The Problematic of Privacy in the Namespace

In the twenty-first century, the issue of privacy--particularly the privacy of individuals with regard to their personal information and effects--has become highly contested terrain, producing a crisis that affects both national and global social formations. This crisis, or problematic, characterizes a particular historical conjuncture I term the namespace. Using cultural studies and the theory of articulation, I map the emergent ways that the namespace articulates economic, juridical, political, cultural, and technological forces, materials, practices and protocols. The cohesive articulation of the namespace requires that privacy be reframed in ways that make its diminution seem natural and inevitable. In the popular media, privacy is often depicted as the price we pay as citizens and consumers for security and convenience, respectively. This discursive ideological shift supports and underwrites the interests of state and corporate actors who leverage the ubiquitous network of digitally connected devices to engender a new regime of informational surveillance, or dataveillance. The widespread practice of dataveillance represents a strengthening of the hegemonic relations between these actors--each shares an interest in promoting an emerging surveillance society, a burgeoning security politics, and a growing information economy--that further empowers them to capture and store the personal information of citizens/consumers. In characterizing these shifts and the resulting crisis, I also identify points of articulation vulnerable to rearticulation and suggest strategies for transforming the namespace in ways that might empower stronger protections for privacy and related civil rights.

Considering sustainability factors in the development project life-cycle : a framework for increasing successful adoption of improved stoves

Indoor air pollution from combustion of solid fuels is the fifth leading contributor to disease burden in low-income countries. This, and potential to reduce environmental impacts, has resulted in emphasis on use of improved stoves. However, many efforts have failed to meet expectations and effective coverage remains limited. A disconnect exists between technologies, delivery methods, and long-term adoption. The purpose of this research is to develop a framework to increase long-term success of improved stove projects. The framework integrates sustainability factors into the project life-cycle. It is represented as a matrix and checklist which encourages consideration of social, economic, and environmental issues in projects. A case study was conducted in which an improved stove project in Honduras was evaluated using the framework. Results indicated areas of strength and weakness in project execution and highlighted potential improvements for future projects. The framework is also useful as a guide during project planning.

International teachers in the American classroom : deposing the myth of monolingualism

An international graduate teaching assistant‘s way of speaking may pose a challenge for college students enrolled in STEM courses at American universities. Students commonly complain that unfamiliar accents interfere with their ability to comprehend the IGTA or that they have difficulty making sense of the IGTA‘s use of words or phrasing. These frustrations are echoed by parents who pay tuition bills. The issue has provoked state and national legislative debates over universities‘ use of IGTAs. However, potentially productive debates and interventions have been stalemated due to the failure to confront deeply embedded myths and cultural models that devalue otherness and privilege dominant peoples, processes, and knowledge. My research implements a method of inquiry designed to identify and challenge these cultural frameworks in order to create an ideological/cultural context that will facilitate rather than impede the valuable efforts that are already in place. Discourse theorist Paul Gee‘s concepts of master myth, cultural models, and meta-knowledge offer analytical tools that I have adapted in a unique research approach emphasizing triangulation of both analytic methods and data sites. I examine debates over IGTA‘s use of language in the classroom among policy-makers, parents of college students, and scholars and teachers. First, the article "Teach Impediment" provides a particularly lucid account of the public debate over IGTAs. My analysis evidences the cultural hold of the master myth of monolingualism in public policy-making. Second, Michigan Technological University‘s email listserve Parentnet is analyzed to identify cultural models supporting monolingualism implicit in everyday conversation. Third, a Chronicle of Higher Education colloquy forum is analyzed to explore whether scholars and teachers who draw on communication and linguistic research overcome the ideological biases identified in earlier chapters. My analysis indicates that a persistent ideological bias plays out in these data sites, despite explicit claims by invested speakers to the contrary. This bias is a key reason why monolingualism remains so tenaciously a part of educational practice. Because irrational expectations and derogatory assumptions have gone unchallenged, little progress has been made despite decades of earnest work and good intentions. Therefore, my recommendations focus on what we say not what we intend.

Balancing wildlife and bioenergy values on private forestlands in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan

There is interest in developing a reliable, sustainable, domestic U.S. biofuels industry. A domestic biofuels industry has the potential to provide economic, environmental, and national security benefits on a local, regional, national, and global level. The Mascoma Corporation plans to develop a cellulosic ethanol facility in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula. The primary feedstock of the plant site would be trees sourced within a 150 mile supply radius. In the eastern Upper Peninsula, this radius encompasses Alger, Chippewa, Delta, Luce, Mackinac, and Schoolcraft counties. In these six counties there are 1,320,500 acres of NIPF (non-industrial private forestlands). These acres account for 40% of the total timberland in these six counties. Thus it is likely that in order for the successful implementation of a cellulosic ethanol facility the support of local NIPF owners will be necessary. This thesis presents research on how eastern Upper Peninsula forest landowners think about and manage their land. It is based on 48 in-depth interviews with these landowners. The goal was to determine how landowner values and beliefs, on a variety of issues including wildlife management, land management, biofuels development, and climate change, are expressed through both their current management decisions, and possibly their future land management decisions. Some of the values articulated by the landowners in this study included biodiversity protection, conservation of healthy game populations, and the production of high-value timber. Understanding the values and beliefs of landowners in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan is critical for successfully developing a sustainable regional woody bioenergy.

Teaching and aligning upper level mathematics classes to Michigan high school content expectations in an alternative education setting : approaches and issues

After teaching regular education secondary mathematics for seven years, I accepted a position in an alternative education high school. Over the next four years, the State of Michigan adopted new graduation requirements phasing in a mandate for all students to complete Geometry and Algebra 2 courses. Since many of my students were already struggling in Algebra 1, getting them through Geometry and Algebra 2 seemed like a daunting task. To better instruct my students, I wanted to know how other teachers in similar situations were addressing the new High School Content Expectations (HSCEs) in upper level mathematics. This study examines how thoroughly alternative education teachers in Michigan are addressing the HSCEs in their courses, what approaches they have found most effective, and what issues are preventing teachers and schools from successfully implementing the HSCEs. Twenty-six alternative high school educators completed an online survey that included a variety of questions regarding school characteristics, curriculum alignment, implementation approaches and issues. Follow-up phone interviews were conducted with four of these participants. The survey responses were used to categorize schools as successful, unsuccessful, and neutral schools in terms of meeting the HSCEs. Responses from schools in each category were compared to identify common approaches and issues among them and to identify significant differences between school groups. Data analysis showed that successful schools taught more of the HSCEs through a variety of instructional approaches, with an emphasis on varying the ways students learned the material. Individualized instruction was frequently mentioned by successful schools and was strikingly absent from unsuccessful school responses. The main obstacle to successful implementation of the HSCEs identified in the study was gaps in student knowledge. This caused pace of instruction to also be a significant issue. School representatives were fairly united against the belief that the Algebra 2 graduation requirement was appropriate for all alternative education students. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.

Mainari, Farmari, Lumperjäkki, Piika : “Ethnic Identity” and Earning a Living in the Keweenaw and Nickel Belts to 1930

Job seekers in resource-based economic settings like the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan and the Nickel Basin surrounding Sudbury, Ontario faced many challenges, from the dangers of the job to corporate domination to the “boom and bust” nature of inevitably limited supplies of even “endless” natural riches. Adding to these many challenges in both settings was the employer view that you were best suited to certain tasks. This paper examines these expectations from “both” ends – how and why did employers see matters this way, and what did the “recipients” make of being cast in certain roles ? Did the newcomers also expect to earn their keep from a limited range of options ? While the last word on this issue awaits a much larger study, even a glance can inform both the scholar of resource settings and the ethnic historian about an important element of resource-based economies. This paper, then, examines the links between stereotype, preference, and necessity – to what extent did local populations fight, appreciate or succumb to expectation when “making a living.” As the title suggests, Finns get significant attention, as befits both settings under study. However, the paper looks to similar trends amongst a broad demographic swathe in each setting. Was “who” you were the crucial element in finding sustenance ? “Ethnic”, Aboriginal, or “established settler society” – what factors shaped economic expectations, choices and roles?

“Beneath the Starry Flag”: the Flags and Songs of the 1913-14 Michigan Copper Strike as Image-making in the American Labor Movement

The 1913-14 Michigan copper strike is unlike many American labor actions of the period in that it did not include red flags or socialist anthems. Many of the most familiar photographs of the strike involve American flags, not red ones. Similarly, the songs mentioned in journalistic accounts of the strikers are American Civil War songs, not popular labor songs of the period. The few newly-written songs about the strike, published in the local newspapers, seem cautiously polite and espouse values such as patriotism, liberty and human rights. During a time when sections of the "friendly" press were concerned with labor presenting the correct image and avoiding unfavorable associations, the Copper Country strikers, and the W.F.M., seem to have been attempting to create a fresh narrative regarding what this strike was (and what it was not). This paper will consider elements of the Copper Country strike in the light of media coverage, prior to July 1913, of several American labor topics that might have influenced the way the strike was presented. Particular attention will be given to photographs, songs, and accounts from the 1912 Lawrence textile strike, as well as contemporaneous critiques of labor song lyrics. Most of this commentary will be drawn from the labor and socialist press, demonstrating that the 1913-14 Michigan copper strike occurred during a period in which the labor movement was struggling to craft and image that would display it as it wished to be seen. This paper has not yet been submitted.