Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Changes in climate are being experienced by people globally, and increasingly pushing into school science. Educators struggle to make sense of the critical thinking and agency youth will need to face such changes. To this end climate change curriculum, teaching and learning in schools has garnered significant attention in educational research in the last decade. This is particularly important given that formal education is viewed as an important canvas for building the capacity of young people. However, curriculum materials are mostly understudied and taken for granted. In addition, there is also a paucity of scholarship from the global South with respect to climate change education. To address the need for climate change education as well as inclusion of international perspectives, this dissertation presents an analysis of climate change content in select textbooks and supplementary educational materials from Bangladesh, California & Ghana, and three widely different jurisdictions. Using a cultural politics framework, I explored the following questions related to climate change content in textbooks and supplementary materials: (1) How is climate change portrayed in select official/state approved textbooks (2) How is climate change portrayed in supplementary materials? (3) What are the similarities and differences the textbooks and supplementary materials? Using a classical content analysis approach, I show that the content in all three textbooks acknowledged the contributions of human activity to climate change, for example discussing the primary role of human activity to the warming of the planet. However, there were some distinct differences when it came to discussions around the scientific consensus on climate change. While Bangladesh fully noted the scientific consensus, California presented mixed messaging and Ghana did not reference the scientific consensus at all. The textbooks from the three jurisdictions included local and global climate change impacts and policy solutions. My analysis also showed that the two supplementary materials from the United States used different frames to challenge each other’s messaging. And while Heartland Institute cast doubt on the scientific consensus, the Paleontological Research Institution embraced it. Lastly, the United Nations, as an exemplar of content intended for an international audience, was constructed similar to the textbooks in attempting to balance local and global perspectives on climate policy solutions. Importantly, I argue that textbooks and supplementary materials need to provide robust content that attends to the context-specific complexity of climate change. I discuss cultural influences on climate change education. Finally, I conclude with recommendations for the inclusion of more localized ideas on climate change impact and policies / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 2002. / Title from title page screen, viewed November 29, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Thomas Shilgalis (chair), Kenneth Berk, Patricia Klass, Beverly Rich, Charles Vanden Eynden. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2002. / Title from title page screen, viewed January 3, 2006. Dissertation Committee: James C. Palmer (chair), Carolyn Bartlett, Edward R. Hines, George Padavil, William Tolone, David Tucker. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-170) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 11, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Janice Neuleib (chair), Julia Visor, Jerry Weber, Heather Graves. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-176) and abstract. Also available in print.

The aim of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis on the projected nature of China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative through Chinese engagement in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Serbia. The current geopolitical situation provides a unique opportunity for the use of the Heartland Theory, first presented by Halford John Mackinder in 1904, which outlines and justifies state expansion across Eurasia. The main objectives of this thesis are to discuss possible outcomes for Serbia following increased Chinese investment and to provide a recommendation for a European response. Being an adjacent nation of the Heartland, a potential future member of the European Union, and currently balanced between Europe's and China's pull, Serbia has became a unique and important state to consider when assessing China's intentions in Europe. China's continued economic and political rise in recent years has allowed them to become influential in nations previously untethered to China, and has ominously begun to follow the footsteps that Mackinder had predicted a century prior. Although the theory suggests a nation's intent to rule the world, which one could argue China is pursuing, the aim of this thesis is in fact to uncover and illustrate the effects that China's potential advance to world...

This Thesis is titled The Energy Geopolitics of Russia and its main purpose is to analyze the energy geopolitics of Russia and the country's shifting energeopolitical pivot to Asia, especially to China. The Thesis is divided into three respective sections -- a theoretical approach, Russian geopolitics of energy, and one descriptive and exploratory case study. It strives to answer three main research questions considering Russia's shifting energeopolitical pivot, Ukraine crisis, and the development of Russia's foreign policy in regard to her energy geopolitics.

