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Item Open Access Death of the Armchair Activist: Pragmatic Understandings of Feminist Knowledge(University of Oregon, 1996-06) Trigilio, JosephineEngaging in the development of feminist thinking is an act of self- creation and world-creation . Because feminism is fundamentally a socio-political project, feminist thinking ought to be immanent in feminist practice and action, thereby inverting traditional hierarchies which understand theory as guiding practice. An inclusive feminism needs to be inclusive in practice, not theory, and requires the maximization of democratic, grassroot participation in the decisions, activities and practices that structure feminism. I argue that the academic institutionalization of feminist theory exacerbates the growing gap between theory and practice within feminist movements in the U. S. by creating a class of feminist knowledge specialists who produce hypertheoretical discourses. These discourses, instead of a rising out of particular socio-political problems and needs, develop out of the framework of existing academic discourses, and are difficult for non-specialists to access and assess. The proliferation and normalization of hypertheoretical discourses both raises questions about the types of power relations they produce, and serve to distance academic feminist theory from feminist politics and practice . I argue that instead of attempting to ground feminist practice and action in knowledge, feminist knowledge iv projects should arise out of, be situated within, and guided by attempts to work through socio-political problems. I suggest that feminists abandon commitments to particular epistemological approaches and proceed pragmatically, that is, begin within the context of concrete social, cultural, and political situations and problems. Pragmatic understandings of epistemology would permit feminists to be free to select or develop the epistemological approach best suited for the needs and goals of specific socio-political projects. Assessments and judgments about approaches to knowledge cannot be established a priori to, or outside of, particular projects because these evaluations are always relative to what needs to be known and why. The key to proceeding pragmatically is that, in very important ways, practice precedes theory. It is more a way of preaching what you practice, than practicing what you preach . Pragmatic approaches to feminist knowledge mark the end of the armchair activist because they require that feminist theorists become involved in feminist communities and networks that are to give direction and form to knowledge projects.Item Open Access Refusing Evil: The Place of Acuity in Morality(University of Oregon, 1996-08) Woolfrey, JoanArendt wrote that "to think what we are doing" may make humans "abstain from evil - doing. " I suggest that there is more to it than that . Moral Acuity is a phrase I use to discuss how one can know the right thing to do, often practically without thinking, when situations involving evil arise. Evil, for my purposes , refers to the causing of great harm to another. I propose that to be Morally Acute one must have the capacity for independent judgments and possess sympathetic awareness of suffering. One must be able to make decisions independent of others. And, one must emphasize the suffering of the victim in moral decision making. "Truly bringing the victim to mind" is a phrase which illustrates these two attributes. Truly bringing the victim to mind underscores the need for a kind of accuracy or acuity of perception unfettered by ego, belief, peers or cultural norm. Truly bringing the victim to mind emphasizes that the victim's experience be foremost in one's mind, that the suffering of another take precedence over other elements of particular circumstances. I stress the need for literacy regarding evil and those who refuse . I offer suggestions for moral development which stress the importance of thinking for oneself as well as the benefits of being able to see things from another person's perspective. The combination, while not the only channel for doing the right thing, will , I suggest , increase the likelihood . To be thought-full and clear-headed and sensitive to harm will, in the long run--and doesn't common sense tell us this anyway?