Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Humanities

The late nineteenth century's Gilded Age witnessed numerous changes within American society, economics, and government. It was in this atmosphere of controversial business practices, rapid economic fluctuations, collaboration between special interests and the government, and lasting effects from the Civil War period that two significant factions, the Populists and the Mugwumps, voiced criticism. The Mugwumps were representative of the classical liberal concepts of laissez-faire, sought the overall benefit of society at large, and rejected any use of government to aid one segment of society at the expense of others. The Populists promoted a unique “anti-monopoly” vision which strove to elevate the interests of the “common man” in response to the government favors which often benefitted politically connected business interests. While both the Populists and Mugwumps ultimately failed to enact their respective programs to completion, they each presented coherent alternatives which the American government and economy could have followed, and they repeatedly placed their principles above strict partisanship. This thesis analyzes the Populists and the Mugwumps both in their similarities and their differences, and concludes that while both factions differed philosophically, they shared similar methods.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, Economics

Economists have long recognized the importance of agriculture and the US has undertaken many policies aimed at supporting the nation's agriculture industry. A grassroots effort to educate youth on agriculture began with the founding of 4-H, a youth development organization. In this paper, I investigate whether exposure to youth agricultural education impacts workforce outcomes using newly digitized, county-level data on enrollment in 4-H. Using linked census data, I find that living in an area with high exposure to 4-H makes children more likely to become farmers. I conduct additional analysis on the interaction of farming and 4-H, finding that 4-H exposure is twice as impactful on children of farmers.

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

This dissertation explores African market women's activities by analyzing and emphasizing the significance of their personal networks and connections, emotions, and spatial mobilities in sustaining their businesses and the informal economy in general. I argue that the social, economic, and political systems created by market women rest on their immediate ties to the household, their relationships, and wider networks of kin, friends, or other social connections as well as their performance and experience with emotions. I evaluate how these intricate connections impact women's success or failures in the market. I argue that competition and contestations over urban market spaces that are intensified by the Zimbabwean economic crisis led to different discourses by Zimbabwean citizens to claim spaces. Market women, for example, have used their life histories to make claims to the market and perceive ownership differently than other groups within the city. By primarily using life histories to recollect and explore women's experiences within the city and rural areas, I emphasize women's agency and perceptions of Zimbabwe's history. Starting in the 1960s when women nostalgically recollect their participation in markets, to the present, I follow women's markers of history and explore why they remember the past in that way. I expand debates on women's entrepreneurship and urban informality to emphasize why market women in Zimbabwe help us comprehend how women have reshaped urban spaces, economies, and political systems. In sum, I argue that in the different phases of Zimbabwe's economic volatility, market women have meritoriously supported the informal economy while bringing happiness to the residents.

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2024, Honors

Currently, in the world of investing, the accurate classification grade for Bitcoin has become a current debate. Due to Bitcoin being incapable of having a bottom line and no real demand, many argue that it should not be considered an investment-grade or speculative-grade asset. As a result, this study calls for the creation of a third investment grade, called the greater fool grade, to be created to appropriately classify Bitcoin. The goal of this study is to provide sufficient evidence that shows Bitcoin is unlike any investment and speculative asset, supporting the creation of the greater fool grade to accurately categorize the asset. This was done by analyzing the risk and return characteristics of Bitcoin through three different analyses. The first analysis conducted was a comparative analysis of Bitcoin's continuous bubble cycle. In this analysis, Bitcoin was compared to the five most notorious bubbles in history and displayed comparable traits to the studied historical asset bubbles. An applied analysis of statistical significance was also conducted. In this analysis, Bitcoin and a combined 18 different investment-grade and speculative-grade assets' financial measurements were analyzed and compared over multiple time periods, which showed that a majority of Bitcoin's financial measurements were vastly different and more volatile than those of the other studied assets. Lastly, a statistical hypothesis test with 110 regressions was conducted to see if Bitcoin's total risk was statistically distinct from the investment and speculative assets. These regressions compared the total risk of Bitcoin to the total risk of a combined 18 different investment-grade and speculative-grade assets. Upon completion of this model, it was found that there was no significance in correlation of Bitcoin's total risk when compared to the total risk of the other measured assets. The results of this study show overwhelming support surrounding the creation of the greater fool grade for (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Communication and Information

