Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2024, Educational Leadership

With each passing day more predominantly white institutions of higher education with Antebellum roots are uncovering and acknowledging their historical connections to slavery. In response, these institutions are establishing umbrellas to house their efforts under. These racial reconciliation initiatives largely include history-based projects such as archival research, historical-site preservation, and the erection of monuments and placards on campuses. However, racial reconciliation requires more than history-based projects which engage the Black community in the traditional and comfortable manner that the university always has. Racial reconciliation initiatives that go beyond history-based projects exist, however, these efforts are few in number and/or are short-lived. This reality suggests that there is a lack of understanding about the organizational challenges these initiatives face at PWIs. This dissertation is a case study that focuses on a the individual and collection leadership experience of a now defunct racial reconciliation initiative at a small midwestern Jesuit Catholic university. This qualitative inquiry utilizes document analysis, archival research, and semi-structured interviews with members of the leadership team to understand the experience of sustaining the initiative at the university. Employing Black Critical Theory and organizational theory, this work analyzes how decision-making may have been influenced by embedded antiblackness while also revealing strategies for institutionalization. The findings produced in this study are situated in the advancing the field of racial healing, repair, and reconciliation in higher education and its institutionalization. This work fills a significant gap in existing literature on racial reconciliation initiatives which do not include experiences from those who occupied leadership positions within an initiative.

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Joel Malin (Committee Member); Alexis Young (Committee Member); Denise Taliaferro-Baszile (Advisor) Subjects: Black Studies; Higher Education; Organization Theory

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2010, International Development Studies (International Studies)

This thesis project examines the relationship between post-conflict land tenure reform and political reconciliation in the West African country of Liberia. The thesis asks: is successful land tenure reform a necessary precondition for political reconciliation in Liberia? Secondly, what are the primary means by which land tenure reform contributes to political reconciliation in Liberia? Thirdly, what is the role of Liberians in the Diaspora in the land reform process and how does the role of the Diaspora shape the contribution of land tenure reforms to wider political reconciliation? The study examines the impact of Liberia's 14 year civil war from 1989 to 2003 on the country's land tenure system. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia identified “land and property disputes as key threats to Liberia's fragile peace” in its conflict mapping survey (UNMIL, 2009). In a broader context, this thesis is a contribution to the growing literature that links land policy with conflict and land reform as an important element of achieving the national peace building process and sustainable development. As well this thesis contributes to the literature on post-colonial African Diasporas. The Liberian Diaspora which is known as the “16th County” composed of the country's middle class was the first African Diaspora to be engaged in its country's TRC process project. This thesis examines the role of the Liberian Diaspora in the land reform process and the implication for postconflict reconstruction in Liberia. Respondents revealed that if the land problem is not solved there is a potential for a return to war in Liberia. The civil war exacerbated existing boundary disputes between different counties mainly Nimba County and Grand Gedeh. As well the civil war exacerbated existing tensions between ethnic groups mainly the Mandingo, Manos and Gios in Nimba County making Nimba the poster child of land conflicts in Liberia. In rural Liberia which uses communal land ow (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Smucker PhD (Committee Chair); Myra Waterbury PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Howard PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2021, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to impact the participants' reconciliation process to their incarcerated youths, in Springfield, OH through a six-week biblical training course on reconciliation. The design of the project included the administration of pre-post-survey questionnaires, with qualitative questions as well as weekly biblical teachings and activities. While the idea of the study was to encourage healing and reconciliation, the participants were challenged to work on reconciling their broken relationships. The results of the study demonstrated that the project did in fact show positive growth in understanding the nature of reconciliation as the intended goal.

Committee: Russell Morton Th.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Minority and Ethnic Groups; Personal Relationships; Rehabilitation

