Write the Ship • A Journal of Student Writing 2024-2025

2024-2025

WRITE THE SHIP

A Journal of Student Writing

WRITE THE SHIP

A Journal of Student Writing

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Nicole Santalucia

Student Editors:

Kye'mani Davis and Cynthia Dodd

Committee Members:

Devon Jones

Heather Kemp

Lauren Pool

Jenny Russell

Kylie Saar

Jean Stinchfield

Cover: Propaganda by Alyssa Sanders

Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x 24”

Shippensburg University

2024-2025

Write the Ship is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Editors' Preface

Reader,

Write the Ship is Shippensburg University’s premier undergraduate journal of academic writing, highlighting the achievements of our students from the past academic year. The works showcased in this journal represent the diverse talents of Shippensburg University students, spanning across various academic fields. While all students at our university put in great effort, these particular pieces were chosen from the finest submissions. Our devoted editorial team has carefully selected the best essays and research to feature in this year’s edition.

We would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to our exceptional editorial team: Devon Jones, Heather Kemp, Lauren Pool, Jenny Russell, Kylie Saar, and Jean Stinchfield. This journal would not have come to fruition without their dedication and hard work. We are truly fortunate to have such a remarkable team behind us. We also extend our deepest appreciation to our faculty advisor, Dr. Nicole Santalucia. Throughout the entire process of creating Write the Ship, Dr. Santalucia has been an unwavering source of support and encouragement. Her commitment has been crucial to our success, and she played a pivotal role in encouraging faculty across campus to sponsor student submissions. In addition, we are incredibly grateful to Jessica Kline, whose expertise, along with the Print Shop, made it possible to bring this publication to life. Without her help, this journal would not be what it is today.

We are also deeply grateful to the faculty members of Shippensburg University who sponsored student submissions. Your support and encouragement inspire our students to work hard and grow as scholars. Without your guidance, our academic community would not be as vibrant as it is.

Lastly, we want to extend our sincere thanks to all the students who submitted their work to this journal. This edition is the largest we have ever published, and the overwhelming number of submissions reflects the incredible support from writers like you. Your contributions are what motivate us to continue our work with such passion. We are proud to showcase everyone featured in this journal, and although some exceptionally talented writers were not included this time, please know that the competition was incredibly tough. Continue striving for excellence, as each one of you is remarkable.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Dodd and Kye’mani Davis Managing and Associate Editors

Committee Members' Prefaces

Devon Jones - This was my first semester working on WTS, and I truly can’t describe how much I enjoyed reading student papers from all across campus. I loved seeing the vast amount of wonderful ideas that were brought to the editors. I’m super grateful that I got to take part in this process. Thank you to everyone who submitted their work!

Heather Kemp - I am so happy to have been a part of WTS once again. We received incredibly passionate essays this semester, and I loved hearing the unique voices of these writers. Thank you everyone for all the hard work!

Lauren Pool - This was my first semester working on WTS, and I am so grateful to read incredible student work. Being an editor was extremely rewarding and I loved working alongside the rest of the WTS editors. Thank you everyone for their submissions and hard work!

Jenny Russell - As always, working on WTS has been one of the most rewarding experiences. I always enjoy getting to read student papers from a wide range of departments; it feels like I’ve opened a window to a different world and get to see a glimpse of what other majors get to learn and write about.

Kylie Saar - I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work on Write the Ship again. It was incredibly rewarding reading academic writing with such diverse topics from students on our campus. Thank you to everyone who submitted and the wonderful team I had the privilege of working with!

Jean Stinchfield - This was my first time working on WTS, and I was shocked at how sincerely fun and fulfilling it was to read so many student papers with my fellow editors. Seeing the span of interests and skills across various fields really allowed me to understand the incredible community we have on campus. Thank you to everyone who submitted!

Student Writings

Assignment:

Provost's Award: College of Arts & Sciences

The Significance of the Soviet Archives to Historical Thought

by Christopher Annechino

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

For your final research project, you will write an expository research paper using relevant scholarly research.

The topic for this paper is relatively open, but you are encouraged to explore a topic related to:

• your major

• your career aspirations

• your hobbies or interests

Once you’ve determined a topic, you will locate and read at least 6 scholarly sources and pull important information from each source to explore and expand upon your topic. Your paper will utilize this research to write a descriptive (not a persuasive) essay.

Historiography, while being a game-ender in a spelling bee, is integral to everything that is currently known about the past. Historiography, or examining multiple different historical perspectives built upon the same topic or using the same facts, accounts for all the mainstream understandings society holds of the past. In studying newly available material, historians employ historiographical techniques to interpret sources and to develop accepted historical perspectives. Polish journalist and photographer Ryszard Kapuściński, in his memoir Imperium, highlighted the idea that the overwhelming majority of information on Communism and the individual events that powered the Soviet Union were inaccessible to outside historians prior to the opening of the Soviet Archives. With the opening of the Soviet Archives, historians have access to an untapped goldmine of information. With the newly declassified, released information being firsthand and factual accounts, they have the capability to be analyzed by academics, and thereby be utilized to synthesize fresh perspectives on the Soviet Union and the Cold War. As historians continue researching the archival stores, access availability and safety constantly fluctuate, resulting in modern roadblocks and possible troubles looming on the horizon. This essay aims to outline how historians utilize sources and factual information to synthesize historical perspectives, how this system was applied once the Soviet Archives began the process of declassification, and what past and present challenges now stand in the way of prospective historians accessing the archives.

An Overview of Historiography

Information, particularly primary information, is a compelling tool for historians, but like most tools, it can be misused. To all branches of historical thought and those working in these fields, primary sources are vital due to the direct link they provide to “the records of artistic, social, scientific, and political thought and achievement during [a] specific period” (Bates 71).  The benefit of this is that historians can pull from these sources’ heightened accuracy to build fundamental historical analysis. On the other side of the coin, issues relating to lack of information and inherent bias can skew the reliability of the study of primary sources. Not having sufficient information to develop a nuanced and substantiated perspective on a topic can lead to wayward analysis. Much like a pirate using a kaleidoscope rather than a spyglass to judge their distance from shore, historians interpreting primary sources with a cultural bias can result in corrupted, untrustworthy analysis. Cases like this, where new information is brought to bear or current perspectives are found to be biased, is the bread and butter of historiographical debate.

An illustration of healthy historiography is the debate of the Allied Powers’ innocence during World War 2. Mary Nolan, a professor of history at New York University, depicts this debate through the discussion of controversial Allied attacks on major German centers of population. Specifically, she discusses how the United States and United Kingdom’s annihilation of the major German cities of Dresden and Hamburg through indiscriminate aerial bombardment “reflect…

the politics of the present…of generational experiences and anxieties… of concerns with questions of international law and morality…and popular historical fascination with World War II” (8). There is controversy and deviating understandings on this water drop of a subject in the overall ocean that is World War II. The slow erosion of personal bias, as well as the wealth of information available for interpretation, allows for the discussion of contentious subjects like this. There is enough to sift through to provide for varying ideas, and hardline pro-ally glorification historians who lived through and possibly even participated in World War II are fading out of relevance in the overall discussion. The historiographical debate on this subject has been filtered by time and through layers of varying sources. This process, while not always swift, ensures that cultural bias has lost its iron grip, and as many unique ideas are incorporated in the academic discussion as possible. Upon these two key concepts is where healthy historiography is developed. On a broad application however, sources with varied perspectives, and general detachment of firsthand personal bias, may not be guaranteed. In the 20th century, the most universal and impactful entity where these two necessities for healthy historiography are not applicable comes from the Soviet Union.

Historiographical Thought & The Soviet Archives

The opening of the Soviet Archives has allowed for influential historiography to be practiced, thereby influencing and challenging narratives previously set in the stone of mainstream cultural understanding. Predating the collapse of the Soviet Union, the overwhelming majority of historians were still at the forefront of the global Cold War conversation, and the most significant amount of information historians could access came from unashamedly biased, antiSoviet perspectives of Western sources. As a result, most mainstream Cold War historical perspectives adhere to pro-Western, or at the extreme, moderate viewpoints. As an example, America, the United Kingdom, and the majority of countries under the Western umbrella underwent a period of intense paranoia regarding Communism in the heat of the Cold War. McCarthyism’s chokehold was so fierce, that all facets of American identity were affected, leading to the smothering of the arts from film to physical artwork (Sbardellati, 496). American cultural instincts, even into the era of today, have not been able to fully rid itself of the stain this event had left. The fear and despise for anything Communist was programmed so resolutely that it extended to the core belief of freedom of expression. During the period and for decades after, this distaste for Communism reflected into social instruments such as film and the arts, but also equally

as much in academic discussion on the Cold War and the Soviet Union. As the changing of the guard from the Soviet state under Gorbachev to the Russian state under Yeltsin commenced, the network of individual organizational units that made up the entire body of the Soviet Archives began initial declassification efforts. In full, the individual departments that were affected by the initial thaw were the Soviet Archives of KGB records, the Central Committee Archives that contained, essentially, the Soviet Congress records, and the Presidential Archive that contained records of Soviet leaders and other sensitive high-profile documents. (National Library of Congress). The early steps of the thaw fast tracked historiographical discussion onto the Cold War, and with the ability for healthy historiography to be practiced. With the thaw, enough fresh primary information was now present to provide for numerous nuanced and unique perspectives that had enough merit to challenge mainstream cultural narratives. Enough time had passed that historians and the overall historiographical debate could shirk off the majority of McCarthyism-driven biases that clouded earlier discussion. It was a perfect storm in the historical world. However, the impact was not only limited to the academic community. Initial crumbs falling from these archival cookies hypnotized historians, but also pricked up the ears of the Eastern European public.    This thaw coincided with an increased desire from the national populations of those affected by the Soviet Union to learn about their past. With the advancement from Gorbachov to Yeltsin, there was a limited divergence from hardline government surveillance and oppression. Both the politician and social historian Donald Releigh, and the PhD candidate and graduate teaching assistant at London’s King’s College Polly Corrigan, assert that within this period of relative newfound freedom, there was a resulting fervent push by both general society in former Soviet Republics like Ukraine and Georgia, and historians worldwide, to reexamine the Soviet perspective and practices during the Cold War (16,118). This gradient of social interest coincides with 3 distinct periods of historical access. With the initial fall of the Soviet Union, there was “irregular access and [a] hunt for sensations,” followed in the mid 1990’s by consistent declassification, into the modern day where “internationally accepted standards for use of the archives [has] halted” (Westad, 259260). This proves that while access to these archives is not always guaranteed and the process is at best, inconsistent, the overall trend is that the information held within is gradually but noticeably being exposed to an eager and emboldened public. To the archival historians of the day, the fact that the archives had any level of declassification was enough to speed them halfway across the world to get their foot in the door. It

is the historian equivalent to the California Gold Rush of 1848. However, as with the gold rush, the world’s attention has been shifted to more pressing events, and the once dominant push for continued declassification is stalling out.

The State of Modern-Day Archival Research

For where it stands today, access to the archives is dubious. Preceding the COVID-19 pandemic and onward, modern roadblocks historians have combated have their roots in funding. Due to increasing apathy from the general public, “public funding for operating the archives is at an all-time low, meaning dismal working conditions” (Westad 260). In the United States, the sensationalization of the archives had long died down, as the passing of years suffocated any interest from the public. This is only expounded on by added political uncertainty in former Communist Bloc countries like Ukraine and Georgia, resulting in broad national disinterest. This situation was not ideal but manageable. However, with the ground shaking events of 2019, further complications came to light. Initiated by the pandemic, there have been staffing issues and limited visitation to the archives, and in return, a surge of grassroots community and historian efforts to digitalize the sources in possession has occurred (Taylor Research Group). While not permanently scarring, the pandemic certainly hindered the progress of both the declassification of still-classified documents and the ability of historians to continue analyzing and evaluating these documents.

Far more worrisome and potentially damning to Western access to the archives is the current state of foreign affairs between the U.S. and Russia regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war. With the archives of both Russia and in many former Soviet Republics still currently open, access is still possible, but associate professor at the University of Southampton George Gilbert asserts that “the risk to the scholar coming from abroad is such that these have been effectively off-limits for professional researchers seeking to carry out normal research activity” (157). So, even with access still currently being possible, with the heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., there is no guarantee they will remain so. While not universally accepted as reality, a subset of the historical community has justified that “thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we are back in a Cold War relationship with Moscow” (Smith 27). Even as the current debate rages, there is little dissent among historians that the current period between the West and Russia is at its most untenable since the Cold War. If the current hostility between Russia and the West holds, a crystal ball really is not necessary to foresee the consequences. While purely speculative currently, the prospect of

permanently revoked Western access is a grim but undeniable possibility. For instance, a reality where information within the archives is reclassified out of spiteful disdain could be in the cards. The ambiguity of continued declassification and access today is a harrowing prospect to those hoping for eventual de-escalation.

Conclusion

The thaw of the Soviet Archives uncovered stores of unseen primary information from the underdeveloped perspective of the Russian dominated Communist Bloc. This new information has jumpstarted a historiographical debate on the reliability of mainstream Western Cold War understandings, even with current progress somewhat mired by modern challenges.

The process of establishing the foundations for healthy historiography is complex, requiring a wealth of primary information to analyze, and relatively unbiased academics to analyze it. Historiographical debate on the Cold War recently met these criteria with the aid of the thawing Soviet Archives, resulting in the rapid evolution of cultural understandings. The primary sources that were institutional to fundamental truths about the Cold War are being rendered obsolete by new information at a rate rarely seen in the modern age. As a result, future scholarship has a golden-paved yellow brick road to take the uncovered primary sources, analyze them, and in the process uproot and reformat social standards for the contentious past of the Cold War. That is, if political turmoil on the horizon does not swallow the archives once more.

Works Cited

Corrigan, Polly. “Political Police Archives in Ukraine and Georgia: A Research Note.” Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 72, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 117–31. Sociological Collection, https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2019.1686127

Bates, David. “The ‘Bates’ Shop: Fishing for Primary Source Documents.” Illinois Reading Council Journal, vol. 52, no. 4, Fall 2024, pp. 71–81. Academic Search Ultimate,  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.52.4.2024.71

“Four Ways Archives Have Changed Since the COVID-19 Pandemic” Taylor Research Group, Oct. 25th 2023, https://www.taylorresearchgroup.com/ news/2023/10/25/four-ways-archives-have-changedsince-the-covid-19-pandemic Accessed Nov. 6th 2024

Gilbert, George, “Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and its Impact on Research.” Revolutionary Russia, vol. 36, no. 2, Jan. 31st 2023, pp. 157-166. Taylor and Francis Online https://doi.org/10.1080/09546545.2023.2303837

Ninua, Tinatin, “Breaking Down Iron Doors: Why Opening up Soviet Archives Matters” Open Government Partnership, March 21st 2016, https:// www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/breaking-downiron-doors-why-opening-up-soviet-archives-matters/ Accessed Nov. 6th, 2024

Nolan, Mary. “Germans as Victims During the Second World War: Air Wars, Memory Wars.” Central European History (Cambridge University Press / UK), vol. 38, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 7–40. Humanities Source, https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=hus&AN=509767508&site=eds-live&scope=site&c ustid=s3915936

Raleigh, Donald J. “Doing Soviet History: The Impact of the Archival Revolution.” The Russian Review, vol. 61, no. 1, Jan. 2002, pp. 16–24. JSTOR Journals, https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.2679500&site=eds-live&scope=si te&custid=s3915936

“Revelations from the Russian Archives” Library of Congress, July. 19th 1992, https://www.loc.gov/ exhibits/archives/#:~:text=They%20include%20 material%20from%20archives%20that%20had%20 been,Central%20Committee%2C%20the%20 Presidential%20archive%2C%20and%20the%20KGB

Accessed Nov. 6th 2024

Student Reflection:

Sbardellati, John, and Tony Shaw. “Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 72, no. 4, Nov. 2003, pp. 495–530. JSTOR Journals, https://doi.org/10.1525/ phr.2003.72.4.495

Smith, Keith C. “A New Cold War: Personal Reflections Regarding Russia’s Missed Opportunities with Nato, Ukraine and Its Western Neighbors.” American Diplomacy, Feb. 2019, pp. 27–34. Political Science Complete, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&AuthType=sso&db=poh&AN=134411154&sit e=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Westad, Odd Arne. “Secrets of the Second World: The Russian Archives and the Reinterpretation of Cold War History.” Diplomatic History, vol. 21, no. 2, Apr. 1997, pp. 259–71. JSTOR Journals, https://search.ebscohost. com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsjsr &AN=edsjsr.24913285&site=eds-live&scope=site&cus tid=s3915936.

The assignment that led to the essay was an open-ended, expository research paper. This paper provided me with an opportunity to share my love of the subject, and especially the process behind making what we know as history, also known as historiography. In writing this paper, I saw the chance to blend past and present through the impact the opening of the Soviet Archives has had, and thereby to show historiography in action. That was the goal I had when I set out to write this paper. As it turns out, as with most things in history, the process was not as simple as I had first thought. To write about how the opening of the archives has changed current knowledge, I first had to understand the new information that had come out of the archives for myself. Furthermore, with the very nature of historiography being fluid and at times controversial, sticking to the expository form came with some challenges of its own. Overall, however, writing the paper was an excellent opportunity for me to explore a more technical topic related to the craft of history, through the specific case of very controversial time in history, The Cold War.

Assignment:

Provost's Award: College of Business

HanesBrands Inc Brand Assessment

by Samantha Laudermilch

MKTG 205: Principles of Marketing

Dr. Mohammad Rahman

The ‘Brand Analysis’ assignment is designed to allow you to develop through research. It offered an opportunity to dive into various aspects and concepts on an applied basis to develop a deeper understanding of key areas in marketing.

Brand Overview

The Hanes business has been thriving in the market as it makes essential clothing items for everyone. In 2006 the name was changed for the final time to HanesBrands Inc, which is now a multinational clothing company that consists of many brands including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, and many others (Ducouer 2024). The headquarters for this company is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. HanesBrands Inc is a major cooperation when it comes to the textile companies in the United States. They are the top player with an estimated 23.6% of the total industry revenue (Perdomo 2024). Hanes has around 67,800 employees as of this year, which are found in more than 40 different countries (Lingualinx 2024). Hanes is continuing to grow in the apparel industry. HanesBrands Inc has helped carve the way for many other businesses, showing them ways to be profitable and ethical.

HanesBrands Inc has an assortment of products from shirts to socks and even underwear which are all made of 100% Cotton (Hanes 2024). Unlike may other clothing brands Hanes focuses on their dedication to the use of 100% Cotton in their products. This creates value for consumers who might be looking for breathable, comfortable clothes. The brand continues to uphold their reputation as affordable, high-quality apparel (Jager 2007). They pride themselves in their soft, sustainable clothing (Hanes 2024).

HanesBrands Inc promotes their products through many different advertisement strategies. They use Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and other social media sites to get their brand out into the world. They created a hashtag movement called #MakeYourselfComfortable, this encourages people to post pictures of themselves in Hanes products when they truly feel comfortable (Hanes 2024). This promotion strategy is uplifting and demonstrates an effective way to get your customers involved other than just buying the products (Jager 2007). Some of the retailers that sell Hanes products promote them in their own ways. For example, Target has an entire page dedicated

to HanesBrands Inc products on their website where consumers from many demographics can see Hanes products wherever they may shop.

HanesBrands Inc sells their products at many different retailers such as, Walmart and Target. (Figure 1.1 and 1.2). At those locations you can physically see and touch their products. However, to make it even more convenient for customers to buy their products they are also sold online, on the Hanes website and Amazon as well. A critical aspect to place as it relates to the marketing mix, is the amount of effort a consumer must put into buying a product (Jager 2007). No matter how or where you shop, Hanes has made it easy

Figure 1.1 (left) Hanes Products found in Target

Figure 1.2 (right) Hanes Products found in Walmart

Figure 2.1(left) Nike Ankle Socks

Figure 2.2 (right) Hanes Ankle Socks

for consumers to find their products, creating ease and fast service. This creates value for their brand because consumers always have access to their products. Hanes keeps their products on a more cost-effective side of the market. They offer high value products for a lower price compared to their name brand competitors. To show the difference the figures below analyze Nike’s six pairs of ankle socks compared to Hanes ten pairs of ankle socks. Having a high-quality product at a lower price will help them gain more customers from different demographics. Some individuals may have a lower income and Hanes products are cheaper and more affordable for them to buy. However, some people might simply not care for name brand items while still having a higher income and the opportunity to purchase the more expensive choice. While Nike has more options when it comes to color, Hanes offers more pairs of socks for half the price of Nike. In return this allows individuals to save money to spend on their other products later down the road.

Building and Maintaining Strong, Value Creating Brands

Consumer value is the amount of worth a product has to a consumer (Mazda 2024). Value is an important aspect for brands to focus on, both building value and then further maintaining it. Consumers can find value in many distinct aspects of a product; one could be the amount of happiness a product gives them (Park 2024). When brands have quick customer service representatives many consumers than feel powerful and recognized by the brand (Park 2024). Delivering customer value will help Hanes stay above competition and increase their sales. Customer value is especially important in this day and age, as it shows consumers that you are dedicated to them and willing to put your time and energy to make their shopping experience better.

In the year 2021, HanesBrands Inc was named one of the most ethical companies, which was selected by Ethisphere (Perdomo 2024). This was a very extensive process completed by Ethisphere to correctly decide which company is the most ethical. The companies that were selected were all based on a 200-question survey that evaluates the company’s environmental, social, and governmental practices (Perdomo 2024). HanesBrands Inc is very considerate when it comes to sustainability. They pride themselves in using recycled water to help conserve more water. This is important for a textile brand to focus on because water is very essential for making clothing products. According to Cheramie, “producing 1 kg of cotton, enough for a single pair of jeans, requires 20,000 L of water (Cheramie 2024).”

HanesBrands Inc continues to focus on their environmental impact through their energy usage, transportation, waste recycling, and chemical management. They use energy-efficient machinery in their factory’s and are transitioning into renewable energy in their manufacturing plants (Cheramie 2024). They have created extensive recycling programs to help lower the amount of textile waste, they can use the recycled materials to create more products and for packaging purposes (Cheramie 2024). They use electric vehicles in efforts to make the transportation process more sustainable (Cheramie 2024). All of these sustainable measures help to curate an eco-conscious community. Hanes could begin offering a choice to customers to help offset the carbon footprint that comes with the purchases. This will allow consumers to feel as though they have a choice and a helping hand when protecting the environment from more damage. This all creates value for the consumer, when they feel heard and seen they will keep on supporting companies like Hanes.

HanesBrands Inc is most likely experiencing some turmoil when it comes to cheaper options from overseas. The low cost of apparel imports creates a struggle for textile companies in the United States (Perdomo 2024). The United States companies are having to develop more advanced technologies and e-commerce strategies. This can include a direct-to-consumer model to help them stay at the same level as the competition as well as reducing cost that go into the production and manufacturing (Perdomo 2024). Many adults like to think that fast fashion brands offer stylish options for a cheaper cost then they can find within the United States (Perdomo 2024). The number of individuals who believe this is increasingly larger than those who are worried about the environment and the sustainability of the product they are receiving (Perdomo 2024). This gap provides a space where Hanes can display their sustainability, ethics, and quality of their products (Steiger 2024). This would create more value and recognition from their caution towards the environment and potential hazards. Staying environmentally focused can be a big way for Hanes to stay above their competition. There are many individuals looking for a safe and sustainable place to shop and Hanes can create that value and market themselves as such.

HanesBrand Inc is a very body positive brand. Their brand image is high quality, sustainable, and ethical. Their brand image helps them keep their current customers and gain even more. Many clothing brands are focused heavily on thinner people and matching that quota. However, to be a well-rounded firm you need to get rid of the stigma that thin is pretty and focus on all bodies being equally beautiful. Hanes sizing ranges from Small to 2xl and they also have size 4 to 14

(Hanes 2024). This allows for a wider group of people that can use Hanes products and benefit from them. A wide variety of sizing allows Hanes to maintain their relationship with their consumers. It creates a value that Hanes is a judgment free zone and that individuals of all shapes and sizes can feel welcomed and invited. Their hashtag, #MakeYourselfComfortable (Figure 3.1) allows for everyone to feel included within their brand and their movement (Hanes 2024). This displays the value that Hanes products give to other consumers and how you can experience it too.

Engagement through Social Media Marketing

HanesBrands Inc has many social media platforms to help them engage with their current and future consumers. Brand engagement is when brands create a connection with current or potential consumers. This interaction allows for them to create a sense of value and purpose for their consumers (Husain 2016). While researching their marketing strategies through their social media sites, there was a noticeable lack of engagement compared to other brands. HanesBrands Inc is still preforming very well, they have many followers across their social media sites but little engagement. However, if they were able to increase their online presence, they would be able to improve sales. Their TikTok lacks views and engagement but through an active and engaging social media presence this could increase (Walsh 2024). If they understand TikTok’s algorithm it would help them get on the for you page and stay on it.

There are many different clothing videos that are quite popular right now that Hanes would be able to receive engagement from, such as fit checks. Fit checks allow for people to share their style with the platform they have created. Since Hanes creates many basic essentials, it would be extremely helpful for them to highlight their products in a fun and stylish way.

There is also a significant increase in the number of “wannabe” influencers. This could provide an inlet for Hanes to give out PR packages so people could share the word about their products for them (Walsh 2024). This is a very stable way to get your products out there. Since HanesBrands Inc is already well known, this would allow them to stay relevant and keep up with the times and generations.

Giving sponsorships to famous creators has a positive impact for brands (Walsh 2024). Hanes has already partners with Addison Ray in 2023 (Figure 4.1). This became their second most popular video on TikTok (Hanes 2024). This helps to prove that famous people can help bring in revenue and even generate it themselves. Hanes has a partnership with Micheal Jorden for over 30 years that has helped bring in an immense amount of revenue for their brand (Sheena 2024) (Figure 4.2). This partnership provided value to Hanes branding to show that even famous individuals still need high quality basics.

Social media marketing to so important for Hanes to keep focusing on as it continues to grow. Social media is ever changing, brands need to keep implementing new and more strategies to stay ahead

Figure 3.1 HanesBrand Inc, #MakeYourSelf Comfortable Movement

Figure 4.1 (left) Addison Ray Partnership TikTok with Hanes.

Figure 4.2 (above) Michael Jordan Partnership with Hanes

of their competition (Husain 2016). Many businesses jump into social media marketing completely clueless which causes them to become dissatisfied with the way their social media is not bringing in any engagement (Husain 2016). Hanes can try running multiple different Instagram ads to see which start gaining the most attention. This would help them in the future when they are continuing to develop their social media marketing strategies.

Currently their engagement is lower than their competition, like Nike and Adidas. This is not exactly what Hanes should be striving for. They need to continue promoting themselves and drawing in attention. There are many different algorithms in place on Instagram. This makes it easier for brands to be able to target specific demographics (Ilieva 2024). Consumers are easily persuaded because of social media ads targeting their interest, this is a good thing for brands when it comes to convincing individuals to buy their products (Ilieva 2024). “Customers benefit from more tailored and engaging influencer content that aligns with their interests and preferences, fostering a stronger connection with brands and potentially affecting their purchase decisions (Ilieva 2024).” Hanes can use this to their advantage and create fun advertisements that fit within their target market. Consumers can use social media to join many groups of individuals based on their interest, this in return allows their purchasing behavior to be influenced based on the people they surround themselves with (Husain 2016).

Hanes has many competitors in the clothing retail business. Brands like Nike and Adidas take most of the limelight because they are known for the name of their brand and the value associated with that name. Hanes however has been marketed as a more affordable option for those who do not care for the brand name and more for the quality of the product they are buying. To keep up with the competition Hanes has implemented many ads, many of which can be found on Amazon Prime and Freevee, which is owned by Amazon Corporation (Sheena 2024). The main advertisement strategy that Hanes is implementing to help increase their sales is using its classic reputation to help promote their newer products that they have available

(Sheena 2024). They are also using these platforms to experiment with new types of advertising strategies. These advertisements that Amazon allows companies to purchase can reach over 200 million monthly users (Sheena 2024). Comparing this to the views Hanes receives on their TikTok’s which averages from 7001,500 views this is a huge increase that will help them to solidify a solid and stable market of consumers.

Since HanesBrands Inc has employees in over 40 different countries it is important for them to be able to market within those countries (Hanes 2024). They sell their products all around the world making it harder during the translation processes when correctly marketing a product. Hanes did not want to mess up on their translations and use the free Google translate as it is prone to mistakes. They invested in Lingualinx in 2007 to help them translate their employees’ documents and format them accordingly (Lingualinx 2024). Teaming up with this brand has helped them continue to gain more attraction through their social media accounts when they are advertised to other countries. They keep strict deadlines to make sure everything is completed on time and presented with value (Lingualinx 2024).

Conclusion

There are many ways to enhance marketing strategies, such as increasing your engagement through different social media accounts and striving for immense value related to your product or service. HanesBrands Inc has a lot of value associated with their products, this is incredibly good for keeping positive and longlasting relationships with customers. On the other hand, Hanes could spend more time focusing on their social media presence. Their lack of engagement is not negatively affecting their brand, but more engagement would positively affect their brand. This will help them increase their sales and gain popularity amongst the younger generations. Social media is a wonderful way for brands to improve their marketing strategies while learning new ways to continue growing. Hanes has an incredible amount of value associated with their brand and they will continue reinforcing it for years to come.

References

Cheramie, L., & Balasubramanian, M. (2024). Sustainability Measures of the Apparel Industry: A Longitudinal Analysis of Apparel Corporations’ Sustainability Efforts. Sustainability, 16(15), 6681. https://www.proquest. com/docview/3090958120/fulltext/7BF57FBE753E40 74PQ/1?accountid=28640&sourcetype=Scholarly%20 Journals&parentSessionId=xWaBLTDi5YUKUgldh9A WO3AWKFclhuio04RRqXzLbow%3D

Ducouer, N. (n.d.). Fact sheet. Hanesbrand Inc. Retrieved October 25, 2024, from https://newsroom.hanesbrands. com/corporate-fact-sheet/default.aspx

Hanes. (n.d.). Hanes. Retrieved October 25, 2024, from https://www.hanes.com/women/underwear/bikinis?page =1&pageSize=24&sort=position&sortDirection=asc

Husain, S., Ghufran, A., & Chaubey, D. S. (2016). Relevance of Social Media in Marketing and Advertising: A Quarterly Peer Reviewed MultiDisciplinary International Journal. Splint International Journal of Professionals, 3(7), 21-28. https:// go.openathens.net/redirector/ship.edu?url=https:// www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/relevance-socialmedia-marketing-advertising/docview/1906047118/ se-2

Ilieva, G., Yankova, T., Ruseva, M., Dzhabarova, Y., Klisarova-Belcheva, S., & Bratkov, M. (2024). Social Media Influencers: Customer Attitudes and Impact on Purchase Behaviour. Information (2078-2489), 15(6), 359. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/ detail?vid=12&sid=9962762f-7d08-444d-9874-5b294ff 61aab%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNzbyZzaXR lPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d #AN=178193013&db=lxh

Jager, W. (2007). The four P’s in social simulation, a perspective on how marketing could benefit from the use of social simulation. Journal of Business Research, 60(8), 868–875. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/ detail/detail?vid=13&sid=a51c126b-adf8-4dda-8f9b-d7 d0f01f3c40%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNzbyZ zaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d %3d#AN=25411327&db=bth

Lingualinx. (n.d.). Hanes: A case study on Hanes. Lingualinx. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https:// www.lingualinx.com/case-studies/hanes

Mazda, C. (n.d.). What is customer value. Retrieved March 22, 2024, from https://www.zendesk.com/blog/ customer-value/

Park, C. W. (n.d.). How brands create value for customers. Branding Strategy Insider. Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://brandingstrategyinsider.com/ how-brands-create-value-for-customers/

Perdomo, C. (2024, August). Apparel knitting mills in the US. IBISWorld https://my.ibisworld.com/us/en/ industry/31512/at-a-glance

Sheena, J. (2024, August 15). Hanes’s ad strategy is bursting at the seams with amazon prime video and freevee ads. Marketing Brew. https://www.marketingbrew.com/ stories/2024/08/15/hanes-ad-strategy-amazon-freevee#

Steiger, B. (2024, September 25). Adult clothing 2024. Mintel. https://clients.mintel.com/report/ adult-clothing-us-2024

Walsh, D. et al. Authenticity in TikTok: How content creator popularity and brand size influence consumer engagement with sponsored user‐generated content. Psychology & Marketing, [s. l.], v. 41, n. 11, p. 2645–2656, 2024. DOI 10.1002/mar.22075. Disponível em:https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=180042463&site=eho st-live&scope=site. Access em: 25 out. 2024.

Student Reflection:

After completing the Brand Analysis Assessment, I felt a strong sense of accomplishment and pride. Reflecting on the journey, I can truly see how much knowledge I have gained from Principles of Marketing with Dr. Rahman. The class provided me with the necessary information and resources to complete the analysis, pushing me to think critically about marketing strategies and conduct thorough research. Throughout the process, I improved my ability to find credible articles, analyze data, and apply marketing theories to real-world brands. This experience strengthened my research and writing skills, allowing me to construct well-supported arguments and evaluate brand positioning more effectively.

