Metal Bonded Exciplexes
Computational Investigation of the Ground States and Luminescent Excited States of Ruthenium(II) and Platinum(II) Photoactive Complexes: Insights into the Design of New Ruthenium(II)-Based Molecular Photocatalysts and Enhanced Understanding of Metal-Metal Bonded Exciplexes
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      Date: 2020-01-01

      Creator: Thomas Regan

      Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



        Miniature of Analysis of adhesion mutants in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>
        Analysis of adhesion mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana
        This record is embargoed.
          • Embargo End Date: 2025-05-14

          Date: 2020-01-01

          Creator: Bridgid Elizabeth Greed

          Access: Embargoed



            Miniature of “Unstuck in Time and Space”: Time Travels in Teen Cinema
            “Unstuck in Time and Space”: Time Travels in Teen Cinema
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                Date: 2021-01-01

                Creator: Hallowell Lyne

                Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



                  He Mauka Teitei, Ko Aoraki, The Loftiest of Mountains: The Names of Aotearoa’s Highest Peak and Beyond

                  Date: 2024-01-01

                  Creator: Joseph B. Lancia

                  Access: Open access

                  My thesis discusses the cultural, political, and social dynamics of mountains with separate Indigenous and Western names and identities. Centering on Aoraki/Mount Cook—the highest peak in Aotearoa New Zealand—I integrate personal experiences as ethnographic data through narratives, mainly of my time hiking while studying abroad in New Zealand and during the two recent summers I spent exploring Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Through its name, Aoraki/Mt. Cook maintains Indigenous Māori and Western perspectives: Aoraki being a Māori atua (god) and Captain James Cook being a significant colonial figure in the Pacific. The slash upholds both identities while ensuring that they exist together. These dynamics are explored in depth and extended to mountains in places including Colorado, Alaska, and Australia. While discussing Rocky I rely heavily on Oliver Toll’s Arapaho Names & Trails (2003) which contains a substantial collection of Arapaho knowledge of the area and I give strong attention to Nesótaieux (Longs Peak and Mount Meeker). Additionally, I look at Mount Blue Sky, Denali, and Uluru/Ayers Rock to discuss mountains that have had formal name changes and how legacies are maintained through toponyms. With discussing varying identities and perceptions of each example and the knowledge held in names I encourage readers to do research into local Indigenous knowledges to further their and others’ understandings of places. I emphasize the concepts of historical silences, the revealing of knowledge, and the importance of language to articulate that Indigenous knowledge might be difficult to find but is never truly lost.


                  Miniature of Postmemory’s Shadow Archives: Reshaping the Punctum in Asian Diaspora Poetry
                  Postmemory’s Shadow Archives: Reshaping the Punctum in Asian Diaspora Poetry
                  This record is embargoed.
                    • Embargo End Date: 2029-05-16

                    Date: 2024-01-01

                    Creator: Hannah Kim

                    Access: Embargoed



                      Deciphering Policymaking—The Enigma of the 2003 Iraq War

                      Date: 2024-01-01

                      Creator: Chengkai Gu

                      Access: Open access

                      This thesis examines the forces shaping the United States’ decision to initiate the 2003 Iraq War. It argues that while the Bush administration had vested interests in disarming Iraq to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s military threat and to secure stable global oil supplies, the decision-making process leading to the Iraq War was heavily influenced by domestic politics, such as bureaucratic bargaining, CIA intelligence collections, and interest group competition. In addition, individual-level factors, such as top officials’ personal beliefs and psychologies, also shaped the decision to intervene in Iraq. By explaining how strategic, domestic, and personal factors interacted to shape the decision to launch the Iraq War, my study underscores the impact of less obvious micro-level dynamics on international politics and the multi-layered nature of foreign policymaking.


                      Miniature of Making Human Beings and Citizens: The Educational Philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft
                      Making Human Beings and Citizens: The Educational Philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft
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                          Date: 2021-01-01

                          Creator: Mollie Claire Eisner

                          Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community