Digital Commons Network^™

Making Sense Of The Arab State, Steven Heydemann, Marc Lynch

Middle East Studies: Faculty Books

Book abstract:

No region in the world has been more hostile to democracy, more dominated by military and security institutions, or weaker on economic development and inclusive governance than the Middle East. Why have Arab states been so oppressively strong in some areas but so devastatingly weak in others? How do those patterns affect politics, economics, and society across the region? The state stands at the center of the analysis of politics in the Middle East, but has rarely been the primary focus of systematic theoretical analysis. Making Sense of the Arab State brings together top scholars from diverse theoretical …

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship 2024, Smith College Libraries

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship: Bibliographies

Scroll down to view the bibliography of selected scholarly and creative work produced by Smith College faculty and submitted by faculty for the 2024 celebration which took place in the Neilson Library Skyline Reading Room, Smith College on April 25, 2024.

Meridians 23:1 Indigenous Feminisms Across The World, Part 1, Basuli Deb, Ginetta Candelario

Sociology: Faculty Books

No abstract provided.

Fragments Of A Self: Embodiments, (Re)Enactments, And Re-Encounters With Memory, Ellen Kaplan

Theatre: Faculty Books

Chapter abstract:

Our stories tell us who we are. The sense of self acquires temporary coherence through the stories we tell ourselves and others. This chapter considers the self-shaping work of story, looking at acting and writing processes as they contribute to the construction of self. Self-narrative, in its many iterations - memoir, autobiography, life writing - allows us to script an identity which shifts, transforms, dissolves, and reconstitutes itself over time and across circumstances. Actors and writers cannibalize memory to nourish their creative work. Traumatic memory, though unreliable and often inaccessible, may return unbidden to offer a pathway to …

Advanced General Chemistry, Alexandra E. Strom

Open Educational Resources: Textbooks

Textbook adapted for CHM 118 at Smith College:

This course is for students with a very strong background in chemistry. The elementary theories of stoichiometry, atomic structure, bonding, structure, energetics and reactions are quickly reviewed. The major portions of the course involve a detailed analysis of atomic theory and bonding from an orbital concept, an examination of the concepts behind thermodynamic arguments in chemical systems, and an investigation of chemical reactions and kinetics. The laboratory deals with synthesis, physical properties and kinetics.

Meridians: 22:2 Mosaic, Ginetta Candelario

Sociology: Faculty Books

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a mosaic is “a variegated whole formed from many disparate parts,”¹ which perfectly captures this issue’s geographically, historically, intellectually, and artistically wide-ranging, and diverse yet interrelated contents. Each piece—whether poetry, testimonio, essay, creative nonfiction, or interview—touches on key themes iterated in unique ways depending on the context. Featuring work focused on Afghanistan, Canada, Haiti, India, Mexico, Tunisia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Puerto Rico, and the United States mainland, this Mosaic issue reveals a broader picture of the complex, contradictory, and challenging nature of enacting transnational or intersectional feminist solidarities within and across …

Issue 2: Sátya, Michela Rawson, Joe Sweeney, Harry Honig, Hebe Guo, Abby Murphy, Clara Kim, Ilan Liebmann, Laila Al Ghandi

Sátya

The Smith College Philosophy Journal, formerly Eudaimonia, was founded in the Fall of 2019 by You Jeen Ha. Due to the coronavirus, publication was suspended, and the original members of the Journal have since graduated. Finally, in Fall 2023, we are reviving the Journal under a new name, Sátya–a Sanskrit word meaning truth. We feel Sátya is representative of our cross-cultural approach to philosophy at Smith.

This edition of Sàtya is made up of the essays presented by students at Smith’s inaugural Five College Philosophy Conference in the Spring of 2023. The selection pool was full of quality submissions …

Two Cardinal Portraits By Scipione Pulzone In The Harvard Art Museums And Their Related Versions, Danielle Carrabino

Museum of Art: Books

Book abstract:

The visual legacy of early modern cardinals constitutes a vast and extremely rich body of artworks, many of superb quality, in a variety of media, often by well-known artists and skilled craftsmen. Yet cardinal portraits have primarily been analyzed within biographical studies of the represented individual, in relation to the artists who created them, or within the broader genre of portraiture. Portrait Cultures of the Early Modern Cardinal addresses questions surrounding the production, collection, and status of the cardinal portrait, covering diverse geographies and varied media. Examining the development of cardinals' imagery in terms of their multi-layered identities, …

Social Contagion Of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Stephaie Jarvi Steele

Psychology: Faculty Books

This chapter explores the social contagion of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) via interpersonal, media and online exposure among both youths and adults by referencing social learning theory and the Social Exposure to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Scale. According to social learning theory, people imitate and learn certain behaviors by identifying with people who act as models. The chapter elaborates on the concepts of social learning, modeling, and imitation, and general recommendations for the assessment and treatment of clinical practice addressing social contagion factors. It then suggests utilizing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and single-case experimental design (SCED) for future studies on social contagion of …

Fat Stories, Susan Stinson

English Language and Literature: Faculty Books

The Contemporary Reader of Gender and Fat Studies is a key reference work in contemporary scholarship situated at the intersection between Gender and Fat Studies, charting the connections and tensions between these two fields.

Comprising over 20 chapters from a range of diverse and international contributors, the Reader is structured around the following key themes: theorizing gender and fat; narrating gender and fat; historicizing gender and fat; institutions and public policy; health and medicine; popular culture and media; and resistance. It is an intersectional collection, highlighting the ways that "gender" and "fat" always exist in connection with multiple other structures, …

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship 2023, Smith College Libraries

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship: Bibliographies

Scroll down to view the bibliography of selected scholarly and creative work produced by Smith College faculty and submitted by faculty for the 2023 celebration which took place in the Neilson Library Skyline Reading Room, Smith College on April 26, 2023.

Meridians: 22:1 Bipoc Europe, Ginetta Candelario

Sociology: Faculty Books

This special issue, guest edited by leading scholars of BIPOC Europe Nana Osei-Kofi and Shirley Ann Tate, although focused on contemporary populations, prompts us to remember that BIPOC Europe has a long, albeit relatively underrecognized history (Ramey 2016). By definition, to speak of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Europe implies that these populations are distinctive from the presumptively white European. Yet European whiteness is neither natural nor long-standing. Rather, it is an invention resulting from modernity’s settler colonial, colonial, and imperialist projects in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Australia, as are the designations Black …

Blagoveshchensk Massacre And Beyond: The Landscape Of Violence In The Amur Province In The Spring And Summer Of 1900, Sergey Glebov

History: Faculty Books

In the early 1930s, both coastal and offshore Japanese fisheries in Kamchatka caused strong tensions between Japan and Soviet authorities. Japanese salmon fishery companies then turned their attention to the East Bering Sea near Alaska. The Japanese government operated its experimental salmon fishery in the international waters of Bristol Bay in Alaska in 1936–1937. The operation immediately triggered massive protests from the US side. Even though the Japanese government was seriously concerned about the situation, Japan could not step back easily, as a compromise with the USA would weaken Japan’s position in its negotiations on a new fishery treaty with …

Summer Research Fellowship Project Descriptions 2023, Clark Science Center's Summer Research Fellows Program

SURF Abstracts (Women in Science)

A summary of research done by Smith College’s 2023 Summer Research Fellowship (SURF) Program participants. Ever since its 1967 start, SURF has been a cornerstone of Smith’s science education. Supervised by faculty mentor-advisors drawn from the Clark Science Center and connected to its eighteen science, mathematics, and engineering departments and programs and associated centers and units. At summer’s end, SURF participants were asked to summarize their research experiences for this publication.

The ‘Others’ In John Lanchester’S The Wall, Gregory White

Government: Faculty Books

No abstract provided.

Public Feminisms: From Academy To Community, Carrie N. Baker, Aviva Dove-Viebahn

Open Educational Resources: Textbooks

The field of feminist studies grew from the U.S. women’s movements of the 1960s and 1970s and has continued to be deeply connected to ongoing movements for social justice. As educational institutions are increasingly seeing public scholarship and community engagement as relevant and fruitful complements to traditional academic work, feminist scholars have much to offer in demonstrating different ways to inform and interact with various communities. In this collection, a diverse range of feminist scholar-activists write about the dynamic and varied methods they use to reach beyond traditional classrooms and scholarly journals to share their work with the public. Here …

Race, Ethnicity And Higher Education In The African Diaspora: Guest Editors' Introductory Note, José Jackson-Malete, Amy Jamison, Vaughn W. M. Watson, Aaron Kamugisha, Monique D. A. Kelly, Upenyu S. Majee

Africana Studies: Faculty Books

Authors in this issue of Alliance for African Partnership Perspectives, "Race, Ethnicity, and Higher Education in the African Diaspora," responded to a Call for Thought Pieces from anywhere in the world—urgent, critical reflections of issues around race and ethnicity in higher education institutions and key stakeholder and collaborator organizations in Africa and the African Diaspora.

Prayer In A Time Of Pandemic: Loneliness, Liturgy, And Virtual Community, Lois Dubin

Religion: Faculty Books

Book Abstract:

Emet le-Ya‘akov comprises a collection of essays celebrating the career and achievements of Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, who has served the American and international Jewish community with distinction in his roles as a synagogue rabbi, university professor, and public intellectual. These articles, like the honoree, recognize the importance of both history and memory, emphasize the necessity of accuracy in historiography, and do not shy away from inconvenient truths. They are divided into three categories that help frame the discussion around “facing the truths of history”: Textual Traditions, Memory and Making of Meaning, and (Re)Creating a Usable Past. …

Making Reflection Critical: Structural And Historical Attributions For Inequity, Esther Burson, Erin B. Godfrey, Riana M. Brown, Deanna A. Ibrahim

Psychology: Faculty Books

Book Abstract: Critical consciousness represents the analysis of inequitable social conditions, the motivation to effect change, and the action taken to redress perceived inequities. Scholarship and practice in the last two decades have highlighted critical consciousness as a key developmental competency for those experiencing marginalization and as a pathway for navigating and resisting oppression. This competency is more urgent than ever given the current sociopolitical moment, in which longstanding inequity, bias, discrimination, and competing ideologies are amplified. This volume assembles leading scholars to address some of the field's most urgent questions: How does critical consciousness develop? What theories can be …

Fragmented Communities, Anxious Identities, Ellen Kaplan

Theatre: Faculty Books

Book abstract:

The return of Jews to their ancestral land can be seen as an act of imagination. A new country, citizenship, language, and institutions needed to be imagined in order to be created. The arts, too, have contributed to this act of envisioning and shaping the Jewish state. By examining artistic representations of Israel, Imagined Israel(s): Representations of the Jewish State in the Arts explores the ways in which the Israel imagined abroad and the one conjured within the country intersect, offering a space for the co-existence of sociopolitical, cultural, and ideological differences and tensions. Source: Publisher

The Chains That Bind: Gender, Disability, Race, And It Accommodations, Eleanor T. Loiacono, Shiya Cao

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Books

This chapter explores intersectionality of gender, disability, and race relevant to Information Technology (IT) accommodations and employment. More specifically, we investigate individuals’ experiences and differences in receiving IT accommodations as an organizational diversity intervention that helps disabled employees integrate into the workplace. The goal of this chapter is to seek a better understanding of individual differences in the accommodation process and how to empower disabled women in the workplace. To do so, by applying the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT (IDTGIT), we focus on the experiences disabled men and women have with regard to IT accommodations as well …

Meridians 21:2 Feminist Mournings, Ginetta E.B. Candelario

Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism

When the guest editors of this special issue approached me with their proposal in summer 2020, the world was just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic but we had already lost over one hundred thousand people in the United States—and nearly half a million people globally...

