Showing 2801 - 2850 of 5831 Items

Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Daniel Rohan Mayer
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Max Thrush Hukill
Access: Open access
- The standard statistical methodology for analyzing complex case-control studies in ethology is often limited by approaches that force researchers to model distinct aspects of biological processes in a piecemeal, disjointed fashion. By developing a hierarchical Bayesian model, this work demonstrates that statistical inference in this context can be done using a single coherent framework. To do this, we construct a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) to model bumblebee foraging behavior. To connect the experimental design with the CTMC, we employ a mixture model controlled by a logistic regression on the two-factor design matrix. We then show how to infer these model parameters from experimental data using Markov chain Monte Carlo and interpret the results from a motivating experiment.

Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Kim Hancock
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community

- Restriction End Date: 2025-06-01
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Seneca N. Ellis
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community

Date: 2015-05-01
Creator: Leigh A Andrews
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Fiona G Ralph
Access: Open access
- Species interactions are important to organisms and to the ecosystems they inhabit. These interactions, sometimes facilitations, can result in increased resiliency for both species. When facilitation occurs, organisms co-assist with physiological and environmental stressors. As anthropogenic impacts become more stressful for modern organisms, these interactions could offer a solution for many species. Ocean acidification has been shown to be detrimental to many calcifying organisms including oysters. More acidic conditions can slow the process of shell calcification, which can slow growth rates. This effect could directly impact the robust oyster farming business in Midcoast Maine. Because of its possible importance to oyster crops, we assessed the potential of Zostera marina, or eelgrass, to ameliorate the stresses of ocean acidification on farmed Eastern Oysters (Crassotrea virginica). Photosynthesizing organisms such as seagrasses have been shown to locally raise pH, which could create growth refugia for calcifying organisms. While eelgrass has the potential to enhance oyster growth rates, its meadows could also be influencing food availability. To better understand these dynamics, we grew C. virginica in two locations in Harpswell, ME. Crassostrea virginica were split into three habitats at each location: seagrass, fringe, and mudflat, and placed on surface or benthic arrays. We found that seagrass presence and depth interacted to increase shell growth rate. Similarly, Z. marina improved condition index of C. virginica. As ocean acidification worsens, oyster farmers might have to turn to mitigation strategies to ensure profit yield from their labors. Zostera marina could be the solution to their future problems.
Date: 2015-05-01
Creator: Kaylee S Wolfe
Access: Open access
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Reuben Mindlin Schafir
Access: Open access
- This thesis examines the intersection of race and professionalism in healthcare as they relate specifically to the debate over universal healthcare. It begins with the National Medical Association (NMA), a professional organization for Black physicians founded in 1895. The first two chapters follow the NMA as they attempt to navigate the two allegiances they have: one to be "race men," and work for racial equity in healthcare, and one to be professionals, and work towards affirming their professional sovereignty. The narrative begins in 1945, when President Harry Truman backed the first substantial proposal for a system of nationalized healthcare. Chapter two discusses the 1960s and how the confluence of the Great Society and the civil rights movement provided Black doctors with an opportunity to successfully serve both aspects of their identities. The third chapters explores the 1970s and the events following the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. The NMA began to align itself more closely with the American Medical Association (AMA), which had long-embodied the medical establishment. When this alignment occurred, the Black Panther party offered an alternative method of addressing racial health inequities that rejected not only the notion of healthcare as a commodity, but the entire national identity associated with the free market within which physicians sold care. This thesis considers how the interests of patients and the interests of doctors do and do not align, using race to bring this tension into high relief.

Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Jack R Callahan
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2016-01-01
Creator: Harry D Rube
Access: Open access
- The figure of the πολυπράγμων, the overactive, over-engaged, or meddlesome democratic citizen, is a literary trope that emerges in Classical Athenian literature in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. This project seeks to use the πολυπράγμων as an entry point into understanding Athenian attitudes toward citizenship and socially acceptable political behaviors in Athens’ democratic era. I explore the history and usage of the term πολυπράγμων, and the associated characteristic of πολυπραγμοσύνη (meddlesomeness), and its synonyms and antecedents. I demonstrate that to be labeled πολυπράγμων is a term of social restraint—one is named a πολυπράγμων if they do not “mind their own business.” In 5th century Athens such an admonition is primarily political. It refers to and demonstrates the existence of a contested definition of what is and what is not acceptable political behavior on behalf of the non-elite citizens of Athens. Through a reading of Plato’s dialogues and an analysis of other Athenian literary productions describing street-level social and political interactions in the fourth century, I endeavor to demonstrate in the second half of this thesis that the behaviors of social inquisitiveness, over-activity, and the negative characteristics attributed to the πολυπράγμων by contemporary writers such as Plato, could actually have served to increase the common knowledge and cohesiveness of the Athenian city-state. To do this, I consider the πολυπράγμων through the lens of modern scholarship and social science that considers Athens as an “epistemic democracy” concerned with aggregating and employing politically useful information.
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Rebecca Norden-Bright
Access: Open access
- Seán O’Faoláin (1900-1991) was an Irish writer, cultural critic, and editor of the literary magazine The Bell. He wrote prolifically throughout the twentieth century, and while his short stories are often anthologized, much of his work is now out of print. This project will examine O’Faoláin’s first two short story collections, Midsummer Night Madness (1932) and A Purse of Coppers (1937), within the context of the post-independence period in Ireland. The 1930s is a period often glossed over in both political and literary histories of Ireland, overshadowed by the Literary Revival and primarily characterized by deepening conservatism and political strife. However, the 1930s was also an era in which essential debates about Irish identity and the future of the Irish nation played out, in public discourse and in literature. Memory, in particular, served as an important site for these debates, as the newly independent Irish nation sought to define itself in relation to its turbulent past. O’Faoláin’s stories from this period reflect post-independence disillusionment and draw a desolate picture of a nation at a crossroads. At the same time, however, the stories draw upon revolutionary memories to construct a vision of a new Ireland, one no longer shaped by the legacies of colonialism. Situating O’Faoláin’s work within the context of postcolonial theory, my project argues for the postcolonial short story’s unique ability to represent identities in transition and shape the future of the Irish nation.

Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Megan M Freiberger
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community

- Embargo End Date: 2027-05-16
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Sophia Blaha
Access: Embargoed
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Ryan Supple
Access: Open access
- This thesis examines the complex relationship between religiosity and voting behavior in the United States. In a country where religion has diminished in importance over time, it seems rather fascinating that it still plays such a large role in the inner-workings of American politics. Chapter One analyzes the varying ways in which scholars have approached emergent political trends between religious groups, particularly with regards to political parties, voting behavior, and government representation. Chapter Two extends this analysis to the American National Election Studies (ANES), a national survey distributed to random samples of Americans during election seasons. The information from the ANES facilitated a more in-depth analysis of how individuals with varying levels of affiliations have interacted with politics, such as ideologies, affiliations, and feelings towards religiously salient political issues. Lastly, Chapter 3 focuses on college-aged students, using both the UCLA's CIRP Freshman Survey and the Bowdoin College Polar Poll, to evaluate how America's educated youth are interacting with politics. These data allowed for a more proper investigation into how a historically unreligious portion of the population interact with religion today, and how this may affect America's religious climate in the future, as students eventually grow into educated professionals and further immerse themselves into politics. Ultimately, this paper suggests that a growing political polarity has coincided with polarization in religion, with two coalitions-- a religious and non religious one moving in opposite directions, thus amounting to further divisions and misunderstandings between the American public.
Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Megan Marie Maher
Access: Open access
- Tasks which are simple for a human can be some of the most challenging for a robot. Finding and classifying objects in an image is a complex computer vision problem that computer scientists are constantly working to solve. In the context of the RoboCup Standard Platform League (SPL) Competition, in which humanoid robots are programmed to autonomously play soccer, identifying other robots on the field is an example of this difficult computer vision problem. Without obstacle detection in RoboCup, the robotic soccer players are unable to smoothly move around the field and can be penalized for walking into another robot. This project aims to use gradient and color signatures to identify robots in an image as a novel approach to visual robot detection. The method, "Fastgrad", is presented and analyzed in the context of the Bowdoin College Northern Bites codebase and then compared to other common methods of robot detection in RoboCup SPL.

Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Lucas John DiCerbo
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Bobby Murray
Access: Open access
- ‘Vienna Secession’ is a poetry manuscript broken into four distinct sections: “The Vienna Secession,” “Waltzes,” “Short Talks,” and “Other.” Most of the manuscript is in dialogue with Secessionist artists, or the ethos of the Vienna Secession. However, others, like the haikus, are exercises of form and responses to other contemporary poets, such as Robert Hass or Richard Wright. The manuscript explores different genres, including ekphrasis, prose, and experimental poems, like the ‘Waltzes,’ which employ 3/4 meter to emulate the Viennese waltz. The heart of the project is its sonic awareness—pulling from W.H. Auden, August Kleinzahler, and other musically-oriented poets. Outside the ‘Short Talks’ section, the poems’ sonic and phonetic qualities are integral to their style and meaning. At times this may be subtle, or even indiscernible, but overall, careful attention is paid to the sound and rhythm of the poems. The manuscript should be considered in both musical and literary terms. Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘Duino Elegies’ and advice in ‘Letters to a Young Poet’ are instrumental in creating these poems. As a ‘first statement,’ many poems battle with the insecurities of a young poet and exemplify the grapple of an aspiring creative. The poems consider antiquated things through contemporary frameworks; relationships, communication, masculinity, and suffering, to name a few. A general incentive of the work is to provide fresh perspectives on historical art and to import its most apposite sentiments into our current moment.

Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Mariah McKenzie
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community

- Restriction End Date: 2028-06-01
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Sarah Lührmann
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Andre Eden
Access: Open access
- During every second of a human’s life, the cardiovascular system is modulated by factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the physiology of the heart. We can uncover new insights regarding the nature of our system through investigations of similar systems in other model species. One example materializes itself in the form of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) whose single-chambered heart finds resemblance to the function and anatomy to that of humans. The lobster heart is powered by the cardiac ganglion (CG), a group of neurons that drive contractions of surrounding heart muscles, known as the myocardium. Both the CG and myocardium work in a feedback loop, with both intrinsic (afterload and preload) and extrinsic (temperature and neuropeptides) factors affecting cardiac output (CO) or the overall ability of the heart to carry out its primary function of nutrient distribution. In this paper, we examine how the addition of these factors into in vitro whole heart preparations affect CO and other associated variables. From experimentation, we conclude that the neuropeptide SGRNFLRFamide (SGRN) increases the heartbeat frequency and the active force exerted by the heart. We also conclude that increases in temperature decrease CO as higher temperatures decrease heartbeat frequency and the active force exerted by the heart. Lastly, we conclude that the effect of preload and afterload combined produce more robust effects on the CO and active force of the heart, potentially painting a better picture of what may happen in vivo.
Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Jordan W Richmond
Access: Open access
- This study develops a controlled laboratory experiment to examine the effects of personal recognition on charitable giving. I find evidence that both the possibility of acquiring prestige and the desire to avoid shame motivate individuals to give in recognition situations. Furthermore, I show that the possibility of being recognized is more important than the distinguishing value of that recognition, suggesting that an offer of recognition has greater power to increase charitable contributions when a larger proportion of donors will be recognized.
Date: 2019-05-31
Creator: Noah Gavil, Marta Misiulaityte, Shannon Grimes
Access: Open access
- Noah Gavil (Class of 2014), Marta Misiulaityte (Class of 2014), and Shannon Grimes (Class of 2014) reflect together on the way their different paths led to Bowdoin and to friendship with one another. They speak about the trials and triumphs of trying to find one’s place as well as the difficulty of learning to manage the pressures and expectations that they felt as Bowdoin students. Additionally, they comment in depth on their study-away experiences and describe the passions and interests their abroad experiences sparked in them. The three touch on a wide range of extracurricular activities, on-campus jobs, and areas of study, and reminisce fondly on the relationships they built with peers, faculty, and staff.