The objective of this historical study of Akron, Ohio's Saalfield Publishing Company during its years of operation (1900-1976) is to illuminate the role this company played within Ohio, but also within the larger United States publishing community and to investigate the role women played within this organization. Utilizing a theoretical framework that draws from Bourdieu (1984, 1993), Darnton (1982), Gramsci (1988), feminist scholars (Collins, 2000; Cott, 1987; Crenshaw, 1989, 1991; hooks, 1981), Hall (2007), Williams (1962), McRobbie (1986), Adams and Barker (1993) and Kaestle and Radway (2009), this dissertation introduces a new communication model for understanding this particular children's publishing company, but also for understanding the larger children's publishing industry which flourished during Saalfield's era. This work interrogates the power structure within and around the publishing company and within its communications sphere. Historical methods were utilized throughout this study to locate and interrogate the data, utilizing the frameworks of Startt and Sloan (2003), Cox (1996), Kerr, Loveday and Blackford (1990), and Tanselle (1971). Catalogs of the Saalfield Publishing Company, Saalfield Publishing Company products, Akron City Directories, newspapers, journals, books, websites and databases were consulted. This study provides a deeper understanding of the Saalfield Publishing Company, its products, players and position, and creates a model to interpret the relationships found within and throughout its reach. It illuminates the role of women and the marginalized within the company and the surrounding community, while developing a clearer picture of its pioneering role and commercial success in the field of children's literature from 1900-1976.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

Humans have been brewing beer for at least 10,000 years. For most of this time, brewing was a rudimentary affair. Ancient, medieval, and early modern brewing was carried out using local grains, herbs, fruits, and open-air fermentation. This has radically changed in the last two hundred years. Modern brewing now relies on intensive capital inputs, standardized products and brands, marketing, global distribution networks, disposable packaging, and scientific expertise. Even today's craft brewers—who often pride themselves on their experimental brews and local or regional connections—are a product of this transformation. This dissertation asks how this radically different brewing industry came to be in the United States. I argue that the modern American brewing industry took shape because of the unique biological and material properties of beer's organic and chemical components (yeast, hops, barley, and alcohol) and that brewers' desire to control even the most minute aspects of their craft resulted in intense capitalization and standardization of their industry.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, East Asian Studies

This thesis discusses the role of the gold standard in Japan's shift to militarism in the 1930s. Since its adoption in Japan in 1897, the gold standard and the price stability inherent in it had advantaged Japanese creditors and helped them finance Japan's empire in Asia. At home, however, the gold standard generated deflation and prevented the Bank of Japan from responding to economic turmoil with interest rate decreases. Japan's ill-advised return to gold in January 1930—amidst a recession—caused the nationalist and fiscally expansionist Rikken Seiyukai party to gain the upper hand in public opinion over the liberal internationalist and fiscally conservative Rikken Minseito party. This economic miscalculation was a major—perhaps the major—reason for the overwhelming loss of the liberal internationalists in the 1932 elections, setting Japan on its path to militarism. The paper begins with an outline of the history of money in Japan prior to 1897, using Japanese-language materials from the Japanese Currency Museum in Tokyo. Next, it provides a theoretical description of the gold standard and its variants and follows the history of the gold standard in Japan from its adoption in 1897 through 1932. It ends with an analysis of the interaction between the economic situation in the late 1920s and early 1930s and the shift to militarism in Japanese politics at that time.

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2023, Applied Mathematics

The Great Depression is one of the worst social, financial, economic, and environmental disasters in modern American history. Economic and climate distress provoked a large internal migration of people. This thesis attempted to glean predictions about the migratory decisions in the 1930s using decision trees utilizing linked full count US census data from 1930 and 1940. Five different models were employed to assess the 52 million linked records. Using variables from one census year alone provided poor classification rates for the migrants but near perfect rates for the non-migrants. Using a combination of all variables across both years provided the highest success in classifying both migrants and non-migrants. However, this was achieved by successive splitting on the basis of a location identifier that combines county and state across the two years. Excluding the location identifier for 1940 alone did produce better success than single years but still misclassified a large proportion of the migrants. The analysis conclusively pointed to the excessive reliance on geographic variables for the decision tree to make splitting decisions, contrary to the expected demographic and occupation details. The reliance potentially hints at spatial relationships or local shocks, that are not captured in the census data. In conclusion, it appears that the census data is missing some attribute(s) that makes people arrive at the difficult decision of migrating.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, Economics