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

There is an urgent need to increase the habitat value of cities, both for human health and for conservation. Constructed Green Infrastructure (GI), which uses vegetated areas to solve engineering problems such as stormwater mitigation, is an attractive option for habitat creation, and ecological engineers, with their stated goal to design for both human and natural benefit, should be key players in its design and implementation. However, ecological engineers are hampered by the lack of a suitable reference by which to evaluate the ecological goals of the GI which they design. They are further hampered by the lack of information about the ecology of many common GI practices. Bioretention cells (BRCs) are the most common form of green infrastructure used for stormwater management. Much work has been done to evaluate the hydrological and pollutant-removal capabilities of BRCs, but there has been comparatively little investigation of the ecological properties of these systems. This is a critical gap in knowledge, as ecological design of BRCs could not only increase their functioning as stormwater infrastructure but could also contribute ecological value to urban areas. Investigation of the habitat value of BRCs could lead to design techniques that subsidize and/or prioritize habitat creation in tandem with stormwater management, allowing ecological engineers to capitalize on the current popularity of this practice to improve urban habitat for both humans and non-humans. I address this gap in knowledge with a multi-taxon survey of biodiversity in BRCs installed as part of a large-scale retrofit of GI in Columbus, OH. I developed and validated a protocol to survey birds with automated acoustic monitoring – a first in an urban area – and determined that BRCs affected bird community composition during spring migration but not during the summer breeding period. BRCs did not generally harbor more species than lawns, but nearby remnant ravines appeared to increase species (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jay Martin PhD, PE (Advisor); Mary Gardiner PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Matthews PhD (Committee Member); Ryan Winston PhD, PE (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Environmental Engineering

Bachelor of Arts, Ohio University, 2020, Political Science

This thesis explores how historical sites impact the collective memory of slavery in the United States.

Committee: Kathleen Sullivan (Advisor) Subjects: African American Studies; American History; Black History; History; Legal Studies; Modern History; Museums; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, History

“The Sinews of Memory:' The Forging of Civil War Memory and Reconciliation, 1865 – 1940,” explores the creation of historical memory of the American Civil War and, its byproduct, reconciliation. Stakeholders in the historical memory formation of the war and reconciliation were varied and many. “The Sinews of Memory” argues reconciliation blossomed from the 1880s well into the twentieth-century due to myriad of historical forces in the United States starting with the end of the war leading up to World War II. The crafters of the war's memory and reconciliation – veterans, women's groups, public history institutions, governmental agents, and civic boosters – arrived at a collective memory of the war predicated on notions of race, manliness, nationalism, and patriotism. In forging a specific memory of the Civil War, the aforementioned stakeholders in the process utilized veterans' fraternal organizations, joint encampments of veterans, physical space, pilgrimages to sites of memory, and cultural products such as cinema to bind the former belligerent regions, both North and South, together. Out of the effort at reconciliation, a White, predominately middle-class, memory of the war emerged.

Committee: Kim Nielsen (Committee Chair); Ami Pflugrad-Jackisch (Committee Member); Bruce Way (Committee Member); Neil Reid (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History; Military History; Museums

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2018, History

The following dissertation examines the ways in which Union and Confederate ex-prisoners of war discussed their experiences of captivity between 1862 and 1930. By examining former prisoners' captivity narratives, this dissertation demonstrates that to the end of their lives, ex-prisoners worked to construct a public image—one of suffering—that differed from the typical gallant volunteer who fought and died on the battlefield. Ex-prisoners shared their stories of captivity as a way of affirming their identities as a distinct type of veteran and to affirm their place as American men, regardless of their time as a prisoner of war. Viewed singly, any of these narratives might be dismissed as a fascinating story of personal suffering and survival, but when they are considered as a body of literature, one can trace the development of a master narrative, both separate from and intertwined with the American public's postwar memory. This dissertation challenges conventional understandings of postwar reconciliation and adds to recent scholarship on veterans' reintegration into civilian life. Both Union and Confederate ex-prisoners of war often contradicted this preferred heroic narrative of the war. Some men, as they got older, accepted reconciliation and censored their bitterness and hatred. Others promised to never forget their sufferings and, as a result, remained obstacles to reconciliation. By examining ex-prisoners' narratives, this dissertation reveals how ex-prisoners did not accept or fit into the ideal trajectory of reconciliation.

Committee: Walter Hixson (Committee Chair); Lesley Gordon (Committee Co-Chair); Stephen Harp (Committee Member); Kevin Adams (Committee Member); Patrick Chura (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; American Literature; History; Military History

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2017, Educational Administration (Education)

This qualitative phenomenological case study examined the influence of female leaders' perceptions of peace and globality on leadership styles and organizational development practices in two voluntary organizations. They are Young Women's Christian Association of Tokyo (YWCA-Tokyo) and Young Women's Christian Association of Japan (YWCA-Japan), affiliated to the World Young Women's Christian Association (World YWCA). Three methods were used: interview, observation, and document analysis. Outlined by YWCA-Japan's experiences of World War II, the interviewed leaders first highlighted the essentiality of sincere apology. Their perceptions of peace stressed committed reconciliation based on multiangled learning, the voice of civil societies, kyousei or co-living based on diversity, collaboration and trust, and the development of belonging and worth. Peace goes beyond an absence of war. Their perspectives on globality included philosophy that goes beyond national boundaries, the local-global dualism, and the objective look of the Earth and human behaviors. Findings revealed the influence of peace and globality perceptions on lived experiences, leadership styles, and organizational practices: structure, system, culture and climate.

Committee: Emmanuel Jean Francois (Committee Chair); Barbara Trube (Committee Co-Chair); Diane Ciekawy (Committee Member); Dwan Robinson (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2016, Washkewicz College of Engineering

Robust control techniques have enabled engineers to create uncertain models which are able to describe any differences between the model and experimental system with uncertainties defined as a combination of exogenous inputs and plant perturbations. Subsequently, robust model validation techniques arose to provide a guarantee that the uncertain model is able to recreate all observed experimental data. As a result, the complete model set is robust to any model inaccuracies or external noise. At the same time, the technique of model-based identification was developed in the robust control framework to identify the dynamics resulting from unmodeled or under-modeled components in mechanical systems. The approach controls the nominal model in order to minimize the error between its response and that of the experimentally identified system. The resulting controller estimates the difference in dynamics between the model and actual system, also known as the unmodeled dynamics. In this work, a damage identification technique is developed which combines model validation and model-based identification for robust control relevant structural health monitoring. The method will both detect the presence of damage and identify the local change in dynamics due to the damage in a robust control framework. As a result, the damage detection will be robust to mismodeling and noise. Additionally, the identified damage dynamics will be defined with an uncertainty bound which will serve the dual purpose of a definition for robust control and a quality estimation of the nominal damage dynamics. The new technique is demonstrated experimentally on a rotordynamic test rig. First, feasibility of the method is verified by the identification of a fully-open seeded crack in a non-rotating shaft. Finally, the precision of the method is demonstrated through identification of a breathing crack in a rotating shaft.

Committee: Jerzy Sawicki Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Peter Bubenik Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stephen Duffy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Hanz Richter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Dan Simon Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering

PHD, Kent State University, 2015, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

The purpose of this qualitative research was to understand the perceptions of African-American students and their families regarding teacher expectations and the experiences that shaped these perceptions. The study sought to understand the ways in which members of the African-American community processed and responded to schooling based on their interpretation of educational institutions' expectations. Critical Race Theory served as the theoretical framework which posited that culture is critical to human agency and race is relevant, salient, and is an undeniable influence on the structure of all American institutions, including schools. Findings revealed African-Americans perceived that educational institutions of America, as a whole, are inherently designed to obstruct progress towards social justice. The emergent themes of ethnic identity, racial socialization, cultural mistrust and resilience and their relevance to and the way in which they informed perceptions of teacher expectations and the discourse surrounding majority-minority relations and cultural negotiations are discussed. This inquiry concluded that the perceptions of teachers' lower expectations influenced both African-American students' approach to schooling, but did not deter them from high achievement and encouraged African-American parents' activism in countering racial biases to guide their students through school. Implications for diverse school communities include systemic efforts of inclusion, equitable treatment of all students and racial reconciliation as an integral part of increased African-American student achievement.

Committee: Vilma Seeberg Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Tricia Niesz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joann Dowdy Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2014, Leadership and Change

Public and scholarly analysis of the troubled relations of Natives and non-Natives (settlers) has been predominantly directed to the former, long-framed as “the Indian Problem.” This dissertation takes the different stance of focusing on the mind-sets of settlers and their society in perpetuating the trans-historical trauma and injustice resulting from foundational acts of dispossession. The approach is autoethnographic: after considering the settler world in which I grew up, critical episodes and developments in my career working with British Columbian First Nations are described and analyzed. This includes working with Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk and Lheidli T'enneh Nations over a 25-year period. I also look closely at my friendship with a Gitxsan artist, which painfully surfaced our differences and the dangerous colonial practice of settlers' telling indigenous life stories. Critical themes and learning drawn from this account indicate both some pitfalls and opportunities for empathic settlers to decolonize their minds and actions and thereby contribute to the broader decolonization story of the settler state of Canada. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at Ohiolink ETD Center, http://etd.ohiolink.edu and AURA http://aura.antioch.edu/ A video introduction by the author accompanies this document.

