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External beam radiation therapy using accelerated protons has undergone significant development since the first patients were treated with accelerated protons in 1954. Widespread adoption of proton therapy is now taking place and is fully justified based on early clinical and technical research and development. Two of the main advantages of proton radiotherapy are improved healthy tissue sparing and increased dose conformation. The latter has been improved dramatically through the clinical realization of Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS). Other significant advancements in the past 30 years have also helped to establish proton radiotherapy as a major clinical modality in the cancer-fighting arsenal. Proton radiotherapy technologies are constantly evolving, and several major breakthroughs have been accomplished which could allow for a major revolution in proton therapy if clinically implemented. In this thesis, I will present research and innovative developments that I personally initiated or participated in that brought proton radiotherapy to its current state as well as my ongoing involvement in leading research and technological developments which will aid in the mass adoption of proton radiotherapy. These include beam dosimetry, patient positioning technologies, and creative methods that verify the Monte Carlo dose calculations which are now used in proton treatment planning. I will also discuss major technological advances concerning beam delivery that should be implemented clinically and new paradigms towards patient positioning. Many of these developments and technologies can benefit the cancer patient population worldwide and are now ready for mass clinical implementation. These developments will improve proton radiotherapy efficiencies and further reduce the cost of proton therapy facilities. This thesis therefore reflects my historical and ongoing efforts to meet market costs and time demands so that the clinical benefit of proton radiotherapy can be realized by a more significant fraction of cancer patients worldwide.

Research continues to reveal that school, as a patriarchal institution, is not often a safe space for girls to enact their gender identities (Liu, 2006; Sadker, Sadker, & Zittleman, 2009). The gender bias and inequality girls experience in classrooms contributes to harmful behaviors, such as self-silencing and adhering to stereotypical gender norms (Bender-Slack, 2009; Gilligan, 1993), which creates challenges for girls’ construction of positive gender identities. In the wake of new feminist movements, such as #MeToo and Time’s Up, research focused on the perpetuation (and disruption) of patriarchal norms and their effect on girls’ gender identity is all the more vital. Following a holistic case study design, the purpose of this study was to examine how middle school girls’ author (Holland et al., 1998) gender identity in an out-of-school writing context. The eight-week writing workshop was the bounded setting of the study, and three focal participants were selected for inclusion: Emma, Celia, and Bailey. Through workshop observations, individual participant interviews, and participant writings, findings suggest adolescent girls author their gender identity through sharing personal stories, interpreting literature by women, and writing about their identity as girls. Key implications in this study include the need for a safe and supportive community and engagement with diverse literature for the authoring of identities. For girls in particular, developing a positive gender identity in the face of sexism and discrimination within society and schools is vital for empowerment and a positive sense of self.

For my thesis, I intend to focus on elements of Greek idealism in Mary Shelley’s Valperga, Frankenstein, and The Last Man. I will define “classicism” and seek to understand the ideals of the ancients that are concerned with the assertion of a masculine identity and fear the interference of the female voice in the quest for that assertion. I will show how Mary Shelley’s revisionist history undermines the classical ideals of masculinity in the search for the lost feminine. I will use Shelley’s two plays, Proserpine and Midas to support my claim that Shelley is interested in revisionist history of ancient mythology and ideals. Looking at Shelley as both a historic, Gothic, and Romantic novelist, I will examine how Shelley uses popular generic traditions to fight against the dominant ideology, turning the conventions of those traditions on their heads in order to make weighty feminist claims that are reminiscent of the works of her mother Mary Wollstonecraft. I will also examine Shelley’s insecurities in her pursuits and how those insecurities are reflected in her writings.