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“With Middal Smal And Wel Ymake”: Objectification And Power In Medieval English Love Songs, Allison D. Jones

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Through reading sets of medieval love songs one can notice trends that are connected to the conventions of fin’amor or courtly love. Troubadours, medieval French poets, would compose and sing songs that reflect the trends of courtly love during the time period. Within the lyrics of these songs there are two main trends when it comes to the objectification of the female beloved. First, they spend a great deal of time in describing the physicality of the beloved, but make no inferences or connections to her interior life—going so far as to animalize her. Even when those beautiful features may …

Fight Or Flyte: Pride And Masculinity In Medieval England, Elizabeth E. Tavares

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Issue Introduction for Fight or Flyte: Pride and Masculinity in Medieval England

Writing The Future: The Circular And The Transformative In Revolutionary Politics, Qian (Alice) Huang

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

No abstract provided.

“We’Ll Cook Him Up In A Stew”: Stepmothers And Primogeniture In The Brothers Grimm’S The Juniper Tree, Kymberlin Bush

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

What larger social concern could the continued popularity of the nineteenth-century cannibal stepmother narrative in twenty-first century crime and news reporting be indicating? In this paper, I compare a fictional episode of cannibalism in the non-canonical Brothers Grimms’ tale, “The Juniper Tree,” with the true story of the 2010 murder and subsequent dismemberment of Zahra Baker in Hickory, North Carolina to consider the larger cultural implications of cannibalistic stepmothers. In doing so I argue that, despite the half-hearted attempt by mainstream animation studios to try to create semi-Feminist adaptations of the canonical fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, Hans …

Gender-Neutral Language In Christian Universities, Adi F. Mcnally

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Award for Best Conference Paper2018 Northwest Undergraduate Conference in the HumanitiesThis paper provides brief summation of the methods transphobia are embodied through language and what the logical, moral, and business implications would be for a Christian University. In this paper, Adi McNally (who uses they/them pronouns) explores whether there is both scientific and theological weight behind transphobic and gendered language choices. They connect the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity to discussions around epicene pronouns and English grammatical development. Their argument explores writings from Doctors Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh, and its impact on traditionally conservative Christian thought. Further, they discuss …

Does Art Have A Truth-Seeking Project?, Soren Schlassa

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

No abstract provided.

Darkness Leaping Out Of Light: Anti-Metaphysics And The Paradoxical Negative Affix In Moby-Dick, Bryce N. Wallace

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper argues that the varied philosophical beliefs that are present in the discourse of Moby-Dick’s characters are met with discursive resistance at the level of the novel’s form. Though a range of metaphysical arguments are posited by the characters as they explore the unknown, Melville’s use of negative linguistic constructions refutes the entire range of metaphysical beliefs by displaying the paradoxical and impossible nature of the primary subject that metaphysicians ponder—the unknown. I propose that in trying to comprehend “the unknown” humans unavoidably create something out of nothing then deem it unknowable and therefore fail to grant it …

The Prevalence Of Covid-19 Misinformation Among High School Students And Its Influence On National Public Health Perception, Isha Patel

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The global COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to national public health perception and the detriments of medical misinformation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which susceptibility to common COVID-19 virus and vaccine misconceptions correlate with the high school students’ perception of public health. A survey was distributed to 61 high school students, and it was found that there is a weak negative correlation between acceptance of COVID-19 virus and vaccine misconceptions and national public health perception. The results, however, indicated a prevalence of misconceptions surrounding COVID-19 among participants. Overall, 52.5% of participants rate public health as …

Fall 2023 Notes From The Stacks, Central Washington University

Notes from the Stacks: CWU's Library Newsletter

Quarterly newsletter from James E. Brooks Library at Central Washington University.

