Late Victorian fiction presents scenes of near-death experience that places characters within the literature in a state of precarity. The precarious existence manifests itself as a perpetual near-death experience that makes visible the necropolitical power dynamic and the “death-in-life” condition. Key moments in H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau and Bram Stoker’s Dracula provide evidence for the precarity under which people live in late Victorian literature. Both novels uniquely feature a process of becoming-object, Moreau’s humanization process and Dracula’s vampirization process, that places the victims in a state of precarity and death-in-life. Previous scholars have examined these processes as a means of establishing precarity and as a near-death experience, yet none have contextualized these scenes of precarity within Achille Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics. In an extended reading of both novels, this essay shows how Victorians function as administrators of necropolitics, victimizing non-Victorians to processes of becoming-object, and pushing these victim-objects to the brink of death, where they continue to live in a state of death-in-life. This essay focuses on these two novels because of their genre differences and their geographical differences, which further demonstrates the Victorian attentiveness towards scenes of precarity involving the marginalized and the “Oriental.” Despite scenes of precarity involving select Victorians, both novels inevitably reinforce the necropolitical Victorian hegemony. In the face of over a century of British colonialism, the threat of the colonized breaking the necropolitical hegemony of the Victorian empire is hyper-present in both late Victorian science fiction and gothic fiction, suggesting this anxiety of having precarity established over their own lives by the former oppressed was shared by the majority of the Victorian Empire.

In recent years, immigration, especially concerning those individuals immigrating from Central America and Mexico, has become increasingly controversial. Within the last five presidents, policies concerning immigration have shifted. Under President Bill Clinton in 1997, the Flores Settlement, an agreement between immigration activist organizations and the government that created standards for detaining accompanied and unaccompanied minors was made. Following 9/11, in 2005, President George W. Bush increased the amount of money spent on immigration enforcement in an effort to deport more immigrants. President Barack Obama increased the number of deportations from President Bush during his first term. However, in 2014, an already imperfect immigration system was disrupted by an influx of child immigrants. As a result, detention centers were at capacity and unable to accommodate the increasing numbers of immigrants. Child migrants were placed in caged-areas, immigration lawyers and courts quickly became overwhelmed with cases, and children were alone and could barely communicate. This thesis explores the various relationships between accompanied and unaccompanied minors from Central America, the American legal system, and the media and broadcast news outlets’ rhetoric concerning child migrants. Focusing on the ways in which immigrant minors are objectified by the legal system and the framing of immigrants in the media, it is evident that their complex interaction allows for the oppression of the child migrants. Since the American legal system and the media influence and respond to each other, the responsibility of the child migrants’ dehumanization is on both the legal system and the rhetoric of the media and broadcast news outlets.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between diversity within U. S. boards of directors and overall firm performance. In the summer of 2020, various political and social movements erupted, fighting against police brutality and racial violence. These events were followed by an influx of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks across corporate America. It was becoming increasingly clear that diversity within company leadership was lacking. A company’s board of directors, who is responsible for creating value for shareholders, was not an accurate representation of the people it served. First, I will begin by discussing the current state of diversity in corporate boards by discussing reasons firms diversify, benefits and risks of a diverse board, and major barriers to diversification efforts. A main goal of directors is to maximize shareholder return, which prompts the question: is there a financial benefit to having directors of different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives? In the second part of my thesis, I explore the correlation of board compositions and the company’s financial performance through a study of 45 Fortune 500 companies. Previous studies have mixed results; some studies concluded that there is a positive correlation, some found a negative correlation, and others were inconclusive. While the results of my study did not demonstrate that a relationship between firm performance and diversity exists, I want to emphasize that it does not mean that diverse boards do not contribute at all to the success of the board. There are various factors that contributed to my results, but regardless of my findings, I believe that further research of this topic is necessary and will be beneficial for those in corporate governance.

The goal of the ACC / CSE thesis project is to create a product that can help simplify and minimize complicated decisions when carrying out financial reporting transactions. Instead of relying on the expertise of external consultants, the product strives to provide users with an educational and practical experience that enables accountants to carry out financial reporting in accordance with IFRS and GAAP standards that are used around the world.

Mitigation banks are a tool created to mitigate and compensate for negative impacts on the environment resulting from man made activities, especially damage caused to endangered wildlife, plants, and wetland ecosystems. The main objective of creating the system of mitigation banks is to achieve environmental equilibrium, meaning “No Net Loss” to all environmental functions. This means damage to one area is compensated for in another area of like-kind through restoration. There is great controversy surrounding this claim. There is a system of debits and credits to ensure ecological loss from development is preceded by restoration of a similar ecology and function. Wetland mitigation banks are the focus for the purpose of research. Background and benefits will be given first, followed by threats, issues, solutions and a personal experience with mitigation banks.