Digital Commons Network^™

Souvenir Rocks, Hillary Ibarra

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

When I was in high school, I had a friend tell me, "Hillary, you're kind of smart, and kind of dumb." Not having a habit of arguing with the truth, I didn't deny it. I was reminded of her comment just the other day on a field trip with my son.

Know Thy Staff: An Interview With A Digital Projects Manager, Cristin Bushnell

University Libraries Blog Archive

Student staff member sheds light on the job of Ryan O'Grady, digitizer and photographer extraordinaire.

A Global Sport, Thomas M. Columbus

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

Men's soccer Flyers bring diversity to Dayton.

Thinking Basketball, Larry Burgess

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

Our basketball palace is opening soon. Believe.

Student Translates An Oral History Of Dayton To ‘Bring Back The Funk’, Allison Brace

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

University of Dayton senior Caleb Vanden Eynden wants to bring the funk to Dayton-area middle and high school music curricula.

National Coming Out Day: A Letter Of Hope, Rachel Barnett

University Libraries Blog Archive

Inspired by the book Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times, a library staff member writes a heartfelt letter to a courageous student.

Fundamentalism Turns 100, A Landmark For The Christian Right, William Vance Trollinger

History Faculty Publications

These days, the term “fundamentalism” is often associated with a militant form of Islam.

But the original fundamentalist movement was actually Christian. And it was born in the United States a century ago this year.

Protestant fundamentalism is still very much alive. And, as Susan Trollinger and I discuss in our 2016 book, it has fueled today’s culture war over gender, sexual orientation, science and American religious identity.

Ud Leads $2m Environmental Research Project, Dave Larsen

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

University of Dayton chemist Justin Biffinger will lead a new $2 million federal research program to investigate how fungi degrade polyurethane-based coatings and how degradation impacts the environment.

I'M Sorry, Cindy Argiento

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

Sometimes the lessons learned in life are more important than lessons learned in school. I learned about love not from a book, but by my parent's example.

Old And Gray, Randi Mazzella

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

It's Saturday night, and I am out with my husband and a few other couples for dinner. The restaurant is dimly lit and the menu has tiny print. I push the menu arm's length from my face, then I pull it closer to my face. Push. Pull. Push. Pull. My tablemates are also doing the menu dance. Then, in a synchronized movement, my girlfriends and I pull out readers so we see our options.

Weekly Marian Features: Oct. 7, 2019, University Of Dayton

Marian Library Blog Archive

Celebrating Our Lady of the Rosary and the month of the Rosary with selected articles from All About Mary.

Think Before You Click, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

Information security is a huge issue on college campuses as data breaches grab the headlines too often. The University of Dayton is defending data from cyber attacks by taking three proactive approaches.

Academic Policies Committee Minutes Of The Academic Senate 2019-10-07, University Of Dayton. Academic Senate. Academic Policies Committee

All Committee Minutes

Approved minutes of a meeting of the Academic Policies Committee of the Academic Senate of the University of Dayton.

A Writer's Disneyworld, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

"I promise to use my time wisely, to enjoy the omelet bar in moderation and to wear the robe with honor," one applicant pledged. "The residency," another wrote, "would be a writer's Disneyworld for me." From LA to New York City and Anchorage to Des Moines, writers weighed in on why they deserve to be "robed" in plush, custom-embroidered bathrobes and receive the ultimate gift - the luxury of time to write.

Drumroll! Introducing Preliminary Judges, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

We have lined up nearly 50 top-notch preliminary judges to review and rank the entries in "A Hotel Room of One's Own: The Erma Bombeck | Anna Lefler Humorist-in-Residence Program." The judges, all established writers, will narrow the field to 10 funny writers for judging by Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry and best-selling novelist Adriana Trigiani. All entries are blind-judged.

Modeling Resilience In Resettled Syrian Refugees With Disabilities, Nicholas Sherwood

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Since 2011, the ongoing conflict in Syria has displaced millions of individuals, many of whom are now resettled across foreign borders. The US currently hosts 21,000 Syrian refugees, and of these, at least 5,000 have a form of disability. Furthermore, many US-based resettlement agencies currently experience strain providing the specialized care required by many of these resettled Syrian refugees with disabilities (RSRD) in large part due to austerity measures imposed by the US Federal government. This research project asks of RSRD themselves: given the limitations placed on your care providers, what personal sources of strength do you utilize when you …

Obstacles To Excellence: Academic Freedom And China's Quest For World-Class Universities, Chelsea Blackburn Cohen

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

China’s government has made significant investments to develop universities that already compete with the world’s best. Their progress has captured global attention over the years, with universities around the world forging partnerships with institutions in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and scholars and students around the world flocking to study, teach, and research in the country. But while China continues to stoke its ambitions for developing more world-class universities, respect for academic freedom and other human rights essential to quality higher education lags behind, leaving scholars and students at risk, and the country’s goals in balance.

With the recent …

Ferguson To Geneva: Bringing An American Movement For Racial Justice To The World, Joel Pruce

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In December 2014, nearly four months after the shooting of Michael Brown, a delegation that included Brown's parents testified in front of the Committee against Torture in Geneva, Switzerland. While protest continued on the ground in Ferguson, Missouri (USA), this team delivered a report to the Committee that articulated the human rights claims of protestors to the international community. But, why? What did the delegation hope to accomplish that could not be satisfied through domestic channels, especially in a liberal democracy? Drawing on interviews with delegates and primary source research, I will examine rationales that may explain the political strategy …

Gender, Displacement And Urban Resilience, Sinéad Mcgrath

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Informal urban areas are home to both rural-to-urban migration, and a substantial number of refugee and IDP communities across the globe, since amongst displaced persons more than half seek safety in urban areas (Global CCCM Cluster 2014). While the drivers of this migration and displacement may vary, many of the challenges which populations encounter in urban areas remain the same. Nevertheless, the potential for linking urban resilience to forced displacement is underdeveloped. Furthermore, in the context of transitions to peace, the experiences of IDPs are often considered differently to those of international refugees and asylum seekers, as the lines crossed …

Ethics And Methods Of Human Rights Work: Exploring Both Theoretical And Practical Approaches, Shayna Plaut, Maritza Felices Luna, Christina Clark Kazak, Neil Bilotta, Lara Rosenoff Gauvin

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This workshop will explore both theoretical and practical approaches to methodologies and ethics as it relates to human rights work.

The goal of the workshop is to create a dynamic space that encourages participants to share and learn from our own experiences navigating the messiness of human rights ethics and methods. We specifically address formal education and systems and structures so that we may all design, do and teach research and practice related to human rights in a more critical and sustainable manner. We recognize the tensions of creating research, programs and advocacy that is seen as “legitimate” to educational …

Toward A Human Rights Impact Assessment Tool, Mona Younis

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights organizations are increasingly questioned about impact, which is particularly challenging for overextended and under-resourced groups that tackle complex issues requiring a long view to be achieved. They would greatly benefit from a manageable assessment tool to capture how well they are doing on key dimensions that are essential for that long-view impact. Building on my experience with the Ford Foundation’s Organizational Mapping Tool designed to assess organizational capacity, I propose to develop a tool to assess human rights impact.

The tool will enable any human rights organization to assess how it is doing in areas that are essential …

Professional Resistance Of Lawyers: Defending Human Rights And The Rule Of Law In Hong Kong After Umbrella Movement, Yan-Ho Lai

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Purpose: Against the backdrops of deteriorating human rights protections and the rule of law after the unprecedented Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, this paper investigates the roles and impacts of mobilised legal profession in resisting China’s authoritarian rule over and defending domestic human rights regime in Hong Kong. This paper argues that, despite the legal profession of Hong Kong becomes further divided under the political and economic statecraft, lawyer activism as a professional resistance becomes a new force to resist the political intervention of the rule of law as well as deepening the cultural and institutional foundations of the rule …

Contesting Human Rights Defenders At The Un Human Rights Council, M. Joel Voss

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights defenders are being increasingly targeted across the globe. The rise of nationalist, populist regimes is of great concern to both human rights defenders and those that advocate for the rights of defenders. The problem is not only of domestic concern. The UN Human Rights Council, the UN’s preeminent human rights institution, is also seeing an increasing number of attacks on defenders, both in formal settings like discussions on resolutions and the Universal Periodic Review process and informally, through threats to participants at the Council.

This paper attempts to better understand and predict which states will both try to …

The Campus Human Rights Index: Measuring University Commitment To Human Rights, Charles Crabtree, Volha Chykina, Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Michelle Bellino

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

To what extent do universities respect human rights? Despite the prevailing view that universities are bastions of progressive ideas with a bias for rights protection, anecdotal evidence suggests that they diverge significantly in their commitment to promote and protect human rights, even within the U.S. To this point, though, there exists no systematic measure of university human rights commitments. In this manuscript, we introduce the first such indicator - the Campus Human Rights Index (CHRI). We describe the measure and introduce our initial ranking of universities. We then formally assess the construct validity of our measure by comparing it to …

From Birmingham To Lima: Expanding Mobility For Persons With Disabilities, Shane Burns

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Social issues such as resource allocation, distributive justice, and civic participation have been the hallmarks of human rights discourse. These issues are particularly salient to persons with disabilities, arguably one of the most excluded communities in the world despite representing over 15% of the global population. Inaccessibly built environments are one the key barriers for persons with disabilities because they prohibit full access to spaces and services that promote social inclusion. Additionally, persons with disabilities have drawn limited attention from the realms of urban planning and development. As a result, the importance of disability rights must be viewed as a …

Reclaiming Impact In The Age Of Awareness-Raising For Human Rights, Azadeh Pourzand, Ali Arab

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In the last decade, the practice of awareness-raising for human rights has appeared as notably common across the board. Nevertheless, widespread awareness-raising has not necessarily always resulted in meaningful and sustainable impact. Accepting that awareness raising is not a panacea, we challenge the global collective fascination with big impact, while considering the power of small strategic impact that invests in education, and building alliances, and has the potential to last and to expand by way of gradual encroachment through contextually-defined grassroots means natural to its course.

Empowered through social media, advocates are increasingly enthusiastic about reaching massive audiences by way …

Abortion As A Human Right In The United States: Exploring The Role Of Cedaw Cities In Challenging The Hyde Amendment, Jessica Pierson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Women’s sexual and reproductive rights are foundational to gender equality. Having access to abortion care is fundamental to the full realization of a woman’s human rights. Although abortion is legal in the United States, anti-choice groups and conservative lawmakers have been successful in restricting the right to an abortion, particularly through legislation like the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funds from covering abortion care for low-income women insured by the Medicaid program. U.S. constitutional law has upheld restrictions on abortion care, leaving a large portion of reproductive age women without the ability to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion. …

International Surrogacy Arrangements: A Human Rights Case, Marisa Araújo

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The scientific development in Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART), especially IFV solutions, are promoting the development of our reproductive options. Surrogacy is now one of these solutions and new ethical and legal problems arise.

Domestic Laws have the most different positions. If there are countries that admit surrogacy arrangements, even commercial ones like the Florida State in the USA (and the particular case of India); others criminalize these procedures and others, like the UK (and Portugal), have a middle term position.

Considering the frontier zone in which surrogacy takes its place, the debate is more exuberant since the concrete legal solution …

Using A Human Rights Framework For Regulating The Internet Of Things: The Critical Role Of Human Rights Advocacy, Adam Todd

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the billions of technical devices around the globe that connect to and communicate through the Internet. These devices collect, store and share vast amounts of valuable data. With the advent of 5G (fifth generation cellular network technology), IoT is expected to grow even more dramatically over the coming decade and likely to change our lives in ways we have yet to imagine.

IoT holds the promise of advancing human rights by facilitating the technology that can lead to a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable environment, and greater access to education, better healthcare, capital, …

Rights In Small Places? Participation, Rights And Power In Northern Ireland, Nicola Browne

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

That a disconnect exists between ordinary people and the world of human rights academia, NGOs and INGOs and the marginalised communities they are intended to serve is undisputed. As the years preceding and following the financial crash have been characterised by increased economic inequality and concentration of power and influence in the hands of a ever-shrinking coterie of elites, human rights as a tool of change have seemed increasingly legalistic, irrelevant and divorced from the people. A case study will be presented of Belfast based rights organisation (Participation and the Practice of Rights - PPR) set up to develop and …