Showing 531 - 540 of 583 Items

"Proud Flesh and Blood": Phineas Fletcher, Gabriel Daniel, and Seventeenth-Century Theories of Embodiment

Date: 2022-01-01

Creator: Micaela Elanor Simeone

Access: Open access

The human body was a site of discovery and redefinition in early modern Europe. This project traces the gradual arc from the mid-seventeenth century towards Cartesian notions of the body in the later part of the century through two fictions: Phineas Fletcher (1582-1650)’s The Purple Island (1633) and Gabriel Daniel (1649-1728)’s Voyage du Monde de Descartes (1690). This project views these two largely-overlooked texts as important literary works that represent the seventeenth century’s transformative debates about and explorations of the human body. I argue that Fletcher employs a dissective mode that embraces mind-body harmony while framing the human as both fragmented and whole. I then explore how Voyage du Monde de Descartes responds to an altogether different culture in the late seventeenth century, after Cartesian ideas extracted mind from body and no longer saw the body as a significant marker of humanity. I argue that Voyage ultimately reveals—through a captivating satirical fiction—how understanding Cartesian anatomy as the product of anxiety, uncertainty, and novelty helps us better see how we became motivated to transcend our bodies.


Searle’s Mind: Brains, Subjects, and Systems

Date: 2023-01-01

Creator: Saul Cuevas-Landeros

Access: Open access

Throughout this project, I ‘step into the Chinese Room’ presented by philosopher John R. Searle and develop the areas where the Chinese Room Argument succeeds. I have aimed to pick out where Searle has succeeded with the Chinese Room Argument and introduce how it fits in with his school of biological naturalism, as it seems that he already had some conception of it when presenting the Argument. From here, I introduce some of the primary arguments against the Chinese Room Argument because they do not fit with Searle’s overarching theme of biological naturalism. Particularly, Searle’s conception of systems and system features is something he endorses for the biological but immediately labels as silly for the Chinese Room. Following the exposition of systems and system features, I expand on how there is a disconnect between Searle’s use of system features and his view of the Chinese Room Argument. What is so special about Searle’s conception of systems and the systems present in the Chinese Room Argument? Searle should claim that the Chinese Room is simply not the kind of thing that can think. Ultimately, Searle’s philosophy of mind leaves us with either a muddled philosophy or an invalid argument in the Chinese Room, but with much to learn and not forget to consider in the philosophy of mind, such as the important role of subjectivity in our conscious life.


Impacts of eelgrass (Zostera marina) on pore-water sulfide concentrations in intertidal sediments of Casco Bay, Maine

Date: 2016-05-01

Creator: Sabine Y Berzins

Access: Open access

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a perennial seagrass that provides many vital ecosystem services including stabilizing sediments, maintaining water clarity, and providing complex habitat in the intertidal and shallow subtidal coastline. Historically, Maine supported dense eelgrass beds in shallow waters surrounding islands and along the coastal mainland. However, in 2012, high population densities of European green crabs (Carcinus maenas), which physically disturb and remove eelgrass as they forage, were correlated with widespread eelgrass declines. Over 55% of the area of eelgrass in Casco Bay was lost, mainly between 2012 and 2014. Eelgrass typically grows in low-oxygen sediments that produce a chemically reducing environment. Sulfate-reducing bacteria in these reduced sediments produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxin that can intrude into eelgrass tissues and impair the plants’ ability to photosynthesize. When eelgrass is not present, sulfide can build up in the pore-water. When eelgrass is present, it can oxygenate the sediments through its roots, thereby preventing the intrusion and buildup of toxic hydrogen sulfide. However, if the substrate is de-vegetated, oxygen levels drop as sedimentary organic matter is decomposed, and the accumulation of sulfides to harmful concentrations in the pore-water may make recolonization of eelgrass difficult or perhaps impossible even in the absence of green crabs. In an effort to monitor characteristics of Casco Bay eelgrass beds and determine spatially where eelgrass may be more likely to recover, four Casco Bay sites with varying degrees of vegetation loss were sampled in 2015 for pore-water sulfide concentration, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and sediment grain size analysis. Measurements of sulfide concentrations showed correlations with the timing of eelgrass loss, such that vegetated sites had low pore-water sulfide concentrations and sites that had been de-vegetated for longer periods of time had high sulfide concentrations. Carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment was higher at de-vegetated sites, likely due to a higher percentage of finer sediments at those locations. Coarser sediments were more highly vegetated than finer sediments, perhaps displaying a preference of green crabs to forage in finer sediments. Catastrophic loss of eelgrass in Casco Bay has likely led to differences in sulfide levels, carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment, and grain size distribution, depending on degree of vegetation. Eelgrass restoration in Casco Bay will likely be limited by high pore-water sulfide concentrations.


