Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1973, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, History

This project examines the life, career, and controversies surrounding Mexican playwright Rodolfo Usigli and his play El gesticulador, a tragicomedy that satirized the hypocrisies of rule in Mexico following the revolution of 1910. Usigli emerged as one of the leading, if controversial, voices within Mexican theater during the 1930s and 1940s, writing politically critical plays based in his particular vision for a national theater tradition in Mexico. The height of the playwright's dramaturgical output corresponded with an elite class in the process of consolidating an institutionalized, “official” culture, homogenized revolutionary history, and political system dominated by an effectively single-party state. Censored for almost a decade, Usigli's El gesticulador premiered on the stage of Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes under high praise and intense scandal, both reflecting and contributing to renewed debates concerning Mexico's political system, freedom of expression, and the changing “institutional” revolution. Following the play's staging, Usigli would ultimately go on to act as a coopted intellectual in the service of the state. Thus, I track Usigli's evolution alongside that of the single-party state, arguing that the playwright acts as an insightful example of the power dynamics informing the relationships between political and cultural elites in postrevolutionary Mexico.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

The problem addressed in this critical autoethnographic study concerns the lack of higher education opportunities for musicians in the state of Sonora, Mexico and the ways in which that impacts music educators from the region. In particular, I look at the different paths music teachers take to follow their vocation by critically examining my privileged music education story. I base this critical lens on a framework of capital to understand the types of resources and forms of capital that are needed to study music professionally in Sonora. This study is presented through stories and poems that reflect the realities of my music education journey as well as the stories of this study's participants. The primary research question was: What factors, including social class, impact the availability and accessibility of resources and professional development opportunities for music educators in Sonora, Mexico? To collect my data, I employed individual/personal and what I call “collective” forms of data collection through journaling/creative writing and interactive focus groups. The creative writing I engaged with included letter-writing, poems, and vignettes. I did some of my personal writing before and after conducting the interactive interviews to constantly reflect and embody the practice of meaning-making. This study included 19 participants who are active music educators in Sonora and who were assigned to three focus groups. Upon completion of the nine interview sessions (three per group), I began to engage with the collected data by relistening to interviews, reading Spanish transcriptions and thinking about the possibilities for selecting and translating such stories. After identifying important moments in participants' narratives, I reread my selections to identify different forms of capital that were represented. The four forms of capital with which I framed my analyses are economic, social, cultural, and human capital, which I based on literature by Becker (1964), (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2017, History

This thesis looks at the effects of the Spanish conquest on the diet and social structure of the Tarascan people of Michoacan in the 16th century. Looking at the period from conquest to the early days of the 17th century, this work charts how the Tarascans identified with their food and how the introduction of new foods changed these markers. This change in diet accompanied changes in social structure and disruptions in the lifestyles of both noble and common indigenous peoples. This work identifies the relationships between these disruptions and the development of diets throughout the era of conquest and colonization.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Spanish and Portuguese

This dissertation studies black confraternities and their festive practices in the early modern Iberian Atlantic, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, through the analysis of lesser-known texts from Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Brazil. I argue that early modern black subjects availed themselves of confraternities in order not only to ameliorate their enslaved and marginalized condition and build community, but, more importantly, to preserve and adapt their African celebratory and life rituals. Focusing primarily on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Mexico and eighteenth-century Brazil, I trace continuity and change as I compare festive practices throughout the common cultural space of the Iberian Atlantic. This study shows how blacks used confraternities and festive practices to exert agency in the early modern Iberian Atlantic. While agency has been traditionally associated with resistance, this dissertation shows that it took other, more subtle forms. Thus, what may be seen as conforming to domination—forming confraternities and participating in public festivals, which often celebrated Iberian hegemony—this dissertation reads as means of exerting agency.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2000, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

This dissertation develops a model of banking regulation from a positive political economy perspective. The main characteristic of this model, based on the interrelation between regulators and incumbent banks, is that regulation is driven by public interest and political economy motives. The public interest of regulators includes the efficiency and soundness of the banking industry. The political economy motives consist of two elements. First, incumbent banks demand regulation to obtain higher than competitive proits (rent-seeking motive). Second, regulation by itself is rewarding for the regulator. In the model, the government finances the public-sector deficit with banking resources (fiscal motive). Regulators make use of two instruments. The first is to require banks to hold minimum capital adequacy levels. Theory predicts that increasing bank capital reduces the risk of bank failure. The second instrument is the control of entry, which makes bank charters valuable, so banks follow a conservative behavior to protect their charters. Entry restrictions, however, have a negative impact on efficiency in the industry. Regulatory policy is based on a trade-off: soundness versus efficiency. The model synthesizes the public interest and political economy motives of regulation. A main prediction is that regulation is dynamically time-inconsistent because the regulator uses its discretionary and coercive power to renege on the agreement with the incumbent banks to obtain windfall revenues. The model empirically fits the Mexican experience. Non-public interest factors weighted more in the making of regulatory policy in the 1940-1956 period. This was a period of easy bank entry and increasing public sector budget financing with bank resources. Public interest motives were more important for 1957-1978 and for the overall 1940-1978 period. These findings support the claim that long-run growth with financial stability of the Mexican economy was based on two elements. First, fin (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