Additionally, I have been applying many of these marketing strategies in my current marketing internship, specifically in social media marketing. Being able to research industry trends, understand consumer behavior, and curate data-driven marketing plans has given me a strong foundation for my future career. This project not only enhanced my ability to analyze brands but also helped me develop a deeper passion for marketing. I am grateful for this course’s impact on my growth as a researcher and marketer, and I am eager to continue using these skills in future classes, internships, and professional opportunities.

Gender Asymmetry Regarding Intimate Partner Violence

by Nya Green

CRJU 363: Intimate Partner Violence

Dr. Melissa Ricketts

Assignment:

Students were to choose a topic of intimate partner violence relating to criminal justice that was not a focus during the course (CRJU 363: Intimate Partner Violence). Once the topic was chosen, a paper had to be written using sources other than those presented in class. This paper examines and discusses relevant information linked to course themes as well as recent statistics surrounding the topic. Provost's Award: College of Education and

Gender Asymmetry Regarding IPV

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is abuse or aggression within a romantic relationship, with intimate partners being both current or former spouses and dating partners (Bancroft, 2003). IPV has always been a profound private and societal issue. This is because it is not only an equal-opportunity crime but also because the public’s response has historically focused on the victim rather than the perpetrator (Bancroft, 2003). Despite intimate partner violence being an equal opportunity crime, meaning it affects people of all ethnicities, economic statuses, and ages, a vast majority of its victims are women in heterosexual relationships with men. While 1 in 4 women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, only 1 in 10 men have experienced it (Bancroft, 2003). These numbers are concerning, considering women are almost 3 times as likely to be victimized by a violent partner than men. This is not to downplay domestic violence against men but rather to bring attention to the gender asymmetry surrounding intimate partner violence so that more accurate and helpful resources can be provided to victims and survivors. Various things could negatively and positively influence the imbalance among the genders of the victims of domestic violence. Men dominating the role of the perpetrator in most intimate partner violence cases could be catalyzed by societal norms and expectations, misogyny, or entitlement. These factors do not excuse violent behavior but could help explain why it occurs more in men than women (Walker, 2022). Due to this, men must begin to insert themselves into victim advocacy and future movements that prevent and stop intimate partner violence (Bancroft, 2003). Men must recognize their role in this growing issue and understand the factors that may influence them to become advocates or perpetrators.

Gender Asymmetry: A Man’s Issue

As intimate partner violence grows in awareness, understanding the main perpetrators and victims must also be analyzed in depth. The solution to the pervasive problem of violence against women is to challenge hostile gender stereotypes and disestablish sexist patriarchal beliefs (Sengupta et al., 2024). While men do experience IPV, their experiences are distinctly different from women. Despite intimate partner violence victimizing both men and women, self-reported data have shown that women experience more severe and frequent abuse than men (Fanslow et al., 2023). There remains a need for primary prevention of men and direct and substantial resource allocation intervention for women (Fanslow et al., 2023). Intimate partner violence is considered a gendered issue, being the most widespread kind of violence against women, and the most common perpetrators are male partners. Internationally, 40-70% of female homicides were committed by their intimate partners or ex-partners (Fanslow et al., 2023). Women are not only more likely to be victimized by IPV than men but are also more likely to fear for their lives than male victims (Fanslow et al., 2023). This helps to explain why the severity, frequency, and duration of abuse from a romantic partner are linked to worsened health outcomes in women (Fanslow et al., 2023). Even the types of abuse utilized by the perpetrator are gendered. For example, economic abuse, which has thoroughly been described by Bancroft (2003) as a common tactic among abusers, has proven to be gendered as a majority of those who self-report it are women. Another example is the prevalence of sexual IPV, which is reported by 12.4% of women and only 2.1% of men (Fanslow et al., 2023). Intimate partner homicide rates can be explained in part by women reporting higher prevalence and frequency of severe domestic violence acts, such as threats with weapons,

forced sex, and strangulations. Men, on the other hand, most commonly experience psychological abuse from women, which cluster around milder acts. Even if physical abuse is present, the acts are generally moderate (Fanslow et al., 2023).

Rather than having an interpersonal approach to changing their actions, men must have an active role in stopping the violence against women (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Bancroft (2003) recognized the gender imbalance in the issue by generalizing much of the information provided in “Why Does He Do That?”. The typologies of abusers use gender-specific words such as “Mr.”, “(Demand) Man,” or “Player” (Bancroft, 2003). Even the “Power and Control Wheel” lists “Male Privilege” as a tool utilized in abusive relationships (Bancroft, 2003). This issue is also apparent in children, as boys generally have higher levels of conduct problems compared to girls (Buil et al., 2017). If ignored and left without intervention, boys learn to use aggression and violence as tools to be used against others in adulthood. Thus increasing their chances of becoming the abuser in an intimate relationship (Bancroft, 2003; Buil et al., 2017).

Societal Norms and Expectations

The public and private issue of domestic violence occurs in a societal context in which sexist beliefs are pretty prevalent (Sengupta et al., 2024). Fueled by misogyny, domestic violence is present in every culture on the planet – haunting our past and framing our present (Walker, 2022). Bancroft (2003) understands the complex relationship intimate partner violence has with society and what they have normalized. What people hear and say will eventually shape their morals and affect their actions (Bancroft, 2003). Well-known statements such as “you get the vibe” or “just feel it in the air” because many men hold ideas of consent as a tacit understanding. This way of thinking supports the existence of coercive dominant discourse and begins to create a link between violence and attractiveness (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Media has promoted this connection through music videos, movies, television programs, music, and social media platforms such as Instagram (Bancroft, 2003; Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). The more children and even young adults are exposed to violence and sexualization, the more likely they will develop values based on entitlement and violence (Bancroft, 2003).

Intake of this kind of media also influences young boys to develop misogynistic ways of thinking. Misogyny thrives in a patriarchal society in which women are controlled and punished (Walker, 2022). Categories of class, race, and sexuality further reinforce the patriarchy and male privilege, which is a tactic used by abusers to control their victims, as mentioned in

“Power and Control” (Bancroft, 2003; Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). This strengthens the legitimacy of dominant masculine models that hold positions of power (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Every society and culture must advocate for gender equality more vigorously to get to the heart of the problem. Women are seen as inferior to men, and it is apparent in our speech, media, and lifestyles. Men must begin interacting with women as equals and change their gender-based habits from a young age. Recognize the phrases or ideas that appear normal but are actually part of a much larger issue regarding patriarchal dominance and male privilege.

Misogyny and Men’s Superiority Complex

“[M]isogyny is not about hating women. It is about controlling them (Kate Manne, 2016; Fanslow et al., 2023).” The feminist theoretical perspectives of the patriarchal structures of power between men and women as a tactic for maintaining the subordination of women (Fanslow et al., 2023). There is a growing need to acknowledge men’s power over women as a manifestation of and a tactic to maintain unequal power positions in society (Fanslow et al., 2023). The focus of intersectionality is the structural barriers, such as race, social class, and gender, linked to discriminatory practices influenced by hierarchical power (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Bancroft (2003) describes abusers as possessive and controlling over their partners. This is fueled by their superiority complex and the belief that their partners’ opinions and well-being are insignificant. The abuser must always have his needs met and believes he has no obligation to support his partner (Bancroft, 2003). These types of men also surround themselves with like-minded or by-standing allies. They feel more comfortable expressing their misogynist views in these settings because their allies will seldom challenge or correct them (Bancroft, 2003; Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024).

While hostile sexism is overtly negative beliefs that characterize women as manipulative, arrogant, and oversensitive, benevolent sexism has an idealized view of women, seeing them as caring, moral, and deserving of male protection (Sengupta et al., 2024). Benevolent sexism may seem harmless, or even a positive attribute to society, but both forms of sexism legitimize gender inequality and violence against women in distinct ways (Sengupta et al., 2024). Hostile sexism directly enforces the discrimination of women and enforces the norms of male superiority. Benevolent sexism has a patronizing content of undermining women, which expresses that women deserve protection but does not promote protective behavior (Sengupta et al., 2024). Prejudice against women combines antipathy and idealization, as proven by hostile sexism fostering violence and benevolent sexism mitigating violence (Sengupta et al., 2024).

Both forms of sexism, whether a violent or protective appeal, support the disempowerment of women in romantic relationships, thus increasing women’s forced dependence on men (Sengupta et al., 2024).

Misogyny is a complex idea that has integrated itself into society, influencing cultural norms and over-idealizing women everywhere. It must be understood as a systematic concept that is maintained by the patriarchy and superiority complexes of men.

Men’s Entitlement Linked to Consent

One characteristic that all abusive partners have in common is entitlement. An individual who believes their psychological or physical violence toward another person is justifiable by any number of reasons simultaneously believes they are entitled to that person’s mind and body. Bancroft’s (2003) abuser typologies vary from different tactics and temperaments, but regardless of the abuser’s typology, he believes he has a right to treat his partner any way he pleases. Entitlement is also linked to consent; the more entitled the perpetrator, the less they consider their partner’s consent (Bancroft, 2003). Bancroft (2003) also describes the realities of abusiveness, which included “abusers feel entitled.” Abusers believe their partner is a physical, emotional, and sexual caretaker. With all of the responsibility placed on the victim, the abuser avoids any accountability for his actions and reaps the benefits they believe they have a right to (Bancroft, 2003). These benefits also include sex or sexual acts without any consideration for the victim. If the partners are married, this is referred to as marital rape (Bancroft, 2003). Non-consensual actions are also commonly used in public against women. For example, nearly 20% of women reported experiencing sexual harassment in public “often” or “very often” (Sengupta et al., 2024). This number does not include dark-figure crimes, such as domestic violence cases that remain unreported or unrecognized by law enforcement, yet it is around the same percentage of women who experience IPV in their lifetime (Bancroft, 2003; Walker, 2022). Even current comments and debates on Reddit and Twitter pose barriers to overcoming relationships without consent (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). For some men, the viral hashtag “#NotAllMen” is an excuse to engage in and get away with unconsented behaviors. For example, a homosexual man reported on Twitter that gay men touch women without their consent but justified by further explaining that the men were not sexually attracted to the women (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Other posts by men included an open discussion on what women mean by “no.” One individual said “no” actually means “yes” because women need “warmed up.” Another man argued that men must insist on what women mean because they have learned to say “no” out of fear of appearing readily available.

Thus, they would never get laid if they complied with the woman (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024).

Victim Advocacy and Services

Understanding intimate partner violence as a gender asymmetric crime allows victim advocates and programs to create more applicable resources to be available to these victims. Raising awareness about consent in relationships, especially sexual relationships, is currently focusing on men as the audience (RiosGonzalez et al., 2024). Many university campuses hang campaign posters in strategic places, such as the bathrooms or bars, and include key messages that relate to consent. One example is ‘Can’t answer? Can’t consent – sex without consent is rape’ (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). To account for non-verbal communication, teachers of consent are critically addressing “no means no” and “yes means yes” (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Investigations of particular interventions, such as previously mentioned, stress the importance of “positive masculinities.” These healthy behaviors are directly linked to male gender identity (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). These ideas can be attributed to the recent development of alternative conceptualizations that differ from typical dominant and misogynistic male behavior. The New Alternative Masculinities approach (NAM) focuses on the active positioning against misogyny and gender-based violence (RiosGonzalez et al., 2024). Relationships that combine freedom, equality, and passion are the standard for this approach, which requires consent from all parties. The creation of NAM confirms the implementation of alternative socialization that confronts normativity and promotes diverse masculine models rather than the dominant ones (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024).

People have also taken to social media to engage in social transformation caused by virtual networks accelerating activism communication and making social movements increasingly visible (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). For example, feminists have argued that #NotAllMen is only restricted to harassers, rapists, and batterers. This proves that more distinction is needed for the public to understand men’s role in the prevention of gender-based violence (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). This influenced the #HeForShe hashtag, another campaign strongly linked to men’s involvement in gender equality and violence prevention. These links are also being shared globally by male celebrities to spread awareness for women who have been subjected to violence by men, which caused the United Nations to create a global social movement that will question gender inequalities and stereotypes from a man’s standpoint (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). These hashtags also include profiles of men’s groups that promote the engagement of boys and men in the process of ending violence against women. “What Can I Do?”,

“Beyond Equality,” and “White Ribbon” have also been repeatedly found in users’ debates on the matter (Rios-Gonzalez et al., 2024). Society is not there yet, but individuals are gradually becoming more aware of this prevalent issue and actively integrating themselves into the fight for gender equality to help stop violence against women.

Conclusion

Intimate partner violence is both an equal opportunity and a gendered crime. It has historically focused on the prevention of abuse through the victim, which is far more likely to be a woman than a man. Future intervention in this societal issue must be centered around men and preventing patriarchal views from influencing how women are treated in relationships. Men must play an active role in spreading awareness of IPV and interjecting and silencing conversations that include the degradation or objectification of women, not to mention interceding when abusive actions are present. Social norms and expectations have fueled the misogynistic views of men for centuries. It has caused abusers to have a sense of entitlement and, therefore, feel superior to their partners. Despite various forms of media influencing sexist and diminishing views of women, it has also been utilized by victim advocates and IPV researchers to inform people of the issue in hopes of preventing further violence or future cases of domestic violence. Women have stepped up to support each other on the matter, but to change societal standards of violence against women, men must acknowledge their role in integrating preventative interventions for boys with conduct issues and men who utilize aggression and violence to benefit from their partners.

References

Bancroft, L. (2003). Why does he do that?: Inside the minds of angry and controlling men. Penguin Publishing Group.

Buil, J. M., Koot, H. M., & van Lier, P. A. (2017). Sex differences and parallels in the development of externalizing behaviours in childhood: Boys’ and girls’ susceptibility to social preference among peers. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16(2), 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2017.1360178

Fanslow, J. L., Mellar, B. M., Gulliver, P. J., & McIntosh, T. K. (2023). Evidence of gender asymmetry in intimate partner violence experience at the populationlevel. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(15–16), 9159–9188. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231163646

Rios-Gonzalez, O., Torres, A., Aiello, E., Coelho, B., Legorburo-Torres, G., & Munte-Pascual, A. (2024). Not all men: The debates in social networks on masculinities and Consent. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi. org/10.1057/s41599-023-02569-y

Sengupta, N. K., Hammond, M. D., Deak, C. K., & Malhotra, R. S. (2024). Ambivalent sexism and tolerance of violence against women in India. Psychological Science, 35(7), 712–721. https://doi. org/10.1177/09567976241254312

Walker, R. L. (2022). Call it misogyny. Feminist Theory, 25(1), 64–82. https://doi. org/10.1177/14647001221119995

Student Reflection:

With so much violence in the world, intimate partner violence still stands out as unique. It is among the list of crimes that most of the perpetrators are men. When women are murdered, it will most likely be by someone they know, if not their romantic partner. Many women live in fear or as prisoners in their own homes at the hands of their boyfriend or husband. To truly make a difference and advocate for the victims of intimate partner violence, men must also recognize the magnitude of this crime and speak up against it. Misogyny is ingrained into our patriarchal society, which creates an inferior view of women that continues through a generational cycle. The only way to break the cycle of misogyny and violence against women is to accept the issue and truly understand its origins in the patriarchy. Men cannot simply stand beside women as they advocate for gender equality but rather spread their voices and influence other men to do the same. This is not an issue for women but for men, as they are among the vast majority of perpetrators and the minority of victims of intimate partner violence.

Editor's Choice: Upper Level First Place

The Fluidity of Self: An Exploration of the Transformative Power of Intersectional Identity in Akwaeke Emezi’s "The Death of Vivek Oji”

by Emma Fasnacht

ENGL 345: Women’s Literature

Dr. Erica Galioto

Assignment:

Curate a character case study with one of three novels discussing intersectionality and its role in women’s literature. Analyze how a specific character’s intersectional identity contributes to the ultimate understanding of the individual and their relationships throughout the text, using at least two theoretical articles for support.

Identity is not a fixed concept, morphing over time and allowing for personal growth as a result of both positive and negative life experiences. The essence of identity illustrates how individuals see themselves and how others perceive them. Forging a selfhood that lives outside of social norms presents numerous challenges, as there are consequences to not fitting into the binary structure that dictates societal conventions. This is precisely the intersectionality that Vivek Oji faces in Akwaeke Emezi’s gripping novel The Death of Vivek Oji. Throughout the course of the novel, Vivek slowly, then boldly, challenges traditional notions of gender and sexuality, expressing their true nature through their evolving self-awareness. Emezi employs the character of Vivek to explore the hidden corners of desire and identity, crafting a literary analysis that includes the plight of cisgender and transgender women. As Vivek defines the heteronormative codes of Nigerian culture, unique challenges lead to their marginalization within familial and social constructs. At the unique intersection of these key elements of identity, Vivek resists simple categorization by blurring the lines that define conventional expression. Thus, Akwaeke Emezi’s The Death of Vivek Oji showcases the intersectionality of Vivek Oji’s gender and sexuality as essential components that illuminate their authentic self, serving as a profound lens through which the complexities of the human condition can be understood.

Traditional Nigerian culture is dictated by a patriarchal structure that elevates males and diminishes females, providing males with dominion over their female counterparts. These fixed gender roles serve as restrictive elements in the Igbo tradition that guides Vivek Oji’s family. The pitfalls of strict gender classifications and its subsequent expectations in this cultural

tradition are the focus of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful essay “Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions” in which the author scribes a letter to a childhood friend who asks for advice on raising a feminist daughter. Providing fifteen recommendations to push against traditional Nigerian standards, she challenges the prevailing patriarchal viewpoints that shape binary gender representation. Written in a conversational manner that is easily accessible to the reader, Adichie details practical guidelines that emphasize the necessity for feminine autonomy within Igbo society, which is precisely the cultural tradition in which Vivek is reared. Highlighting that females are disenfranchised under male hegemony, Adichie encourages her friend to question traditional interpretations of femininity and masculinity to advance the cause of womankind. She cautions, “People will selectively use ‘tradition’ to justify anything,” defining deeply embedded assumptions of gender (Adichie 2). Much like Vivek, Adichie hopes to foster a more inclusive world that allows all humans to be free to define themselves.

Assigned a male identity at birth, Vivek physically manifests their intersectionality through trance-like episodes that confound their family members. These physical occurrences are one of the first clues of Vivek’s connection to the Igbo cosmological entity of the Ogbanje. This spiritual being represents a third gender, often attaching themselves to young children. Caught in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth, Ogbanjes haunt families across generations. Vivek’s dissociative instances are outward indications of the inner turmoil that boils beneath the surface as they unearth layers of their personality. Along with ties to the spiritual realm, their pursuit of identity alignment highlights how the transgender experience is the drive to escape the mortal

body. The complex psychological dimensions of transgender individuals are the focus of Patricia Gherovici’s “Plastic Sex, The Beauty of It.” Gherovici examines the manners in which transgender people challenge conventional assumptions of gender, sexuality, and desire. She proclaims that there is no fixed concept of gender or sexuality, therefore opening up the physical body to be altered into alignment with gender. She maintains that “the trans experience shows us that there is a disjunction between how subjects experience their bodies and the given corporeal contours of their flesh. Such a disjunction renders explicit the fact that we all need to establish some kind of relation to our bodies” (Gherovici 103). Her powerful declaration that gender can be reimagined illustrates that the body and identity are not predetermined but rather socially constructed, a notion that Vivek explores unapologetically. Thus, according to Gherovici, the concepts of gender and sexuality are not static– they are dynamic. Unsure how to address their gender dysphoria, Vivek becomes increasingly restless, exhibiting another characteristic of the Ogbanje. The fragility of their health serves as a physical manifestation of a spiritual conflict, highlighting the limitations of the mortal realm for an Ogbanje. Further complicating Vivek’s situation are the deeply ingrained beliefs of his Nigerian culture. Adichie emphasizes the precarious situation this places those who identify as women in, declaring, “Gender roles are so deeply conditioned in us that we will often follow them even when they chafe against our true desires, our needs, our happiness” (5). She further expresses that “biology is an interesting and fascinating subject, but she should never accept it as justification for any social norm. Because social norms are created by human beings, and there is no social norm that cannot be changed” (Adichie 12). Therefore, identity is not a biological fact but rather a psychological interpretation. Gherovici reinforces this notion, claiming that “sexual identity transcends anatomy” (107). This revelation mirrors Vivek’s clarification of their stance on what constitutes identity, proclaiming, “I’m not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn’t have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change” (Emezi 38). Forced into silence by the constraints of culture and family, they retreat inward to process the multi-faceted oppression that limits their existence. Subsisting in the shadows, Vivek notes “every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn’t even exist to them” (Emezi 38). Sharing the sadness that consumes their life, Vivek begins to strip away the façade that overshadows their authenticity.

As Vivek’s self-exploration progresses, they uncover their authentic self at the intersection of their gender identity and sexuality, breaking free from a restrictive cultural framework that demands conformity. Stifled by the repressive nature of Nigerian society, Vivek explores their identity when they attend university, opening a chasm between how they are perceived and how they perceive themselves. Functioning as a metaphorical Ogbanje, Vivek personifies duality within their body and spirit. This is exemplified in the nonbinary nature of their life and the suffering that is its consequence. In her essay, Adichie examines the faulty notion of ascribed gender roles, encouraging resistance to a hierarchical structure characterized by biology and claiming that “the idea of ‘gender roles’ is absolute nonsense” (4). Vivek follows Adichie’s advice by growing their hair, an act which is not socially acceptable for Nigerian men. Gherovici asserts that cultural beauty standards influence physical transformations in the transgender community, as “Beauty can be a limit to reckless jouissance and an intermediary site between two deaths. This may lead us to conclude that transgender individuals want to be recognized in their being” (114). Their family is taken aback by their transformation, as evidenced by Osita’s observation that Vivek’s hair is “below his shoulder blades, tangled, a little matted against the blue cotton of his shirt” (Emezi 57). Shocked at this nonbinary expression of gender, Osita is unable to restrain his emotions, questioning Vivek’s sanity. “‘Have you seen yourself?’ I shot back. ‘Are you even sure you’re not a masquerade?’” (Emezi 57). Clearly, Vivek has crossed a cultural boundary that makes Osita and most of the family extremely uncomfortable, heightening their discrimination by pushing beyond the binary.

Fully aware that their gender fluidity compounds their vulnerability, Vivek isolates themselves as a form of protection. Uneasily adhering to traditional aspects of his assigned male gender, they find comfort in conventional expressions of femininity, such as delicate clothing, bold make-up, and flowing hair. Content in their feminine expression, Vivek emulates the cultural expectations of beauty for women. In doing so, they “emphasize the strong drive to beauty within the transsexual transformation. We encounter many trans folk who hope to be seen or read in the gender with which they identify. These folk talk about passing or not passing.” (Gherovici 114). This duality of outward presentation versus internal identification further binds Vivek to the Igbo Ogbanje. Like this entity, Vivek is trapped between two worlds, never quite fitting into either. Gherovici states that the complexities of the intersection of psychoanalysis and transgender identities foster a constant state of uncertainty that the bodies “of these trans subjects appears as a container

that cannot contain” (105). As a result, identity is constantly redefined, expressing the inherent right to alter the body.

Undoubtedly, it is this lack of belonging that intensifies Vivek’s marginalization. Even though their desire to live as a woman clashes with societal expectations, they persevere. This raw honesty is echoed when, during a heated conversation with Osita, Vivek inquires if he is keeping a relationship secret because it is with a man and not a woman. The mere suggestion sends Osita into a rage, as he screams, “‘Don’t touch me. You think I’m like your friends? Or like you? Is that why you decided to start looking like a woman, ehn? Because you’ve been knacking men?’” (Emezi 67). Gaining confidence through their self-actualization, Vivek challenges his cousin to examine the origins of his prejudice. Vivek implores, “‘Why are you so afraid? Because something is different from what you know?’” (Emezi 68). According to Adichie, it is difference that threatens patriarchal dominance and empowers marginalized communities. In difference, there is power. The way to combat discrimination is to “Make difference ordinary. Make difference normal. Teach her not to attach value to difference” (Adichie 15). Rejecting the conventions of masculinity to reclaim their own body and identity from erroneous classification, Vivek embraces difference and becomes the author of their own story.

As Vivek challenges heteronormative societal conventions in their expression of sexuality, they adopt a nonconforming gender identity that fosters nontraditional longings of sexual desire to blossom. Nigerian culture stigmatizes queer relationships, forcing both Vivek and Osita to hide their connection. Only a select few are granted access to the depth of their bond, compounding the subversive nature of their entanglement. Vivek’s sexuality, like their gender, defies rigid categorization, providing another link to the Ogbanje myth. Vivek does not exist in the singular sense, but in the plural. According to Gherovici, this echoes the transgender experience as “a process of embodiment, that it will be at play for everyone who tries to bridge the gap and embody their carnal reality in order to flesh out subjectivity” (103). Navigating the complex intersection of gender and sexuality, Vivek embodies the malleability that lies at their core. Addressing the societal abhorrence for their physical expression of desire with Osita, Vivek proclaims, “I know what they say about men who allow other men to penetrate them. Ugly things; ugly words. Calling them women, as if that’s supposed to be ugly, too” (Emezi 131). Penetration requires submission, allowing domination of one’s body by another in an act that Nigerian culture views as unacceptable for males. In many ways, Vivek embodies Adichie’s ideology, accepting the pleasure

without regret. Writing on the importance of taking ownership of the body, Adichie beseeches “that her body belongs to her and her alone, that she should never feel the need to say yes to something she does not want, or something she feels pressured to do” (13). Through their relationship with Osita, Vivek accesses their authentic self and relinquishes an identity that no longer serves them. Vivek confesses, “I’d heard it since secondary school, and I knew what that night was supposed to make me. Less than a man – something disgusting, something weak and shameful. But if that pleasure was supposed to stop me from being a man, then fine. They could have it” (Emezi 131).

Reclaiming the fortitude that social conventions seek to diminish in queer relationships, Vivek transforms their oppression into liberation.

Fully aware that their choices regarding the expression of their gender and sexual identity endangers their existence, Vivek refuses to live on the fringes of society and emerges as a transgender woman. Adichie details that, for women, authenticity is not easily attainable, illustrating that this decision will ruffle some feathers. True growth, she posits, occurs when a woman can achieve autonomy without fear of judgment. Adichie insists, “Show her that she does not need to be liked by everyone. Tell her that if someone does not like her, there will be someone else who will” (9). Finding joy in hyperfemininity, Vivek pushes beyond the safety of friends’ houses and slowly ventures into Nigerian society as their feminine self. Fearful of someone interpreting Vivek’s feminine appearance as subterfuge, Osita begs his cousin to leave the riotous marketplace with him. This only serves to infuriate Vivek, who is claiming their agency as Nnemdi, shouting, “‘You’re ashamed of me,’ she said, her voice surprised. ‘That’s why you don’t like me going out like this. It’s like you’re always ashamed, Osita. First of yourself, then of us, now of me’” (Emezi 235). As Nnemdi, Vivek is finally capable of expressing themselves without fear, misguidedly taking Osita’s concern as a personal slight. Adichie acknowledges the impact of language that classifies incorrectly, highlighting Vivek’s aversion to their birth name and affirming that language serves as “a repository of our prejudices, our beliefs, our assumptions” (7). In their rejection of oppressive language, Nnemdi claims their feminine agency.

Whereas Osita is devastated at the loss of his love, Nnemdi dies as a radically honest representation of self. Much like an Ogbanje, death is a transformative experience for Vivek that is not an end but a beginning. In death, there lies a sense of self-discovery that is a reclamation of their true identity. Gherovici insists that transgender individuals have “to cross this death to oneself in order to be reborn differently and reclaim a changed body” (106). Vivek must no longer

walk a tightrope between two identities, as they are liberated from an existence that is too challenging to sustain. Nnemdi recalls their death as an emancipation from the oppression that threatened their happiness, grateful for the circumstances. “I often wonder if I died in the best possible way – in the arms of the one who loved me the most, wearing a skin that was true” (Emezi 244). In the end, there is an absence of secrecy, as Nnemdi achieves the autonomy Vivek so deeply desired through transcendence of the limitations of the human world. Nnemdi is not saddened by the loss of their life but rather by the loss of a life lived openly loving Osita. Nnemdi declares, “I want to tell him that I knew I was dancing with death everyday when I walked outside like that. I knew it and I made my choices anyway” (Emezi 244). In death, a metaphorical rebirth occurs. The self-acceptance that Nnemdi gains shatters the repressive bonds of conventional Nigerian culture, transforming their intersectional identity from limiting to freeing.

Ultimately, the character of Vivek Oji in Akwaeke Emezi’s The Death of Vivek Oji highlights the universal desire of all humans to be seen, heard, understood, and loved unconditionally. Emezi weaves a masterful tale that provides a window into the complexities of the human condition, detailing that no individual can be defined by a single aspect of their identity. Not allowing the intersectionality of their gender and sexual identity to be complicated by societal expecta-

tions, Vivek sheds the systems of oppression that seek to govern them. Moving from fragmentation to wholeness, Emezi employs the character of Vivek to craft a narrative of personal growth that transcends the boundaries erected by Nigerian cultural traditions. The power of intersectionality to evolve from marginalized to empowered is eloquently examined in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions” and Patricia Gherovici’s “Plastic Sex, The Beauty of It.” These articles showcase the obstacles that queer individuals must surmount to achieve the autonomy that is more readily granted to heteronormative populations. This exploration of the diversity of transgender lives calls for a reexamination of psychoanalytic theory and societal assumptions concerning gender and sexuality. Living at the crossroads of multiple disenfranchised identities, Vivek’s story illustrates the vulnerability that lies at the core of intersectional identities, reframing the understanding of the intricacies of the human experience and encouraging universal empathy.

Works Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions.” pp. 1-15.

Emezi, Akwaeke. The Death of Vivek Oji. Riverhead, 2021. Gherovici, Patricia. “Plastic Sex, The Beauty of It.” pp. 103-116.

Student Reflection:

Within the first few pages of The Death of Vivek Oji, I instantly became attached to the relationship between Igbo culture and outward representations of both gender and sexual orientation. As I am always curious about the role of intersectionality in numerous societal and economic constructs, Vivek’s journey showcases how pushing past the marginalizations that define cultural norms can be an ultimate source of resilience. Coming out and expressing one’s true identity is a matter of life or death in several parts of the world, especially when tradition dominates all decisions. Breaking the gender binary presents its own set of challenges, yet it is necessary to achieve the autonomy that is not as easily acquired to this population. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge this assignment provided me to explore intersectionality on a deeper psychoanalytic level during a time when these conversations are more prevalent than ever!

Editor's Choice: Upper Level Second Place

Peruvian Potatoes: Andean Military and Artisanry Through the Ages

by Drew Landis

HIST 349: History of Latin America

Dr. Gretchen Pierce

Assignment:

Description of Assignment (2-3 sentences): You are being asked to provide a comprehensive history of a food or beverage from Latin America. Your mission is to research your item’s background (origins, production, distribution, consumption, etc.) and discuss what larger issues (politics, economics, religion, race/class/gender, etc.) your food or drink is connected to. You must trace this history over at least three time periods (pre-Columbian, colonial, modern, contemporary).

Introduction

French fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and potato chips. The list could go on and on, but this global behemoth of a crop was not always universal. Potatoes were intrinsic to the Americas, particularly the Andes region in South America. Spuds relayed a surprising amount of information about many facets of society. Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, potatoes were a prominent component of the military diet of the Incas. The artistic creativity and innovation surrounding potatoes also painted a picture of what artisanry looked like in the Andes region stretching back to the Mid to Late Archaic Periods.1 Potatoes were an avenue to study the military and artisanry of the Andes throughout history. Potatoes held an important spot in the culture of ancient Americans, and this can still be seen today.

History of the Potato

Up in the Andean Highlands, West of the Titicaca Basin bordering modern-day Peru and Bolivia, a new form of living sprouted roughly five thousand years ago. A shift from nomadism to sedentism resulted in the formation of Jiskairumoko, one of the earliest villages in South America.2 Accompanying the archaeological artifacts was even more impressive microbotanical evidence that led historians to place this as the earliest evidence of potato domestication and cultivation.3 Potato cultivation possibly goes back further, thousands of years earlier, but tuber degrada-

tion has led to no archaeological remains to confirm that theory.4 Potatoes went on to sustain the Andean populations throughout the formative and Tiwanaku periods.5

The Inca Empire

As civilization grew larger and more complex, interaction between Andean highland populations and other South American societies led to the expansion of potatoes outside of the Andes. There is no bigger example of this than the Inca Empire. The Inca Empire allegedly originates from the village of Paqari-tampu, about fifteen miles from Cuzco (Peru), where they eventually established their capital in the twelfth century. The Inca dynasty was founded by Manco Capac and expanded under subsequent emperors like Mayta Capac and Capac Yupanqui. Under the eighth emperor, Viracocha Inca, the Inca Empire developed into the military conquerors they were known to be. Throughout the Inca reign, potatoes were instrumental in their success. As an easy-to-grow food rich in nutrients, Peruvian potatoes accounted for a large portion of the empire’s food cache. In addition to that, a process of fermentation and storage of these tubers led to them being able to be stored for years at a time. The product, chuño, would revolutionize food storage and lead to the Inca military being as prominent as it was.

