Digital Commons Network^™

Talking Back: Sodomy Laws And Transgressive Subjectivity In Medieval Venice, Alex Baldassano

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Urban Italian law, by the fifteenth-century, would become particularly aggressive in comparison to the rest of Europe not only in prosecuting sodomy, but also in implementing the threatened capital punishment. The 1354 Venetian court case of Rolandinus/a Ronchaia, in the century leading up to the officialization of the law, both exemplifies this trend and yet also stands out as unique because of the subject’s gender presentation; the case seeks to resolve whether or not this person, perceived either as ambiguously gendered or as a man dressed as a woman, can be convicted of committing sodomy or prostitution. Ronchaia, however, is …

The Sight Of Semiramis: Medieval And Early Modern Narratives Of The Babylonian Queen, Victoria E. H. Walker

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Atlantic Abolition In The Borderlands: The Interesting Narrative Of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, Alexandra Bicknell

Honors Theses

In 1854, the Geo. E. Pomeroy & Co. published An Interesting Narrative. Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua, a native of Zoogoo, in the interior of Africa (A Convert to Christianity,) with a Description of That Part of the World; including the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants in Detroit, Michigan. Baquaqua’s narrative did not gain as much attention as others in the genre published around the same time. The narrative only survived in eight copies though it was published by an editor that was able to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of an essay to a similar audience. This …

Understanding Individual Color Perceptions Within Print And Digital Media, Morgan Haskins

Honors Theses

Color is a subjective attribute that is seen differently by each individual and this research is intended to build upon the subjective nature of color perceptions. This research aims to determine the effect of subjectivity on print and digital design and of extended gamut printing and effective color management on color perception. The significance of understanding color perception is directly applicable to consumer perception of designs using color. If designers want their brand to be immediately recognized and be positively accepted, they must be able to accurately reproduce their brand colors with little to no color difference and be able …

The Effects Of Ai On Children’S Use Of Politeness, Pooja Mandagere

Honors Theses

This project is a study of the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on children’s politeness by providing positive reinforcement for good verbal behavior. How children communicate with artificial intelligence is identified. There is an observation as to how positive reinforcement will influence their behavior. The survey administered before and after the introduction of the Google Nest Hub into the homes of participating families (pre-intervention survey and post-intervention survey) is included in this document. There was an observation period during which the Google Nest Hub recorded queries made by the child participant within each of those families. These records were used …

Somos Y Estamos, Primavera/Spring 2020, Western Michigan University

Somos y Estamos

For Friends of the Department of Spanish at Western Michigan University. In both Spanish and English.

Racial Identity Among Native American Adults In The Southwestern United States, Deidre P. Begay

Dissertations

There is growing interest in the empirical psychological study of Native Americans. Nonetheless, currently there are few empirical investigations examining Native American identity from a racial perspective. One study, completed in 2011 by Gonzalez and Bennett, modified the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity to adapt to Native American individuals and used an Exploratory Factor Analysis that resulted in a four factor model of Native American identity called the Native Identity Scale (Gonzalez & Bennett, 2011). The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the Native Identity Scale when used with a sample from self-identified Native American adults …

Language – Liberation – Leadership The Identity Reconstruction And Lived Experiences Of Subaltern (Non-Elite) Learners Of English In Pakistan, Aamir Hasan

Dissertations

English enjoys an unassailable position of dominance in the world today, especially as the language of leadership. In most of the developing world, fluency in English is a must for meaningful employment and leadership opportunities. Yet English is the preserve of a tiny elite class, who use it as a first language. For the vast majority, the prospects for learning English are bleak. However, some individuals not hailing from the elite classes acquire the language through personal effort and perseverance. Yet, researchers have not studied this population.

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of non-elite …

A Qualitative Study Investigating The Common Or Shared Experiences Of Saudi And American Parents Of Students With Autism In The Iep-Process, Alwiah Abdullah Alsaggaf

Dissertations

Nationally, research on special education has emphasized the importance of involving parents in the individual educational plan (IEP) process (Al-Herz, 2008; Angel, Stoner, & Shelden, 2009; Hebel & Persitz, 2014; Hobbs & Silla, 2008; Hui-Chen & Mason, 2008). The IEP is a blueprint for special education and related special education services in the United States and other countries (Alquraini, 2013; Hebel & Persitz, 2014; Martin et al., 2006; Tal, 2009; Yell, Katsiyannis, Ennis, & Losinki, 2013). Development and implementation of effective educational programs for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involve collaboration with parents (Hebel & Persitz, 2014). However, the …

The Pre-Instructional And Reading Comprehension Strategies Special Education Teachers Use To Engage And Instruct Elementary Student Readers With Asd, Murfet Alnemr

Dissertations

Lyon (1998) called reading “critical to a child’s overall well-being.” Given the ubiquity of text in their lives today, reading skills can help students lead productive, meaningful lives. But what about elementary student readers with ASD? Senokossoff (2016) argued that “in addition to the social and emotional difficulties that children with ASD experience, many also struggle with reading comprehension.” Research indicates that students with ASD can face deficits associated with self-regulation and sensory overload—associated with visual, hearing, and touch —and this can threaten learning and comprehension (Bogdashina, 2003). Thus, it could be argued that pre-instruction strategies focused on visual, hearing, …

Cross Language Information Transfer Between Modern Standard Arabic And Its Dialects – A Framework For Automatic Speech Recognition System Language Model, Tiba Zaki Abdulhameed

Dissertations

Significant advances have been made with Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) applications. Yet, dialectal conversation ASR is still trailing behind due to limited language resources. As is the case in most cultures, the formal Modern Standard Arabic language is not used in daily life. Instead, varieties of regional dialects are spoken, which creates a dire need to address dialect ASR systems. Processing MSA language naturally poses considerable challenges that are passed on to the processing of its derived dialects. In dialects, many words have gradually morphed from MSA pronunciations and at many times have different usages. Also, …

Gower As Data: Exploring The Application Of Machine Learning To Gower’S Middle English Corpus, Kara L. Mcshane, Alvin Grissom Ii

Accessus

Distant reading, a digital humanities method in wide use, involves processing and analyzing a large amount of text through computer programs. In treating texts as data, these methods can highlight trends in diction, themes, and linguistic patterns that individual readers may miss or critical traditions may obscure. Though several scholars have undertaken projects using topic models and text mining on Middle English texts, the nonstandard orthography of Middle English makes this process more challenging than for our counterparts in later literature.

This collaborative project uses Gower’s Confessio Amantis as a small, fixed corpus for analysis. We employ natural language processing …

Introducing Gower Shorts, Eve Salisbury, Georgiana Donavin

Accessus

This essay provides an introduction to a special issue of Accessus, entitled "Gower Shorts," slightly expanded and revised versions of conference papers presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo in 2018-19 and the Modern Language Association Conference in Chicago in 2019.

Development System For Intelligent Surgical Box-Trainer Research, Janos Grantner

Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award (FRACAA)

Laparoscopic surgery, also referred to as minimally invasive surgery, describes the performance of surgical procedures with the assistance of a video camera and several thin surgical instruments. During the surgical procedure, small incisions of up to half an inch are made and plastic tubes called ports are placed through these incisions. The camera and the surgical instruments are then introduced through the ports which allow access to the inside of the patient. The video camera becomes a surgeon's eyes. Excellent eye-hand coordination capabilities are crucial to carry out laparoscopic surgery procedures. Gaining basic laparoscopic skills such as …

Supporting English Learners Through Practice-Based Research, Catherine Lammert, Erica B. Steinitz Holyoke

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Learning to use critical practice-based research as part of teaching is an important goal for preservice teachers, especially for those who plan to teach English learners in linguistically diverse settings. In this study, we examine the experiences of preservice teachers who were introduced to a framework for enacting iterative, transformative action research, and used the framework to study their own teaching in a one-on-one writing partnership with young English learners. Using an established self-efficacy survey instrument, as well as qualitative measures such as course artifacts and observations of teaching, we conducted a mixed-methods study to examine the impact of research …

Disruptive Teaching: Centering Equity And Diversity In Literacy Pedagogical Practices, Anne Swenson Ticknor, Mikkaka Overstreet, Christy M. Howard

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Teacher educators must prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to become equitable practitioners who honor the voices and experiences of their future students. In this article, we advocate for centering equitable teaching in literacy education courses and making explicit how to disrupt traditional perspectives of teaching diverse students. This qualitative study investigated PSTs’ perceptions and attitudes about teaching diverse students after a series of modeled lessons. Analysis revealed that over the course of the semester PSTs either continued to focus on barriers related to equitable teaching, began to discuss new possibilities for teaching, or were ready to enact the practices they had …

When Memories Make A Difference: Multimodal Literacy Narratives For Preservice Ela Methods Students, Kate Hope

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article examines multimodal literacy narrative projects designed by students in a methods of teaching course for secondary preservice English Language Arts teachers. For the multimodal project, preservice teachers infused written, audio, and visual text using a variety of creative mediums. Through combined theoretical frames, the researcher explores semiotics and preservice teachers’ use of multiliteracies as they shift their conceptions of what it means to compose. Finally, this article explores how the act of reflection through the literacy narrative influences preservice teachers’ notions of teaching composition through a variety of mediums.

Exploring The Impact Of Teacher Collaboration On Student Learning: A Focus On Writing, Shannon M. Pella

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this yearlong case study, six English teachers in an urban high school in Northern California engaged in sustained collaboration focused on developing and enacting strategies to improve the writing skills of their culturally and linguistically diverse freshmen. The study was conducted between August 2018 and June 2019, to determine the connections, if any, between teacher collaboration and student learning. Qualitative data were analyzed from teacher collaboration and observation of classroom practices, focus groups and teacher-created artifacts. Students’ on-demand writing assessments in fall and spring were compared with instructionally supported writing. Student surveys were analyzed in a mixed methods approach. …

Preservice Teacher Writer Identities: Tensions And Implications, David Premont, Shea Kerkhoff, Janet Alsup

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Because of recent attention underscoring the lack of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) writer identities , the purpose of this manuscript is to learn more about the writer identities of two PSTs, how to uncover the tensions that exist therein, and how they intend to enact that writer identity in the secondary classroom. This multiple case study examines the writer identity of two PSTs from a midwestern university in the United States. Data collection included a visual metaphorical representation, participant generated reflections in class, and participate generated reflections in practicum. The data suggest that contrasting writer identities exist among preservice ELA teachers …

Wildlife Emotions: Animal Rights As Examined Through A Cognitivist Lens, Kristy Schultz

The Hilltop Review

The aim of this article is to revisit and redefine the scope of a Kantian rights-based theory to include non-human animals. Generally, rights-based theories are predicated on a Kantian deontology that excludes all but rational subjects from possessing of basic rights. Historically, non-human animals—once thought to act on impulse and desire alone—have been excluded from rights-based considerations. However, more recent literature from emotions theorist Martha Nussbaum suggests an alternative picture for non-human animals. Cognitivist theories like Nussbaum’s, alongside intensive scientific research, support the notion that non-human animals show signs of intentionality and possess the capacity to emote. If Nussbaum’s theory …

The Hilltop Review, Vol 12, No 1, Fall 2019

The Hilltop Review

No abstract provided.

A Primer For Beginning Russian, Dasha Culic Nisula

Books Written by World Languages and Literatures Faculty

A two week introductory course to the teaching of Russian featuring lessons, exercises, and supplements.

Models Of Resistance: Novice Teachers Negotiating Barriers To Best Practice, Andrew P. Huddleston, Kathryn Ohle, Amy Mullins, Hannah Lowry, Denae Shake, Jordyn Arendse

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this study was to examine how graduates from three teacher education programs made decisions regarding literacy instruction and assessment as well as the extent to which they were able to implement practices learned in their education programs. Participants were interviewed and observed multiple times, and a variety of documents, such as lesson plans, assessments, and journal prompts, were collected. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, and habitus. Although the participants initially accepted the existing practices of their schools, they later implemented concepts learned in their education programs. The ways …

Comic Book Conversations As Pedagogies Of Possibilities In Urban Spaces, Ewa Mcgrail, Gertrude M. Tinker Sachs, Megan Lewis

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The researchers in this qualitative case study explored the dialogic experiences of elementary school students during Comic Book Club meetings held in their local community resource center. The researchers wanted to know what experiences of dialogism were manifested in children’s conversations about reading, writing, and comic creation and what concepts of dialogism were evident in those experiences. The interview and observation data and artifacts suggest that co-construction of meaning and intertextuality played important roles in the dialogic experiences of the participants. Children’s co-construction of meaning and intertextuality also demonstrated engaged embodiment due to children’s spontaneous enactment of dance and dramatization …

Western Michigan University Magazine, Fall Winter 2020-2021, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Magazine (1997-present)

• Expanding What It Means to Be Smart
• Mogul in The Making
• Purpose-Filled Pursuit
• A Vessel for Justice
• Shedding Light on The Future Of Disinfection
• When It Rains, It Stalls
• Safety First
• So That All May Learn
• Focused on The Future
• University News
• Expert Insights
• Alumni Profile
• Classnotes
• In Memorium

You May Call Me Professor: Professor Form Of Address In Email Communication And College Student Reactions To Not Knowing What To Call Their Professors, Grace M. Hildenbrand, Evan K. Perrault, Taylor M. Devine

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This experimental study tested whether a professor’s form of address (FOA) and email signature influenced students’ perceptions of the professor’s credibility, approachability, and likability. Guided by communication accommodation theory, the study investigated the likelihood that students would reciprocate a professor’s FOA in email communication. Participants were randomly assigned to one of seven conditions varying by professor FOA (doctor, professor, first name) and email signature (present or not), with a signature only control condition. Results indicated students were more likely to reciprocate the FOA when an email signature was not present. Open-ended responses suggested students perceive instructors more positively when instructors …

College Admissions For L2 Students: Comparing L1 And L2 Readability Of Admissions Materials For U.S. Higher Education, Zachary W. Taylor

Journal of College Access

Advancements in computational linguistics have allowed educational researchers to examine large amounts of text and assess the reading difficulty of that text for speakers whose first language is English (L1), and speakers whose first language is not English (L2). Considering L2 students exploring higher education, extant research suggests these L2 students do not access United States (U.S.) higher education as the same level as their L1 peers. Using popular measures of L1 and L2 readability, the current study analyzes admission instructions from 341 randomly-selected four-year U.S. institutions of higher education and finds L2 readability is more difficult (30.9) than L1 …

When Personal Raises Political: Experience Of Racial Discrimination And Distrust Of Authorities Among Children Of Immigrants, Luis Fernandez-Barutell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Substantial research has addressed the association between welcoming or hostile contexts and sociopolitical behavior among second generation immigrants. Previous analyses have conceptualized positive elements (e.g., group solidarity) and negative factors (e.g., anti-immigration bias) related to specific outcomes, such as voting or activism. This study examined factors associated with distrust of authorities and, in particular, whether experiencing personal discrimination based on race/ethnicity is related to distrust of government and police among second generation Latinos in the United States. Our results confirmed that experiencing discrimination in two contexts (school and police) is indeed related to distrust of authorities. Recommendations for practice and …

The Horse In Premodern European Culture, Anastasija Ropa

Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

This volume provides a unique introduction to the most topical issues, advances, and challenges in medieval horse history. Medievalists who have a long-standing interest in horse history, as well as those seeking to widen their understanding of horses in medieval society will find here informed and comprehensive treatment of chapters from disciplines as diverse as archaeology, legal, economic and military history, urban and rural history, art and literature. The themes range from case studies of saddles and bridles, to hippiatric treatises, to the medieval origins of dressage. It shows the ubiquitous – and often ambiguous – role of the horse …

Notes On Contributors, Molly Lynde-Recchia

Transference

No abstract provided.