Were working women from 1900 to 1940 more likely to find a spouse within their same occupation than in another occupation? Our dataset is made up of complete count decennial census data from IPUMS covering 1900 through 1940. We focus on five occupations specifically to limit the study: actresses, physicians and surgeons, professors, teachers, and government officials. As a point of comparison, we also look at women working in manufacturing and agriculture. To determine if working women were more likely to marry within their occupation, we apply the Separable Extreme Value Index from Chiappori et. al. (2020) and the Altham Statistic from Altham and Ferrie (2007) to determine if this was the case. We find that, for our selected occupations, working women were more likely to find a spouse within their same occupation for all of the time covered, but the degree to which it was more likely decreased over time.

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine how entrepreneurs who start new businesses can mitigate business decision risk while exploring how their business experience plays a role in their decision-making process. Previous meta-analysis of Ultimatum Game bargaining has shown that student populations do not follow a Nash Equilibrium. Based on a review of literature, the author's study explored if entrepreneurs would make offers closer to the Nash Equilibrium, (risker) based on their business background. While entrepreneurs did not make statistically different offers than the student group, their unique background and experiences did play a significant role in how they approached the problem with several significant findings: 1) Entrepreneurs ($4.76, average offer) did not make different (p = .805) offers than those of the students ($4.86 average offer). 2) There was not a significant difference (p = 0.846) between the acceptance rates of the entrepreneurs (88%) and the students (91%). 3) There was a significant difference (p = <0.001) between how entrepreneurs (3.85 on a Likert scale) viewed their background's role in decision making, and that of the student group (2.90). 4) There was a significant (p=0.017) medium negative correlation (-0.348) between entrepreneurs' feelings of risk and the size of their offer amounts. The qualitative results found that the decision making of the entrepreneurs was influenced by key themes of: Responsible Risk Taking, A Sense of Fairness, Altruistic Outlook, Application of Business Experience, and A Nash Mindset.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, Economics

Community colleges aim to provide college access to individuals who otherwise may not be able to attend postsecondary education. It is important to study how this additional opportunity may affect individual and community outcomes. Previous literature has focused on various tuition policies to understand these outcomes in the modern day. I expand our understanding of college accessibility by using distance as a proxy for opportunity cost of higher education. Focusing on a historical perspective, I exploit a major expansion of community colleges in the period from about 1950 to 1980 as a natural experiment for increased accessibility. I use a two-way fixed effects model to determine the effects of increased access on several educational and labor-market outcomes. I find that counties with a community college experience a sharp increase in the number of associate's degrees awarded per year. In general, the presence of a community college in one's community when they are age 16 or 17 is associated with a non-negative likelihood of completing four years of college. I find results in favor of the democratization effect of community colleges.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Media and Communication

This project examined traditional gendered discourses surrounding the ends and means of sexuality, the emerging role of digital sexual technologies in purported sexual empowerment, and the socio-material aspects which revolve around these technologies, sexual medias, and sexual discourses. Combining critical feminist insights with media ecology, this project explored happenings within the sociosexually violent pre- and present-COVID-19 United States ecology, documenting novel and rigorous contributions in our increasingly algorithmic world. This study of the U.S. context critiques foundational constructs created by Enlightenment decisionmakers who rationalized colonial rhetorics and logics built into each preceding iteration of capitalisms from industrialism into neoliberalism since national origin. As such, it extends critiques of mechanistic models of the human body and sexual communications and situates them within the vastly uncriminalized sexual violences, as well as insufficient sexual education standards. Theoretically, I argue that a mechanization of humans has occurred, been pushed to its extreme, and is flipping into a humanization of objects. To demonstrate this, I critical feminist rhetorically analyzed 75 biomimetic sextech advertisements from the brand Lora DiCarlo, contextualizing them in salient discourses within 428 present-COVID-19 TikTok videos, investigating: “What rhetorical themes occur within advertisements for biomimetic sexual technologies marketed to vulva-havers in the late-stage present-COVID-19 neoliberal U.S. landscape?” “How have biomimetic sexual technologies marketed to vulva-havers effected how their sexual experiences are created and maintained in the sociosexual U.S. landscape?” and “How are biomimetic sextech changing vulva-havers sexual sense-making, experiences, and relations within the sexually violent late-stage capitalist present-COVID-19 U.S. landscape?” Using a feminist eye, this brings to media ecology a contextualization (open full item for complete abstract)