- Embargo End Date: 2027-05-16
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Benjamin Sewell-Grossman
Access: Embargoed
Date: 2016-05-01
Creator: Hallie Schaeffer
Access: Open access
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Sophia Li
Access: Open access
- My project approaches discussions of Asian American melancholia and mourning with a specific focus on contemporary Chinese American women’s fiction. Scholars such as David Eng, Shinhee Han, and Anne Anlin Cheng have long spotlighted the prevalence of depression among Asian American populations, particularly those with immigrant backgrounds, and they variously adopt psychoanalytic approaches to understand Asian American mental health and intersectional identities. Looking beyond psychoanalytic models, my project focuses on the works of Yiyun Li, Jenny Zhang, and K-Ming Chang to explore diverse forms of post-tragedy positionality. I read the authors paratextually, not only to locate them within legacies of diasporic fiction and intersectional auto-writing but also to highlight their critically self-reflexive authorship. I study novels and characters depicting complex processes of mourning, ultimately proposing a reading that views them not only as resisting complete recovery but as forging pathways toward liberatory grief.
Date: 2018-05-01
Creator: Samuel Monkman
Access: Open access
- This project explores the logical structure of moral dilemmas. I introduce the notion of genuine contingent moral dilemmas, as well as basic topics in deontic logic. I then examine two formal arguments claiming that dilemmas are logically impossible. Each argument relies on certain principles of normative reasoning sometimes accepted as axioms of deontic logic. I argue that the principle of agglomeration and a statement of entailment of obligations are both not basic to ethical reasoning, concluding that dilemmas will be admissible under some logically consistent ethical theories. In the final chapter, I examine some consequences of admitting dilemmas into a theory, in particular how doing so complicates assignment of blame.

- Embargo End Date: 2027-05-16
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Sam McClelland
Access: Embargoed
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Sade K. McClean
Access: Open access
- Arceuthobium pusillum is a hemiparasite that infects select Picea species. The hosts of A. pusillum do not experience the same symptoms of infection. A. pusillum infections are more fatal to P. marinara, and P. glauca. P. rubens, on the other hand, can survive longer with sustained infection. This presents itself as a contemporary issue because P. glauca, one of the parasite’s most vulnerable hosts, was untethered from ecological competition when old growth forests were subjected to large scale anthropogenic disturbances. These disturbances allowed P. glauca to proliferate, with A. pusillum following. A deeper understanding of the host-species specific responses to A. pusillum infection can broaden general knowledge of parasitic growth and development while also potentially inspiring conservation techniques. This study took advantage of the intrinsic differences between host and parasite to visualize infections in P. rubens and P. glauca, highlighting differences in infection outcome. By illuminating lignin and callose within cross sections of infected P. rubens and P. glauca branches, it was revealed that P. rubens forms dense bands of cells around the cortical strands of infection. These bands form more frequently in P. rubens than in P. glauca and are of a significantly larger area in P. rubens than in P. glauca (t(8), p=0.003, p=0.005). The discovery of the exterior bands is novel and exciting, as the bands are possibly made of callose and potentially facilitate P. rubens survival against A. pusillum infection. The foundational discoveries and results of this study should inspire, and warrant, further analysis.

- Restriction End Date: 2029-06-01
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Anh Nguyen
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community

Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Devin Kathleen O’Loughlin
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Cassandra Goldberg
Access: Open access
- This project explores novel approaches for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image segmentation that integrate established statistical properties of SAR into deep learning models. First, Perlin Noise and Generalized Gamma distribution sampling methods were utilized to generate a synthetic dataset that effectively captures the statistical attributes of SAR data. Subsequently, deep learning segmentation architectures were developed that utilize average pooling and 1x1 convolutions to perform statistical moment computations. Finally, supervised and unsupervised disparity-based losses were incorporated into model training. The experimental outcomes yielded promising results: the synthetic dataset effectively trained deep learning models for real SAR data segmentation, the statistically-informed architectures demonstrated comparable or superior performance to benchmark models, and the unsupervised disparity-based loss facilitated the delineation of regions within the SAR data. These findings indicate that employing statistically-informed deep learning methodologies could enhance SAR image analysis, with broader implications for various remote sensing applications and the general field of computer vision. The code developed for this project can be found here: https://github.com/cgoldber/Statistically-Principled-SAR-Segmentation.git.

