Digital Commons Network^™

Will The Odds Ever Be In Her Favor? Katniss Everdeen And The Female Athlete, Tony Kemerly

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Autoethnography is a qualitative research method that allows the author to write in a highly personalized style, drawing on his or her experience to extend understanding about a specific issue. One subset of autoethnography, critical autoethnography, combines the narrative or storytelling aspect of autoethnography with critical theory approaches in order to gain illustrate for the reader a specific site of oppression within one’s culture. Through an examination of the books and films of The Hunger Games’ saga, this paper will examine the interaction between students and professor in regard to the journey of the female athlete through the power …

Media Literacy, Education, And A Global Pandemic: Lessons Learned In A Gender And Pop Culture Classroom, Jessica Lowell Mason, Ebehitale Imobhio

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, bell hooks writes that “to engage in dialogue is one of the simplest ways we can begin as teachers, scholars, and critical thinkers to cross boundaries.” Hence, this paper explores, through narrative dialogue, teacher and student perspectives on the pedagogical impact of the global pandemic on the process of engaging with and learning about media literacy. By naming and narrating teacher and student experiences and perspectives from a course on gender and pop culture that took place during the Spring 2020 semester, the paper aims to demonstrate the …

Disparities Among Medical Students Interested In Ophthalmology At Matriculation And Graduation, Saumya Copparam, Christine Xu, Manuela Herrera, Yunyi Ren, Sili Fan, Melody Y. Hou, Glenn Yiu

Journal of Academic Ophthalmology

Purpose:

Ophthalmology is one of the least diverse specialties in the U.S., but disparities in medical student interest in the field are unknown. We aim to identify demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with U.S. medical students’ interest in pursuing ophthalmology at matriculation and graduation.

Study Design:

Retrospective cross-sectional and cohort study of U.S. medical students who completed the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ) or Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) survey between 2013 and 2022. We compared factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, parent income, and debt between students interested in ophthalmology versus other specialties …

Making The Case For Teaching Character Change In Complex Tv: The Closer And Major Crimes, Emily C. Hoffman

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Jason Mittel’s 2015 book Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling offers enough material to sustain a semester-long undergraduate course. Because of its approachability and students’ interest in discussing characters, his chapter devoted to viewers’ parasocial relationships and characters’ potential for change is among the most teachable. However, teaching complex television that relies on intensely serialized story elements can make choosing televisual texts for study and discussion challenging. Therefore, series that skew episodic yet still incorporate serial elements, like police procedurals, can prove to be a practical alternative for classroom study. This article describes how using the interrelated …

A Gendered Perspective On Policing Violence In Happy Valley And Fargo, T. Allen Culpepper

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Portrayal of a police officer determined to fight crime and execute justice in a harsh, isolated environment has become a television and film subgenre, often featuring women facing gender-related challenges. The issues raised in Sally Wainwright’s British television series Happy Valley, can be made more accessible, particularly to American undergraduate students, via its commonalities with the Coen brothers film Fargo. In both, a tough but compassionate policewoman pursues the more sociopathic of a pair of criminals involved in a botched kidnapping attempt instigated by an inept businessman, taking on the case for personal and professional honor, and as …

Grounded Aesthetics: Pedagogy For A Post-Truth Era, Becca Cragin

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

With the rise of cultural studies, positivism and formalism fell out of favor. But in recent years, altered versions of these methodologies have been suggested as solutions to the deficiencies of the ideological approach dominating the field. Where the ideological approach looks at the content of texts to determine their meaning, the aesthetic approach adopted by media scholars in recent years returns to the close textual readings of formalism (while abandoning its assertion that meaning resides in the text alone). Similarly, where the ideological approach tends to use textual analysis devoid of sociological empiricism, the use of “big data” in …

“If You Want To Be The Man, You’Ve Got To Beat The Man”: Masculinity And The Rise Of Professional Wrestling In The 1990s, Marc A. Ouellette

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper traces the relationship between the shifting representations of masculinity in professional wrestling programs of the 1990s and the contemporaneous shifts in conceptions of masculinity, examining the ways each of these shifts impacted the other. Most important among these was a growing sense that the biggest enemy in wrestling and in day-to-day life is one’s boss. Moreover, the corporate corruption theme continues to underscore the WWE's on-screen and off-screen coverage, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century. Thus, the paper provides a template for considering a widely consumed popular cultural form in ways that challenge the determinism …

Mapping Gender And Territory: The Continent Allegories On European World Maps From The Late Middle Ages To The Renaissance Until The Early Enlightenment, Katharina Eva Oehmichen

