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Hostos Community College Academic Bulletin 2022-2023, Hostos Community College

College Bulletins

This is the official college catalog for 2022-2023. It contains course descriptions as well as information on degree programs, college resources and services, financial aid, admissions, and the academic calendar.

Emphasizing The Economic: Nancy Fraser, The Cultural-Redistributive Divide, And Social Justice’S Pr Crisis, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

The philosopher Nancy Fraser defines two paradigms for social justice: the economic and the cultural. These two paradigms often find themselves at odds (the familiar struggle between class politics and identi- ty politics), but only when working in conjunction, according to Fraser, can they reach their emancipatory potential. Contra Fraser, this paper argues that there exist some historical moments in which it is neces- sary for one paradigm to take precedence over the other. In our current political moment, both the Right and the Left can be said to be fixated on culture, and this fixation ultimately disadvantages the Left: …

On The Ethics Of Working With Library Technology: The Case Of The Open Journal Matcher, Mark E. Eaton

Publications and Research

Through the methodological lens of a case study, this practical communication aims to capture and analyze one aspect of the multi-faceted ethical concerns that arise with building with technology in libraries. I define and deploy the concept of “pervious” technology (the opposite of impervious technology) as a way to think through how librarians work with technologies in their workplaces. I de-scribe how pervious technologies are readily manipulable tools that librarians can reach into (metaphorically, hence “pervious”), giving them a greater say in how they engage with their library work. Specifically, I examine the ethical implica-tions of pervious and impervious technologies …

Hail, Caesar!, Kel R. Karpinski

Publications and Research

This piece looks at queer characters in the Coen Brothers’ film Hail, Caesar! (2016). The film takes place during the heyday of the Hollywood film studio set in 1951 and draws on many films during that time period of the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Religion As A Micro And Macro Property: Investigating The Multilevel Relationship Between Religion And Abortion Attitudes Across The Globe, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

In many countries abortion is the most contested issue being publicly discussed, in part, because it has implications for gender equality, health, family formation, and politics. Personal religious beliefs are often seen as having an important role in shaping disapproving attitudes. However, little attention has been given to the country religious context for understanding public opinion about abortion. Drawing on ideas from cultural sociology, the anti-ascetic hypothesis, and moral communities hypothesis, this study investigates the individual and country religious associations with abortion attitudes. Using hierarchical modeling techniques and survey data from over 70 nations, representing the majority of the world’s …

Using Internet-Derived Data To Measure Religion: Understanding How Google Can Provide Insight Into Cross-National Religious Differences, Amy Adamczyk, Jacqueline Scott, Steven Hitlin

Publications and Research

Internet and social media data provide new sources of information for examining social issues, but their potential for scholars interested in religion remains unclear. Focusing on cross-national religion data, we test the validity of measures drawn from Google and Twitter against well-known existing data. We find that Google Trend (GT) searches for the dominant religions’ major holidays, along with “Buddhism,” can be validated against traditional sources. We also find that GT and traditional measures account for similar amounts of variation, and the GT measures do not differ substantially from established ones for explaining several cross-national outcomes (e.g., fertility, circumcision, and …

Assessing Variation And Change In Newspaper Portrayals Of Muslims: The Influence Of The Trump Election And Differences Across The United States In Local And National Papers, Amy Adamczyk, Emily Greene-Colozzi, Senahan Kiyal Keles, Aida Murati

Publications and Research

Since Donald Trump’s political campaign, Americans have appeared increasingly divided over public opinion issues and US policies with the media seemingly reflecting these divisions. One of Trump’s early initiatives was the “Muslim ban,” which restricted visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. Focusing on the portrayal of Muslims in over 900 hand coded articles, our study uses multilevel modeling techniques to examine how newspapers changed their frames and claimsmakers in discussions about Muslims before and after Trump was elected. After the election, newspapers were more likely to include government claimsmakers and an immigration frame, and were less likely to mention a radical …

Unpacking The Influence Of Islamic Religious Culture And Individual Religious Affiliation On Testing Hiv-Positive, Brittany Hayes, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

The distribution of HIV cases varies cross-nationally. We separate the influences of Islam at the macro-and micro-levels to understand the role of religion in shaping the spread of HIV. Drawing on biomarker data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we construct a multilevel database (Individual N= 568,476; Country N= 30). We examine a series of national-and individual-level predictors that may mediate the relationship between Islam and testing HIV-positive. Individual religious affiliation and proportion Muslim retained their risk-reducing effects even when accounting for a range of mediators and suppressors. Islam has a sui generis effect on testing HIV-positive.

