Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Plant Worlds, Heather I. Sullivan

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

Plant communities create and enable most of Earth’s living worlds by shaping ecological water and airflows, producing energy and matter through photosynthesis, and linking into vast, interconnected mycorrhizal fungal networks of communication to form interactive, multispecies, and distributive intelligences. We all live in various plant-formed worlds, an under-acknowledged fact in many extractivist cultures today. This essay briefly compares three works of science fiction featuring alien forest worlds that focus specifically on world-shaping vegetal power in which human or humanoid beings exist: Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1972 The Word for World is Forest, Alan Dean Foster’s 1975 Midworld and Marcus Hammerschitt’s …

What Is The Fallacy Of Approximation?, Matthew Hammerton, Sovan Patra

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many philosophers appeal to the “fallacy of approximation”, or “problem of second best”. However, despite the pervasiveness of such appeals, there has been only a single attempt to provide a systematic account of what the fallacy is. We identify the shortcomings of this account and propose a better one in its place. Our account not only captures all the contexts in which approximation-based reasoning occurs but also systematically explains the several different ways in which it can be in error.

Black Experiences In The Shadow Of The Civil War, Beverly A. Duran

GLI MA in American History Student Works

This study examines the contrasting experiences and perspectives of enslaved African Americans in the South and free Black communities in the North in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Drawing on primary sources such as slave narratives, abolitionist writings, and speeches by Black leaders, the paper highlights how geographical, social, and legal contexts shaped their views on the impending conflict. While enslaved individuals feared the war’s potential for intensified oppression but harbored faint hopes for freedom, free Black Northerners viewed the war as both an opportunity for abolition and a risk to their precarious freedoms. The analysis …

"Population Growth And Mexico's Production Of Family Planning Short Films," In Challenging Stories: Exploring The Intersections Between Health And The Humanities, Martha L. Espinosa

History Faculty publications

This chapter focuses on three family planning short films produced by the Mexican government. I interpret these films as an instrument to prompt the population to self-govern their reproduction. Relying on the definition of governmentality as “how modern forms of power and regulation achieve their full effects not by forcing people toward state-managed goals but by turning them into accomplices” (Agrawal 2005, 217), I argue that these short films sought to promote a new reproductive subjectivity among working-class urban and rural Mexicans. In other words, such reproductive subjectivity consisted of encouraging couples to have fewer children by promoting the idea …

Why Are You So Ashamed?, Katherine Gaylord

Women’s and Gender Studies Student Work

These comics were created by students in Dr. Stella Oh's WGST 3300: Race, Gender, and Graphic Novels exploring thematic topics of identity, loss, illness, disability, and caregiving. After reading creative and scholarly works addressing war, PTSD, social stigma, and graphic medicine, students engaged in creating several comics. Some of the student comics are featured in this collection. Communicating their ideas through the visual-textual medium of comics, students engaged in critical reflection of their readings and class discussions. Students produced their comics through software such as Illustrator, Canva, Procreate, and other media.

Socially-Engaged Buddhism In Vietnam: Theory, History, And Their Impacts On Contemporary Practices, Whitney Miller

Vietnam: Culture, Social Change, and Development

In 1963, Thích Quảng Đức, and subsequently several other Buddhist monks, self- immolated in protest as part of the Buddhist Crisis, a momentous, strong social movement against the American War and South Vietnam’s harsh anti-Buddhist policies. A few short years later, world-renowned Vietnamese Buddhist teacher and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh coined the term “engaged Buddhism” to describe his innovative school of thought that argues intentional, nonviolent conflict resolution and active work against injustice, both in Vietnam and abroad, ought to be as central to Buddhist practice as traditional mindfulness and teachings. While there is notable existing research on the …

Prls 2250 Digital Life Stories: Chicana/Latina Testimonio, Jasmine Mitchell

Open Educational Resources

This is an introductory course exploring intersecting histories, ideas, and social, political and cultural structures in Latin America. We will focus on the workings of Latin American cultures as shaped by race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, place, and religion. Throughout this course we will ask: Where is Latin America and what is Latin America? Over the semester, we will ask critical questions of a wide variety of materials: essays, television, poems, photographs, films, music, visual art, historical documents and legal texts. Students will be exposed to and experiment with a wide range of current interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches with …

Artd 2811: Introduction To Digital Art, Matthew Mottel

Open Educational Resources

A Digital Artist is responsive to mediums, formats, environments and physical spaces. Creation of artworks will be through individual or collaborative artistic modes, via production of unique image,video, sound, and performance. We will use available digital technologies to explore contemporary cultural topics. Students will make artworks that give them a basic fluency in these various techniques.

This course offers an overview of the fundamentals of digital art. Through case studies, students learn about potential digital practices. Students will learn both the theoretical and technical concepts of digital art making. Significant class time will be spent on workshops, discussions and peer …

Dr.Ernest Patti, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Abstract

Summarized by Lauren Payne

Dr. Ernest Patty, an ER attending physician at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, shared his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He detailed the hospital's transition from a Level 1 to a Level 2 trauma center due to resource constraints. Patty described the increased patient volume, with over 100,000 patients annually, and the emotional toll of treating critically ill COVID-19 patients without visitors. He highlighted thecommunity's support, including food donations and personal protective equipment. Patty also mentioned the loss of colleagues and the importance of teamwork in managing the pandemic.

Dr.Chris Grantham Interview, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Summary by Eliza Anderson.

Chris Grantham, M.D., is a critical care attending and director of the ICU at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.

He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He returned to the area after medical school to complete his residency in internal medicine at St. Barnabas and his fellowship in critical care at Montefiore. After years of working as an attending at St. Barnabas, Grantham began his position as the Critical Care Director in December 2019, mere months before the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

In the weeks and months after the …

"You Say You Want A Revolution?": Gettysburg College Students And The Turbulent 1960s, Madeleine G. Ulman

Student Publications

Influenced by external events, major social movements, and the counterculture of the 1960s, Gettysburg College students increasingly demanded more out of their college. In the years 1963 and 1964, few students at Gettysburg College were interested in disrupting the status quo or questioning the college’s role as an authority figure. However, by 1968 and 1969, a growing number of Gettysburg College students demanded more of a voice in the college’s decision making process, fought to change unfair policies, and challenged the authority of the establishment. Some students began to organize demonstrations and protests in response to injustices they observed locally …

Different Perspectives In Early Twentieth-Century Utah: A Love Story Between Lewis Gillilan And Ellen Benson, Greer E. H. Garver

Student Publications

Lewis Gillilan and Ellen Benson were young adults who lived in Utah during the first decade of the twentieth century. Between the years 1909 and 1910 they engaged in a long-distance courtship, which ended in an elopement. In that period, they wrote many letters to each other which were full of details about what shaped their relationship. Such details ranged from romantic expressions to disagreements about religious beliefs. Their letters also frequently included references to their work and education, which tell a story of a state going through both agricultural, industrial, and social development. This paper explores themes present in …

"Is There Any Possibility That They Might Have Remained Alive?": The George Barlaz Papers And The Search For Family After The Holocaust, Jacob Kahn-Samuelson

Student Publications

The paper explores the topic of American Jews searching for their families after the Holocaust. The paper uses the George Barlaz Papers, to argue that after the Holocaust Jews used Jewish organizations to search for family. Charity organizations like HIAS, Jewish newspapers like The Forward and various Landsmanshaftn were all used by George Barlaz to look for his family. From the search for family, new relationships were formed between searchers and those who were helping them find their family. George Barlaz developed a strong friendship with Moses Feinblüt who helped him search for his family and connect him with the …

“Indescribable But Never To Be Forgotten”: Challenging The Gender Roles Of Victorian Era Women And Expanding Cultural Horizons Through Travels Abroad, Camryn Counsil

Student Publications

Between the years of 1862-8, the Webb-Black family traveled the world on a Grand Tour to countries such as Italy, Austria, and France. In letters home to their aunts, half-sisters Augusta, Menah, and Julia detailed their journeys within the physical and cultural spheres of the places they visited. Later copied into a bound volume, these epistles gave voice to women’s thoughts, emotions, and conflicts when exploring the realm of the unknown. From a young age, Victorian girls were taught to suppress their opinions and merely expect a life of motherhood. However, the women of these letters pushed beyond what was …

Life And Death On Chambersburg Street During 1955: Dr. Chester Crist As A Central Adams County Figure, Abby Smith, Sarah Daniels

Student Publications

Life on Chambersburg Street in 1955 was centered around community and highlights what life in downtown Gettysburg had to offer in 1950's. This essay analyzes the daily interactions different age groups had with the businesses, churches, and individuals living on the south side of the street. In particular, Dr. Chester Crist, the Coroner for Adams County, was a central elected figure in the wider Gettysburg community; his essential work on road safety and Salk polio vaccinations was well known. His involvement in the life, death, and health of the residents is a major focus.

Ur’S Witness Oak Project Honors Enslaved Ancestors, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

This article is about one tree and one cemetery plot. Though the existence of some may have been forgotten, many more burial grounds for the enslaved are known and some of these may still have trees old enough to have “witnessed” the interments of those who toiled so hard, for so long. What better way to remember their contributions to the land that continues to nourish us than by maintaining a living legacy of Witness Tree progeny?

Using Catholic Social Thought And The Normativity Of The Future In Responding To The Super Wicked Problem Of Climate Change, Stephanie Ann Yu Puen

Theology Department Faculty Publications

The climate crisis has been dubbed a “super wicked problem”—one where there is a sense of urgency, complicity in the problem by those who wish to solve it, and difficulty in sacrificing the short term for the long term. To respond to the difficulty of long-term thinking in addressing super wicked problems as part of SDG 13 (Climate Action), there is a need to pay attention to the narratives, norms, and values at work, and how we employ these categories in climate action. This paper discusses how Catholic social thought and the concept of the normativity of the future can …

Jazz Ensembles, October 1st, Arkansas State University Department Of Music

Performance Programs

No abstract provided.

"Musical Metamorphosis" Dr. Stephanie Hoeckley Faculty Recital, Arkansas State University Department Of Music

Performance Programs

No abstract provided.

Different Shapes Of My Name, Aanya Tamrakar '28

Best First-Year Seminar Writing

No abstract provided.

October 31, 2024 Nagpra And Tribal Relations Commitee Meeting Minutes, Bryan Morey

University NAGPRA and Tribal Relations Committee

Minutes from the October 31, 2024 meeting of Western Kentucky University's NAGPRA and Tribal Relations Committee. The meeting was conducted via Zoom.

The Sanctuary In Historical Perspective: Exploring The Development Of A Core Adventist Belief, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Stalemate At Port Arthur: William James On War, Vulnerability, And Pluralist Personalism, Bennett Gilbert

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a close reading of a single clause and its context in a section in A Pluralist Universe, we see the moral dangers James saw in traditional ontology, in particular its relation to war and peace. This analysis opens up James’s combining the personalist philosophy of his friend Borden Bowne (and others) with the pluralism he developed late in his career. This leads, further, to reflection of James’s performative philosophizing. Finding in James a theory of “pluralistic personalism” gives us a fresh look at the far-reaching power of his basic concepts of moral philosophy.

German 250w (German Film And Media), Christa Spreizer

Open Educational Resources

German 250W (German Film and Media) considers various iconic Weimar German silent and sound films of the early 20th century such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, The Nibelungen, Metropolis, M, Dr. Mabuse, Blue Angel and others. We will analyze the extraordinary development of German cinema during a period of great political and economic instability, and an all-encompassing cultural revival.

Mormons And Their Neighbors, Marvin E. Wiggins

ScholarsArchive Data

The included files contain a list of books about members and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Return To Eden: God’S Design For Human Sexuality In The Song Of Songs, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Love In The Time Of Google, Joanne L. Detore

Publications

No abstract provided.

Charles. W Bolen Faculty Recital: October 1, 2024, Jillian Kouzel, Angelo Favis, Lu Witzig

School of Music Programs

Kemp Recital Hall

October 1, 2024

Tuesday Evening

7:30 p.m.

Can Ai Bridge The Aisle? Decoding The 118th Congress Through Artificial Intelligence Legislation, Fiona Hendryx, Katherine Elkins

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

The rise of AI’s influence in American life has concerned both the public and the United States Congress. Focusing on the 118th Congress, I identified 365 proposed AI-related bills, only four of which (1.09%) were ultimately passed. Using a combination of natural language processing, topic modeling, and data analysis tools, I investigated why, despite broad bipartisan public and Congressional support, Congress did not pass more AI-related legislation. Amidst shrinking party majority margins and rising polarization among the electorate and elites, the success of AI-related legislative action relies less on popularity and more on party affiliation and control.

Do Autism Diagnostic Narratives Have A Shape? Using Sentiment Analysis To Evaluate Autism Late Diagnosis Narratives And Ai’S Attitude Towards Disability-Related Keywords, Nava Bahrampour, Katherine Elkins, Jon Chun

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

Do autism diagnostic self-narratives have something in common? The meaning of diagnostic labels is a culturally relevant topic in 2024, and I am curious to know if there are similarities in self-narratives about autism diagnosis. We are at an interesting moment in regards to our attitudes about autism and disability, where diagnostic labels like autism are usually viewed as either a tragedy or a relief. I wanted to look at three recent autism diagnostic self-narratives from late-diagnosed women to confirm or refute the existence of a specific type of “narrative” around diagnosis. I was additionally interested in how artificial intelligence …