Comparative Woman

The four-part set of female continent allegories, which originated in the early Renaissance, was born out of a European need for a new vehicle of thought that served the functions of representing imperial expansion and the superiority of Western science and civilization, while gratifying the curiosity of the readers about newly discovered lands at the same time. The shift from the Christian symbolic tradition of the representation of the continents on world maps mirrored the shift in Western perception and knowledge of the world and Europe’s position in it. Apart from geo-political and imperial agendas that might have favored a …

The Representation Of Women With Disabilities In Shahira Al-Hasan’S Cochlea’S Secrets, Mohammed Abou Adel, Amr M. Mohamed, Mubarak Altwaiji

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study examines the representation of women living with disabilities in Shahira Al-Hassan’s novel Cochlea’s Secrets. This is an important endeavor as it highlights fiction’s role in advocating for women with disabilities, particularly in the Arab region. Such a study is crucial for increasing awareness and support for women with disabilities, especially in literary writing. Also, worldwide readers can learn about the impact of Arab novelists in supporting women with disabilities. Fiction, like the media, plays a pivotal role in promoting the status of women living with disabilities and enhancing their societal role. By addressing this topic from the perspective …

The Constitutional And Policy-Oriented Framework Of Rights, Services, And Integration Of People Of Determination In The United Arab Emirates, Muhamad Olimat, Osman Antwi-Boateng

Journal of International Women's Studies

The term “People of Determination” (PODs), coined by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, refers to women and men with disabilities and is articulated and inspired by the country’s history, culture, and traditions. This study aims to examine the constitutional and policy-oriented framework of PODs in terms of rights, services, and their integration process in UAE society. In so doing, it explores the UAE’s perspective on PODs in terms of conceptualization, services, framework of empowerment, institutions, rehabilitation efforts, employment, and societal integration. Although the UAE is a federal state composed of seven emirates with federal institutions, each emirate has established …

Roger Williams University Law Review Symposium: Trauma-Informed Lawyering: Approaches To Advocating For Diverse Populations November 15, 2024, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

With Fear, Favor, And Flawed Analysis: Decision-Making In U.S. Immigration Courts, Karen B. Musalo Prof.

Faculty Scholarship

Immigration judges (IJs), housed within the Executive Office for Immigration Review within the Department of Justice (DOJ), make decisions in asylum and withholding claims, which are life or death matters. And although their title is “judge,” IJs are DOJ attorneys who lack independence and are particularly susceptible to political pressures. Federal court judges and scholars alike have criticized the quality and fairness of IJ decision-making, and many studies have been carried out to better understand the factors that impact it. The prior studies have relied principally on quantitative data because IJ decisions are not publicly available or searchable in any …

Empowering Ageing-In-Place, Zidane Tiew, Wei Tin Hiah, Rachel Wen Yi Ngu, Wensi Lim

ROSA Research Briefs

In the past year, three governmental ministries – the Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Development, and Ministry of Transport – have jointly led Age Well SG, a national programme that seeks to support older Singaporeans in ageing well in their homes and their communities. This programme reflects the government’s priority in enabling ageing-in-place, a trend that has been increasingly welcomed by older Singaporeans. Current policies that seek to enable ageing-in-place are centred on three forms of enhancements in the environments in which older Singaporeans live, such as the implementation of Active Ageing Centres, strengthening of support for care needs, …

The Second Amendment’S Second Sex, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay explores how the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment doctrine perpetuates gender hierarchies and a male monopoly on lethal self-defense. It critiques the narrow “true man” framing that ignores women’s experiences and advocates for a justice-centered framework that incorporates power and privilege into the gun-rights discourse.

Understanding The Journey To Leadership For Asian American Women Who Ascended To Their First K–12 School Leadership Position: A Narrative Study, Binal Kumar

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Little is known about the pathways Asian American women take to ascend to their first school leadership position in K–12 schools. This study explored the lived experiences of Asian American women who received their first school administrator job in New Jersey, the intersectionality of gender, race, age, and social norms and how these Asian American women developed as education leaders. This study explored the perceived barriers and the successful strategies Asian American women utilize to ascend to their first school administrator position. This qualitative study examines the experiences of 10 Asian American women in school leadership roles through the lens …

The Experiences Of Men As A Gender Minority In Early Childhood Workplaces, Julian Laferla

Graduate Teacher Education

Men comprise a small percentage of the early childhood education and care workforce worldwide. Men represent only three percent of the preschool workforce in the United States (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, 2023). A review of the literature revealed challenges men commonly face as a gender minority in a female-dominated field. These challenges include the transgression of traditional beliefs about masculinity, structural barriers like low pay and poor working conditions, and workplace challenges like exclusion, double standards, gatekeeping, and suspicion of sexual threat. Research showed that men can contribute to the field through pedagogic practices that support …

Elmar, Aerin, And Aredhel: Female Enslavement In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Clare Moore

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Argues that Elmar, Aerin, and Aredhel’s narratives convey experiences of female enslavement. Understanding these characters as enslaved reveals the violent nature of their experiences, necessitating an interpretation of their relationships with their husbands/enslavers as sexual assault. Their narratives reveal patterns within the legendarium connecting beauty and violence. However, these three stories also demonstrate Tolkien’s interest in portraying this kind of story and its value to the legendarium. These narratives offer a unique female perspective on loss and lived experience within the legendarium.

Cloaking The Front National: Marine Le Pen, Femininity, And The Evolution Of A ‘New’ European Far-Right, Taryn M. Blecher

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

From the Front National to the Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen has done what was once inconceivable in bringing France’s far-right into mainstream politics. The daughter of Le Diable (the devil), Marine Le Pen has ushered in a ‘new’ European rightwing populism—far from the Männerparteien of the past—with her femonationalism and media politics. This paper aims to increase our understanding of Marine Le Pen’s iteration of French nationalism and illusions of femininity. Through a series of illustrative case studies and supporting research, I reveal how Le Pen manipulates her sexuality and womanhood in an attempt to soften the crude image …

A Sex Comparison Of The Physical And Physiological Demands Of United States Marine Corps Recruit Training, Bridget A. Mcfadden, Harry P. Cintineo, Alexa J. Chandler, Gianna F, Mastrofini, Caroline Vicenty, Patrick Peterson, Mita Lovalekar, Bradley Nindl, Shawn M. Arent

Faculty Scholarship

PURPOSE: to monitor USMC recruits throughout training to comparatively assess workload, sleep, stress, and performance responses in men and women.

METHODS: 278 recruits (M = 180 & W = 98; Age = 19 ± 2y) were monitored and tested. Workload, sleep, and stress assessments occurred at weeks 2, 7/8, and 11 of training. Workload (energy expenditure per kg body mass [EE], distance [DIS], steps) and sleep (continuity & duration) were tracked over 72-hour periods using wearable accelerometry and heart rate devices. Stress was determined through salivary cortisol. Performance testing (vertical jump [CMJ] and isometric mid-thigh pull [IMTP]), occurred …

Gender In Tanzania: People’S Perceptions On Changing Female Gender Roles In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Samantha Rice

Tanzania: Wildlife Conservation and Political Ecology

Traditional gender roles have existed in Tanzania for centuries and are only now beginning to change as the country becomes increasingly globalized and more immersed in the global scene. Many studies in Tanzania focus on the lived experiences of women and women’s equality from an outsider’s perspective. Few focus on the general population’s perception of the state of gender roles and how they are changing. The city of Dar Es Salaam is uniquely exposed to external influences, being a large commercial city growing more rapidly than most cities in Africa. By using a questionnaire and the general population of Dar …

The State Of Gender And Education Needs In Kenya: The Missing Step Toward Gender Equity, Lina López-Lalinde, Meredith Kozak, Eva Ireri Muluve, Ruth Nanjekho Wafubwa, Erica Soler-Hampejsek

Gender Equality and Equity

The Kenya Gender and Education Roadmap is a series of four evidence briefs designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the gender and education landscape in Kenya. Drawing from a variety of key data sources, including the Population Council’s Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) Database, DHS and national-level datasets, and recent literature from East Africa the series provides data-driven insights into gender-related barriers to schooling, especially for girls. By combining needs assessments, current evidence, and practice-based research, the series sheds light on the alignments and gaps in Kenya’s efforts to achieve gender equity in education. This brief aims …

Exploring The Roles Of Genetics, Gender, Nurturing, And Learning Methods In Mathematical Skills Development, Laura Alinani, Jana Shyti

Honors Projects

This research explores the multifaceted factors influencing the development of mathematical competence through a combination of cognitive, psychological, and sociocultural frameworks. The study aims to address how genetic predispositions, nurturing environments, teaching methods, and societal influences interact to shape mathematical abilities. Using insights from genetic research, cognitive psychology, and education theory, we analyze the role of effective teaching methods, such as active knowledge construction and differentiated instruction, in fostering mathematical skills. The study also examines how societal biases, particularly gender stereotypes, impact students' confidence and interest in math. The findings highlight the importance of promoting gender-inclusive practices and early exposure …

Gender And Education In Kenya, Lina López-Lalinde, Meredith L. Kozak, Eva Ireri Muluve, Ruth Nanjekho Wafubwa

Gender Equality and Equity

The Kenya Gender and Education Roadmap is a series of four evidence briefs designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the gender and education landscape in Kenya. Drawing from a variety of key data sources, including the Population Council’s Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) Database, DHS and national-level datasets, and recent literature from East Africa the series provides data-driven insights into gender-related barriers to schooling, especially for girls. By combining needs assessments, current evidence, and practice-based research, the series sheds light on the alignments and gaps in Kenya’s efforts to achieve gender equity in education. This final brief …

