Exchanging Affect: The Migrant Domestic Workers Market in Turkey
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Since the second half of 1990's, Turkey has received a migration flow of women from the postsocialist countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucuses and Central Asia, into the domestic work sector. The demand for the migrant domestics is mainly for their live-in services, which also distinguishes them from the indigenous domestics since the latter prefer working strictly as live-outs. The migrants' willingness to work as live-in's has consequently caused them to be employed in three subfields of domestic work; care giving for the elderly, care giving for children and housekeeping in suburban houses. This research explores the emergence and expansion of "the migrant domestic workers market" as an ethnic niche in Turkey in the postsocialist period when migration and employment relations have formed a mutually fostering alliance. It argues that the migrant domestics of postsocialist origin are not demanded for an inherent ability. Rather the demand for their labor is a consequence of a capacity that they acquire by turning into transnational migrants. In this process, their subjectivity that was earlier shaped by an upbringing in a formerly socialist system also gets molded by a state of "migrancy". The latter then causes them to serve their employers in a distinct way that is characterized by a specific type of labor, which in this research is called "availability".
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting From Fluid Flow
Author:
Huseyin Dogus Akaydin
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Advisor:
Yiannis Andreopoulos
The conversion of the kinetic energy of a fluid into electrical energy through flow-induced vibrations on piezoelectric structures is investigated. "Aeroelectromechanics" of flow-powered piezoelectric harvesters is introduced, the efficiency components are delineated, and the figures of merit are defined. Wind tunnel tests were performed on two kinds of harvesters: i) A cantilevered piezoelectric beam in the wake of a circular cylinder, ii) A cantilevered piezoelectric beam carrying a tip mass on its free end. The comparison of the two revealed the prime effect of aeroelastic efficiency in total efficiency. A semi-analytical model to account for strain transfer from a passive substrate to a piezoelectric patch through an elastic bonding layer was developed. It was shown that, under certain conditions, the electric output of the piezoelectric harvesters can be predicted based on strain measurements on test models built without using piezoelectric materials. The potential of turbulent boundary layers for energy harvesting was also investigated. Two flexible piezoelectric beams of different lengths were tested at various distances off the wall of wind tunnel at different flow speeds. It was found out that the power output is maximal when the beam is within a certain wall-distance region inside the boundary layer, and that the size of this region is larger for the shorter beam. The interaction of a flexible piezoelectric beam with vortex rings was another topic investigated. Time-resolved PIV images were taken synchronously with strain, base-force and piezoelectric voltage data as a vortex ring travels over a piezoelectric beam. The dynamic tip deflection of the beam estimated using the PIV data in a potential flow solution was found comparable to the measured tip deflection. In addition to the experimental work, a computational framework for modeling aeroelectromechanical interactions was developed by integrating an electrical circuit analysis code to a flow simulation program through external scripting. The framework was applied for the case of a flexible piezoelectric beam in the wake of a cylinder. A reasonable agreement was obtained between the computer simulations and the experimental results.
Of home and other figments: The passage of exile in the Tibetan diaspora
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Advisor:
Suzanne Ouellette
This dissertation used a study of lives approach to understand the stories told by four Tibetans who came to New York following the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990 when Tibetans first came to the United States in mass. Not unlike other diasporas in the world today, the transfer of the events, the stories, and in many cases, the wounds, of exile formatively shape the narrative hereafter of younger generations, though this phenomenon has been given little attention in the social sciences. This work asked: 1) What stories of exile are passed from one generation to another and what are the mechanisms of transmission within that passage? (2) How is home understood generationally? (3) And within the experience of exile, what are the possibilities for action in daily life?
CRISIS, FORMULATION AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INTIMACY IN 1950s AMERICA
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Crisis, Formulation, and Autobiographical Intimacy in 1950s America explores how critical circumstances of historical and personal significance can inspire and direct autobiographical production. I concentrate on Alfred Kazin's A Walker in the City (1951), Vladimir Nabokov's Speak, Memory (1967), and Robert Lowell's Life Studies (1959), three American autobiographies whose first or final versions were produced in the nineteen fifties, decade marked by a surge of autobiographical texts and genres in the United States and the emergence of autobiographical theory in France. Engaging with Robert Jay Lifton's theory of trauma, namely the concept of formulation, I investigate how the relationship between the self and the world is fostered in the wake of a crisis as reflected in autobiographical performance unfolding through drafting, meta-writing, revision, publication, and republication.
Acculturation of children of Bangladeshi immigrants in New York City: Intergenerational perspectives and alternative trajectories
Year of Dissertation:
2009
This study explores the acculturation experiences of thirty-three Bangladeshi second generation youths in New York City through in depth interviews. The researcher has observed and recorded interactions between youths and parents in the natural setting of their homes. The findings of this qualitative study, conducted in the tradition of grounded theory, are presented in four analytic categories: crossroads of acculturation dividing immigrant parents and children; gendered socialization of Bangladeshi children in traditional patriarchal families; influence of New York City on acculturation of these children; and their ethnic self-identity trajectories and repertoires. These frameworks reveal how intentionality and secondary socialization impinge on intergenerational cultural continuity to transform new New Yorkers; unlike their parents, the children renounce ethnocentricity, native country affiliation, and patriarchal value system.
A Critical and Cultural Poetics of the End: Self, Space, and Volatility in Los Angeles
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Program:
Comparative Literature
A Critical and Cultural Poetics of the End: Self, Space, and Volatility in Los Angeles delineates the correspondences between Los Angeles spaces--exterior, topographical, architectural, and imaginary--and aspects of the self--interiority, identity, experience, and desire--in fictional and non-fictional depictions of Los Angeles. Through close readings of key Los Angeles novels, essays, and films, this project emphasizes how the narrative "I" traverses urban space, focusing on the dissolution of boundaries between self and place. Los Angeles' sprawling, decentralized layout and rapidly-shifting landscape have a profound influence on narrative identity, generating a volatile and disquieting sense of self; this project also explores how the city's unique spatial orientation contributes to a literature and cinema of disillusionment exclusive to Los Angeles.
MAG does not Require NgR1, PirB or Sialic Acid Binding to Inhibit Neurite Outgrowth
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The Role of Gangliosides, NgR1, NgR2 and PirB Receptors in MAG Inhibition of Neurite Outgrowth
Nanoacoustic Effects in Type-II Superconductors and Decoherence of Two-state Systems
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Advisor:
Eugene Chudnovsky
In this thesis we focus on two areas of research:
Images of Chopin in the New World: Performances of Chopin's Music in New York City, 1839-1876
Year of Dissertation:
2012
This dissertation examines the reception history of the music of Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) in the city of New York from the first documented performance of his works, in 1839, until 1876, the year of the historic American tour of Hans von Bülow (1830-1894). The dynamics of those responses correspond with the growth of New York, which, during that time, experienced a dramatic transformation from a provincial city into a vibrant cultural metropolis. In addition, I aim to explore the evolution of musical aesthetics and taste within a larger scope that includes social, political, and cultural issues. That evolution is illustrated by the ways the music of Chopin was performed, disseminated, and criticized demonstrating the presence of points of intersection with other important artistic centers in Europe. My broader goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of the musical life of the city in the thirty-seven years covered in this study. A meticulous work of documentation of hundreds of performances provides a valuable tool for scholars who wish to keep exploring that fascinating period in New York history, and the circumstances that paved the way for the future conditions of the musical life in the city and in the nation.
"I'm not trying to go back": Young women's strengths navigating their return from incarceration
Year of Dissertation:
2013
This is a qualitative, grounded-theory study of thirteen young women between the ages of 18 and 26 who were returning back to their lives in New York City after prison or an extended jail incarceration. The women spent anywhere from 8 months to 8 years incarcerated and were home between three months and three years from the time of their release. The study includes findings based on analysis and interpretations of the interviews, implications for future research and practice that center around the women's use of time while incarcerated, their connectedness to family, friends and staff, both while in prison and upon release, and the impact of both of those on their ability to stay free. The study includes implications for social work and correctional research and practice, and is grounded in women's relational theory and developmental frameworks.