Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Framework For Understanding How People Can Draw Different Conclusions Based On The Same Information, Evan Schapiro

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

At least partially fueled by misinformation, political polarization is growing in the United States, leading to a breakdown of confidence in our traditional academic and political institutions. A popular belief is that a solution is to train people to think more rationally by eliminating the cognitive biases embedded in their subconscious thought patterns. This paper identifies the influences on my thinking and the framework used to look at these issues from a different perspective through methodological believing and the application of models of learning and conversation. The paper also points out that the methods of scientific inquiry often assume that …

Racialized Aggressions And Sense Of Belonging Among Asian American College Students, Kevin J. Gin

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This naturalistic, qualitative inquiry explored how Asian American college students’ encounters with racialized aggressions on social media impacted their sense of belonging at a predominately White institution (PWI). Participants indicated that encounters with racism on social media, especially on the anonymous mobile app Yik Yak, engendered racial distrust, and alienation from their institution. These findings suggest the virtual components of campus culture play a critical role in determining how Asian American college students feel they are welcomed, valued, and included at a PWI.

Design For Living Complexities, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers in Critical, Creative and Reflective Practice

Lectures from a 12-session course that addresses the intersection of design with critical thinking. Design in this course means intentionality in construction, which involves a range of materials, a sequence of steps, and principles that inform the choice of materials and the steps. Design also always involves putting people, as well as materials, into place. This happens by working with the known properties of people, as well as the known properties of material, and trying out new arrangements to work around their constraints (at least temporarily). Critical thinking, as I define it, involves understanding ideas and practices better when we …

Basic Knowledge Training For Vfx Production Assistants And Coordinators, Sharon Anne Roberts

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Visual Effects (VFX) is a part of the film-making process that takes place during the broader phase of film-making known as post-production. There are two broad groups of individuals who are responsible for the outcome of the VFX project - artists and production. The groups work in conjunction to achieve the team goals. At present, there is no formalized training available for production individuals and much of the required learning is done on the job. This projects explores a basic training course for individuals looking to increase their basic knowledge of VFX production. Grounded in industry research conducted by the …

Unhealed Cultural Memories: Styron’S Nat Turner, Shaun O'Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

William Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner, a novel about the leader of a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831, was highly praised after its publication in 1967. Then African American essayists in William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond took issue with the novel and rejected Styron’s asserted right to reimagine Nat Turner’s life and to assume his voice, claiming their rights of racial heritage and historical accuracy to castigate Styron for his offensive presumption. That distant argument of unshared assumptions and crossed purposes between high-minded and hypersensitive artists and intellectuals of another day may throw refracted …

Literary Radicals In Radio’S Public Sphere, Judith E. Smith

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

Radio was THE emerging medium in the middle decades of the twentieth century, and radio historians have helped us understand some of the myriad ways it influenced the public sphere and created new forms of cultural consciousness and multivocal formulations of national community. Michele Hilmes has argued that radio was “significantly different from any preceding or subsequent medium in its ability to transcend spatial boundaries, blur the private and public spheres, and escape visual determinations while still retaining the strong element of ‘realism’ that sound—rather than written words--supplies.” Jason Loviglio has analyzed the techniques and implications of radio’s creation of …

: : Poof : :, Caleb Nelson

Graduate Masters Theses

Storytellers have an interdependent relationship with their narratives. If you have ever told a lie, you understand. Stories take on a life of their own, as you consider the potential ramifications of each contingent piece. Definite sets of things happen as results of specific other things. If you throw an ax at me, only a few things can immediately happen, and our relationship will be forever changed. Events evolve. When we create or discover a narrative, we live by its logic. Upon consideration, a moment compels a series of moments modulated by a voice, a single perspective, a personal narrative, …

Identifying Professional Development Opportunities For Remote Healthcare Interpreters On A Shared Network, Suzanne M. Couture