What Is Music? The Ontological Status Of Musical Works, Michael Pipko

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The ontological status of musical works is a controversial topic among those in the field. This paper aims to argue for a nominalist and non-reductive approach to musical works that differentiates musical works from the sound structures commonly equated with them. The difference between sound structures and musical works is heavily emphasized and I conclude that musical works have emergent attributes sound structures do not. These attributes being creatability, fine individuation, and the inclusion of performance means. After establishing this I begin to build an argument for a nonreductive approach to musical works by rejecting the extreme view held by …

Why Wrestle With Being And Time? A Justification Of Heidegger’S Methodology Of Obscurantism And Obfuscation, Dave Mckerracher

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

It seems that complaints about Heidegger’s style of writing are common fare in secondary literature and the classroom. This paper argues that both Heidegger’s obtuseness and obscurantism work as methodological devices for effectively communicating and demonstrating his thought. By obfuscating, he forces breakdowns, which pulls the reader out of her ready-to-hand mode of reading/revealing, which otherwise threatens to fall into comprehending via reference from one’s average everydayness. By being obscure in some passages where taking the meaning in multiple ways will not interfere with the main points being made, Heidegger enables his students to form personal (existentiell) interpretations, allowing for …

Critical Reflections On Intentions And Linguistic Communication, Brian Haas

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper has the following structure: first, Paul Grice’s original account of non-natural meaning (in “Meaning”) is critically discussed; second, Stephen Neale’s analysis (in “Paul Grice and the Philosophy of Language”) is critically discussed; third, Kent Bach and Robert Harnish’s analysis of linguistic communication is critically discussed; lastly, due to considerations detailed in the previous section, doubts are raised about the viability of intentional based semantics. In discussing Neale and Bach and Harnish, two novel counter-examples are employed to show their analyses to be inadequate.

Feminist Themes In Philip Roth’S Goodbye, Columbus, Haley E. Van Bellingham

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The current article presents evidence that, in his novella Goodbye, Columbus, Philip Roth should be commended for illustrating the limitations placed on women in Jewish-American culture during the 1950s, rather than criticized for exhibiting the misogynistic viewpoints of that era. Roth uses a combination of male narration and female characterization to show the limited opportunities available to women. Brenda, the primary female protagonist, is presented from the perspective of the male narrator, Neil, as frustrating and incomprehensible. This characterization demonstrates the difference between Neil’s way of thinking, as a male, and Brenda’s as a female. Brenda is an affluent character …

Properties, Direction Of Fit And An Argument For Property Realism, Rachel Rapp

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

There is much debate about the existence of properties and how to consider both tropes and universals. While the antirealist contends that there are no true universal properties, the realist affirms that there are mind-independent universal properties. In this essay I present an argument for the realist approach to the problem of universals based off of the concept of direction of fit. After beginning with a discussion of properties, I discuss antirealist approaches to explaining the problem of universals, arguing that there are inherent problems with antirealism about properties that render it unsatisfactory. It becomes clear that universals must exist, …

The Death Of Metaphysical Analyticity And The Failure Of Boghossian’S Analytic Theory Of The A Priori, Anthony Nguyen

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Many philosophers still believe that metaphysically analytic sentences exist, where a sentence is understood to be metaphysically analytic if and only if it is true solely in virtue of its meaning. I provide two arguments against this claim and hence conclude that metaphysically analytic sentences do not exist. Still, some philosophers, however, hold out hope that epistemically analytic sentences exist, where a sentence is epistemically analytic if and only if an agent’s understanding the sentence suffices for the agent to be justified in believing that this sentence is true. One such philosopher is Paul Boghossian, whose so-called analytic theory of …

Analyzing Melatiah Nash And The Ladies And Gentlemen's Diary, Melody Bruce

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Journals have long been a staple in the history of the spread of mathematical ideas. This paper analyzes one the first attempts at such a journal in the United States: The Ladies and Gentlemen’s Diary, and traces the evolution of the journal through its author and editor Melatiah Nash. The contributors and mathematics of the journal are also considered and the journal is compared to several of its contemporaries. Synthesizing all of this information reveals that Nash’s publication contained a wide range of mathematics, reached a diverse group of people, and was relatively successful in how it was received and …

Standardized Versus Naturalized: An Evaluation Of Child Morphological And Syntactic Assessments, Jaclyn Shurman, Dorothy Leone

