Vassar College Digital Library

Vassar Scholarship

Vassar Scholarship, the institutional repository formerly known as Digital Window, reflects the research and scholarly output of the Vassar College community.  It provides access to a variety of collections, including senior theses and projects across a wide range of disciplines.

Energy Consumption and Habit Formation: Evidence from High Frequency Thermostat Data

Publication Date
2017-January-01
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Department or Program
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Using minute-by-minute data from over 60,000 smart thermostats in households distributed across the United States, we analyze the persistence of energy consumption behaviors in response to external weather shocks. The analysis examines habitual behavior and provides insight into what affects...

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From Watts to Ferguson: The Militarized Policing of Black Communities in the United States

Publication Date
2020-January-01
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Abstract

Beginning the 1960s, police forces in the United States underwent a transformation. In response to the civil unrest taking place in cities across the country, public support for increased federal funding for law enforcement soared. With this increased funding, police...

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Trust and the Law

Publication Date
2017-January-01
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Department or Program
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This chapter provides a selective review of the literature on trust and the law. We highlight the psychological and game theoretic mechanisms underpinning the role of trust in relationships with incomplete contracts. We also discuss evidence on whether behavioral trust...

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Uncovering the Collective Labor Behind the Singer/Songwriter: A Collaboratively Produced Album

Publication Date
2014-January-01
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Department or Program
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This project is an album consisting of nine original songs that I arranged, performed, and recorded at Vassar College. The accompanying thesis destabilizes the media construct of the independent singer/songwriter by interrogating the medium-specific space between the composition and the...

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Webcam Culture: & the Commodification of Privacy

Publication Date
2015-January-01
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Department or Program
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Abstract

My thesis takes a look at the history of webcam culture and investigates the changing attitudes towards surveillance and privacy since the creation of webcam technology and the rise of participatory culture. I postulate that since webcam culture became increasingly...

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