Browsing by Subject "Vulnerability"
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Item A touch on intimacy : building belonging for diasporic pain in participatory performances(2019-08-12) Chiu, I-Chia; Sanchez, K. J.; Shaw, Patrick ForsytheTheatre, as a form of live performing art, offers a space of intimacy for the audience and the creators of the theatrical events. The audience is not only introduced to a psychological world built by the performance itself, but is also, in various degrees, invited to co-author the theatrical experiences and narratives, which for me creates the opportunities to connect human beings to one another. This thesis reviews how theatre offers moments of intimacy through my reflection on my three-year study in the MFA Playwriting Program at University of Texas at Austin. In particular, this document traces my evolving writing practices that centered on my relationship with diasporic pain, an experience of being away from homelands. I will weave in my personal experience to better understand my identity as a non-native English writer and a foreigner in the United States. I will also scrutinize my experience of diasporic pain and its connection to vulnerability, aid, reciprocation, meaning-making, memory, time, while exploring how these ideas can be delivered aesthetically in the theatre-making process and the product of the production. This document also envisions pathways towards possibilities of finding a place of belonging for other multi-lingual writers who are also away from home.Item Assessing impacts of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon Fluvial Basin(2015-05) Wight, Charles Edward; Latrubesse, Edgardo; Arima, EugenioThe amount of water the Amazon River delivers to the Atlantic Ocean every day is enough to supply New York City's fresh water needs for 9 years. This is soon to change with the race to choke the Amazon Basin with large hydrologic dams. Although studies investigating single dams can provide great analysis on a couple key issues, they often fail to consider these effects on the systems entirety. Without linking the physical and social components, one fails to fully understand the impacts of hydroelectric dams and therefore the vulnerability of the basin. The focus of this study is based on three forms of investigation: 1. a comprehensive literature review including scholarship on hydroelectric dams, basis characteristics, protected areas, and political characteristics within the respective countries; 2. data procurement of the physical geography of 20 sub-basins, 1,100 tributaries, and land use-land change (LULC) data; and together 3. the creation of a multivariable database integrated with GIS (geographic information systems) in order to better interpret human/nature complexities. Combined, this database will be a powerful tool to assess vulnerability and risks associated with individual dams sites within a larger system. In addition, this database can be adjusted in the future such that when impacts of planned dams are actualized they can be recorded, and based of shared attributes of other dams in the database, this information can be correlated to make better predictions of new environmental and social impacts.Item The changing climate of vulnerability, aid and governance in Malawi(2012-05) Malcomb, Dylan Wayne; Crews, Kelley A.; Young, Kenneth R.; Miller, Jennifer A.By year 2020, developed countries pledged to mobilize USD100 billion per year towards mitigation of greenhouse gases and strategies of adaptation. This redistribution from Annex I (developed) countries to developing countries represents a near doubling of current official development assistance levels, yet future strategies of adaptation remain nebulous. Definitions, opinions and agendas of adaptation have evolved into new global development strategy, but will externally-designed strategies threaten an adaptive process that should be community-led and environmentally-contextual? Little empirical research has been conducted on adaptation as an international development strategy that consists of massive earmarking of funds to institute and later demonstrate that projects are related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews with international and development organizations, national and local governments, civil society and community focus groups, this research chronicles Malawi's polycentric response to climate change vulnerability. Using site-visits to numerous active adaptation projects in Malawi as case-studies, this research examines who the stakeholders are in this process, what adaptation looks like and how the overall concept of this new development strategy can be improved.Item Development and validation of the cognitive vulnerability schemas questionnaire for anxious youth(2014-12) Winton, Samantha Marie; Stark, Kevin DouglasAccording to cognitive theories of anxiety, anxiogenic schemata are a set of beliefs, rules, and assumptions that influence how those with anxiety make inferences and interpret threat. It is hypothesized that each anxiety disorder has a unique anxiogenic schema. This report describes the development of the Cognitive Vulnerability Schemas Questionnaire for Anxious Youth, an instrument used to measure anxiogenic schemata in youth aged 7-17 years old. Factor analyses of the scale demonstrated two empirically distinct and relatively stable dimensions of anxiogenic schema. The two identified factors of anxiogenic schema were: (1) Generalized Anxiety and Social Phobia Schema, and (2) Separation Anxiety Schema. The measure demonstrated good psychometric properties on a range of indices of reliability and validity. Results indicated that scores on the questionnaire subscales predicted anxiety symptomology. Regression analyses showed that both factors were predictors of anxiety symptomology, however did not predict anxiety diagnosis. Significant differences in the Cognitive Vulnerability Schemas Questionnaire for Anxious Youth subscales were demonstrated between patients with clinically significant Generalized Anxiety Symptoms, Social Phobia Symptoms, and Separation Anxiety Symptoms. The implications of these findings for theories of cognitive vulnerability and schema development in youth are discussed.Item God, children and country : an in-depth study of the condition of immigrant illegality through the experiences