--be the best route to determining the right thing to do.Item Open Access The Metaphysics and Phenomenology of Wittgenstein's Tractatus: An Interpretive Investigatin into the Nature and Function of Simple Objects in Wittgenstein's Early Theory of Meaning(University of Oregon, 1995-03) Warwick, Michael CharlesIf a "theory" of meaning is possible, what form must it take? This study of Wittgenstein's early work was undertaken with this question as its focus. My reinterpretation derives from a close study of the Tractatus and the Notebooks 1914-1916 in which Wittgenstein explores the conditions necessary to representation. The problem relation of language to the world should not be explicated in terms of concepts consequent on it - description, truth, and reference; neither should the theory adopt their presuppositions (concerning the form of reality). It is argued Wittgenstein eschews the practice of redefining those concepts in favor of explicating parallel ones. Propositions do not describe but show the conditions for representation which their forms are congruent with, not true of; for by showing those conditions propositions are not intentional (-ly representational), rather they make the intention to refer possible. This fundamental semantic relation I reinterpret as a linguistic form of intentionality that makes conceivable the universality of languages' representational potential to apply to any world whatsoever (dubbed "blind referencing"). The standard realist and anti-realist interpretations of Wittgenstein's position are criticized throughout though elements of each contribute to the solution I argue for. The conditions for representation Wittgenstein proposes - a subsisting realm of simple objects - are considered both directly and through an exploration of the notions of propositional analysis and of the context propositions provide for the meanings of names (part 1). The conclusions is that the core concept of "simple object" ("logical form", a variable) is infinitely analogically interpretable and phenomenological in character and in part 2 I explore parallels between Wittgenstein's views and Husserl's phenomenology with respite to their methodology and content - the nature of "objects" and the essential intentionality of representation. This conception of semantics is found to substantiate the Tractus's view of the common roots of logic and ethics. My conclusion concerns three issue: distinguishing Wittgenstein's philosophical views from those of empirical linguistics; I draw out some epistemological and ontological implications; finally I argue the failure of Wittgenstein's theory from the hindsight of his later criticism of the (philosophical) notions of "objectivity" and language as rule-governed.Item Open Access Learning to Love: Philosophy and Moral Progress(University of Oregon, 1991-12) Smith, Philip DeanLove is a crucially important notion m morals. Moral philosophy, then, should give attention to this notion, and some of that attention should be concerned with how people might develop or improve as lovers. However, when the author tried to think through some rather obvious suggestions relating to love and becoming a lover, it became clear that much moral theory gives love short shrift. Assumptions inherent in rationalistic moral theory prevent most moral philosophers from letting love be the central concept in their work. This dissertation has two aims: to suggest four things which may contribute to moral progress by helping individuals love better, and to defend such suggestions against standard moral theory. Positively, the study suggests: overcoming narcissism enables a person to love; the basic element of love, clear and compassionate attention to individuals, can be practiced; a vision of love, given through narrative, can direct the moral pilgrim; and healthy communities can help would-be lovers. Negatively, the study argues: some of these positive suggestions would be classed as a non-central adjunct to moral philosophy by most rationalistic moral philosophers; this (mis)classification of these suggestions reveals that standard moral philosophy is deficient; these deficiencies flow from the wrong use of the "myth of autonomous reason;" and rationalistic moral theories are rooted in an untenable picture of human nature as essentially rational. Further, questions surrounding the concepts of pluralism of goods and relativism are discussed in one chapter.Item Open Access Nagarjuna's Unsurpassed Medicine: Emptiness and the Doctrine of Upaya(University of Oregon, 1996-12) Schroeder, John WilliamNagarjuna is one of the few Buddhist thinkers that Western philosophers have begun to explore in detail and take seriously. Although primarily concerned with explaining Buddhist doctrine to the Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions of India, Nagarjuna's significance for Western philosophers lies in the fact that he is addressing the same types of issues that Western thinkers have struggled with for centuries. He is thus portrayed not simply as a South Asian Buddhist thinker, but as a philosopher who has something important to say about philosophical issues such as causality, metaphysics, the nature of thinking, epistemological realism, and the inherent limitations of language. 