Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Black Studies
- Language: English
- Creators: Richter, Jennifer
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
Mexico City has an ongoing air pollution issue that negatively affects its citizens and surroundings with current structural disconnections preventing the city from improving its overall air quality. Thematic methodological analysis reveals current obstacles and barriers, as well as variables contributing to this persistent problem. A historical background reveals current programs and policies implemented to improve Mexico’s City air quality. Mexico City’s current systems, infrastructure, and policies are inadequate and ineffective. There is a lack of appropriate regulation on other modes of transportation, and the current government system fails to identify how the class disparity in the city and lack of adequate education are contributing to this ongoing problem. Education and adequate public awareness can potentially aid the fight against air pollution in the Metropolitan City.
ContributorsGarcia, Lucero (Author) / Duarte, Marisa E. (Thesis advisor) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Some say that science fiction becomes science. If science fiction eventually becomes science and technology, then US-American science and technology surrounding robots are rooted in white supremacy. Scholarship has previously highlighted the way that films and stories about robots are exclusionary towards Black people and persons of color. These texts, while aptly making the connection between race, Blackness, and technology, do not sufficiently address the embedded design of anti-Blackness in cultural artifacts in the early twentieth century and the anti-Black logics that, to this day, continue to inform how stories about robots are told. Further, these analyses do not consider the connection between cultural artifacts and the material development of emerging technologies; how these embedded racist narratives drive and shape how the technologies are then constructed. In this dissertation, I aim to link how anti-Black scientific popular culture has informed academic scholarship and engineering related to robots in the United States. Stories are an inherently spatial project. Stories about robots are a spatial project intended to create “Cartographies of Subordination.” I contend from 1922 to 1942, US-American robots were mapped into and onto the world; in just twenty short years, I argue a Cartography of Subordination was established. I apply a spatial lens to critique the impact of embedding stories about robots with anti-Blackness. These stories would develop into narratives with material consequences and maintain lasting ties and allegiance to a world invested in white supremacy. I outline how popular culture and stories are transfigured into narratives that have a direct impact on how futures are built. I expose the loop between popular culture and scholarship to unmask how research and development in robotics are based on white-informed futures. My dissertation makes an original geographical contribution to the fields of Human and Cultural Geography by asserting that narrative and popular culture about robots serves to remake Cartographies of Subordination in both science fiction and science and technology broadly. If science fiction has the potential to become real scientific outcomes, I connect culture, geography, and legacies of power in an otherwise overlooked space.
ContributorsMayberry, Nicole K. (Author) / Maynard, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Shabazz, Rashad (Thesis advisor) / Ore, Ersula (Committee member) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
ABSTRACTThis dissertation addresses two pivotal challenges within the US technology industry: racial equity and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). It investigates whether the integration of AI in human resources (HR) can foster inclusivity and diversity for Black women in the tech workforce. Despite numerous diversity initiatives, Black women account for less than 2% of the US tech workforce, symbolizing a persistent challenge. Furthermore, AI often perpetuates structural biases, magnifying workforce inequities. This dissertation employs intersectionality, responsible innovation, and algorithmic bias theories to amplify the voices of Black women. It poses three critical questions: 1) How have Black women's HR experiences influenced diversity issues in the tech industry? 2) How is AI in HR developed considering the experiences of Black women? 3) What measures can enhance the role of AI in HR to promote diversity without deepening inequalities? Key findings reveal that current HR practices do not adequately serve Black women, driven by competing corporate priorities. Solutions should concentrate on recruiting, developing, promoting, and retaining Black women. Black women acknowledge the potential of AI to either reinforce or mitigate biases, yet they express apprehension about the development and implementation of AI in HR, which often lacks Black women's input. For AI to facilitate positive diversity results, companies must actively involve Black women in its development. This entails understanding the problems Black women face, using insights to design AI that addresses these issues and supports Black women's success, and engaging Black women in the development and assessment of AI implementations in HR, thereby enhancing accountability for diversity outcomes.
ContributorsWhye, Barbara Hickman (Author) / Miller, Clark (Thesis advisor) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023