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Female Genital Cutting In American Foreign Policy – Proposal For Harm Reduction, Charlotte Racine

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGC/M) has gained international attention as an issue of human rights and violence against women and girls. The United States, as a leading world power, has openly opposed its practice and actively condemns it in communities and countries of the Global South, yet it fails to oppose or condemn as staunchly identical procedures within its borders. The simultaneous condemnation of FGC when it occurs in “undeveloped” countries and acceptance of American procedures like cosmetic genital modification surgeries, male circumcision, and “corrective” surgeries on intersex infants produces a narrative of cultural superiority and imperialism that harms the international …

Prosecutorial Discretion: The Effect Of Social Dominance Orientation (Sdo) And Right-Wing Authoritarianism (Rwa) On Understanding And Support Among Americans, Jamie Shelton

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

The U.S. prison system is plagued by an overrepresentation of the country’s residents, at twenty percent of the world’s prison population. The discretion of prosecutors to determine when and which charges to file has been linked to the immense prison growth of the U.S. since the late 1970s, especially given their lack of judicial and public oversight. In this study, participants were asked to answer survey questions made up of four scales: knowledge of the prosecutorial role (Prosecutor Knowledge), support for policy curtailing prosecutorial discretion (Policy Support), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). Findings included significant results for …

Everybody Wants To Rule The World: How Ballistic Missile Defenses Can Reduce The Risk Of War, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Debates over ballistic missile defense often assume that defensive capability inherently destabilizes deterrence by eroding mutual vulnerability. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the strategic effects of missile defense are neither predetermined nor uniform. Limited and layered defensive systems generate two simultaneous pressures: stabilizing deterrence-by-denial effects against limited coercive threats and destabilizing uncertainty regarding long-term retaliatory viability. Which mechanism prevails depends not on defensive technology alone, but on policy design—specifically system scale, doctrinal framing, and integration within the broader offense-defense relationship. Drawing on classical deterrence theory, offense-defense scholarship, and contemporary analyses by Roberts, Wilkening, and Daalder, Goldgeier, and …

Smoking Habits And Attitudes Of Dental, Nursing And Pharmacy Students, Daniel M. Laskin Dds, Ms, Caroline K. Carrico

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Mental Toughness Training And Employee Engagement In Healthcare: Evidence For Leadership-Level Differences In Behavioral Engagement Dose-Response, Spencer A. Cavan, Andreas Stamatis

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Engagement is a key mechanism through which leadership development programs translate into sustained behavior change, yet leaders at different organizational levels may differ in how effectively they convert participation into applied engagement. PURPOSE: We tested whether an identical 6-session mental toughness (MT) intervention produced different engagement benefits for mid-level versus senior healthcare leaders after controlling for baseline engagement, participation, and MT. METHODS: Two cohorts of hospital leaders completed the same intervention (mid-level n=20; senior n=12) using identical measures. MT was assessed with the Mental Toughness Index, and engagement with the Employee Engagement Scale (Total, Cognitive, Emotional, Behavioral). Outcomes …

Interactive Associations Between Physical Activity And Sleep Architecture On Cognition In Community-Dwelling Older Black Adults, Joshua L. Gills, Anhiti Dharmapuri, Rachel Mccray, Shreshtha Shah, Anthony Q. Briggs, Purbanka Pahari, Dominique Tanner, Mark A. Bernard, Elena Valkanova, Korey Kam, Ankit Parekh, Lisa L. Barnes, Gbenga Ogedegbe, Omonigho M. Bubu

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Growing evidence suggests an interactive relationship between physical activity (PA) and sleep in shaping cognitive performance. Enhanced sleep features, like greater K-complex density and slow-wave activity, may reflect mechanisms through which PA and restorative sleep improve cognitive function. PURPOSE: To examine how PA and sleep architecture interact to influence cognition in older Black adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 51 participants (mean age: 63.1 ± 15.8 years) from NYU’s Aging Research In Sleep Equity and Dementia Prevention Program. Participants underwent neuropsychological testing, polysomnography, clinical evaluation, and seven days of actigraphy to assess PA and sedentary behavior. Cognitive tasks measured processing …

Physical Activity And Psychological Health In Urban College Exercise Science Students, Bray Ilori, Rosselyn Charris, Galila Werber-Zion

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Mental health challenges, particularly stress and depression, are prevalent among American college students. Urban college students often balance academic demands with employment, making them more susceptible to these challenges. Exercise Science students are expected to engage in physical activity (PA) and model healthy behaviors by meeting established PA guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine whether urban college Exercise Science students meet PA guidelines and examine associations between PA and psychological health. METHODS: Twenty-eight students (7 females, 21 males; age = 23.0 ± 2.6 years) participated. Baseline measures included blood pressure and anthropometrics. Participants wore a Fitbit Charge 6 for one week and …

Association Between Coaching Behavior Styles And Athlete Well-Being: A Systematic Review, Matthew Benavides, Olivia Evola, Devjja V. Joshi, Arpita M. Bedarkar, Amerigo Rossi

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Coaching behavior plays a critical role in shaping athlete outcomes, including motivation, performance, satisfaction, and burnout. PURPOSE: Evaluates how different coaching styles are associated with athlete well-being and the psychological mechanisms involved. METHODS: A detailed search of ProQuest, Gale and EBSCO databases was done. Five peer-reviewed studies that met the inclusion criteria of college student athletes competing in NCAA or NAIA in the US or Canada and studies involving the coaching styles of either autocratic, democratic, transformational, congruent leadership or intrinsic motivation were systematically reviewed. 1,900 athletes were evaluated in the included studies of relationships between coaching behaviors and student …

Transmission Pathways And Critical Practices Of Ethical Literary Criticism In Malaysia: A Case Study Of Florence Kuek’S An Ethical Literary Criticism Of Han Suyin’S Autobiography: Braving Irrationality, Hongxia Zheng, Liangqiao Zhang

Kritika Kultura

This study investigates how Ethical Literary Criticism—a Chinese-originated theoretical paradigm developed by Nie Zhenzhao—has been transmitted to, localized within, and advanced by the Malaysian scholarly community. Drawing on archival research, bibliometric surveying, and close reading, the article first reconstructs a multi-layered network of transmission pathways that includes returning Malaysian post-graduates from Chinese universities, the importation of foundational Ethical Literary Criticism texts, sustained coverage in bi-lingual academic journals, and participation in international conferences such as those organized by the International Association for Ethical Literary Criticism. It then analyzes the reception of Ethical Literary Criticism in Malaysia, showing how scholars adapt core …

“We Malaysian” Or “We Chinese”?: Navigating Archipelagic Negative Affects In Jason Leong’S Anglophone Stand-Up Comedy, Harry Shi, Sophie Xu

Kritika Kultura

In this article, we argue that negative affects play crucial roles in shaping the identity of Malaysian Chinese within the context of Anglophone stand-up comedy. While prior studies on stand-up comedy have largely focused on individual affects such as shame or anger, little attention has been paid to the relational and synergistic dynamics of negative affects, particularly within racialized and postcolonial contexts. To address this gap, we conceptualize stand-up comedy as an affective arena, which allows for a nuanced examination of enduring social issues in Malaysia around conflicts and disparities in race and culture. To this end, we adopt an …

Introduction: Waves Of Emotion: Theorizing Archipelagic Affects, Jeremy De Chavez

Kritika Kultura

This essay introduces this issue’s Forum Kritika on Waves of Emotion: Theorizing Archipelagic Affects which gathers representative papers presented at the Critical Island Studies Colloquium held at the University of Macau in April 2024. It begins with a reflection on the concept of archipelagic affects by first moving affects and emotions beyond the confines of continental thought and then resituating them within an archipelagic frame attuned to colonial histories, diasporic routes, and Indigenous epistemologies, while emphasizing relationality over totality, opacity over mastery, and multiplicity over singularity. To honor that shift, this essay abandons the conventional introductory responsibilities of framing and …

Beyond Romance: Feminist Imagination Of Intimacy In Female-Centered Mengnü (Dream Girl) Fan-Fiction On Chinese Social Media, Gemma Yantao Sun

Kritika Kultura

This article examines female-centered mengnü fan-fiction emerging on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu as a feminist recontextualization of heteronormative romantic narratives. Unlike conventional mengnü fiction, which centers on male protagonists and heterosexual desire, these storiettes center female celebrities and intimacies between women. Drawing on frameworks of post-romantic culture and feminist criticism, this article read texts of this new genre through two dimensions. First, it examines how these narratives articulate emotionally intense yet ambiguous relationships. From these emerge nomadic, non-binary, and nonteleological forms of intimacy that resist fixed binary categories. Second, the study investigates how these fantasies of nomadic intimacy …

How Does Fandom Contribute To Content Ip Value Formation?: Proposal For Fandom Asset Model, Sungmin Lee, Kyuchan Kim

Kritika Kultura

Despite the escalating importance of intellectual property (IP) in the entertainment industry, perspectives for assessing its holistic value beyond the conventional legal framework have been insufficiently discussed. This study posits fandom as a core source in the formation of value for content-based IP. To this end, the study critically examines the limitations of traditional IP perspectives and aims to establish a theoretical foundation for a fandom-centric theory of IP value by drawing upon participatory culture theory and brand equity theory. Furthermore, this paper proposes the Fandom Asset Model (FAM), which incorporates the scale (S), intensity (I), and duration (D) of …

Too Much Love Will Kill Everything: K-Pop Fandom’S Shift From Prosumer To Market Distorter, Hyungjong Lee, Jimmyn Parc

Kritika Kultura

Fandom activities gained increasing visibility during the 1980s and 1990s, fueled by the growing prominence of popular culture. This visibility has been further amplified since the 2010s by the rapid advancement of digital technology and the evolving media landscape. Generally, fandom is regarded as a positive force in the global music industry, and the K-pop phenomenon is often cited as a prime example—its global expansion largely attributed to the fervent support of dedicated fans. It remains questionable though whether fandom activism has advanced the music industry without generating adverse effects. As fandoms have transitioned from passive consumers to active prosumers, …

Co-Creating Korean Culture In Europe Through Digital Media: The Rise Of Transculturator, Éva Judit Gajzágó, Mária Keresztes

Kritika Kultura

Over the past decade, Korean pop culture (including K-pop and K-drama series) has conquered the world and left its mark on the European market. Today, the number of fans of Korean culture exceeds 225 million. This study examines this fan phenomenon through a European sample. It focuses on fans who are not only consumers but also content creators, producers, and shapers of culture in digital media. The study is based on a multi-country dataset from Europe. The authors’ primary survey, conducted in 2024, targeted fans of Korean culture in twelve European countries. The research explores fans’ interest in Korean entertainment …

Practices Of The Global Hallyu Fandom As A “Post-Creator”, Taehyun Baek, Jiyoung Joo

Kritika Kultura

This study reconceptualizes global Hallyu fandom as a form of post-creation, where fans operate as cultural agents who reorganize affective structures and ethical codes within the algorithmic and economic conditions of platform capitalism. Drawing on Nicolas Bourriaud’s concept of postproduction and Kang Sumi’s formulation of the post-creator, this study positions fan practices as participatory or remixed acts while at the same time highlighting their role as politically and aesthetically significant interventions that reshape the meaning and circulation of cultural texts. Methodologically, this study conducts a comparative analysis of digital fan activities, including stage mixes, fan-subtitled translations, reaction videos, and performancebased …

The Practices Of Hallyu Fandom As A Digital Neo-Tribe: Trans-Bricolage And Post-Coding, Soongbeum Ahn, Taeryong Kim

Kritika Kultura

This study examines global Hallyu (Korean Wave) fandom as a pluralistic, heterogeneous counter current within the decentralizing flow of global popular culture. It conceptualizes this fandom as a form of digital neo-tribe and interprets its fluid, ever-shifting character through the theoretical lens of liquidity. To better understand the performative practices of these fan communities, the study adopts and applies the concepts of trans-bricolage and postcoding. Hallyu fandom practices can be broadly divided into two types: cultural practices and economic practices. Cultural practices are expressed through the reappropriation of K-content’s forms and messages via modes such as quotation/commentary, reference/borrowing, and transformation/modification. …

From Journey To The West To Black Myth: Wukong: The Haunted Ghost And Gaming Politics In China, Kaihui Bi, Tianyu Yu

Kritika Kultura

This article offers a theoretical reading of the political allegory expressed in Black Myth: Wu Kong. It argues that the reincarnated Destined One can be viewed as the returned ghost, which represents the trauma that has been left unresolved and lurks deep in the collective memory of contemporary Chinese society. This ghostly figure transgresses and appears in the medium of the game, helping players remain engaged and fascinated in the process of exploring unknown stories through the digital representations in the game. In doing so, the game aims to intervene and release issues such as personal and collective trauma in …

Frontier Crossings Of A 19th Century French Missionary Foundress Of British Malaya: Mathilde Raclot, Anne Vanessa Vincent, Shanthini Pillai, Suziana Mat Saad

Kritika Kultura

This article explores the life and work of Mathilde Raclot, a French Catholic nun who became the first missionary foundress in British Malaya. Catholic nuns were obligated to adhere to stringent canon laws, which mandated them to lead a secluded life immediately upon taking their solemn vows. When Raclot was called to serve in Malaya, embarking on a journey of geographical transitions from European to Asian waterways brought her out of seclusion. We analyze Raclot’s journey to British Malaya by incorporating the concepts of heterogeneous frontiers from the perspective of a female French missionary to unearth gendered perspectives of French …

The Burden Of Truth: Illness, Failed Mourning, And The Porous Body, Kim Jonggab

Kritika Kultura

“Why me?” When illness strikes, this visceral cry is not merely a psychological plea for comfort, but also an ontological rupture that shatters the modern myth of the atomistic, closed body. This paper argues that depression, particularly “depression without cause,” functions as a catalyst for a radical existential shift. Unlike clinical models that seek a discrete etiology, the experience of causeless suffering bypasses linear causality, exposing the limitations of a substance-based ontology. Grounded in a critique of the “bounded ego,” this study rethinks the discourse of the body by approaching illness and failed mourning through a relational and ecological perspective. …

The Ghost Of Empire: Asian Horror And Postcolonial Pastiche In The Filipino Visual Novel The Letter (2017), Christoffer Mitch C. Cerda

Kritika Kultura

This essay analyzes the horror visual novel The Letter (2017) developed by the Filipino video game company Yangyang Mobile. Using theories of postmodernism from Fredric Jameson and Hiroki Azuma and postcolonialism from Homi Bhabha and Souvik Mukherjee, the essay introduces and uses the concept of postcolonial pastiche to describe the ability of The Letter to mimic the form of the visual novel and reuse the tropes of Asian horror to depict the personal anxieties and social inequalities experienced by the seven main characters of the game as perennial problems inherent in the modern global capitalist society. By using the visual …

Brief State And Trait Happiness Scales: Validation And Work Arrangement Differences In Thai Workers, Rapinpat Yodlorchai, Panrapee Suttiwan, Sompoch Iamsupasit

Journal of Health Research

Background: This study aimed to develop and validate brief measures of state (CUHI-S-SF) and trait (CUHI-T-SF) happiness derived from the Chulalongkorn University Happiness Inventory and to examine differences in happiness and psychological distress across work arrangements among Thai working adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey collected data from 452 participants using convenience sampling. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with Sample I (n ¼ 250; Mage ¼ 33.04) to examine internal structure, followed by confirmatory factor analysis with Sample II (n ¼ 202; Mage ¼ 35.29). Independent-samples t tests compared on-site and non—on-site workers on happiness and psychological …

Hubungan Saling Menguntungkan Antara Psikologi Dan Hukum, Adrianus Meliala

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

The Colour Of Becoming, Monique Mazza

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

The Colour of Becoming explores the relationship between identity and creative practice through two experimental watercolour portraits. Positioned between the freedom of artistic expression and the conformity of professional life, the work visualises an internal tension between authenticity and expectation. Drawing from theories of identity (Hall, 1990), écriture féminine (Cixous, 1976), and semiotics (Barthes, 1972), the research examines how symbolic visual language can represent fractured or evolving selves. Through contrasting palettes, gestures, and acts of erasure, the paintings reveal how selfhood is not fixed but continually negotiated within social frameworks. This exegesis places painting as both method and mirror, a …

Emotion Regulation And Autism: A Literature Review, Quinn Bethea

Honors Theses

This comprehensive literature review investigates the increasing research on emotional regulation and autism, as well as the effect they have on each other.

The literature search was conducted using databases such as Google Scholar, National Institute of Health, and the Mississippi State Library. The inclusion criteria focused on studies that examined emotion regulation, autism, or the impact of emotion regulation and autism on each other.

The review accomplished several points. First, it defined what autism is, and it defined what emotion regulation is. Second, it examined how autism and emotion regulation, or dysregulation, affect each other. Third, it brought attention …

Lived Experiences Of Husbands Of Deployed Military Spouses, Timothy Lee Heath

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this study was to explore the lived experiences of civilian husbands during the deployment of their active-duty spouses. Although there is plenty of information concerning the negative and demanding impacts of deployment on female spouses and children, more is needed to understand the lived experiences of husbands of deployed soldiers. Research has confirmed that husbands of deployed soldiers have distinctive gender-specific needs that have been inadequately addressed, leading to adverse psychosocial effects. The couple adaptation to traumatic stress model and gender role theory served as the frameworks for this study to identify the psychosocial issues faced by …

The Rider (2026-04-27), Daniela Chapa-Reyes

The Rider Archives

Vol. 11, No. 28

Human Service Professionals’ Perceptions Culturally Competent Resources For Transracial Adoption, Rachelle Tau-Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transracial adoption continues to increase in the United States, particularly in states with predominantly White populations; yet, culturally competent preparation and postadoption resources remain limited. The lack of structured cultural socialization and race-responsive supports places transracially adopted youth at increased risk for identity disruption, mental health challenges, and experiences of racism and microaggressions. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore human service professionals’ perceptions of the services needed to provide culturally competent resources for transracial adoption in Washington State. Guided by the Transracial Adoption Parenting Series framework developed by the Coalition for Children, Youth, and Families, …

Occupational Stressors Correlated With Depression And Burnout Among Criminal Defense Attorneys, Fay Frances Spence

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No prior studies have compared occupational stressors of criminal defense lawyers by practice setting (public defender, court-appointed, or retained). In this mixed-method study, the goal was to identify occupational stressors perceived by criminal defense lawyers in different settings and to determine if those stressors were correlated with depression, anxiety, and burnout, using Maslach’s burnout-engagement continuum as the theoretical framework. Based on stressors identified in semistructured interviews with 15 criminal defense lawyers, the Criminal Defender Stress Survey (CDSS) was created to measure the frequency and perceived intensity of identified stressors. The CDSS was incorporated into an online survey, along with the …

Rethinking Psychological Safety In The Work Environment: Nursing Students' Perspectives, Olivia Nyarko Mensah, Elizabeth Boatemaa, Anita Fosua, Egya Gyanzah Eshun, Mary Ani-Amponsah

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: When the right working environment is created, it fosters the right behaviour in employees, A conducive environment is one that allows people to freely express themselves and escalate their concerns without fear of repercussion, victimization or undue consequences, it helps enhance work satisfaction (Ip et al., 2025; Turner et al., 2023). The classroom and the clinical work environment if appropriate and conducive should be such that it allows and not hinder free expression which can go a long way to ensure participation, satisfying individual concerns and group achievement (O’Connor et al., 2022). The central problem of the study was …