of Mexican domestic workers in Dallas, Texas(2015-08) Lugo, Betsabeth Monica; Rudrappa, Sharmila, 1966-; Rodriguez, Nestor; Young, Michael; Gonzalez-Lopez, Gloria; Cuellar, GregoryIn this dissertation I examine the lived experiences of 43 undocumented Mexican women working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, particularly, the ways that these women navigate and make sense of what I identify as environments of vulnerability -social contexts characterized by local configurations of migrant “illegality” (a paradigm-in-progress). In Article 1, I analyze three in-depth interviews with undocumented Mexican domestics to understand how they use religious stories and symbols to help them make sense of and cope with the uncertainties and vulnerabilities they face living in the United States. Findings from this article indicate that women 1) draw from religious discourses to actively interact with their social environments and 2) construct narratives that allow them to create an alternative version of the social world and a coherent sense of self. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the ways that religion shapes undocumented immigrant women’s lives outside of religious institutions and religious contexts. In Article 2, I examine the strategies that 40 undocumented Mexican women use to mother in environments of vulnerability. Findings from this article reveal that these women use two key strategies to protect their children’s well-being: 1) moving out of neighborhoods with undesirable “others” (i.e., the poor, Blacks, and “less worthy” Mexican immigrants) and 2) withholding information from their children regarding their legal status. These findings contribute to an increased understanding of the mothering practices of women who face multiple structural oppressions. Finally, in Article 3 I examine the factors that influence undocumented Mexican women’s decisions to stay in the United States, even as they face the uncertainty associated with deportability -- that is, even as they traverse environments of vulnerability. Two factors primarily underlie women’s decision to stay in the U.S.: the availability of quality public education and educational opportunities for their children and the fear that they or their children will be the targets of violence in Mexico. These findings add to research on family and migration and extend previous research to reveal how Mexican women and their children navigate the shifting terrain of state power as they build their lives in the United States.Item Imagined intimacy : friendship, conquest, and futurity in the transatlantic eighteenth century(2019-05-08) Davis, Carolyn Marjorie; Moore, Lisa L. (Lisa Lynne); Bertelsen, Lance; Cox, James H; Woodard, Helena; Wigginton, CarolineThis dissertation considers some ways that friendship was imagined in the fledgling years of our globalized Western culture. The pathos of friendship is not exempt from the pressures of culture and economy, particularly those of transatlantic capitalism in the eighteenth century. It is impossible to pinpoint when capitalism began to undermine the ethos of expressive friendship, but the three texts in this dissertation offer distinctive modes for accessing neoclassical language to describe the uncertainties of life produced by one’s valuation as capital. The overarching intention of this study is to consider the dimensional intimacies of friendship born from the forcible removal of one’s humanity. While the first two chapters consider the white individual’s responsibility for globalized and colonized friendships, the third offers a view of intimate black futurity rebuilt on the ashes of our history. Chapter One uses Tobias Smollett’s novel The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) to disambiguate friendship as a contractual obligation born of interest. The titular character engages a series of friends in his search for wealth and love throughout this picaresque novel; his experiences highlight “friendship” as an ambiguous term easily (re)defined. Chapter Two examines the friendship of white womanhood in Susanna Rowson’s Reuben and Rachel: A Tale of Old Times (1798) to question the benevolent assumptions undergirding the sensibility studies of the Early American republic. The third and final chapter considers black friendship and futurity, as distilled by the transatlantic diaspora, by mapping the spiritual neighborhood one joins when reading Phillis Wheatley’s poetry while black. I explore Wheatley’s friendship with Obour Tanner; her potential friendship with Scipio Moorhead; the imagined community her words engendered in Ignatius Sancho and Jupiter Hammon; and the twenty-first century black femmes who find futurity in Phillis Wheatley. My short Coda will explore some of the ways that queer black friendship embodies a particular vulnerability, which our failing capitalist society refuses to confront as it builds narratives of security on white supremacist notions of sustainability.Item (Re)interpreting vulnerabilities in the peri-urban Valley of Mexico : toward a deeper and more actionable understanding of poverty in Mexico City’s urban fringe(2014-08) Siegel, Samuel Donal; Dooling, SarahSettlement patterns on the urban fringe can present a host of threats to sociopolitical and biophysical sustainability, at the personal, municipal, and ecosystem scale. Mexico City’s expansive growth has forced the region’s poorest inhabitants to the farthest margins in the neighboring State of Mexico, where they often live in conditions of personal hardship and settle in patterns that threaten the ecological health of environmentally sensitive areas. Following interviews with practitioners in three periurban municipalities in the Valley of Mexico, this report examines how local land use regulators interpret the vulnerabilities facing communities in their jurisdictions and presents a typology of vulnerabilities. The report explores the processes of politicization that produce and re-produce the vulnerabilities facing individuals, communities and ecosystems. Several concrete policy recommendations are made for incorporating holistic thinking about vulnerability into government decision-making, and resources are provided for further research.Item Sound & shadows(2018-06-27) Sturchio, Gabriella B.; Hubbard, Teresa, 1965-; Williams, Jeff, M.F.A.This Master’s Report