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Gullah Geechee Visuality As Protest Art, Contemplative Practice, And Anti-Racist Pedagogy, Kathy J. Brown

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

This article centers two fabric assemblage pieces I created in response to the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer 2020: the first piece made specifically in response to the murder of Breonna Taylor. In 2021, I completed the second piece—her male counterpart—created with similar methodology and materiality, in recognition of the long history of Black men who lost their lives and or were/are impacted by police brutality, specifically Sgt. Issac Woodard. I believe that as a proverbial Black collective we continue to be linked, in equal parts, by both collective memory and concurrent triumphs. Here, as critical arts-based research, …

On African Ascendance, Body Acceptance, And Somatic Experience, Dominique M. Brown

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

This article provides a brief background on a contemplative practice, a poetic narrative around the practice, followed by directions for the practice itself. The practice explored in this article centers the lived experiences and wisdoms of African ascendants (Dillard, 2012, p. ix). African ascendants refer to anyone who identifies or experiences the world as Black, African American, Afro Latino/a/x, Afro Caribbean or belonging to the African diaspora. Our bodies carry norms, cultural traditions, spiritual practices, and ways of being that have been demonized, othered, policed, politicized, and oppressed in a variety of ways. This practice is an attempt to marry …

Mindfulness And Indigenous Knowledge: Shared Narratives About Reconciliation And Decolonization In Teacher Education, Karen Ragoonaden, Tina Fraser, Ross Hoffman, Brenda Hebert

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

This article discusses how shared narratives about mindfulness practices and Indigenous knowledge advance the reconciliation and the decolonization of Teacher Education curricula. We, the authors, experienced the beneficial impact of our personal mindfulness practices in nurturing and cultivating the harmonious balance of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the self. Within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action (2015), we observed the connections between mindfulness practices and local and place-based teachings of First Nation and Métis First Peoples in Northern British Columbia and in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Our experiences are informed by …

Speaking Out While Speaking In: Transforming Intergroup Dialogues With Mindfulness-Based Anti-Racist Practices, Jersey Cosantino

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

As a co-facilitator for the Intergroup Dialogue Program’s (IGD) course, Dialogue on Race and Ethnicity, at a private, East Coast, predominantly and historically white institution, my role is to help undergraduate students grapple with the complex emotions that King (2018) describes as a manifestation of participating in conversations on race, oppression, and identity. Within the IGD classroom, we implement a research-based curriculum designed to promote “consciousness raising, build relationships across differences and conflicts, and strengthen individual and collective capacities to promote social justice” (Zúñiga, Nagda, Chesler, & Cytron-Walker, 2007, p. 9). Understanding one’s situatedness within powerful historical systems and recognizing …

Efl Training Needs For Teachers Of The Secondary Stage Education As Perceived By Them In Public Schools In Arramtha District, Khaldoun Ali Al-Janaydeh, Ibrahim Mohammad Dheif

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The study aims at identifying the training needs for English teachers for secondary stage as perceived by them in public schools in Arramtha District of Education. The population of the study consisted of (260) male and female teachers. The sample of the study consisted of (40) teachers who were chosen purposfully. For data collection, the tool used is a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of (30) items for training needs, divided into six domains (speaking, reading, writing, instructional planning, assessment and listening) after reviewing theoretical literature and previous studies. To establish the validity of the instrument, it was presented to a …

Varied Performance Of Picture Description Task As A Screening Tool Across Mci Subtypes, Joan A. Mefford, Zilong Zhao, Leah Heilier, Man Xu, Guifeng Zhou, Rachel Mace, Kelly L. Sloane, Shannon M. Sheppard, Shenly Glenn

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

A picture description task is a component of Miro Health’s platform for self-administration of neurobehavioral assessments. Picture description has been used as a screening tool for identification of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but currently requires in-person administration and scoring by someone with access to and familiarity with a scoring rubric. The Miro Health implementation allows broader use of this assessment through self-administration and automated processing, analysis, and scoring to deliver clinically useful quantifications of the users’ speech production, vocal characteristics, and language. Picture description responses were collected from 62 healthy controls (HC), and 33 participants …

The Echo: March 13, 2023, Taylor University

2022-2023 (Volume 110)

No abstract provided.

The Perception Of Stigma As A Barrier To Help-Seeking Among Immigrant Populations, Zuha Qadeer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Immigrants receive mental health services less than their U.S.-born counterparts, even after accounting for the lower rate of mental health difficulties often found among these populations. Stigma is one such barrier that is significant in reducing mental health service utilization among immigrant populations. This study explores how immigrants perceive stigma as a barrier to seeking help for trauma-related mental health concerns. Using qualitative data from a study on an adaptation of Written Exposure Therapy in Latinx immigrants (Andrews et. al, 2022), I examined the role of stigma in participants’ perceived barriers to care and their proposed strategies for reducing them. …

Nebraska Politics And The Environment: Framing Political Communication In The State Of Nebraska In Comparison To National Level Discourse, Samuel Taylor

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Environmental public policy has seen little change on the national level in recent decades due to Congressional gridlock. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have entrenched their opposing viewpoints, and their communication on the topic utilizes issue frames to help sway the public to see their side. On the Republican side, these issue frames take the form of the “scientific uncertainty” and “economic consequences” frames. This study, based on issue framing, surveys the communication of Nebraska’s Republican State Senators to determine if they utilize the same issue frames or if they diverge from their national counterparts. By analyzing recent …

Chatting And Cheating: Ensuring Academic Integrity In The Era Of Chatgpt, Dre Cotton, Pa Cotton, Jr Shipway

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The use of artificial intelligence in academia is a hot topic in the education field. ChatGPT is an AI tool that offers a range of benefits, including increased student engagement, collaboration, and accessibility. However, is also raises concerns regarding academic honesty and plagiarism. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges of using ChatGPT in higher education, and discusses the potential risks and rewards of these tools. The paper also considers the difficulties of detecting and preventing academic dishonesty, and suggests strategies that universities can adopt to ensure ethical and responsible use of these tools. These strategies include developing policies and …

بلاغة الأمل في قصيدة ”إرادة الحياة“ لأبي القاسم الشابّي (1909–1934), Shokri Al Mabkhout

All Works

‫يحلّل المقال قصيدة ”إرادة الحياة“ لأبي القاسم الشابّي انطلاقًا من فرضيّة مفادها أنّ دلالة الأمل في هذه القصيدة لا تُدرَك إلّا داخل العالم الشعريّ الذي بناه الشابّي في مدوّنته، وهو عالم لا تناقُض فيه بين ”بلاغة الأمل“ و”بلاغة اليأس،“ فلكلتا البلاغتين عمق خياليّ وفكريّ غير الظاهر منه في هذه القصيدة أو تلك. وللوصول إلى تحديد مآتي الأمل في شعر الشابّي، يقارب المقال عالمه الشعريّ داخل إطارين نظريّين: أوّلهما ما تقترحه علينا نظريّة الاستعارة التصوّريّة لدى لايكوف (Lakoff ) وجونسن (Johnson)، ومن سار على نهجهما، من طرقٍ في بنْيَنَة النسيج اللغويّ-الاستعاريّ-التصوّريّ للأمل في القصيدة؛ وثانيهما ما نجده في نظريّة جلبار دوران …

What Would You Be Feeling? An Exploration Into The Relationship Between Emotions And Bystander Intervention To Reduce Sexual Assault, Alec Miller

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Bystander intervention is thought to be an important strategy to reduce sexual assault toward women, and identifying predictors of bystander intervention may be key to developing effective protocols to increase bystander intervention in sexual risk situations. The dominant theoretical models of bystander intervention in the field primarily focus on cognitive decision-making while there has been less focus on emotional reactions as predictors of bystander intervention. Yet emotions, especially negative emotions, can motivate behavior that may relieve the negative emotions that were provoked by witnessing sexual assault. Thus, the purpose of this study was to fill these critical gaps in the …

The 'Charm And Distinction' Of Proverbs: The Duality Of The Gem Analogy In Erasmus's Adagia, Blythe Broecker Creelan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the Adagia, Erasmus of Rotterdam frequently compares proverbs to precious gems and gemstone jewelry. My interdisciplinary study contributes to the broader discussion of Erasmus’s use of imagery by evaluating the specific qualities Erasmus associates with gemstones as analogous to the qualities he argues synonymously describe proverbs, specifically how both possess and imbue “charm and distinction.” The historical use of gemstones as essential for the display of social status and political power coupled with the contemporaneous belief in amuletic and astral magical properties of gemstones reveals the complex connections Erasmus forges between the qualities of gemstones and proverbs. Erasmus’s marked …

Equipment As Art, Art As Equipment: Notes On Film, Architecture, And Martin Heidegger’S Philosophy Of Culture, Max Ryynänen, Petteri Kummala

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Equipment (das Zeug) and the work of art are key concepts in Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of art. In The Origin of the Work of Art, Heidegger contrasts equipment, sometimes translated as ‘tool,’ with art. The term could, however, be useful for discussing art and culture. The “readiness-at-hand” of a hammer (part of the network of equipment) makes it transparent. We notice it only when it is broken. Heidegger posits this function as opposite to the way works of art push (Stoss) us out of our comfort zone to deal with our existential abyss. However, since they have a …

Chatgpt As Metamorphosis Designer For The Future Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Conceptual Investigation, Amarjit Kumar Singh (Library Assistant), Dr. Pankaj Mathur (Deputy Librarian)

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore ChatGPT’s potential as an innovative designer tool for the future development of artificial intelligence. Specifically, this conceptual investigation aims to analyze ChatGPT’s capabilities as a tool for designing and developing near about human intelligent systems for futuristic used and developed in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Also with the helps of this paper, researchers are analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT as a tool, and identify possible areas for improvement in its development and implementation. This investigation focused on the various features and functions of ChatGPT that …

What’S Inside The Mind Of A Ceo? The Effects Of Discretionary Slack Resources On R&D Investment, Seunghye Lee, Won-Yong Oh, Young K. Chang

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Research

This study investigates the effects of discretionary slack resources on a firm’s R&D investment. Specifically, we examine whether and how a CEO’s psychological traits play a role in the relationship between discretionary slack and R&D investment. Using a panel sample from U.S. manufacturing firms in 2006–2010, we found that slack resources lead to an increase in R&D intensity. Furthermore, this positive effect is stronger when CEOs have a strong promotion focus and perceive an addressable negative attainment discrepancy. Thus, our findings show how (a) the level of discretionary slack and (b) CEOs’ promotion focus and aspiration level jointly shape R&D …

Contemplative Practices As Rhetorical Action For Democracy, Michelle Iten

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

While there is a general overlap between contemplative values for compassion, empathy, and awareness and democratic values for equality and human flourishing, relatively little scholarship has examined the specific ways in which the two might be connected (for important exceptions, see Hyde & LaPrad, 2015, and Mariotti, 2020). I argue that delineating the rhetorical facets of contemplative practices provides one angle of productive insight into how such practices can be seen as action for democracy. I develop this argument from four vantage points: the context of classroom experience and scholarly conversations with which my argument intersects; an examination of resonances …

Working Toward Beloved Community: Contemplative Practice And Social Justice In One Public University, Ranjeeta Basu, Jocelyn Ahlers, Jacky Thomas, Marie Thomas, Jill Weigt

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

This paper offers a descriptive case study of the ways a group of faculty, staff, and students introduced contemplative practices into a medium-sized state university community, with the long-term goal of fostering justice and inclusion for all members of that community. Using documents and oral and written narratives from key participants, we detail the ways community has been fostered through shared contemplative practices; faculty learning communities (FLCs) focused on contemplative pedagogy, compassion, and social justice; and the use of contemplative practices to underpin and guide decision-making. Evaluations from students and faculty members involved in these initiatives suggest that the use …

Mindful Practices To Interrupt White Supremacy In Service Learning Education, Jennifer F. Steinfeld, Melissa Jean

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

Service learning initiatives are employed at many universities to enhance community relationships; however, in practice, these well-intentioned initiatives may reinforce social divisions and propagate white supremacy culture. Contemplative learning practices and mindful pedagogies provide educators with an opportunity to evaluate their own social positions and help students confront biases and prejudices. This paper discusses the history of service learning in the United States and suggests ways in which liberatory pedagogies and mindfulness practices can be a means for educators to interrupt white supremacy and deconstruct bias in university service learning settings.

Freedom Of Algorithmic Expression, Inyoung Cheong

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Can content moderation on social media be considered a form of speech? If so, would government regulation of content moderation violate the First Amendment? These are the main arguments of social media companies after Florida and Texas legislators attempted to restrict social media platforms’ authority to de-platform objectionable content.

This article examines whether social media companies’ arguments have valid legal grounds. To this end, the article proposes three elements to determine that algorithms classify as “speech:” (1) the algorithms are designed to communicate messages; (2) the relevant messages reflect cognitive or emotive ideas beyond mere operational matters; and (3) they …

Decoding Dei: Liberatory Practices Grounded In Community, Lucia Leon, Julia Van Der Ryn, Emily Wu

Center for Community Engagement | Presentations

No abstract provided.

Addressing Barriers To Proactive Restoration Of At-Risk Sagebrush Communities: A Causal Layered Analysis, Carmen Calzado-Martinez, Mark W. Brunson, Sofia Koutzoukis, Jacobo Baggio, Kari E. Veblen

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Restoration success in degraded rangelands often depends on a site's resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plants. Because it is more difficult to restore plant communities after they are dominated by invasive species, a potential approach is proactive restoration in sites at risk of crossing degradation thresholds (e.g. initiating restoration prior to invasive grass dominance). When developing a new restoration approach, it is important to consider operational feasibility, including social, budgetary, and environmental factors. Accordingly, we studied influences within land management agencies on the adoption of a specific proactive restoration approach: out-planting native grass and forb seedlings into sagebrush …

Efficacy And Outcome Beliefs Of General And Special Education Teachers Working With Culturally Linguistically Diverse Students With Disabilities, Jennifer L. Hastings

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand general and special education teacher perceptions about collective teacher efficacy (CTE), culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE), and culturally responsive instruction outcome expectancy (CRIOE) and the educational success of culturally linguistically diverse students (CLD) with disabilities. Forty-four teachers (16 general educators and 28 special educators) from six Midwestern school districts completed a survey consisting of CTE, CRTSE, and CRIOE. The findings from this study suggest general and special education teacher participants did not perceive themselves or their colleagues as culturally responsive. Yet, general and special education teachers agreed that CRT positively affects student …

Applying Contemplative Practices To The Educational Design Of Mathematics Content: Report From A Pioneering Workshop, Patricia Morgan, Dor Abrahamson

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

Researchers in the field of mathematics education are beginning to appreciate the potential of contemplative practices such as mindfulness to alleviate students’ stress and increase their focus. What researchers do not yet know is whether, and if so how, bringing focused attention to somatic experience through a wide variety of contemplative–somatic practices (i.e., yoga, Feldenkrais, body–mind centering, and attending to bodily sensations in meditation) may support student learning of specific mathematical content. As a first step toward conceptualizing and ideating the pedagogical design and facilitation of content-oriented contemplative exercises, we convened a workshop to explore these ideas. Here we report …

A Pedagogy Of Well-Being: Introducing Mindfulness To First-Year Access Students, Karen Ragoonaden

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

This article examines the impact of introducing mindfulness practices to an Access (developmental) course aimed at first-year students. As a pathway to well-being, the cultivation of mindfulness supports the harmonious balance of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the self. An ancillary aim of this qualitative study is to examine the similarities between mindfulness practices and traditional teachings of First Nation, Inuit and Métis First Peoples of Canada. Using precepts from the Medicine Wheel of Learning, the content of a developmental course entitled University 101 was adapted to incorporate Indigenous traditions of teaching and learning. Acknowledging this holistic …

Dancing/Integration: Observations Of A Teaching Artist, Jessica Renee Humphrey

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

Learning (and perhaps contemplation?) asks people to stand on a foundation made of what they already know and bravely fall, supported by curiosity, into what they do not know. In dance education, this is not a metaphor. The learning process is public in the performing arts, and the focus on the body in dance can make even the most proficient students feel overexposed. I am willing to do whatever I ask of students because I am learning right alongside them. I continue to make dances because I have questions. Contemplative and somatic practices temper my inner perfectionist’s need to answer …

Reason In The Service Of The Heart: The Impacts Of Contemplative Practices On Critical Thinking, David Sable

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

The primary objective of this research was to determine if a specific set of contemplative practices enhance the underlying dispositions for critical thinking. The set of contemplative practices included mindfulness practice extended into journal writing, listening, inquiry, and dialogue. Taken together, this set of practices became contemplative interaction. Qualitative results showed increased self-confidence, engagement with multiple points of view, and an unexpected sense of connectedness that was stronger between students who disagreed with each other than between students who found easy agreement in their interaction. Quantitative results showed statistically significant gains in the average number of indicators for critical thinking …

Secular Ethics, Embodied Cognitive Logics, And Education, Brendan R. Ozawa-De Silva

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

The Dalai Lama’s model of secular ethics not only makes possible an understanding of contemplative practices within a wider ethical framework, but also helps to illuminate the important question of the relationship between contemplative practices and the religions within which they developed. This article explores that question and proposes an approach to the study of contemplative practices that examines the diachronic and synchronic relationships among embodied cognitive states and the “embodied cognitive logics” inherent in the theories and practices of contemplative traditions. Since secular ethics looks to common experience, common sense, and scientific findings, rather than metaphysics or religion, to …

Mindfulness & Bodyfulness: A New Paradigm, Christine Caldwell

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

The word mindfulness, though it has been used for centuries, may be both poorly defined and poorly used. Though the word connotes mental processes, the construct often includes embodiment practices such as yoga, sensory tracking, conscious breathing, tai chi, and qi gong. This can generate confusion, conflation, muddled research, and an anti-somatic bias. The author proposes the invention of a new term, bodyfulness, in order to centralize the often marginalized voice of the body in therapeutic, empirical, sociocultural, and contemplative practices.

A Pedagogical Heartbeat: The Integration Of Critical And Contemplative Pedagogies For Transformative Education, Juan D. Mah Y Busch

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

With so many figurative references to the heart, the heart has become an overextended metaphor and threatens to become less meaningful. Widely circulated books on Critical Pedagogies and Contemplative Pedagogies refer to the heart. Though they may share a sense of learning as transformation, each has a very different method, which I identify as dialectical or dialogical. And, each one defines its liberatory transformation in a very different way, one with “third space” and the other in relational and holistic space, which is considered transcendent. This essay describes two forms of heartfelt awareness, first-order heart-based knowledge and the heart’s second-order …