Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

This study explored Black women's lived experiences as teachers in urban schools during the era of 21st-century education reform. It centers around the relationships between Black women teachers (micro), their working conditions in low-performing urban schools (mesa), and neoliberal education policies (macro) that affect their work. The theoretical frames were Black feminist thought and critical race theory. The research questions were as follows: first, what are the working experiences of Black women teachers of tested subjects in low-performing urban public schools and, second, how do socio-political factors affect their working conditions? The research design was qualitative and included narrative inquiry and life history. Key findings were leadership, teacher autonomy, camaraderie, and collaboration, and student behavior. The Black women of this study want better leadership, autonomy, a pathway that does not lead to principalship but out of the classroom, self-care, and wellness. The implication for social change is educational leadership that uses adaptive leadership and social justice leadership that requires leaders to have emotional intelligence, social-political awareness, and activism. Educational leadership must stop taking its cues from big corporations, politicians, and businesspeople. The practice of standardized testing as ruler of all things public education must cease because it negates the human experience. The implication for practice is to honor the experiences and voices of Black women teachers, retain current Black women teachers, and recruit new Black women teachers otherwise Black women teachers are on the verge of extinction. Innovation in public education must include new ways for students, teachers, and leaders to thrive in an ever-changing world. Future research needs to include more qualitative data from Black women teachers' working conditions and experiences through the lenses of critical race theory and Black feminist thought. This di (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lemuel Watson EdD (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Sharon Holmes PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Education; Educational Leadership; Gender; School Administration; Teaching; Womens Studies

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Existing frameworks of psychopathology have received criticism from evolutionary researchers. It is argued that mental health research lacks theoretical unity and that there is no comprehensive understanding of psychiatric disorders. Evolutionary researchers have posited that a paradigm of psychopathology informed by evolution could accomplish this aim. Drawing from evolutionary biology, life history theory provides such a framework. Life history theory is a subfield of evolutionary biology that examines how organisms allocate limited environmental resources over their lifespan in order to maximize their fitness. The strategies that organisms adopt in response to their environment are referred to as life history strategies. These strategies are graphed on a spectrum between two poles, fast and slow. The fast and slow life history classifications form the basis of the fast-slow-defense activation model of psychopathology which describes causal pathways for mental disorder. Within this framework, sex is a moderating factor between life history strategy and psychopathology. At present, there is little empirical research evaluating the fast-slow-defense activation model. The current research seeks to provide an analysis of the fast-slow-defense activation framework by exploring the relationship between life history strategy, sex, and defense activation disorders particularly, depression. It is expected that there will be a causal relationship between life history strategy and depression. Specifically, a fast life history strategy will predict for increased symptoms of depression. In addition to this, it is expected that women with fast life histories experience greater symptoms of depression. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Committee: Sandra Kenny Ph.D, M.B.A. (Committee Chair); Stephen Southern Ed.D. (Committee Member); Chris Howard Psy.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology; Psychotherapy

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Counseling, Mental Health

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatizing experiences that children may go through including harsh parenting, neglect, abuse, and poverty. Understanding the areas of life ACEs may affect is pivotal in helping those affected. Drawing upon applications of life history theory to humans, the current study hypothesized that ACEs entrain the development of more present oriented cognition and greater propensity for risk-taking in adulthood. Using DeFries-Fulker regression and a nationally representative sample of twins from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey, this study tested for effects of ACEs on future oriented cognition (subsuming, e.g., planning and self-directedness, persistence in goal striving, and live for today) and attitudes toward risk in adulthood, while accounting for potential genetic confounding. Results indicated no significant effects of harsh parenting on future oriented cognition or attitudes toward risk once genetic factors were controlled; suggesting correlations between the former and latter in prior research may have been spurious. In contrast, SES predicted lesser future oriented cognition in male and females and more positive attitudes toward risk in males. Consistent rules predicted greater future oriented cognition in both males and females, but did not predict risk-taking in either sex. Finally, an unpredictability index (subsuming, e.g., number of moves) had inconsistent effects across the sexes and outcome variables, predicting lesser future oriented cognition in males but greater risk-taking in females. Implications for future research and counseling are discussed.

Committee: George Richardson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Amanda La Guardia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joseph Nedelec Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Mental Health

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Anthropology

Over the past decade, initiatives in bioarchaeology have incorporated life history theory and developmental plasticity to explain cumulative events that occur within an individual's lifetime. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis has been an important means to understand how periods of stress during early life lead to increased morbidity and mortality risk in adults in several contemporary contexts. Recent bioarchaeological research has attempted to incorporate the DOHaD hypothesis into studies to address ways of investigating hidden heterogeneity of risk, which is the idea that individuals varied in their susceptibility to death at various ages because of unknown conditions. These studies yielded mixed results, with some researchers supporting its application and others urging caution. Childhood stress markers (linear enamel hypoplasias, VNC diameters, stature, and body proportions) and age-at-death were estimated using three skeletal samples: Terry Collection (historic Missouri), Hotchkiss Mound (prehistoric California), and Point Hope (prehistoric Alaska). These samples represent broad-scale patterns of human variation, enabling a discussion about widespread patterns of human variation in the past. The goal was to investigate if the DOHaD hypothesis is a valid framework to help understand hidden heterogeneity in past populations. The first hypothesis tested was that individuals who experienced stress during growth faced increased mortality at earlier ages than individuals who did not experience measurable disruptions to growth and development. This hypothesis was partially supported by the results of this dissertation, because only some indicators of childhood stress were significantly associated with age-at-death in one or more of the three skeletal samples. The second hypothesis tested was that males and females will experience different levels of physiological stress during growth and development, and that these disparitie (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Clark Larsen (Advisor); Mark Hubbe (Advisor) Subjects: Physical Anthropology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2005, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Invasive species are an environmental problem of increasing global concern. Invasives have been intentionally and accidentally transported across previously impeding barriers to new regions where they interact with native species. One invasive shrub, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), was introduced into the US from Manchuria in the late 1800s for conservation and horticultural purposes. Since then, it has become ecologically problematic in open areas and forested habitats. The goals of this research were to (1) investigate the impacts of L. maackii on the structure and composition of native plant communities, (2) measure changes in the productivity of overstory trees at invaded sites using dendrochronological techniques, (3) study the growth and biomass allocation of L. maackii seedlings and generate a predictive model regarding their establishment, and (4) investigate the restoration ecology of this species in terms of its eradication and replacement with native tree species. First, using the chronosequence method, sites with various invasion times were sampled, and long-invaded sites were found to have significant reductions in species richness and have a simplified structure relative to recently invaded and non-invaded sites. Thus, successional trajectories were likely being diverted by L. maackii. Second, trees were cored, and annual tree-ring growth was measured. Reductions in tree growth indicate that L. maackii is able to successfully compete with overstory trees and significantly suppress productivity. Third, L. maackii seedlings were grown in various combinations of light and water and glaciated and unglaciated soils. Findings suggest that light was the most important factor influencing seedling growth. Drought conditions limited seedlings' plastic ability to respond to increases in irradiance, and interestingly, glaciated soil was found to have greater L. maackii growth potential than unglaciated soil. Finally, the most effective means of restoring site (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian McCarthy (Advisor) Subjects: