1:20 PM – 2:35 PM | Merten Hall, Rooms 1202 and 1203
Policing, Resistance, Resilience
1:20pm – 2:35pm | Merten Hall, Room 1202
Discussant: Al B. Fuertes, Ph.D.
Writing on the Wall: The West Bank Border and Visual Culture of Resistance, Commodification, and Imaginaries of the Future
Luma Mousa (College of Humanities and Social Sciences)
This paper examines the Israeli West Bank Wall as both a physical divider and a symbolic canvas, exploring the graffiti on the Wall as a site of resistance and global solidarity. By analyzing the interplay of local and global representations, this paper investigates the dual role of graffiti as a tool for both solidarity and imagination. Drawing on Rancière’s The Politics of Aesthetics and scholarship on photography and visual culture, this paper explores how the Wall’s graffiti constructs an alternative narrative that challenges its intended role as a divider. In this paper, I ask how the universal themes expressed in the graffiti—solidarity with global struggles, critiques of oppression, and calls for justice—transform the Wall into a site of collective imagination. Secondly, this paper also considers the commodification of the Wall through graffiti tourism and workshops, which complicates its role as a site of resistance. Does the graffiti on the Wall resist the oppressive function, or does it risk normalizing its presence through commodification? I propose in the paper that while the Wall itself embodies a dystopian present for Palestinians, the graffiti challenges its existence by projecting visions of hope and alternative futures. Ultimately, this paper highlights how cultural productions on the Wall speak to both the current dystopian realities of the Israeli occupation and the utopian aspirations for a more just future, locating the West Bank Wall’s graffiti within broader debates on decolonization.
Navigating Organizational Resilience Using a Standard Model of Survival in Social Niches
Arthur Conroy (College of Science)
Understanding how organizations survive and adapt in complex social environments is crucial for organizational theory and practice. This research proposes a standard model for analyzing organizational resilience through the lens of social niche theory, integrating insights from multiple disciplines including anthropology, sociology, economics, and behavioral science. Our hypothesis posits that organizational survival depends on the dynamic interaction between internal capabilities and external social niches, mediated by adaptive behavioral strategies. Using a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative analysis of longitudinal data from 500 organizations across diverse sectors with qualitative case studies, we examined how organizations navigate social niches over time. The methodology incorporated social network analysis, survival analysis, and semi-structured interviews with organizational leaders to map niche dynamics and adaptation strategies. Results reveal three key findings: (1) organizations that actively monitor and adjust to social niche changes show 42% higher survival rates over 5 years compared to those with static approaches; (2) successful adaptation strategies cluster around four distinct patterns involving different combinations of innovation, collaboration, and resource allocation; and (3) the relationship between organizational capabilities and niche fit is non-linear, with critical thresholds determining survival probability. We conclude that organizational resilience emerges from the continuous recalibration of internal capabilities to match evolving social niches rather than from static organizational characteristics. This model provides a novel framework for predicting organizational survival and informing strategic adaptation in complex social environments. The findings have significant implications for organizational design, strategy, and leadership development.
Territorial Pacification: Police as Allies and Dual Responses to Police Repression
Junghyun Nam (College of Humanities and Social Sciences)
This paper examines how nonviolent protesters respond to subtle police repression, an understudied aspect in the literature on the repression–resistance nexus. Taking the South Korean Candlelight Protests as a case study, I argue that perceptions of police can mediate the effect of subtle protest control by leading protesters to legitimize a particular mode of interaction with involved actors. Analyzing individual protesters’ perceptions of, and interactions with, police, I show that cultural elements led nonviolent protesters to perceive police as active, silenced, and conditional allies. These perceptions shaped regulatory practices that constituted a social process—“territorial pacification”—whereby practices of protesters deemed transgressive are coerced by fellow protesters to deradicalize the protest environment and forge cooperative interactions with police. Territorial pacification mediated the consequences of subtle police repression by regulating power relations between participants, resulting in both voluntary and forced deradicalization that produced differential impacts upon nonviolent and transgressive protesters.
Questioning Authenticity: Authentic to What? Racial Stereotypes and Legacies of Minstrelsy in Modern Rap
Rachel Williams (College of Humanities and Social Sciences)
In the post-Civil War era US, the only way for Black entertainers to make serious money was to perform in racist minstrel shows. Scholars of rap music have connected the need for Black performers to act out certain stereotypes to the present genre of rap. My work performs a textual analysis of two music videos by rap artist Denzel Curry to explore how one current artist visually draws comparisons between the rap landscape today and the earlier minstrel era. This raises questions about authenticity, a highly-valuable part of any rapper’s persona, and asks to what they are expected to be authentic to in order to succeed in the entertainment industry today.
Health Crises: Responses and Challenges
1:20pm – 2:35pm | Merten Hall, Room 1203
Discussant: Debora Goldberg, Ph.D.
Evaluating the energy transition in power generation: A cleaner alternative or a hidden health burden?
Xiaorong (Sherry) Shan (College of Engineering and Computing), Lucas Henneman
The transition to cleaner fossil fuels in power generation led to widespread air quality improvements, yielding environmental and public health benefits. However, analyses of the EPA’s National Emissions Inventory for Virginia from 2011 to 2020 suggest that increases in primary PM₂.₅ emissions from natural gas electric generating units (EGUs) now exceed PM₂.₅ emissions from coal EGUs. This study aims to explore the temporal trends in fuel-specific EGU emissions and EGU-specific PM₂.₅ exposure from 1940 to 2020. Present-day emissions data are obtained from the Clean Air Markets Program Data (CAMPD) datasets. For periods without direct measurements, we estimate SO₂, NOx, PM and CO₂ emissions using emission factors (EFs) derived from existing U.S. power plants that fuel type and consider presence or absence of emissions controls. We use the HYSPLIT average dispersion (HyADS) model, to quantify PM₂.₅ concentrations attributable to power plant emissions. Power plant emissions of SO₂, NOₓ, and PM increased by 86.1%, 41%, and 56.5% from 1940 to 1970, respectively, and were subsequently reduced by 95% by 2020 due to the fuel transition from coal to oil and natural gas. In contrast, CO₂ emissions remained relatively stable, with only a 30% difference compared to 1970 levels. This comparison shows that shifting to alternative fuels has significantly reduced power plant emissions, though regional differences in control technologies can still lead to higher emissions in some areas.
Competition in Health Diplomacy: Identifying Key Themes in Chinese Vaccine Diplomacy Rhetoric
Rebecca Earnhardt (Schar School of Policy and Government)
The COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant health crisis in recent times, impacting all facets of public health and international relations. China, as the putative geographic origin of the virus and the epicenter of the pandemic, faced scrutiny regarding its handling of the pandemic, challenging core traits of its national image. To repair the national image, China sought to utilize vaccine diplomacy, a component of health diplomacy. While health diplomacy is generally described as cooperative in nature, competition became a key theme in vaccine diplomacy rhetoric as China faced numerous controversies. In an effort to understand the development of the competitive logic of vaccine diplomacy, a qualitative content analysis of transcripts of regular press conferences held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified key themes China evoked in discussing COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy. A dataset of sentences derived from the press conference transcripts discussing COVID-19 vaccines was created. Seven key characteristics of Chinese vaccine diplomacy rhetoric emerged from the analysis: Altruistic, credible, innovative, leader, partner, responsible, and trustworthy. As China faced increasing scrutiny, however, rhetoric shifted to competitive comparisons with the United States and unnamed Western countries. Identifying the conditions under which a cooperative logic is overtaken by competitive logic is critical to preparing for future global health crises.
The Persistence of Extended Family Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US
Alessio Cotreneo (College of Science)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) altered social interactions, yet the role of non-coresident family (NCF) remains underexplored. This study examines the persistence of NCF contact using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data from 2011 to 2022. We analyze changes in the probability and duration of NCF interactions compared to work-related and friendship ties. Using logistic and linear regression models, we assess whether NCF ties persisted more than other non-household contacts, particularly for caregiving activities. Findings reveal that while overall social interactions declined, NCF contact was more resilient, with caregiving interactions increasing by 58% during the pandemic. These results suggest that extended family ties provided essential support despite public health restrictions. Our study highlights the need to incorporate kinship interactions into epidemiological models and public health policies. Recognizing the persistence of NCF ties can enhance the effectiveness of NPIs by addressing caregiving and companionship needs during crises.