The Inca Empire maintained its dominance until 1532 when the Spanish took advantage of the succession disputes that had plagued the empire for about a

1 Middle Archaic Period is considered roughly from 4,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE. The Late Archaic Period is from 2,000 BCE to 500 CE.

2 Mark S. Aldenderfer and Claudia Ursual Rumold, “Late Archaic–Early Formative period microbotanical evidence for potato at Jiskairumoko in the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America 113, no. 48 (2016): 13672-13677.

3 Ibid, 13673. Microbotanical data found on grinding tools, pottery, and more suggest the widespread consumption of potatoes.

4 Ibid, 13673. There is not much evidence for potato consumption because, unlike wheat or meat, potatoes are often eaten in their entirety. This means there is little to no archeological evidence for historians to find. Much of ancient potato practices are theoretical and passed down from knowledge of old practices or analysis of archaic tools.

5 Ibid, 13675. Formative Period: ~1250 BC to 100 CE. Tiwanaku Period: ~200 to 1100 CE.

decade.6 The Spanish aided both sides and ended up executing the victor, Atahuallpa. Soon after, his successor died of mysterious circumstances and the Spanish took control of the disintegrating empire with the capture of Cuzco in 1533. They established colonial Lima in 1535.

Colonization Era

After Columbus voyaged to the Americas in 1492, Europeans set their sights on colonizing the New World. As Spanish conquistadors took over the Americas, they encountered an endless array of new plants and animals. From pineapples to cocoa, to llamas and turkeys, America was full of wonders. This challenged the long-held European science of humoralism. Many Europeans linked diet and climate to complexion, health, intelligence, and more.7 This made Spaniards wary of many native foods, like the potato. The potato, being a root that grows underground, was considered a choleric and cold food; its consumption could lead to a change in complexion and energy. Though Europeans remained skeptical, there was no reason to restrict potatoes from the diet of natives already accustomed to the plant. For this reason, chuño continued to sustain native populations. Now, instead of supplying the vast networks of the Inca Empire, potatoes supplied labor camps where natives were abused and mistreated.

European Expansion and Importance

Eventually, potatoes did become accepted by Europeans, but it took some time. Sir Francis Drake was credited with bringing the first potato to Europe in 1586. This was seen as such a momentous event in history that future generations would erect a statue of Drake holding a potato plant in 1853.8 The change in European hearts on the tuber was not random. After the introduction of the potato to Europe, they initially used it as feed for livestock in fear of its similarity to

nightshade, associated with witchcraft. A series of famines in the 1770s bolstered the popularity of the resilient spud. By the nineteenth century, low spoilage, cheapness, and bulk (hunger satisfaction) led to it becoming the most important new food in Europe, especially in Ireland. However, the overreliance on potatoes led to Ireland being crippled by a potato disease in 1845, sparking the Potato Famine.9

Modern Day potatoes in the Andean Highlands: Modern-day potatoes are grown all over the planet by all sorts of people. 376 million metric tons of potatoes were produced in 2021.10 China led global production alongside one hundred other countries where potatoes are grown. The top five producers account for 56.6% of the world’s potato supply.11 Surprisingly, the birthplace of the potato does not even rank in the top ten producers. A possible explanation for this is industrialization.

Artisanry

Andean potato production has largely remained an artisanal process, as opposed to an industrial one, meaning it tends to be smaller scale and less profitable. Tradition is critical to the Andean people. To understand the modern mediocrity of Peruvian potato profits a look into the artisanry of the past is needed. Artisanry refers to making products by hand. From as far back as evidence is collected, potatoes have been at the center of artisanry in the Andes region through art and harvesting practices.

Potato Art

With the importance potatoes had as a staple crop in the pre-Columbian Andes, it is no surprise that there would be cultural significance to them as well. To one culture, the Moche, this was represented through potato art. The Moche were a tribe in ancient Peru roughly spanning from 100 to 700 CE. Archeological

6 María Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, and John V. Murra. “Succession, Cooption to Kingship, and Royal Incest among the Inca,” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 16, no. 4 (1960): 417–27 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3628886. After the death of Topa Inca Yupanqui, a struggle for the succession insured. Huayna Capac came out victorious, but his death in less than a decade led to another succession struggle, which remained unresolved by 1532 when the Spanish arrived. Pizzaro and the Spaniards aided both sides of the civil war and executed Atahuallpa, the victor, after he consolidated control. His successor, Topa Huallpa died under mysterious circumstances that year, leaving the Spanish in control.

7 Rebecca Earle, The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 26-7, 30. These four humors are blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Each humor could also be hot or cold, either moist or dry, and was associated with an element (water, earth, fire, and air). Blood was hot and dealt with moist air, phlegm was cold wet water, black bile was cold, dry earth, and yellow bile was hot, dry fire. Humors are also associated with seasons and constellations, among other categories. This theory dates back to Hippocrates and Galen, medical practitioners from ancient Greece. Humoralism did not only pertain to health but also personality and physical appearance as well. An imbalance in humors, caused by “six non-natural things,” was believed to lead to personality and even complexion to change. The six factors were climate (air), food, exercise, sleeping, evacuation, and emotions.

8 Charles C. Mann, “How Potatoes Changed the World,” Smithsonian Magazine (November, 2011). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potatochanged-the-world-108470605/. See Figure 1 for a postcard with the image of Drake’s statue. The statue no longer stands because it was destroyed during the riots of Kristallnacht. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette also promoted the consumption of the potato by wearing potato flowers on their clothing.

9 “History of the Potato,” Irish Potato Federation, accessed May 7, 2024. https://irishpotatofederation.ie/history/#:~:text=The%20Irish%20were%20the%20 first,and%20living%20conditions%20remarkably%20well.

10 “Potatoes,” Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, accessed May 6, 2024, https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/vegetables/potatoes.

11 International Potato Center. “Potatoes on Mars with NASA.” Accessed May 6, 2024. https://cipotato.org/annualreport2016/stories/ mars-potatoes/#:~:text=While%20most%20of%20the%20native,to%20grow%20and%20produce%20potatoes.

digs have been done on Wasi Huachuma, located in the lower Jequetepeque Valley with resulting artifacts dating back to the later period of Moche culture.12 Figure 2a depicts one of many “potato art” pieces uncovered from ancient Andean civilizations like the Moche. This peculiar piece of art was inspired by the potato, or more broadly, tubers. The limbs resemble “roots” and its curious shape can resemble different creatures, like arachnids, crustaceans, or insects, but with a human head. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Moche potters typically did this in a pattern known as “pareidolia,” the tendency to find patterns in nature (similarities between animals).13 Many ceramics with similar styles were also used to store and cook food and in rituals. This object was a “stirrup-spout bottle” that stored water like a modern-day flask.14 The intricate design and expert craftsmanship shown in this piece make it a likely funerary offering or decoration for the home of an elite or at a temple. Many artifacts relating to the food process, such as grinding stones, cutters, scrapers, ceramic graters, and the remains of foods themselves were uncovered at this location, dating back to at least 600 CE. Considering the relative abundance of other crops, such as maize, represented in religious ceremonies, some historians believe potatoes were only consumed by the elite, but this is contested as microbotanical evidence found on grindstones recently indicated the abundance of potatoes in common cuisine.

General Pre-Colonial Peruvian Artisanry

Potatoes were not the only art ancient Peruvian societies produced. The two largest artistic industries of pre-colonial Peruvians were textiles and ceramics. As covered with potato ceramics, these vessels were often important for religious ceremonies and showing status. Typical everyday wares would look simpler while elites would enjoy jars decorated with images of gods or animals. As with the potato art, pareidolia combined human and animal characteristics such as through the artwork of Chavín artists dating between 900 and 500 BCE. At the temple complex of Chavín de Huántar, Chavín designs characterize the Lanzón stele deity with

fangs and talons of jaguars, hair resembling snakes, and the general form of a human.15 Anthropomorphic art is typically found in cultures that are very close to nature. Combining human and animal characteristics with gods signifies the high elevation of nature in many Peruvian societies.

One of the staple artisan occupations, textiles were some of the first items to be made. Textile fragments found at Guitarrero Cave date back to over 8,000 BCE.16 According to Dr. Sarah Scher, a contributing editor for Pre-Columbian South American Art with a Ph.D. in art history from Emory University, “By the first millennium CE, Andean weavers had developed and mastered every major technique, including double-faced cloth and lace-like open weaves.”17 As they mastered the industry, there was a shift from fibers or reeds to cotton and alpaca wool. Their use of wool and dyes led to many striking colors, from cochineal red to indigo blue.18 However, this process was grueling and time-consuming, making bright colors a symbol of status and wealth throughout Andean history.

Another facet of artisanry that carried through the ages was the process of creating chuño. The chuño process is a five-day process where small, freeze-resistant potatoes are exposed to three days of cold temperatures at night and then high temperatures during the day to dehydrate them. Andeans would then move the chuño to chuñochinapampas where typically the whole family would contribute to trampling the remaining liquid and skins from the potatoes.19 This process can be repeated a few times and will become either white chuño or black chuño. White chuño is rehydrated while black chuño is not. Due to dehydration, chuño has the unique characteristic of lasting for years, sometimes decades, in storage.

Chuño and the Qolcas system: Modern artisanry

Chuño endures as a persistent indigenous production in the Andean region still today. It is produced in the same way as ancestors have done for generations.20 In many places, chuño is still stored in qolcas. Qolcas are like ancient refrigerators for tubers and dehydrated grains.21 Illa Liendo Tagle, supported by the Pulitzer

12 Guy S. Duke, Victor F. Vasquez-Sanchez, Teresa E. Rosales-Tham, “Start grain evidence of potato consumption at the Late Moche (AD 600-850) site of Wasi Huachuma, Peru,” Journal of Archaeological Science, 100 (December 2018), pp. 74-79.

13 “Tuber-inspired stirrup-spout bottle,” The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 202, accessed May 7 2023 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/308558. Figure 2a

14 The Met, “Tuber bottle.” Figure 2b shows a back-end picture portraying the spout and opening.

15 Sarah Scher, “Introduction to Andean Cultures,” Khan Academy, accessed May 6, 2024, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/south-americaearly/a-beginn/a/introduction-to-andean-cultures-edit. Figure 3

16 James M. Adovasio, and Thomas F. Lynch, “Preceramic Textiles and Cordage from Guitarrero Cave, Peru,” American Antiquity, 38, no 1 (1973): 84-5.

17 Scher, “Introduction to Andean Cultures.”

18 Ibid.

19 Chuñochinapampas simply translates to “The place where Chuño is made.” This is typically a large, flat area where one can lay all the potatoes out and trample them.

20 Alejandra Osorio, “Why Chuño Matters: Rethinking the History of Technology in Latin America.” Technology and Culture 63, no. 3 (2022): 808-829.

21 Illa Llendo Tagle, “In Peru, ancient food technologies revived in pursuit of future security,” Mongabay News & Inspiration from Nature’s Frontlines, September 3, 2021.

Center, interviewed an Andes native, Mario Quispe Hermoza. Hermoza revived the dead practice as unpredictable climate and food shortages loomed in the future. Tagle wrote, “Experts have increasingly pointed out the urgency of recovering, systematizing, and promoting these ancestral practices in the field, in research and in universities.”22 More than 2.2 million small family farmers in Peru continue to use these ancient practices in their daily lives. The enduring artisan culture in the Andes is demonstrative of the limited industrialization in the area. During the age of industrialization when Western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom were industrializing, many Latin American countries, such as Peru and Bolivia, were encouraged to stick to agriculture. This economic thinking is part of specialization and comparative advantage, an economically liberal proposition from Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith. Liberal Oligarchic Regimes (LORs) across Latin America in the late 19th century adopted this policy, leading to expansions into agriculture and monocropping. LORs’ overdevelopment of the agricultural sector left many groups behind as large corporations and foreign investors bought out smaller domestic businesses that could not compete with the industrialized might of the US and Europe. All of this led to leftist movements across the Americas during the mid-20th century which replaced Liberalism with Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI). ISI called for industrialization, domestic production, land reform, mechanized agriculture, public works programs, and the nationalization of resources.23 The constant economic downturns throughout the twentieth century left Latin America in flux between LOR, ISI, and neoliberalism, a return to many economically liberal policies. The entire history of industrialization explains why Latin America, and especially the highlands of Peru, where diffusion already takes longer, were so late to industrialize. Still today, chuño survives as an artisan skill.

The Potato in Warfare

The Inca Empire ran alongside the Andes Mountains. With this close relationship to the highlands, it only made sense that the empire relied on their resources as well. Potatoes played a large role in military conquest by feeding the Inca military. As previously discussed, chuño allows potatoes to be stored for ages. Chuño is also light. Constant dehydration made chuño weigh next to nothing. The combination

22 Ibid.

of dense calories, preservability, and lightness created the perfect meal for a military. This is exactly what the Inca Empire did. The Inca Empire relied on a vast network of roads that connected their large territory. To ensure against drought and disaster, they invested in storage facilities along the roads. These storage facilities, qolca, held many crops, like maize, but also chuño.24 Each town and village had its own system of qolcas during the reign of the Incas. Tagle discussed, “Today, the vestiges of the four main storage systems in the Cusco Valley can still be seen, defying the ravages of time and urban growth: Sillkinchani, Muyu Orqo, Qhataqasapatallaqta, and Taukaray.”25 For the silos to still stand today shows the incredible artisanry and innovation of the Inca Empire. After Europeans arrived, the practice fell into disuse due to the focus on individual production, forced labor, and the dispersion of native communities.

Inca Military

Potatoes only explain parts of the Inca military. Other aspects of the Inca Empire made the military so powerful. The division of the military was unique. It was set up in battalions of a single ethnic group, filled with permanent staff and drafted commoners. The whole group would be directed by a curaca, a warlord of the same ethnicity. This man was given complete control and, according to Nigel Davies, a Ph. D. in archeology, “retained the right to labor service from the people of his community.”26 This gave Curaca tremendous power. To stymie their power, there were two battalions per ethnic group created. Whoever performed better in battle earned more perks, creating competition against other battalions instead of ambition for the throne. Another strategy the Incas used to conquer was through mass resettlement campaigns known as mitimae. There were three categories of resettlement: those for social and military functions, purely military reasons, and economic ones. The social and military mitimae were used to repopulate and reeducate newly acquired territory. Military mitimae were used to “establish garrisons for protection against savage frontier peoples, such as the Chunchos and Mojos. Mitimae enclaves of this type were also stations farther north along the critical frontier region.”27 The economic mitimae were to send people into the fertile mountain valleys that lacked people to till the soil. All of these strategies helped support military efforts and make it less likely for rebellions. In the end, the biggest

23 Raúl Prebisch, “A New Economic Model for Latin America,” in Latin America and the United States, ed. Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 199.

24 Tagle, “Peru.”

25 Ibid.

26 Davies, Nigel. “The Imperial System.” In The Incas, 150–80. University Press of Colorado, 1995. 155.

27 Davies, The Incas, 167.

threat to the Inca Empire was not a rival military, but themselves. As civil war plunged the Inca into chaos, Spanish conquistadors schemed for control.

Conquistadors

Conquistador Francisco Pizarro entered Peru from the north in 1532. Within a year, the Inca capital of Cuzco was captured, Quito the following year. Ironically, just as the Incas had faced a power struggle, so did the Spaniards. Caballero hidalgo Pizarro fought with rival Diego de Almagro for control of Peru, setting off a civil war that would last over fifteen years.28 Pizzarists and Almagrists continued fighting even after the deaths of their namesakes until the crown finally intervened and executed Gonzalo Pizarro in 1548.29 Gonzalo incorporated foreigners in his military, likely due to their indifference toward the king. James Lockhart, who got his Ph. D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says because “manpower was scarce, recruiting vigorous, and pay high,” many foreigners joined civil wars on either side.30 Between diseases and conquests, native populations were not sufficient for constant civil war. What was in even higher demand were officers with military experience. Lockhart explains this problem. “The only true military professionals were those who had experience in the wars of Europe, or ‘Italy,’ and therefore knew something of conventional military science.”31 Decades of Inca infighting followed by Spanish civil wars cost Peruvian life and left the territory of the formerly formidable Inca military in the hands of a Spanish army in shambles.

Military Dictatorships and Potatoes

Centuries later, Peru yet again witnessed an era of militarism. Discontent and the strong concentration of power in the military led to a coup by the Armed Forces of Peru in 1968. The Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces appointed Juan Velasco Alvarado as the de facto leader. While dictatorial, Alvarado also enacted populist and ISI reforms, including agrarian reform, recognition of the indigenous language, Quechua, workers’ rights and empow-

erment, and rights for indigenous Peruvians. He also nationalized resources and expropriated companies.32 All of these leftist reforms, and negative reputation with the West, may have contributed to the severe economic crisis that ended with Alvarado’s overthrow in 1975 and the establishment of a constitution in 1979 under Francisco Morales Bermúdez. An election was held in 1980 where Fernando Belaúnde, the previously overthrown president, returned to power—this period of economic turmoil brought the tuber back to the forefront of the Latin American diet. As Rebekah Pite points out in her book Building a Common Table, 1970s Argentines faced a similar predicament. “The poorer sectors of society filled their stomachs with bread, potatoes, and other grains.”33 All over the continent, potato consumption increased as economies worsened. However, Peruvian potato exports have never seemed to reflect the global love of potatoes. Perhaps this is due to their lack of industrialization, largely dispersed highland population, or a focus on other raw material exports.

V. Conclusion and the Future of the Potato

From health nuts and diet gurus to Gordon Ramsay himself, Peruvian potatoes are making a comeback in the twenty-first century.34 As the lifeblood of ancient Andean civilizations, Peruvian potatoes demonstrate the importance of artisanry from pre-Inca and Inca society, all the way up to chuño production today. The support chuño provided to the Inca military impacted their military might, before falling to civil wars and coups, which plagued Peru during colonization and the 1970s. Potatoes do not only point to the past but to the future as well. There are two ways in which Peruvian potatoes may impact humanity. Genetic diversity is an ever-dwindling reality in today’s world. GMOs and climate change make it harder to grow crops and prevent plant diseases. According to the International Potato Center (IPC), “The active cultivated potato collection now total 4,870 accessions including 4,467 traditional landrace cultivars from 17 countries (mainly from the Andean region)

28 Lockhart, James. Spanish Peru, 1532-1560: A Social History. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. Accessed May 7, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central. Elites enjoyed labeling themselves as caballero hidalgo (a mounted knight that inherited his status), though this title was often not good enough, for hidalgos down the scale with military accomplishments called themselves the same thing. Some nobles were also part of a military order, the most popular of which was the Knights of Santiago. Though some prominent figures, like Francisco Pizzaro, were members, Lockhart claims that “There probably were not more than twenty or thirty members of the military orders in Peru in the whole period (1532-1560).” 38-9, 52.

29 Ibid, 1-7.

30 Ibid, 141.

31 Ibid, 157.

32 Michael Lowy, Eder Sader, and Stephen Gorman, “The Militarization of the State in Latin America,” Latin American Perspectives 12, no. 4 (1985): 33, 36-7. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2633892.

33 Rebekah E. Pite, Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina: Doña Petrona, Women, & Food (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press: 2013), 197.

34 Gordon Ramsay, “Uncharted: Peru’s Sacred Valley,” National Geographic, 2019. Gordon Ramsay visited Peru, where he got to try all sorts of unique Peruvian potatoes, chuño, and chicha.

and improved varieties.”35 This impressive number of potato species is used to identify resistance to diseases, protect biodiversity, and mitigate risks from climate change and pests. Coinciding with Peru’s genetic diversity, these potatoes also help in research for growing potatoes on Mars. The IPC says, “While most of the native potatoes died shortly after their roots entered the ‘Martian’ soil, a few of them and most of the LTVR (lowland tropical virus-resistant) clones managed to grow and produce potatoes.”36 With the possibility of growing on Mars, it is safe to say the story of Peruvian potatoes is not yet complete.

1: Sir Francis Drake Holding a Potato Statue

When: Photo Taken 1910. The statue was created in 1853. Where: Offenburg, Germany; Who: Sculptor, Andreas Friederich

2a:

Who: Unknown Artist; When: 600-800 CE

Where: Moche, Peru. Now the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

3: Chavín Lanzón Stele

Who: Unknown Chavín Artist; When: 900-500 BCE. Where: Building B, Chavín de Huántar

35 “Cultivated Potato Germplasm Collection,” International Potato Center, accessed May 6, 2024. https://cipotato.org/genebankcip/ potato-cultivated/#:~:text=The%20genebank%20at%20the%20International,potato%20accessions%20comprising%20traditional%20cultivars.

36 “Potatoes on Mars with NASA,” International Potato Center, accessed May 6, 2024. https://cipotato.org/annualreport2016/stories/ mars-potatoes/#:~:text=While%20most%20of%20the%20native,to%20grow%20and%20produce%20potatoes.

Figure

Figure

Moche Stirrup Bottle

Figure 2b: Back of the Moche Stirrup Bottle

Figure

Bibliography:

Adovasio, James M., and Thomas F. Lynch. “Preceramic Textiles and Cordage from Guitarrero Cave, Peru.” American Antiquity, 38, no. 1 (1973): 84-5. https://www.jstor.org/stable/279313.

Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. “Potatoes.” Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.agmrc.org/ commodities-products/vegetables/potatoes.

Aldenderfer, Mark S., and Claudia Ursual Rumold. “Late Archaic–Early Formative period microbotanical evidence for potato at Jiskairumoko in the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America November 14, 2016. https://www.pnas.org/doi/ full/10.1073/pnas.1604265113.

Davies, Nigel. The Incas. Denver: University Press of Colorado, 1995. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j. ctt46ns8m.11.

Duke, Guy S., Victor F. Vasquez-Sanchez, Teresa E. RosalesTham. “Start grain evidence of potato consumption at the Late Moche (AD 600-850) site of Wasi Huachuma, Peru.” Journal of Archaeological Science, 100 (December 2018).

Earle, Rebecca. The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. International Potato Center. “Potatoes on Mars with NASA.” Accessed May 6, 2024. https:// cipotato.org/annualreport2016/stories/marspotatoes/#:~:text=While%20most%20of%20the%20 native,to%20grow%20and%20produce%20potatoes.

Irish Potato Federation. “History of the Potato.” Accessed May 7, 2024. https://irishpotatofederation.ie/ history/#:~:text=The%20Irish%20were%20the%20 first,and%20living%20conditions%20remarkably%20 well.

Llendo Tagle, Illa. “In Peru, ancient food technologies revived in pursuit of future security.” Mongabay News & Inspiration From Nature’s Frontlines, September 3, 2021. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/in-peru-ancientfood-technologies-revived-in-pursuit-of-future-security/.

Student Reflection:

Lockhart, James. Spanish Peru, 1532-1560: A Social History Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. Accessed May 7, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Lowy, Michael, Eder Sader, and Stephen Gorman. “The Militarization of the State in Latin America.” Latin American Perspectives 12, no. 4 (1985). http://www.jstor. org/stable/2633892.

Mann, Charles, C. “How Potatoes Changed the World.” Smithsonian Magazine (November 2011). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Tuber-inspired stirrup-spout bottle,” Fifth Avenue, Gallery 202. Accessed May 7, 2023. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/ search/308558.

Osorio, Alejandra. “Why Chuño Matters: Rethinking the History of Technology in Latin America.” Technology and Culture 63, no. 3 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1353/ tech.2022.0110.

Pite, Rebekah E. Creating a Common Table in TwentiethCentury Argentina: Doña Petrona, Women, & Food Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013.

Prebisch, Raúl. “A New Economic Model for Latin America.” In Latin America and the United States, edited by Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, 198-200. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Ramsay, Gordon. “Uncharted: Peru’s Sacred Valley.” National Geographic, YouTube, 2019. https://youtu.be/4fVjsSiAY Z8?si=s6b2GLPOdXohaNNk.

Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, María, and John V. Murra. “Succession, Cooption to Kingship, and Royal Incest among the Inca.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 16, no. 4 (1960): 417–27. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/3628886.

Scher, Sarah. “Introduction to Andean Cultures.” Khan Academy, accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ art-americas/south-america-early/a-beginn/a/ introduction-to-andean-cultures-edit.

When I first decided to write an essay on potatoes, I had no idea where the idea would take me. One thing I learned from this experience is that research can be fascinating, no matter what the subject is. Just like potatoes, research can be bland if you do not add ingredients that you enjoy. I combined my taste for potatoes with my love of military history and discovered an intriguing intersection between the two themes. More importantly, I learned that I could connect an item—like a potato—to any other theme in history. Art, language, religion, economics, politics, you name it. You will find that everything in history is interconnected, you just have to dig deep enough to find it.

Writing an essay of this size is no easy process. After numerous rough drafts and edits, I still find small errors here and there. Writing this essay has been great practice for honing my literary skills. I improved my Chicago-style citations and learned how to format information from websites, books, articles, and YouTube videos.

Editor's Choice: Upper Level Third Place

Pandemic Behind Bars: Navigating Mental Health Services in Prison Amidst

by Toni Jones

CRJU 381: Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System

Dr. Ashley Yinger

Assignment:

Description of Assignment (2-3 sentences): Students were assigned to write a 7–10-page research paper, consisting of an introduction, background/literature review, discussion of intervention, implications, and conclusion. Each student had to select a research topic relating to mental illness in the criminal justice system.

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 affected the entire U.S. criminal justice system, particularly state and federal prisons. The virus revealed significant systematic concerns about management and healthcare within jails and prisons. This paper reviews existing literature, case studies, and policy analyses to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health services in correctional facilities.

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 affected the entire U.S. criminal justice system, particularly state and federal prisons. The virus revealed significant systemic concerns about management and healthcare within jails and prisons. Prisons became hotspots for the virus, disrupting court functions and essential services, including mental health care. This research examines how the pandemic affected mental health services in prisons and its consequences for inmates and staff. This study reviews existing literature, case studies, and policy analyses to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health services in correctional facilities. The main findings show that the pandemic worsened existing issues such as mental health stigma, staff shortages, and inadequate funding. Factors such as isolation, the suspension of in-person visits, and restricted activities intensified psychological distress, resulting in higher rates of depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Innovative solutions, including virtual telehealth services and enhanced hotline support, began to improve mental health care. This paper analyzes these adaptations and emphasizes the need for prison reform, arguing that we must treat mental health as a public health priority and a fundamental human rights issue. As incarcerated individuals eventually reintegrate into society, unaddressed mental health needs can perpetuate cycles of recidivism, worsen public health disparities, and jeopardize community safety. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of addressing the mental health issues of inmates as a public health concern.

Keywords: COVID-19, prison mental health, correctional facilities

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the U.S. criminal justice system, particularly state and federal prisons (Carson, 2021). U.S. correctional facilities are overcrowded and resource-limited, making them more susceptible to the virus’s rapid spread. Additionally, court operations and prison management were disrupted, negatively altering the lives of inmates and staff (Carson, 2021). One of the most critical issues was accessing mental health services, which were already inadequate before the pandemic.

The pandemic exposed the instability of correctional health systems. The crisis revealed the fragile condition of correctional health systems. In 2020, the U.S. prison population fell by 15% due to fewer admissions and expedited releases aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 (Carson, 2021). Although the overall prison population decreased, the pandemic highlighted significant inequities, especially in the provision of mental health services for incarcerated individuals. During the first year of the pandemic, 2,500 inmates died from COVID-19-related causes, with older and vulnerable populations being disproportionately affected (Carson et al., 2022).

This paper investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped mental health services in correctional facilities, assesses its impact on the well-being of incarcerated individuals, and finds strategies to address emerging challenges. Also, it explores the challenges presented by the pandemic, such as disruptions in service delivery, the psychological effects on incarcerated individuals, and the adjustments made to address these issues. Through researching the pandemic’s influence on this vulnerable demographic, this paper aims to add

to ongoing discussions about prison reform and the necessity to prioritize mental health as a fundamental aspect of public health and basic human rights.

Research Questions

1. How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the delivery and accessibility of mental health services in correctional facilities?

2. What were the psychological consequences of COVID-19 disruptions for inmates?

3. What strategies did officials implement to mitigate the mental health challenges during the pandemic?

4. What long-term implications do these changes have, and what recommendations can we make for improving future mental health care in prisons?

Background

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus, was first found in late 2019 and quickly became a global public health crisis. Healthcare officials confirmed the virus in the United States in January 2020, with cases escalating in the following months (World Health Organization, n.d.). By mid-March 2020, the correctional system faced significant impacts when officials reported the first case at Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex. Over two hundred confirmed cases emerged within two weeks in the facility, stressing the rapid spread potential within densely populated environments (Hawks et al., 2020). Correctional facilities across the United States emphasized the challenges posed by the pandemic in managing the health of incarcerated individuals.

According to NAMI (2024), about two in five people who face incarceration have a history of mental illness (37% in state and federal prisons and 44% held in local jails). The full representation of mental health in prisons is not entirely known as many may not report their symptoms or know of their diagnosis. One study found that 44% of state prisoners and 65% of federal prisoners were unaware of their mental health (Maruschak et al., 2021). Having a mental illness while incarcerated is twice the prevalence of mental illness within the overall adult population. Our nation’s jails and prisons are overrepresented with people who have mental illness (NAMI, 2024). Despite court mandates, around three in five people (63%) with a history of mental illness do not receive mental health treatment while incarcerated. Also, it is challenging for people to stay on treatment routines once incarcerated. More than 50% of individuals who were previously taking medication for mental health conditions during admission did not continue to receive their medication once in prison (NAMI, 2024).

According to Canada et al. (2022), “Residing in prison presents many health and mental health challenges, such as diminished autonomy, self-worth, and self-esteem; elevated mortality rates both during and post-sentence; a heightened likelihood and exacerbation of chronic and concurrent medical issues; and a decline in psychiatric conditions” (p 2). For individuals with mental illnesses, prison presents a significant risk of physical and emotional trauma, which serves as both an acute and chronic stressor during incarceration (Canada et al., 2022). Behaviors related to mental health symptoms can put individuals at risk for consequences of violating facility rules, such as solitary confinement or loss of taking part in programming. Being at an increase in violations emphasizes the need for proper mental health treatment within incarcerated settings, such as screening, regular and prompt access to mental health providers, and access to medications and programs that support their recovery (NAMI, 2024).

Overview of Mental Health Services Before COVID-19

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, correctional facilities provided various mental health services designed to address the diverse needs of inmates. According to Bewley and Morgan (2011), “particular focal points in the treatment of offenders with mental illness in jails have been psychotropic medications, crisis intervention services, case management services, and mental health referrals” (p 351). Within the first 24 hours of being detained, inmates complete an initial medical and mental health screening to identify signs of mental illness, substance use disorders, and suicidal thoughts. If the initial screening flags mental health concerns, the inmate is then referred to a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist to receive a more comprehensive evaluation. Then, inmates receive an individualized treatment plan for their mental health needs, which could consist of psychotropic medications or specialized therapy. Additionally, inmates experiencing mental health crises also have access to crisis intervention to help mitigate psychosis or suicidal symptoms.

However, despite these efforts, participants reported that they were switched from standard psychiatric medications or medical treatments because they were not included in the state’s formulary or were considered too expensive (Canada et al., 2022). Even though participants were satisfied with their treatment, some still reported obstacles to obtaining their medications and visiting a doctor (Canada et al., 2022). Many believe that quality providers often do not remain for long due to the working conditions (Canada et al., 2022).

Furthermore, due to their structural and systemic characteristics, correctional facilities were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks. In examining the delivery of mental health care services to inmates within correctional facilities, pre-existing challenges have hindered the effectiveness of services long before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared. Canada et al. (2022) found various systemic issues, including limited staffing, stigma around mental health, and inadequate funding. Training was also limited. A sample of mental health professionals included 115 men and 114 women, with an average age of 49 years. About half of the participants (57%) had not received specific training in correctional or forensic psychology during their post-baccalaureate education (Bewley, 2011).

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health care services were already complex to access for inmates because of the inadequate staffing of mental health care professionals, and Canada et al. (2022) reported that many inmates had mixed experiences with the staff because they felt like the staff did not believe them. There is also a stigma for mental health that contributes to the unwillingness of inmates to take part in the services provided.

One significant concern identified was that some treatments might heighten personal safety risks in the prison environment. Sedative effects of psychotropic medications such as antipsychotics was a concern indicated (Canada et al., 2022). The safety concern was linked to worries about being stigmatized, including both self-stigma and stigma from staff and other incarcerated individuals (Canada et al., 2022). Implications such as limited funding, staffing shortages, mental health stigmas, inadequate training, and overall overrepresentation of mental illness within correctional facilities have made it challenging to provide inmates with mental health treatment adequately. Lastly, correctional facilities do not design their structures as clinical treatment centers, and they lack proper funding for providing mental health services, which results in poorly defined services (Canada et al., 2022).

Incarcerated individuals must receive mental health services to support rehabilitative efforts. These individuals will eventually reintegrate into society, and proper care helps teach them to participate in productive activities and prevent them from feeling like a burden. Inmates with mental illness have a greater likelihood of victimization and, in more severe cases, suicide (Canada et al., 2022). Through these rehabilitative efforts, inmates can get proper help and keep society safe. Overall, these mental health services allow inmates the opportunity to reintegrate into society and deter them from committing future crimes. Mental health services within correctional facilities are essential for inmate rehabilitation and societal reinte-

gration. However, the pandemic has presented unique adversities to the delivery of these services, prompting a deeper exploration of its impacts on mental health care delivery within correctional environments.

Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health Services Within Prisons

Experts believe that overcrowding, with an elevated risk, inadequate infection control measures, technological challenges, and shortages of essential supplies for both staff and inmates, fueled massive outbreaks in U.S. correctional facilities (Nelson & Kaminsky, 2020). As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through correctional facilities, significant changes in mental health service delivery methods became imperative to mitigate infection risks and address the evolving needs of incarcerated populations. Adaptations included correctional staff providing psychological support, inmate access to online counseling tools, and telepsychiatry (Johnson et al., 2021). However, routine services for incarcerated individuals in jails and prisons stopped in places due to the elevated risk of catching COVID-19.

Accessing mental health care during the pandemic became challenging for many individuals. Stigma related to mental illness creates obstacles to obtaining mental health care in the community, along with individuals in prison. In a study, Canada et al. (2022) reported that participants felt stigma from both staff and incarcerated individuals. Participant perceptions of the quality and effectiveness of treatments varied across and within interviews. Participants reported a range of treatment experiences, from groups and classes for managing substance use, self-help groups with peers, monthly meetings with drug and alcohol counselors, and meetings with psychiatry and social workers to medication only or no treatment at all (Canada et al., 2022). See Appendix that illustrates a table of comparisons of mental health services and challenges faced in prisons before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the outbreak, solitary confinement was used primarily for disciplinary reasons; however, inmates who experienced symptoms or who had positive test results faced isolation or solitary confinement (Johnson et al., 2021). Solitary confinement refers to the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without ‘meaningful human contact.’ Prison authorities impose solitary confinement as a disciplinary sanction, but it is also used as a preventative measure to protect the imprisoned person (Johnson et al. 2021). Mental health conditions, such as anger, depression, psychosis, self-harm, and suicide, were exacerbated (Johnson et al., 2021). Isolation poses a significant challenge to mental health in prisons. The negative

psychological consequences of solitary confinement are well-documented and include a heightened risk of mortality five years after release (Johnson et al. 2021). Additionally, there was a significant concern that isolation could affect young offenders’ neural development (Johnson et al., 2021). Access to treatment for substance use in prison was available for some participants with drug-related charges; however, some participants reported being unable to obtain substance use treatment because their sentencing judge did not mandate it (Canada et al., 2022).

Psychological Consequences

The profound effects of COVID-19 on the mental health outcomes of incarcerated individuals became increasingly apparent. Prior to incarceration, participants reported that they could access psychiatry services for trauma, which included obtaining a formal diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), medication, and a monthly meeting with a mental health provider (Canada et al., 2022). However, during the pandemic, inmates faced negative psychological impacts due to quarantine, including increased depression, perceived stress, and loneliness (Li, 2023). Prisons suspended routine in-person visitations, which contributed to negatively affecting mental health. Maintaining communication with family and friends is essential (Johnson et al. 2021). Similarly, studies show that visitors benefit the well-being of incarcerated individuals and are associated with lower recidivism rates. Therefore, preventing visits is likely to affect mental health as well (Johnson et al. 2021). The lack of contact with families and friends resulted in increased anxiety. Prisons did increase telephone access, but it was not the same. Without support networks, the likelihood of self-harm and suicide among inmates with mental illness increased significantly (Johnson et al., 2021). Participants indicated that health and mental health needs exceeded available capacity, making encounters with doctors and nurses often feel rushed (Canada et al., 2022). Finally, correctional facilities had to change movement, and the administration halted work, education, and religious activities. The administration did not substitute by providing social distancing activities. Prison administration had to restrict services and activities because of infection control measures, and the lack of activities resulted from restricting staff numbers on site because of the pandemic (Johnson et al., 2021).

Strategies Implemented

As correctional facilities tried to manage the unexpected challenges caused by the pandemic, they had to adapt to new methods of providing mental health services to inmates. They implemented telehealth and virtual counseling to minimize face-to-face

contact and keep access to these services (Hawks et al., 2020). The administration could use social networking or video-conferencing applications such as Facebook or Zoom to provide psychoeducational training (Li, 2023). Studies have reported the positive effects of digital technologies on improving general mental and emotional well-being (Li, 2023). There was also an expansion of mental health support hotlines or helplines so inmates could access help and counseling remotely. Through technology, some facilities changed group therapy sessions to adhere to social distancing guidelines while providing essential support to inmates. Mental health resources and informational materials were also increased within correctional facilities to promote awareness and self-help strategies among inmates to alleviate symptoms (Hawks et al., 2020). Recidivism rates remain around 70%, therefore, attention to the rehabilitative needs of offenders is essential (Bewley, 2011). Empirical evidence shows that inmates with psychotic disorders are more likely to re-offend compared to those without such disorders (Timar et al., 2024).

Implications and Future Directions

When addressing the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on mental health services within jails and prisons, researchers should continue watching and assessing inmates on the possible long-term mental health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the rates of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Next, we will explore the lasting effects of disruptions to mental health care delivery, such as changes in service provision methods and limited access to resources.

The pandemic significantly accelerated the adoption of telehealth services within correctional facilities, and they may continue with these services because mental health professionals will be able to help more individuals quickly. The economic impact of COVID-19 could lead to several budget cuts and resource constraints within the correctional system. It could be detrimental to the mental health services by changing the quality and availability of services. The pandemic has also significantly strained correctional staff, increasing burnout and turnover. Recruiting and preserving qualified mental health professionals may become more challenging, affecting correctional facilities’ stability and quality of care (Hawks et al., 2020). Due to the shortage of personnel, the team confronts heightened demands, resulting in insufficient time allocation for prioritizing treatment-oriented efforts (Timar et al., 2024, p.4).

One innovative solution to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on mental health care is advocacy for policy reforms to address systemic issues in mental health care delivery within correctional facilities,

including increased funding, staffing, and training for mental health professionals. The second solution would be the implementation of evidence-based practices and guidelines to ensure consistent and comprehensive mental health care for incarcerated individuals, with a focus on prevention, early intervention, and continuity of care (Hawks et al., 2020). Another would be the promotion of collaboration between correctional systems, mental health organizations, and community stakeholders to develop and implement universal approaches to mental health care within correctional settings. Lastly, correctional facilities are exploring the incorporation of trauma-informed care principles and culturally competent practices into mental health service provision to address the diverse needs and experiences of incarcerated individuals (Hawks et al., 2020).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped mental health services within correctional facilities, revealing systemic vulnerabilities and emphasizing the need for mental health reforms for the well-being of incarcerated individuals. The pandemic presented various challenges to the delivery and accessibility of mental health services, intensifying pre-existing issues and demanding innovative strategies to address the basic needs of incarcerated individuals. Before the pandemic, correctional facilities were already facing challenges in providing proper mental health care, such as limited staffing, stigma, and inadequate funding. Additionally, COVID-19 has only intensified these challenges for inmates, leading to heightened risks of isolation and distress. Strategies such as telehealth, virtual counseling, and expanded mental health hotlines allowed inmates to continue to have access to care while minimizing face-to-face contact. As correctional facilities navigate the aftermath of the pandemic, they must prioritize the mental health care needs of incarcerated individuals, recognizing that access to quality care is both a public health issue and a fundamental human right.

References

Bewley, M. T., & Morgan, R. D. (2011). A national survey of mental health services available to offenders with mental illness: Who is doing what? Law and Human Behavior, 35(5), 351–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10979-010-9242-4

Canada, K., Barrenger, S., Bohrman, C., Banks, A., & Peketi, P. (2022). Multi-level barriers to prison mental health and physical health care for individuals with mental illnesses. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1-12. https://doi. org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.777124

Carson, A. E. (2021, December). Prisoners in 2020 –statistical tables. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs. ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p20st.pdf

Carson, A. E., Nadel, M., & Gaes, G. (2022, August). Impact of COVID-19 on state and federal prisons, march 2020-feburary 2021. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https:// bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/icsfp2021.pdf

Hawks, L., Woolhandler, S., & McCormick, D. (2020). COVID-19 in Prisons and Jails in the United States JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(8), 1041-1042. https:// doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1856

Johnson, L., Gutridge, K., Parkes, J., Roy, A., & Plugge, E. (2021). Scoping review of mental health in prisons through the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Open, 11(5), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046547

Li, J. (2023). Digital technologies for mental health improvements in the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 413-422. https://doi. org/10.1186/s12889-023-15302-w

Maruschak, L. M., Bronson, J., & Alper, M. (2021, June). Indicators of mental health problems reported by prisoners Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/ files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/imhprpspi16st. pdf

NAMI. (2024, May 6). Mental health treatment while incarcerated. NAMI. https://www.nami.org/ advocacy/policy-priorities/improving-health/ mental-health-treatment-while-incarcerated/

Nelson, B., & Kaminsky, D. B. (2020). A COVID-19 crisis in US jails and prisons. Cancer Cytopathology, 128(8), 513–514. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncy.22335

Timar, J., Buurman, E., Westen, K., & Delespaul, P. (2024). Different perspectives of prison guards and mental health workers in forensic care. Frontiers in Psychology, 15 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1420565

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Coronavirus. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/ health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1

Elements of Mental Health Services in Prisons

The following is a comparative analysis of factors necessary to provide mental health services within correctional facilities before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Aspect

Accessibility

Stigma

Service Delivery

Family Support

Isolation Impact

Mental Health Programs

Staff Challenges

Inmate Psychological Well-being

Innovative Solutions

Policy Focus

Long-term Implications

Before COVID-19

Limited due to inadequate staffing, underfunding, and lack of mental health professionals.

High stigma among inmates and staff, often leading to low service utilization.

Focused on traditional methods like in-person counseling and periodic psychiatric evaluations.

In-person visitation allowed for emotional support and connection.

Solitary confinement for rule violations worsened mental health (e.g., increased depression and suicidal ideation).

Basic group therapy sessions and inconsistent rehabilitative efforts.

Overburdened staff with limited mental health training; high turnover.

Prevalent untreated mental health issues: higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide compared to general public.

Few technological solutions; reliance on inperson services.

Marginal policy focus: mental health treated as secondary to security concerns.

Recidivism and reintegration issues due to untreated mental illness.

During/Post COVID-19

Telehealth (e.g., video counseling platforms like Zoom) was implemented, but technology access was inconsistent in facilities.

Stigma persisted, but digital solutions (e.g., virtual counseling) provided confidentiality, encouraging some inmates to seek help.

Telepsychiatry, digital therapy apps, and hotlines (e.g., increased usage of dedicated mental health lines) supplemented services.

Visitation was suspended, replaced with expanded telephone access and video calls, though the latter was not universally available.

Pandemic quarantines created similar outcomes, including heightened anxiety, psychosis, and self-harm in inmates.

Psychoeducational programs using platforms like Zoom, social networking tools for training, and selfhelp resources were utilized.

Increased burnout and resignations due to pandemic-related stress and infection risks; recruitment became harder.

Increased rates of depression, PTSD, and self-harm due to pandemic-induced isolation, fear of infection, and disrupted routines.

Telehealth, virtual counseling, and expanded mental health hotlines became common; psychoeducational programs used video platforms.

Recognition of mental health as a public health issue led to discussions on reform and funding, though implementation was uneven.

Sustained use of telehealth is promising but requires funding; potential for reduced quality due to economic constraints.

Note. Information received from Bewley (2011), Canada et al. (2022), Carson (2022), Johnson (2021), and Li (2023).

The table emphasizes changes and challenges faced by both inmates and staff, particularly regarding access to and the delivery of mental health care during the unprecedented times of the pandemic. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the use of telehealth, persistent stigma, specifically regarding confidentiality, shifts in service delivery, disruptions in family support, adverse psychological effects, staff challenges, and heightened mental health crises. The table provides innovative solutions, policy changes, and long-term implications contextualizing how the pandemic reshaped mental health services in prisons and the argument for the necessity of reforming mental health services within correctional facilities.

Student Reflection:

Writing "Pandemic Behind Bars: Navigating Mental Health Services in Prison Amidst COVID-19" was an eye-opening experience that deepened my understanding of the intersection between public health and the criminal justice system. Researching this topic allowed me to critically analyze the systemic challenges incarcerated individuals faced during the pandemic, particularly regarding access to mental health care. The crisis magnified existing disparities in prison healthcare, exposing the vulnerabilities of a population often overlooked in policy discussions. Through this project, I improved my research and analytical skills, learning to synthesize academic sources, case studies, and policy analyses to form a comprehensive argument. I also gained a stronger appreciation for the importance of mental health advocacy within correctional settings. Writing this paper reinforced my passion for criminal justice reform and strengthened my commitment to pursuing solutions that promote humane and effective rehabilitation. This research has broadened my perspective on the societal impact of prison healthcare policies, making me more aware of how legal and systemic issues shape the experiences of incarcerated individuals. I hope my work contributes to ongoing discussions about improving mental health services in prisons, both during crises and beyond.

Editor's Choice: Lower Level First Place

Blood is Thicker than Water: The End of Alice as a Psychoanalytic Reveal of Nabokov’s Lolita

by Jean Stinchfield

ENGL 213: Writing and Research About Literature

Dr. Erica Galioto

Assignment:

Using any of the books assigned throughout the semester, develop a literary thesis through one of the Literary Theory lenses studied in class.

The public response to Nabokov’s Lolita was a horrified outcry of accusations, bans, and even theories of Nabokov’s own perversion leaking into his texts, but it has remained a cultural artifact and aesthetic object that is referenced and studied perennially. Lolita has irreversibly become embedded in both pop culture and literary canon. Nabokov’s students, his followers, and a plethora of authors have tried their hand at replicating his genius, almost creating a new genre in their adaptative attempts. With alliteration, subtle slips of Poe and Annabel, and Lola, some authors have, instead of attempting to emanate Lolita, responded to it and subverted it, openly positing the story as their central question and thesis. Once such iteration is A.M. Homes’ The End of Alice, the story of Chappy, a convicted pedophile and child murderer and his writtenword relationship with a young woman on the outside who is attempting to seduce a young boy. Homes does not shy away from referencing and nodding to Lolita, but instead of producing a cheap reflection, Homes creates a dialogue between her and Nabokov, one that is explicitly, unquestionably, proudly psychoanalytic to its core. However, some would doubt that it could even be allowed within the same discursive circles as Lolita because of its psychanalytic approach.

Most scholars who have brushed up against Nabokov, however briefly, are aware of his disdain for psychoanalysis, but Leland de la Durantaye, in his essay “Nabokov and Sigmund Freud, or a Particular Problem,” spends the time to closely examine Nabokov’s relationship to Freud, and his true understanding of Freudian theory. He makes clear the history and origins of Nabokov’s position, but also questions just how well he has analyzed Freud, reads for Freudian influence in Nabokov’s various works, and contemplates whether his criticisms are the correct points of reservation with Freud. Despite Nabokov’s impressively well-documented tirade against psychoanalysis, L.R. Hiatt, author of “Nabokov’s Lolita: A

Freudian Cryptic Crossword” believes that Nabokov deliberately made Lolita into a psychoanalytic puzzle, hiding clues and references (not so subtly) to Freud, and that it is meant to be read as an Oedipal tale. I argue that it is irrelevant whether Nabokov intended Lolita to be a psychoanalytic work, because the work is an object to be studied, and no author can control the lens through which their readers and analysts digest. When it comes to analysis, any academic interpretation with evidence and a revelation of possible meaningful readings of the text holds merit. I also argue—and here is my primary position—that because The End of Alice brings a necessity, a burning desire to pore back over the pages of Lolita and search for what A.M. Homes has reconstructed within Lolita through her dialogue with Nabokov, it is a critical and necessary companion piece to Lolita that redefines it as a remarkable Oedipal tale worthy of study, regardless of Nabokov’s intent.

His Fist

Despite his proclivity for young girls, most of Chappy’s sexual encounters occur with an adult man—his cellmate, Clayton. Because of Chappy’s advanced age and weakness, or maybe his own psyche, he plays the receiving role for Clayton. It’s not quite prison rape, but it isn’t not prison rape either. Chappy feels that he “need[s], deserve[s]” to be “the woman… the pussy” (Homes 61). He needs to be raped so he can understand “this horrible moment, this degradation” (61) that his victims, or his true victim—his mother— experienced. Because Chappy’s father was absent, his mother used him as a substitute, making her son and his fist into a phallus. He attempts to cope with this sexual trauma by becoming the yonis, no longer forced to play the role of his father, the phallus. This works, temporarily, until Clayton assaults him in the shower, causing him to bleed anally. Throughout the story, blood operates as a trigger for Chappy. When his mother bleeds menstrual blood after using him and

assaulting him, he thinks that he has killed her, and done something terribly wrong. As Clayton “[tears Chappy] from inside out,” Chappy feels as though he is “having a period of [his] own” (Homes 159), forced into identifying with his mother, experiencing her death within himself.

In her book Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia, Julia Kristeva delivers a psychoanalytic exploration around the roles of trauma, memory, and language in the development of depression and melancholia, but I will refer specifically to her writings on symbolic matricide. Typically, she posits, “the loss of the mother is a biological and psychic necessity, the first step on the way to becoming autonomous” (27). The melancholic stands in opposition to this model, unable to detach himself from Mother. He adopts her, overidentifies with her, and to “protect mother [he] kill[s] [himself] while knowing…that it comes from her” (28). He reimagines her as a symbol of death in order to distance himself from and cope with “the hatred [he] bear[s] against [himself] when [he] identifies with her” (28). He feels guilt and shame towards his attachment to her and adoption of her identity, and so he destroys himself, the cheap imitation, and so she becomes his symbolic death. It is this self-hatred, this over-identification, this symbolic death that sends Chappy spiraling as soon as Clayton tastes his blood— a symbolic repetition of tasting his mother’s blood. He returns, in a desperate panic, to the phallic figure, determined to “switch [his] role,” becoming “a man, a man again, reclaimed” (Homes 160), fixated on how “hard and large” (160) his penis is, and demonstrating to his fellow inmates and to himself that he will “not be the pussy anymore” (160). When he finishes with (reportedly) his most copious orgasm yet, he has left Clayton “broken” (161). In this act of rape, he has become, again, his mother’s phallic substitute and killed Clayton just as he “killed” his mother. One could argue that it is a simultaneous act of matricide and patricide—killing the phallus while psychically repeating the “murder” of his mother.

His Pistol

Humbert Humbert’s position as a phallus is more a story of penis envy and father-son competition than being forced into his father’s position. While H.H. is not exempt from a matricidal examination (which will be examined, believe you me), his arc also greatly concerns his pursuit of patricide. According to L.R. Hiatt, the aforementioned author of “Nabokov’s Lolita, a Freudian Cryptic Crossword,” Humbert Humbert’s patricidal need begins at his primal scene, his castration—the death of his mother by lightning strike. Lightning is a repeated symbol in both Lolita and The End of Alice, and this is no coincidence. Hiatt proposes

that this lightning, in the case of Humbert Humbert, is the phallus of his father, that “in effect, he is saying: A long time ago I lost my mother when she was struck down by my father’s penis” (362). While I will analyze the symbolism of lightning more in depth later, it is an important point of reference for understanding how Humbert becomes fixated on becoming Father and preserving Mother. Humbert Humbert loosely attributes his attraction to nymphets as a product of losing his childhood love, Annabel, but when he tries to recreate the original scene of their almost-consummation on the beach with Lolita, the fantasy dissolves, and he finds that he has “as little desire for her as for a manatee” (Nabokov 167). This is because it was never really Annabel’s death that he attempts to reverse in his psychic repetition with nymphets, but his mother’s— “an attempt to re-experience the fresh, unspoiled love of his mother during infancy” (Hiatt 361). He knows, however, that Lolita will grow into a woman, and by aging, “Lolita, too, must inevitably betray him” (364), the same way he feels his mother betrayed him when he was castrated from her by father.

As Chappy attempts to distance himself from the phallic role, Humbert Humbert takes a searching, needy pleasure in it. He embraces the role of father “with an incestuous thrill…[growing] to regard [Lolita] as [his] child” (Nabokov 80). As Lacan—the most controversial psychoanalyst since Freud— would say, particularly in his lecture “In You Moore than You,” Humbert’s goal is to “introduce a perspective…from which the Other sees [him] in the form [he] like[s] to be seen” (Lacan 268), where Lolita sees him as father, as phallus, as man. Unfortunately, Humbert Humbert never stops being haunted by his father. As Lolita and H.H. spiral across the United States, Humbert notices a shadow trailing them—Lolita’s stalker, Quilty. Quilty, despite Humbert saying that he resembles his uncle, is a stand-in for Humbert’s father, putting a countdown on Humbert’s fantastical creation of Lolita as his uncastrated mother. As Hiatt states, “Quilty is not stranger; he is with Humbert all the time” (365), even to the point of casting a “doubt whether the pursuit is real or a product of Humbert’s imagination” (365). Despite Nabokov’s position— as laid out by Leland de la Durantaye—that psychoanalysis stifles “the details of a work…by the generalizing system” (Durantaye 61), and his view of Freud as “standing for many things he did not like...sexually perverted and socially deranged,” Nabokov writes, no matter how sardonically, that the “pistol is the Freudian symbol of the Ur-father’s central forelimb” (Nabokov 216).

Perhaps one could take Nabokov’s satire here seriously if he did not continue this symbol energetically and thoroughly throughout the novel, such as when Humbert dreams of killing, “press[ing] the trigger…

but one bullet after another feebly drops on the floor from the sheepish muzzle” (Nabokov 47). This dream repeats when Humbert does finally murder Quilty, and his gun initially misfires before shooting with “a ridiculously feeble and juvenile sound” (290), hitting a pink rug (representative of the mother’s yonis). He is afraid that the bullet had “merely trickled in and might come out again” (297)— a shameless symbol of semen. Humbert makes the connection between gun and penis even more clear when he fantasizes about pulling “the pistol’s foreskin back…enjoy[ing] the orgasm of the crushed trigger” (274). As Hiatt says, “the symbolism is clear…in front of ‘the father,’ Humbert’s penis is small and impotent” (368). Humbert, in contrast, describes Quilty’s phallus as “bloated and bursting with vigor” (237). When Quilty first sees Humbert’s gun, he reacts with mockery, calling it a “swell little gun” and tells Humbert to stop “demonstrating” it (297). Quilty is not phased by Humbert’s misfires, only quietly admonishing, much like a father. Lolita even reveals to Humbert that when she told Quilty of their relationship, he laughed, “as a father might laugh when told by his wife of the sexual advances of their infant son” (Hiatt 267).When they fight, it is like “two huge helpless children” (299) battling for mother’s unaltered attention and affection. If this story were truly about recovering Annabel Lee, wouldn’t the climax be Humbert’s consummation with Lolita? Instead, his pleasure is repeatedly interrupted by an older man— a fisherman coming out of the sea, a highway patrolman, even Quilty himself. Instead, the climax is the murder of Quilty, Humbert’s patricidal need—the same one Chappy exerts on Clayton. If the story were about simply destroying any man who touches Lolita, why doesn’t Humbert show the same murderous vengeance against Lolita’s husband and father of her child? Because it his father—Quilty—that he wants. A final jouissance of revenge for his castration. That is his climax, not Lolita.

Lightning and Fireworks

It is no mistake that light rained down in the sky on the day Humbert’s mother died and the day that Lolita left him. Lightning and Fireworks become intertwined repetitions of one another, both representing Humbert’s castration. The End of Alice supports this Mother Death theory. When Chappy watches the Fourth of July fireworks show, he is rocketed back to memories of his mother, of her blood, “a bright blush of red, a thick red streak, blood” (Homes 152), and when she paints the blood on his lips, it is described as “strontium red stains in the sky” (153). When he murders Alice, “lightning crashes…lightning flashes…” (268) and when police find Alice’s body, they realize that Chappy had “dipped his lips in victim’s blood

and then kissed deceased repeatedly” (269). Chappy has fulfilled, at least for now, “the vital necessity” of matricide, under “optimal circumstances…eroticized” (Kristeva 27-28). He loves Alice, but only because he loves something more than Alice, and therefore he must mutilate her, both to complete his matricide but also because that is the very nature of analysand and analyst. The analyst (Alice), “has to fall in order to be the support of the a” (Lacan 273). Object A, in this case, is Chappy’s mother. Alice has to die because his mother had to die.

Humbert may not be in conscious pursuit of psychically repeating his mother’s death, but he knows Lolita’s “death” as a pure figure, a pure nymphet, is imminent. When looking back on her relationship with Humbert, Lolita believes it “never counted,” and dismisses it as if it were “a rainy picnic” (Nabokov 272). Lolita, whether she knows it or not, is absolutely correct. This is the crux of Humbert’s entire infatuation and relationship with Lolita—the rainy picnic, the day his mother died, the fourth of July, Quilty’s manhood, the phallus of his father striking his mother down. For Chappy, the death of his mother, of Alice, is a needed separation between himself and his mother in order to dissolve “Mother and her boy in a close knot” (Homes 152). Because Humbert never had this same knot with his mother, Lolita’s symbolic death in no way relieves him. Instead it is just another castration that drives his desire, sending him on a mission to kill. Interestingly, when Lolita does truly die, as a mother herself no less, it is not a death that separates she and Humbert, but rather reunites him with his mother, and “this is the only immortality [they] may share” (Nabokov 309). It is fitting, if not necessary for Lolita to die as a mother, in order to truly become Humbert’s objet a. Despite Chappy’s need for a psychic separation from his mother, Humbert and Chappy’s stories end the same way—a reunion. When faced with execution, Chappy says, “you are there, waiting for me. So glad to see you, I say. Missed you so much, thought about you every day” (Homes 270). These parallel endings cast both stories into similar shapes. One must wonder about Analyst Alice and Analyst Lolita— were they truly as Humbert and Chappy portrayed them? Seductive, controlling, bending both men to their will? Did Alice really ask Chappy to hurt her? Or have these girls been twisted in each man’s confession into authoritative mothers, revealing their need for mother’s affection and mother’s demise? If they are all reunited in death, does the Mother ever really die at all?

As soon as I finished The End of Alice, I was able to finally understand Humbert, and realized that Annabel Lee never truly mattered at all. Because of Nabokov’s clear hatred of psychoanalysis, it is understandable why a reader might not divest energy into a psychanalytic

reading. After all, it is not as if Humbert ever mentions much of his mother. Even her death is recounted in staccato, fading details. He does not attribute his nymphetic attraction to her even once. But responsive works like The End of Alice force the parallels and symbols into stark relief. The mental prison—prison within a prison, the little seductress, the penis envy, the alliteration, the fireworks, the lightning, his fist, his pistol—and above all, castration through Mother’s death. Homes blurs the boundaries between stories, including so many similar details it feels as if Humbert and Chappy bleed into one another, making the final result into The End of Lolita.

Works Cited

Eiselein, Greg. “Black Sun: Depression and melancholia by Julia Kristeva.” Iowa Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, 1991, pp. 137–139, https://doi. org/10.17077/0743-2747.1371.

De La Durantaye, Leland. “Vladimir Nabokov and Sigmund Freud, or a particular problem.” American Imago, vol. 62, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 59–73, https://doi. org/10.1353/aim.2005.0011.

Hiatt, L.R. “Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’: A Freudian Cryptic Crossword.” American Imago, vol. 24, no. 4, 1967, pp. 360-370. Published by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

Homes, A.M. The End of Alice. Scribner, 1996.

Lacan, Jacques. “In you more than you.” The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis, 8 May 2018, pp. 263–276, https://doi. org/10.4324/9780429481826-20.

Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. Vintage International, 1989.

Student Reflection:

I was originally very offput by the content of both books I wrote about in this paper, but as I developed my understanding of psychoanalysis and transgressive studies, I found I could not write my final paper on anything else. The books, to me, seemed naturally paired, and I needed to express that on paper.

Editor's Choice: Lower Level Second Place

The Study of Mathematics and its Applications in Early Ancient China from 1600-100 BCE

by Mallory Conroy

HONR 122: Historical Foundations of Global Cultures

Dr. Christine Senecal

Assignment:

The assignment was to write a historical research paper on a specific historical topic of student’s choice. Scholarly primary and secondary sources were to be used in research.

The conception of advanced mathematical concepts in early Ancient China (approximately 1600-100 BCE) was contingent on many cultural factors influencing forward development. Contrary to many popular sources, this mathematical development extended beyond tangible arithmetic applications. Mathematical study permeated political, intellectual, agricultural, and philosophical communities, and manuscripts concerning complex mathematical concepts such as theoretical logic, geometry, number theory, economic theory, etc. were recorded during this period. Socioeconomic and cultural factors such as the popularization of writing, philosophical schools of thought, trade routes, and Chinese expansion contributed to the widespread adoption and study of these ideas.

Much of the early foundations of arithmetic from before the Warring States period relied on a counting rod system. The rod system used various manipulations of sticks to represent numbers 1-9 and powers of 10 (which was indicated by changing the orientation of the rods). These rods were originally used in basic counting, but later division and multiplication practices were developed1. These compustations later led to the invention of fractions and mathematical functions that utilize fractions2. The use of the counting rods for division and multiplication functions was recorded as early as the Zhou dynasty, in one of the oldest mathematical canons Zhoubi Suanjing, which is believed to be originally composed in the 11th century

BCE3. Although this writing suggests counting rods were used during this time, it is difficult to estimate the exact date counting rods became commonplace in China since the bamboo rods would have biodegraded naturally over time. Also, most mathematical documents did not write about the use of counting rods, because it was assumed the reader would be familiar with the practice. The bamboo rod numeral system is essentially the basis of all ancient Chinese mathematics and was utilized for a variety of functions. Bundles of 271 pieces were carried by merchants, engineers, administrators, military men, astronomers, etc. to perform calculations whenever needed4. Over time, the material of the counting rods diversified, with counting rods made of bones, wood, ivory, and jade (the latter two more used as status symbols rather than practical tools)5

The counting rod system was used for calculations, but these calculations were reported using a written symbol system in writing. The structure of the Ancient Chinese numerical system is similar to the counting rod system, with characters for numbers 1-9, and numbers in powers of 10. It should also be noted that there was no difference in the notation for the written symbolic numbers and how they were expressed verbally or linguistically. This written numerical system is recorded in some form from as early as the Shang dynasty (14th century BCE), and continued in the same conceptual and structural form (with some

1 Tian Se Ang and Lay Yong Am, “Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China.” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004), 43-45.

2 Joeseph W. Dauben, “The Evolution of Mathematics in Ancient China: From the Newly Discovered Shu and Suan shu shu Bamboo Texts to the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics.” In Notices of the ICCM 2, no. 2 (2014), 28.

3 Kaine Chemla, “Mathematical Knowledge and Practices from Early Imperial China Until the Tang Dynasty.” In The Cambridge History of Science 553-573, ed. Alexander Jones and Liba Taub (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 569.

4 Tian Se Ang and Lay Yong Am, “Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China.” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004), 45.

5 Tian Se Ang and Lay Yong Am, “Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China.” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004), 44-46.

changes in the appearance of symbols) for centuries in China, and is still used in essence today6. The structure of the numeric symbol system (consisting of a few basic characters with indications for powers of ten) is believed to be designed for ease of understanding, so that the vast population would not need to memorize many complicated symbols in order to understand basic mathematical concepts7.

One major influence on schools of mathematical thought in ancient China is the Jiu Zhang Suanshu, or Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art is a piece of prominent early evidence of the use of both the counting rod method for computations and the numeric symbol system. This was composed by a variety of authors and is estimated to be written from 500-221 BCE, although this is disputed since the original documents have not been discovered, and the later version referenced by historians is from the Han Dynasty. As the name suggests, the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art has 9 chapters, each devoted to different concepts in mathematics. Chapter one explores basic arithmetic, fractions, and area; chapter two is about currency, and the rule of three; chapter three is written about applications of the rule of three and sharing; chapter four is on unit fractions, and square and cube roots; chapter five explores volume; chapter six explains proportion and relative speed/distance calculations; chapter seven discusses the concepts of surplus/deficit and the rule of false position; chapter eight is about negative numbers and simultaneous linear equations; and chapter nine evaluates right angle triangles and similar triangles8

Within The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art, there are 246 problems, split among the 9 chapters/ topics. Each problem is accompanied by an explanation of the methods used to achieve the result, and most of the problems have explanations of practical applications for why the operations might be used. Thus, The 9 Chapters on Mathematical Art gives insight to the uses of mathematics during the Chinese society at the times it was written. For instance, in the section on area calculations, example problems present measure-

ments of a field to use to find the area9, the section on buying goods has problems for calculating exchange rates for the trading of various combinations of goods (rice, millet, beans, wheat, etc.)10, and the section on relative distance and speed has a problem for calculating an arrival time for a guest based on their horse’s average speed11. Although these are just a few examples of problems from an extensive work, they show the practical need for the calculations of area, proportion, division, multiplication, speed calculations, and fractions. Another short but imperative section of The 9 Chapters includes one of the earliest found discussions on the concept of negative numbers and the rules for adding/subtracting such numbers12. The 9 Chapters on Mathematical Art provides other rules and guidelines for calculations along with its problems that demonstrate an advanced understanding of the nuance of mathematical calculations. Some examples aside from negative numbers are rules for comparing fractions, the rule of threes, and rules for simultaneous linear equations.