BA, Oberlin College, 2021, Comparative American Studies

This thesis draws on interviews with voters and organizers to disrupt preconceived popularized notions of the Deep South, arguing for a reimagining of the region's value through the lens of electoral politics and the Democratic Party's campaign efforts. There is plenty of room for revision in the apathetic approach that national Democrats and progressives treat the South with. This historic and contemporary disdain, paired with common guilt in the promotion of a limited and exclusionary idea of what the South is, contributes to the marginalization of Southern communities of color, queer and trans people, working class folks, and more. However, through attention to voter access, revised organizing tactics, and more, the Democratic Party can be a part of the solution.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

This study explores the underlying causes of the racial wealth gap between Black and White Americans: the absence of intergenerational wealth transfers in Black business families. As American wealth becomes concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, the data reveal that one third of the 400 wealthiest Americans inherited their wealth from the entrepreneurial endeavors of earlier generations in their family, some creating entrepreneurial dynasties. An important aspect of succession planning is the construct of generativity. Generativity is practiced through leading, nurturing, promoting, and teaching the next generation to create things to “move down the generational chain and connect to a future” (Kotre, 1996, p. xv). There is little research that informs us about the generative intent of Black entrepreneurs. First-generation Black wealth creators operating in the beauty industry with dynastic and generative intent were the target population for this study. Interpretative phenomenological analysis of the data revealed that the paradigmatic ethos and frame of mind that developed from the lived experience of the study participants included the following themes: A Celebration of Blackness, Black Mothers: A Guiding Light, Destined for Purposeful Work, Our Health Our Wealth, and You Can't Pay It Back. The themes imply that entrepreneurial education and training for first-generation Black entrepreneurs with dynastic intent must contextualize the Black lived experience. The study offers a model for Dynastic Wealth™, which includes extensive implications for entrepreneurial training and curriculum design changes for practitioners and policymakers. The model has been contextualized for the Black entrepreneurial experience and is designed through a lens of racial equity. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, History

This thesis is case study of Miami University and its connections to slavery between its founding in 1809 and 1861. As the second college founded in Ohio, Miami University was one of the first institutions of higher education on the early national frontier and was founded more than fifty years before the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. This thesis asserts that Miami University was involved with slavery on both an ideological and financial level. The link between Miami and slavery is explored through the economic, social, and political histories of the early frontier. Case studies of students and administrators exemplify the multifaceted nature of slavery's entanglements at Miami and show how the university contributed to and profited from enslavement through tuitions, endowments, and educational curriculum. This research reveals the complexities of slavery in early Ohio and evaluates the extent of Miami's financial dependence on it.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, History

“Made for America” examines how Japanese consumer goods entered the post-World War II American market and how they have expanded the scope of U.S.-Japanese relations. In the immediate postwar period, the United States designated Japan as the centerpiece of its Cold War strategy in Asia and sought build an export-centric Japanese economy. Doing so required improving the quality of Japanese products, invoking the cooperation of transpacific networks of government officials, businessmen, and experts to transfer American technical and management knowledge into Japan. The Japanese camera and automobile industries successfully broke into the American market by establishing programs to guarantee the technical legitimacy of their products and engaging with American consumers through market research and advertising. In the process, Japan's consumer goods adapted to American consumers' needs and helped shape American perceptions of postwar Japan as a modern, technologically advanced ally. However, by the 1970s these Japanese exported goods became emblems of American industrial struggle in an era characterized by energy crises, environmental regulations, and economic stagflation. Some Americans responded with calls to enact trade restrictions to limit Japanese imports. Others, in cooperation with the Japanese government and businesses, sought to adapt Japanese management and manufacturing methods into American contexts. These efforts reflect how Japan's postwar consumer good exports created new avenues of engagement that expanded the scope of U.S.-Japanese relations.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, History