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship 2021/22, Smith College Libraries

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship: Bibliographies

Scroll down to view the bibliography of selected scholarly and creative work produced by Smith College faculty and submitted by faculty for the 2022 celebration which took place in the Neilson Library Skyline Reading Room, Smith College on April 27, 2022.

Meridians: 21:1 Black Feminisms In The Caribbean And The United States: Representation, Rebellion, Radicalism, And Reckoning, Ginetta Candelario

Sociology: Faculty Books

As a scholar of Afro-Latinidades, it is a particular pleasure for me to offer Meridians readers this issue devoted to “Black Feminisms in the Caribbean and the United States: Representation, Rebellion, Radicalism, and Reckoning.” This curated conversation about Black feminist liberation strategies, which vary and move across time and place, is aptly illustrated with cover art by Haitian artist Mafalda Nicolas Mondestin, Ann fè on ti pale (The Meeting). Ann fè on ti pale is a Haitian Kreyol expression that means “let’s chat about it” or “we should chat” (pers. comm., August 29, 2021), and, apropos of that invitation, we …

Metal Labor, Material Conversions: Goldsmiths In The Life Of St. Denis And In Parisian Life, Ca. 1300, Brigitte Buettner

Art: Faculty Books

A seated man raises a hammer to strike a metal cup placed on an anvil: these are the basic bodily gestures and material signifiers that identify metalworkers in medieval visual representation (Fig. 1). The present essay examines the labor performed by goldsmiths and the use of gold in a selection of Gothic miniatures, specifically those found in a lavishly illustrated Life of St. Denis created around 1300 for the French king Philip IV the Fair.1 As a composite portrait of a group of professionals and a type of material, my discussion asks how manuscript painters reflected—and reflected on—the creations of …

Russia, Orthodox Church In, Vera Shevzov

Religion: Faculty Books

No abstract provided.

Summer Research Fellowship Project Descriptions 2022, Clark Science Center's Summer Research Fellows Program

SURF Abstracts (Women in Science)

A summary of research done by Smith College’s 2022 Summer Research Fellowship (SURF) Program participants. Ever since its 1967 start, SURF has been a cornerstone of Smith’s science education. Supervised by faculty mentor-advisors drawn from the Clark Science Center and connected to its eighteen science, mathematics, and engineering departments and programs and associated centers and units. At summer’s end, SURF participants were asked to summarize their research experiences for this publication.

Data, Knowledge Practices, And Naturecultural Worlds: Vehicle Emissions In The Anthropocene, Lindsay Poirier

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Books

This chapter details the various techno-cultural assemblages giving rise to data collected to model and measure anthropogenic worlds, arguing that data-based technologies both represent and co-produce the Anthropocene. It begins with a review of scholarship emerging at the intersection of science and technology studies and information studies that advances understanding of data infrastructure and knowledge practices, and their role within the anthropogenic assemblages that shape history. Drawing on a case study describing how vehicle emissions are measured and regulated in the US, I examine the materialities and mutability of technologies designed to produce data about air quality, along with the …

Meridians 20:2 Transnational Feminist Approaches To Anti-Muslim Racism, Ginetta Candelario

Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism

This issue coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the United States’ initiation of the “war on terror” launched in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001. On that day, al-Qaeda operatives destroyed the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan by flying two hijacked planes into the twin towers; a third hijacked plane hit the first floor of the Pentagon’s west wall; and a fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers successfully thwarted the hijackers....

Meridians 20:1, Ginetta Candelario

Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism

I write this in mid-November of 2020, after one of the most contentious presidential elections in my lifetime. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states began allowing and even encouraging the use of absentee voting/mail-in ballots to reduce the risk of infection during in-person voting. Although he himself votes by mail, the outgoing president began a systematic and sustained campaign of maligning the legality and validity of absentee ballots, claiming without evidence that they were more vulnerable to “illegal voting” and fraud, and encouraging his constituent base to vote in person on election day....