From approximately 186 BCE, the Suan Shu Shu (The Book of Numbers and Calculations) is a series of about 200 bamboo scrolls devoted to mathematics, discovered in the tomb of an ancient Chinese bureaucrat. Archeologists believe that The Book of Numbers and Calculations was used as a referential text for government officials following the end of the Warring States Period, during the early Qin dynasty13. Interestingly, many of the mathematical topics explored in the Suan Shu Shu overlap with The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art and they are often compared to each other due to the similarity in content and era. Different interpretations draw different comparisons of the two works, but some key conclusions portray the Suan Shu Shu as more practical in nature, The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art as more technical with its use of terminology, and differences in methodologies for certain problems14. Key arithmetic portions of the Suan Shu Shu are an early multiplication table15, problems on exchange rates in purchasing of grains16 (comparable to the Nine Chapters’ section

6 Tian Se Ang and Lay Yong Am, “Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China.” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004), 33-36.

7 Tian Se Ang and Lay Yong Am, “Fleeting Footsteps: Tracing the Conception of Arithmetic and Algebra in Ancient China.” (New Jersey: World Scientific, 2004), 40.

8 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 1.

9 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 13.

10 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 16.

11 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 29

12 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 35.

13 Joeseph W. Dauben, “The Evolution of Mathematics in Ancient China: From the Newly Discovered Shu and Suan shu shu Bamboo Texts to the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics.” In Notices of the ICCM 2, no. 2 (December 2014), 25.

14 Joeseph W. Dauben, “The Evolution of Mathematics in Ancient China: From the Newly Discovered Shu and Suan shu shu Bamboo Texts to the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics.” In Notices of the ICCM 2, no. 2 (December 2014), 26-28.

15 Unknown, Suan Shu Shu, trans. Joeseph W. Dauben. In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62, no.2 (March 2008), 106-108.

16 Unknown, Suan Shu Shu, trans. Joeseph W. Dauben. In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62, no.2 (March 2008), 122.

on proportions), sections on distribution of land tax on farmland, problems on calculating medical bills17, and calculation on interest of loans18. These concepts outlined in the Suan Shu Shu are significant not only for the display of mathematical knowledge available at the time but for the practical application that would be routine for bureaucrats utilizing the book.

One false interpretation of ancient Chinese mathematical study that has persisted for centuries is that it was lacking in geometric knowledge19. However, The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art, the Suan Shu Shu, the Zhou Bi and other archeological evidence prove this to be a stereotype rather than a true representation of ancient Chinese mathematical study. Some examples of this are volume calculations in the Nine Chapters and the Suan Shu Shu. One example problem from the Suan Shu Shu determines the volume of an inverted drain shape and includes a diagram of the shape, but offers no detailed explanation of the formula used or why it was developed20. In The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art, the same frustrum volume calculation is included, but with an in-depth proof on how to solve for the shape, which was done by splitting the shape into 3 separate shapes to solve for and then combining them21. Problems like this were utilized for construction, as is evident in the Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art through diagrams and instructions for using the calculations for the construction of city-walls, trenches, grain storage, and moats22. There are many similar geometric problems (such as solving for volumes of pyramids, cones, cylinders, irregular shapes, etc., and problems dealing with the properties of circles) in both the Suan Shu Shu and the Nine Chapters on The Mathematical Art that demonstrate a geometric knowledge that exceeds much of the broad misconception about ancient Chinese mathematics. In addition to the volume calculations of 3-dimensional shapes, ancient Chinese geometrical expertise is evident through their understanding of triangles. The Suan Shu Shu has one problem (2 bamboo strips from the 200-strip manuscript) devoted to problems relating to gou gu, which are right triangles. This section of the Suan Shu Shu was just recently translated, which is significant because it was originally believed that this

work did not include any problems relating to gou gu, which would contrast it with the Nine Chapters (who’s 9th chapter is devoted to right triangle relationships and will be analyzed further later in this paper). The problem is too complicated to explain fully, but essentially, the gou gu section of the Suan Shu Shu uses right triangle relations to find the circumference of a circular piece of wood, of an unknown size, buried underground23. As is true with much of the Suan Shu Shu, the explanation of the problem is lacking detail, so it is hard to truly understand the rationale of this problem, but it is known that solving this problem would require knowledge of the concept of pi, proportional right triangle relationships, area, and - most notably - the gou gu or Shang Gao theorem24 (known in western cultures as the Pythagorean theorem).

The Pythagorean theorem is foundational for any functions relating to right triangles, and it is the understanding that the two shorter segments of a right triangle squared and summed are equal to the hypotenuse (the longest segment of the triangle, called xian in ancient China) of the right triangle squared (expressed mathematically as a²+b²=c²). In ancient China, this concept was called the Shang Gao theorem, and it is known through works such as the Suan Shu Shu and The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art that it was commonly used by scholars during very early Chinese civilizations. In particular, the ninth chapter of The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art is entirely devoted to 24 problems on right triangles. The chapter explains the Shang Gao/gou gu theorem: “The method of gou gu says: Square each of gou and gu, add and extract the square root to obtain xian”25. Following problems in the chapter explore finding the hypotenuse or other missing lengths of right triangles using the theorem, and it also gives problems on similar triangles, including an almost identical problem to the Suan Shu Shu’s section on triangles26. Interestingly, how the mathematical canons The Nine Chapters on Mathematical and Suan Shu Shu utilize the Shang Gao theorem indicates that the concept was essentially common knowledge (among those who consulted and wrote the documents) at the time, although it is difficult to trace the invention of the formula in China.

17 Unknown, Suan Shu Shu, trans. Joeseph W. Dauben. In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62, no.2 (March 2008), 131-132.

18 Unknown, Suan Shu Shu, trans. Joeseph W. Dauben. In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62, no.2 (March 2008), 129.

19 G.E.R. Lloyd, “What was mathematics in the ancient world? Greek and Chinese Persectives.” In The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics 7-25, ed. Eleanor Robson and Jacqueline Stedall (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 18.

20 Unknown, Suan Shu Shu, trans. Joeseph W. Dauben. In Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62, no.2 (March 2008), 155.

21 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 25.

22 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 22-26.

23 Joeseph W. Dauben, “The Evolution of Mathematics in Ancient China: From the Newly Discovered Shu and Suan shu shu Bamboo Texts to the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics.” In Notices of the ICCM 2, no. 2 (December 2014), 29.

24 Joeseph W. Dauben, “The Evolution of Mathematics in Ancient China: From the Newly Discovered Shu and Suan shu shu Bamboo Texts to the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics.” In Notices of the ICCM 2, no. 2 (December 2014), 31.

25 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 39.

26 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 40-41.

One early mathematical proof of the Shang Gao theorem is in the Zhoubi Suanjing, believed to have been compiled originally during the 11th century BCE, although the surviving edition is from 100 BCE. The work covering mathematics and astronomy is attributed to the Duke of Zhou and his court and is written somewhat unconventionally: as a dialogue between the Duke of Zhou and various individuals. The Shang Gao dialogue within the work is a conversation between the Duke of Zhou and Shang Gao, in which Shang Gao explains the concept of the Pythagorean theorem and how it may be used in problems relating to triangles, circles, and irregular shapes. Shang Gao dissects and combines rectangles and squares to create congruent triangles to explain his proof of the Pythagorean theorem, termed ji ju or “piling up the rectangles,” and provides many examples to prove his theorem27. In addition to considerable written evidence of the Pythagorean theorem in the Shang Gao dialogue, there are also diagrammatic proofs included in the chapter28 that accompany Shang Gao’s explanation and demonstrate considerable foundational understanding of the properties of right triangles from as early as the 11th century BCE in China’s Zhou dynasty.

As is shown through the documents examined thus far, mathematics was frequently applied in circles of politics and government. Another document that shows the prominence of mathematical knowledge among the bureaucrats of ancient China is the Jinizi or “The Book of the Young Master of Accountancy.” This text dates to the Warring States period (475-221 BCE) in China, which was a period of warfare and turmoil between the politically separated and feuding Chinese states of Wu and Yue. The Jinizi as a text was used by the economic and moral advisor to the king of Yue, and is one of the earliest and most significant works on economic theory in China. It is some of the earliest evidence of the use of economics by elite ruling classes, since many wealthy elites disregarded economics as a study exclusively for the disregarded merchant class29. In the Jinizi, guidelines are provided by the author for economic policies for the economic development of states at war. Some stressed topics are investment and savings, price stabilization, increased trade, and societal economic cycles30. This text serves as invaluable evidence for the application of mathematics to ancient

Chinese society through its groundbreaking use of economic theory in the ruling of the Yue kingdom, which was extremely uncommon at the time of its writing.

Mathematical schools of thought were also utilized by the ruling classes of ancient Chinese societies through new technologies. The Zhou dynasty’s Kaogong Ji (“The Book of Artificers”) outlines these technologies and is the oldest known technical encyclopedia in the world, compiled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE. The book would have been used as a guide for builders, architects, city planners, and wood and metal workers. The encyclopedia details a vast understanding of a variety of topics, such as the creation of carts, weapons, farming techniques, construction of buildings, and urban planning31. Mathematical topics such as ratios, geometry, and arithmetic are used to execute each of these fundamental technologies in civilized society. For instance, the following excerpt from the cart-building section gives instructions for building a cart equipped for mountain ranges (called the Bai cart):

“[T] he circumference [of the wheel] should be equal to two ke [tool used in cart measures], with each of its spokes a ke long, and should have its felloe made from three pieces of wood, each being two ke long. Divide the height of wheel of the Bai cart, one fifth of it should be equal to the circumference of the section of its felloe.”32

The mathematical concepts outlined in this section include proportion, circumference, and measurement. This passage (and the many similar sections of the Kaogong Ji) functions as further evidence that early Chinese societies had a level of geometric understanding beyond what is widely believed.

Another common mistake made by historians evaluating mathematical contributions by the ancient Chinese is characterizing their computations as purely for functional purposes, without any theoretical or philosophical interest in the subjects explored33. The reason for this perception is the applications built into the word problems of prominent works like the Suan Shu Shu and The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art Although there is clear evidence that practicality was not the only concern of these aforementioned works (such as a problem from the manpower section of the Nine Chapters that indicated the answer to a problem as requiring 7,427/3064th workers34, which displays

27 Qu Anjing, “On Hypotenuse Diagrams in Ancient China.” In Centuarus 39 (Denmark: Munksgard, 1997), 195-198.

28 See appendix A.

29 Olivia Milburn, The Book of the Young Master of Accountancy: An Ancient Chinese Economics Text (London: Leiden, 2007) 1-3.

30 Unknown, Jinizi, trans. Olivia Milburn (London: Leiden, 2007) 15-24.

31 Unknown, Kaogong Ji, trans. Jun Wenren (New York: Routledge, 2013), 150-167.

32 Unknown, Kaogong Ji, trans. Jun Wenren (New York: Routledge, 2013), 167.

33 G.E.R. Lloyd, “What was mathematics in the ancient world? Greek and Chinese Persectives.” In The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics 7-25, ed. Eleanor Robson and Jacqueline Stedall (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 18.

34 Unknown, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, trans. Lam Lay Yong (New York: Springer, 1994), 24.

at least an equal if not greater interest in the accurate calculation as the practical application), there are also philosophical and theoretical works that demonstrate mathematical attention, such as the Yi Jing or “The Book of Changes,” which dates to the Zhou dynasty. The Yi Jing was written between approximately 1000750 BCE as a divine philosophical guiding text for the Daoist ideology. The main usage of mathematics and number theory within this work are the usage of hexagrams as a central topic of the work. The hexagrams are combinations of lines (notably similar in appearance to arrangements of counting rods) to represent numbers 1-64, and each hexagram has philosophical significance to the Daoist belief system35. Additionally, the Yi Jing includes diagrams depicting the hexagrams, often arranged into circular compasses and complex shapes, demonstrating a philosophical interest in geometry which could have influenced further intellectual study of these concepts36

Further evidence characterizing ancient Chinese mathematics as critical beyond its practical applications is the usage of an array of measurement systems during the period. During the Warring States period, there were four main measurement systems which were shu (note-pitch), du (length), liang (volume), and heng (weight)37. While length, volume, and weight measures had practical significance in tangible measurement, the note-pitch measure shows an interest in measures of music, which was significant in philosophical communities and in the entertainment of the kings and nobility. The usage of mathematics in relation to music measures is also recorded in an early theoretical analysis of musical sounds throughout ancient Chinese societies, such as the numerical analysis of music notes from the Huai nan zi (136 BCE)38. Through the ancient theoretical analysis of musical notes through a mathematical lens, further evidence is provided for an understanding of mathematics in ancient China beyond a tangible perspective.

The study of mathematics in early ancient Chinese societies was critical for a variety of manifests. With a foundation of a simplistic and easily accessible numerical system, the ancient Chinese were able to perform complex calculations that were valuable in many different groups. The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art demonstrates a scholarly interest in math (although the math in this work was also applied practically), while the Jinizi and Suan Shu Shu show more practical bureaucratic usages of math. The Daoist philosophy of ancient China studied geometric math concerning its beliefs about the universe, as is expressed in the Yi Jing Theoretical mathematical analysis was used to study music, as is shown in works like the Huai nan zi. For centuries, historians evaluating Chinese mathematical canons have characterized them as lacking in areas beyond essential arithmetic. The reality starkly contrasts this, showing an innovative society of mathematical development, designed to be utilized by many people, and for many purposes.

35 Edward Shaughnessy, Unearthing the Changes: Recently Discovered Manuscripts of the Yi Jing (I Ching) and Related Texts (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), 4.

36 Edward Shaughnessy, Unearthing the Changes: Recently Discovered Manuscripts of the Yi Jing (I Ching) and Related Texts (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014),

37 Shan Wu, “Refinging Technopoiesis: Measures and Measuring Thinking in Ancient China.” In Philosophy and Technology 36, no. 2 (2023), 26.

38 G.E.R. Lloyd, “What was mathematics in the ancient world? Greek and Chinese Persectives.” In The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics 7-25, ed. Eleanor Robson and Jacqueline Stedall (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 20.

Hypotenuse diagram from the Shang Gao dialogue in the Zhoubi Suanjing, demonstrating the essential properties of right triangles.

The Hypotenuse Diagram of Zhao Shuang. In “On Hypotenuse Diagrams in Ancient China.” In Centuarus 39, 193-210, by Qu Anjing. Denmark: Munksgard, 1997.

Student Reflection:

My historical research paper was written about mathematical developments and uses in Early Ancient China. I chose this topic because I was interested in mathematics in Ancient China but there were not many sources that explored the mathematical advances that happened prior to the Tang dynasty. I was intrigued, and I wanted to learn more about the foundational mathematical knowledge that allowed for some of the accomplishments of the imperial era. Through my research, I discovered that Early Ancient China was much more mathematically and technologically apt then is often presented. For example, many fundamental mathematical topics such as the Pythagorean theorem were first written in this time. Writing this paper allowed me to learn much more about the history of mathematics and examine a lessfrequently discussed era of Chinese history.

Editor's Choice: Lower Level Third Place

The American Bike: An Autoethnography

by D. Tom Gehman

HONR 106: Honors Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Thomas Crochunis

Assignment:

Autoethnography of a Significant Experience of Work—Begin by identifying some significant experience you have had of work that you want to understand deeply through sustained research into not just what happened but also the values, background, experiences, and other ideas that inform what happened. Your aim in this writing will be to both tell the story of what happened vividly and to research information relevant to your own culture, history, work environment, and values concerning work. In the end, you should have a compelling story of an important experience with an illuminating analysis grounded in solid sources that gives readers insight into what it all might have meant.

Until recently, I had a limited experience with bicycles. My family hadn’t owned bikes since my sister and I were very young, and we depended heavily on cars for transportation. Strangely, I only bought my first “real” bike and learned to ride it after I learned to drive—some years since my peers learned to bike. My experience was liberating. Cycling became one of the few things I did alone, and I no longer needed to borrow a car for quick travel in town. It was a vehicle for both exploration and self-reflection; it’s a machine for commutes, leisure, and exercise. During warmer months, it was my primary transportation to school and work, and I even toyed with the idea of someday never driving again. However, I recognized some key barriers to this proposition. Many businesses and roads are simply inaccessible by bike. Larger roads are occupied by fast, often hostile drivers and the tire-punching debris they leave on the shoulders. The bike-navigable routes of town are encumbered by dangerous turns and streets. Some people, like me, can safely get to their corners of town on two wheels, but not everyone can. A vast majority continue to drive. Shortly after buying my bike, I began working at my local bicycle shop. It was a unique experience— with no prior knowledge, I swiftly needed to learn about mechanic work and salesmanship. Also unique to the job was the wide customer base. Clearly, most people own bikes for the recreational value: some combination of leisure, exercise, and sport. Many of these customers, as my foreman once lamented, have a bike fixed only to leave it in the garage, forgotten. The heaviest users, rather, do not ride for enjoyment; they depend on their bikes everyday to get to work. They are among the most loyal customers; many of them can only afford to fix one thing at a time, so they stop by frequently. I often heard what they had to say about their working lives and commutes.

I remember a particular weekday working in the shop. Early after noon, a man named Josh stopped by to ask about a repair. His front brake wasn’t working— a major safety issue—so we replaced his brake cable. Ordinarily, a bike might sit in the queue for a few days before repair, but we try to prioritize the people who rely so heavily on their bikes. Josh’s derailleur cable had also snapped, leaving his drive permanently in the highest gear, but he opted not to fix it right away for the cost. I occasionally saw him struggling to pedal across town in the summer heat, but he said he at least preferred it to walking. While he waited for his repair, he explained to me that he lost his driver’s license some years ago for a traffic violation, and he had also served some jail time at one point. Since then, he’s struggled to get fully on his feet. He worked a few jobs, whatever he could find in town, and the cost of a car was still out of the question. A few years left until retirement age, he saw no end ahead to his working life. Shortly after he rolled out, a woman came in carrying an inexpensive mountain bike. I recognized her; she didn’t speak much English, but she pointed to her flat tire and asked for a tube change. I got to work. Her trail tires were functional but worn smooth by daily commutes on the road. I pulled a barb out of the rear tire (a typical problem downtown) and replaced the tube, checking the pressure in the front tire as well, and she was on her way. Later, another familiar face arrived—Tim, who had dropped his bike off earlier to get a new freewheel and some other repairs. We always tried not to get frustrated with Tim. He struggled with communication and didn’t like that some repairs took longer than others. That week, he stopped in every day to check and see if his bike was finished. I had to remind him that we promised him a date (Friday), and we would call him when it was done. He was sick of walking and borrowed a friend’s bike to get around until we finished.

Unfortunately, it seemed to me that the vast majority of people who commute by bike are forced to by circumstance. I felt pity for them—I opted to ride to work for the exercise and fresh air—they had no choice but to deal with the weather, sweat, reckless drivers, and road debris. I found it ironic that I was the only employee at the bike shop who biked to work. It made me wonder, why don’t more Americans use bikes instead of their cars? What would need to change to increase bicycle use, and what benefits would it have? Transportation by bicycle increased in popularity after World War 1 and peaked in the 1950s; shortly later, the automobile quickly took over the market, and bicycle use has never rebounded to the same levels (Oosterhuis 48). The physical and cultural changes that followed actively pitted motorists against cyclists. For example, in the world of the early automobile, many cyclists opposed the construction of separate bike paths because of the fear of being banned from the road, which could be reserved solely for cars (Oosterhuis 82). As a result, fewer bike paths were constructed, and as bikers became concerned by the dangers of sharing the road with ever-increasing car traffic, many of them quit cycling and joined the growing force of motorists (Oosterhuis 83). According to R.K. Untermann, bikes are simply incompatible with car-dominated streets, and “bicycle riding in many American towns and cities is neither enjoyable nor safe because of the dominance of the automobile” (qtd. in Nelson and Allen 79). My coworker, Will, drives to work for this reason. He explained that he would much prefer to bike, but the road from his house to the store is way too dangerous. The traffic through his neighborhood is bottle-necked by one major road, a perilous bike route. Aside from direct dangers, automobiles cause other problems for cyclists, such as influencing city planning to be more sprawled instead of connected and also producing noise, gas, and dust pollution (Nelson and Allen 79). These effects make cycling less viable, enjoyable, and healthy as transportation. Motorists also have economic influence against cyclists. Many business owners are opposed to the installation of bicycle infrastructure in place of vehicle parking and lanes because they believe (with little evidence) that such measures would reduce revenues (Volker and Handy 401). Such attitudes have discouraged bicycle infrastructure where it could have been very valuable to a community.

The dominance of the automobile has not only inhibited bicycle transportation for those who want it; it has also created a culture that does not want to ride. As Ulrike Huwer explained, countries with higher ridership positively view daily, utilitarian biking, while countries (like the U.S.) with low ridership see cycling solely as a leisure or sport activity, negatively viewing its use in transportation (qtd. in Oosterhuis

50). Unfortunately, our culture frowns upon cyclist commuters because of their perceived lack of wealth. Because people who can’t afford cars or who lost their driver’s licenses are often forced to bike, cultural pressure discourages middle or upper class people from biking, and it even attempts to embarrass cyclists (Oosterhuis 83). People don’t choose not to cycle because of a rational weighing of costs and benefits; rather, their refusal to ride is based off of intuitions and presuppositions (Oosterhuis 69). Americans are simply unmotivated to bike.

A solution to increase bicycle ridership in America would need to both improve infrastructure and shift the culture. According to interviews of urban cyclists, the vast majority of bikers prefer to use streets with bike lanes, and they would be encouraged to bike more if there were more bicycle lanes and fewer cars in them (Noyes et al. 3). This effect was shown in Manhattan, where hundreds of miles of bike lanes were added, helping ridership to triple from 2000 to 2009 (Noyes et al. 1-2). An analysis of data from 18 cities in the U.S. helps to support this idea. Researchers found that “each mile of bikeway per 100,000 residents was associated with a 0.069 percent increase in commuters using bicycles,” with a coefficient of determination equal to 0.825, a strong correlation (Nelson and Allen 81). The study suggests what many policy makers believe: If bike paths are constructed, at least some commuters will be encouraged to use them (Nelson and Allen 81). However, not all bike infrastructure is equally effective. To increase ridership levels, paths must be carefully placed to connect networks, provide a good pedaling surface, and avoid traffic, so people will actually use them (Oosterhuis 60). Different demographics are disproportionately motivated by such paths, and some communities require “push” regulations that discourage car use to motivate bike use (Oosterhuis 60-61). Cyclists and non-cyclists are distinct groups that are resistant to change. People who don’t bike tend to only see the disadvantages, like dangers and sweat; they “predominately perceive insurmountable obstacles” that installing infrastructure alone will not fix (Oosterhuis 68). In addition to improving infrastructure, a more positive image of biking needs to be promoted to Americans. If people had a better understanding of the benefits of cycling, they may decide to enjoy those benefits themselves.

The benefits of cycling are extensive. A reduction of car traffic caused by cycling would show “improved return from transportation capital investments, reduced noise pollution, reduced congestion, reduced air pollution, lower parking requirements, reduced driving costs, lower energy consumption, and reduced safety costs” as well as better personal well-being overall (Nelson and Allen 79). In addition, the paper by Noyes et al. explains that active transportation (cycling

and walking as transportation) is a major factor in boosting physical activity and improving public health (Noyes et al. 1). For example, they cited studies that found a 20-40% reduction in mortality rate among cyclists compared to the broader population (qtd. in Noyes et al. 1). Another paper quantitatively analyzed the benefits and risks of switching from driving to cycling for short trips (viz. the benefits of physical activity and the risks of pollution and accidents). They found that “[o]n average, the benefits of cycling were about 9 times larger than the risks of cycling, compared with car driving for the individuals making the shift” (Hartog et al. 1113). Even when only considering the highest estimates for risks of safety and pollutants and the lowest estimates for benefits of fitness, cycling still proved to be much more beneficial than harmful in terms of life expectancy gained/lost (Hartog et al. 1113). Further, bicycle use can have measurably positive effects on the economy. In response to the fear that bicycle infrastructure in place of car infrastructure would decrease economic activity, Volker and Handy reviewed literature with regards to the impacts of bicycle facilities on businesses (Volker and Handy 403). Among the studies they reviewed that employed statistical testing, a majority found a significant positive impact on local business as a result of the infrastructure, and the rest showed negligible impact; none caused negative impact (Volker and Handy 419). Of the studies that found positive results, most of them described projects involving the removal of some car infrastructure (such as lanes or parking) to make space for the bicycle infrastructure, thus demonstrating that decreasing car usage for bikes doesn’t decrease revenues (Volker and Handy 419). Overall, for many people, the benefits of cycling and its infrastructure far outweigh the costs.

My hope is that someday a larger share of Americans will choose to bike instead of drive for short errands and commutes, not because they are forced to, but because they desire to. The population’s decision not to bike is a positive feedback loop—as people have switched from bike commuting to cars, the roads

and culture have become hostile to cyclists, causing more to stop biking (except those who have no other choice). This could be reversed, too—as more people bike, the roads and culture shift favorably for cycling, encouraging even more people to choose to bike. This reversal could be facilitated by both improvements to infrastructure and advocacy for cycling and its benefits. The benefits of increased ridership, like health and safety, are not only important to those who choose to bike; if more people decide to bike, the benefits will improve the lives of those who must bike, like Josh, Tim, and the woman at the local bike shop. With more bikes on the road, commuters won’t be ashamed of their two-wheeled vehicles, and their paths will be safer and smoother.

Works Cited

Hartog, Jeroen Johan de, et al. “Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 118, no. 8, June 2010, pp. 1109–16, https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0901747.

Nelson, Arthur C., and David Allen. “If You Build Them, Commuters Will Use Them: Association between Bicycle Facilities and Bicycle Commuting.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 1578, no. 1, Jan. 1997, pp. 79–83, https://doi.org/10.3141/1578-10.

Noyes, Philip, et al. “Cycling in the City: An In-Depth Examination of Bicycle Lane Use in a Low-Income Urban Neighborhood.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health, vol. 11, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–9, https://doi. org/10.1123/jpah.2011-0429.

Oosterhuis, Harry. “Entrenched Habit or Fringe Mode: Comparing National Bicycle Policies, Cultures and Histories.” Invisible Bicycle: Parallel Histories and Different Timelines, edited by Tiina Männistö-Funk and Timo Myllyntaus, Brill, 2019, pp. 48–97.

Volker, Jamey M. B., and Susan Handy. “Economic Impacts on Local Businesses of Investments in Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure: A Review of the Evidence.” Transport Reviews, vol. 41, no. 4, Apr. 2021, pp. 401–31, https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2021.191 2849.

Student Reflection:

I chose to write this paper because biking recently has become an integral part of my life, and it led me to ask some questions about transportation in American culture. I enjoyed commuting across town on my bike, but I noticed that most people use cars for trips as short as mine. Most commuting cyclists are people who can’t afford to drive and have no other option. My paper examines why more people don’t bike and how our culture could change to support more cyclists. My hope is that people might reflect on their transportation methods and how they impact themselves and others. With more people on bikes instead of in cars, the world might be cleaner and safer, especially for those who already need to bike.

Assignment:

Applications for 3D Printing

by Jacob Hayden

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

For your final research project, you will write an expository research paper using relevant scholarly research.

The topic for this paper is relatively open, but you are encouraged to explore a topic related to:

• your major

• your career aspirations

• your hobbies or interests

Once you’ve determined a topic, you will locate and read at least 6 scholarly sources and pull important information from each source to explore and expand upon your topic. Your paper will utilize this research to write a descriptive (not a persuasive) essay.

3D printing has been an immensely important development in the world of manufacturing. Being an additive manufacturing process, it typically utilizes a nozzle that moves along three planes and extrudes a continuous flow of material, commonly plastic, to build up layers in almost any shape. Since its creation in the 1980s, the main purpose for 3D printing was the production of custom parts for machines and simple prototypes. However, as 3D printing became more advanced, various other applications were developed that expanded the versatility of it. This essay aims to draw on several research articles to explore two newer applications, construction and the production of food, while presenting some potential benefits they offer.

3D Printed Food

Food 3D printing has been a technology in development since around 2006. Currently, there are two main ways in which 3D printing food is achieved: extrusion and ink-powder-based. Extrusion is the most widely used of the two and is fairly straightforward. It is done by keeping the food’s base material stored in a solid state then heating it to a semi-molten state in order to create the consistency needed for printing. The other method, ink-powder-based, differs from extrusion because rather than the material being heated and extruded out in layers, it sits in a powdery form on a large bed that’s gets refilled with each print. The machine creates food in two different ways. The first method, binder jetting, drops a binder liquid that reacts with the powder and makes it solidify. The second method, selective laser sintering, uses a laser to melt the powder into a specific shape and let it solidify through cooling.

Health Benefits

Malnutrition is a large problem in American society. Most people associate it with an absence of nutrients causing people to be underweight or even anorexic. However, according to the World Health organization “the term malnutrition generally refers both to undernutrition and overnutrition” (Blössner 1). This means that malnutrition is just the general lack of healthy diets. So health problems like obesity can also be attributed to that. According to Author Jasper L. Tran, one way that 3D printing food can solve this problem is by creating foods that meet people’s daily nutritional needs. He states, “[a] solution to the malnutrition problem is to print nutrient-rich food that would meet most individual’s needs, i.e. his or her suggested daily value” (865). This can help people stick to more personalized diets better by exclusively providing what nutrition they need and removing the need to keep track of what they consume. One way that personalized nutrition can be facilitated by 3D printing is changing the specific amount and how homogenous the ingredients are to affect the perceived taste of the food. To prove this, professors at the Technical University of Munich tested to see how the overall saltiness of a 3D printed solid cube was affected by the distribution of salt. They set up this test with five different cubes made up of eight layers: one with no salt in it, one where every layer had salt, one that switched from salty to plain every four layers, one that switched every two layers, and one switched every other layer. The study showed that the cube that switches every four layers was perceived to be the saltiest despite there being less salt in it than the cube that’s entirely salty (Fahmy et al. 11). This can allow people to consume less unhealthy ingredients while maintaining the food’s flavor.

Sustainability

Many farming practices today take a large toll on the planet’s climate. Raising livestock can be very harmful towards the environment as these animals need a lot of food and water to stay healthy, produce a lot of waste, and indirectly create large amounts of greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. Substantial amounts of food waste can also come from the harvesting and processing methods for crops or even regulations on what can be sold. Because of all these environmental detriments caused by agriculture, the United Nation created a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, that 3D printed food can be applied to. Two very good examples would be SDG 12 and SDG 13. SDG 12 states that 3D printing can mitigate the amount of waste by using byproducts that come from processing food like grape pomace or broken wheat in the creation of input materials for 3D printing foods. (Alami et al. 12). These unused materials are still edible but sometimes have regulations on them making them difficult to sell. So, repurposing them for 3D printing food can help reduce waste. SDG 13 focuses more on how 3D printing foods can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. Since 3D printing can produce food without putting out harmful gases, starting to put more of a reliance on it for our food production could reduce the number of livestock needed to keep our population fed, and thus, less greenhouse gases are emitted from the raising of animals. (Alami et al. 12). With the combination of these two SDGs, 3D printing has the potential to greatly reduce the world’s carbon footprint from agriculture.

3D Printed Houses

Construction 3D printers operate in a similar manner to traditional 3D printers except with the main difference being that they are much larger and extrude concrete rather than plastic. The most common form of 3D printed construction is called contour crafting, which lays down concrete in layers with the addition of a set of trowels that follow the extruder to smooth over the surface for a more appealing look. The concrete that is needed for these 3D printers needs to have very specific properties in order for it to work. Firstly, it needs flow easily enough to be extruded by a pump but also viscous enough to keep its shape and support the weight of subsequent layers. Secondly, it needs to have some sort of additive mixed in such as copper slag or limestone to increase is strength. Thirdly, the additives can’t be too small in size because it would make it harder to extrude but also not too large as larger particles could risk damaging components on the 3D printer. The main incentive to 3D printed construction is that it allows for significantly more complex shapes than traditional construction methods since it eliminates the

need for formwork, or something to hold the shape of the concrete as it sets. This in turn leads to a multitude of benefits such as lower labor requirements, reducing costs, and shorter time. However, one large drawback of 3D printed construction is a lack of redundancy. If a machine fails, construction has to either halt or revert to conventional construction methods. Despite this, the many benefits of this technology often outweigh the drawbacks causing many companies to opt for it.

Process Efficiency

A large factor of projects today is the timeframe in which it can be completed. 3D printed construction reduces several small elements in the time a project takes such as the concrete needing less time to cure, less breaks required because there are less laborers, or even less time needed to design a project. This is demonstrated by Bazli et al. when comparing the speed in which a structural wall was completed. Stating “3D printing enabled the production of a structural wall in 65 [hours] as opposed to 100 [hours] in the conventional framework method” (Bazli et al. 5). Because the 3D printable concrete used cures faster and there was no time needed to set up and take down formwork for the concrete, that job was able to be completed about thirty-five hours faster than regular methods which is time that could be used on completing other projects. The elimination of formwork presents another benefit for companies from a logistical sense. 3D printed construction often requires little tools and sometimes only the 3D printer itself is required. This streamlined approach helps reduce some of the challenges with logistics since “3D printers eliminate the need for most conventional heavy equipment (unless printed components must be lifted and transported into place), less equipment needs to be scheduled and transported to and from the job site” (Schuldt 7). Similarly, structures can also be printed off site in modular components and assembled on site in situations where a 3D printed might not be available on site. All together these factors can help reduce overall construction timeframes and help finish more jobs in less time.