1n this sense, Nagarjuna is considered a philosopher with status, on the same level, if not higher, than Kant, Hume, Wittgenstein, and Derrida. This thesis questions this portrayal of Nagarjuna by arguing that it relies on "theoretical" understanding of Buddhist doctrine. Western philosophers persistently view Nagarjuna as addressing "theoretical" problems, and assume that Buddhist liberation is contingent upon a correct "philosophical" understanding of the world, the mind, and the nature of language. This is a "theoretical" approach to Buddhism because it says one needs to adopt a certain "philosophical" viewpoint in order to attain liberation. The irony in this, however, is that Nagarjuna is trying to "cure" this exact way of thinking. For him, to approach Buddhist liberation in "theoretical" or "philosophical" terms is misleading because it forces us to adopt a detached perspective far removed from those who the Buddhist teachings are supposed to help. For Nagarjuna, Buddhist teachings arise only within the context of trying to solve certain life problems, and to adopt a "theory" of Buddhism, therefore, or to think that liberation depends on a "philosophical" understanding of the world, is to lose sight of what those problems really are. Thus, to say Nagarjuna addresses larger "philosophical" issues is to practice what he warns against. This thesis argues against a "philosophical" portrayal of Nagarjuna by examining the doctrine of "skillful means" which plays a distinctive role in Buddhist soteriology. The significance of "skillful means" is its rejection of a "theory of liberation" in favor of a contextual and multi-strategic approach to helping others. "Skillful means" begins with the assumption that there are concrete differences in people's lives, differences that cannot be resolved by appealing to philosophical principles. Because the doctrine of "skillful means" begins with such differences, it promotes innumerable soteriological "devices" and strategies for helping others. Thus, "emptiness," "dependent-arising," "impermanence," and nirvana are only a few of the many "skillful means" that Buddhists use to facilitate liberation, and Nagarjuna warns against turning such terms into "philosophical" problems. Operating within a "skillful means" tradition, Nagarjuna places Buddhist doctrine within a medicinal and heuristic context, and argues that its teachings are best understood within the soteriological practices of Buddhist life.Item Open Access Engendered Pragmatism(University of Oregon, 1995-06) Ross, Jamie P.Pragmatism as a political theory develops a critical perspective, a sensitivity to context and situation, and a collaborative and interactive engagement of personal experiences that test theories. Given this focus, however, the subject matter of pragmatism does not engage issues of gender. Pragmatism, nevertheless, can be used as a tool to address and handle feminist concerns. The link between pragmatism and feminism can be made by emphasizing pragmatists' efforts to align rationality with praxis. That is, pragmatism can be analyzed in such a way as to break the traditional link of rationality to masculinity and the link of practical life to femininity. However, in so doing, there remains a residue of unrecognized assumptions and cultural attitudes that makes the link between women's experiences and philosophical praxis difficult to establish and maintain. Thus, while this dissertation critiques the absence of an analysis of gender within epistemology generally, it also proposes a new theory of knowledge: engendered pragmatism. It is a theory of knowledge as situated, created by gendered individuals within particular communities. I do not provide a feminist critique of pragmatism in which large parts of pragmatism are altered, replaced or repudiated. I provide a new view of what epistemological problems within the pragmatic tradition entail, not a new interpretation of the problems. Engendered pragmatism does not simply involve a process of highlighting women's experiences where pragmatism can solve the problems of gender issues. As a theory, engendered pragmatism is not simply the application of pragmatism to women's experiences. My claim is that one cannot be a pragmatist without being a feminist. However, one cannot be a feminist pragmatist without addressing two problems within feminist epistemology. There is a tendency within feminist epistemology to universalize and, simultaneously, to relativize women's experiences. This tendency creates the perception that women's experiences are personal truths. From a pragmatist perspective, the value of a woman's standpoint should not be couched in terms of the issue of truth. Engendered pragmatism, as a theory, encourages feminist epistemologists to use the plurality of personal experiences as practical tools for a pragmatic conception of knowledge as warrantability, not truth.Item Open Access When Metaphors Bewitch, Analogies Illustrate, and Logic Fails: Controversies Over the Use of Metaphoric Reasoning in Philosophy and Science(University of Oregon, 1998-12) Rohrer, Timothy CharlesI begin by investigating the conventional view of the relationship between metaphor and natural kinds in both classical and contemporary philosophy of science. l argue that Plato and Aristotle originated the conventional view that metaphors are a peripheral and ornamental supplement to philosophical and scientific argumentation proper. On