Given the state of the planet at present —specifically, the linked global ecological and economic crises that conjure dark imaginings and nihilistic actualities of increasing resource depletion, poisonings, and wide-scale sufferings and extinctions—I ask What might we hope now? What points of intervention offer possibility for transformation? At best, the response can only be partial. The approach this thesis takes initiates from specific pre-discursive assumptions. The first understands current conditions as having been produced, and continuing to be so, through practices that enact and sustain neoliberal relations. Secondly, these practices are expressive of a subjectivity tied to a Cartesian worldview, which, therefore, needs to be interrupted at its foundational roots. Thirdly, the scaffolding that supports this subjectivity draws on Newtonian science and neo-Darwinian narratives deemed to be natural law and, therefore, ontological, immutable reality. Contrary to modernist thinking, I premise that these two strains, subjectivity and science, are neither autonomous nor ontological, but that they are materially and contingently integral. Finally, this thesis presumes that different and life-affirming trajectories are, in fact, desired. An integral framing of science and subjectivity provides a productive method of feminist science studies analysis and theorization. Observing the capitalist Western social imaginary through this lens reveals its philosophical and scientific infrastructures to be outdated and crumbling. Observing how emerging scientific narratives in quantum physics and systems-biology intersect with marginalized theories in process-philosophy and subjectivity reveals a life-affirming imaginary of difference, one that arrests nihilism and sets ethical trajectories in motion. Certain, though not all, percepts of feminist new materialism engage twentieth and twenty-first century sciences successfully to show that ethicality matters. Though many questions remain, this points auspiciously towards the possibility for a transformed politics of justice.

The following dissertation studies the question how cyber security has become a national security agenda and discusses implications of the observed processes to current international security status quo. I divided the research into three parts. The first part embodies theoretical and methodological approach. The second part studies three distinct discourses related to cyber security, the techno-geek discourse, the crime-espionage discourse and the nation-defense discourse using the method of Michel Foucault about archaeology of knowledge. The third part then draws on these three discourses and discusses implications through lens of several theoretical perspectives. Namely through concepts taken from science and technology studies, from actor network theory and network assemblages. The critical point of the research is a distinct reading of these discourses. While techno-geeks are understood as a source of semiosis, hackers' capability and crypto-anarchy ideology influenced by cyberpunk subculture, the cyber-crime and espionage discourse is read as a source of evidence of the hackers' capability. The inspiration in popular subculture is combined with current efforts in development of liberating technologies against oppression by authorities, oppression recognized by the eyes of the crypto-anarchist...

Repeat sprint ability has been investigated thoroughly, however optimal training methodology to improve RSA remains elusive. Both kinetic and physiological viewpoints have been used to scrutinize aspects of RSA including, initial sprint performance (anaerobic power), maximal cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max), lactate threshold, anaerobic capacity (mean power), muscle activation (EMG), and local muscle oxygenation kinetics. To our knowledge no study has utilized maximal strength levels as a separate factor among a homogenous group of cardiorespiratory fitness individuals (as determined by peak VO2 during RSA). The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between maximal strength, muscular characteristics, and cycling RSA- respective to muscle oxygenation responses. Fifteen participants completed fifteen 10-second maximal effort sprints on a cycle ergometer interspersed with 30-seconds passive recovery. Respiratory, muscle oxygenation, and kinetic responses were monitored continuously and evaluated relationships with maximal strength and muscular architecture as determined by isometric mid-thigh pull and ultrasonography respectively. A series of 2 x 15 mixed design, group x time, ANOVA’s were used to evaluate the effects of group and or sprint on muscle oxygenation kinetics. Strong individuals were found to have significantly greater levels of muscle oxygenation usage, recovery and the respective rates; p = 0.01, p = 0.02, p

Much investigation has explored the potential effects of video games in adolescence. However, limited research has been conducted on the effects of social video game play and individual and relational well-being in adults. The Social Organization Theory of Action and Change (SOAC) may be a helpful way to examine social behaviors (like gaming) and how they relate to well-being. This exploratory study will utilize the SOAC to examine social gaming behaviors in adults, and examine the relationships between these behaviors and adult individual and relational outcomes (e.g., loneliness, relationship satisfaction). Descriptive statistics and correlations are provided. Regression analyses will be performed. Results will be used to discuss the viability of applying the SOAC to online, social gaming contexts. Implications for social video game play in adults will be provided.

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Voice assistants are a remarkable example of the potential for AI to become further entwined with social life. However, they are produced by some of the world’s largest tech corporations and are rooted in capitalistic processes that depend on user data. This thesis presents a qualitative exploratory study of voice assistants. Through a combination of interviews and theoretical analysis, it focuses on participants’ perceptions and experiences with these AI agents and how they are embedded in the bigger picture of surveillance capitalism. The findings reveal the physical characteristics and personality traits that participants in this study ascribe to voice assistants, highlighting the implications of treating voice assistants as personified agents and the factors contributing to these perceptions. Further, this thesis examines how surveillance capitalism is present in participant interactions with these technologies and identifies how its reach into people’s lives is provoked by their design and background contexts. Lastly, it provides an overview of corporate power in the tech industry and how the structural, cultural, and political circumstances enable and legitimize big tech’s authority in digital environments and how this situates the individual and their capacity to contend with technological issues. / Graduate / 2023-07-12

This dissertation aims to understand the mechanisms behind the adoption of smart cities technologies (SCT) and how they can promote social equity in local communities in the United States. There is a distinct lack of empirical research addressing the methods designed for the promotion of social equity despite their numerous benefits. The present study will address this omission in the scholarship by providing evidence-based insights on how public administrators can leverage SCT to promote distributional social equity through the Digital Era Governance (DEG) and Adoption Theory frameworks. This study also demonstrates the efficacy of applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand better the mechanism leading to the acceptance and adoption of SCT in the United States. Lastly, it provides insightful evidence demonstrating the value of these approaches and their influence on policymakers’ decisions using SCT to address one of society’s most challenging issues, fostering social equity. It utilizes data from the ICMA’s 2016 Smart Cities Survey, the 2015 Sustainability Practices Survey, and the U.S. Census Bureau. The study employs logistic and negative binomial regressions to examine the factors influencing commitment to using SCT, engagement with SCT, and distributional social equity. The findings indicate that factors such as ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘ease of use’ influence commitment to SCT usage, which impacts SCT engagement, leading to social equity outcomes

The evolution of social media platforms and other public forums in the digital realm has created an explosion of user-generated content and data as a component of the already content-saturated digital landscape. The distributed, horizontal nature of the internet as a platform makes it difficult to ascertain value and differentiate between texts of varying validity, bias, and purpose. In addition, the internet is not an inanimate interface. As Pariser (2011) argues, content aggregators, such as Google, actively filter, personalize, and therefore limit each individual's access to information, in both range and type. This has created a crisis of information valuation and control. Importantly, conventional curriculum does not furnish students with the information literacy tools necessary for them to navigate the digital landscape effectively. Information miners and developers, including news organizations, are falling victim to this fallacy as well. Lankshear and Knobel (2011) posit that empowering navigation and control in the digital landscape requires a new mindset. This research offers a context-driven approach that acknowledges this new mindset, promoting "rhetorical consciousness" (Murphy et al., 2003) within the network and providing a framework to recognize, challenge, and co-create gatekeeping roles and mechanism as they increasingly shift to the individual.

<p>Modern virtually mobile technologies, largely facilitated by the Internet, have changed communication modes, methods, and even daily-lived experiences within the past 20 years. The most prevalent medium of virtual mobility, virtual reality (VR) manages information through the creation of analogies of the physical world. Recently, a new mode of computing called augmented reality (AR) has become increasingly ubiquitous through the proliferation of modern mobile handsets. AR utilizes augmentation of the physical realm rather than simulation as a guiding principle, binding together the physical and virtual realms. Through the use of context-aware features such as landmark identification, geodetic data, etc., AR is able to superimpose virtual information onto real-time displays of physical landscapes. It is in this way that AR is the first mode of computing that truly transcends the boundaries of the virtual and physical realms, demonstrating the concept of <em>dual presence</em>. The effects of this new medium of computing on navigation, wayfinding, and especially the developments involved in the creation of sense of place are largely unstudied. A phenomenological exploratory research design is carried out to seek to identify the effects AR facilitation has on respondents’ cognitive developments, including developments in wayfinding and the creation of social representations of place.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Die Schriftenreihe TUC Digital Studies beschäftigt sich einerseits mit grundlegenden Forschungsfragen, etwa nach der wechselseitigen Beeinflussung von Internet und Gesellschaft oder der Grenzziehung zwischen Mensch und Maschine. Andererseits widmet sie sich aktuellen Erscheinungsformen, Ursachen und Folgen konkreter Phänomene wie etwa Digitale Arbeit, Sozialrobotik, Smart Home-Technologien, oder der Automatisierung von Kommunikation durch generative KI. Es werden sowohl empirische als auch theoretische Beiträge publiziert. / On the one hand, the TUC Digital Studies series deals with fundamental research questions, such as the mutual influence of the Internet and society or the demarcation between man and machine. On the other hand, it is dedicated to current manifestations, causes and consequences of concrete phenomena such as digital work, social robotics, smart home technologies, or the automation of communication through generative AI. Both empirical and theoretical contributions are published.