Environmental Impact

Many of today’s construction methods prove to contribute a large amount to climate change. When comparing traditional methods with 3D printed construction “reinforcing steel production and manufacturing comprised 98 and 97% of the total emissions of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic toxicity […]. Furthermore, fossil scarcity (150 kg oil eq) was attributed to the manufacturing of steel (60%) and cement (38%), and the high-water consumption was mainly due to addition of water during concrete manufacturing […]. As for the concrete constructed house, global warming potential (609 kg CO2 eq) was

high due to production and manufacturing contributing 97% and water consumption with a volume of 184 m3 per functional unit was attributed to water demand during 3D mortar preparation” (Abdalla et al. 10). While conventional construction and 3D printed construction use similar amounts of water, a key difference is that 3D printed construction is an additive process, meaning that it only creates and uses the exact amount of material it needs while traditional construction tends to create extra waste due to the over production of materials. Sometimes, 3D printed construction doesn’t even need to use concrete. Recent research in alternative materials for construction has shown two potential options: geopolymers, made from recycled materials like coal ash or metal slag, and earth construction, which uses more locally sourced materials. As Schuldt et al. explains, “earth construction is an alternative that utilizes a mix of locally sourced subsoil, water, and available fibers, such as straw.” (Schuldt et al. 8). Both earth construction and geopolymers present a great capacity to lower the environmental impact of construction while having similar properties to concrete such as thermal resistance. However, the tradeoff being that they lack the durability and strength of concrete, limiting projects where they can be used to remote areas where the structural performance requirements are not as important.

Conclusion

Although both 3D printed foods and 3D printed construction are relatively new technologies, they already hold a great amount of potential to change how people live and the way things are produced. For 3D printed food, great health benefits are available through precise manipulation of ingredients in foods which can help fix poor diets with little effort. For 3D printed construction, the process by which buildings and houses are completed is made significantly simpler due to the reduction of required labor and extra tools.

One of the most important benefits, however, is the lower environmental impact achieved by recycling waste materials and minimizing its carbon footprint. Altogether, these technologies hold the prospect for a greener future and continuing research can help make them more widely available to an ever-growing population.

Works Cited

Abdalla, H., Fattah, K. P., Abdallah, M., & Tamimi, A. K. (2021). Environmental footprint and economics of a full-scale 3D-printed house. Sustainability,  vol. 13, 2021, 11978. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111978

Alami, Abdul H. et al. “3D Printing in the Food Industry: Recent Progress and Role in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals” Ain Shams Engineering Journal vol 15 2024, pp. 1-14. Google Scholar https://doi. org/10.1016/j.asej.2023.102386

Bazli, Milad, et al. “3D Printing for Remote Housing: Benefits and Challenges” Automation in Construction vol. 148, 2023, pp. 1-19. Google Scholar, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.autcon.2023.104772

Blossner, Monika, Mercedes De Onis, and Annette PrüssÜstün. Malnutrition: quantifying the health impact at national and local levels. World Health Organization, 2005, pp 1- 51 https://iris.who.int/bitstream/ handle/10665/43120/9241591870.pdf?sequence=1

Fahmy, Ahmen R. et al. “Sensory Design in Food 3D Printing - Structuring, Texture Modulation, Taste Localization, and Thermal Stabilization” Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies vol 72 2021, pp. 1-12. Google Scholar https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ifset.2021.102743

Schuldt, Steven J. et al. “A systematic review and analysis of the viability of 3D-printed construction in remote environments” Automation in Construction vol. 125, 2021, pp.1-16. Google Scholar, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103642

Tran, Jasper L. “3D-Printed Food.” Minnesota Journal of Law, Science and Technology, vol. 17, no. 2, 2016, pp. 855-880. Google Scholar. https://heinonline.org/ HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/mipr17&div=23&g_ sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals

Student Reflection:

This research paper was completed as my “big assignment” for my Academic Writing class. Initially, I struggled to pick a topic as I couldn’t think of something that interested me and could be properly researched. This lasted for a while until we talked about manufacturing technologies in my Engineering Seminar class, where I discovered 3D printed houses. I found this topic to be incredibly interesting and figured the paper would give me an excellent opportunity to learn more. During my research, I also came across the application of 3D printing in food which piqued my interest in the subject even further. I became exceedingly passionate about both of these subjects that talking and writing about them came very easily despite thinking I was a weak writer. I even had to cut down some of my paper because I went past the page limit for the assignment. The completion of this paper showed me that I am far better at writing than I originally thought and I hope to continue exercising this skill in the future.

Assignment:

Black Women’s Transgenerational Haunting in Sing, Unburied, Sing

by Lauren Pool

ENGL 345: Women’s Literature

Dr. Erica Galioto

My paper discusses and explores the transgenerational haunting of historical black women’s reproductive and domestic labors within Jesmyn Ward’s novel Sing, Unburied, Sing. The paper dives into Leonie as a mother, her relationships, and how she cannot break free from the transgenerational haunting.

Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, follows the journey of Leonie, a young black mother, and her two children as they travel from the Gulf region of Mississippi to the northern Delta region to pick up Michael, Leonie’s white boyfriend and her children’s father, from prison. Throughout the novel, Leonie has extremely strained relationships with her family, especially her two children Jojo and Kayla. Leonie struggles with caring for her children and finds herself battling between loving and despising them. She also sees the ghost of her dead brother, Given, every time she uses drugs and is haunted by his tragic death. In Saidaya Hartman’s “The Belly of the World: A Note on Black Women’s Labor,” she argues that black women’s domestic and reproductive labors are exploited within society and the cycle is repeated by the transgenerational haunting of black people in America. This exploitation, especially of the ability to reproduce, allows for the cycle to repeat, for the transgenerational haunting to prevail. Leonie feels trapped in her responsibilities to be a mother and is ashamed of her lack of maternal instinct, which allows for the transgenerational phantoms to haunt her. In Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Leonie is not only haunted by her brother Given but is also haunted by the transgenerational exploitation of black women’s domestic and reproductive labors, which damages the relationships in every aspect her life.

Early in the novel, Leonie reveals that she sees the ghost of her late brother Given every time she’s on drugs. Given was killed by Michael’s cousin because he won a bet, and Micheal’s father Big Joseph helped conceal the murder as a hunting accident. Leonie never seems to fully mourn Given, because he is always there keeping an eye on her when she’s high and she never calls his death a murder, “… my brother walked through there with no bullet holes in his chest or in his neck…Still as he must have been after Micheal’s cousin shot him” (Ward 51). By Given always appearing whole to Leonie, and her never expressing that

he was murdered, he is able to haunt her. In Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok’s, “Theory and Notes of the Transgenerational Phantom,” they explain how phantoms’ unlost losses obstruct language even further, never allowing for their lack to be addressed, “The phantom counteracts libidinal introjection… it obstructs our perception of words as implicitly referring to their unconscious portion…the words used by the phantom to carry out its return…point to a gap, they refer to the unspeakable” (Abraham & Torok 174). Given’s violent death is a gap, is the unlost loss, and by there never being any true mourning from Leonie or direct language about Given’s death, it has allowed for the transgenerational haunting of Leonie by Givennot-Given. Leonie is not only physically haunted by Given’s phantom; but haunted by other phantoms that influence her and her relationships.

Out of all her relationships, Michael and Leonie’s is where she seems happiest, even though there are implications of them being an interracial couple. Michaels parents are extremely prejudice towards her and don’t even acknowledge her or their grandchildren, “I called his mama… thanked God it was her… and not Big Joseph. He would have hung up in my face rather than speak to me, the n****r his son had babies with” (Ward 31). Leonie is not naïve when it comes to Big Joseph’s hatred, however this relationship plays a part in her perception of herself as a black mother. When she describes her mixed children, she examines their appearances, “…think of Michael…and wonder if we had another baby, if it would look more like him than Michaela. If we had another baby, we could get it right” (Ward 150). Leonie cannot break away from the idea of having whiter children with Michael. She constantly compares JoJo’s darker complexation to her brother and father, and she always compares Michaela to Michael. She is placing her value as a black woman and mother on her ability to have whiter children. In Hartman’s, “A Note on Black Women’s Labor,” she

notes, “’Women’s bodies became the definitional sites of racial slavery…the reproduction of human property and the social relations of racial slavery were predicated upon the belly…subjection was anchored in black women’s reproductive capabilities” (Hartman 168).

Leonie is haunted by black women’s historical exploitation of their reproductive capabilities, and in turn Leonie is influenced into believing that her value as a commodity is placed in her ability to produce children who do not appear black, but whiter. She tries to break free of racial injustice today by having white passing children, however by placing her value on her ability to have whiter children she cannot break away from the transgenerational haunting.

While Leonie tries to break away from the commodification of black women’s ability to reproduce, even though it’s a failed attempt, she also tries to break away from her domestic and maternal labors. Out of her whole family her most strained relationship seems to be with her son, Jojo. With Leonie being in and out of her children’s lives, and her main focus being Micheal, Jojo took on a parental role for his threeyear-old sister. However, this built resentment within Leonie towards Jojo, “It feels good…to speak to the baby I can’t hit and let that anger touch another. The one I’m never good enough for. Never Mama for. Just Leonie, a name wrapped around disappointed syllables…” (Ward 147). She is rarely a maternal figure towards the kids, especially Jojo, however she feels conflicted with her role as their mother. She wants to be a mother but cannot commit herself fully to the role. Hartman argues, “The continuities between slavery and freedom were underwritten by black women’s domestic labor…domestic work carried the taint of slavery” (Hartman 170). Black female slaves were forced to serve as housemaids, caretakers, and wet nurses in white households, creating the connection between slavery and domestic labor. Also doing domestic work in white households put black women’s own households at risk because they spend all their time working for others. This resentment and connection between domestic work and slavery is passed down to Leonie through transgenerational haunting. Abraham and Torok explain, “The phantom which return to haunt bears witness to the existence of the dead buried within the other” (Abraham & Torok 175). Since the forced domestic labor of black women within white households have never been fully addressed, it becomes an unlost loss that passes down into Leonie, creating her resentment towards her maternal role and damaging her own household.

While Leonie’s confliction with her role as a mother has disturbed her relationship with Jojo, she also passed the role down onto him. Kayla sees Jojo as mother more than she has ever seen Leonie as one. When Kayla gets sick on the trip up north to

Parchman, Jojo is the first to act and take care of the vomiting three-year old, “Jojo doesn’t even look at me, all his attention on the body in his arms, the little person he’s trying to soothe…” (Ward 98). Jojo does not need Leonie to help comfort Kayla, because to him Leonie has completely rejected the role of mother and instead passed it onto him. Leonie realizes this and even begins to see maternal instincts in her twelve-year old, “I look at him and see a hungry girl” (Ward 95). Leonie’s complicated relationship with her domestic roles have begun to haunt Jojo because she has never fully processed them. Abraham and Torok explain, “… unsettling disruptions in the psychic life of one person can adversely and unconsciously affect someone else” (Abraham & Torok 166). The transgenerational haunting of black women’s domestic labors disrupted and influenced Leonie’s psychic life, which in turn affected Jojo and his role as son and parental figure. Since he is not a black woman, he cannot fully experience the transgenerational haunting the same as Leonie, however her own blocked processing passed the haunting onto Jojo allowing him to embody the domestic roles of a mother and greatly damages Jojo and Leonie’s relationship.

Not only is Leonie’s relationship with Jojo damaged, but so is the one she has with Kayla. While on the ride to Parchman, Kayla is constantly ill and instead of the tense resentment she has towards Jojo, Leonie seems to yearn to be a semblance of a maternal figure towards her daughter, “…part of me wanted her to leap for me, to smear orange vomit over the front of my shirt as her little tan body sought mine, always sought mine, our hearts separate by the thin cages of our ribs… our blood in sync” (Ward 98). She seems to want the connection with Kayla, that she had with her own mother growing up, however Leonie has been so inconsistent in her daughter’s life that there is a deep disconnection between the two. Kayla refuses any remedy and sensitivity that Leonie offers her the entire trip. Hartman writes that the negation of maternity, “…turns the womb into a factory reproducing blackness as abjection…” (Hartman 169). Slavery disfigured historical black women’s maternity, creating the notion that the mother is abject. The lack of stable and consistent motherhood creates the abjection of the black mother, which has haunted Leonie and unconsciously influenced her relationship with Kayla. Kayla’s physical rejection of Leonie is created by the historical abjection of black motherhood that is haunting Leonie and can never allow for them to have the relationship that Leonie wishes.

The transgenerational haunting of black female reproductive and domestic labors has disturbed Leonie’s unconscious, so that she cannot fulfill her role as mother no matter how much she wishes she could. After she gets extremely high, Leonie has a dream

about her family on raft in the Gulf, but they begin to sink and Leonie tries to keep everyone above the surface, “I try to keep everyone above water, even as I struggle to stay afloat…I thrust them up toward the surface… but they keep slipping from my hands…I am failing them. We are all drowning” (Ward 195). Leonie dreams of keeping her family safe and out of harm’s way, but her efforts are futile, which reflects her real-life relationships with her family. She loathes the feeling of letting her family down, yet she does so by not fulfilling the role of mother. Those who have felt the mother’s touch, according to Hartman, “…need acknowledge that her ability to provide care, food, and refuge often has placed her in great jeopardy, and above all required her to give with no expectation of reciprocity or return…She provides so much, yet rarely does she thrive” (Hartman 171). Historical black mothers never received anything in return for their labors, and their struggle for freedom is intertwined with their role as mother. The fulfilling of maternal roles has been exploited and is what produces structures of slavery and anti-black racism. Leonie is haunted by the lack of reciprocity that has never been addressed by historical black mothers and that unaddressed lack has been transmitted down to her. Leonie feels that what little maternal care she gives to Jojo and Kayla she never gets

receives anything in return. However, she never puts this lack into language so the transgenerational haunting of black female exploited labor cannot be exorcised to relieve her unconscious.

Throughout history, black female domestic and reproductive labors have been exploited within society and allow for the cycle to repeat in future generations. The lack of language and processing about the complex experience, has allowed for phantoms to form, haunt, and influence the unconsciousness of future generations. In Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Leonie is not only haunted by the ghost of her brother Given but is also haunted by the transgenerational commodification of black female labors, disturbing the relationships in all aspects of her life. Her lack of language and her blocked mourning will never allow for the phantoms to be exorcised, but passed on to future generations, repeating the cycle.

Works Cited

Abraham, Nicolas, and Torok, Maria. “Theory and Notes of the Transgenerational Phantom.” The Shell and the Kernal: Renewals of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 1, 1994. Hartman, Saidiya. “The Belly of the World: A Note on Black Women’s Labor.” Souls, vol.18, no.1, March 2016. Ward, Jesmyn. Sing, Unburied, Sing. Scribner, 2017.

Student Reflection:

Writing this paper was challenging, but also extremely rewarding. I loved reading Sing, Unburied, Sing, and I found diving deeper into Leonie as a character very interesting and eye opening. I gained a lot of insight on transgenerational haunting and the history and commodification of black women’s domestic and reproductive labors. I’m very proud of this paper and put a lot of time and effort into exploring Leonie’s character.

Assignment:

Can’t Stop the Boogie: A Comparison of St. Vitus’ Dance and Tarantism

by Jaeden Forsythe

HONR 122 Honors Historical Foundations of Global Cultures

Dr. Christine Senecal

I was required to examine a historical event/events before and compose a minimum 13-page research paper analyzing it. I decided to focus on two historical instances of hysterical dancing and compare them.

Strasbourg of the Holy Roman Empire faced a strange affliction in 1518 CE, where a woman named Frau Troffea began compulsively dancing in public. Her dancing led hundreds more townspeople to dance with her.1 The local government and society perceived this spontaneous choreomania as vengeance from St. Vitus of Catholic martyrdom.2 Similar events had been taking place in Apulia of modern-day Italy, known as tarantism. This disease was characterized by uncontrollable dancing brought on during the musical treatment of a bite from a taranta. Taranta were most commonly tarantulas but could also refer to other venomous animals.3 Each of these mass delusions took place in a society weakened by plague, famine, intense misogyny, and religious zeal. Despite this, a predecessor of tarantism was observed in the eleventh century by Gariopontus and its cure by musicians was utilized towards the mid-twentieth century4, while St. Vitus’ Dance occurred for only around two months in the late summer of 1518. Both events had similar stressors to cause them, but their differences lie in societal perceptions and how they were handled by the local government. This caused the tarantism tradition to exist for far longer than St. Vitus’ Dance.

To properly connect these events, we must connect their most likely causes. A common argument for the cause of St. Vitus’ Dance and the behavior associated with tarantism references the ergot fungus. Claviceps

africana and C. purpurea, the most likely species of ergot to affect the area, have been known to cause adverse effects in the people that consume it.5 Now known as an ingredient in lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), consumption of ergot can cause “hallucinations, severe pain, convulsions, gangrenous limbs and death”.6 Believers of this theory mostly focus on the potential for hallucinations and convulsions, crediting those symptoms as the cause of compulsive dancing in both Strasbourg and Apulia. However, the movement observed in either case was coordinated and did not resemble involuntary muscle spasms. The dancing was characterized as frantic and violent, but not random.7 Due to these discrepancies, a more probable explanation would be that of delusional and/ or religious psychosis, as well as trance. This was not properly understood during the sixteenth century, so modern understandings of these illnesses must be used to explain the strange dancing behavior. Mental illness occurs when a person is exposed to an intense amount of distress, as many people in Europe were experiencing during this time due to disease and societal pressure. Strong religious belief and a lack of understanding about the brain led to the persistence of these delusions, since no medical evidence existed to explain them until afterward.8 Both the choreomaniacs of St. Vitus’ Dance and those being cured of tarantism were reported to be in a trancelike state while experi-

1 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 4.

2 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 71.

3 Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 124.

4 Jean Fogo Russell. “Tarantism.” In Medical History. Cambridge University Press, 1979, 404. and Karen Lüdtke. “Tarantism in Contemporary Italy: The Tarantula’s Dance Reviewed and Revived.” In Music as Medicine, 293–312. Vermont: Ashgate, 2000, 293. and John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 4.

5 Thomas Miedaner and Hartwig Geiger. “Biology, Genetics, and Management of Ergot (Claviceps Spp.) in Rye, Sorghum, and Pearl Millet.” Toxins 7, no. 3 (February 25, 2015): 659.

6 Stephen Alderman. “Ergot: Biology and Control.” Corvallis, OR: USDA-ARS National Forage Seed Production Research Center, February 2006, 1.

7 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 3. and Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 91.

8 Philip R. Corlett, John H. Krystal, Jane R. Taylor, and Paul C. Fletcher. “Why Do Delusions Persist?” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 3 (July 10, 2009): 3.

encing psychotic perceptions.9 Women may have also been more likely to “act out” in this way because of the restrictive nature of their lives, hence Frau Troffea’s initial outburst. Tarantism also shifted to focus on women at some points, with surprisingly recent counts in 1957 featuring afflicted women in church settings.10 The intensity of these stressors was highly likely to cause these hysterical outbreaks and bring unrest to their respective cities.

A plethora of unfortunate events led to the distress that Strasbourg and Apulian inhabitants experienced. To start, both areas had recently experienced, and were currently experiencing, threatening plague around 1518. Tarantism, having existed long before St. Vitus’ Dance, experienced many of these over the course of its influence. For example, tarantism existed during the bubonic plague, which struck Europe in 1348.11 While this occurred long before Frau Troffea started dancing in Strasbourg, other diseases were rampant in European society. Excessive filth littered Strasbourg streets and water supplies, easily exposing the population to infectious disease and bacteria.12 Europe had also faced several other epidemics before and after the dance that were likely to have effects during the sixteenth century. Both Apulia and Strasbourg were likely to have experienced smallpox, dysentery, typhus, and influenza outbreaks before St. Vitus’ Dance.13 Failure to understand the cause of these diseases, as well as the blatant lack of cleanliness, led to their rapid spread and continued influence over Europe. Tarantism, having existed for a much longer period, saw many outbreaks and recoveries that periodically threatened the population and caused stress among the people. In tandem with the various outbreaks, Europe experienced a period of famine caused by a climate event named the “Little Ice Age.” The onset of the “ice age” was gradual; it developed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, reaching its peak in the 1500s and 1600s. A dramatic drop from the milder climate of the Medieval Warming Period brought unpredictable weather, causing the destruction of crops and shortening of the growing season.14 In The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a landscape during the Little Ice Age

was depicted in 1565.15 This painting shows barren and dying flora amidst the snow, further attesting to the death of plant life during winter. This would continue into other seasons and allow less time for the growth of flora, and less food for livestock. Hunger and disease made death a normal part of European lives during this time, serving as a reason for the people of Strasbourg and Apulia to find an outlet.

In addition to issues affecting the general public, women were the target of more long-standing negativity. For most of history, women were seen as lower beings than men. This was especially demonstrated through Ancient Greek philosophy and medicine that carried misogyny through time. Rebecca Kukla emphasizes this in Mass Hysteria, citing Plato and Hippocrates as philosophers that claimed that women were irrational. This was due to claims that their skin is excessively permeable and more susceptible to outside influence. Another claim was that the uterus would be capable of craving things and migrating through the female body, causing disruptions as it went.16

Despite being blatantly wrong, these ideals were widely accepted during their time. Women were harmed by these and were thought of as impulsive and/or daft. These developed into more beliefs that deemed women excessively fragile, as is seen in another quoted textbook by Jakob Rüff from the sixteenth century. Rüff stated that women, especially those with child, are not to be scared or exercise due to the fragility of the fetus and the mothering body.17 While partially true and considerate, women deemed excessively fragile were kept under close surveillance. Women may not have been allowed independence outside of working in the household. The excessive surveillance on top of this is reminiscent of ancient societies that kept their women and daughters locked away to preserve their purity. Together with the Ancient Greek influence, these ideals shaped life in medieval Europe and influenced how they interpreted their religious texts.

Threatening behavior towards women was solidified by common philosophy, but the development of Christianity certainly continued it. Much of society in the areas of focus were Christian during the

9 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 78. and Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 91.

10 Jean Fogo Russell. “Tarantism.” In Medical History. Cambridge University Press, 1979, 408.

11 John Robb et al. “The Greatest Health Problem of the Middle Ages? Estimating the Burden of Disease in Medieval England.” International Journal of Paleopathology 34 (2021): 102.

12 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 40.

13 Cynthia Smith and Andrew Reeves. “Europe’s Centuries of Crises and Recovery (1300-1600).” In He Huaka’i Honua: Journeys in World History I, to 1500 CE Honolulu CC HIST 151 (2023).

14 Cynthia Smith and Andrew Reeves. “Europe’s Centuries of Crises and Recovery (1300-1600).” In He Huaka’i Honua: Journeys in World History I, to 1500 CE Honolulu CC HIST 151 (2023).

15 See Appendix A

16 Rebecca Kukla. Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers’ Bodies. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, 5.

17 Rebecca Kukla. Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers’ Bodies. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, 10.

sixteenth century and it was a staple of life. The area of Strasbourg was once part of the Roman Empire, which converted to Christianity and stayed this way after the fall.18 Apulia, in southern Italy, was converted later through repeated conquest around 1000 CE.19 These societies were both deeply religious, almost excessively so. Hence their social norms surrounded what was taught in the Christian or Catholic Holy Bible. There are several verses that allude to the expectation of lesser treatment for women. Even in the first book is Eve created after Adam,20 but other verses as seen in the first book of Timothy enforce this. In the second chapter, it is written that women should dress modestly and “learn in silence with full submission.” 1 Timothy 2:9-15 has many other restrictive guidelines for women and addresses the idea that the original sin was committed by Eve, but all women can be saved through the act of childbearing.21 This verse perpetuated the idea that women were “wrong” or “bad” simply because of associations with sin. It also alluded that the ultimate purpose of a woman was to bear children. These verses also mention the subservient nature women were expected to have towards their spouse. This belief can be seen in the initial societal perceptions of Frau Troffea’s dancing in its early stages, where many people thought she was simply defying her husband by doing something ridiculous.22 Because of the length of southern Italy’s tarantism tradition though, it can be difficult to determine if women were mostly affected by the ailment. Given Francesco Malagnino’s testimony in Gentilcore’s article,23 as well as many others in De Martino’s field research, it can be said that both men and women fell victim to this hysteria over its course. However, in Antonius by Giovanni Pontano from 1491, a character discusses another character’s perception of Apulians. Some sexist ideals are seen here:

In truth, because other men, being all of them foolish [stulti], can barely advance a sufficiently convincing explanation to account for their foolishness. Whereas only the Apulians have a good and ready excuse to justify their insanity, attributing its cause to the spider they call the tarantula, the bite of which causes men to go mad. And this constitutes their greatest happiness,

since, if someone wanted to, he could obtainquite licitly - the desired fruit of his madness. There are, in fact, spiders of various poisons, even those capable of inciting lustfulness, which are called concubine keepers [concubitarios]. Women are wont very often to be bitten by this spider; and then, since the poison cannot be extinguished in any other way, it is licit for them to unite with men, freely and with impunity. In this way what for others would be a shameful act [flagitium], for Apulian women is a remedy. Does this not perhaps seem the greatest happiness to you?24

Despite being present in a work of fiction, this dialogue can be reflective of actual perceptions of tarantism. It seems that some people believed those in Apulia to be o because they had an excuse for hysterical behavior. The women are said to be particularly happy because they can use the claim of being bitten by a “concubine keeper” to seek sexual pleasure. Not only does this continue old ideals of women being beasts controlled by desire, but it could also indicate that women had to go to great lengths to satisfy themselves in this society. Such is comparable to the contemporary social phenomenon known as “slut-shaming,” which condemns women for promiscuous behavior and having several sexual partners. Such pressure creates substantial distress for women, which could easily lead them to strange behavior to either satisfy themselves or break down emotionally.

These stressors observed in Apulia and Strasbourg led to trancelike or psychotic behavior in those suffering from tarantism and St. Vitus’ Dance. There were two ways that these diseases were considered around their time: as instances of divine intervention, or as medical ailments. In typical fashion, many average people defaulted to the former. As St. Vitus was associated with the Strasbourg dancing and the devil, tarantism came to be associated with Saint Paul. St. Paul’s association with the dancing was complicated; some believed he was a protector of the inflicted, that which sent the taranta to the victims to punish them, or the very thing to be exorcised during the dance.25 St. Paul became associated with the affliction due to a lo-

18 Joseph Lynch and Phillip Adamo. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. 2nd ed. 1992. Reprint, New York: Routledge, 2014, 34.

19 Joseph Lynch and Phillip Adamo. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. 2nd ed. 1992. Reprint, New York: Routledge, 2014, 173.

20 Genesis 2:21-24

21 1 Timothy 2:9-15

22 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 68.

23 David Gentilcore. “Ritualized Illness and Music Therapy: Views of Tarantism in the Kingdom of Naples.” In Music as Medicine, 255–72. Vermont: Ashgate, 2000, 255.

24 Giovanni Pontano. “Antonius.” As Cited in Gentilcore, David. Ritualized Illness and Music Therapy: Views of Tarantism in the Kingdom of Naples, 260. London: Ashgate, 2000.

25 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 78. and Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 70.

cal myth surrounding him giving “a well of the House of St. Paul” the power to heal poisonous animal bites.26 People would come from far locations to attempt to cure tarantism with this water. In some, albeit later, cases of tarantism, the focus shifted from exorcising the taranta’s poison to ridding St. Paul’s influence over the mind and body. De Martino references Donato of Matino’s case, where his regular participation as a tarantato27 shifted from expelling poison from his body to a dramatically different spectacle. Moving on from the typical musical exorcism, Donato took to yearly hysterical activity within the chapel of Galatina, to expel the Saint from his body. This became an almost intimate connection with St. Paul for him.28 Donato may have taken to this strange behavior as a devotional gesture towards the Saint. The more popular explanation for tarantism during this time was medical, though, and was treated like a sickness to be overcome with music. The identifiable cause of the bite from a taranta allowed less room for divine speculation, and therefore allowed a scientific approach. This was also seen in St. Vitus’ Dance with a few medical explanations falling on imbalanced humors, but this was not common.29 Most of society defaulted to the explanation of divine intervention, as will be discussed. With all predecessors being considered, life in Apulia and Strasbourg was similar around 1518. Women experienced similar struggles, and society faced crippling plague and hunger. However, their difference in longevity is striking. Starting with Strasbourg, the dancing of mass crowds interrupted daily life during its influence, causing the local government to seek solutions quickly. The spread of the dancing to hundreds of townspeople surely created a disruption in the city’s bustling trading economy.30 Due to this widespread scale, a solution needed to be established quickly to restore order. Many people in Strasbourg adopted a religious explanation for the dancing, leading to its religious solution. It was believed that the dancing was inflicted on the town by a divine force as a sign from

heaven.31 The Christian Saint Vitus became quickly associated with this, as he was known to be worshipped to heal those suffering from epilepsy, and therefore uncontrollable movement.32 St. Vitus has also been depicted in the Cologne Cathedral around artwork of people entranced in a “wild ring dance”, further attesting to his involvement in prior hysterical events.33 Paracelsus, however, detested this theory of divine punishment and took a medical approach, calling it a disease of the “laughing veins” present in one’s body.34 Other townspeople claimed at first that Frau Troffea had started dancing to irritate her husband or avoid chores, which may have come from deep-seated misogynistic pretenses.35 Unfortunately, Paracelsus’ explanation was not widespread through the poor society of Strasbourg, and the religious explanation stayed prevalent. This is where St. Vitus’ Dance and tarantism differ most notably; St. Vitus’ Dance was regarded as a religious affliction, while tarantism was viewed medically. Nearby areas in Europe had also experienced similar dance outbreaks, but even with that experience, Strasbourg decided to treat it religiously. These earlier outbreaks also did not occur on a regular, predictable cycle like tarantism did in Apulian summers.36 Sponheim Abbey, a town near to Strasbourg, had experienced similar violent dancing associated with St. John and St. Vitus in 1374.37 However, this did not happen again until 1518. Even after St. Vitus’ Dance, no other outbreaks of hysterical dancing of this scale occurred. John Waller attributes this to the Protestant Reformation, which condemned saint worship and therefore erased associations with dancing trances.38 The sparse occurrence of these outbreaks kept them out of the public mind and therefore made them more terrifying to society when they did happen.

In contrast to St. Vitus’ Dance, Apulian cases of tarantism were usually kept in the family. Families were usually tasked with hiring the musicians necessary for the exorcism and they would spend copious amounts of money treating their loved ones (De Martino, 88

26 Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 71.

27 The masculine word for a victim of tarantism, as opposed to tarantati for women.

28 Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 70.

29 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 110.

30 John Waller. “In a Spin: The Mysterious Dancing Epidemic of 1518.” Endeavour 32, no. 3 (September 2008): 119.

31 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 71.

32 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 84.

33 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 89.

34 Theophrastus Paracelsus. “The Writings of Theophrastus Paracelsus on Diseases that Deprive Man of Health and Reason.” In Four Treatises of Theophrastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus, translated by C. Lilian Temkin, George Rosen, Gregory Zilboorg, and Henry E. Sigerist. (Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1941), 158.

35 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 68.

36 Jean Fogo Russell. “Tarantism.” In Medical History. Cambridge University Press, 1979, 412.

37 John Waller. “In a Spin: The Mysterious Dancing Epidemic of 1518.” Endeavour 32, no. 3 (September 2008): 120.

38 John Waller. “In a Spin: The Mysterious Dancing Epidemic of 1518.” Endeavour 32, no. 3 (September 2008): 121.

and Cambridge, 412).39 Tarantism was something in public culture every summer, but it never caused any massive disruptions. Because of this lack of influence and general panic, it was allowed to persist as a tradition for far longer than St. Vitus’ Dance. In addition to this, tarantism was viewed largely as a medical ailment, with the religious explanations being secondary. For example, a medical manuscript titled “Sertum Papale de Venenis” gives the author’s medical explanation for the cause of dancing associated with tarantism. This would have also been close to a common person’s understanding of the illness. Da Marra details here that the happiness brought on by dancing allows one’s spirit to block the entrance of the taranta’s poison into the body.40 While obviously dated, it still removes the divine from the explanation. Similar de venenis41 literature mentioned tarantism as an ailment brought on by poison. That lack of perceived divine intervention can also be attributed to the fact that there was an obvious cause of the victim’s madness. Instead of the dancing happening spontaneously, it would happen after a pinpointed event — being bitten by a tarantula or other venomous animal. This opened tarantism to medical explanations related to poison first, with the religious explanations being adapted later.

These clear differences in societal regard for the afflictions determined the stark contrast in their treatment. St. Vitus’ Dance, supposedly being an event of divine intervention, was treated as such. At first, the XXI council of Strasbourg prescribed music to the crowds, hoping for a similar “healing dance” as was performed while treating tarantism.42 This was not effective. The XXI finally ended the dancing by taking many of the afflicted to the St. Vitus shrine in Saverne and treating others with “natural medicine” meant to cool their determinably hot blood.43 This can be assumed to be practices like bloodletting, as would have been recommended in Galenism and humoral theory.44 The interruption of those in trance in these cases was the most likely explanation for why this was effective.

