Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, English (Arts and Sciences)

In 1972, a distracted nurse accidentally switches two newborn baby girls on Long Island. The sharp financial, class, and ethnic disparities of these families offer both protection and disadvantages to each daughter. When the truth is discovered over twenty years later, the young women and their birth families must reckon with all that connects and divides them—and what choices and commitments to make (and not make) in the aftermath.

Committee: Patrick O'Keeffe (Advisor) Subjects: Glbt Studies; Literature; Modern Literature; Womens Studies

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

How do planners plan when the state of the community is in a demographic flux? This study examines the challenge of planning in a community undergoing perceptible demographic change by conducting a case study analysis of a rural town on Long Island, New York. Located seventy miles from the eastern border of New York City, Southold Town has transitioned from a fishing and potato farming economy to a vacation community whose economy is focused around grape growing and wine production in less than forty years. This transition, and other factors causing in migration, have brought newcomers, different ideas and lifestyles into the community, some of which have been viewed unfavorably by locals as long-time residents and young people are priced out of the community. The town, in the interests of maintaining a certain community aesthetic, has blocked sprawl-based residential development and “Big Box” Retail after examples of each caused the town to fear the entrance of a suburban lifestyle. The Town is currently working on a comprehensive plan, Southold 2020 to ensure the preservation of its farmland, open spaces, and the specific quality of life believed to be essential to Southold's economic survival. Through interviews with local stakeholders, observations of the Town's Planning Department, and research into local publications, this study explores how Southold has handled and perceived the demographic change that is currently taking place. It examines several key themes found during the research, and includes conclusions and takeaways for practitioners.

Committee: Marisa Zapata PhD (Committee Chair); Charles Ellison PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2012, Botany

Bush medicine is the traditional use of indigenous and introduced plants for medicinal purposes in the Bahamas. Even with access to westernized health care, elderly Bahamians in the Family Islands continue to rely heavily on bush medicines because these remedies are affordable, readily available, accepted within the culture, and considered more effective than biomedicine or over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. This oral tradition is severely threatened as younger generations are increasingly influenced by westernization and lured by greater economic opportunities, causing them to become disassociated from the land and its flora. Ethnobotanical fieldwork aimed at documenting and identifying plants used for therapeutic purposes was conducted on two Bahamian Islands: Long Island in 1998, where 47 persons were interviewed; and on Cat Island in 1999 and 2000, where 56 persons were consulted. This investigation represents the first attempt to quantify the various medicinal applications attributed to numerous plant species in the Bahamas. Information on all plant species reported to have therapeutic value was recorded, including scientific identity, illness(es) treated, plant part used, preparation, mode of administration, and common name(s). The results were quantified for each island individually and for both islands collectively. A total of 176 plant species were reported from both islands as having medicinal value. Of those, 120 species are commonly used on both islands for similar purposes. This continuity demonstrates that transfer of knowledge between islands is extensive, with disparities most likely attributed to ecological differences affecting floristic composition. In addition, the most frequently reported species (>10%) used to treat 56 different popular or emic medical complaints are presented. Cognitive symptomatologies for each illness are described, in addition to a plant remedy's relation to naturalistic or personalistic theories of disease causation and the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: W. Hardy Eshbaugh PhD (Committee Chair); Adolph M. Greenberg PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Michael A. Vincent PhD (Committee Member); Susan R. Barnum PhD (Committee Member); Mark R. Boardman PhD (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African History; African Studies; Alternative Medicine; American History; Biology; Black History; Black Studies; Botany; Caribbean Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Ethnic Studies; European History; Folklore; Health; Health Care; History; Medicine