Ticks are hematophagous ectoparasites capable of transmitting various pathogens, including bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, to vertebrates. In the United States, tick-borne pathogens are responsible for around 95% of arthropod-borne diseases. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness. However, emerging tick-borne viruses such as Bourbon virus (BRBV), Powassan virus (POWV), and Heartland virus (HRTV) can cause more severe health problems, including death and neurological abnormalities. The reports of molecular detection of viral RNA in field-collected ticks and serological evidence in a pilot study of wildlife species suggest the presence of these emerging viruses in Virginia. The presence poses a serious health threat, but the extent of their presence or circulation in Virginia is unknown. The objectives of the research are (1) to determine the evidence of circulation of POWV, HRTV, and BRBV in Virginia through serological assessment of domestic and wild animals in Virginia and (2) estimate transmission parameters and the basic reproduction number underlying tick-borne virus distribution and prevalence via a mathematical model. Here, we discuss the known literature relevant to tick-borne virus emergence; we assessed the presence of specific neutralizing antibodies against POWV, HRTV, and BRBV in wildlife and livestock sera collected from different health planning regions in Virginia. We used a susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) ordinary differential equation model to estimate transmission parameters that best describe the disease dynamics of emerging tick-borne viruses in Virginia. In our study, wildlife sera were seropositive against POWV (18%), BRBV (8%), and HRTV (5%). A wide range of different wildlife species were shown to be exposed to each virus examined. Livestock are also exposed to tick-borne viruses, with seroprevalences of 1%, 1.2%, and 8% detected in cattle for POWV, BRBV, and HRTV, respectively. We estimated the transmission rate and basic reproduction number to be 1.57 and 0.645, respectively. In conclusion, there is a widespread circulation of tick-borne viruses in western and northern Virginia within diverse species of animal populations. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites that can transmit various pathogens, including bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, to humans and other vertebrates. In the United States, tick-borne pathogens are responsible for about 95% of all arthropod-borne disease cases. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness. However, emerging tick-borne viruses such as Bourbon virus (BRBV), Powassan virus (POWV), and Heartland virus (HRTV), can cause more severe health problems, including potentially death or neurological abnormalities. The reports of molecular detection of viral RNA in field-collected ticks and serological evidence in a pilot study of wildlife species suggest the presence of these emerging viruses in Virginia. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the extent of their circulation. Firstly, this study aims to determine the evidence of circulation of POWV, HRTV, and BRBV in Virginia through serological assessment of domestic and wild animals. Secondly, this study aims to estimate transmission parameters and calculate the basic reproduction number of emerging tick-borne viruses. Evidence of prior infection against all three tick-borne viruses was detected in both wild and domestic animal species from the five Virginia health planning regions, with most samples in the study coming from southwestern and northwestern regions. In conclusion, there is a circulation of tick-borne viruses in Virginia, which is a potential threat to the public health.

This thesis attempts to address how and why North Shäwa deteriorated from a political heartland to a region of impoverished peasants by the beginning of the 20th century. One of the factors that determine the selection of the place for a seat of the government for a region or country and sustainability of its system is its resource potential. In this case, arable and grazing land with other related land resources were decisive. They were some of the major factors contributing to both the origin and development of the kingdom. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, the region was abandoned by the court and by a significant proportion of its population. This was mainly because of the impoverishment of the region. The growth of the number of consumers (town dwellers) and the supplies needed by the kingdom exceeded the carrying capacity of North Shäwa. The economic productivity of the region could not correspond to the development of its needs. Thus, this thesis accords due emphasis to the factors that contributed to the impoverishment of North Shäwa and the consequences that followed. Throughout the thesis, North Shäwan peasants are the main subject of discussion. Political, social, cultural and geographical factors that impacted on the peasants’ economy and that retarded its development are discussed in the study. It also attempts to unearth the measures taken by the court and peoples of North Shäwa to withstand or escape from the prevailing socio-economic problems. Finally a comparison is made with other regions of the country to describe the political and socio-economic status of North Shäwans that continue to live in the region. This discussion covers the period from the 1880s up to the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1935 / History / D.Litt. et Phil. (History)

This thesis attempts to address how and why North Shäwa deteriorated from a political heartland to a region of impoverished peasants by the beginning of the 20th century. One of the factors that determine the selection of the place for a seat of the government for a region or country and sustainability of its system is its resource potential. In this case, arable and grazing land with other related land resources were decisive. They were some of the major factors contributing to both the origin and development of the kingdom. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, the region was abandoned by the court and by a significant proportion of its population. This was mainly because of the impoverishment of the region. The growth of the number of consumers (town dwellers) and the supplies needed by the kingdom exceeded the carrying capacity of North Shäwa. The economic productivity of the region could not correspond to the development of its needs. Thus, this thesis accords due emphasis to the factors that contributed to the impoverishment of North Shäwa and the consequences that followed. Throughout the thesis, North Shäwan peasants are the main subject of discussion. Political, social, cultural and geographical factors that impacted on the peasants’ economy and that retarded its development are discussed in the study. It also attempts to unearth the measures taken by the court and peoples of North Shäwa to withstand or escape from the prevailing socio-economic problems. Finally a comparison is made with other regions of the country to describe the political and socio-economic status of North Shäwans that continue to live in the region. This discussion covers the period from the 1880s up to the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1935 / History / D.Litt. et Phil. (History)