Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2019, Philosophy (Arts and Sciences)

In this thesis I argue that there are post bellum situations in which it is morally permissible to remove sovereignty from a vanquished nation by integrating its people and territory into an existing state. The relevant situations are those in which there are desperate human rights claims which must be satisfied and the removal of sovereignty is the only feasible alternative that protects human rights. I call the approach to such situations outlined herein “Restorative Post Bellum Integration (RPBI),” and argue that this solution is consistent with Brian Orend's Kantian Internationalist framework. The format of my argument is the following: P1) States rights are derivative from and subordinate to human rights. P2) Some post bellum situations are such that a) the vanquished nation (or vestiges thereof) affords no reasonable prospect of becoming an independent nation that will respect or ensure the human rights of its citizens and b) the most promising way to uphold the human rights of the people of the vanquished nation is by integrating them and the territory they inhabit into another nation (RPBI). From P1) and P2), C3) In the post bellum situations outlined in P2, RPBI is morally permissible. This topic is of crucial importance due to emerging conditions, such as drastic climate change and increased sectarianism, which may bring decades of war, strife, and mass migration. The framework presented in this thesis offers a methodology for dealing with those hardest of cases, in which significantly prolonged conflict may be the only alternative to the absorption of an outlaw state by a well-ordered state.

Committee: James Petrik (Advisor); James Petrik (Committee Chair); Christoph Hanisch (Committee Member); John Bender (Committee Member) Subjects: Ethics; Peace Studies; Philosophy; Political Science

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2011, Educational Leadership

This study discusses the history of education in Nigeria with emphasis on the need for a comprehensive special education program that will provide basic education for all individuals with disabilities in Nigeria. In Nigeria, as in many other underdeveloped countries, individuals that are defined as disabled are generally deprived of equal access to basic public education and other fundamental services that are guaranteed to their “non-disabled” counterpart. Due to cultural beliefs and social attitudes, an individual that is defined as “disabled” is treated as a social taboo associated with evil omens or bad luck. Consequently, individuals that are defined as disabled are excluded from upwardly mobile social and economic opportunities including access to educational pursuits with the consequence that, they face an uncertain future, a life of absolute poverty, deprivation and abuse. Cultural beliefs pertaining to individuals that are defined as disabled are further compounded by British colonial policy that failed to consider the education of individuals that are defined as disabled as a policy priority in the education of native people in Nigeria. Therefore, this study will apply Foucault's genealogical approach to history, and critical disability theory in education to analyze the impact of Nigerian cultural practices, the influence of Christianity and Islamic religion, and also British colonial policy on educational policy priorities in post-independence Nigeria. This study will show that the Nigerian educational system does not provide equal educational opportunity for individuals that are defined as “disabled”, resulting from the outcome of cultural practices, colonial and post-colonial policies that define individuals on the basis of whether they are “disabled” (unable) or “non-disabled” (able). In conclusion, this study will make recommendations about the way forward for Nigerian policy makers in order to encourage the need for the establishment of a non-discri (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dennis Carlson Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: