Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Amy Reed-Sandoval And Luis Rubén Díaz Cepeda, Eds. Latin American Immigration Ethics [Review Of The Book Latin American Immigration Ethics, By A. Reed-Sandoval & L. R. Díaz Cepeda, Eds.], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

[Review Of The Book Christianity, Empire, And The Spirit: (Re)Configuring Faith And Culture, By N. Medina], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

"Rev." Donald Trump And The Christian Right — A Secular Transformation Of The Great Awakening Heritage, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

Over the past five years, the curious relationship between Donald Trump and many conservative evangelicals has been at the intersection of US religion and politics. Explanations for this curious linkage include:

• John Fea’s accent on the historical fear of evangelicals of the other.

• Ben Howe’s claim that evangelicals have chosen power over values.

• Whitehead and Perry’s articulation of a U.S. Christian nationalism.

• Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s feminist critique of U.S. Christian masculinity.

• Timothy Carney’s connection between social collapse and Trumpism.

This paper argues that each of these arguments capture important parts of the Trump-evangelical nexus, …

Recasting Catholicism In The Face Of Death: Las Casas, Zavala, And Romero, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

[Review Of The Book Desegregating Dixie: The Catholic Church In The South And Desegregation, 1945-1992, By M. Newman], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

[Review Of The Book The Legacy Of The Barmen Declaration: Politics And The Kingdom, By F. Dallmayr, Ed.], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Creating Successful Student Learning Outcomes: The Case Of Trinity University's Quality Enhancement Plan Entitled "Starting Strong", John R. Hermann

Political Science Faculty Research

Using Starting Strong as a case study, this article examines how four successful Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s) emerged and one was eliminated during the Quality Enhancement Plan’s (QEP’s) development process. In comparison to the one that was purged, the four successful SLO’s had five commonalities: 1. Virtually unanimous support from the administration; 2. Wide acceptance of the SLO from the faculty and staff members working on the QEP; 3. A shared conception between the administration and faculty/staff of what is an appropriate SLO; 4. The SLO’s could be clearly conceptualized and measured; And, 5., the SLO’s are financially feasible for …

[Review Of The Book Faith And Resistance In The Age Of Trump, By M. A. De La Torre, Ed.], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Mestizaje As Lateral Universality: Moving In-Between Cosmopolitan Elitism And Nativist Populism, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Trinity University's Summer Bridge Program: Navigating The Changing Demographics In Higher Education, John R. Hermann, Sheryl R. Tynes, Wendy Apfel

Political Science Faculty Research

Our article is divided into five sections. First, our study explores the demographic, economic, and cultural changes influencing higher education. We also explain the tangible and intangible benefits of a college education for first-generation, underrepresented students (FGUS). Second, we provide a brief discussion of the history of Trinity University and our Summer Bridge program. Third, our study describes our Summer Bridge program. Fourth, the data we collected examines how our Summer Bridge students’ grades and retention rates compare to our other first-year students. And, fifth, our article concludes with a discussion of future directions for our Summer Bridge program and …

Populorum Progressio- Moving Beyond Liberal & Conservative Engagements Of Integral Human Development – A Pax On Both Your Houses, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Doing A Bid: The Construction Of Time As Punishment, Keesha M. Middlemass, Calvinjohn Smiley

Political Science Faculty Research

Juxtaposing the sociology of time with the sociological study of punishment, we interviewed 34 former inmates to explore their memories of how they constructed time while “doing a bid.” Prison sentences convey macro-political and social messages, but time is experienced by individuals. Our qualitative data explore important theoretical connections between the sociology of time as a lived experience and the temporality of prison where time is punishment. The interview data explores the social construction of time, and our findings demonstrate participants’ use of the language of time in three distinct ways: (a) routine time, (b) marked time, and (c) lost …

Partisanship By Invitation: Immigrants Respond To Political Campaigns, James A. Mccann, Katsuo A. Nishikawa Chávez