their accounts philosophy and science are supposed to be about tracing the causal and logical (as opposed to the metaphorical and analogical) connections between the objects of knowledge. Because metaphors are seen as improper categorizations made merely for the purposes of rhetorical persuasion, metaphors are considered obstacles to proper philosophical and scientific argumentation. The exclusion of metaphor from argumentation supposedly gives us a realist system of philosophy and science which takes as its objective the discovery of natural kinds alleged to be independent of human conceptualization, thereby "cleaving nature at the joints" (in Plato's notorious phrase). However I argue not only is that attempt deeply mistaken in light of the contemporary research within the cognitive sciences on metaphor, but that by analyzing the metaphors that Plato and Aristotle in fact use we can see that metaphor and metaphoric reasoning is itself what makes possible their shared view that metaphor is to be excluded from philosophy and science. Having shown how Plato's and Aristotle's treatment of metaphor is caught in a strange loop--where some metaphors in their views of philosophy and science are used to argue for the exclusion of metaphor in general from the future practice of science and philosophy~-1 reject realism about natural kinds in favor of the embodied pragmatism espoused first by Dewey and currently by Lakoff and Johnson. I argue that Dewey provides an alternative metaphysical framework to realism that is crucial for recent work by the neuroscientists Damasio and Edelman on the role of embodiment in the philosophy of cognitive science. I then use that Deweyan framework to both extend and critique Lakoff and Johnson's hypothesis that human reasoning--including scientific and philosophical reasoning--is constituted by embodied conceptual metaphors. I conclude that neither metaphor nor rhetoric are incidental to philosophical and scientific argumentation.Item Open Access The Ontology of Privacy(University of Oregon, 1993-03) Roberts, Leilani AnneThe dissertation is an examination of the philosophical concept of privacy. It begins with an exposition of the evolution of the concept of privacy from ancient Greece to the present. It includes an evaluation of the extant scholarship on privacy in philosophy which I criticize as inadequate to explain privacy's value to us. I suggest an alternative model of privacy which completes and unites relevant prior theories. Focus is then shifted from philosophy to law. For background, I include a summary exposition of the concept of privacy as a right in both jurisprudential literature and in case law. I argue that a principle of privacy law needs to be articulated in order to attain coherence and consistent adjudication of claims to privacy in courts of law. To this end, I test my theory of privacy by applying it to a 1986 supreme Court case, Bowers v. Hardwick, in order to show the superiority of my model.Item Open Access Epistemology and Environment: The Greening of Belief(University of Oregon, 1998-12) Preston, Christopher J.Following a sequence of papers in the middle of the twentieth century by W.V.O. Quine, epistemologists have increasingly recognized that the agent of knowledge is situated relative to certain social and natural conditions. This 'epistemic location' has been shown by feminist epistemologists to lend shape to the knowledge claims that individuals and communities make. Sensitivity to the facts of epistemic location has led to a process of increasing scrutiny of the range of variables believed to be epistemically significant. In this dissertation, I argue for the introduction of local geographical and ecological conditions as an additional epistemically significant variable. After an historically informed discussion of why the situating of knowledge should be done and a survey of contemporary approaches to how it has been done, I construct a synthetic argument for the epistemic significance of place. Examples drawn from ancient philosophy, anthropology, cultural geography, environmental psychology, and personal narrative experience illustrate the agency of place. Next, an argument indicating the continuity between dialectical biology, ecological perception, and enactivist cognitive science illustrates a direction for research on cognition that would continue to take more serious]y the significance of place. Finally, I suggest through an argument for pluralism that the epistemic significance of place demands that some rich connections be made between environmental philosophy and epistemology. Diverse natural environments should be valued as epistemic sources that ensure the diversity of perspectives and theories necessary for knowledge to progress.Item Open Access Unbinding the Structures of Narrative Agency: Internarrative Subjectivity and the Classical Aesthetic Foundation of Ricoeurean Identity(University of Oregon, 1997-12) Maan, Ajit K.While contemporary inquiries into the nature of the "self' are