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Many healthcare organizations are faced with the challenge of complying with an unfunded mandate to provide language services free of charge to individuals with limited English proficiency or those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One method of increasing efficiencies and reducing disparities for these vulnerable populations is to provide access to remote audio/video interpreters on a shared network. The Health Care Interpreter Network (HCIN) is a non-profit organization based in California that comprises more than forty member hospitals and offers service in twenty languages. To support the need for on-going professional development of HCIN’s interpreters, a front-end analysis …

Between Two Worlds: Stories Of The Second-Generation Black Caribbean Immigrant, Yndia S. Lorick-Wilmot

Trotter Review

People have an endless fascination with character information since it helps us to predict the behavior of those we interact with (King, Rumbaugh, and Savage-Rumbaugh 1999). Stories or narratives serve as an extension of this fascination. They help us make better decisions even without supplying immediate information. When we each talk about the past, our stories not only disclose currently relevant social particulars, but also provide tools for reasoning about action—our own and others’. In many instances, the stories we tell offer explanations of an outcome that resulted when we acted upon something—or serve as indirect memories of a place …

Engaging Wumb's Community Beyond Broadcast, Patricia Monteith

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

WUMB-FM, UMass Boston's National Public Radio affiliate, has a listenership of more than 100,000 people weekly. Through its 7 station network, WUMB has a reach that extends through the greater Boston area and beyond into 4 neighboring New England States. Via the Internet, WUMB reaches listeners in all 50 states and 113 countries. As a media outlet for the University, WUMB engages in a variety of community service activities throughout the Greater Boston Area and beyond, acting as an independent non-profit media organization focused on serving the needs of the university's local, regional and virtual constituents. WUMB draws upon these …

The Human Flesh Search Engine: Democracy, Censorship, And Political Participation In Twenty-First Century China, Vincent Capone

Graduate History Conference, UMass Boston

The Human Flesh Search Engine is a recent, unique phenomenon on the Chinese internet. Comprising of thousands of forum, micro-blog, and entertainment websites and mobilizing the overwhelming number of Chinese internet users, or netizens, the search engine is able to quickly find obscure information and identify seemingly anonymous internet personalities. These websites allow netizens to have their voices heard in an otherwise restrictive government, however these websites also become a hotbed for dissent, with web users highlighting stories and figures which they deem harmful to society. Through clever investigative work, netizens hunt down an individual's identity with the goal of …

Enabling The Asian American Electorate: 2003 Voter Registration In Eleven Massachusetts Cities And Towns, Paul Watanabe, Michael Liu

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

For many in Massachusetts’ rapidly growing Asian American community, political participation is a vehicle to expand opportunities. Involvement in the selection of public officials and casting votes on critical issues are important manifestations of civic engagement. This participation, while it may offer opportunities for Asian Americans, also poses some significant challenges. In order to vote, adult residents must be United States citizens by birth or naturalization, but that is not enough. Citizens must also be registered to vote. This report provides the most detailed information on voter registration and Asian Americans in Massachusetts ever assembled. It includes analysis by the …

Political Contributions By Asian Americans: An Analysis Of The 2002 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Campaign, Paul Watanabe, Gregory Kim-Ju

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

The Institute for Asian American Studies has analyzed and chronicled, often for the first time, the involvement of Asian Americans in the daily life of the Commonwealth. Over the last few decades Massachusetts has experienced a remarkably rapid growth in its Asian American population. Between 1990 and 2000, for example, this population grew by 67.5% to 238,124. Asian Americans now constitute just under 4% of the state’s population

Asian American Voter Registration In Massachusetts: A Preliminary Report On Ten Cities And Towns, Paul Watanabe, Michael Liu

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

The 2000 Census reports that Massachusetts’ Asian American population is the state’s fastest growing racial group, increasing by 68% since 1990. By 2025, the number of Asian Americans in Massachusetts is projected to expand to 534,000 from the current total of 238,124. This dramatic growth, however, has apparently not been accompanied by high levels of Asian American electoral participation and political clout. A major challenge for Asian Americans, therefore, is to substantially increase their participation and influence.

Quest To Own The Information Superhighway: How Much Of It Can Blacks Realistically Expect To Own?, Matthew S. Scott

Trotter Review

On the so-called information superhighway, cable systems, wire telephone lines, cellular services, satellite delivery and broadcast properties are converging to create an interconnecting electronic system on which audio, video and text can travel worldwide. Even though the system is not yet complete, many African Americans have expressed concern that they will somehow be left out on the back roads without an ownership stake. This essay will attempt to answer some of those questions pertinent to this quest of ownership.

Computer Utilization And Attitudinal Patterns In A Black Community, James Jennings

Trotter Review

During the Spring and Summer of 1995 The William Monroe Trotter Institute conducted a survey of resident utilization patterns and attitudes towards various facets of computer technology. This survey was commissioned by Freedom House, Inc. and supported with a grant from the AT&T Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts. The goal of this survey, composed of adult residents who have been served by Freedom House, and agency representatives of a small number of selected community-based organizations, is to inform planners at this agency about the computer technical needs, interests, and utilization patterns of its clients.

The Power Of Information And Communities Of Color, Lana W. Jackman, Patricia C. Payne

Trotter Review

In this age of the Information Superhighway, access to information has become a "human rights" issue for communities of color. Access to information is the backbone for economic growth in the world marketplace. Information literacy, the ability to find, evaluate, analyze, and use information effectively is the currency of infinite power and control of one's economic, social, and political destiny. For communities of color to gain access to this phenomenal communications/technological revolution, there is a need to become information literate.

An Interview With E. David Ellington, President Of Netnoir, Inc., Harold W. Horton Jr.

Trotter Review

The following article is an interview with E. David Ellington, who was the President of NetNoir, Inc., a company "dedicated to digitizing, archiving, and distributing global Afrocentric content."

Technological Revolution And The Black Studies Curriculum: A Course Proposal, Abdul Alkalimat

Trotter Review

A technological revolution is changing the world. The computer is fast becoming the universal tool in all aspects of work, production and communication, and innovations in bio-technology are fast transforming agriculture and health. The main impact of this technological revolution has been to restructure the economy, both the centers of accumulation as well as the labor process. It is also restructuring the methods by which people communicate, form and maintain communities. In general, the objective basis of social life is being fundamentally changed.

This essay proposes a basic course that not only focuses on the technological revolution, but should be …

Empowering Communities Of Color Through Computer Technology, Michael Roberts

Trotter Review

As we hurtle towards the 21st century, an increasing number of individuals start to realize that the ability to use computers and information technology resources effectively will determine how well individuals, organizations, and communities function in a rapidly changing technological society. Numerous studies, including one conducted in the Summer 1995 of Boston's Black community by Freedom House and The Trotter Institute, and highlighted in this issue, have documented the need of Americans—students, workers, unemployed, youth, adults and senior citizens, to become knowledgeable and proficient in the use of computers and information technology. There are several questions that do face communities …

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

This issue of the Trotter Review focuses on one of the most important set of challenges facing the Black community in the U.S., and that is, how to access, and manage, and control, significant facets and processes associated with the information superhighway. This current issue identifies the nature of the challenges, but also proposes some strategies that the Black community and its leadership might consider to ensure both access and control over information technology.

Beyond The Party-Group Continuum: Massachusetts Interest Groups In The 1980s, John C. Berg

New England Journal of Public Policy

Studies in the 1960s determined that Massachusetts had strong parties and weak interest groups. In the 1970s and 1980s, as the Republican Party shrank, party competition declined, conflict with the Democratic Party grew, and interest groups gained more importance — and probably will remain important despite the Republican gains of 1990. However, group conflict and citizen mobilization, including increased use of the initiative and referendum, create a situation of interest-centered conflict rather than interest-group dominance as traditionally conceived. This article, based on a 1987 survey of state legislators and legislative aides, plus a summary of recent Massachusetts political history, assesses …

Introduction, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

The mass media can be a positive or negative force in the struggle for racial progress. Unfortunately, the black community faces media that provide many negative influences. Consequently, there is a continuing need to address this issue.

