Digital Commons Network^™

Quantification Of Various Types Of Biases In Large Language Models, Sudhashree Sayenju

Doctor of Data Science and Analytics Dissertations

Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems are included everywhere on the internet from search engines, language translations to more advanced systems like voice assistant and customer service. Since humans are always on the receiving end of NLP technologies, it is very important to analyze whether or not the Large Language Models (LLMs) in use have bias and are therefore unfair. The majority of the research in NLP bias has focused on societal stereotype biases embedded in LLMs. However, our research focuses on all types of biases, namely model class level bias, stereotype bias and domain bias present in LLMs. Model class …

2023-April-28-Pinnacle Of An Academic Career, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY (April 28, 2023) – The East Tennessee State University Board of Trustees approved promotion and/or tenure for faculty members during its quarterly meeting on April 21.

“Faculty are the lifeblood of this institution, and it was a privilege to bring these names before the Board of Trustees for approval,” said Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle, provost and senior vice president for Academics. “We celebrated their accomplishments with a reception and ceremony, where they were presented with two commemorative coins: one to keep and another to give to a student who has made an impact on their career.”

The following …

Revisiting The Metaphorical Concept Of “No Strokes First - All Strokes First”: Part One - Beginning Strokes, Robert Keig Stallman Ph.D., Alex Mwaipasi, Ebbe Laakso Horneman, Nils Olof Vikander, Bente Wäinösdatter Horneman Laakso, Haakon-Paavo Laakso Nysted, Toni Ongala

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The aim of this article is to address the familiar question “Which swimming stroke should be taught first?” The discussion is usually focused on breaststroke versus crawl. Provoked by these naïve discussions of which stroke should be taught first (as if stroking equals swimming, which it emphatically does NOT), the question was answered metaphorically in an earlier article “No Stroke First – All Strokes First” (Stallman, 2008a). Here in Part I we identify and describe six strokes, all of which might be a candidate for any learners ‘very first’ stroke. We describe them as beginning strokes. Having identified and learned …

Volume Cxlii, Number 20, April 28, 2023, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Stories In Motion: Integrating Creative Dance In A Language Arts Classroom, Amira Akam

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell …

Dungeons & Dragons: Fractals Of The Human Self, Katie Anderson

Honors Theses

Dungeons & Dragons at its core is roleplay based storytelling, which implies the idea that the game is a work of fiction. While the world of Iad and the Free States of Tarvan does not exist on planet earth, the experiences and emotions felt by the players and their characters within the world are very much real. Players use extensions of themselves, their characters, to interact with the world around them, forging relationships and new lines of fate and destiny. Characters are fractals of their out of game personas, attached to one’s base personality and expanding outwards. The development of …

“... I Thought You Were Black .” An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Fragmentation Of Identity And Culture., Sherley Arias-Pimentel

Honors Theses

"If anthropology doesn't break your heart, then you're not doing it right." - Ruth Behar Writing this thesis has been a trying experience. Within these pages, you will find the therapeutic expedition of a caramel-colored, Spanish-speaking, second-generation black Dominican woman from Newark, NJ who took advantage of this research opportunity to better understand the racial and ethnic parts of her identity which have caused her much turmoil and low self-esteem. Centering myself, my identity, and my story in this research and grappling with the complexities of the subject matter has been an exhausting yet liberating experience. I have contemplated many …

Electrochemical Reduction Of Carbon Dioxide Using Ruthenium And Amines, Sydney Moise

Honors Theses

With an increased concern for climate change in the recent years, a significant area of research has been devoted to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2) resides in the atmosphere between 300 – 1000 years, making the reduction of the molecule a substantial field of study.1 Amines have been used as CO2 scrubbing agents in literature historically, due to their ability to form bonds to carbon.2 Although studies involving metal catalysts and amines have been reported numerous times, research involving chemical reduction of CO2 using purely amines is scarce. In this paper, amines, in addition to hydride donors …

A Young Adult Male With A Neck Fracture From Bronze Age (3146-3130 Bp) Non Nok Tha, Thailand, Madelyn Cram

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Individual identity is shaped by experience. Trauma & illness �� Individual experience & identity. Bioarchaeology demonstrates the ability to explore how individual experiences manifests into unique identities for past peoples. This poster presents an osteobiography of a young adult male living with a whiplash fracture form Bronze Age Non Nok Tha, Thailand (3146-3130 BP).

Osteobiography Of An Adolescent From Bronze Age (3146-3130 Bp) Non Nok Tha, Thailand, Thomas Monticello

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Osteobiography is suited to investigating the individual experiences of the Agricultural Transition. Non Nok Tha is an early agricultural site in Southeast Asia. Previous research argued that domestication of rice led to better health outcomes; however, this may not have been the case for all individuals.