inclined to allow previously marginalized groups to assert their status as subjects and their stories as narratives, the postmodern denial of authorship and deconstruction of the self as a linguistic construction throws this entire inquiry into question. But while deconstruction calls autobiography into question by problematizing the authority and source of any utterance, others point out that the postmodern deconstruction of subjectivity is a luxury of the privileged. As one philosopher puts it, "in order to announce the death of the subject one must have gained the right to speak as one." Paul Ricoeur sees his work as providing a solution to the recent debates concerning the status of the subject. Ricoeur's is a narrative solution. Aristotelian muthos becomes the imaginative technique whereby an otherwise fractured and fluctuating subject constitutes herself. But I argue that this exclusive focus on Aristotelian employment causes a marginalization of narratives based on other constructions of experience. Aristotelian muthos is a process of making the intelligible out of the accidental, the universal from the singular, the necessary from the episodic. But there are different kinds of narrative practice which represents subjectivity that is disjunctive and non-linear. This type of narrative practice is aligned with the postmodern suspicion of identity, and yet it recognizes the imperative for situating an already marginal subject. While canonical Western narratives associate identity with formal integrity, I argue that textual discontinuity results from experienced nonlinearity and that these textual qualities are deliberate strategies to subvert authoritarian modes of self-representation. I propose an alternative to Narrative Identity Theory, a theory I call Internarrative Identity Theory, which involves a more inclusive notion of plot. To unbind classical structure is to maximize agency in determining, and re-determining, who one is in a way that is truly imaginative.Item Open Access The Factors of Placement and Intensity of Emphasis in Learning(University of Oregon, 1939) Porter, Jr, Elias Hull; Leeper, RobertOne purpose of this thesis will be to clarify the results of previous experimenters in regard to the particular problem investigated and principles discovered. A second purpose of this thesis is to present new experimental evidence and an explanatory hypothesis for the first mentioned problem, that of the relative efficacy of emphasizers which bear information of correctness and which accompany correct or incorrect responses.Item Open Access The Influence of a Period of 'Incidental' Learning Upon Subsequent Learning with Intention(University of Oregon, 1936-07) Porter, Jr, Elias Hull; Huffaker, CL; DeBusk, BBoth without and within the formal educational institution a great part of the average person's living experiences are directed in channels other than conscious attempts to gain information. Many of such experiences make use of information which was not consciously or intentionally learned. For example, many items of information may be learned through the reading of novels but it cannot be said that it is always the reader's intention to learn this information. Similarly it may be said that individuals do not always consciously set about learning all of their emotional and attitudinal responses. That such learning does result incidentally in other than conscious learning activities has been shown experimentally, as will be demonstrated in the historical section of this study. Moreover, a given period of such 'incidental' learning has been demonstrated experimentally to be less effective than an equal period of learning in which the intent to learn was present. Since it is easily conceivable that a given situation may be first met under conditions that do not call for intended learning and later under conditions that demand conscious learning activity, it becomes important to know what influence such as an initial period exerts upon subsequent intentional learning. It is the purpose of this study to seek the answer to the question of the influence of a period of 'incidental' learning upon subsequent intentional learning in a series of experimental situations where the materials to be learned consist of meaningless syllables, simple words, complex words, and simple puzzles. The materials to be learned were selected so as to fall into two classifications: (1) memoritor or rote type learning, and (2) learning by problem solving.Item Open Access The Cyclic Realities of Man and Nature in a Palauan Village(University of Oregon, 1972-09) Klee, Gary AllenThe geographer records interrelationships between man and environment as they affect place, but he often neglects the invisible forces of nature . Too often he has limited his scope to: (1) the elements or things that makeup the landscape; (2) the processes or ways in which the elements in the landscape originated and developed; and (3) t he agents or individuals or groups that activate the processes. But