This dissertation explores the economic and political history of the Khivan Khanate during the period of the Qungrat Dynasty (1770-1920) and the impact of global capitalism on the economy of the Khanate. The early Qungrat rulers established a highly centralized state, rapidly expanded its irrigated agriculture, and strengthened the Khanate's military power. The formation of a strong military expanded the political influence of the Khanate over the regional trade routes that connected Central Asia to Astrakhan and Orenburg starting from the early 1810s. Mastering the trade opportunities offered by the expansion of Khivan authority and global industrial capitalism, Khivans benefited from a growing demand for cash crops. By the 1850s, Khivan merchants became the largest exporters of the highly coveted madder root (rubia tinctorum) to Russia, which drove a high volume of monetary transactions in the Khivan economy. At the turn of the 20th century, Khiva had one of the most diversified and monetized economies in Central Asia. However, the mainstream literature on Central Asian history often portrays the Khivan Khanate as the most isolated and least civilized state in the Central Asian region. Refuting the notion of ‘isolation', my dissertation explains how global commodity exchanges and capitalism shaped statecraft and military strategies of the early Qungrats by encouraging the expansion of irrigation and monetary transformation during the 19th-century. Drawing on an analysis of a wide array of archival documents including judicial records, financial deeds, slave reports, and diplomatic correspondence, I argue that environmental factors and the irrigation potential of the Khanate were crucial in the state building process of the early Qungrat rulers. The geographical location of the Khanate bestowed the Qungrat rulers with a comparative advantage in producing and controlling strategic cash crops including wheat. Drawing on this potential, the Qungrats were able to (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, History

Traditionally, scholars of Classical Athenian history have assumed that the Athenian demokratia organized itself for war around the principle of egalitarianism. My dissertation, which focuses on the military contributions of the elite, marks a significant departure from this view by arguing that this is decidedly not the case. In fact, I argue that the elite were so dominant in every aspect of war-making that warfare under the demokratia was primarily an elite concern. Not only did wealthy Athenians serve more frequently in the ranks, but they did so in a larger number of capacities. The liturgies of elite citizens funded both the individual triremes and in many cases, entire military expeditions. Athenian armies and fleets were led by the most elite citizens, who also dominated debates over matters of war and peace in the ekklesia. This elite domination did not undermine the sovereignty of the demos as a whole, however, as the demos was able to keep its elite members in line due to strict accountability measures. Significantly, these accountability measures, which were vital to the demokratia, were enforced almost exclusively by the elite. This decidedly inegalitarian approach to warfare has a broader significance when it comes to understanding the very nature of demokratia itself. I argue that, when we consider both the inequalities that we see at work when the Athenians made war with better known inequalities, such as the non-inclusion of women in politics and the widespread use of slave labor, this shows that demokratia was built on different principles than modern democracy and did not share modern concerns about inequality. The broader significance of this realization, I argue, is that future studies of demokratia should be more careful about delineating the differences between demokratia and democracy before hazarding comparisons.

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate if psychological factors have any impact on the perceived brand personality traits of the White House, examine the relationship between travel interests and desire, and intention differences with regard to desire to visit the White House. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, a questionnaire was used as the quantitative method for the made-up research data as if it was collected from Kent State University classrooms. The results demonstrated three key aspects. First, psychographic differences did not play a significant role among the sample in their ratings of the White House brand personality. Second, it has been found that intellectual interest and emotional desire to visit the White House were related. Third, intention differences as related to desire to visit the White House were supported. The results of this study could be helpful to heritage tourism marketers to promote the heritage tourism products based on tourism typologies and the interests, desire, and intention of traveling to the White House sites.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this study is to better understand how to influence capitalist attitudes and drive more capital towards social good. This is why we must explore the prospect of emancipating the capitalists from capitalism. This study identifies capitalism as a form of oppression that is contributing to a newly developed ethics of capital, a term introduced in this study. Emancipatory action research and general systems theory were employed as the primary approaches to engaging a group of venture capitalists and finance professionals in activities and dialogues. Value2 is the theory of action I use to influence the attitudes of the participants in the study. I developed the Emancipatory Action Map as a tool for capturing the epistemological process catalyzed by Value2. The findings identified common themes and contrasts, such as how participants rationalized their problem-solving, how they responded to the isomorphism between systems operating within capitalism, and how they experienced their own agency in relationship to the problem of driving more capital towards social good. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd.