Digital Commons Network^™

Reason And Emotion, Not Reason Or Emotion In Moral Judgment, Leland F. Saunders

SPU Works

One of the central questions in both metaethics and empirical moral psychology is whether moral judgments are the products of reason or emotions. This way of putting the question relies on an overly simplified view of reason and emotion as two fully independent cognitive faculties whose causal contributions to moral judgment can be cleanly separated. However, there is a significant body of evidence in the cognitive sciences that seriously undercuts this conception of reason and emotion, and supports the view that moral judgments are caused by a complex interplay of psychological mechanisms that are both cognitive and affective, but in …

The Killing Of An ‘Angry Black Woman’: Sandra Bland And The Politics Of Respectability, Victoria D. Gillon

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

On July 13th, 2015, 28-year-old Sandra Bland was pulled over by a police officer in Waller County, TX, for failure to signal a lane change. Around six minutes later, Bland was being slammed and handcuffed to the ground. What happened in these six minutes that caused a minor traffic violation to escalate to what would later be three days in jail, concluding with Bland’s death? Hundreds of years of significations towards black women led to Sandra Bland’s arrest. However, at a time when Bland was perceived to be at her most vulnerable, she resisted. By intentionally not putting out a …

2016 Libqual+ Survey - Performing Arts Library, Kennesaw State University Library System

Library Reports and Surveys

2016 LibQUAL+ Survey branch analysis for the Performing Arts Library.

2016 Libqual+ Survey - Ksu Library System, Kennesaw State University Library System

Library Reports and Surveys

2016 LibQUAL+ Survey for the KSU Library System.

2016 Libqual+ Survey - Sturgis Library, Kennesaw State University Library System

Library Reports and Surveys

2016 LibQUAL+ Survey branch analysis for the Horace W. Sturgis Library.

2016 Libqual+ Survey - Johnson Library, Kennesaw State University Library System

Library Reports and Surveys

2016 LibQUAL+ Survey branch analysis for the Lawrence V. Johnson Library of the KSU Library System,.

Defining America: Chicano/Latino Influence, Hope Jackson-Doney

2016 Symposium

With the 2016 Presidential Elections, immigration has become a hot topic of discussion among the presidential candidates as they debate what actions to take with respect to undocumented population residing in the United States. This study examines the ways in which Latina/os and immigrants have defined and redefined the American culture. Using peer review academic sources, this work explores the cultural development of Latina/os in the United States and how this group constitutes a critical foundation of American society. This works illustrates how the United States is known as the melting pot of cultures for many generations and Latina/o immigrants …

Follow-Up Telephone Contact Following Discharge From Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals, Tonja Williams

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Readmissions to acute care hospitals within 30 days post discharge are a burden to healthcare economy. Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (2007) estimated a cost of $12 billion dollars is spent each year on Medicare patients who are readmitted to an acute care hospital within 30 days post discharge. MedPAC (2007) estimated that 75% of those readmissions are avoidable. A review of the literature was conducted. Thirteen studies were reviewed and analyzed and the results of the literature review indicated there is evidence supportive of implementing telephone follow-up contact with patients discharged from the LTACH to assess for additional needs and …

Book Review Of Anthony Corbeill: Sexing The World: Grammatical Gender And Biological Sex In Ancient Rome, Matthew P. Loar

Department of Classics and Religious Studies: Faculty Publications

Why is patria (“fatherland”) a feminine noun? How is it that virtus (“courage”), though etymologically linked with the masculine vir, is also a feminine noun? And more vexingly, what is it about a book (liber) that makes it masculine instead of, say, neuter? When first-year Latin students ask these sorts of questions, our immediate impulse is to reassure them that grammatical gender is just that—grammatical. Trying to divine some underlying sexual characteristic that makes courage feminine or a book masculine is not only futile but also counterproductive to early language learning. As I tell my own students: …

Tapestry Of Russian Christianity: Studies In History And Culture, Jennifer B. Spock, Editor, Nickolas Lupinin, Editor, Donald Ostrowski, Editor

EKU Faculty and Staff Books Gallery

Tapestry of Russian Christianity: Studies in History and Culture. Nickolas Lupinin, Donald Ostrowski and Jennifer B. Spock, eds. Columbus, Ohio: Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures and the Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies, The Ohio State University, 2016.

Fostering Campus Diversity And Advancing The Internationalization Of Education On College And University Campuses, Sherwood Thompson, Timothy Forde

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This paper discusses the challenges that institutions of higher education face in educating and preparing students to work and live in an increasingly diverse global population. This concept-oriented discussion does not intend to provide detailed theoretical or experimental development and analysis. Instead, this paper presents an innovative paradigm that attempts to embrace many nuances associated with the terms diversity and globalization in the literature. The paper posits the internationalization of education as a strategy that can help universities demonstrate their commitment to educating students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Other strategies include targeted recruiting of highly competent international faculty …

Primary School Teachers’ Opinions And Attitudes Towards Stuttering In Two South African Urban Education Districts, Kristen Abrahams, Michal Harty, Kenneth O. St. Louis, Lehana Thabane, Harsha Kathard

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: As teachers form an important part of the intervention process with children who stutter in primary school, the primary aim was to describe primary school teachers’ attitudes in South Africa. The secondary aim was to compare teachers’ attitudes towards stuttering in South Africa with those from a pooled group of respondents in the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA-S) database from different countries collected in 2009–2014.

Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey research design was used. Primary schools in two education districts in Western Cape, South Africa, were sampled. The POSHA-S, a selfadministered questionnaire, was completed by a cluster …

Sociodemographic Correlates Of Tobacco Consumption In Rural Gujarat, India, Payal Kahar, Ranjita Misra, Thakor G. Patel

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background. The purpose of this study was to examine occupation-, education-, and gender-specific patterns of tobacco use and knowledge of its health effects among 23,953 rural Asian Indians ≥18 years in Gujarat. Methodology. A statewide, community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 26 districts of Gujarat (December 2010–May 2015), using face-to-face interviews by trained community health workers called SEVAKS. Results. Mean age was 39.8 ± 15.2 years. Eighteen percent of respondents used tobacco in various forms. Tobacco consumption was significantly higher among males (32%), 18–34 years’ age group (35%), those who were self-employed (72%), and those with elementary education (40%). The …

Perceived Discrimination And Health Outcomes Among Asian Indians In The United States, Ranjita Misra, Haslyn Hunte

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Perceived interpersonal discrimination while seeking healthcare services is associated with poor physical and mental health. Yet, there is a paucity of research among Asian Americans or its subgroups. This study examined the correlates of reported interpersonal discrimination when seeking health care among a large sample of Asian Indians, the 3rd largest Asian American subgroup in the US, and identify predictors of adverse self-rated physical health, a well-accepted measure of overall health status.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Participants comprised of 1824 Asian Indian adults in six states with higher concentration of Asian Indians.

Results: Mean age and years lived in the …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Numbers: A Qualitative Study Of Trends In Higher Education Mathematics Curriculum, Julia C. Vandermolen

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Mathematics occupies a dynamic place in general education curriculum. The subject once served primarily as a language to explain the natural world and more recently adopted more usefulness-centered value in research and society. Changes in K-12 curriculum standards over the last two decades have again reoriented the subject toward quantitative reasoning (QR) acquisition, responding to demands by employers for greater facility with quantitative information and recommendations by researchers with regard to learning acquisition and transfer in mathematics. After defining components of QR, this study examined mathematics curriculum at highly ranked liberal arts colleges and universities across a ten-year period to …

Between Georgia And Crimea: The Social Dimensions Of War For The Russian Military, Mari Elisa Dugas

Honors Thesis Collection

What factors are vital to the success of military operations? In the case of the contemporary Russian military, most scholars have attributed success in both Georgia (2008) and Crimea (2014) to a reformed and technologically improved military. Despite a widely accepted “victory” in Georgia, Russia’s military performed disastrously, which catalyzed a series of reforms and modernization projects within the military. Many scholars have traced these reforms to the success of Russia’s operations in Crimea in 2014, citing their superior technology and organizational learning. My thesis addresses the reality of Russia’s military operation in Crimea, which I argue was dependent more …

Adding Fuel To The Fire: An Empirical Analysis And Case Study Of The Effects Of Natural Resources On Political Violence In Africa, Alice Liang

Honors Thesis Collection

How do natural resources affect political violence? Natural resources may increase the opportunity for rebels to profit from violence, or they may weaken state capacity, allowing rebels to fight more easily. Previous empirical analyses on this question have used broad variables to capture micro-level mechanisms linking resources to violence. I instead aggregate sub-national data on political violence, resource availability, and other covariates in Africa from 1997-2014 to explore the links between resources and conflict within countries rather than across countries. The results from a fixed effects specification suggest that lootable resources increase the probability and the intensity of rebel violence, …

All Hail The Whale: Cetaceous Metaphor, Monarchy, And Monstrosity In Shakespeare And Melville, Anna Everett

Honors Thesis Collection

In my thesis, I have explored the role of whales in literature from Greco-Roman mythology to early English and American literature, including Shakespeare’s Pericles, Lyly’s Gallathea, and Melville’s Moby-Dick, as well as touched on some fiction of today. I pay particular attention to queer readings of these texts as well as to the role that gender plays in them. I argue that at this time in history, literature is the most definitive authority on the multifarious nature of whales. Whales are a powerful metaphor for politics on land, sexual predation, tyranny, and godliness. Because of their both …

Revolutionary Love: Ferguson Uprising, A Love Story, Zoe Krause

Honors Thesis Collection

This thesis addresses the dimensions of what protestors in Ferguson refer to as “revolutionary love,” an affective force expressed and enacted in the streets. Answering the skepticism and dismissal of love in politics, I first examine the tradition of love in radical Black political thought, as well as somewhat more recent turns to love in feminist, queer and affect theory. Turning to diverse sources of coverage on protests against police brutality, including press coverage of Black Lives Matter the organization, the self-critical archive available via Ferguson activists’ use of Twitter, and participant observation in protests in and around Ferguson, Missouri. …

Bones Don’T Lie: Historical And Forensic Comparisons Of Wellesley College’S Human Skeletal Anatomy Teaching Collection, Isabel Starr

Honors Thesis Collection

Combining archival research and osteological data collected from skulls in the Wellesley College human skeletal anatomy teaching collection, we investigate how the composition of individuals’ age, sex, and ancestral background compares with and exists in relation to other skeletal anatomy teaching collections of the early 20th century. Archival research at Wellesley College and the Ward Archives at the University of Rochester shows that the Wellesley collection was most likely compiled through a variety of purchases and donations between 1870 and 1956, with two major purchases in 1914 and 1916. Through analysis of metric and nonmetric cranial data in FORDISC, we …

Cruces Cervantinos, Fronteras Femeninas: Las Mujeres Migrantes En Tres Obras De Cervantes, Charlotte Weiss

Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Iconicity Type On Preschool Children’S Gesture Learning: A Role For Embodiment?, Jenny Chen

Honors Thesis Collection

Iconicity, or the similarity between a symbol and its meaning, is found in many languages, especially in sign languages. Children use iconicity to facilitate new word learning, although the age when they seem to reliably leverage iconicity varies from study to study. Previous studies have inconsistently classified iconic gesture type, and this inconsistency may have affected their findings and generalizability. We proposed that children might be differently sensitive to iconic gestures with varying degrees of embodiment. Therefore, we categorized iconic gesture types based on level of embodiment, with gestures differing in terms of action and/or perceptual features. We tested adults …

A Computational Approach To Foreign Accent Classification, Emily Ahn

Honors Thesis Collection

As speech recognition and intelligent systems are more prevalent in society today, we need to account for the variety of accents in spoken language. An important step involves identifying the type of accent given a sample of speech. For this thesis, we have coded machine learning algorithms to classify accents from foreign-accented English. Given a data set of 4925 phone calls that span 23 different accents, we have trained Gaussian Mixture Models for each accent with two main methods. The text-independent classifier assumes that we took sound features without knowing the transcriptions of the speech, while the text-dependent classifier relies …

The Lopapeysa: A Vehicle To Explore The Performance Of Icelandic National Identity, Kathleen Donlan

Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Are Love Songs Lyrically Gendered? A Content Analysis Of Gender-Specific Speech Features In Song Lyrics, Jeanne Gallee

Honors Thesis Collection

Do gender-specific conversational speech patterns appear in the lyrics of male and female artists? To answer this question, chapter 1 first reviews sociolinguistic methods and describes evidence for gender-specific speech characteristics as well as for some of the differences in power dynamics between men and women that the use of these characteristics reveals. It then discusses the similarity of lyrics and speech, reviews some of the current literature on the effects of music on behavior, and provides a motivation for the study that is described in chapter 2. This study looks at the lyrics of 179 romantic songs sung by …

In Defense Of A Contextualized Suppositional Account Of Conditional Credence, Xueyin Zhang

Honors Thesis Collection

Conditional credence is an important concept in many areas of philosophy. However, little consensus has been achieved regarding its semantics and ontology. In this thesis I shall sketch a contextualist suppositional account of conditional credence by drawing insights from two seemingly disjoint debates: the foundational debate on the relationship between conditional and unconditional probabilities, and the semantic debate on the relationship between conditional probability and probabilities of conditionals. I argue that, for a given pair of propositions A and B, the conditional credence one ought to have for B given that A - P(B|A) - may depend on contextual parameters …

Rhythm In The Speech And Music Of Jazz And Riddim Musicians, Angela C. Carpenter, Andrea G. Levitt

Faculty Research and Scholarship

Previous research has demonstrated similarities in the rhythmic characteristics of the speech and instrumental music within individual languages, such as French or English, but clear differences in these rhythmic patterns between languages. A recent finding has shown a comparable result for the rhythmic patterns of the spontaneous speech and instrumental music of musicians who speak different dialects of English, such that within-dialect speech and music rhythms are more similar to one another than are across-dialect rhythms. We extend the latter finding by comparing the rhythmic characteristics of the spontaneous speech and jazz productions of jazz musicians who speak American English …

The Role Of A Domain-Specific Language Mechanism In Learning Natural And Unnatural Stress, Angela C. Carpenter

Faculty Research and Scholarship

In an artificial language-learning task, two groups of English and French participants learned one of two language rules: 1) stress the first heavy (CVC) syllable, else the first syllable, or, 2) stress the first light (CV) syllable, else the first syllable. French and English participants were chosen to compare learning outcomes by speakers of different native stress systems, fixed and variable. Participants were trained on the target language by listening to a set of nonsense familiarization words exemplifying the stress rule. This was followed by a forced-choice task to choose the correct version of the words they had just learned. …

The Effects Of Four Voice Qualities On The Perception Of A Female Voice, Andrea G. Levitt, Margery Lucas

Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Wellesley Magazine Winter 2016, Wellesley College Alumnae Association

Wellesley Magazine (Alumnae Association)

Featured in this issue:

Campaign 2016: A Teach-In

One Child’s Journey / by Melissa Ludtke ’73

Get With the Programming / by Lisa Scanlon Mogolov ’99