Tarantism, considered from a medical standpoint, had different explanations depending on the text consulted. As mentioned before, tarantism was frequently referenced in medieval literature on poisons. Da Marra, referenced above, claimed the dancing caused enough joy to prevent the poison from impacting the body.45 Others believed the excessive sweating from dancing ceaselessly in the summer heat would drive it out of the body.46 In all cases, however, the treatment was usually similar. A family would hire a band to play music for several days to allow the afflicted to dance until they felt the taranta’s venom was expelled.47 The fact that this was effective was likely psychosomatic. The bite itself could have even been falsified, leading to a similar cultural delusion as observed in St. Vitus’ Dance’s religious influence. The delusional nature of either event is what ties them to each other beyond the dancing. They seem quite different on the surface, but upon analysis become remarkably similar.

It can be difficult to compare events like these when their periods are so different. Focusing on the centuries surrounding St. Vitus’ Dance can help put tarantism into a medieval perspective and see how events like the Little Ice Age affected it. Some of the evidence from Ernesto De Martino’s research could be argued as irrelevant as well. It was acquired in and around 1959. Despite this, the mention of his important work surrounding the topic is crucial to understanding tarantism. The more contemporary examples of tarantism, such as Donato of Matino’s case, show the development of the affliction into something reminiscent of religious psychosis. Comparisons with St. Vitus’ Dance may require the mention of this to fully understand how influential the Catholic faith was on both Strasbourg and Apulia. Such mention of faith also leads to determining the ultimate cause of these events. It is highly likely that both St. Vitus’ Dance and tarantism were afflictions of the mind such as psychosis and trance. However, it was genuine cultural beliefs and a bandwagon mentality that kept the delusions, especially tarantism, from dying out.

39 Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 88. and Jean Fogo Russell. “Tarantism.” In Medical History. Cambridge University Press, 1979, 412.

40 Guillelmus da Marra. “Sertum Papale de Venenis.” As Cited In De Martino, Ernesto. The Land of Remorse, 214. London: Free Association Books, 2005.

41 Medical manuscripts on the study of poisons.

42 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 113.

43 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 112.

44 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 113.

45 Guillelmus da Marra. “Sertum Papale de Venenis.” As Cited In De Martino, Ernesto. The Land of Remorse, 214. London: Free Association Books, 2005.

46 John Waller. A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd., 2008, 112.

47 Ernesto De Martino. The Land of Remorse: A Study of Southern Italian Tarantism. Translated by Dorothy Louise Zinn. 1961. Reprint, London: Free Association Books, 2005, 91.

This painting, The Hunters in the Snow, by Pieter Bruegel in 1565 shows a snowy cityscape during the Little Ice Age. Dead shrubs and barren trees are seen showing the harshness of winter during this time.

Pieter Bruegel, The Hunters in the Snow, A snowy medieval cityscape featuring a group of hunters and their dogs, 1565 CE, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Austria.

Student Reflection:

Compiling research for and writing “Can’t Stop the Boogie” really made me feel like an expert. I examined the most prominent sources related to St. Vitus’ Dance and tarantism and ultimately felt very informed while I compared the two topics. I used professionally acclaimed books and primary sources such as artwork and historical writing to drive the comparisons I made. I personally enjoy challenging work, and this paper really pushed what I thought I could do. Through the two classes I took under Dr. Senecal, I created two pieces of scholarly work that I still am very proud of, and her direction with them was always appreciated. I continue to push myself academically, and grateful for such an enjoyable introduction to scholarly writing.

Digitization: Changing Photojournalists’ Lives

by Madison Sharp

HONR 106: Honors Writing-Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Thomas Crochunis

Assignment:

A 4-6+ page researched investigation of “Work Matters”— Technology and Work—Technologies of all types can have significant impacts on the lives of workers. Sometimes these technologies can be ones developed by employers to improve work processes and products; at other times, technologies used in personal life can affect how workers experience their lives at work. Focus on a specific kind of technology or use of technology and on a specific kind of work.

The process of digitization in the context of journalism, adapting media that used to be physical print into an online format, affects many aspects of the working world within media, photojournalists experiencing a lot of that impact. Although there are arguable benefits to this digitization, photojournalists all over the world have to now deal with the impact editing software has on their work, the limiting of jobs, and how core values of journalism, such as credibility and trust, can be harmed in this new-found process, creating concerns for those interested in entering the field.

To understand the present-day impact of modern digitization and its relations to photojournalism, one must first look at how photography has shifted over the years. Currently, “[p]hotography is undergoing a metamorphosis from a century and a half of traditional chemical processes to a new technical age of computer assisted ‘digital’ darkrooms and other computerized capabilities” (Harris). The typical darkroom and film, core aspects of photography’s roots, are starting to fade away. All this makes room for new digital processes to achieve a new-and-improved product but “better,” costing less in terms of finances and time. Although this may appear to be a good thing, like most transformations in any field of work, it doesn’t come without its disadvantages.

One of the big changes in photography has been the switch from traditional film cameras to digital ones. Photojournalists working with these developed cameras have a lot more freedom while shooting, “allow[ing] the photographer to stay on location longer,” for example (Fahmy et al.). However, the addition of these digital cameras comes with its downsides. When it comes to actually taking the photos, “the new technology may decrease the quality of journalistic coverage” (Fahmy et al.). The opportunity to take photos faster and with more success sounds like an

amazing addition to journalism, but this can also lead to photojournalists moving on from locations a lot quicker, potentially missing out on valuable content and limiting the effectiveness of the images in journalism today.

One of the specific components of this new digital technology being implemented into the working lives of photojournalists is the vast amount of editing software now available to the individual to alter aspects of their images. Although some like to focus on imageediting’s benefits, arguing that photo editors “have the clearest image of newspapers’ imaging needs for the present,” it is crucial to look at the downsides of this addition as well (Russial et al.). When the possibility of altering an image’s appearance comes into play, it can “negatively [affect] credibility and public attitudes toward a news photo, photography in general, and the news media” (Štefaniková et al.). It seems to be that people are continuing to show less trust in the media more and more over the years, and when “authenticity has been ascribed to photographs,” altering someone’s view of an image or scene from anything but the truth is one sure way to continue breaking that trust (Åker). Harming credibility is a huge problem for any photojournalist, but when there is a chance of putting the news organization they work for and the entire media itself into danger, it proves to be an even bigger concern. One of the most important aspects of journalism is to maintain trust and transparency with the audience, and this “[c]redibility is not maintained when one aspect of journalism is considered fair game for manipulation” (Harris). It is safe to assume that the continual progressions in technology within the field of journalism will change the ways in which these photojournalists work, but viewing any aspect of journalism as one that can be altered causes great problems in the industry. Although journalism is experiencing a change in its format with the additions of digital technology,

the core and fundamental values of journalism have never changed and continue to remain just as crucial to abide by. Breaking this trust with those who consume the media continues to portray the field as one that is corrupt and not worth supporting or investing attention in.

Another huge concern for photojournalists, one that would be labeled as problematic in any profession, is the reduction of jobs available, and even the decrease in the need for photojournalists as a result of these technological advancements. To start, as mentioned earlier, image-editing software is taking over the field of photojournalism. With this, there is always the opportunity to artificially create a similar scene digitally without the need for someone to actually photograph the scene itself in person. This creates an unfortunate cycle where both experienced and novice photographers are encouraged to “conform to the supreme dictate of urgency, opening a broader door for publishing photos that [are] not necessarily the best ones” (Klein-Avraham et al.). As a result, fewer jobs are becoming available to photojournalists because they are being viewed as less necessary to achieve the same product. On top of that, if newsrooms are now worrying if they have enough money to continue funding all of this, one could infer that decreasing the number of photojournalists they would have to pay would help them cover the expenses (Russial et al.). Another problem related to photojournalists and their success on landing a job is associated with the concept of acceleration. Journalists working in a space that produces online content are expected to be able to produce more material at a faster rate and do multiple things at once. Photographers are now expected to not only be able to produce a successful still image, but they are also demanded to have certain skills in areas such as videography, including both filming the content and editing (Štefaniková et al.). Journalists primarily specializing in writing are now also becoming more required to take the pictures themselves, limiting the need to hire photojournalists specifically at all (Åker, Patrik). If photojournalists are now being required to be wellversed in potentially foreign areas of technological expertise, this could mean a decrease in the number of jobs available for those only interested in those areas,

potentially causing a decrease of people required to work in a newsroom to produce their content. Integral aspects of photojournalists’ relationships with their working lives are also being affected by this wave of digitization. It can be argued that one of the most important aspects of someone’s relationship with their job is satisfaction with their profession. In this digital age of the field, many current photojournalists feel a sense of nostalgia for the working lives they had pre-digital when photojournalism was a career viewed positively by the public, and ultimately “feel unappreciated, undervalued, submissive, and ignored” by consumers of the media (Štefaniková et al.). Journalists everywhere are starting to wonder if they can keep up with these changes, questioning if they have the funds and space to maintain this kind of profession in an ever-changing digital world (Russial et al.). When such a core part of someone’s relationship with their job is at stake, such as their satisfaction with their profession, this could mean there are problems associated with the industry that need to be looked at and considered. If photojournalists continue to feel this way, it is inferable that this could cause future concerns to arise, potentially including a decrease in the number of people attracted to and interested in pursuing the profession, further leading to the decline of the want or need for photojournalists to be a viable career path.

There are many connections one could draw between the broad concept of digitization and how it affects the working lives of photographers and ones who pursue journalistic avenues. Although there are positive aspects of these relations, it can be argued that the negative parts of the switch to digitization for photojournalists outweigh the benefits. Concerns involving image-editing software taking over, issues associated with the harm to credibility and journalistic integrity, and the limiting of jobs available for aspiring photojournalists looking to enter the field are just some of the negative aspects photojournalists have to now consider. In this new era of digital journalism, the need for photojournalists, much like the traditional dark room and film, is starting to fade out and become replaced for the “better,” which could also arguably be for the worst.

Works Cited

Åker, Patrik. “Photography, Objectivity and the Modern Newspaper.” Journalism Studies, vol. 13, no. 3, June 2012, pp. 325–39.  https://doi.org/10.1080/146167 0X.2011.629097.

Fahmy, Shahira, and C. Zoe Smith. “Photographers Note Digital’s Advantages, Disadvantages.” Newspaper Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2003, pp. 82–96.  https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&A uthType=sso&db=eue&AN=507824757&site=eds-live &scope=site&custid=s3915936

Harris, Christopher R. “Digitization and Manipulation of News Photographs.” Journal of Mass Media Ethics, vol. 6, no. 3, Sept. 1991, p. 164-174. https://doi.org/10.1207/ s15327728jmme0603_4.

Klein-Avraham, Inbal, and Zvi Reich. “Out of the Frame: A Longitudinal Perspective on Digitization and Professional Photojournalism.” New Media & Society, vol. 18, no. 3, Mar. 2016, pp. 429–46.  https://doi. org/10.1177/1461444814545289

Russial, John, and Wayne Wanta. “Digital Imaging Skills and the Hiring and Training of Photojournalists.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 3, Sept. 1998, pp. 593–605.  search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?d irect=true&AuthType=sso&db=hus&AN=509731880& site=eds-live&scope=site.

Štefaniková, Sandra, and Filip Láb. “Transformation of Photojournalism Practice in the Czech Republic in the Age of Digital Technology.” Journalism, vol. 19, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 234–51.  https://doi. org/10.1177/1464884916663622

Student Reflection:

When I got the assignment for this paper, I immediately knew what I wanted to write about. Being a photographer myself, looking to pursue a career in journalism, a great concern I have is the longevity of the field, specifically in regard to the technological advancements that have started to take control of most of the area of work. Although I expected to find quite a bit of criticism surrounding digitization, I was surprised at the multitude of complaints I found, along with some positive remarks I hadn’t previously considered. I strongly believe that knowing the history of a field of work is important when looking towards its future, and writing this paper left me feeling more educated and better prepared to take on whatever is next for photojournalism.

Assignment:

Estimation of VO2max Through Graded Exercise Testing on a Treadmill

by Ryleigh Cook

HONR 106: Honors Writing-Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Turi Braun

This lab assignment involved estimating an individual’s maximal aerobic power (VO2max) using a graded exercise test performed on a treadmill. The test was structured into 3 sub-maximal stages in which heart rate (HR), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and workload was recorded at each stage. Using the data calculated from these stages, along with the estimated maximal heart rate, a metabolic calculation was used to estimate VO2max, and the results were analyzed to understand aerobic capacity and the benefits of knowing VO2max.

Introduction

Aerobic power of a particular individual can be assessed in many different ways. This lab was conducted with a purpose of estimating maximal aerobic power, otherwise known as VO2max. VO2max is known as maximal oxygen consumption, and it measures how much oxygen your body can use per minute while performing maximal aerobic work. It is a measure that reflects aerobic endurance and cardiovascular fitness. Testing VO2max involves performing progressively harder exercise until an individual becomes exhausted, while volume and gas concentration of inspired and expired air is being tracked. A higher VO2max allows an individual to produce more energy and perform at a higher workload. Estimating VO2max from submaximal workloads is commonly used to minimize risk to the test participant.

This lab explores a variety of variables. The independent variable, being manipulated by changing the exercise intensity, is the treadmill speed (mph). Treadmill speed increases throughout each stage but must be increased at a constant rate (ex- increased by 1.0 mph each stage). The dependent variables that are measured include: heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), VO2, and caloric expenditure. HR is calculated to show the response to the workload for each stage and is used to estimate VO2max. RPE is a subjective measurement used to determine how difficult an individual perceives the workload to be. VO2 is calculated for each stage of workload to show how the body is able to take in oxygen as workload increases. Lastly, caloric expenditure is calculated to measure how many kcal (kilocalories, aka Calories) per minute the body uses at various workloads. This lab is relevant because it shows how an individual’s body responds to aerobic exercise as it gets more intense, which relates to the understanding of cardiovascular fitness. This type

of testing can be used in a variety of settings (sports, clinics, etc.), and it can help to create effective training programs, identify health issues, improve health issues, and track fitness. It is important to know your own VO2max and maintain it in order to stay healthy.

Methods

Materials: treadmill, heart rate monitor (apple watch)

The exercise test conducted involved recording heart rate, RPE, and work rate (mph) while running on a treadmill at three different stages for a total of nine minutes (three minutes per stage). This test was conducted on a 20-year-old female, 1.65 meters tall, weighing 58 kilograms. At the end of each stage, data values for HR, RPE, and workload were recorded, and workload was increased by a constant increment of 1.0 mph each stage. An Apple Watch was worn around the subject’s wrist, which used LED lights paired with light-sensitive photodiodes to detect pulsatile blood flow in order to derive heart rate. The experiment started with a workload of 5.0 mph for the first three minutes, and at the end of the three minutes (last 15 seconds), data was recorded, and the workload was raised to 6.0 mph for an additional three minutes. At the end of those three minutes, data was recorded again and the workload was raised to 7.0 for the final three minutes, repeating the same process and recording the data at the end of the full nine minutes. After the test was completed, the subject cooled down at a lighter workload. Using the data recorded, the subject’s VO2max and caloric expenditure were then estimated using standard calculations. Using all the data recorded, a graph was made in Excel of Workload vs. Heart Rate to determine estimated maximal aerobic workload. A best fit line was drawn and extended out to the subject’s age-estimated HRmax (220-age=200

Table 1. Exercise stages and measured responses

Table 2. Estimated VO2max reported in different units of expression

bpm), and a line was drawn from the intersection point down to the workload axis to find the estimated maximal aerobic workload. The estimated maximal aerobic workload was then used to derive estimated VO2max using appropriate calculation from the American College of Sports Medicine’s Guidelines handout provided in lab. VO2max was reported in the following units: ml/min, L/min, ml/kg min, and METs (metabolic equivalents—factors of resting oxygen uptake). The same formula was then used to calculate estimated VO2 for all three stages performed. Percent VO2max (intensity) was calculated for all three stages along with caloric expenditure for all three stages. The following formulas were used:

VO2 (ml/kg min)= 3.5 + (0.2 x speed) + (0.9 x speed x grade)

Caloric expenditure (kcal/min) = VO2 (ml/kg min) x mass (kg) x 1kcal/200 ml

% VO2 max= [VO2/VO2max] x 100

Results

This lab was designed to determine an estimation of maximal aerobic power using graded exercise testing. Data was collected for three sub-maximal exercise workloads and used to estimate heart rate max to extrapolate to an estimated max workload. Table 1 shows the data collected from the three stages of workloads on the treadmill, along with calculated values for VO2, caloric expenditure, and % of max VO2. Graph 1 shows the effects of workload on heart rate during the three stages of exercise, and shows the best-fit line extending to age-estimated heart rate max. Using the estimated max workload, the metabolic calculation formula was applied to derive the estimated aerobic power (VO2max). Table 2 shows the estimated VO2max listed in the following units of expression: ml/ min, L/min, ml/kg min, and METs.

Graph 1. Effects of workload on heart rate

Discussion

The findings showed a linear relationship between work rate (mph) and heart rate (bpm). As the sub-maximal exercise workload increased for the graded exercise test, so did heart rate. This was expected because the body needs to circulate more blood into the muscles when workload is being increased in order to get the oxygen and nutrients your muscles need to keep working. VO2, energy expenditure, RPE, and % of max VO2 increased as work rate increased as well. They increase as workload and HR increase because when you increase workload, your muscles require more oxygen to produce energy. Therefore, oxygen uptake is at a higher rate and your body needs a greater energy expenditure to meet these demands. While undergoing the graded exercise test, it was very evident that the difficultly to perform the treadmill run became harder as the stages progressed. RPE values went up each stage. There wasn’t too much of a difference between the first two stages, but by the third stage it started to become challenging.

The estimated VO2max of 50.83 ml/kg min is typical for a young adult female athlete. I play a position in soccer which requires covering a lot of ground on the field and needing to sprint and play for long periods of time, so my estimated VO2max seems pretty reasonable

Student Reflection:

to me. I also have asthma, so I’m not surprised it isn’t higher. This value is a strong indicator of a good level of cardiovascular fitness.

No data acquisition problems occurred during this. Though, heart rate data collection involving wristwatch technology may present a source of error. The significance of this lab was to determine an estimated maximal aerobic power from graded exercise. The results can be of use because VO2max can help athletes track their progress and improve their performance on the field when it comes to aerobic fitness levels. It is also a good way for people to measure their health and track progress in that aspect as well. Knowing your VO2max will allow you to design specific training programs (exercise prescriptions), therefore improving your overall health and fitness. It is important to note that using different exercise equipment, like a mechanical bike, may have resulted in a different estimation of VO2max. I would speculate that if I used the bike, I would’ve had a lower VO2max just because the treadmill has greater muscle involvement and I have lots of experience running on a treadmill compared to using a bike. The VO2max estimation is a function of the total volume of active muscle and how intensely it can be worked, so mode of exercise will affect this value.

This lab was an insightful experience in understanding how aerobic capacity (VO2max) is estimated through graded exercise testing, specifically with a treadmill. I was able to firsthand collect data and observe the relationship between exercise intensity, heart rate, and oxygen consumption. The increase in treadmill speed and its effects on my heart rate and rate of perceived exertion made it evident how the body adapts to increasing workloads. I also thought the metabolic calculations and VO2max estimation process was quite interesting, as it showed how HR responses can be used to predict maximal aerobic performance. Overall, the lab was very informative and highlighted the importance of choosing the right exercise modality for an accurate VO2max estimation. Given my experience and fitness level as a collegiate soccer player, the treadmill provided a more reliable measurement for my VO2max compared to other equipment, such as a bike ergometer. This lab also provided me with the realization that VO2max testing can be a beneficial tool for athletes because it provides insights into cardiovascular health and guiding effective training programs.

Grave of the Fireflies: Historical Accuracy and Public Memory in World War II Era Japan

by Anna Crawford

HIST 350 History of Modern Japan

Dr. Jonathan Skaff

Assignment:

Centering an analysis of Isao Takahata’s animated film, Grave of the Fireflies (1988), this paper considers the historical accuracy of this film as a representation of the experiences of Japanese citizens during World War II. Furthermore, it examines the role and influence of the film in shaping Japanese culture and public memory.

The anime film, Grave of the Fireflies, is an incredibly emotional and beautifully animated depiction of life in Japan in the final months of World War II. The film follows as Seita and his younger sister, Setsuko, attempt to survive after a firebombing attack on the city of Kobe fatally injures their mother and destroys their home. Although they are initially taken in by an aunt who resides in a more rural part of the country, the siblings are eventually forced to navigate homelessness, malnutrition, disease, and the impacts of war entirely on their own. Both children ultimately succumb to starvation, dying not long after the emperor surrenders, and World War II officially comes to an end. Grave of the Fireflies begins and ends in the same place: with the spirits of Seita and Setsuko finding one another and boarding a train that allows them to look back over the events that led to their deaths before delivering them back home. Together, their spirits arrive at a hill overlooking a modern, present-day Kobe.

Overall, Grave of the Fireflies is fairly historically accurate when it comes to depicting the everyday horrors of war from a civilian’s perspective. The siblings experience the loss resulting from the firebombing of urban centers, the food insecurity and rationing of supplies that increased in severity throughout the war, and the extent to which the Japanese people were displaced and their lives upended. However, it is important to consider how and why this information is presented and the way that this movie contributes to the curated image of Japan (both its people and its government) as passive victims during WWII rather than active participants in the exploitation and suffering of millions of people. These messages are especially important to consider given that this movie is shown to Japanese children every August on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender. Therefore, though the general historical

2

information is relatively accurate at face value, and it does reflect the responsibilities placed upon children during the war as they adapted to a new way of life, the subtle victimization made apparent and reinforced through the plot and messaging of this film influences the interpretation of said historical facts. With this in mind, I argue that, while entertaining, the anime film, Grave of the Fireflies, cannot be relied upon as an educational tool without first addressing and considering the way it reflects an effort to redefine how Japan’s history and involvement in WWII is remembered in public memory.

Seita and Setsuko’s story does generally provide an authentic representation of experiences and problems faced by many Japanese citizens, especially children, during the final months of WWII. Most immediately apparent is the way that the siblings’ relocation to their aunt’s house in the country mirrors the mass evacuation of over 1 million school-aged children from urban centers – most of whom, like Seita and Setsuko, were sent to live with extended family in the relative safety of rural areas.1 Although Seita and Setsuko are never shown to keep a wartime diary, the events they experience throughout the course of the film and their responses to these situations echo the real diaries kept by Japanese children as documented in Samuel Hideo Yamashita’s book, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945

To begin, the film clearly illustrates how governmental regulations and restrictions on various resources affected people throughout the war. For example, Seita is shown burying a container with food supplies in the backyard, which he later digs up, and then collecting daily rations for himself and Setsuko after the firebombing event that destroys Kobe.2 Despite being from an economically successful family as the children

1 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 90.

Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

of an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, this scene illustrates the way that Japanese citizens, especially in urban centers, faced food and resource insecurity long before the bombing of the Japanese mainland even began. Beginning in 1940 as a response to the needs of a wartime economy and an active military, the Japanese government began implementing restrictions on food distribution and by February 1941, rice became rationed based on age and gender.3 As these restrictions on rice and other staples increased and the production and distribution of agricultural goods for public consumption diminished, citizens living in urban centers found it increasingly difficult to find food. By the summer of 1944, as noted in the wartime diary of Kiyosawa Kiyoshi, food shortage issues had become so severe in cities that many of his once-healthy neighbors had developed fatigue, disease, and numerous other health issues as a result of the “inadequacy of nutrition.”4 By the time that the Allied bombings of cities like Kobe began in late 1944, many of the urban populations had experienced years of food shortages and were facing mass starvation.

These issues of malnutrition and the struggle to access resources are emphasized time and time again in Grave of the Fireflies and, as in the wartime diaries of evacuated children, general hunger shapes much of the plot of this film. For instance, Seita and Setsuko’s aunt pressures them to sell their mother’s silk kimonos directly to local farmers in exchange for produce when the rations and the legally available food begins to stretch thinly amongst the residents of her home.5 This kind of black-market exchange became increasingly more prevalent throughout the course of the war as Japan’s economy transitioned from one based in consumerism to one focused on building and supporting a massive war effort.6 Valuable luxury goods such as the silk kimonos the children trade or even necessary essentials like cleaning supplies became coveted trade items in this black market system given that wartime prices and wage inflation negatively influenced farmers’ willingness to accept cash payment.7

However, despite this black-market trade, many Japanese citizens in this period struggled to find food and were required to rely on theft or alternative food sources to fill the gap left from insufficient rations. Teachers tasked with caring for their evacuated students often had to find alternative ways to supply

the children with the nutrients they needed. As one nine-year-old girl, Nakane Mihoko, noted in her diary in the spring of 1945, many teachers planned foraging expeditions where students were tasked with collecting wild vegetables such as “mugwort, field horsetail shoots, yamaudo, bog rhubarb, bracken ferns, flowering ferns, chives, and rocamble.”8 In his book, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, author Samuel Hideo Yamashita additionally notes how children resorted to hunting and cooking frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, freshwater shrimp, birds and other untraditional sources of protein to supplement for their lack of food. As a last resort, many desperate and starving children turned to theft, stealing from evacuation site kitchens and storerooms, farmers, and even other children.9 All of these responses to extreme hunger are reflected in Grave of the Fireflies. After moving into the abandoned air raid shelter to escape their aunt’s mistreatment, Seita and Setsuko’s malnutrition worsens, and the siblings have to rely on eating frogs and stealing produce from local farmers. When Setsuko initially turns up her nose at these alternative food sources, Seita tells her that it “doesn’t matter if you like it or not. You need to eat to be healthy.”10

Despite this struggle with hunger and the increasing difficulty finding food, Seita remains a constant model of loyalty, hope, and strength for his sister. This reflects the concept of being “splendid little citizens,” which was reinforced by the Japanese imperial government through the ethics textbooks distributed to schoolchildren. Beginning in the Meiji era to promote “the essentials of the morality necessary for a sound Japanese citizenry,” the Ministry of Education worked throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s to release new editions of ethics textbooks meant to instill in children a sense of duty and loyalty to both family and nation.11 These textbooks also promoted Confucian values like filial piety that emphasized the importance of respect, loyalty, and devotion to one’s parents and ancestors, as well as to the emperor and the country as an extension of the emperor’s authority. Furthermore, the relationship between siblings was valued and encouraged wherein the older had a duty to model this kind of morality for the younger. In the later editions published during WWII, the application of direct personal pronouns in textual examples encouraged children to consider their own lives and actions, “mak-

3 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 37.

4 Ibid., 44.

5 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

6 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 222-223.

7 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 41.

8 Ibid., 83.

9 Ibid., 120-121.

10 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

11 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 64.

ing the leap from self to family, then to school, and finally to the nation.”12 Although there is no mention of these textbooks or even school itself in the film, these messages of morality and duty are still present. Seita’s devotion and dedication to his younger sister’s well-being reflects this notion of filial responsibility. Even while starving, Seita puts his loyalty to both his family and to his country before his own well-being. He risks his life venturing into town during air raids to steal food for his sister, rations his own meager supplies to provide Setsuko with a slightly larger amount, and attempts to model for his sister an unwavering belief in the success of Japan despite their suffering.

This sentiment is made clear during the scene where Seita and Setsuko watch a kamikaze fighter’s plane streak through the air “like a firefly.”13 Japan’s “special attack” pilots were presented as the ultimate models of Japanese loyalty and, through their deaths, the government looked to martyr them to “elicit deep feelings of gratitude” so that civilians might be inspired to adopt “a willingness to make the same sacrifice.”14

Children like Nakane Mihoko noted the sense of debt which she felt to these pilots, which inspired her to continue to not give up in the face of adversity and to feel proud of the sacrifices she made, such as proper and adequate nutrition.15 In the film, Seita’s imagining of himself as a fighter taking down enemy planes while singing a patriotic song about defending “our great homeland” to soothe Setsuko illustrates this same sense of indebtedness.16 This kind of romanticization and encouragement of self-sacrifice in the name of loyalty and devotion to family and country is explicit and praised in the film Grave of the Fireflies, which reinforces much of the same values for modern viewers and Japanese children as the original ethics textbooks themselves did in the 1940s.

This kind of sentiment then also influences how the film interprets the historical causes for the suffering of Japanese citizens, especially children. In addition to the general threat and impact of foreign forces on daily life, the film appears to suggest that children were made to suffer through the callousness and cruelty of adults unwilling to help. For example, the opening scene of the film depicts Seita dying of starvation in a train station along with many other young, malnourished people as a crowd of adults walk past this misery

without a second glance.17 Furthermore, there is no adult support system for Seita and Setsuko as orphaned children attempting to survive. In fact, the adults who could have helped – such as the aunt and her family, the doctor who diagnoses Setsuko with malnutrition, and the various farmers in the rural town – are often depicted as dismissive and cruel, refusing to provide the children with care or acknowledge their humanity.18 Although situations of indifference such as these may very well have occurred for some children in need, this film presents a somewhat narrow and incomplete depiction of interactions between adults and children during WWII. While it is true that many Japanese citizens, regardless of age, class, and gender suffered from issues such as displacement and food insecurity, there were often neighborhood support systems. These support systems, or neighborhood associations, were formed by teachers, local business owners and farmers, and neighboring families (both related and unrelated), and sometimes defied the government to provide aid to displaced children. For example, for the evacuated children who had been placed into the homes of local families, “dorm mothers” would often find ways to secretly prepare and serve the alternative food sources like wild vegetables and insects that the children had gathered, despite the fact that it was technically illegal to do so.19 Additionally, many local farmers hired students to help with the planting and harvesting of produce, caring for animals, or completely other chores to help with general upkeep. The farmers would pay the children in vegetables, fruits, or rice in exchange for this labor.20 Therefore, even if it is based on autobiographical experiences that may very well have included negligent adults, this film fails to highlight the instances where adults did come together to help ensure the survival of displaced children.

Additionally, there is no real mention of the role the Japanese government played in causing the suffering experienced by children like Seita and Setsuko and its direct involvement in the exploitation and oppression of people across eastern Asia. Although there are mentions of rationing and discussions of how the government’s war effort has caused production and distribution issues, these issues are brought up by the adult characters like the aunt.21 Since she is characterized as a cruel and greedy woman and directly

12 Ibid., 7.

13 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

14 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 75.

15 Ibid., 81.

16 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

17 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

18 Ibid.

19 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 116.

20 Ibid., 119.

21 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

refuses to care for the siblings, the valid critique of the government’s role in enforcing this food scarcity becomes a secondary, lesser concern. Through this and the repeated emphasis on devotion to the emperor and military leaders, this film expresses an underlying message of praise for the Japanese government.

Now this kind of anti-Western, pro-government indoctrination was very apparent and prominent during wartime Japan by way of the ethics textbooks as mentioned earlier and the implementation of required wartime diaries, which were meant to encourage both students and Japanese pilots to engage in self-reflection and to consider their roles in the war effort.22 Moments in the film, such as when Seita questions how the “great Japanese empire” could surrender, reflect these stances.23 In this way, the film is somewhat accurate in its depiction of how many Japanese civilians viewed their nation and the strength of the emperor at this time. However, despite the government censorship of these diaries as well as media like radio and newspapers,24 there were many ways that individuals and organized collectives found ways to resist and protest the government, such as refusing to work in the war factories and questioning the war policies of the government.25 By the final months of the war, there was a notable increase in this kind of “passive resistance” to the Japanese imperial government and to the war itself.26 Although Seita is shown participating in black market trade and stealing food for survival, these other direct and apparent forms of protest are not addressed in the film at all.

With this in mind, I argue that Grave of the Fireflies depicts Japan’s attempt to victimize itself without addressing its role in causing the suffering of both colonized people as well as its own citizens. Japan’s involvement in WWII was incredibly complicated and controversial and, as apparent through its rebranding of its invasion of China as the “China Incident,”27 the legacy of how this war is remembered is equally so. On one hand, the Japanese people suffered greatly from both foreign and domestic actions and the dropping of the atomic bombs were terribly devastating. However, Japan’s history of violence, oppression, and imperialism in China, Korea, and many other nations across eastern Asia is not as apparent in public memory. In the book, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, Anderw Gordon examines how emperor Hirohito’s surrender announcement, in which he referenced the unprecedented violence of the atomic bomb,

left survivors with “a powerful sense of themselves as victims – and not perpetrators – of war.”28

Grave of the Fireflies establishes clear anti-war sentiment based on the devastating effects of conflict and violence against civilians and, most importantly, children. However, this film fails to depict the violence that Japan inflicted upon the men, women, and children of the countries it invaded. Although it does reflect with accuracy many of the experiences of Japanese people on the home front, including displacement, malnutrition, and loyalty to both family and country, this film does not work to confront the history of Japan as an oppressive, violent force. This kind of biased, incomplete interpretation is important to consider given that this film is still used today to educate Japanese children on World War II. It is an incredibly powerful film that highlights the very real plight of children and challenges viewers to consider the lasting impacts of conflict and violence that can be applied broadly. However, the film’s interpretation of historical events cannot be taken at face value, and we must instead consider how it serves to continue to reinforce Hirohito and his advisor’s attempt to create an image of victimization.