When And How Does Anti-Semitism Occur? The Different Trigger Mechanisms Associated With Different Types Of Criminal And Non-Criminal Hate Incidents, Matteo Vergani, Dan Goodhard, Rouven Link, Amy Adamczyk, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven Chermak

Publications and Research

We used data from an Australian community register to build a database containing 673 incidents, including both criminal and non-criminal anti-Semitic acts that occurred between October 2013 and September 2017. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to explore the differences in the types of incidents associated with different trigger events. Using time series methods, we found a significant increase in criminal (but not in non-criminal) incidents during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. During Jewish religious festivals, we found a significant decrease in criminal incidents, and a significant increase in non-criminal incidents. After the establishment of the neo-nazi group Antipodean Resistance, we …

The Politics Of Recognition In Building Pluriversal Possibilities: Posthumanism, Buen Vivir, And Zapatismo, Robert Leston

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Meat May Never Die, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

The goal of ethical veganism is a vegan world or, at least, a significantly vegan world. However, despite the hard work done by vegan activists, global meat consumption has been increasing. Vegan advocates have focused on ethics but have ignored the importance of tradition and identity. And the advent of veggie meat alternatives has promoted food that emulates animal products thereby perpetuating the meat paradigm. I suggest that, in order to make significant changes toward ending animal exploitation, ethical vegans give more attention to tradition and identity. Furthermore, I propose that raw veganism is the most ethical diet and can …

Circular Economy In The Built Environment, Kevin Hom

Publications and Research

The circular economy is as much an attitude as a program. The circular economy (CE) is an action plan which identifies a series of goals and associated outcomes. It is a comprehensive response to the impact of the industrial revolution and the linear economy model which was the economic basis of the industrial revolution. This manuscript discusses the philosophy and strategies of the circular economy and the role that the built environment has in implementing this philosophy.

Using Data Science Tools For Investigating Chat Logs From The Conti Ransomware Group, Boyan Kostadinov, Joseph Liu, Julio Rayme

Publications and Research

The main goal of this paper is to showcase some results from a comprehensive data analysis that we did on the cache of chat logs from the notorious ransomware group Conti. The chat logs were made publicly available on February 27, 2022. They were translated from Russian into English, and contain 393 json files with chat logs from the instant messaging service Jabber. We employ a variety of modern data science tools for text mining, natural language processing, network analysis and geospatial analysis to investigate the Conti chat logs so that we can understand the command and control structure of …

Large Scale Open Educational Resources (Oer) Initiative In Mathematics, Alioune Khoule, Abderrazak Belkharraz Idrissi, Sandra Sze

Publications and Research

A team of LaGuardia Community College math faculty designed and launched the OER (Open Educational Resources) project in Spring 2017 to allow to take mathematics courses at zero or low textbook cost. Our first pilot phase started with 10 sections in Fall 2017 using three different OER platforms: Myopenmath, Webwork and Khanacademy. One out of the three platforms, Myopenmath used in phase 1 was selected to pilot 34 sections in Spring 2018. In Fall 2018, the OER team moved to a full-scale implementation on all remedial and gateway courses of 164 sections including Fundamentals of Algebra, Intro to Algebra, Elementary …

Beyond "Bad" Cops: Historicizing And Resisting Surveillance Culture In Universities, Amy J. Wan, Lindsey Albracht

Publications and Research

In this article, we define and examine surveillance culture within US college classrooms, a logical extension of pervasive carceral and capitalist logics that underlie the US educational system, in which individual success is tied to behavior monitoring, rule following, and sorting, particularly within marginalized student populations. Reflecting anxieties about the expansion of educational access, we argue for how crisis and change have historically contributed to the
urgency and opportunity to expand surveillance culture and consider why this has continued to happen as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We offer suggestions and alternatives to surveillance culture that have helped us …

Vaccine Communication During The Covid-19 Pandemic As Displayed By Nyc Health, Rebecca L. Jensen

Student Theses and Dissertations

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic underscored the importance of vaccination in our governmental- health bodies. As a result, effective vaccine communication is more necessary than ever. The goal of this paper is to better understand frames, strategies and themes used by NYC Health as it pertains to video media related artifacts in their Covid-19 vaccination campaign. This research is important because it informs overall health and vaccine discourse. In analyzing data several key themes were discovered. These themes were established through a synthesis of literary strategies meant to activate certain theoretical frameworks. Further research into the effectiveness of these frames on …

Plastic, Pollution, Art, And The Caribbean, Celine Collazo

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of a growing ocean pollution problem can be seen on the trash-filled shores of Caribbean beaches. Through a contextualization of the work of three artists, Tony Capellán, Radamés ‘Juni’ Figueroa, and Alejandro Durán, this paper discusses the cause and effects of such detritus, and possibilities for change.

Cryptococcus Neoformans Melanization Incorporates Multiple Catecholamines To Produce Polytypic Melanin, Rosanna P. Baker, Christine Chrissian, Ruth E. Stark, Arturo Casadevall

Publications and Research

Melanin is a major virulence factor in pathogenic fungi that enhances the ability of fungal cells to resist immune clearance. Cryptococcus neoformans is an important human pathogenic fungus that synthesizes melanin from exogenous tissue catecholamine precursors during infection, but the type of melanin made in cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is unknown. We analyzed the efficacy of various catecholamines found in brain tissue in supporting melanization using animal brain tissue and synthetic catecholamine mixtures reflecting brain tissue proportions. Solid-state NMR spectra of the melanin pigment produced from such mixtures yielded more melanin than expected if only the preferred constituent dopamine had been incorporated, …

The Effects Of Deepfakes And Synthetic Media On Communication Professionals, Axel Ebermann

Student Theses and Dissertations

The spread of misinformation and disinformation is regarded as one of the most salient challenges for communication professionals around the world.

Now, a new technology called "DeepFakes" or “Synthetic Media” has the potential to further uproot the infosphere. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable the mass creation of synthetic audio-visual content that resembles real videos, in which people will appear to say or do things they never actually said or did.

The existing literature predominantly focuses on three aspects of DeepFakes and Synthetic Media: the technical background, coverage of preexisting DeepFakes and possible solutions to combat the malicious use of the …

Trans Sex Workers - A Community In Resilience, Alejandra Pedraza Buenahora

Capstones

By exploring the ways the trans sex worker community supports itself and all the tactics community leaders are using to support community members, this engagement journalism projects details the way journalist can service the trans community and aid in their information acquisition needs. By using an array of journalistic skills this capstone explores what journalist can and should do to build trust with trans community members to better report on the experiences of individual community members. Here you will find detailed lessons learned from interviews, informal chats, reporting and gatherings with trans community leaders in the city of New York.

Living Positive, Cheyann Harris, Emani King Mack

Capstones

A short documentary by Emani King Mack & Cheyann Harris, that focuses on Black men who are living with HIV. This film features the stories of Malik Davon, Jah Love, and Melchizedek Roberson to destigmatize, empower, and set a new precedent in media on how to cover people living with HIV.

Link to capstone: https://cheyannharris.wixsite.com/livingpositive

"Our Strength Is Unity:" Delivery Bikers In Their Own Words, Connor W. Zaft

Capstones

"Our Strength Is Unity" is a year-long photographic essay on food delivery workers and their attempts to self-organize during the pandemic.

Retail Workers On The Frontlines, Anthony L. Medina

Capstones

Retail work culture has been forever altered by COVID 19. The pandemic shook what was life in New York City. Two years later the nation continues to grapple with the impact of the virus.

Next to frontline workers, retail workers who man the cashiers and maintain the sales floors at big chain stores that sell socks, shirts, shoes and other everyday items are just as vulnerable to the physical and social impact of the pandemic and in some ways provide services just as essential to health care workers.

This photo essay shares the lives of three Brooklyn natives: Cheyann Harris, …

Working In New York City With A Disability: Nowhere Near Easy, Milette S. U. Millington

Capstones

This project investigates the common challenges that people with disabilities faced prior to COVID-19 when finding a job and keeping it, and explores how the pandemic may have changed things.

Project link: https://milettem98.wixsite.com/portfolio/capstone

“The New Pinkertons”: Anti-Union Consultants And Surveillance Tech Thwart Organizing, Jo Constantz

Capstones

In 2020, just 6.3% of U.S. private-sector workers were union members, despite the fact that 68% of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest since 1965, and nearly half of non-union workers say they would join.

After World War II, wage growth kept pace with GDP growth, but then began to diverge in the 1970s, according to a study by the RAND Corporation. After 1975, incomes of the bottom 90% rose more slowly than the economy as a whole, while incomes of the top 10% grew faster. The declining wage growth coincided with and is closely related to a drop-off …

The Trial Of Anthony Sims, Jeff Winter

Capstones

This capstone is an investigation into the wrongful conviction of Anthony Sims.

Public Educators Shaking Up Classrooms, Elizabeth Richards

Capstones

Through feedback from the community, largely in the form of continued interviews and conversations with teachers about what they were looking for and how they consumed news, I learned that a newsletter was the best way to reach them.

Navigating the challenges of hybrid learning has meant for teachers multiple lesson planning, which has compounded the existing challenge of being incredibly busy and potentially overwhelmed. A newsletter that could arrive in an email inbox — a place where public teachers spend much of their time — could help bring information directly and prevent teachers from having to spend more time …

Computational Thinking For Teachers, Susan Imberman

Open Educational Resources

This is a syllabus for a course in computational thinking. The course described introduces preservice and inservice teachers to the fundamental concepts of computer science, including web design, coding, ethics, computational thinking, course resources, etc.

American Lotto, Kris Parker

Capstones

The Preka family won the diversity visa lottery and has immigrated to the seaside town of New London, Connecticut. They are a family of four that have dreamed of immigrating to the United States for much of their lives. Originally from Albania, a country with limited opportunities and riddled with corruption, the film will follow them in Connecticut as they adjust to life in the US and the challenges of learning a new language, finding decent work, and adjusting to a new culture. The film explores their emotional journey; their hopes, expectations, and disappointments, as they build a life without …

Maxed Out: How The Pandemic Put The Fitness Industry’S Fate In The Hands Of Its Consumers, Denny Jacob

Capstones

The pandemic's impact on the fitness industry has gone deeper than closing gyms. It has completely reoriented how people workout, where they workout, how gyms will look and run and the new balance between brick-and-mortar gym locations and virtual fitness. The seismic shifts that have taken place over nearly two years have moved the industry to a place that it can't revert from. Everything that has changed since is here to stay in some capacity.

Link to capstone: https://djacob1670.wixsite.com/capstone