Campus Architecture and Student Culture in American Higher Education

Human-environment interaction theory, as it specifically relates to architectural determinism, has an indispensible impact on student culture on college campuses. Under the assumptions of architectural determinism, this thesis examines the relationship between architecture and student culture on 30 American college campuses. Specifically, this thesis looks at uniformity of architectural style and color and the prevalence of traditional styles of architecture in relation to the institutions' campus cultures. The results of the study found that a significant relationship exists between student culture and uniformity of building color, but not between student culture and uniformity of style or the prevalence of traditional styles on a given campus. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.

Expanding Women's Worlds?: Development, Gender, and Environment in Rural Morocco

This honors thesis is an anthropological exploration of women's cooperatives in two regions of rural Morocco. Specifically, I am interested in how contemporary development projects such as the cooperative are understood by the peoples of these regions. By conducting first-hand ethnographic research among women's cooperatives in two drastically different environments of rural Morocco, I gain further insight into the roles that culture and geography play in determining the 'success' of cooperatives inlocal communities. In using the term 'success,' I will compare notions of success as used by both Western development organizations as well as local people in Morocco. I examine and analyze the very delicate and complex interaction that occurs between largely Western development agencies and local cultures particularly through the lens of gender. I will also convey the importance of an exchange of cultural practices through development projects rather than the imposition of one cultural system on another. In writing this thesis, I hope to contribute to the growing field of the anthropologyof development, a subset of cultural anthropology that examines international development practices and the economic, social, and political factors that have an impact on the local culture. I examine cooperatives from the perspectives of both the people whoparticipate in them through personal interviews as well as development institutions through an ongoing body of published literature. Focusing on gender implications that such development initiatives have on the rural cultures of Morocco, I argue that gender identities are crucial aspects of local cultures that must be addressed within development practices. On a broader scale, I argue that a deeper knowledge of local cultures is essential if development agencies are to be 'successful' in non-Western cultures.

Investigating The Fate Of Positively Charged Nanoparticles In A Soil Environment

The recent increase in the amount of nanoparticles incorporated into commercial products is accompanied by a rising concern of the fate of these nanoparticles. Once released into the environment, it is inevitable that the nanoparticles will come into contact with the soil, introducing them to various routes of environmental contamination. One route that was explored in this research was the interaction between nanoparticles and clay minerals. In order to better define the interactions between clay minerals and positively charged nanoparticles, in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) was utilized. In situ AFM experiments allowed interactions between clay minerals and positively charged nanoparticles to be observed in real time. The preliminary results demonstrated that in situ AFM was a reliable technique for studying the interactions between clay minerals and positively charged nanoparticles and showed that the nanoparticles affected the swelling (height) of the clay quasi-crystals upon exposure. The preliminary AFM data were complemented by batch study experiments which measured the absorbance of the nanoparticle filtrate after introduction to clay minerals in an effort to better determine the mobility of the positively charged nanoparticles in an environment with significant clay contribution. The results of the batch study indicated that the interactions between clay minerals and positively charged nanoparticles were size dependent and that the interactions of the different size nanoparticles with the clay may be occurring to different degrees. The degree to which the different size nanoparticles were interacting with the clay was further probed using FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy experiments. The results of these experiments showed that interactions between clay minerals and positively charged nanoparticles were size dependent as indicated by a change in the FTIR spectra of the nanoparticles upon introduction to clay.