- Embargo End Date: 2025-05-16
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Darien Gillespie
Access: Embargoed
Date: 2009-12-04
Creator: Daniel 'Bob' Robert Graham
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Daniel Robert “Bob” Graham was born November 9, 1936, in Florida. In 1959 he received a degree in political science from the University of Florida, and he earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1962. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966 and to the Florida State Senate in 1970. He served as governor of Florida from 1979-1987 and as U.S. senator from 1987-2005. While in the Senate, he served as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic presidential primary race. Since 2005, he has taught at Harvard University, the University of Florida, and the University of Miami.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: Mitchell’s participation in Florida as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1986 when Graham was elected; commonalities among the senators who were elected in 1986; Mitchell as a colleague from 1987-1994; Mitchell’s election as majority leader; Mitchell and Graham on environmental issues; Exxon Valdez in 1989; the Clean Air Act; base closings in Florida and Maine; Mitchell’s leadership qualities; the importance of Democratic cohesion to Mitchell; Kennedy and Mitchell; Mitchell and Clinton’s health care plan; the Democratic Steering Committee versus the Democratic Policy Committee; Mitchell’s presidential potential in 1992; and Mitchell’s legacy.
Date: 2010-03-17
Creator: Richard 'Dick' A Gephardt, Thomas 'Tom' J O'Donnell
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Richard Andrew “Dick” Gephardt was born on January 31, 1941, in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a B.S. from Northwestern University in 1962 and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1965. He was active in local Democratic politics and city government until 1976, when he was elected the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Missouri’s 3rd District until 2004, when he retired from the House and sought, unsuccessfully, the Democratic nomination for president, a nomination he also sought but failed to win in 1977. He served as House majority leader from 1989 to 1995 and minority leader from 1995 to 2003. After leaving the House, he founded the consulting and lobbying firm Gephardt Group Government Affairs, where he served as president and CEO at the time of this interview. Thomas J. “Tom” O’Donnell, a Brooklyn native, earned a B.A. in political science at SUNY Brockport and a Ph.D. from American University. He served as House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt’s chief of staff from 1989-1997, acting as Gephardt’s lead strategist for the Budget Summit Agreement of 1990 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, among other legislative affairs. From 1997-2007, O’Donnell served as a partner at Doak, Carrier, O’Donnell and Goldman (DCO), a political consulting media firm. At the time of this interview, he was managing partner of Gephardt Government Affairs.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: first impressions on meeting Mitchell; 1990 budget summit, tax reform, and “Read my lips—no new taxes”; legislative initiatives during the Clinton administration; health care proposals from the Clinton White House in 1994; Edward Kennedy’s and Patrick Moynihan’s roles in the health care debate; Mitchell’s attributes and his abilities as majority leader; crime bill of 1994.
Date: 2008-03-20
Creator: William 'Bill' C Hiss
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
William Charles “Bill” Hiss was born on August 4, 1944, in Orange, New Jersey, and grew up in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, with his mother, a kindergarten teacher, and his father, a businessman. He was graduated from Bates College, class of 1966, and attended Harvard Divinity School. Before graduating, he lived in a parish in East Harlem and taught at a public middle school in Morrisania in the Bronx. He undertook graduate studies at Tufts University and returned to Bates in 1978 as acting dean of admissions for a year, later becoming dean of admissions; he now serves as vice president of external and alumni affairs. He was a founding member of the Mitchell Institute and continues to serve on its Board of Directors.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: working on the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (and the development of FAFSA); working with Senator Snowe; Mitchell’s visiting every high school in Maine; original Mitchell Scholars program and George Mitchell’s vision; examples of remarkable Mitchell scholars; Northern Ireland; and development of the Mitchell Institute.
Date: 2009-05-09
Creator: Ralph 'Ike' I Lancaster, Jr.
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Ralph I. Lancaster, Jr. was born on May 5, 1930, in Bangor, Maine, to Ralph I. Lancaster, Sr. and Mary Kelleher Lancaster. He was reared in Bangor by Bridget and Charles Mylan. He attended high school at John Bapst and went on to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, being graduated in 1952 with a degree in English and a minor in history. He earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, then was drafted and spent two years in the Army. He returned to Maine to clerk for Judge Gignoux and remained in that position for two years. Then he was offered a position at the law firm Hutchinson Pierce, where he remained at the time of this interview (now Pierce Atwood) as a trial lawyer.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: growing up in Bangor; Holy Cross and Harvard Law School; Lancaster’s experience in the Army; clerkship with Judge Gignoux; the University of Maine Law School and the overabundance of lawyers in parts of Maine; how Lancaster came to work for Hutchinson Pierce (now Pierce Atwood); being a trial lawyer and a Maine lawyer; how Judge Gignoux was selected, his attributes, and occasions when he would sit in other locations around the country; George Mitchell’s appointment to the federal judgeship in Maine; Lancaster’s reaction to Mitchell’s appointment to Muskie’s U.S. Senate seat; Supreme Court consideration; how the practice of law has changed in Maine; the degree to which education prepares a lawyer for his or her work and the need for hands-on experience; and Lancaster’s views on lawyers advertising.