Trends In U.S. Smoking And Cessation: Insights From 2015-2022, Nhan Phan '26, Thinh Nguyen '26, Naima Shifa

Annual Student Research Poster Session

Our project focuses on analyzing trends in smoking and cessation rates among U.S. adults between 2015 and 2022, using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The goal of the study was to explore how key demographic factors such as age, gender, income, and education impact smoking behaviors and quitting efforts. By employing both descriptive statistics and logistic regression, we identified disparities in smoking prevalence and cessation rates across these demographic groups. The findings suggest that while smoking rates have generally declined, there remain significant differences in outcomes based on socio-demographic variables. This work provides insights that could …

A Narrative Study Of Intersectionality And The Lived Experiences Of Black Woman Superintendents, Nadia Bennett

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

According to The American Superintendent 2020 Decennial Study, only 1.4% of respondents who hold the superintendent position identify as Black women (Tienken & Domenech, 2021). This percentage has remained under 2.2% for 20 years, though the percentage of white women and non-Black women of color has increased. Current research indicates that Black women have historically been exploited and undervalued at work, with exploitation extending as far back as American slavery, and being undervalued stemming from manufactured stereotypes of Black women for the purpose of sustaining white supremacy. Present-day research indicates that Black woman superintendents perceive their path and role as …

Enhancing English Language Proficiency At Vocational Education Schools Through The Implementation Of Language Learning Strategies, Nadhim Madhloom Hashim Ali

Uruk Journal of Human Sciences

The current study explores the impact of teaching English language in a vocational education context by evaluating the implementation of language learning strategies (LLS) by using a TOEFL mock test. To accomplish the aims of this study, 80 students from Vocational Education Schools (VES) were engaged to respond to the Oxford Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (OSILL). The findings indicate that the differences between gender and the six parts of OSILL reveal that neither males nor females are statistically significant in any of these strategies when employed in academic English learning contexts; The significance value is p<0.05. A strong positive correlation exists between the two parts of OSILL strategies and English language proficiency. Memory strategies significantly correlate with the language proficiency of the (TOEFL).

Fictional Literary Biography, Sarah E. Novacich

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This essay examines how Lauren Groff’s novel, Matrix, creates a fictional life story for Marie de France as it minimizes the importance of the poetic corpus associated with that name. It reads this exchange of poetry for biography against a backdrop of medieval thinking about gender, language, and corporeality.

Embodiment, Plasticity, And The Re/Production Of Gender, Sex, And Race In Human Biology, Meredith Wilson

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

This paper historically situates human biology research by engaging with feminist science and technology scholars to show how a key mechanism of embodiment, plasticity, is used to re/produce sex and gender binaries in anthropological research and beyond. I begin by defining embodiment and demonstrating its reliance on plasticity. Next, I discuss plasticity and review how and why it has been taken up in human biology research. After, I engage with the works of feminist, trans, and queer scholars who have examined the connection between embodiment, plasticity, and the creation of Western binarized sex and gender. Further, I present how the …

Focus On Followers: An Analysis Of Factors Impacting Division I Athletes’ Name, Image, And Likeness Value, Sarah Stokowski, Chris Corr, Andrew Rudd, Imani Lewis, Adria Powell, Abigail Stuart, Sydney Bellamy, Jaylen Rivers, Michael Godfrey

Journal of Applied Sport Management

Opportunities to engage in name, image, and likeness (NIL) partnerships have pervaded college athletics on numerous fronts. To contextualize the most important factors contributing to a college athletes’ NIL value, the present study analyzed High-Major basketball players NIL valuations during the 2023-2024 season. In total, data representing 69% of High-Major men’s basketball players (n = 572) and 52% of High-Major women’s basketball players (n = 429) was collected. Attempting to statistically control for factors such as institutional prestige, media exposure, and athletic performance, results indicate that an athlete’s social media following – specifically their Instagram following – is …

The Case For Adolescent Girls’ Rights And Investments In The Implementation Of The Pact For The Future And The 2030 Global Agenda: A Collection Of Global Data Insights, Girl Center

Adolescents and Young People

Globally, there has been notable progress in improving adolescent girls’ wellbeing over the past few decades. These strides have been majorly driven by commitments such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the progress has been uneven, especially in low- and middle-income countries—girls continue to be left behind and face gendered challenges in multiple aspects of their lives, including education, health, socio-economic aspects, digital technology use, among others, which hinder a healthy and effective transition to adulthood. Partnerships and multi-dimensional policies and …