Digital Commons Network^™

Textq—A User Friendly Tool For Exploratory Text Analysis, April Edwards, Marylyn Sullivan, Ezrah Itkowsky, Dana B. Weinberg

Publications and Research

As the amount of textual data available on the Internet grows substantially each year, there is a need for tools to assist with exploratory data analysis. Furthermore, to democratize the process of text analytics, tools must be usable for those with a non-technical background and those who do not have the financial resources to outsource their data analysis needs. To that end, we developed TextQ, which provides a simple, intuitive interface for exploratory analysis of textual data. We also tested the efficacy of TextQ using two case studies performed by subject matter experts—one related to a project on the detection …

Book Review: Intercultural Perspectives On Research Writing, Edited By Pilar Mur-Dueñas And Jolanta Šinkūnienė (Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018), David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Òpera, Diversitat, Inclusió: Una Reflexió A Partir D'Una Estrena A Nova York, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

La inauguració de la temporada d’òpera a qualsevol ciutat important sol ser un gran esdeveniment i el Metropolitan Opera de Nova York (MET) no és cap excepció. És, lògicament, una nit de gala i tots els rituals de le grande monde es despleguen amb rigor litúrgic. Hi ha autoritats polítiques, naturalment, però sobretot lluminàries del món de les altes finances, la cultura i la ciència. Hi ha, també, sectors de la societat que no s’ho voldrien perdre per res del món: un petit univers d’estudiants de música tan ambiciosos com pobres i alguns grups com, el col·lectiu LGBTI+, molt discrets …

The Nature Of Anti-Asian American Xenophobia During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Preliminary Exploration Into Envy As A Key Motivator Of Hate, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Background. The current Coronavirus pandemic has been linked to a dramatic increase in anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate incidents in the United States. At the time of writing, there does not appear to be any published empirical research examining the mechanisms underlying Asiaphobia during the current pandemic. Based on the stereotype content model, we investigated the idea that ambivalent attitudes toward AAPIs, marked primarily with envy, may be contributing to anti-AAPI xenophobia. Methods. Study 1 (N = 140) explored, through a survey, the link between envious stereotypes toward AAPIs and Asiaphobia. Study 2 (N = 167), …

We Are Each Other’S Breath: Tracing Interdependency Through Critical Poetic Inquiry, Karen Zaino, Jordan Bell

Publications and Research

In this paper, we utilize poetic methods that seek to surface, but not overdetermine, the unanticipated relational excess produced through literacy practices. Karen, a queer white woman, and Jordan, a cis-gendered heterosexual Black man, wrote a series of letters to one another throughout the Spring 2020 semester. We turned to critical poetic inquiry to analyze the letters, interested in poetry’s capacity to highlight literacy’s critical power and its emergent potential. We found ourselves implicated in each other’s lives in new ways; we found our relationship both strengthened and tested. Such relational indeterminacy creates methodological challenges in literacy research. We found …

Health Inequality Analysis In Europe: Exploring The Potential Of The Eq-5d As Outcome, Inge Spronk, Juanita A. Haagsma, Erica I. Lubetkin, Suzanne Polinder, M F. Janssen, G J. Bonsel

Publications and Research

Objective: This study explored the additive value of the multi-item EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) as an outcome measure in health inequality analyses, relative to the single-item EuroQol visual analog scale (EQ VAS).

Methods: A sample comprising the general population from Italy, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom (UK) completed the EQ-5D-5L and the EQ VAS. The level of education was selected as a proxy for socio-economic status (SES). EQ-5D-5L level sum scores (LSS) were compared against EQ VAS scores. Stratified and multivariable analyses were used to study the associations between SES and the LSS/EQ VAS relative to the presence of chronic …

Resilience And Urban Regeneration Policies. Lessons From Community-Led Initiatives. The Case Study Of Canfugarolas In Mataro (Barcelona), Diego Saez Ujaque, Elisabet Roca, Rafael De Balanzó Joue, Pere Fuertes, Pilar Garcia-Almirall

Publications and Research

This paper addresses socio-ecological, community-led resilience as the ability of the urban system to progress and adapt. This is based on the socio-cultural, self-organized case study of CanFugarolas in Mataró (Barcelona), for the recovery of a derelict industrial building and given the lack of attention to resilience emerging from grassroots. Facing rigidities (stagnation) observed under the provisions of urban regeneration policies (regulatory realm), evidenced in the proliferation of urban voids (infrastructural arena), the social subsystem stands as the enabler of urban progression. Under the heuristics of the Adaptive Cycle and Panarchy, the study embraces Fath’s model to analyze the transition …

A New Morning In Higher Education Collective Bargaining, 2013-2019, William A. Herbert

Publications and Research

This book chapter appears in Julius, D. J. (ed.), Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for Promoting Collaboration, Equity, and Measurable Outcomes (Routledge, New York and London). The chapter analyzes and contextualizes data concerning the growth in unionization and collective bargaining involving faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate assistants from 2013 to 2019, the period between the economic fallout from the Great Recession and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses the democratic values underlying collective bargaining and the historical and legal development of unionization at public and private institutions over the decades. It identifies three significant new trends …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Distinguish Violent Juvenile Sexual Offenders’ Victim Typologies, Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

Juvenile perpetrators account for over 25% of all sexual offenses, and over one-third of such offenses are against victims under the age of 18. Given empirical connections between adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure and perpetration of violence, we create victim typologies based on the juveniles’ relationship to their victims among 5539 justice-involved adolescents who have committed violent against-person sexual felonies. Multinomial logistic regression is used to assess which covariates, including individual ACE exposures and cumulative traumatic exposures, are associated with victim typologies. This approach allows for better targeting of violence prevention efforts, as a more nuanced understanding of the increased …

Shooting Trends Vary Across Areas Of New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Richard A. Espinobarros

Publications and Research

Recent reports point to slight reductions in New York City’s recent surge of shooting incidents. The number of shooting incidents was higher in 2020 and 2021 than in 2019, but the rate of increase appeared to be slowing. The degree of change varied across areas of the city.

Graduate Student Employee Unionization In The Second Gilded Age, William A. Herbert, Joseph Van Der Naald

Publications and Research

In debates on the future of work, a common theme has been how work became
less secure through the denial of employee status. Though much of the attention
has focused on other industries, precarity has also affected those working in
higher education, including graduate student employees, contributing to what is
now called the “gig academy.” While universities have reassigned teaching and
research to graduate assistants, they have also refused to recognize them as
employees. Nevertheless, unionization has grown considerably since 2012, most
significantly at private institutions. Utilizing a unique dataset, this chapter
demonstrates that between 2012 and 2019, graduate student …

Returning Home: A Descriptive Evaluation Of Prepare In New York City, Kathleen A. Tomberg, Gina Moreno, Patricia A. Cobar, Nicole Alexander

Publications and Research

The Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice partnered with the Osborne Association as the local evaluator of the Prepare program. Researchers conducted an evaluation consisting of an outcome analysis of administrative and survey data supplemented with data collected from interviews, focus groups, and observations with program participants and staff. Findings suggest Prepare was successful in helping individuals reconnect with their families and in finding a job. Participants reported that obtaining and maintaining employment improved their ability to have a relationship with their children and families, and improvements in family related scales correlated with job placement.

Ensuring Survey Research Data Integrity In The Era Of Internet Bots, Marybec Griffin, Richard J. Martino, Caleb Loschiavo, Camilla Comer-Carruthers, Kristen D. Krause, Christopher B. Stults, Perry N. Halkitis

Publications and Research

We used an internet-based survey platform to conduct a cross-sectional survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ + population in the United States. While this method of data collection was quick and inexpensive, the data collected required extensive cleaning due to the infiltration of bots. Based on this experience, we provide recommendations for ensuring data integrity. Recruitment conducted between May 7 and 8, 2020 resulted in an initial sample of 1251 responses. The Qualtrics survey was disseminated via social media and professional association listservs. After noticing data discrepancies, research staff developed a rigorous data cleaning protocol. A second …

“School Hard” And Traditional Education In The Buffyverse Alia R. Tyner-Mullings, Alia R. Tyner

Publications and Research

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was once heralded as a beacon of feminist power on television in a sea of one-dimensional wives, girlfriends, and supporting characters. Joss Whedon, its creator, has been hailed as a feminist icon and a lifesaver of kids and adults struggling with being different (Cochran). “Geeks love Joss Whedon” according to a 2012 Wired article: “His characters are smart and self-aware. He’s steeped in pop culture and has a clever way with twists and turns of science fiction tropes […] plus, he writes female character who kick ass, which makes him so rare as to be sui …

Addressing Structural Racism In The Health Workforce, Randl B. Dent, Anushree Vichare, Jaileessa Casimir

Publications and Research

One of the greatest challenges facing the United States are health inequities among racial/ethnic and other marginalized populations. The deep-rooted structural racism embedded in our social systems, including our health care system and health workforce, is a core cause of racial health inequities. 1 Among many definitions of institutionalized or structural racism, Dr Jones 2 best defines it as: “Differential access to goods, services and opportunities of society by race ... It is structural, having been codified in our institutions of custom, practice, and law, so there need not be an identifiable perpetrator.” Dr Jones further explains that to set …

Reports And Commands: Deciphering A Health Exhibition Using The Speaking Mnemonic, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

The Amazing You exhibition at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry had over 400 different multimedia health exhibits. Visitors walked through life stages, from conception through death, the exhibits at first showcasing developmental milestones, then diseases and chronic conditions associated with ageing. Museum executives described the exhibition as a public health intervention that stressed disease prevention, screening and behaviour change. This piece considers the question: What makes an exhibition be a health intervention? To describe complexities of the communication environment I use a mnemonic device called SPEAKING, an acronym for ‘Scene/Setting, Participants, Ends, Act Sequence, Key, Instrumentalites, Norms and …

Building A Feminist Commons In The Time Of Covid-19, Miriam Ticktin

Publications and Research

The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been structured around the idea that human connection and sociality are bad—they are dangerous. This essay suggests that, perhaps paradoxically, rather than isolating to stay healthy, people are forging new egalitarian forms of connection. I argue that COVID-19 has enhanced experiments in what I will call a “burgeoning feminist commons.” These foreground new, horizontal forms of sociality, and they build the grounds of resistance, refusing to separate the time of political organization from that of reproduction. I discuss three such experiments: masked mobs, friendly fridges, and pandemic pods. Each form of connection …

Un Piano «Tòxic»: Chopin I El Seu ‘Pianino’ En Temps De La Covid, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

L'escena la podria haver escrita Proust o tal vegada Henry James en un dels seus viatges per l’Europa meridional. Hi ha grans dames, salons elegants i un piano molt especial. Hi ha, sobretot, gent ociosa.

I també, amb més coneixement de causa, hauria pogut ser un quadre de costumisme literari de Llorenç Villalonga perfilant amb sorna, distància i sang-froid la belle époque mallorquina. Fins i tot alguns dels protagonistes reals que hi intervenen, en aquest petit sainet verídic, apareixen en els llibres de l’escriptor mallorquí, com la senyora Gradolí, o, en tot cas, hi haguessin pogut aparèixer, com la comtessa …

Hostile, Quick-Tempered, And Exposed To Dangerous Environments: Exploring The Link Between Temperament And Street Code Adherence, Kevin T. Wolff, Sharron Spriggs, Jonathan Intravia, Michael T. Baglivio, Matt Delisi

Publications and Research

Although Elijah Anderson’s (1999) code of the street thesis has received a great deal of scholarly attention, fewer studies have examined the characteristics associated with its adoption. Existing evidence is supportive of Anderson’s initial observations, however, less is known about the association between personality and emotional characteristics and adopting street code norms. The current study assesses the role of Delisi and Vaughn’s difficult temperament index in the adoption of the street code among a sample of juvenile justice-involved youth. Results indicated youth with more difficult temperaments, characterized by lower levels of effortful control and higher levels of negative emotionality, were …

Police Officers’ Best Friend?: An Exploratory Analysis Of The Effect Of Service Dogs On Perceived Organizational Support In Policing, Kenneth M. Quick, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

This study explored the effectiveness of a novel technique for police departments to support their officers and promote wellness: the use of service dogs. We evaluated officer perceptions in two mid-sized, municipal police departments that have wellness programs with a service dog that is permanently assigned to a full-time police officer handler: Groton and Naugatuck, Connecticut. We assessed 6 factors believed to influence police officer wellness including: operational and organizational stress using the Police Stress Questionnaire (McCreary & Thompson, 2006); topical stressors including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, police use of force and community relations, and police reform efforts; …

The State Of The Unions 2021: A Profile Of Organized Labor In New York City, New York State, And The United States, Ruth Milkman, Stephanie Luce

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns generated vast job losses across the United States. The New York City metropolitan area, where the pandemic’s impact was felt earlier than elsewhere in the country, suffered severe job losses in 2020. The decline in employment among women workers was greater than among men — in sharp contrast to the Great Recession, which hit men’s employment harder. The State of the Unions 2021, A Profile of Organized Labor in New York City, New York State, and the United States, presents data on gender, union membership, and job losses in the COVID-19 economic downturn …

Safety And Belonging In Immigrant-Serving Districts: Domains Of Educator Practice In A Charged Political Landscape, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, Dafney Blanca Dabach, Ariana Mangual Figueroa

Publications and Research

Drawing from a context of reception framework, this article asks the following questions: How do educators describe issues of safety and belonging in the context of a charged immigration policy climate? What practices have educators developed to support immigrant-origin youth? And, what are the relationships between educators’ perceptions of safety and belonging and educator practices? We analyze educators’ survey responses administered across six school districts in different contexts across the United States, including the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. We synthesize four domains of educator practice: signaling affirmation, building shared knowledge and capacity, finding and mobilizing resources, and creating space …

Refugee Higher Education & Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From The Field, Hadas Yanay, Juan Battle

Publications and Research

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the …

A Day At The Races In Black And White: How An 1898 Horse Race Led To A Whipping, A Lawsuit, And A 1901 Arrest, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

After losing an 1898 horse race in the Bronx, New York, African-American jockey Alonzo ‘Lonnie’ Clayton, who had won the Kentucky Derby in 1892 at the age of fifteen, heard an insult from the crowd along the rail and struck a white spectator from Brooklyn across the face with his riding whip. The blow resulted in a two hundred dollar fine by the track stewards, but ultimately led to a civil trial, a financial judgment against Clayton that he ignored, and then an arrest and incarceration for non-payment of the judgment, which some writers mistakenly still claim was for race-fixing. …

Review Of Alternatives To Incarceration Efforts Worldwide, Emma Barton, Charlotte Drozd, Anne Fatooh, Katelyn Ferguson, Marc Gale, Parkash Garcha, Karen Giraldo, Aimee Hanstein, Matthew Jobson, Josephine Kehm, Lindsay Lerner, Meera Martin, Devon Mcmanamon, Mervyn Payne, Brianna Rivers, Bianca Suazo, Arlinda Xhuveli, Rosemary L. Barberet

Publications and Research

Despite global interest in treating substance use disorders as a health issue, many countries choose a criminal justice response instead. The goal of this project was to research the readiness of countries to establish or expand alternatives to incarceration (ATIs) for persons with substance use disorders (SUDs) in countries around the globe. This report gathers, compiles and analyzes information on alternatives to incarceration for persons involved in the criminal justice with substance use disorders, worldwide (193 UN Member States plus Greenland, Kosovo, Palestine and Taiwan). As such, this report presents the first attempt to compile this information globally and completely. …

Shooting Surge Continuing To Slow Across New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Richard A. Espinobarros

Publications and Research

This report looks at quarter-specific comparisons of police reported shooting incidents across New York City. Shooting incidents increased between the first and second quarters of both 2020 and 2021. However, shooting incident increases slowed between quarters 1 (January-March) and 2 (April-June) in 2021, compared to the same quarters of 2020. Quarter-specific comparisons are one way to address seasonal fluctuations in gun violence.

Content Analysis Of Two-Year And Four-Year Data Science Programs In The United States, Elizabeth Milonas, Duo Li, Qiping Zhang

Publications and Research

Data has grown exponentially in the last decade, and this growth has resulted in vast challenges for both business and IT domains (Hassan & Liu, 2019). This growth has given rise to the Data Science field, which has also grown exponentially in the last few years (Hassan & Liu, 2019; Song & Zhu, 2016). The Data Science field has its origins in the statistics and mathematics domain (Cao, 2017b), but is now considered a multidisciplinary field (Aasheim et al., 2015). Data Science warrants knowledge of data analytics, programming, systems, applications, informatics, computing, communication, management, and sociology (Aasheim et al., 2015; …

"Divide, Divert, & Conquer” Deconstructing The Presidential Framing Of White Supremacy In The Covid-19 Era, Vivian Louie, Anahi Viladrich

Publications and Research

Based on the analysis of President Donald J. Trump’s social media, along with excerpts from his speeches and press releases, this study sheds light on the framing of white supremacy during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Our findings reveal that the triad of divide, divert, and conquer was crucial to Trump’s communications strategy. We argue that racist nativism—or racialized national threats to American security—is key to comprehending the external divisiveness in this strategy. When Trump bitterly cast China as the cause of America’s pandemic fallout and Mexico as the source of other key American …

Holding Space For Uncertainty And Vulnerability: Reclaiming Humanity In Teacher Education Through Contemplative | Equity Pedagogy, Malgorzata Powietrzynska, Linda Noble, Sharda O’Loughlin‑Boncamper, Aundrey Azeez

Publications and Research

In this manuscript we describe our journey as two White coteachers conducting interpretive research with Black and Brown students in a remote-learning teacher preparation course in New York City. In the context of uncertainty, during the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice, we explore how we reframed our contemplative pedagogy by embracing an equity-oriented framework. We share stories about moments of awakening drawn from spaces between us and our exceptional cohort of special education teachers – reflections about sensations, emotions, biases, and lived experiences as we embrace the identity of interbeing. Specifically, we explore transformations in our approach to …

Learning Of Food Preferences: Mechanisms And Implications For Obesity & Metabolic Diseases, Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, Christopher D. Morrison, Karen Ackroff, Anthony Sclafani

Publications and Research

Omnivores, including rodents and humans, compose their diets from a wide variety of potential foods. Beyond the guidance of a few basic orosensory biases such as attraction to sweet and avoidance of bitter, they have limited innate dietary knowledge and must learn to prefer foods based on their flavors and postoral effects. This review focuses on postoral nutrient sensing and signaling as an essential part of the reward system that shapes preferences for the associated flavors of foods. We discuss the extensive array of sensors in the gastrointestinal system and the vagal pathways conveying information about ingested nutrients to the …