Date: 2008-05-27
Creator: Anthony 'Tony' Jabar, Sr.
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Anthony “Tony” Jabar, Sr. was born on January 17, 1932, in Waterville, Maine, one of eight children born to Amelia and George Jabar, who were both Lebanese immigrants. He attended Colby College and entered the service upon graduation. After his discharge, he taught several subjects at Wilton Academy in Wilton, Maine. After spending nine years at Wilton Academy he moved back to Waterville, where he continued his teaching career.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; teaching at Wilton Academy; growing up in the Head of Falls area; the Mitchell family; George and Robbie Mitchell; the Boys’ Club; George’s ability to remain calm; “Big Chief”; basketball with the Mitchells; comparison between past and present lifestyles; Lebanese food; Lebanese community in Waterville; emphasis on education; and recollections of old friends.
Date: 2019-05-31
Creator: Kailey Bennett
Access: Open access
- Kailey Bennett (Class of 2014) speaks about how Bowdoin’s walkability and adjacent transit services drew her to attend, while also discussing the difficulties of transitioning from southern Texas to Brunswick. She reflects on the importance of having a supportive host family with whom she has remained in touch post-grad. Bennett describes the stigma surrounding chem-free housing and her participation in efforts taken by spaces like Howell House to combat it. She also talks about spending summers at Bowdoin, her on-campus jobs in Special Collections & Archives and Dining, living on the “tour floor” in Hyde Hall, and her love of Visual Arts and Earth and Oceanographic Sciences.
Date: 2019-06-01
Creator: Edward Langbein
Access: Open access
- Edward “Ed” Langbein, Jr. (Class of 1957) describes adjusting to Bowdoin’s small size and the freedom of college life. He discusses rushing Alpha Tau Omega, fraternity culture, and two stories of hazing which included excursions called “Quests.” Langbein speaks about participating in the White Key, an interfraternity sports organization, and rising through the managerial ranks of the football team. Additionally, he comments on the events and atmosphere of Ivies weekend, having helped to plan it one year. He reminisces on the faculty and staff who mentored and supported him and offers advice to current and future Bowdoin students.
Date: 2017-05-01
Creator: Meghan Elizabeth Bellerose
Access: Open access
- This thesis argues that international development programs focused on adolescent girls reproduce problematic and contradictory depictions of girls in the global South. Using Girl Effect marketing materials and interviews with INGO staff, I demonstrate that present-day international aid programs center on the neoliberal notion that an empowered adolescent girl holds the unique potential to end global poverty. Through empowerment programs, girls are encouraged to recognize their agency and take personal responsibility for improving the wellbeing of their communities. However, I argue that even as development leaders claim that an empowered adolescent girl is a source of indefatigable strength who can transform her community, they carry a deep conviction that such a feat is not possible without significant Western aid. Despite the empowerment rhetoric that The Girl Effect and related international initiatives espouse, their programs depict adolescent girls in the developing world as vulnerable and oppressed by poverty, local men, and their cultures. Thus, Western donors are called upon to save “Third World” adolescent girls. I argue that these contradictions in the language of international development contribute to the perception of girls in the global South as weak, inferior, and homogenous and lead to the establishment of programs that strengthen inequitable structures and sideline girls’ sexual rights.
Date: 2017-05-01
Creator: Robert Barron
Access: Open access
- Hybrid zones and their dynamics are important in the understanding of the genetic basis of reproductive isolation and speciation. This study seeks to investigate the hybridization dynamics of a Scarus hybrid swarm within the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) that includes four phenotypically distinct species: S. perrico, S. ghobban, S. rubroviolaceus, and S. compressus. Genetic and population structure analyses of four nuclear loci and a mitochondrial locus revealed that one of the four species, S. compressus, was the result of two different hybrid crosses: S. perrico ✕ S. rubroviolaceus and S. perrico ✕ S. ghobban. A NewHybrids model indicated that most of the S. compressus samples were F1 hybrids, but 21% of the S. compressus sample was classified as “parentals” which could also be explained by the presence of either F2 hybrids or backcrosses with S. compressus phenotypes, given the relatively low power of the nuclear data set (4 loci) to resolve complex hybrid genotypes. Significant mito-nuclear discordance in all three non-hybrid species is consistent with an evolutionary effect of backcrossing between F1 hybrids and “pure” species. This study reveals a relative ease of hybridization between parrotfish taxa separated by an estimated 4.5 million years of isolation and opens the door to further studies on the potential effects of gene flow across old species boundaries and perhaps the formation of new species by hybrid speciation in a diverse clade of tropical reef fish. Elucidating the nature of potentially “deep” F2 crosses and backcrosses within the TEP Scarus hybrid system will allow us to better understand the effects of hybridization on evolution and speciation on both a micro- and macro-ecological scale.

- Restriction End Date: 2027-06-01
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Eleanor S. Huntington
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Ayanna S Hatton
Access: Open access
- When photons from sunlight are absorbed by plants, they can take paths of photosynthesis, fluorescence, or energy dissipation. Instruments to quantify fluorescence have expanded in scale to allow measurements from satellites and flux towers using Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF). Studies have found a positive correlation between SIF and gross primary productivity (GPP; representative of photosynthesis), suggesting SIF is a proxy for GPP. This conclusion encourages the use of SIF to inform decisions about carbon budgets and responding to climate change. Studies of fluorescence on the single-leaf scale have revealed that SIF measurements do not account for all variables nor is there an understanding of the impact of environmental factors, such as drought, on these measurements. In this project, tall fescue turfgrass was placed in one of four differing drought severities for 19 days. Leaf-level measurements of photosynthesis and pulse-amplitude modulated fluorescence were made, demonstrating stomatal closure and inhibition of photosynthesis. This physiological change caused greater photon allocation to energy dissipation. Changes in greenness and the utilization of photoprotective mechanisms such as senescence and anthocyanin accumulation were observed. This study has provided an understanding of the temporal, physiological, and visible impacts of drought on turfgrass to inform interpretations of SIF in future experiments. Caution is crucial in utilizing SIF as a proxy for GPP before further research into the impact of drought on SIF is completed.
Date: 2017-05-01
Creator: Aidan Fisher Coyle
Access: Open access
- Hybrid zones provide natural laboratories to study how specific genes, and interactions among genes, may influence fitness. On the east coast of North America, two separate populations of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) have been introduced in the last two centuries. An early invasion from Southern Europe colonized New England around 1800, and was followed by a second invasion from Northern Europe to Nova Scotia in the early 1980s (Roman 2006). As these populations hybridize, new combinations of genes potentially adapted to different ends of a thermal spectrum are created in a hybrid zone. To test the hypothesis that mitochondrial and nuclear genes have effects on thermal tolerance, I measured response to cold stress in crabs collected from locations between southern Maine and northern Nova Scotia, and then genotyped the mitochondrial CO1 gene and two nuclear SNPs. Three mitochondrial haplotypes, originally from Northern Europe, had a strong effect on the ability of crabs to right themselves at a temperature of 4.5ºC. Crabs carrying these three haplotypes were 20% more likely to right compared to crabs carrying the haplotype from Southern Europe. The two nuclear SNPs, which were derived from transcriptome sequencing and were strong outliers between Northern and Southern European C. maenas populations, had no effect on righting response at low temperature. These results add C. maenas to the short list of ectotherms in which mitochondrial variation affects thermal tolerance, and suggests that natural selection is shaping the structure of the hybrid zone between the northern and southern populations This discovery of linkage between mitochondrial genotype and thermal tolerance also provides potential insight into the patterns of expansion for invasive populations of C. maenas around the world.

Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: William Joseph Surks
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Date: 2009-06-01
Creator: Pamela Fletcher
Access: Open access
- Narrative paintings of modern life were immensely popular at the Royal Academy from the 1850s well into the early twentieth century. Perfectly suited to the Academy's culture of conversation, the pictures invited viewers to respond to the scenes as if they were real life situations, and gossip about the depicted characters as if they were real people. While such responses were routinely derided by critics as evidence of the public's lack of aesthetic sophistication, they offer tantalizing glimpses of the pictures' social lives. This article argues that taking gossip seriously as a mode of engagement with art both amplifies our understanding of the meanings, functions, and pleasures of narrative painting, and suggests specific connections between exhibition culture and the meanings of pictures. Using the richly documented reception of the 'problem pictures' of the 1910s and 1920s as the primary evidence, this article establishes a taxonomy of gossipy modes of engagement with narrative painting, and argues that gossiping about pictures allowed for the performance of individual identity, the creation of social and artistic groups, and connected public and private understandings of the world.