This dissertation examines the administration of Islamic family law in the British Straits Settlements and the Netherlands Indies through the lens of Arab merchants in colonial courts from 1860 till 1942. During this period, Arab communities tended to seek justice…

Early Americans defined themselves, and the nation, through their relations with the world. This dissertation explores a crucial aspect of these relations, examining how global commerce, and Americans' ideas about global commerce, produced theories and practices of power. It approaches…

This dissertation explores the conception of Jewish practice developed in the writings of Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786). Although this eighteenth-century figure is often described as the "founder" of modern Jewish thought and as a leading philosopher of the late Enlightenment, considerable…

PICTURES OF PATRIARCHS: THE ILLUSTRATED LIFE AND ACTS OF HÔNEN









ABSTRACT










This dissertation is a study of the Illustrated Life and…

The use of clocks for timekeeping seems to be a straightforward and almost intuitive routine. Glancing at mechanical clocks designed in Edo period Japan, however, we witness how modern-day intuitions betray our attempts to understand devices created in a culture…

A
very
controversial
issue
in
education
economics
as
well
as
the
popular
discourse
is
the
effect
of
teachers’
unions
on
education
in
America.
Using
the
tools
of
economic
analysis,
this
study
attempts
to
find
the
association
between
duty-to-bargain
laws
and

We explore, in increasing complexity, various strategies for addressing the Multi-
Armed Bandit Problem in order to find the algorithm that maximizes the clickthrough
rate in the Exploration and Exploitation Challenge 3 competition. The data used
result from the actions…

This research explores the metabolic role of the gut microbiota in the global
obesity crisis and rising threat of global warming. Enteric microbiota in the rumen emit
methane as a by-product of metabolite degradation. Experiments – primarily on mice –

Seasonality is a characteristic and important feature of the birth rate, but hitherto largely undocumented for sub-Saharan Africa. The research we present in Chapter 2 helps close the gap by providing contemporary documentation of the seasonal patterns of births in…

This dissertation sets a detailed, technical history of ideas of Dutch-born lens maker and natural philosopher Nicolas Hartsoeker (1656-1725). Hartsoeker's case exemplifies the kinds of intellectual journeys a university-educated man with technical skills undertook to navigate the chaos and uncertainty…