these characterizations do not adequately describe an area that is very much alive. One means of capturing a landscape's dynamic quality is to include in the study a discussion of "cyclic time." This dissertation is an attempt to describe a landscape through "cyclic time"--the diurnal, monthly, and seasonal cycles of man and nature in Ngermetengel, Palau, a small fishing village in Micronesia .Item Open Access Parenting Stress, Acculturative Stress, Depression, and Financial Strain Among Latine Adults in an Emerging Immigrant State(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Romero, Lindsey; McWhirter, BenedictHeightened anti-immigrant sentiment within recent history in the United States has exacerbated distress among Latine adults, especially by negatively affecting parenting practices and increasing acculturative stressors. Culturally responsive parenting interventions that acknowledge the saliency of acculturative stress among Latine adults present an opportunity to better support and understand mental health outcomes among this underserved population. Using the Family Stress Model and existing data from 241 Latine adults living in an emerging immigrant state, the present study addresses gaps in the literature by: 1) conducting an efficacy study of the parenting intervention Nuestras Familias (Martinez & Eddy, 2005) through an ANCOVA analysis, 2) examining the influence of parenting stress and acculturative stress on depression through hierarchical linear regression, and 3) assessing financial strain as a moderator of the relationship between parenting stress, acculturative stress, and depression through a moderated multiple regression. Implications for intervention and future research are presented.Item Open Access Depression among Multiracial Adults: The Role of Discrimination and Social Support(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Luther, Gabriella; Kelly, NicholeAlthough it is unclear whether rates of depression differ for Multiracial individuals compared to Monoracial People of Color (MPOC) and Monoracial White (MW) individuals, Multiracial individuals could be at higher risk secondary to unique experiences with discrimination and social support. Experiencing discrimination is robustly associated with depressive symptoms, whereas social support has been shown to buffer this association in MPOC. Multiracial people often face discrimination from multiple racial groups (i.e., double rejection) and are less likely to receive the protective in-group benefits their monoracial peers report. Simultaneously, Multiracial people have reported increased ability to traverse social boundaries, which could increase their opportunities for social support. The current study examined how the variables of discrimination, social support, and depression differ across Multiracial, MW, and MPOC. The link between discrimination and depression was evaluated among Multiracial participants. Sources of social support were examined as moderators. Multiple regression analyses conducted among the full sample (N = 1,322, Mage = 40.6 ± 20.5), showed that discrimination did not differ by racial group (p = .54). Social support (p < .001, p = .002), peer support (p = .002, p =.02), and family support (p = .02, p < .001) were higher for MW participants than for MPOC and Multiracial people. Depressive symptom were higher for Multiracial participants than for MPOC participants (p < .001). Among Multiracial participants, discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms (p < .001). Overall social support (p < .001), peer support (p =.01), and family support (p = .02) were also negatively associated with depressive symptoms, but were not significant moderators. Results suggest that Multiracial people experience higher depressive symptoms than their MPOC counterparts, and discrimination may be a contributor to these experiences. Future research should include measures better designed to capture the experiences of Multiracial adults in an effort to clarify the validity of the double rejection phenomenon. Interventions to reduce the perpetration of monoracism are needed, as are those to help Multiracial people cope with the depressive symptoms associated with these experiences.Item Open Access Social Anxiety and College Drinking Risk: Exploring the Moderating Effect of Experiential Avoidance(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Marchetti, Mary; Cronce, JessicaHigher levels of social anxiety predict greater incidence of alcohol-related consequences among college students, yet little is known about for whom social anxiety may pose the greatest risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences and the significance and direction of association between social anxiety and alcohol use remain unclear. This investigation aims to help elucidate the relationships between social anxiety and both alcohol consequences and use by examining experiential avoidance, or a tendency to suppress unwanted internal experiences, as a potential