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Speech-language pathologists may choose to evaluate children’s language using standardized or naturalized assessments. This study investigated if the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool 2 (CELF-P 2), a standardized assessment, and language sampling, a naturalized assessment, reveal the same information about children’s linguistic competence and performance. Children ages 3.0-7.0 were assessed with specific focus on morphology and syntax. The participants completed four morphosyntactic-based subtests of the CELF-P 2. Additionally, play-based interactions, used to elicit natural language, were video-recorded. The CELF-P 2 was scored and language samples were transcribed and analyzed. Mean length of utterance (MLU) scores showed a slightly more variable …

The Epistemic Value Of Live Fiction: A Dramatic Response To The Question Of Knowledge, Hannah Hicks

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This essay occupies a niche wedged between Philosophy and Art, exciting both the creative and inquiring mind. Drawing on both foundational and recent work in the philosophical study of knowledge and aesthetic theory, this paper synthesizes two fields within the humanities: epistemology and live theatre. This presentation challenges the academic barriers that keep philosophy and the performing arts from fully participating in interdisciplinary communication, and challenges the conceptual definition of knowledge itself. The aim is to promote recognition of the value in using that which is live, liminal, and personal in understanding the nature of knowledge. This can be achieved …

Semantics Embodied: Cognitive Linguistics And Searle’S Account Of Linguistic Intentionality, Krivo Flores

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

John Searle has long argued that the philosophy of language is a branch of the philosophy of mind. In his view the capacity of speech acts to represent and relate to reality derives from more biologically basic forms of intentionality, such as perception and action, which initially evolved to relate organisms directly to their environments. Searle’s naturalistic model of language, in order to be complete, requires a theory of how perception and action specifically give rise to linguistic meaning and interpretation. In this paper I argue that recent theoretical developments in cognitive linguistics and the emerging field of embodied cognition …

Juxtaposing Longino’S “Equality Of Intellectual Authority” With Her “Shared Standards”, Gourav Krishna Nandi

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Helen Longino has proposed four criteria that can objectively criticize the background beliefs and assumptions in the development of scientific theories. She deduces that the criteria - ‘recognized avenues for criticism,’ ‘shared standards,’ ‘community response’ and ‘equality of intellectual authority’ - are mutually dependent. Using the assumption that the acceptance of more than one scientific approach is possible only if an individual is educated in a non-standard background, and is given intellectual authority which, in turn, refutes the idea of standardization in science, I argue that her assertion is contradictory. One of her criterion ‘shared standards’ implicitly nullifies the attempt …

The Aestheticality Of Allusiveness: Language, Meaning, And Indeterminacy, Joel Morrow

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper will be investigating the largely unexamined questions that arise when the general question is asked: why do we allude instead of refer? I will be dealing with this matter as ultimately a question of aesthetics, but only insofar as common approaches to 'aesthetic questions' become inadequate. Accordingly, I will be employing my own methodology, shaped by the question of what I will call 'aestheticality.' With this special approach, I will attempt to uncover the conditions for the possibility that an allusion may be in such a way that it provokes aesthetic attention. Prior to this, I will carry …

The Theory Of Structured Propositions And The Resolution Of Problems With The Essential Indexical, Landon Elkind

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

John Perry laid out an argument that he believes falsified the structured theory of propositions. He claims that indexicals cannot be accounted for by this theory. I maintain that indexicals are unproblematic for structured proposition theory, and that Perry has mistakenly presupposed that knowledge is ‘black or white’ – one either knows or does not know – rather than adopting a more subtle definition of knowledge. I also argue that he further presupposed that humans will reason perfectly. Disputing this assumption and defining knowledge accurately resolve the issues posed by Perry. Some consequences of my notion of knowledge are discussed.

Safe Sex For Sale: Is Legalizing Sex Work The Answer To Sex Trafficking In The Netherlands?, Jess N. Gibly

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This analysis of Dutch prostitution and trafficking policies looks at the historical background of the current policies and at what effect they have on sex trafficking in the Netherlands. For many years the Dutch have maintained a position of tolerance (gedogen) in regards to prostitution, as long as it did not cause a large public disturbance or health issue. However in response to the globalization of a growing sex industry, and the increasing amount of sex trafficking, the Netherlands has adopted a unique harm-reduction approach by way of legalizing and regulating voluntary sex work. This follows from the idea that …

The Failing Of The Self Or The Self Of Failing? Gadamer, Derrida, Žižek, And The Phaedo, Ben Brewer

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper begins with an examination of the notoriously shoddy proofs for the immortality of the soul that Socrates presents in the Phaedo. I first turn to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s account of the proofs (as historically situated between science and myth), and then, using evidence from the Phaedo itself and a wide sampling of the dialogues, reframe the proofs as a metaphor for the self. With the discussion thus redirected, I look at Jacques Derrida’s “Plato’s Pharmacy” in order to begin to the discussion about the implications of the failed proofs for a new understanding of the Platonic subject (as a …

Defending A Dialetheist Response To The Liar's Paradox, James Finley

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The Liar’s paradox stands as one of the longest standing and most discussed problems in philosophical history. In this paper, I first briefly set up the requirements on a language needed for that language to have the expressive power to construct a Liar sentence and show how the Liar sentence leads to the inconsistency and triviality of said language (if it is a logically classical language). I will then quickly set up and reject responses to the Liar that keep a classical logic as the model logic for natural language (which I will take to be English here), and argue …

Categorization Through Sensory Codes, Noah Sharpsteen

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The central premise of concept empiricism is the denial of unique cognitive mental representations. The negative thesis applies as well to classic empiricists as it does to current ones. John Locke’s (1690) refusal to accept ‘abstract ideas’ is one way of denying unique and distinct cognitive representations. Jesse J. Prinz’s (2002) multi-modality hypothesis, according to which cognition functions on a multi-sensory code instead of a central ‘amodal’ one, is another. Both empiricist models have a common foil in a theory that posits one unique kind of ‘intellectualist’ mental representation to account for human cognitive achievements. For Locke, it was Descartes’ …

Consciousness Enframed: The Alētheia Of Qualia, Carson Bessinger

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

There is nothing that we could be more familiar with than our own consciousness. It seems to us that conscious experience consists of subjective qualia – the what-it-is-like to experience the redness of an apple, the taste of coffee, or any other sense datum. Explaining how these can come about from material causes is often referred to as the hard problem in consciousness. Daniel Dennett gives a materialistic explanation of consciousness by equating qualia to a magic trick; there are no qualia, there just seem to be. In this paper I will examine this explanation in light of Heidegger's critique …

Two Sorts Of Connectionist Models: A Critical Analysis, Jack Coughlin

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

[From the introduction]The two main paradigms in cognitive science are computationalism and connectionism. The former takes as its starting point the analogy of the mind as a computer, and so attempts to describe cognition in terms of discrete symbol manipulation, in the manner of a digital computer. Connectionism is a more “bottom-up” approach to cognitive science, assuming the neurological structure of the brain to be fundamentally important. It is the task of this paper to demonstrate that connectionist theories of cognitive science face a dilemma: either they are mere descriptions of the physical implementation of a computationalist system, or they …

Improper Parts, Restricted Existence, And Use: Three Arguments Against Ted Sider's Four-Dimensionalism, Mike Anthony

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper raises and defends three classes of objections to Ted Sider's argument from vagueness in his recent work, Four-Dimensionalism. The first class argues that Sider's case for four-dimensionalism is superfluous, that is, “mereologically promiscuous three-dimensionalists” can accept his argument yet maintain a compatible variety of three-dimensionalism that accepts the existence of temporal parts as improper parts of otherwise enduring wholes. Second, Sider's argument begs the question of unrestricted composition by presupposing an unrestricted conception of objecthood that the three-dimensionalist can freely reject. Finally, Sider's project offends ontology by undermining a deep ontological distinction between temporal existence and extension. Even …

Cwu Libraries Presents Provost Lecture Series: Julia Stringfellow, Julia Stringfellow

Library Scholarship

Bibliography and presentation slides for the event "CWU Libraries presents Provost Lecture Series: Julia Stringfellow" held October 5, 2023. Julia Stringfellow, Professor and University Archivist, discusses her recent research History of impactful women in Ellensburg and CWU and their contributions. In this lecture, Professor Stringfelow focuses on a few women she researched during her 2023 Sabbatical. She shares insight into their lives and how they contributed to the university and the local community.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the CWU Libraries.

Sabbatical research travel was funded in part through a Faculty Research/Creative Activity Support …