is a discussion of the ideas, research, and methods I have developed over the course of my two years of study at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout this report I examine a relationship between my sound art and photography by connecting shared modalities and language. I use my background in photography to contextualize a similar approach to sourcing, editing, and composing my sound collages, “touch, we endure” (2017), and “notice” (2018). I use aspects of queer phenomenology, disorientation, and affect to explore shared subjects of tactility, vulnerability, intimacy, and identity.Item Spatiotemporal climate risk vulnerability assessment to extreme heat and particulate matter : combining realtime concentration of de facto population(2022-04-29) Choi, Seung Jun; Jiao, JunfengThe recurring summer heatwaves and particulate matter in Seoul, S. Korea, have been considered the "New Normal" that calls for perpetual attention. Climate change has been augmenting the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and air pollution issues. Their threats to Seoul's living environment and public health concerns, including the safety of vulnerable populations sensitive to climate risks, are snowballing. Exposure and damage to heat-related casualties or particulate matter are more detrimental to the elderly and the children. Studies have investigated the occurrence of heatwaves or particulate matter based on spatial information using urban climate IoT sensing devices in Seoul. However, little research has examined the spatiotemporal exposure patterns of vulnerable groups by using real-time big floating population data captured by mobile phone signals. This study traced the high-resolution climate hazard risk, focusing on extreme heat and particulate matters, using IoT environmental sensors named S-DoTs deployed throughout Seoul. We combined spatiotemporal climate hazard vulnerability assessment in hour periods with floating population data classified in different age groups. A framework for urban climate sensing application is suggested for future climate vulnerability assessment research. Then, this study discussed policy implications to be better equipped with dealing with recurring climate hazardsItem Voicing vulnerable wants in close relationships(2021-08-02) Burdick, Suzanne Michelle; Vangelisti, Anita L.; Donovan, Erin; Dailey, Rene; Wilson, SteveThis project explicates the interpersonal communication process of “voicing a vulnerable want.” Voicing a vulnerable want is conceptualized as a combination of a self-disclosure and a request. A questionnaire administered to 200 adults in a close relationship asked individuals to describe an instance when they voiced a vulnerable want, to recall what they wanted from their hearer, and to identify the concerns they had about voicing their want. The questionnaire included measures of relational power, relational closeness, and request imposition to produce a composite FTA-size (face-threatening act) score. Measures for vulnerability, face wants/concerns, influence goal(s), and perceived message effectiveness were also included. Using thematic analysis, a typology was built that describes common interpersonal goals individuals have when voicing their vulnerable wants. Results also showed that individuals had a variety of influence goals during the interaction. Findings further revealed that individuals had multiple face threat concerns when voicing their vulnerable wants. A logistic regression indicated that the level of imposition interacts with vulnerability in predicting whether an individual will express self-approval when voicing their vulnerable want. Additional regressions revealed that directness, pressure, and self-approval each positively and significantly predicted how effective individuals’ perceived their message to be. These findings are discussed in light of request-making and self-disclosure theorizing.Item Vulnerability and decision risk analysis in glacier lake outburst floods (GLOF). Case studies : Quillcay sub basin in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru and Dudh Koshi sub basin in the Everest region in Nepal(2014-08) Somos-Valenzuela, Marcelo A.; McKinney, Daene C.Glacial-dominated areas pose unique challenges to downstream communities in adapting to recent and continuing global climate change, including increased threats of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) that have substantial impacts on regional social, environmental and economic systems increasing risk due to flooding of downstream communities. In this dissertation, two lakes with potential to generate GLOFs were studied, Imja Lake in Nepal and Palcacocha Lake in Peru. At Imja Lake, basic data was generated that allowed the creation of a conceptual model of the lake. Ground penetrating radar and bathymetric surveys were performed. Also, an inundation model was developed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a project that seeks to reduce flooding risk by lowering the lake at least 3 meters. In Peru, a GLOF inundation model was created. Also, the vulnerability of the people living downstream in the City of Huaraz was calculated, and the impacts of an early warning system were evaluated. The results at Imja indicated that the lake deepened from 98 m in 2002 to 116 m in 2012. Likewise, the lake volume increased from 35.8 to 61.6±1.8 million m3 over the past decade. The GPR survey at Imja and Lhotse-Shar glaciers shows that the glacier is over 200 m thick in the center of the glacier. The modeling work at Imja shows that the proposed project will not have major impacts downstream since the area inundated does not reduce considerably unless the lake is lowered by about 20 m. In Huaraz, the results indicate that approximately 40646 people live in the potentially inundated area. Using the flow simulation and the Peru Census 2007, a map of vulnerability was generated indicating that the most vulnerable areas are near the river. Finally, the potential number of fatalities in a worst case GLOF scenario from Lake Palcacocha was calculated to be 19773 with a standard deviation of 1191 if there is no early warning system and 7344 with a standard deviation of 1446 people if an early warning system is installed. Finally, if evacuation measures are improved the number reduces to 2865 with a standard deviation of 462.