In the articles in this issue of the Trotter Review we examine the current representation of blacks in the news media and representations of blacks in history through the entertainment media.

Consequences Of Racial Stereotyping, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

What are the consequences of negative portrayals of blacks? As mentioned in the previous articles, the media help to provide definitions of social reality, of social situations. Attendant upon such definitions is an implicit action orientation, a recommendation as to action appropriate to the situation.

The media are a significant factor in the ongoing battle for racial progress. While some of the battles take place in official forums (i.e., governmental institutions), other battles take place in unofficial forums such as newspapers, television, radio, movies, books, and magazines. These should not be taken lightly; there is ample evidence that individuals act …

Reel Blacks: A Kinder, Gentler Fbi, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

Revisionist interpretations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) role in enforcing civil rights legislation and its monitoring of black activists have proliferated during the last decade. Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement by Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, Racial Matters by Kenneth O'Reilly, and The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. by David Garrow are just a few of the numerous books to chronicle the FBI's somewhat embarrassing record on race-related issues. Given this wealth of documentation in print, it is even more startling that in the …

Media Images Of Boston's Black Community, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

In their efforts to report on the forces that affect Boston's racial climate, the local media have typically focused on the more obvious institutional actors: businesses, city hall, school boards, churches, the courts, neighborhood groups. Rarely have the media themselves been subjected to the same scrutiny. This study represents one such effort. It is an analysis of the images of Boston's black community that are conveyed through the local news media. It asks the question: If a Bostonian relied solely on the local news for information about local blacks, what impressions would he or she be left with, and how …

Tainted Glory: Truth And Fiction In Contemporary Hollywood, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

In the earliest days of cinema, the image of the African American on screen matched the off-screen image. When a 12-minute version of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903) was filmed, "Tom" shows were the most popular stage shows, the Stowe novel was still a top-seller, and the notion that white southerners were the real victims of the peculiar institution was gaining increasing acceptance in academic circles. When D.W. Griffith's epic and revolutionary Birth of a Nation (1915) depicted a set of stock African-American movie characters — the subservient overweight domestic servant; the indifferent, coquettish mulatto; the savage, sexually driven buck; and …

Media Images Of Boston's Black Community, Kirk A. Johnson

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

In their efforts to report on the forces that affect Boston's racial climate, the local media have typically focused on the more obvious institutional actors: businesses, city hall, school boards, churches, the courts, neighborhood groups. Rarely have the media themselves been subjected to the same scrutiny. This study represents one such effort It is an analysis of the images of Boston's black community that are conveyed through the local news media. It asks the question: If a Bostonian relied solely on the local news for information about local blacks, 1) what impressions would he or she be left with, and …

Covering The Plague Years: Four Approaches To The Aids Beat, James Kinsella

New England Journal of Public Policy

AIDS reporting has changed dramatically since 1981. But it was not until mid-1985, when Rock Hudson was diagnosed with the disease, that media outlets began playing the epidemic as a story of major proportions.

Because almost no major media institution embraced the AIDS story as an important issue, coverage of the epidemic was often the result of a reporter's initiative. Consequently, the connection the individual journalist had with the epidemic became a much stronger influence on what appeared in the news and on what Americans knew about the crisis than in any other recent major health story. This article examines …

Media Images And Racial Stereotyping, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

To better understand how the local media portray Boston's black community, I monitored news reports from a sample of newspapers and radio and television stations for one month during the summer of 1986. I noted the roles blacks played, the activities blacks were shown to be engaged in, and the events that brought blacks into the news. By comparing the portrayal of blacks in Boston's major media with portrayals in the black media, I sought to understand the criteria that reporters and editors use to judge the newsworthiness of items relating to the black community, and to determine whether (and …