The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in vertebrates is regulated by the interaction of three key components: Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) ligand, its receptors Patched1 (Ptch1) and Patched2 (Ptch2), and the pathway activator Smoothened (Smo). Shh binding to Ptch1, the key Shh receptor, results in the release of Ptch1-mediated inhibition of Smo, leading to Smo activation and subsequent cell autonomous activation of the Shh response, with a similar but less important role for the Ptch1 paralog Ptch 2. Using genome editing I disrupted the core hedgehog pathway genes Ptch1, Ptch2, Smo, Shh in most combinations in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). I differentiated these unique cell lines into neural tissue in which I interrogated mechanisms of Smo regulation by Ptch1 and Ptch2. I present an important role for Ptch2 as a cell-autonomous Smo regulator in the absence of Ptch1. I also demonstrate a role for Ptch1 and Ptch2 as non-cell autonomous Smo regulators, which I attribute to their efflux of a Smo inhibitory molecule into the extracellular space.

For Western audiences the appeal of Haitian art often lies in how it represents exoticism, tropicality, and "primitivism." Both in Haiti and throughout the world, works of Haitian art are bought and sold as souvenirs, decorative art objects, and fine art. This thesis will demonstrate how writers, artists, art dealers, curators, and collectors have shaped and advanced narratives that define Haitian visual culture in terms of Haiti's otherness. It sheds light on the entangled relationships between those in the Haitian arts community and foreign travelers. Interactions between these two groups shaped dominant narratives concerning art and culture in Haiti. This thesis will examine two key periods: the U.S. Marine occupation of Haiti (1915-1934) and the "Haitian Renaissance" that began in the 1940s. I will frame Haiti in these periods as a "contact zone" in which cross-cultural negotiations and interactions occurred between Haitians and those visiting the country for myriad purposes.

By examining the uses to which the pan-African water goddess Mami Wata is put in Eve Sandler's art installation entitled "Mami Wata Crossing" (2008), Kimberly Mullen's dance Yemanja, Mother of the Deep (2012), and Chris Abani's novel GraceLand (2004), I present these mediums as important but overlooked means of history-making and expressions of diaspora that are often excluded from written histories. Through attention to three specific works, this thesis attends to the roles that the iconography of Mami Wata and her Caribbean sister Yemanja play in framing "artistic genealogies." I employ oral interviews with textual and performance analysis to explore Mami Wata as a sign for intercultural exchange. This thesis begins with an examination of how worship practices honoring Mami Wata intervene in current scholarship on the black Atlantic. In chapter two I consider Mami Wata as a complex, shifting deity through which traumatic histories can be reexamined. In my third chapter I focus on the ways that artists continue to negotiate racial and cultural identity by integrating images of African and Afro-Caribbean water deities into embodied performances. In my last chapter I use a fictional text to reveal ways that artists combine and transform local and foreign images as a means of exploring gender, genealogy, and globalization in an African context. My work convenes a dialogue across artistic mediums and between the disciplines of Dance Studies, Black Atlantic Literature, and Cultural Studies by demonstrating ways contemporary artists are imagining and inscribing themselves into specific canons through embodied and aesthetic practices.

The dissertation that follows is an inter-disciplinary study of the ways in which a range of individuals with varying stakes and motivations have constructed a category called “Haitian Art” during a period beginning prior to World War II and extending to the present day. Haitian Art, like any cultural product ascribed to a group of people, is a taxonomic construction that subsumes a diverse and complex set of artistic and cultural practices under a limited and often questionable rubric. Over decades, international connections between Haiti and the US have consistently influenced and directed visual arts production in Haiti. Historically, tourism has played an outsized role in facilitating these cross-cultural contacts and exchanges between Haitian artists and expatriate visitors to Haiti. More recently, “traditional” forms of tourism have given way to visitors who travel to Haiti, not for purposes of leisure, but in response to the myriad crises that have afflicted the country. For this thesis, I argue that movements of people, ideas, and art objects have contributed to narratives of “Haiti” that have circulated throughout the United States vis-�-vis the production, acquisition, and exhibition of works made by Haitian artists. While the geographic focus of this dissertation is primarily on Haiti and the United States, I argue that entangled international networks of circulation and exchange rooted in deeper historical models reveal broad, globalized iniquities and imbalances in which individuals with varying degrees of agency and input interact cross-culturally within the realm of visual arts.

Sea level rise (SLR) is accelerating due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. South San Diego Bay is susceptible to SLR impacts, including infrastructure flooding, loss of bayfront access, and loss of wetland habitat. Faced with the challenge of future SLR risks, communities in south San Diego Bay are developing plans to adapt to SLR and are guided by state, regional, and local SLR and land use policies. These policies prioritize the protection of coastal access, natural habitat, vulnerable communities and infrastructure. However, sometimes addressing all of these priorities within one coastal adaptation project is complex and challenging, or lack of funds makes it difficult to priorize all at once.

The objective of this project is to identify the opportunities and challenges of implementing state and local SLR policies using two case studies in south San Diego Bay to support cohesive, integrated, and equitable SLR adaptation planning. This case study analysis is intended to support stakeholders with regional collaboration through enhancing the understanding of the unique project needs for adapting to SLR, identifying opportunities for stakeholders to work together towards common visions, and promoting the understanding of the area’s equity and environmental justice challenges.