moderator of different aspects of the social anxiety–alcohol link. The current study utilizes data from the Healthy Minds Study, a national survey of college student mental health, which was collected across 79 U.S. colleges during the 2018-2019 academic year. Respondents who were (a) aged 18–30 years old and (b) given the opportunity to complete all key measures included for present analysis comprised the final sample (N = 1,584). A series of regression models using Hayes conditional process analysis were conducted to test experiential avoidance as a moderator of the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol-related consequences and a moderator of the relationship between social anxiety and heavy episodic drinking. Findings revealed a significant, positive association between social anxiety and alcohol-related consequences, while social anxiety was not significantly related to alcohol use. Experiential avoidance was positively linked to both alcohol-related consequences and alcohol use but did not moderate the associations between social anxiety and either outcome. Overall, findings suggest that higher levels of social anxiety may potentially increase risk for alcohol-related consequences but not for alcohol use among a sample of young adult college students, and that experiential avoidance may not modify the strength of either prospective relationship. This investigation paves the way for future explorations into the role of experiential avoidance in the social anxiety–alcohol link and offers insight relevant to the enhancement of preventive intervention efforts to reduce the burden of alcohol-related risk among socially anxious college students.Item Open Access Examining Group Differences in Health and Depression among Sexual and Gender Diverse Individuals: An Intersectional Approach(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Folger, Austin; Kelly, NicholeSexual and gender diverse (SGD) individuals experience significant health disparities; yet, little is known about the unique risks of the individuals within this diverse community, particularly at the intersection of sexual, gender, racial, and ethnic identities. The present study aimed to examine differences in depression, suicidal ideation, and chronic health conditions (CHCs) at the intersection of SGD and ethnic and racial identities. Qualtrics Panels recruited 1329 U.S. adults from various SGD subgroups (389 cisgender heterosexual, 289 cisgender bisexual, 219 cisgender gay, 157 cisgender lesbian, and 275 cisgender gender diverse adults) and racial and ethnic subgroups (415 non-Hispanic White, 387 Hispanic or Latinx, 268 Black or African American, 252 Multiracial adults). Participants completed online surveys. After adjusting for income, education, and age, SGD adults had higher depressive symptoms and were more likely to experience suicidal ideation frequently and have CHCs compared to non-SGD adults (ps < .05). There were important variations within SGD and racial and ethnic subgroups suggesting that bisexual, gender diverse, and multiracial adults experience worse mental and/or physical health compared to cisgender, heterosexual respondents. The study findings and extant research underscore the need to examine how health disparity risk varies across SGD subgroups as certain groups may be at greater risk and these risks may vary based on the outcome being examined. There also appears to be a complicated interaction between SGD status, race, and ethnicity. Future research elucidating risk for health disparities should take an intersectional approach to more effectively direct research and intervention.Item Open Access Using Recast Theory to Examine the Racial Stress Appraisal Process Across High Schools: Differences in Racial Threat and Support Appraisals(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Fleming, Maureen; McWhirter, BenedictThe current study utilizes the Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (RECAST) to examine Racial Stress Appraisal (RSA) and Racial Coping Self-Efficacy (RCSE) in youth. This study adds to current understanding of what contributes to the development of RSA and RCSE skills in an effort to support interventions aimed at increasing these capabilities. Data from 301 diverse high school students from three different high schools in the United States was collected through the Racial Empowerment Collaborative research and training center at the University of Pennsylvania. In this study we validated a measure of RSA and RCSE, gleaning factors from each. We then examined if student participants, based on the type of school they attend, varied in their RCSE, RSA, and factor levels. RSA factors included Racial Threat Appraisal and Racial Support Appraisal. Students from the majority White, high socioeconomic status (SES) school reported significantly lower Racial Threat Appraisal and significantly higher Racial Support Appraisal levels than students from the schools with more students of color and greater variability in SES. These results