MS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Wildfire and drought are key drivers of shrubland expansion in southwestern US landscapes. Stand-replacing fires in dry conifer forests induce shrub-dominated stages, and changing climatic patterns may cause a long-term shift from coniferous forests to deciduous shrublands. This study assessed recent changes in deciduous fractional shrub cover (DFSC) in the eastern Jemez Mountains from 2019-2023 using topographic and Sentinel-2 satellite data in a random forest model. Sentinel-2 provides multispectral bands at 10 and 20 meters, including three 20 meter red edge bands, which are highly sensitive to variation in vegetation. There is no consensus in the literature on whether upscaling imagery to 20 meters or downscaling to 10 meters is more advantageous. Therefore, an additional goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of spatial scale on DFSC model performance. Two random forest models were built, a 10 and 20 meter model. The 20 meter model outperformed the 10 meter model, achieving an R-squared value of 0.82 and an RMSE of 7.85, compared to the 10 meter model (0.76 and 9.99, respectively). The 20 meter model, built from 2020 satellite imagery, was projected to the other years of the study, by replacing the spectral variables with satellite imagery from the respective year, resulting in yearly predictions of DFSC from 2019-2023. DFSC decreased from 2019-2022, coinciding with severe drought and a 2022 fire, followed by a significant increase in 2023, particularly within the 2022 fire footprint. Overall trends showed a general increase in DFSC despite high interannual variability, with elevation being a key topographic variable influencing these trends. This study revealed yearly vegetation dynamics in a semi-arid system and provided a close look at post-fire regeneration patterns in deciduous resprouting shrubs. Understanding this complex system is crucial for informing management strategies as the landscape continues to shift from conifer forest to shrubland du (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1968, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The history of immigration along the US-Mexico border is a complicated and intricate matter that is heavily influenced by political, economic, and social factors. For hundreds of years, people have crossed this border for various reasons, including trade, work, family reunification, and seeking refuge. However, the immigration of the modern era along the US-Mexico border has been shaped by significant historical events and policy changes.1 The mid-20th century marked a significant shift in US immigration policy with the implementation of the Bracero Program in 1942, which allowed temporary agricultural workers from Mexico to work in the United States. This program, along with other factors like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s, contributed to a significant increase in immigration from Mexico to the United States.2 In the past few decades, the issue of immigration along the US-Mexico border has become a topic of great political controversy, especially with the increase in unauthorized immigration and the arrival of asylum seekers who are fleeing violence and persecution in Central America.3 As a result, stricter border enforcement policies, such as the construction of physical barriers, the expansion of detention facilities, and an increase in border patrols have been implemented. In 2020, major entry ports along the border began to temporarily shut down as the threat of the coronavirus was imminent. In an effort to control the domestic spread of the disease, former President Donald Trump's administration invoked Title 42, “a public health order allowing the Border Patrol to expel migrants immediately.”4 Now that the pandemic-era expulsion policy under Title 42 has been lifted, US border enforcement agencies face an uncertain future. Due to this recent policy change, there has been an increase in both legal and illegal border crossings, surpassing all previous records.5 This occurred just a year after the reimplemen (open full item for complete abstract)

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.

MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of the Arts / School of Art

In this thesis, I will analyze the history of Mexican ceramics, specifically Talavera Poblana. I will examine this history by framing questions around Mexican-specific notions of class and race and examining mestizaje. Creating Talavera Poblana is essential to understanding its uniqueness and will be detailed. I will also include a case study exploring contemporary practices within Talavera Poblana in Puebla, Mexico. The research aims to further the folk arts field within North America, which art historians have typically ignored.

MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of the Arts / School of Art

During his twenty-three-year career in Mesoamerica, the Flemish artist Simon Pereyns (c.1535-1589), was a well-known painter and sculptor in colonial Mexico during the first century of Spanish imperial rule. In my thesis, I will focus on Pereyns's Huejotzingo Altarpiece of 1584-1586 as a case study for his position as a European painter in colonial Mexico. Though Pereyns created the altarpiece in collaboration with Nahua artists and artisans in the sizeable Indigenous community of Huejotzingo, the Huejotzingo Altarpiece favors a European style of optical naturalism. This was likely a result of the 1563 session of the Council of Trent, which championed a reformed style of naturalistic and orderly devotional images. The sober religious climate of sixteenth-century Europe simultaneously rejected the grotteschi, or a style composed of playful, imaginative figures. My thesis will examine how the Huejotzingo Altarpiece is a response to the 1563 session of the Council of Trent mandate to create sacred images in a style of optical naturalism, rather than the grotteschi style that bears similarities to Nahua artwork. Though Pereyns was bound by Paleotti's instructions, I will also argue that he and his fellow collaborator, the sculptor Pedro de Requena, adjusted their content to be more accessible and relatable for Nahua viewers. Furthermore, my research will address the following primary questions: How did Pereyns interpret the instructions from Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti's Discourse on Sacred and Profane Images in the altarpiece? What were the attitudes of Pereyns's patrons towards Nahua imagery and the grotteschi style? How were Nahua patrons and artists involved in the creation process? What was the impact of the Huejotzingo Altarpiece within the community, and who were the primary viewers? Are there any portions of the altarpiece that reveal the influence of the Nahua community more than others? My thesis will also address the following secondary question: How does the (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Music (MM), Ohio University, 2023, Music History and Literature (Fine Arts)