Committee: Philomena Essed Ph.D (Committee Chair); Carolyn Kenny Ph.D (Committee Member); Lorenzo Veracini Ph.D (Committee Member); Gabriele Schwab Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Canadian Studies; Native Studies; Natural Resource Management

PHD, Kent State University, 2013, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

Despite the extensive amount of research that has been conducted on the long-term consequences of the inheritance of the psychological impact of the Holocaust, little has been investigated about the transmission of transhistorical memories of the Middle Passage and enslavement to African American populations. In addition, while current trauma studies mainly focus on the inheritance of trauma observed across a single generation, the transmission of the original trauma across multiple generations deserves closer examination. This project extends beyond the question of intergenerational transmissions by investigating unconscious transfers of memory and images that cannot be situated within a singular temporal frame, but span multiple ones. In particular, this study explores the psychological dimension of trauma that is transmissible and demonstrates the ways in which the initial trauma of enslavement reinvents itself in Octavia E. Butler's Kindred (1979), David Bradley's The Chaneysville Incident (1981), Phyllis Alesia Perry's Stigmata (1998), and Edward P. Jones' The Known World (2003). By examining the traumatic transfer of painful memories across temporal boundaries in these narratives, this study contributes to an ongoing dialogue about the unconscious transmissions of the original trauma of African American slavery, opening up a multitude of possibilities for further research in representations of transgenerational trauma in other contemporary texts of African American literature.

Committee: Willie H. Harrell, Jr. (Committee Chair); Babacar M'Baye (Committee Member); Vera Camden (Committee Member); Elizabeth Smith-Pryor (Committee Member); Richard Adams (Other) Subjects: African Americans; American Literature; Ethnic Studies; Literature; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Youngstown State University, 2010, Department of Criminal Justice

This research project evaluates a Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) program established by a Juvenile Court in Northeast Ohio. The research focuses on the procedure used in the program, the driving philosophy, the participants' views and perception or perceived satisfaction with the program, and their recommendations for change. The VOM centers on Victim-Offender dialogue with the mediator in a face-to-face or a shuttle interaction. The VOM program, and its effectiveness as a sentencing alternative, is evaluated for the purpose of reducing the damage or the burden (both physical and emotional) created in the lives of victims as a result of victimization, and also rehabilitation of offenders. Data from the mediation program for a one year period was analyzed. The data provide information on offenders referred to the program, including their race, gender, offense committed, and whether or not an agreement (including restitution) was reached between them and their victims at the end of mediation sessions. This study also uses a second dataset obtained through the administration of a survey questionnaire to the program participants. The second data involve participants' views and perceptions or “satisfaction” with the mediation process and its outcome. Also included in the survey questionnaire are participants' suggestions for program improvement. The study found that 98.53% of participants in the mediation program reached agreements (including restitutions) at end of their mediations; alleged victims and offenders feel much better after going through the mediation process; mediation programs cushion or reduce the burden that alleged victims suffer as a result of victimization; and all the participants in the mediation program prefer mediation to trial/adjudication.

Committee: John M. Hazy PhD (Advisor); Tammy A. King PhD (Committee Member); Christian C. Onwudiwe PhD (Committee Member); Marcie Patzak-Vendetti JD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2012, Theological Studies

This thesis explores the sacrament of reconciliation as a source of priestly spirituality, which informs ministerial identity. The significance and purpose of this thesis is to propose a sacramental model of spirituality that promotes respectful collaboration between priests and lay ecclesial ministers, which is called for by the United States' Bishops in Called and Gifted for the Third Millenium. This thesis outlines basic foundations of ministerial identity as understood in the Roman Catholic priesthood. It then examines spirituality as the component of ministerial identity where belief and practice converge. Finally, it provides a detailed analysis of two forms of the sacrament of penance, during which the rites are examined for spiritual dispositions and virtues that promote effective collaboration and mutual respect between priests and lay ecclesial ministers.

Committee: William Johnston Ph.D (Advisor); Jana Bennett Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ramon Luzarraga Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Theology

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2011, French

Since the colonial era, there has been a hierarchy between the colonizers and the colonized nations. Due to this stratification of power between these two groups, a series of conflicts has presented itself and a racist discourse has been used in order to describe the colonies' peoples and cultures. Unfortunately, the women of the former colonies, like Sub-Saharan African women, have particularly suffered due to these interactions. Even in the Western feminist movement, the rhetoric found therein supported this hierarchy and concentrated solely on women's empowerment in the white, Western context. As a result, African women can no longer support this subjugation by the Western woman and have demanded the right of self-representation. Despite the racist past that had formerly defined the interaction between these two groups, these two types of feminisms are starting to reconcile because Western feminist academics are beginning to accept the value of the African perspective. In reality, it is due to this incorporation of the African woman in the development of Western feminist discourse that has allowed her to develop a more positive image that she herself created.

Committee: Cheryl Toman PhD (Committee Chair); Marie Lathers PhD (Advisor); Gilbert Doho PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Black Studies; Comparative Literature; Ethnic Studies; Foreign Language; Womens Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2011, History

The following essay covers the commemoration and history of remembrance of the Battle of Antietam from immediately following the battle to its seventy-fifth anniversary celebration. In some respects, this work is a case study of larger themes and topics on Civil War memory in that it attempts to shed light on how memory of the war evolved and reflected the time in which it took place. Throughout the work I focus on a few key themes. One of those central themes is the politicization of Antietam's commemoration. During the seventy-five year period covered in the following essay, politicians and partisans used commemoration and monumentalization as an avenue to express both sectional and party political rhetoric. However, the central argument I put forth revolves around the issue of anti-southern sentiment among Union veterans. Previous and contemporary historians argue that during the 1880s and 1890s a spirit of reunion and reconciliation swept across the American landscape and with the culminating effect of the Spanish-American War, the chasm between the North and South closed. Conversely, I argue that although reconciliation dominated the late nineteenth-century, anti-southern sentiment and rhetoric persisted well into the twentieth-century. I attempt to trace the history and persistence of anti-southern sentiment throughout the seventy-five year period covered in the essay. The first chapter covers the early commemoration history of Antietam, including the photographs taken by Alexander Gardner as well as the dedication and creation of Antietam National Cemetery. The second chapter examines the extensive monumentalizing of the Antietam battlefield, including both state and regimental monuments. The third and final chapter looks at the semicentennial and seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Antietam.

Committee: Scott Martin PhD (Committee Chair); Andrew Schocket PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2010, Leadership and Change

The process of restorative justice involves the caring compassion of others by providing support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. The term restorative justice is used to describe a justice practice that has been in existence for hundreds of years in many indigenous communities. Recently, it is emerging in modern criminal justice systems as a way to obtain fair reparation for the victim and to offer an opportunity for the victim and the offender to mediate and reconcile after the offense to restore balance and peace to the community. The process involves the participation of the victim, offender, and selected community members in all phases of the process. Restorative justice requires community involvement, thus encouraging community building, empowerment, and capacity enhancement. It can be adopted as a proactive method for preventing wrongdoings and misbehavior. Care theory supports the ethic that all individuals are responsible for meeting the basic needs of others. Its premise is based on the fact that we are all interconnected, and therefore, obligated to ensure all humanity has the basic necessities and the capacity to live a meaningful life. Care theory supports the tenets of restorative justice. The obligation to care involves ensuring the well being of all individuals including the fair treatment and the rehabilitation of those who have been victimized. The focus moves from punishment of the offender to restitution and reparation of harm for the victim. Restorative justice can be the modern model for conflict resolution. In this theoretical dissertation, I will present documentation to support my thesis that adopting the tenets of care ethics and restorative justice and recognizing the value of women's voices (specifically in matters of social and global justice) will provide a holistic and reconciliatory process for justice, a recognition for the need to be concerned for all of humanity, and a renewed commitment to establishing a sustainable wor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Debora Halbert PhD (Committee Member); Brenda Morrison PhD (Other) Subjects: Criminology; Psychology; Social Research; Womens Studies