demonstrate how support, racial coping, and stress management skills may help mitigate ongoing interpersonal harm caused by racially stressful experiences among youth. Implications for intervention implementation and future research are discussed.Item Open Access Leptons as a Window to Dark Matter(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Radick, Aria; Cohen, TimThere is a huge amount of evidence the dark matter exists, however we still do not know what kind of particle it is. Many experiments have been performed to test different models for dark matter, but its nature still remains elusive. In this work we study two different ways of looking for dark matter by using leptons. First, we look at low threshold experiments in the form of dark matter-electron scattering. We know that the rate of dark matter-electron scattering depends on the underlying velocity distribution of the dark matter halo. In particular, dark matter electron scattering is more sensitive to the high velocity tail which can be significantly different depending on the dark matter halo model. This work quantifies the effects of different dark matter halo models and parameter choices on these rates, finding an $\mathcal{O}(0.01\%)$ to $\mathcal{O}(100\%)$ change in the rate predictions in silicon targets. Secondly, we use a different lepton, the muon, to search for dark matter at colliders. In particular, we simulate a particular class of dark matter model, known as flavored dark matter, at a theoretical future muon collider to predict the capability of such a machine to detect or place bounds on this model, if it were to be built. We focus on the less-explored regime of feeble dark matter interactions, which suppresses the dangerous lepton-flavor violating processes, gives rise to dark matter freeze-in production, and leads to long-lived particle signatures at colliders. We find that the interplay of dark matter freeze-in and its mediator freeze-out gives rise to an upper bound of around TeV scales on the dark matter mass. The signatures of this model depend on the lifetime of the mediator, and can range from generic prompt decays to more exotic long-lived particle signals. In the prompt region, we calculate the signal yield, study useful kinematics cuts, and report tolerable systematics that would allow for a $5\sigma$ discovery. In the long-lived region, we calculate the number of charged tracks and displaced lepton signals of our model in different parts of the detector, and uncover kinematic features that can be used for background rejection. We show that, unlike in hadron colliders, multiple production channels contribute significantly which leads to sharply distinct kinematics for electroweakly-charged long-lived particle signals. This dissertation includes previously published co-authored material.Item Open Access HOW A COMMUNITY CLINIC HAS RESPONDED TO THE WAR ON DRUGS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY(University of Oregon, 2024-12-19) Arredondo Sanchez Lira, Carolina; Yarris, KristinThis thesis explores the profound social impacts that the War on Drugs in Mexico has had on women who use drugs and reside in the border town of Tijuana, Baja California. The War on Drugs was a failed policy initiated by Felipe Calderon, Mexican president from 2006 to 2012, which has led to an increase in violence, corruption, human rights violations, and marginalization of vulnerable communities. Nonetheless, Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who promised to dismantle the War on Drugs, has instead strengthened it. From the beginning of his presidency in 2018 until 2024, AMLO deployed the National Guard to combat the insecurity in Mexico. Also, AMLO decided not only to cut all funding to organizations but also not to support harm reduction measures. The lack of resources and funding has made it challenging for people who use drugs, especially women, to receive the needed support. Through the lens of the Social Ecological Model (SEM), this research aims to investigate the multifaceted effects of the War on Drugs on women who use drugs, emphasizing gender and drug use. The project focuses on PrevenCasa, a non-profit community clinic in Tijuana. As well the study further examines the social and health outcomes of the harm reduction services provided by the clinic to women who use drugs. The research employs an ethnographic method, including observations and semi-structured interviews with focus group participants and staff members in the clinic. As well the thesis aims to understand what are the socio-effects of the services that PrevenCasa, a community health organization in the Zona Norte, has to offer to women who use drugs. Findings from this study will contribute to a better understanding of the negative impact of harmful policies on marginalized communities, such as women who use drugs. As well the project will contribute to understanding the critical role that harm reduction can have in improving the health and well-being of women who use drugs.