Much of the writing on Mexican composer Ernesto Elorduy (1853-1913) has tended to focus on the European influence in his music and disregarded it due to its lack of Mexican folkloric tunes as well as the technical accessibility of the piano compositions. To gain a deeper understanding of Elorduy's career and works this thesis shifts the focus onto Elorduy's cosmopolitan attitude, piano music (character pieces and dance music), and its reception. I also explore the musical thought of the nineteenth century and propose that the period's values and ideas are crucial to situate Elorduy's work in the history of Mexican music.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Earth Sciences

Gas and fluid seepage at the seafloor on continental margins is a transient and variable phenomenon that occurs worldwide at cold seeps. Authigenic carbonates, pyrite, gypsum, and barite have previously been observed to precipitate in these environments. The analysis of calcium (Ca) isotopes in minerals with Ca as a major component or trace element has been useful to provide insight into fluid-gas evolution and geochemical processes. However, little is known about the main controls on the Ca-isotopic signature (δ44/40Ca) of barite and non-carbonates in cold seeps. This study implements trace element (elemental ratios), S-isotopes, radiogenic Sr-isotopes, stable Ca-isotopes, and Scanning Electron Microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses of the carbonate fraction and decarbonated residues (a mixture of barite, pyrite, and gypsum) of the same cold seep crust sample from the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope to address this knowledge gap. The 87Sr/86Sr measurements of the carbonate fraction and the decarbonated residues ranged from 0.709955 to 0.710097 and 0.710028 to 0.710120, respectively. These values are more radiogenic than seawater which suggests that the Sr source (and likely dissolved Ca source) is deep-seated. The δ44/40Ca values of the carbonate fraction exhibited a range that falls between 0.40‰ and 0.60‰ (relative to 915a). The main controls of the isotopic composition of Ca in the carbonate fraction include the Ca fluid source, precipitation rate, and mineralogy (crystal structure). The sulfur isotopic compositions (δ34S) of two of the decarbonated residues was also measured and yielded values of 29‰ and 58‰ VCDT. The Ca-isotope compositions of the decarbonated residues varied considerably, between -0.92‰ and 0.57‰ (relative to 915a). It is hypothesized that only one decarbonated residue measurement reflects the isotopic signature of barite, δ44/40Ca = -0.92‰. The apparent fractionation (∆44/40Ca = δ44/40Casolid - δ44/40Casource) bet (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Earth Sciences

Over the past several decades, the Gulf of Mexico has been studied in increasingly greater detail by the scientific and energy industries to identify and characterize natural gas hydrate systems. Understanding these systems are necessary for determining gas hydrate's resource potential, role in the global carbon cycle, and potential connection to marine geohazards. Several large-scale gas hydrate studies have been conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, but these studies focus on highly concentrated deposits found in coarse-grained sands. Most gas hydrate, however, is likely found disseminated in marine muds; there is very little work focused on these lower concentrated gas hydrate deposits. In this thesis, I use publicly available petroleum industry well logs to evaluate gas hydrate accumulations of both low and high concentrations throughout the Gulf of Mexico. This work provides detailed gas hydrate and well information that includes the depths and locations of intervals with evidence for gas hydrate accumulations, which can be used for future gas hydrate research. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the vast amount of publicly released industry data, which is rarely used in gas hydrate studies, can be a cost-effective and valuable resource for hydrate research. My data set consists of 78 digital industry well logs released as of June 2015 from the Gulf of Mexico that I use to identify and characterize natural gas hydrate; I find evidence of gas hydrate in 43 of these wells (55%). To find hydrate, I analyze gamma ray and resistivity log measurements within the gas hydrate stability zone and identify 0.5 Ωm or greater increases in resistivity above the water saturated background resistivity as gas hydrate. Furthermore, I analyze the relationship of using different types of well log formats to detect hydrate. A previous study in the Gulf of Mexico conducted by Majumdar et al. [2017] consisted of similar work evaluating gas hydrate accumulations with industry well logs (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1965, Geology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1964, History