Miniature of Localizing Potential Messenger RNA Transport Protein Ips1 in <i>Candida albicans</i>
Localizing Potential Messenger RNA Transport Protein Ips1 in Candida albicans
Access to this record is restricted to members of the Bowdoin community. Log in here to view.
  • Restriction End Date: 2027-06-01

    Date: 2022-01-01

    Creator: Yi Peng Wang

    Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



      Surfing the Kali Yuga: Tracking the Alt-Right on Twitter

      Date: 2023-01-01

      Creator: Jaida Hodge-Adams

      Access: Open access

      The alt-right is a hyper-extreme, decentralized network of far-right pundits and their doggish supporters that exists almost entirely online. Consumed by conspiracy and identity, the myths of bigoted ideologies like racism, antisemitism, and transphobia are taken for granted, and their ideology calls for violent ends by violent means. In the physical world, members of the alt-right often keep their rhetoric to themselves; Online, however, they find solace in a vast, international network of websites and forums that together form one giant echo chamber into which they can dump their darkest thoughts. Though any individual member of the alt-right may operate uniquely within the context of their home country, together they form a collective, international voice whose strongest claims often transcend borders and resist state-level analysis. Unspeakable acts of violence like mass shootings, senseless killings, and acts of terrorism are unpredictable but become significantly more likely when the rhetorical atmosphere breeds hostility. By demonizing minority groups and spreading ideologies of hate, the alt-right makes these acts of violence more likely. On massive platforms like Twitter, the alt-right’s rhetoric can seep into mainstream conversations; their framing of concepts like race, gender, sexuality, and national identity are forced into relevance. Their rhetoric is euphemistic, but their message is clear, and their hate poses a real threat to people’s lives. This honors project explores the ideological and geographic features of the alt-right and their international implications, concluding that the alt-right is a globally interconnected group of actors whose conspiracies motivate lone-wolf terrorists worldwide.


      Miniature of Effects of Origin Environment and Temperature Acclimation on the Temperate Coral <i>Astrangia poculata</i>
      Effects of Origin Environment and Temperature Acclimation on the Temperate Coral Astrangia poculata
      This record is embargoed.
        • Embargo End Date: 2026-05-18

        Date: 2023-01-01

        Creator: Deva K Holliman

        Access: Embargoed



          Peace Be Dammed? Water Power and Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin

          Date: 2015-05-01

          Creator: Camille E. Wasinger

          Access: Open access



          Examining the Ability of Remote Sensing to Characterize Turfgrass Stress Physiology

          Date: 2022-01-01

          Creator: Benjamin Ross

          Access: Open access

          Remote sensing of solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a valuable tool in understanding the global carbon cycle. While SIF is highly correlated with photosynthesis at the ecosystem scale, the role that remote sensing of SIF can play at smaller scales is still unclear. The goal of my research was to investigate the ability of SIF to detect changes in pigmentation, photosynthesis, and energy partitioning at the grass canopy and leaf level in response to water stress and abscisic acid (ABA) hormone treatments. Both treatments immediately inhibited photosynthesis by limiting gas exchange through stomatal closure, but SIF declined gradually. Recovery of photosynthesis after alleviation of water stress was not reflected in remote measurements of SIF. I found that senescence in the tips of grasses had been driving changes in remote measurements, which affected remote measurements even when measured leaf-level gas exchange in the lower living tissue recovered. This heterogeneous senescence pattern contextualizes the disconnect between SIF and photosynthesis in stressed turfgrass.


          Miniature of Impact of SR-Like RNA-Binding Protein (Slr1) Structure on Splicing in <i>Candida albicans</i>
          Impact of SR-Like RNA-Binding Protein (Slr1) Structure on Splicing in Candida albicans
          Access to this record is restricted to members of the Bowdoin community. Log in here to view.
          • Restriction End Date: 2027-06-01

            Date: 2022-01-01

            Creator: Michael Christopher Dean

            Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



              Miniature of Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes Following Improved Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Pregnant Women
              Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes Following Improved Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Pregnant Women
              This record is embargoed.
                • Embargo End Date: 2026-05-18

                Date: 2023-01-01

                Creator: Emma A. Bomfim

                Access: Embargoed