Political Science Faculty Research

As the size of the foreign-born population in the United States has climbed, political scientists have focused increasing attention on immigrant incorporation into American politics. Much previous work emphasizes the impediments to partisan incorporation for the foreign-born. Drawing from two-wave panel surveys of Mexican immigrants administered during the national elections of 2006 and 2008, we show that levels of partisanship for this population rise markedly in campaign environments. These shifts are largely in a Democratic direction. An experiment embedded in the 2008 survey demonstrates that immigrants are highly sensitive to political appeals extended by the Democratic side and modest amounts …

Islamophobia & Europhobia: Subaltern Discourse & Its Limits, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

This essay examines resistance to Islamophobia in the form of Europhobia produced by Islamists in Europe. By "Europhobia" I mean essentializing and distorting depictions of Europe (and the West) as thoroughly decadent, corrupt, and sadistic. In a process that I dub "inverted othering" Islamists emulate the discursive strategies of Islamophobes but invert their negative stereotypes of Muslims to portray (non-Muslim) Europeans as a menacing threat to the umma, or Arabic community. I spotlight three forms of "inverted othering" through systematic comparison of both Islamophobic and Europhobic discourse in Europe (including in cyberspace): Islamists invert the claim that Islam is …

Building Bridges Between Cultural Groups, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Legislator Judges: The Warren Court And Justices' Use Of State Or International Policies In Criminal Procedure Cases, John R. Hermann

Political Science Faculty Research

The Warren Court went to great lengths to expand criminal defendants' rights, and in doing so it frequently relied on state majoritarian institutions' policies or international norms to accomplish its goals. The Court and justices were almost twice as likely to use state laws than international policies in their reasoning. The Court was also almost two-and-a-half times more likely to use state or international policies in its rationale when deciding in favor of the criminal defendant in relation to the state's interest.

Islamophobia, Euro-Islam, Islamism And Post-Islamism: Changing Patterns Of Secularism In Europe, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

Modern secularism, as theorized by prominent liberal philosophers such as John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, prescribes that the state should treat all religions equally on condition that they and their adherents relinquish their theocratic aspirations and recognize the political sovereignty and superiority of man-made law. Convinced that the secular bargain undermines the moral virtue of society and its members, a small, fragmented, but nevertheless conspicuous number of Islamists in Europe prefers to observe Islamic law in all walks of life, private and public. Alarmed by Islamists and informed by Orientalist readings of Islam, an increasingly vehement and vociferous contingent of …

Islamic Civilization And (Western) Modernity, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

Much historiography of the last three decades has undermined the sway of Eurocentrism. Though unabashedly Eurocentric histories still become bestsellers,¹ revisionists have shown that the ideas and developments that spawned modernity hardly sprang sui generis from European soil. In their historic re-awakening starting at the end of the Middle Ages that ushered in the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, Europeans borrowed and augmented a vast array of ideas, institutions, and practices particularly from Islamic, but also Indian and Chinese, civilization.²

This article contends that such revisionism, itself now putative, does not probe searchingly enough the inter-civilizational encounter …

Immigration To Germany: Past And Present Experiences, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

Germany long stood as the epitome of the ethno-nationalist approach to immigration. However, passage of the new Citizenship Law in 2000, which introduced jus soli, seemed to signal a sea change in the direction of a postnational outlook. This paper warns against seeing in the new legislation an emerging normative consensus around the kind of liberal cosmopolitanism advocated by the likes of Jürgen Habermas, Ulrich Beck or Will Kymlicka. I document the persistent allure and influence of nationalism and point to the growing appeal and sway of proposals and policies informed by a postmodern normative outlook. Germany’s normative landscape, …

Reproductive Rights In Latin America: A Rights-Based Approach To Development, Katherine Leonard

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

No abstract provided.

La Grande Mortalità: Florence And The Black Death, Rachel Podd

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

The epidemic which devastated Medieval Europe, known as the Black Death, struck particularly hard among urban populations, including the Italian city of Florence. A major center of art, religion, and politics, the city that existed after the plague abated in 1350 was far from the city of 1347. Through careful analysis of primary sources, chief among them Il Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and the Chronice of the Villani Brothers, the scholar can deduce several major trends caused by la grande mortalita. Deeper divisions developed between the rich and the poor, even as status symbols became less indicative of class. …

The Game Of Life: Designing A Gamification System To Increase Current Volunteer Participation And Retention In Volunteer-Based Nonprofit Organizations, Ya Chiang Fu

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

No abstract provided.

Public Policy And Smoking Prevalence In High Schools, Jerel Xavier San Gabriel

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

No abstract provided.

Fractured Minds, Fractured Bodies: A Study On Gulf War Illness And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Gulf War Veterans, Kuwaiti Citizens, And Military Personnel, Caitlin Lea Dillon

Political Science Student Works

No abstract provided.

Usa: A Civilization Of Its Own?, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

"The object [America] is wholly new in the world. It is singular...Nothing in history is parallel to it."¹ -----Edmund Burke

Distinct civilizations can have common origins.² Byzantine, Western and Islamic civilization each grew its separate way from Judaic and Hellenic roots. In similar fashion, the United States of America may well be in the process of branching off to form a civilization increasingly distinguishable from European civilization. The separation has been gradually but steadily underway since 1776. However, in civilizational time, 240 years represent a rather short period. The division has not yet fully matured. So the precise …

Freedom Of Speech And Press: A Casebook For Undergraduates, Frank Harrison

Political Science Faculty Research

This book is the product of two semesters of academic leave, in the Fall of 1998 and 2005, for which I am grateful to Trinity University. Substantively, it is in (almost) final form but even the most casual reader will notice that it needs extensive editing, mainly of formatting, consistency of style and, to some extent, spelling and grammar. A few cases also need a "headnote" and/or some "Comments and Queries." More importantly, the second half of the text might be reorganized to place greater emphasis on more current issues involving competition between constitutional rights. My syllabus for "Freedom II," …

Europe: A Civilization On The Edge, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

Our European culture is one that has staked its all on the universal and the danger menacing it is that of perishing by the universal.

Jean Baudrillard¹

Rémi Brague rejects common charges of Eurocentrisim leveled against Western civilization. He prefers to characterize the West as "eccentric," meaning off center. He equates Western civilization with Europe and understands it as that civilization which grew out of the western half of the Roman Empire and with time differentiated itself from Byzantine and Islamic civilizations (themselves successors to the Roman heritage). He labels Europe eccentric because it stands (physically and figuratively) on …

Attributes Of A Mestizo Democracy, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

American Indians In Court: The Burger And Rehnquist Years, John R. Hermann

Political Science Faculty Research

The Supreme Court and individual justices' treatment of American Indian interests has generated relatively little scholarly attention. To fill this void in the extant literature, this study seeks to examine how American Indian interests fared before the Supreme Court of the United States during the Burger and Rehnquist Courts (1969-1992 October terms) and attempts to discern the factors influencing their treatment. The findings indicate that while American Indian interests won 48% of their cases, the Burger Court was much more sympathetic than the Rehnquist Court to the plight of this politically disadvantaged group. The error correcting strategy, the ideological proclivities …

Race Is Dead, Peter O'Brien

Political Science Faculty Research

Implied in the work of Marx, Nietzsche and Weber is the declining significance of race in modernity. The field of cultural studies, led by the likes of Edward Said, sees race as constitutive of modern (European) identity. Oddly, however, Said's work is inspired by both Nietzsche's and Marx's thought. I explain this curiosity by arguing that, ironically, scholarly study of racism is actually made possible by its waning significance. Moreover, due to this increasing insignificance, students of racism must exaggerate racism's importance in order to justify their research.