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Newsroom, Georgia Southern University

Newsroom (2006-2023)

• Georgia Southern Graduate Builds Future by Looking to the Past

“Subestimamos Las Habilidades De Los Estudiantes:” Bilingual Teacher Candidates Building On Multilingual Assets, Allison Briceño, Emily Zoeller

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Teaching for equity with bilingual learners means building on students’ linguistic strengths. This critical qualitative self-study explored how pre-service bilingual teachers developed ideology and pedagogy through a structured, holistic approach to writing instruction. Seven bilingual teacher candidates implemented a strategic Transliteracy approach to writing instruction, observing student assets and teaching cross-linguistically. Data includes semi-structured interviews and coursework. Findings showed teachers’ ideological and pedagogical clarity co-developed as they implemented a holistic biliteracy practice. Implications for bilingual teacher education include (1) providing opportunities for teacher candidates to practice assets-based formative assessment and instruction; (2) employing a holistic biliteracy orientation; and (3) creating …

Places To Live: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Modern Maya Houses In Yucatan, Mexico, Virginia J. Ochoa-Winemiller

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In 1938, Robert C. Wauchope’s Modern Maya Houses provided the first detailed description of traditional rural housing for the Maya area. Until today, no research has attempted to test Wauchope’s notion of cultural continuity in Maya domestic architecture from the prehistoric past up to the time of his pioneering study. By examining data from three municipios located in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, I compared contemporary information collected during visits to residential areas with that published by Wauchope in 1938. An integrated approach to data gathering and analysis, that is, a combination of interviews, questionnaires, archaeological survey, and geographic information …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Jst Electronic Library Offers Added Features

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible: Electronic Library brings together a wealth of information and recent scholarship on Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible. The electronic library, produced by the Religious Studies Center and the Maxwell Institute, also includes high-resolution images of every page of the original manuscripts, images and transcriptions of the earliest copies made from those manuscripts, and a collection of recently published studies based on the manuscripts. A short introductory essay precedes each manuscript. This collection also includes the entire 851-page book Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts, edited by Scott H. Faulring, Kent …

New Book Features Scholarship On Tree Of Life

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The tree of life, an ancient and richly evocative symbol found in sacred art, architecture, and literature throughout the world, is the intriguing subject of a new book published by the Maxwell Institute and Deseret Book: The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity, edited by BYU professors John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry.

The Distinctively Basque Stone Shelters Of California’S White Mountains, Michael R. Wing, Elizabeth H. Wing, Amin M. Al-Jamal

BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal

Basque and French shepherds in California’s White Mountains built dry stone shelters that persist today. Despite French names carved on logs associated with a few of these structures, the typical pattern for these shelters is Basque: they closely resemble the cabañas pastoriles (shepherd’s huts) of Bizkaia. A square floor plan with walls about one meter high enclose a single chamber. The stone work is carefully laid to make one wall face. A narrow doorway, often in a corner, faces downhill in any direction except west and can be flanked by low stone “spurs”. A fireplace is usually built into the …

Creative Becomings: The Ongoing Definition And Redefinition Of Basque Identity In Uruguay, Martín Gamboa

BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal

This article describes the presence of cultural traits of Basque tradition in the visual arts and Uruguayan literature of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Likewise, the research deconstructs the concept of “cultural legacy” applied in studies regarding multiculturalism in Uruguay. This approach implied a type of degradation at a cultural level, in which successive generations (first, second, third, and fourth) gradually lost their “original culture”. However, the cultural traits of the Basque ethnic group that appear in the visual arts and literature were shaped by the descendants of the first and second generations. The research demonstrates that certain cultural …

The Social Life Of Violins: A Creative Exploration Of Entanglements And Actor-Network Theory, Benedetta Lombardo

Culture, Society, and Praxis

This paper uses fiction to explore anthropological concepts concerning material culture, entanglements, new materialism, agency and actor-network theory. In this article a fictive ethnographer encounters a violin who narrates its life- from its conception in the forest where it was part of an ecosystem, to taking form as a violin in a luthier’s shop and the skill negotiation that it entails as well as the effect on the human body, similar to Ingold’s theory of skilled practice, later following the violin until contemporary days as it gets exchanged as a precious good or sold as a commodity. The piece in …

Foodways In Chile: A Bridge Back To Nature, Kayla Weiss

Capstone Collection

As the area of food studies continues to develop and evolve it has been recognized that, not only is food a necessity to life, but it is uniquely tied to understanding culture, history, and other aspects of a society. This study arose from recognizing this influence and importance and I took the opportunity to better understand how Birchwood College might be an optimal site for a short-term study abroad program based in food studies. I conducted a needs assessment through landscape research, surveying students, and interviewing food studies faculty and international educators at Birchwood College. The research findings offered insights …

Exploring New Literacies: A Case Study On Technology And Teacher Development In Cuban Primary Schools, Kate Maloney Williams

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Cuba has successfully eradicated traditional illiteracy – with over 99% of its population considered to be literate. However, as other societies have digitized and moved towards a globalized marketplace, U.S. sanctions have severely limited the import of new technologies into the country and classroom. In response, this case study sought to investigate the learning environments of Cuban primary schools to determine the breadth of a divide and the suitability for applying recommended frameworks to teaching. Observations of primary school classrooms and facilities provided insight, bolstered by semi-structured group interviews and surveys with teachers, teaching students, and education professors. Findings revealed …

Cseas Weekly Bulletin (May 9, 2022), Center For Southeast Asian Studies

CSEAS Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Building Capacity For Socio-Ecological Change Through The Campus Farm: A Mixed-Methods Study, Francesca A. Williamson, Amber J. Rollings, Grant A. Fore, Julia L. Angstmann, Brandon H. Sorge

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Given the ongoing socio-ecological crises, higher education institutions need curricular interventions to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to create a sustainable future. Campus farms are increasingly becoming sites for sustainability and environmental education toward this end. This paper describes the design and outcomes of a farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) intervention in two undergraduate biology courses and one environmental studies course over two academic years. We conducted a mixed-method study using pre/post-surveys and focus groups to examine the relationship between the PBEL intervention and students’ sense of place and expressions of pro-environmentalism. The quantitative analysis …

Chemistry Professor Named 2022 Rising Star, Lydia Lagarde

University of Mississippi News

Davita Watkins among nine honored by ACS Women Chemists Committee

Adoration Above Objectification: The Promotion Of Other In Black, Mexican And Arabic Love Poetry, Joycelynn L. Baker

Honors Projects

This paper analyzes the philosophical fundamentals of sexual objectification and presents opposing literature, written in the 20th century, by Black, Mexican and Arabic male poets in contrast. In vigorous patriarchal environments that provide more opportunities to practice sexual objectification, the poets reframe male metaphysical perception and behavior in romantic or sexual contexts by promoting the autonomy and agency of women above themselves, and displaying their enjoyment of that situation. This paper will discuss how Western metaphysical philosophy impacts self-perception and belief in contemporary romantic contexts.

Legal Avenues For Protecting Access To Starry Skies, Alexandra Feathers

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

In the millennia before the creation and adoption of electric lighting, night skies drenched in stars were the inalienable inheritance of humanity. Electric lighting threatens this birthright by emitting star-blocking light (also known as light pollution) into night skies. Left unaddressed, light pollution will restrict access to dark, starry skies so that many in future generations will only know the stars secondhand. Yet despite the many benefits of dark skies, little scholarship has considered the problem of light pollution limiting the accessibility of starry skies, or how law can address this problem. This Article balances the hope of a future …

Learning With Peaceful, Heterogeneous Communities: Lessons On Sustaining Peace In Mauritius, Naseem Aumeerally, Allegra Chen-Carrel, Peter T. Coleman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Our scientific understanding of peaceful societies – and of the conditions and processes conducive to sustaining peace in multicultural societies in general – is fragmented at best. This paper addresses this gap, presenting a case study of a multicultural society often hailed for its high levels of peacefulness– Mauritius. Through a systematic review of the literature on Mauritius and qualitative interviews and focus groups with a wide range of Mauritian stakeholder groups, the study focused on gleaning insights from the lived experiences of a broad swath of Mauritian society around what it takes to maintain peace in a multicultural context. …

‘Othering’ And Violence In School: A Barrier To Sustain Peace In Nepal, Raj Kumar Dhungana Dr.

Peace and Conflict Studies

This study explores the experiences of othering and violence in school. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in five schools located in the fragile setting of Nepal for over six months. Using the idea of othering, this study unveils that the academically low performers and culturally undervalued students are more likely to be labelled as Bhuskul, the ‘other’. This category is used to rationalize discrimination and use violence against the 'other'. With the cementing practices of ‘othering’ and violence, the schools are unable to foster values of peace and nonviolence but on the contrary, it will continue reinforcing structural violence and …

Women Without Bodies: Autonomy, Empowerment, And Embodiment In Southern Women, Martha Peyton Ford

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between rural, upper-class, Southern, white women and their bodies. In my attempts to understand this relationship, I analyze sources from the fields of gender studies, philosophy, and psychology, utilizing concepts such as the Cult of True Womanhood, the newly-emerging field of body memoirs, and the long-lasting but elusive idea of Southern ladyhood to make sense of cultural expectations of Southern women and their bodies. This research, alongside my use of autoethnography and oral history, serve as an anchor for my analysis of women’s relationships to their bodies, in which I use myself, my mother, and …

Code-Switching: Patterns And Motivations For Thai American Bilingual Speakers, Holly Young

Honors Capstones

This study examines the structural patterns and social motivations behind Code-Switching (CS) as it is used by English-dominant, bilingual Thai Americans. CS is defined here as an umbrella term that encompasses both intersentential and intrasentential language mixing. For the purpose of this study, bilingual speakers are considered those who use Thai and English in some aspect of their everyday lives, whether talking with friends, family, etc.; native-like fluency in both languages is not necessary. A total of fourteen participants were selected throughout the US using a preliminary biodata survey. Participants were paired based on their language use, age, and place …

I Crawled Out From The Palimpsest Crater, Jessica Willittes

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is a dissection and examination of my art-making practice through the analogy of the palimpsest landscape found in Arizona’s Meteor Crater. I attempt to elucidate the process by which a “palimpsest artwork” is made through an unfixed cycle of scavenging, rupturing, joining and offering.

T.R.A.S.H.:Trans-Relational-Affective-Stuff-Horde, Sg P

Theses and Dissertations

T.R.A.S.H. allies the moral confusion underlying (student) debt and the unregulated art market in order to establish a rigorous framework for “RED HOT SHAME”—an open edition contractual performance. In treating an art collector as a collections agency, the Debt Object becomes an Art Object.

Finding The Meaning In Ceramic Patterns From A Chaco Canyon Burial, Michael Lucero

Theses

The focus of this research considers the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans from the American Southwest region. This project reflects and examines the cultural arts and practices in relation to funerary aspects of the ancient Puebloan society that flourished in Chaco Canyon, located in present-day New Mexico. While investigations of historians and archaeologists have concentrated on findings within the Great House of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, research focused on the structures and objects within rooms. The base of this research examines a collective set of vessels from burial room 33, excavated from the original exhibition of George H. Pepper, …

Stature Estimates Of The Classic Period Maya From Chac Balam And San Juan, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Natalie Clark

Honors Theses

This thesis presents updated sex and stature estimates for ancient Maya females and males who lived in San Juan and Chac Balam in northern Ambergris Caye from approximately AD 700-900.

The regression formulae used in this study reflect a closer population affinity to the Maya compared to the equations used in the original analysis by Glassman (1995). Del Angel and Cisneros’ (2004) formulae were used when estimating stature based on a complete long bone. In Steele and Bramblett (1988), Steele and McKern (1969) and Steele (1970) regression formulae were used when estimating stature based on an incomplete humerus, femur, or …

How Are Children's Books Used To Teach France's Core Republican Value Of Equality In Middle School?, Elizabeth Clauss

Honors Theses

The following thesis will evaluate how the French government uses literature in schools to teach the French republican value of equality. The thesis will analyze five works of literature and their authors that are taught in French middle schools. I will analyze how these texts are taught focusing on the theme of equality, and I will look at the lesson plans distributed to schools and their teachers corresponding to each piece of literature.

By Her Hands: An Analysis Of The Hidden Labor Of Black Women At The Hugh Craft House Site In Holly Springs, Mykayla Williamson

Honors Theses

This project unearths the hidden labor of Black women by analyzing architectural remains, artifacts, and primary and secondary documentary evidence surrounding the urban antebellum Hugh Craft House site in Holly Springs, Mississippi. This project considers the gap in theorizing the hidden labor of Black women in the seldom-researched setting of urban slavery. It also draws on household and Black feminist archaeology theories to uncover the hidden labor in the domestic spheres that the enslaved women were actively shaping. Research methods included watching clips of Behind the Big House tour interpretations; taking a Craft House tour in Holly Springs; looking at …

A Cross-Cultural Survey Of The Funerary Practice Of Body Element Removal And Deposition In Mortuary Pottery, Sara Grevy

Honors Theses

Proteomic residue analysis conducted on several ceramic sherds from funerary vessels dating to the early Iron Age (700-400 BCE) led to the discovery of peptides of human blood, tissue, and organs. The pottery was recovered in 1999 from Grave 5 in Tumulus 17, an early Iron Age burial mound, at the Heuneburg, a paramount settlement and mortuary complex in southwestern Germany. Prior to this discovery, there had been no evidence of the removal of body elements and their deposition in funerary pottery during the early Iron Age. This thesis presents a cross-cultural literature survey of archaeological, ethnographic, and historical evidence …

Driving Factors Behind Language Use Among Younger Generations In Taiwan: Is The Demise Of Hokkien Inevitable?, Jesse Weaver Paxton

Honors Theses

Globalization and internationalization have undoubtedly led to a decrease in linguistic diversity worldwide. Yet even receiving active governmental support and boasting native speakers in the millions, Taiwanese Hokkien is on the decline. Though researchers have begun to hypothesize why a generational gap exists in local language use within Taiwan, there is little agreement about the possible drivers or causes of the decline. This thesis examines why the use of Taiwanese Hokkien and other local languages has continued to decrease, despite governmental language initiatives and policies created to encourage the use of these languages. Using specific factors that have been identified …

Market Pressure Based On International Food Standards In Export-Scale Urban Farming: Political Ecology Perspective, Kinanti Indah Safitri, Oekan Soekotjo Abdoellah, Budhi Gunawan, Yusep Suparman, Parikesit Parikesit

The Qualitative Report

Urban farming has been transformed into urban agricultural activities oriented towards optimizing economic benefits through export market involvement. However, the expansion of the market has consequences for farmers. The involvement of urban farmers in export trade causes market pressures that affect agricultural production practices. This research used qualitative research methods. There were 27 informants in this study. Researchers collected data to determine market pressures faced by export-scale urban farmers in Bandung Metropolitan. Data collection techniques used in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. The results showed that the market had put pressure on export-scale urban farmers in Bandung Metropolitan to meet international …

Student Attitudes Towards English Grammar, Evalyn H. Bassett

Honors Theses

The literature on English grammar is mostly on its history, standardization, educational implementations, how ideologies shape its frequency of usage, and how it is perceived by students learning English as a second language. This study seeks to address a gap in the literature that reviews the attitudes of college students towards English grammar as their first language and how these attitudes correlate with any past experience with English grammar up to this point. To gain a better understanding of student’s attitudes towards English grammar, an online mixed-methods survey was distributed to graduate and undergraduate students in all departments of the …