ACTING "WHITE": THE UNSPOKEN, UNDERSTOOD HIERARCHY OF BLACKNESS by Courtnee Nicole Bishop, January 2020, MA English. Director of Thesis: Dr. Rick Taylor

This thesis begins with an incredible personal narrative about the author’s experience growing up and attending school in Florida. Courtnee writes that she was not "raised black" in terms of culture, is of Jamaican descent, and was immersed in various Caucasian cultures in a mixed-racial marriage. Her thesis examines factors that complicate a black person's self-identity and acceptance in the US. Courtnee has a strong personal interest in the topic, utilizing sociological and racial theory in her analyses. She considers education and affluence, and how style and speech affect perceptions of blackness. Courtnee concludes her thesis with a convincing declaration that "there is no such thing as one representation of blackness”...“Blackness is a state of being that is not, cannot, and should not be defined by rules or unacceptable, uncharacteristic manifestations. There is neither a right way nor a wrong way to do it. It is an experience that simply is.”

A SINGLE-CHAIN GMCSF-MOG TOLEROGENIC VACCINE EXPANDS MOG-SPECIFIC CD25+ FOXP3+ REGULATORY T CELLS THROUGH LOW-EFFICIENCY ANTIGEN RECOGNITION EVENTS TO INHIBIT EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS by Cody Deumont Moorman, Ph.D. Microbiology and Immunology, December 2019. Director of Dissertation: Mark D. Mannie.

This work continues the long-term Mannie laboratory work on tolerogenic vaccines for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EME), a rodent model system for Multiple Schlerosis (MS). Cody’s dissertation focused on the development and use of engineered cytokines to affect tolerance against the antigen in order to stifle or ameliorate the disease. He investigated the effects of the cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF) and its effect on specific tolerogenic T cells. The work provided insight into the mechanism of action of tolerogenic vaccines while potentially advancing therapies to fulfill an unmet clinical need in the treatment of MS.

YIELD STRENGTH OF THE EGADI 10 WARSHIP: USING NONLINEAR COMPUTER SIMULATIONS TO EXAMINE COLLISION DYNAMICS IN GRECO-ROMAN NAVAL CONFLICTS by Kristina J. Fricker, December 2019, MS in Maritime Studies. Director of Thesis: Dr. David J. Stewart.

This thesis modeled a section of the Egadi 10 hull, an ancient Greco-Roman warship, and simulated ramming events of battle. Modeling and simulation of ramming events was conducted using finite element analysis and nonlinear dynamical impact analysis, informed by the recent recovery of ship timbers preserved inside bronze ramming prows of Athlit and Egadi ship remains. Estimates of collision damage indicated achieving hull failure was significantly more difficult than expected and warrants reexamination of previous scholarship.

DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL-MOLECULE INHIBITORS OF THE INITIATING PROTEASES, C1r AND C1s, OF THE CLASSICAL COMPLEMENT PATHWAY by Denise Rohlik, December 2019, MS Biomedical Sciences. Director of Thesis: Brandon Garcia, PhD.

This thesis examines the activity of a few small molecule compounds (identified in a molecular library screen) that were predicted by cheminformatics to bind to the C1r and Cis complement components for downregulation of complement response, e.g., in autoimmune, inflammatory, and even neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, disease. Four compounds and structural analogs were identified via binding studies for future testing.

“LIFE HUNG ON A WORD”: SHIBBOLETHS AND GENOCIDE IN DANTICAT’S THE FARMING OF BONES, WIESEL’S NIGHT, AND COURTEMANCHE’S A SUNDAY AT THE POOL IN KIGALI by Olivia Harvey December 2019, MA English. Director of Thesis: Richard Taylor.

This thesis explores how shibboleths, or cultural passwords, function as markers to signify identity and group membership among ethnic groups, using examples from the Parsley Massacre in the Dominican Republic in 1937, the Holocaust in Europe from 1941 to 1945, and the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Shibboleths demarcate identity by analyzing performative characteristics that are difficult to imitate, such as linguistic patterns. These are overwhelmingly successful at detecting outsiders by members of an assailant group. Considering the role of shibboleths in genocides through a literary lens humanizes the countless number of victims from these conflicts and creates a self-reflexive appreciation for the underlying factors that enable conflict to culminate in genocidal violence.