Women And The Precarity Of War: Reading Women Militants And Activists In Sharmila Seyyid’S Ummath, Aparna Nandha

Journal of International Women's Studies

Ummath, written by Sharmila Seyyid, navigates the sensitive topic of the precarious lives of three separate women amid the chaos of war-torn Sri Lanka. The stories of main characters Yoga and Theivanai demonstrate women’s challenges in and out of militancy. Their struggles led them to Thawakkul, a Muslim social worker devoted to the cause of rehabilitating disabled and widowed women who once served the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam). Ummath provides a powerful social critique of the conditions that aggravated the separatist conflict, the stigmatization of women who become part of the LTTE, the inexorable violence perpetrated by …

Beautiful, Sexy, And Happy Celebrities: Perfect Mothers Or Instamoms, Ebru Güzel

Journal of International Women's Studies

The development of information technologies and the Internet has created an enormous economy. In line with this digital transformation, cultural change has come about. Global companies create new trends focused on vanity and pleasure in social media that follow the patriarchal capitalist ideology. Motherhood has also been included in this process, and “perfect motherhood,” as an extension to new generation motherhood, has been popularized on social media. Perfect motherhood requires mothers who are responsible for looking after children and the home to also be successful in their professional and personal lives while looking beautiful, young, chic, sexy, and fit. Recently …

Who Is To Blame? African Feminism, Human Rights, And Sexual Violence Against Izintombi (Virgins) In South Africa, Goodness Thandi Ntuli

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article highlights the intensifying prevalence of sexual violence in South Africa, which affects women including izintombi (virgins, also known as Zulu maidens). Ubuntombi (virginity) traditionally represented a typical identity marker of young-womanhood in the indigenous lives of Zulus. As an aftermath of colonialism and imperialism, the cultural importance of women’s virginity faded into the past with only sporadic survival in some rural areas of South Africa. For some reasons, it was visibly revived together with virginity-testing as public events in the 1980s and 1990s. The practice of virginity-testing was criticized by some scholars, human rights and gender activists, who …

Globalization And Migration: The Great Gender Equalizer?, Akm Ahsan Ullah, Sharifah Nurul Huda Alkaff, Shirley Chin Wei Lee, Diotima Chattoraj, Jannatul Ferdous

Journal of International Women's Studies

Globalization has been extensively debated in a range of contexts, from trade to borders, international relations, and conflict. It appears to be a positive force for women as many scholars contend that it has offered women new opportunities, thus enhancing greater gender equality in many countries where traditional patriarchal structures are firmly entrenched. However, some scholars are more skeptical of the benefits of globalization for women. They note that despite women gaining an increasing share of employment opportunities in a globalized world, the expected redistribution of domestic, household, and childcare responsibilities often did not materialize. They also argue that multinational …

Defining And Interrogating The Collection File In Archival Collection Management, Audra Eagle Yun

Journal of Western Archives

What is a collection file, anyway? This work-in-progress summarizes the results of a sample survey of archivists to better understand the purpose, function, and contents of collection files, how archivists learn to create collection files, and their potential for public access and use. From these results, we can extrapolate a preliminary definition of the collection file, as well as the potential for future study and critical analysis of the practical elements of collection file work, especially in relation to archival accessioning, deaccessioning, and repatriation.

Declassified: Unintended Consequences Of Racial Classifications, Michael Conklin

Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Review Of Reasoning Beyond Reason: Imagination As A Theological Source In The Work Of C. S. Lewis, Nikolay Epplée

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of: J. T. Sellars, Reasoning Beyond Reason: Imagination as a Theological Source in the Work of C. S. Lewis (Eugene, 2011). 256 pages. $29.00. ISBN: 9781608995035.

"There Is No Emperor": Merlin And The Ideal State In That Hideous Strength, L. S.B. Maccoull

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis’ Merlin has been brought forward from the sixth century. In the world he knew, though there was no longer a Roman Emperor in the West, there certainly was an Emperor reigning in Constantinople who could be called upon for aid. A closer look at Lewis’ depiction of Byzantium reveals what role the positive qualities he attributed to the city played in the development of his own views regarding the nature of the realm (or world) we should strive to realize here on earth.

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session April 27, 2023, Wmu Board Of Trustee

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

Acceptance of the Agenda

Approval of the Minutes (March 23, 2023 Meeting)

Remarks by the Chair

Remarks by the President

Updates by the Faculty Senate President

Updates by the Western Student Association President

Student Success Hub

Public Comments Regarding Action Items

Action Items

• Naming the “W Plaza”
• One Day Liquor License Applications, Waldo Stadium

Consent Items

• Curriculum Proposals
• Personnel Report

General Public Comments

Mixed Speak: Towards A Re-Poetics Of Race And Self, Celina Mizuki Ohga Samuelson

Media and Cultural Studies Honors Projects

This paper tells the stories of mixed-race Japanese people. I engage in a re-poetics, positing storytelling as an essential tool into complicating our understandings of race and self. I examine the relationship between language and race, exploring how subjects existing within a space of mixedness navigate identity-formation and racial belonging. Operating under a socio-constructivist lens, I begin with a brief re-telling of the history of race in Japan, re-framing mythologies of race throughout literature, legislation, and into national and colonial projects. While popular discourse alleges Japan was and is a country of racial homogeneity, I argue that this falsifies colonial …

Demythologizing Homer: Investigating Religion In Minoan Crete, Elizabeth Rybarczyk

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The Minoan civilization of Bronze-Age Crete has, until recently, been obscured in mythological uncertainty. As a prehistoric civilization, the available evidence for historic analysis is sparse and ambiguous. This paper evaluates the material evidence for ritual activity to chart the religious developments of Minoan Crete. In the earliest periods of their civilization, the Minoans practiced animism, which reflected their ideals towards survival and cooperation. As their prosperity grew due to technological advancements, a social hierarchy formed. The emerging elite employed religion to justify their claim to power by appropriating religion, which culminated in a dual-monotheistic Knossian theocracy. This lasted until …

A Return To The Roots: Mysticism And Psychodrama For Traumatized Populations: A Literature Review, Hyde Nichols

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper is a literature review on the spiritual roots of psychodrama and how this can be utilized for traumatized populations. To support this hypothesis, I reviewed research done on post- traumatic stress disorder, spirituality and mysticism, as well as how psychodrama has been utilized for traumatized populations. J.L. Moreno’s original writings on psychodrama and its components and philosophy are utilized to situate mysticism and spirituality within the psychodramatic paradigm. All terms listed above are defined using research done within the United States, although Moreno began his career in Austria. To end the paper I discussed the importance of staying …

The Student Movement Volume 107 Issue 23: So Long, Farewell: Students Step Into The Future, Anna Pak, Gloria Oh, Grace No, Solana Campbell, Ysabelle Fernando, Amelia Stefanescu, Brendan Oh, Bella Hamann, Terika Williams, Gabi Francisco, Abraham Bravo, Elizabeth Dovich

The Student Movement v. 107 (2022-2023)

HUMANS

Advice to Younger Selves, Interviewed by: Anna Pak

Finals Stress Management, Gloria Oh

Farewell to Pastor Dwight Nelson, Student Movement Staff

What does AANHPI Heritage Month Mean?, Grace No

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Currently: Reflecting on the Original Script, Solana Campbell

In Memory of K.V. Rathnam, Ysabelle Fernando

"The Deal" Premiers at Sonscreen Film Festival, Solana Campbell

Through Their Eyes: AANHPI Expression, Amelia Stefanescu

NEWS

A Night at AU: SASA Cultural Night, Solana Campbell

Interview with Professor Daniel Weber: Envision Magazine, Interviewed By: Brendan Oh

Interview with Gloria Oh: Transforming an Idea into Reality, Interviewed By: Brendan Oh

IDEAS

All …

Digital Capital And Belonging In Universities: Quantifying Social Inequalities In The Philippines, Wilfred Luis Clamor, Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

This study examines social inequalities in Philippine universities that were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach using a national sample of 677 university students was utilized to measure the mediating role of digital capital on social inequalities associated with belonging to academic spaces. For the purpose of determining direct and indirect impacts, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed. Sociodemographic (i.e., gender, age, type of residence, and family income) and educational (i.e., type of university, year in the university, and excellence criterion) characteristics were the direct predictors that were examined as exogenous variables for both digital capital and belonging. …

The Art Of Museum Studies, Brianda Gonzalez

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Includes a brief description of the Collection, a summary of the tasks performed in internship, and photos of some objects and cabinets in the collection.

Internship In Bioarchaeology & Forensic Anthropology: Bones!, Alicia Martinez

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This internship focuses on how human remains and skeletal analysis can tell us a great deal about an individual, such as age at death, sex, stature, population affinity, trauma and disease. Techniques learned in Loyola's Human Osteology course have been key in my assistance at The Field Museum of Natural Science and Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. I discuss my experience in working with forensic anthropology cases as well as studying and obtaining metrics on individuals from The Rush Medical Collection of 1898.

May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection: Museum Studies/Collections Management Intern, Hannah Sween

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The responsibilities of Museum Studies/Collections Management interns in the May Weber Ethnographic Research and Teaching Collection serve the development of the collection through the physical care and management of cultural objects and documents, handling techniques, cataloguing procedures, and records digitization. Interns engage with a variety of topics related to anthropology and the care and use of cultural materials including the development of collections, their purpose, and their ethical management.

Museum Conservation In The May Weber Ethnographic Collection, Leah Swan

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

My presentation will be on my work in the May Weber Ethnographic Collection at Loyola. This will include the different skills I’ve learned for museum conservation work in my internship. I will detail the steps for creating a catalogue record for an object, answer what an inventory is and why it is important, provide some of my experience organizing the archival records, and show how I create storage solutions for archival rehousing.

Fresh Off The Press, Linfield Magazine Staff

Linfield Magazine

A look at recently published books by Linfield faculty.

Alumni Notes, Linfield Magazine Staff

Linfield Magazine

News about Linfield alumni