Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

Deconstructing Definitions: Repositioning Technological Access & Literacy Within Agent Ability, Carole Reynolds

Department of Humanities Publications

Our society cannot have concerns about access without literacy because they are congruous; neither is distinct nor complete without the other in technological contexts. The United States Department of Education repeatedly calls for more, better, and increased access and literacy to technologies. Our elected officials make national speeches imparting similar rhetoric and ideas. A problem with this particular information dissemination by inherently powerful entities or persons is they make assumptions of what access and literacy are, with minimal definition, and virtually no context of agent ability with technology. These ambiguous terms and deficient definitions have subsequently proliferated in academic scholarship, …

Mary

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 19

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: African American / White

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Intergenerational poverty

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce, Domestic violence

Born in the Twin Cities, Mary is an African American/White woman who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a first year student at St. Catherine University.Beginning around age 4 and then throughout her childhood she experienced homelessness, frequently being passed between parents and relatives and spending time in foster care. In her interview she discusses intergenerational poverty and her experiences, as an adolescent, couch-surfing and being kicked out of …

Nora

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 25

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: White

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Single parent

ACE Factors: Physical abuse, Domestic violence, Household substance abuse, Criminal household member, Parental separation or divorce, Mental illness in household

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nora is a single mother who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a junior at St. Catherine University. She experienced housing insecurity from her mid-adolescence until her mid-twenties. She went on to earn a Bachelor’s from St. Catherine University in 2014, prior to which she earned an Associate’s Degree in Health Care and Human Services. …

Helen

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 23

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: Hispanic

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Immigrant, Frequent moves, Intergenerational poverty, Food insecurity, Domestic violence

ACE Factors: Domestic violence

Born in Florida to an immigrant Hispanic family, Helen participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a junior at St. Catherine University. From birth she experienced housing insecurity and throughout her life her family moved frequently, often doubling up with friends and relatives. In her interview she discusses intergenerational poverty, food insecurity, and domestic violence.

Stacy

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 19

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: White/Asian

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Frequent moves, Food insecurity

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Born in rural Minnesota, Stacy is a White/Asian woman who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a first year student at St. Catherine University.. She experienced housing insecurity beginning at the age of 6 and throughout her childhood. In her interview she discusses frequent moves, couch-surfing, getting kicked out of her home, and being passed around from relative to relative, as well as food insecurity and poverty.

Jazz

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 32

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: African American

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Frequent moves, Food insecurity, Intergenerational poverty, Single parent

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Born in Illinois, Jazz is an African American, LGBTQ-identified, single mother who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a senior at St. Catherine University. At the time of her interview, she lived in public housing and was experiencing housing insecurity. In May 2013 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from St. Catherine University, and before that she obtained an LPN degree from a non-accredited trade school. Beginning …

Shaleen

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 31

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: White

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Food insecurity

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Shaleen is a White woman who moved to the Twin Cities as a young child and she participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a junior at St. Catherine University.. Prior to transferring to St. Kate’s, she earned a G.E.D. and took community college courses. Before this, starting at age 13 and throughout her adolescence, she experienced homelessness and in her interview she discusses couch-surfing and sleeping under bridges, as well as eviction from various …

Choreography And Performance With Deaf Adults Who Have Mental Illness: Culturally Affirmative Participatory Research, Sondra H. Malling

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) techniques—particularly choreography and performance techniques—have not been well-researched with Deaf adults who have mental illness. This study investigated the use of DMT, choreography, and performance techniques with Deaf adults with severe and chronic mental illness through participatory artistic inquiry. Primary research questions addressed pragmatic matters of participatory artistic inquiry: What aesthetic choices will the co-researchers make in the dance-making process? How does the researcher provide structure and incorporate her experience as a choreographer without overshadowing the contributions of the co-researchers? Broader philosophical research questions included: How do choreography and performance techniques impact this population’s well-being? How does …

Office Of Multicultural Affairs (Oma) / Office Of Intercultural Student Engagement (Ise) Annual Report 2011-2012, Intercultural Student Engagement Office, Anthony Johnson

Intercultural Student Engagement (ISE) Annual Reports

This Annual Report 2011-2012 marks the transition and renaming of the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) to the expanded Office of Intercultural Student Engagement (ISE). This expansion brought to ISE the Office of International Student Services (OISS) and a diversity coordinator- a new position focusing on underserved student communities including LGBTQ, religious/spiritual, and first generation to college. These important shifts and incredible staff members have poised the office and RISD to respond more broadly and deeply to the needs, hopes, and development of our collective student body. The ISE 2011-2012 Annual Report is a year in review containing a message …

Down Syndrome: Awareness And Understanding Through Children's Literature, Megan K. Wright

Honors Program Projects

For decades, there has been a stigma attached to those with Down syndrome and their families. Society has seen individuals with Down syndrome as people who are incapable of contributing to society, imposing a lifelong burden on their families. Though this mentality has changed in the last forty years, it has not been completely eradicated. Thus, this research seeks to bring awareness and understanding through the writing of children’s literature about Down syndrome. First, a basic understanding of Down syndrome was necessary, followed by consideration of the components of well-written children’s literature. When it came to finer details, it was …

Connecting The Dots: Threat Assessment, Depression And The Troubled Student, Valerie Harwood

Valerie Harwood

On April 18, 2007, a package containing over twenty digital videos arrived at the NBC building in New York city. Within a short time the material had been publicly broadcast, and images of Seung Hui Cho soon appeared on Youtube. Two days earlier the twenty-three year-old university student had been responsible for what has been claimed to be the worst mass shooting in the United States. Just days after the mass shooting, the Governor of Virginia, Timothy M. Kaine convened a review panel that was comprised of nine “nationally recognized individuals” across the disciplines of “law enforcement, security, governmental management, …

Transgender Awareness Leader Speaks At Umaine, Eric Berard

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Wayne M. Maines, director of Safety and Environmental Management at UMaine and father of a transgender child, talks about the struggles faced by the family.

The Rainbow Connection: Theorizing The Efficacy Of Private Texts, Liz Rohan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Texts written privately often find new contexts, new uses, if writers become mindful of Bakhtin’s notion of “great time.”

Writing Yogis: Breathing Our Way To Mindfulness And Balance In Embodied Writing Pedagogy, Christy I. Wenger

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Breathing exercises constitute a method for helping students to attain a state of mindfulness in their writing—and their lives.

Reflections On Accidental Testimonies And Spectacular Witnesses, Lavinia Hirsu

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

When unplanned-for testimonies occur in class, how do instructors turn a disruptive moment into a teachable one?

Gatekept: Inviting Creative Community Literacy, Shelly Sanders, B. Cole Bennett

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Creative writing becomes a vehicle for community outreach in a Writing Center setting, bringing together town and gown.

Even Administrators Have Souls, Paul Puccio

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Faculty have a critical role to play if they want administrators to be more than unilateral decision-makers.

The Communally Focused Writing Center, Tom Truesdell

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Can writing center administrators prepare student tutors to help transform faculty-student relations? Should they?

Outside The Box And Onto A Dusty Trail, Richard Leo Enos

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Archeological exploration has redefined research since this scholar became the Indiana Jones of rhetorical studies.

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Lauren Dipaula, William Archibald, Noam Scheindlin, Martin Cockroft

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Paradigm Shifts

Lauren DiPaula - Price, Margaret. Mad At School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011.

William Archibald - Thomas, Douglas and John Seely Brown. A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2011.

Noam Scheindlin - Vandermeulen, Carl. Negotiating the Personal in Creative Writing. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2011.

Martin Cockroft - Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. and Bruce Novak. Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom: Being the Book and Being the Change. NY: Teachers College Press, 2011.

Renovating My Academic Administration, Elizabeth Vander Lei

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

A department chair dons a hard hat and begins to see her position through the lens of spiritual rebirth and figured worlds—as a portrait of Calvin looks on.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Carl Vandermeulen, Louise Morgan, Jill Moyer Sunday, Tony Mayo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Trust, and Gaps

Carl Vandermeulen - Proverbs for Poetry Class

Louise Morgan - TJ, Whom I Like Very Much

Jill Moyer Sunday - History Lesson 101

Tony Mayo - Shawn

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The History Of Inequality In Education, Amity L. Noltemeyer, Julie Mujic, Caven S. Mcloughlin

History Faculty Publications

The purpose of this chapter is to consider a sampling of the critical events that demonstrate this history of inequity, with the understanding that they have contributed to the current status of American schools. To this end, we will explore relevant events related to the education of individuals of different racial, gender, language, and disability backgrounds. We do not intend to provide an exhaustive overview of the history of American education, nor will we provide a detailed account of the history of equity in the broader society outside of the educational sector. Rather, we will provide a cursory glimpse at …

Queers, Cupid’S Arrow, And Contradictions In The Classroom: An Activity Theory Analysis, Heather Trahan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

“Third generation” activity theory can help instructors support and also deal with gay romance in the classroom.

Jaepl, Vol. 18, Winter 2012-2013, Joonna Smitherman Trapp, Brad Peters

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Douglas Hesse - Writing and Time, Time and the Essay

Liz Rohan - The Rainbow Connection: Theorizing the Efficacy of Private Texts

Christy I. Wenger - Writing Yogis: Breathing Our Way to Mindfulness and Balance in Embodied Writing Pedagogy

Lavinia Hirsu - Reflections on Accidental Testimonies and Spectacular Witnesses

Heather Trahan - Queers, Cupid's Arrow, and Contradictions in the Classroom: An Activity Theory Analysis

Shelly Sanders & B. Cole Bennett - Gatekept: Inviting Creative Community Literacy

Out of the Box

Richard Leo Enos - Outside the Box and onto a Dusty Trail

SPECIAL SECTION: Administration, Ethics, and Spirituality

Paul …

Telling The Truth As Wpa, Beth Daniell

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

After reflecting upon students, a writing program administrator looks hard at two other challenging situations and questions the truthfulness of her approaches to each.

Bullying The Bully: Why Zero-Tolerance Policies Get A Failing Grade, H Theixos, Kristin Borgwald

H Theixos

Recent studies show that the current punitive approach to bullying, in the form of zero-tolerance policies, is ineffective in reducing bullying and school violence. Despite this significant finding, anti-bullying legislation is increasing. The authors argue that these policies are not only ineffective, but that they are also unjust and harmful, and they hypothesize that the social influence of zero-tolerance policies is stigmatizing. Their conclusion suggests an alternative approach to bullying behavior, that addresses both victims and bullies.

Werewolves And Other Shapeshifters In Popular Culture: A Thematic Analysis Of Recent Depictions, Kimberley Mcmahon-Coleman, Roslyn Weaver

Kimberley McMahon-Coleman

In recent years, shapeshifting characters in literature, film and television have been on the rise. This has followed the increased use of such characters as metaphors, with novelists and critics identifying specific meanings and topics behind them. This book aims to unravel the shapeshifting trope. Rather than pursue a case-based study, the works are grouped around specific themes--adolescence, gender, sexuality, race, disability, addiction, and spirituality--that are explored through the metaphor of shapeshifting. Because of its transformative possibilities and its flexibility, the shapeshifter has the potential to change how we see our world. With coverage of iconic fantasy texts and a …