Bibliography

Gordon, Andrew. A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Isao, Takahata, dir. Grave of the Fireflies. 1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005. DVD.

Skaff, Jonathan. Class lecture. 2024.

Yamashita, Samuel Hideo. Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2015.

22 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 132.

23 Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988, Studio Ghibli: Warner Home Video, 2005), DVD.

24 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 223-224.

25 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 164-166.

26 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 227.

27 Jonathan Skaff. Class lecture. 2024.

28 Samuel Hideo Yamashita, Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1940-1945, (KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015), 234.

Student Reflection:

In this paper, I attempted to blend both historical and literary analysis to consider why Grave of the Fireflies is such an influential film. In addition to considering the accuracy of the historical events covered in this film, I also aimed to examine the role that this film has had in shaping public memory. Given that Grave of the Firefliess is shown across Japan annually on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, I believe that this role is especially important to consider.

Assignment:

Healing with Literature

by Jillian Carley

ENGL 250: Literature and Society

Dr. Thomas Crochunis

This project will be an in-depth exploration—either scholarly or creative--of a topic related to memory. The nature of this final project is that you should be free to choose and develop a topic of interest to you related to our course themes. If you decide to present your final project for the course in the form of an academic paper, you should include citations to any sources whose ideas you draw upon in your paper.

Loss is an inevitable part of life, yet for children in elementary school, grappling with the loss of a loved one is often a bewildering and harrowing experience. Whether it is a pet, a parent, a friend, or a loved one, this loss can become highly traumatic to someone in elementary school. If a child cannot receive guidance or support during this grief, they may turn to teachers for help understanding and coping with this challenging experience. Trauma can negatively impact and even hurt children, affecting them cognitively, behaviorally, and physiologically. So, teachers must be informed on how to support their students if this were to be something they are dealing with. One resource for teachers to help guide children through loss is using children’s books: bibliotherapy. This paper explores how bibliotherapy assists children who have experienced the loss and grief of a loved one in healing and developing practical coping skills for managing life changes, emotional issues, and behavioral challenges. By relating to characters who have gone through similar experiences, children can better understand their emotions and start to navigate their path toward recovery. In a classroom setting, teachers can use bibliotherapy as a resource to encourage open conversations about loss and help children process their emotions in a supportive environment.

Unfortunately, the loss of a loved one happens every day. Still, for an individual experiencing this kind of heartbreak, it can bring feelings of loneliness, sadness, and even anger. For instance, “Trauma is both the weightiest and flightiest of words – heavy with the certainty of hurt, loss, pain, despair, violence, yet afloat on the breeze of ambiguity of meaning and implications” (Dutro 327). Children tend to demonstrate a formative understanding of death by age three. By age six, children start to develop a sense of death concepts. By age 10, children typically almost fully understand death (Joy et al. 328). Throughout ages three to ten, children may start to ask questions about death and why it happens. Now, imagine the feelings a bereaved

child may feel. Bereaved children may begin to ask more detailed questions about death and why the person has left. Young children may not realize that death is irreversible, so children may ask questions about why they left them and when they are coming back. It is also common for children to experience anxious or depressed thoughts about death. They may believe that it is their fault that the person died and may even ask questions about feelings they are having. For example, a child may ask, “Why do I feel sometimes happy and sad at the same time?” or “My body feels constant pains. Chest pains, etc.? What is this?” A child who may be having a difficult time coping with grief may even ask questions such as, “How do I hurt myself without people knowing instead of overheating and burning myself?” (Joy et al. 331-332). With this being said, the grief of losing a loved one can bring much trauma, especially for a child who has never experienced this kind of feeling before. Sometimes, this feeling can last longer than a week. This means that students could be bringing these feelings into the classroom. So, teachers need to be better informed about how trauma affects students because we cannot be the teachers who see their students struggling and only use the trepidations: “That is an issue for the counselor.” “It would be inappropriate for me to respond.” or “I might do more harm than good” (Dutro 331).

In a survey of 62 mental health clinicians who worked with children, 77.6% of the children had experienced several types of traumas or chronic traumas, with the average age of onset being five years old (Carlson 3). At five years old, most children have or are starting school. This means that there are children who are five years old who are battling with the emotions of trauma. Experiencing the death of a close family member is considered acute trauma (De Vries et al. 50). When children are grieving over this acute trauma, depending on the situation, they may start to have feelings of anger, sadness, fear, anxiety, shock, denial, anger, and even depression. These feelings are often

difficult to understand, and children may be unable to cope with these emotions by themselves. However, they may not have the resources to help them at home so families may reach out to their children’s schools (Jensen 6). The stories of these children will come to the classroom, whether the teacher knows the situation, the child expresses their emotions to the teacher, or the teacher observes unusual behavior from the student. Schools must be sensitive when finding resources to help a child in this situation and act as a team. There is more that teachers can do to help instead of relying on the school counselor to do all the work (Dutro 332). One way that teachers can help their students in this situation is through bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy comes from the Greek words biblion, which means book, and therapeia, which means healing (De Vries et al. 49). This is where bibliotherapy, a therapeutic use of literature, becomes a powerful resource for early childhood educators. Bibliotherapy uses written materials to gain understanding and engagement in problem-solving relevant to a person’s therapeutic needs. (Goddard 57-58). Bibliotherapy can have different goals for every individual and their needs. However, some common goals tend to be the idea of promoting the process of introspection and self-assessment. Others aim to understand the specific motivation of human behavior better and mitigate egocentrism by drawing attention to the reactions of others (Martinec 89). The use of bibliotherapy began in the United States in the early 1800s. Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of psychiatry in America, was the first physician to promote reading in behavioral health settings. He believed that patients should read books because it provided a diversion from their issues. (McCullis 24). The stages of bibliotherapy involve the assessment of the client’s needs and problems, appropriate selection of the literary text, incubation with the books, insight, interpretation of texts, discussion of the problem, and problem-solving (Martinec 89). Bibliotherapy is effective in mental health because it demonstrates appropriate ways to respond to events and relate to others (Franks 3).

To fully understand how to implement bibliotherapy in the classroom for grieving students, we need to know more about bibliotherapy in full. There are two types of bibliotherapy: Cognitive and developmental. Cognitive bibliotherapy focuses on creating cognitivebehavioral change using literature that directly discusses fears, anxieties, and behavioral difficulties. Developmental bibliotherapy uses literature such as self-help books that emphasize personal well-being (De Vries et al. 52). Developmental bibliotherapy is primarily implemented within educational settings to help children who have experienced acute trauma, like losing a loved one. Developmental bibliotherapy uses

literature to provide emotional support and coping strategies for different problems (Martinec 91-93). Developmental bibliotherapy aims at a vulnerable population of children and adolescents, so it is essential to pay special attention to the specific methodology for its implementation. Building solid relationships with the student and fostering trust and confidence are crucial to implementing developmental bibliotherapy. This involves identifying challenges the student may face, collaborating with the student’s guardians, and engaging with other school personnel for support. Then, after selecting and introducing the books, teachers can engage with the students through post-reading discussions and creative projects or activities to help deepen their understanding of the message (Martinec 91-93).

Although developmental bibliotherapy often seems tailored for individual interactions, it can also be implemented in larger group settings, where collective emotional support in the classroom is just as powerful. In these settings, teachers must build strong relationships with their students to build an environment where their children feel comfortable discussing their feelings and challenges. One way that teachers can do this is by opening up about their own experiences. Doing this will help them develop trust and connection with their students. As mentioned earlier, the loss of a loved one is inescapable and happens to everyone, whether it is a family member, friend, or pet. Teachers can open up about their own experiences, knowing that a student may be feeling similar, and make it a social-emotional lesson for all students. Teachers can start this lesson by reading a story about losing a loved one. For the book to be helpful for the student grieving, the book should include coping strategies and different ways to think about the loss. The teacher can then talk about a time loss that has happened to them and invite all students to talk about their stories. This will not only help all students know how to cope with the loss of a loved one but can also help the student who may already be dealing with this feel understood, not alone, and be able to start their journey of recovery (Dutro 333).

To further understand how bibliotherapy is used in educational settings, a survey of pre-service and non-pre-service teachers provides valuable insights into how bibliotherapy is perceived and its potential and effectiveness. Due to its primary use in therapeutic and medical settings, the survey addresses the need for more empirical data on the effectiveness of using bibliotherapy as an educational tool. In the journal Perceptions of Bibliotherapy: A Survey of Undergraduate Students, a survey was conducted in two education classes combined at a 4-year university. The survey uses a four-point rating scale (1=very unacceptable

to 4=very acceptable) to determine how pre-service teachers perceive bibliotherapy and their comfort level utilizing it in the classroom. Survey respondents were provided with a definition of children’s literature and bibliotherapy to offer context. They were asked to answer open-ended questions about their thoughts on bibliotherapy and what concerns or issues it includes in the classroom. Out of 311 students, 248 completed the survey, and the results concluded that most preservice and non-pre-service teachers understand how bibliotherapy can be implemented in the school and agree that it can be helpful to students if implemented correctly. In the survey, pre-service and non-pre-service teachers were asked if bibliotherapy is acceptable for helping students cope with losing a loved one. Both found it an effective method for helping students develop coping skills (Camp 46-64).

The survey revealed that bibliotherapy is a practical approach to helping young students cope with losing a loved one. However, implementing bibliotherapy in the classroom raises concerns about potentially causing unintended harm to the students. For instance, pre-service and non-pre-service teachers expressed worry that choosing the wrong books might upset the students more psychologically (Camp 54-55). Schools must be careful and sensitive to children’s traumatic experiences when using bibliotherapy. This further shows the importance of selecting a book that explains the grief of losing a loved one in a way that is not too blunt but should be able to help a student think about what is going on at home and how to cope with it. One chosen book that aligns well with the sensitive aspect of bibliotherapy is The Remember Balloons by J. Oliveros (2018), illustrated by D. Wulfekotte. This story focuses on young James and his grandfather. His grandfather begins to lose his memories, represented by colorful balloons. Some balloons drift away, including one of James’s favorite memories. James starts to feel grief but is comforted by his parents, who remind him that he can share the memories with his grandfather and others around him. This story helps students in kindergarten through fifth grade deal with the concept of memory loss and grief in a way that does not talk about death, highlighting the strong implementation of bibliotherapy (DÁvila 93). It is also essential for the teacher to find appropriate times to read these books. Teachers should have social-emotional lessons in the classroom, but it should not be an everyday occasion. For instance, a teacher should not use a new book daily to discuss losing a loved one. It should be used when necessary to benefit an individual or group of students (Dirks 23). The thoughtful use and timing of bibliotherapy will be a powerful tool for teachers and students when dealing with losing a loved one.

When implementing bibliotherapy in the classroom, merely reading a book about grief and loss should not be the sole approach. A teacher must first select a book appropriate for the student’s age and situation. For example, suppose a second-grade teacher knows a student is coping with the loss of a family member. In that case, the teacher might consider reading The Remember Balloons to the class to help students learn coping strategies without directly discussing death. However, after selecting the book, the teacher should not just read it; they should also prepare the students. In this case, with The Remember Balloons, the second-grade teacher could introduce it as part of a social-emotional lesson by discussing feelings and explaining that sometimes we cannot control what happens to those around us, possibly inviting students to share their thoughts. Following this discussion, the teacher should read the book and use guiding questions throughout the story. Teachers need a structured process to introduce and read the book to implement bibliotherapy effectively. After reading, post-discussions and activities should be a part of this structured process. When elementary students listen to a story, they allow their minds to enter an imaginative world where their understanding of things becomes flexible. This is when students are more receptive to trying new methods of examining different concepts (Danilewitz 35-36). This is where bibliotherapy becomes a valuable resource for teachers to help students cope with losing a loved one. Although reading is beneficial, without post-discussion or reading activities, students will not receive the full benefits of bibliotherapy. For example, after reading The Remember Balloons, the second-grade students could journal their thoughts about what they learned from the story. The teacher might also ask students to share experiences similar to those of the main character, James. Additionally, students could create art projects by making posters or drawing a picture of their favorite scene from the story. After the postactivities and discussions, the teacher must evaluate the children’s understanding of the topic. One way to do this is by asking the students to speak or write about James’s life five years later. This exercise may help students relate the story to their own lives and where they might see themselves five years after dealing with loss. It is important to let children’s imagination peak when implementing bibliotherapy. This will help teachers gauge the child’s understanding of loss and may even assist the child in recovering from the emotions of loss (Prater et al. 7-9).

When elementary students grapple with grief and loss, their emotions can enter the classroom and affect their learning in multiple ways. One resource a teacher can use to help these students is bibliotherapy, which

involves children’s books. Since loss is an inevitable part of life, bibliotherapy is a tool to develop emotional skills to understand complicated feelings early, which could help a student later in life. Bibliotherapy not only supports individual students but fosters an opportunity for a social-emotional lesson for the entire class, helping young readers develop practical coping skills for managing life changes, emotional issues, and behavioral challenges. Through storytelling, bibliotherapy serves as a powerful tool to express the complex emotions of grief that are hard to talk about by bringing clarity, comfort, and connection to the classroom.

Work Cited

Camp, Randie D. Perceptions of Bibliotherapy: A Survey of Undergraduate Students. 2015. Iowa State University, Master of Science thesis, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Carlson, Shamala A. A Children’s Book as a Therapeutic Tool to Reduce Perceived Shame in Complex Trauma. Alliant International University, 2024. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 30992000.

Danilewitz, Debra Anne. Incorporating Children’s Picturebooks on Mindfulness in Bibliotherapy, York University, 2021, Doctoral dissertation.

Davila, Deni Se, et al. “Picturebooks and the Cycle of Grief.” Journal of Children’s Literature, vol. 45, no. 2, 2019, pp. 88–96. ProQuest Central

De Vries, Dawn, et al. “Healing with books: A literature review of bibliotherapy used with children and youth who have experienced trauma.” Therapeutic Recreation Journal, vol. 51, no. 1, 2017, pp. 48–74, https://doi. org/10.18666/trj-2017-v51-i1-7652.

Dirks, Kate-Lynn. “Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom.” Bibliotherapy for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom, Eastern Michigan University, 2010.

Dutro, Elizabeth. “Research & policy: Let us start with heartbreak: The perilous potential of trauma in literacy.” Language Arts, vol. 94, no. 5, 1 May 2017, pp. 326–337, https://doi.org/10.58680/la201729057.

Franks, Lauren N. The Benefits of Bibliotherapy and Comprehensive Informed Treatment in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse. 2015. Azusa Pacific University, Doctor of Psychology dissertation, ProQuest, UMI No. 3703532.

Jensen, Laura L. The Effects of Bibliotherapy on Students Experiencing Grief, Loss, and Trauma. 2020. Winona State University, Counselor Education Capstones. https://openriver.winona.edu/ counseloreducationcapstones/133

Joy, Caitlin, et al. “What bereaved children want to know about death and grief.” Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33(1), 327–337,. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10826-023-02694-x

Martinec, Renata, et al. “Various aspects of using bibliotherapy in education and Rehabilitation.”

Hrvatska Revija Za Rehabilitacijska Istraživanja, vol. 58, no. 1, 27 June 2022, pp. 87–103, https://doi. org/10.31299/hrri.58.1.5.

McCulliss, Debbie. “Bibliotherapy: Historical and research perspectives.” Journal of Poetry Therapy, vol. 25, no. 1, Mar. 2012, pp. 23–38, https://doi.org/10.1080/088936 75.2012.654944.

Prater, Mary Anne, et al. “Using children’s books as bibliotherapy for at-risk students: A teacher guide.” Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, vol. 50, no. 4, July 2006, pp. 5–10, https://doi.org/10.3200/psfl.50.4.5-10.

Tielsch Goddard, Anna. “Children’s books for use in bibliotherapy.” Journal of Pediatric Health Care, vol. 25, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 57–61, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.08.006.

Student Reflection:

When I discovered that I could do a final paper instead of an exam, I immediately wanted to focus on a topic related to my major, Early Childhood Education. Keeping the assignment description in mind, it took me some time to develop a topic, but after extensive research, I learned about bibliotherapy. I had never heard of bibliotherapy before, but as I read about it, I realized how valuable it could be as a tool in the classroom. This assignment not only allowed me to broaden my knowledge of class themes such as literature, memory, and loss but also expanded my understanding of how to support children in the classroom who may be struggling with grief and loss. It was rewarding to see how literature could be utilized to help children process difficult emotions, and I feel confident in using bibliotherapy as a resource in my future classroom.

I have had a lifetime of suffering. From what I know, you have not: Animal by Lisa Taddeo

by Reagan Gardenhour

ENGL 345: Women’s Literature

Dr. Erica Galioto

Assignment:

The assignment that I completed for Dr. Galioto was a final unit paper about Lisa Taddeo’s novel Animal in relation to several articles of our choosing. Some of the articles were about female depravity, bad feminism, complicated women, and others. For my unit paper, I chose to relate Animal to Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist essays.

Female depravity is a representation that is rarely depicted in modern novels. However, Lisa Taddeo includes several portrayals of female depravity in her novel Animal, which is about a woman, Joan, who has experienced a lifetime of suffering. Throughout the course of Joan’s life, she rarely felt joy, and her decisions in life were ultimately premeditated due to the need for survival. Female depravity comes from the fear of failing as a woman by illegitimate notions of the gender’s social construct. When pain is silenced, women are called angry. If they do not fit a specific stereotype of women, they are silenced even further. This pain is masked by rage, which happened to Joan within the novel. Taddeo’s description of this silence that turns to rage in women, as depraved individuals, is important within the novel to serve the representation of women who encounter several adversities. In addition to Taddeo’s novel, Roxane Gay’s essays in “Bad Feminist” explain the impressions of feminist culture in relation to the hypocrisy of those ideas. When Joan was discussing a deeper experience with her depravity, she wrote a letter that said “I have had a lifetime of suffering. From what I know, you have not” (77). She is speaking to a woman named Alice who Joan believes took her family away. Though feminism would tell Joan to not demean another woman’s suffrage, Joan chooses to say this anyway in an attempt to dispel her own. She is showing the truth of female depravity in its fullest capacity. Taddeo and Gay’s texts offer a space for Joan’s experiences to be understood further, as her life was never set up for morality; rather, it was set up for the journey of depravity from the beginning.

In the beginning of the novel, Joan describes her relationship with a man named Vic. Vic is an older, married man, which Joan makes very evident to the readers. As a depraved woman, Joan understands that her decisions are not always made with the intent of others. However, she grew up without her family due

to an “accident” that is grazed over in the first part of the novel. As a woman with scarce stability on a familial, emotional and physical level, she looked for validation in men who could provide her with that structure that she’d always lacked. In “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay, the author described a theory from Sheryl Sandberg that said, “If you want to succeed, be an asshole” (Gay, 311). Due to Joan’s consistent lack of lively organization, she set herself up to take risks, have confidence and gain from any situation that was presented to her. Nevertheless, Vic was emotionally abusive, as he would make her feel as though she was imprisoned in his life. Joan began to realize that her relationship with Vic was impractical, so she started to see somebody else. She was at a restaurant with the new man, Big Sky, and Vic appeared. Vic pulled out a gun and shot himself at the sight of Joan with another man. After Vic died, Joan blamed herself because she’d ruined his family and her own consciousness. After Vic’s family found out about Joan, Vic’s ex-wife and daughter made threats about killing Joan. While explaining the lives of Vic’s family whom she ruined, Joan said, “I severed her life with a snip-snip of my inconsiderate fingers…Little girls don’t kill people… But almost no one understands a little girl. We begin hard as marbles” (Taddeo, 102). Joan saw herself in Vic’s daughter, Eleanor. She had experienced a very similar situation, and she had, too, felt the female rage that stemmed from silenced pain throughout the entirety of her life; therefore, she was never angry at Eleanor for feeling the widespread emotions that she did. Being a bad feminist is, often, misunderstood. Depraved women do not search to be bad feminists; rather, their inability to be seen or heard leads them to decisions that they, also, think will be silenced.

Similarly to Joan’s relationship with Vic, Joan had experienced a lifetime of sexual assault and rape from a very young age. Most of the time, there are two ways

that a depraved woman chooses to deal with their depravity—devalue themselves and succumb to others’ wants to get ahead, or they will resist temptation and live their life alone. Neither of the choices are seen as correct to the eyes of the social construct, which Gay explains. From another idea of Sandberg’s, Gay says, “Perhaps we can consider Lean In for what it is—just one more reminder that the rules are always different for girls, no matter who they are and no matter what they do” (Gay, 313). By this, Gay proves that regardless of how Joan reacted to the pain that she’d experienced, her decisions would never be validated; therefore, she submitted herself to male desire in hopes to fill a lack that had been silenced. Joan’s course of existence led to premeditated situations from the beginning; she was taken advantage of by almost every man she’d ever been with, as sensuality was Joan’s only confirmation. After a conversation with a woman named Alice, Joan said, “She taught me that men will use you unless you use them first, that sometimes men must be punished because women are in important pain from the moment they are born until the moment they die” (Taddeo, 137). Bad feminists learn to take lessons out of the bad that they experience, as those bad experiences will never be understood by the social construct. Feminist culture is seen as the act of removing oneself from a male-dominated society; however, Joan’s retaliation for her silenced circumstances is to corrupt those maledominated societies by, also, interrupting their lives and gaining power back. Though, to some, this may seem problematic, Joan believes this is the only way to remind her Self of her ability to prosper.

The woman, Alice, that Joan familiarized herself with throughout the novel is a very important connection that Joan has to her past. Alice is Joan’s half-sister, as her father had an affair with Alice’s mother during Joan’s childhood. Joan’s mother—who was incredibly detached from Joan’s life—found out about the affair, and she killed Joan’s father by stabbing him. After murdering him, she went to the bathroom and committed suicide, to which Joan found her. Joan had always been confused by this murder, as she did not see what her father had done wrong to her mother. Joan’s grandmother—her father’s mother—was raped by a man, and he went to take care of her. Joan’s father was a light in Joan’s life, so she did not understand what her mother’s pain and rage was for. Joan said, “My father did not become the bad guy for me. Not yet. That day I hated my mother for killing my father…Because she wasn’t strong enough. Or because she was too strong. Because she was so complex where my father wasn’t. I hated my mother, in short, for being a woman” (Taddeo, 290). To be face-to-face with a woman that experienced a similar pain and rage before she did created a fire in her heart that she was unaware of at

the time, but she hated that her mother had to yield her life to male dominance. She was never angry at her mother; she was pained by the result of the silencing by men. Joan’s bad feminism was born alongside her. This left Joan with no family besides her Aunt Gosia—who also died later in life after an accident. Alice was Joan’s last attachment to the familial aspect of her life, and she felt that she needed to be close to her in order to heal the parts of her that were taken away. Joan said, “When I looked at Alice, I didn’t want her. What I wanted was to eat her, swallow her, and become her. I wanted to reach down between my legs and feel her cunt there…I felt embarrassed, like she could see inside me—my roiling thoughts, my loneliness, my suffering, and most humiliatingly, my petty jealousy” (Taddeo, 87). In terms of bad feminism, women are supposed to support other women. However, this situation is different, and it is very dark because of the fact that Joan believed Alice was the reason her family was taken from her. This is very similar to Joan’s situation with Eleanor and Vic; it was a reflection of pain into rage into acting on “bad feminism.” When she met Alice, she explained all of the bad things she’d ever done to see if Alice experienced similar reactions to the situations between their families. Alice was unaware that she and Joan were sisters, but Joan knew. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t lose Alice, so she explained her depravity. Though they fell out several times within the novel, their relationship grew overtime when Joan became pregnant, gave birth to a daughter at the end of the novel and found out about their sisterhood. Gay describes the reasoning behind Joan’s hesitance to meet Alice within “Bad Feminist.” She said, “I’m not even sure what the sisterhood is, but the idea of a sisterhood menaces me, quietly, reminding me of how bad a feminist I am. Good feminists don’t fear the sisterhood because they know they are comporting themselves in sisterhood-approved ways” (Gay, 316). Joan wanted validation; she did not want to fake this part of her life. Joan wanted to make sure that Alice knew everything about what it was like to be silenced as a way to teach, comfort and exploit herself. Gay also said, “Like most people, I’m full of contradictions, but I also don’t want to be treated like shit for being a woman” (Gay, 318). Due to Joan’s pain from grief and male ignorance, she became reliant on it. She had always been afraid of female relationships because of the fear of sisterhood—bad feminist, and Joan was a forced push in the correct direction to healing from the negative past she’d endured.

To further analyze the behavior of depraved women, their struggles have always been suppressed because of the world of phallocentric economy. Joan’s experiences are a depiction of what happens to women when they are consistently dehumanized by

men; they become violent and aggressive. The gender binary describes women as frail, peaceful and quiet. Joan’s false serenity became evident in the novel when she met a man in her neighborhood named Lenny. Lenny had Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and he described his relationship with his late wife to Joan. Joan was displeased by Lenny’s actions against his wife, and she became angry. Lenny would, often, think that Joan was his wife, Lenore, because of his Alzheimer’s. Joan decided to use Lenny to fuel her rage that could not be ignored any longer, and she murdered him for what he’d put Lenore through. She said, “Smiling, I closed my eyes and transferred the force of my whole body and history into my hands. Killing a man felt more glorious than I could have imagined” (Taddeo, 292). Due to the fact that Lenore was silenced for her entire life with Lenny, Joan used her ability to disrupt men’s lives with her newfound rage. She also said, “I felt close to my mother then, to feel her rage in me” (Taddeo, 292). She had blamed her mother for her father’s death throughout her life, as it was easier to blame her mother’s disconnectedness for the demise of their family; however, she realized that her father—the man—had caused a generational curse of surrendering to male superiority. Joan was determined to break the spell.

Her bad feminism was sparked in the murder of Lenny because of the lack of femininity that she possessed in such a male-dominated act, and she could have potentially made the face of all women even worse, which is frowned about in feminist culture. Gay said, “All feminists are angry instead of, say, passionate” (Gay, 305). Gay’s explanation of feminist behaviors is directly relatable to Joan’s life because of the fact that passion cannot coexist with silence. Passion is fueled by the ability for others to truly hear the testimonies and advocate for change. Anger stems from the pain of being consistently ignored. Joan was ignored throughout the duration of her life, so she purposefully directed her pain toward an actor of emotionally abusing women. Joan would be the bad feminist to break another curse of generational mistreatment, which she could not do previously because her family was already dead, including Vic. This was her revenge as a bad feminist.

At the end of Animal, Joan gave birth to a daughter. Throughout the novel, she used the word “you” in minimal paragraphs to insinuate the testimony to another person. The reader does not find out the “you” until the last few pages of the novel; however, some people make the connection early on. Joan said, “I have shown you the wreckage of my relationships. I know you won’t make the same mistakes… And it was the first time I used a man for something I actually wanted and not for something I thought I

needed” (Taddeo, 314). Almost immediately after, she said, “And I gasped because I saw that you were her. You were the girl in all of my dreams…You had been there since the beginning. And since the beginning someone had been trying to take you away” (Taddeo, 319). She was speaking to her future daughter within these paragraphs, and her daughter’s birth was her final destination of peace; everything that she’d experienced was a lesson for her daughter’s life. She wanted her daughter to learn about female depravity and revolt against the submission that men search for in women. Joan had overcome the nature of depravity that her life had provided her, and her bad feminism led to teaching her daughter the necessity of fighting for herself. Gay said, “I am not at all sure that feminism has ever suggested women can have it all” (Gay, 309). Joan was unsure of her ability to have it all, and she could not; however, the one thing she desperately wanted more than anything was the ability to break her own curse of female depravity. She was given the opportunity to bring a new woman into the world who could fulfill her mother’s desire to be wanted, rather than needed. Female depravity is masked by bad feminism each day. Women experience struggles, and the male society becomes determined to use their power to keep women permanently down. Through trials and tribulations, pain becomes anger, and that anger is manifested in bad feminism: the ability to do what needs to be done in order to survive as a woman, regardless of who it affects. Bad feminism is not the act of purposefully putting other women down; it is the act of purposefully changing the way women are perceived. Joan lived a life of bad feminism alongside her depravity, and it led her to ending the cycle of needing to be a bad feminist.

Works Cited

Gay, Roxane. Bad Feminist. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024. Taddeo, Lisa. Animal. Woolloomooloo, LLC, 2021.

Student Reflection:

During my time in Women’s Literature, I learned about psychoanalysis in a way that I didn’t think was possible for myself. I learned about how to feel and heal from trauma, understand intersectionality, educate myself on identities, the importance of recognizing mental health, being a woman in society, and many other things.

While reading Animal, I was encapsulated by Taddeo’s writing. The narrative style that she created between characters, traumas, experiences, social regularity and lifestyles of specific genders was a masterpiece, and I knew I wanted to write about it. Additionally, Gay’s essays about bad feminism were exceptional. Both writing pieces shed light onto the occurrences of female depravity, melancholia that is masked by anger, and the life of different women who are not the socially acceptable “feminists.”

As I wrote, I knew that I needed to include quotations from Taddeo and Gay. It was important because it shows the various experiences of real women; the fiction is a literary prose about actual pain that women feel and experience. How do we overcome that pain, and how do we make sure that we break the chain?

The words of women need to be heard.

Assignment:

Is Caffeine Use in Weightlifters Associated with Heart Complications?

by Regan Bard

EXER 321: Exercise Physiology I

Dr. Turi Braun

This assignment required each student to ask a question related to exercise physiology and research the topic to answer it. I analyzed four research articles that investigated the effects of caffeine on weightlifters' heart function. I then summarized the findings and provided my own conclusions for each study.

“Young male athlete dies of sudden cardiac arrest after consumption of excessive amounts of caffeine.” Headlines like these send chills down readers’ spines, making them question why and how this could ever happen. Was it really the caffeine? Did he have pre-existing heart defects that led to this tragedy? After hearing countless people say, “Caffeine is very bad for your heart,” I decided to investigate this claim among a group of individuals I know who regularly consume this substance: weightlifters.

Caffeine is the most widely used central nervous system stimulant in the world (2). About an hour after consuming a caffeinated beverage, caffeine is rapidly and completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body, including the brain (4). Caffeine’s main mechanism of action is blocking adenosine receptors, which prevents adenosine from slowing nerve activity (4). The effects of caffeine include vasodilation, catecholamine release, circadian rhythm delay, and more (4). Weightlifters find this useful in recruiting muscle fibers during contraction after stimulating the central nervous system and mobilizing the calcium needed for muscle contractions. Additionally, the hypoalgesic effect of caffeine can decrease muscle pain perception during high intensity resistance training by blocking central and peripheral adenosine receptors that influence pain signaling (3). Weightlifters benefit from caffeine’s ability to improve certain aspects of muscle performance, but are there negative effects associated with overconsumption? Because caffeine increases actions of the sympathetic nervous system, including elevating heart rate and blood pressure, many wonder if overconsumption can have harmful effects. Many researchers have aimed to study this relationship between heart health and caffeine consumption in weightlifters.

Research on the Relationship of Caffeine and the Heart of Weightlifters

In a study conducted by Astorino et al. (1), caffeine induced changes in cardiovascular function during resistance training were examined. The study involved twenty-two normotensive, resistance-trained men who had been participating in full-body resistance training a minimum of two days a week for about six years. Most of these subjects consumed caffeine regularly, about four days a week. Subjects refrained from caffeine for 48 hours pre-trial and from intense exercise 24 hours before testing. During the test, subjects were either given 6 mg/kg anhydrous pharmaceutical-grade caffeine or a placebo one hour pre-exercise. The exercise protocol included a 5-minute warm-up on a stationary bike and a warm-up of 12-15 repetitions on a standard barbell bench press at a load of 45-60kg. After determining their one rep max (1RM), subjects completed repetitions at 60% of their 1RM till failure. The same protocol was then performed on a 45-degree plate-loaded leg press sled. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were measured 4 minutes after the warm-up, and immediately after exercise. One week later, subjects ingested the other treatment and repeated the protocol.

Results showed that caffeine significantly (p< 0.01) increased heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and rate pressure product (RPP) before and in response to resistance training (1). Pre-exercise and bench-press heart rate were significantly higher (p< 0.05) by about 10 bpm with caffeine compared to the placebo group. Caffeine resulted in a significantly higher (p < 0.05) systolic blood pressure, approximately 8-10 mmHg greater than the placebo group. The significant increase in RPP indicates that as HR and SBP rose, the myocardial oxygen demand increased, placing a greater workload on the heart. The placebo

resulted in much lower RPP values, suggesting that caffeine may be raising the workload placed on the heart to excessively high levels. Continuously subjecting the heart to these conditions over extended periods may lead to hypertension. Astorino et al. (1) concluded that any protective effect of regular weight training on the risk of hypertension may be minimized with chronic caffeine consumption. This suggests that individuals who are prehypertensive or hypertensive should monitor their caffeine intake carefully. Additional research is needed to understand the effects of caffeine on individuals with pre-existing heart conditions. Limitations to this study include the large caffeine dose, which may not be accurate to the amount most weightlifters consume, and the exercise intensity, which was expected to produce a large RPP. The workload on the heart and disease risk may be lower in caffeine consumers engaged in less intense resistance training.

In another study, Menezes et al. (5) studied the relationship between caffeine supplementation in Paralympic powerlifting training and hemodynamic indicators. Because people with lower limb deficiencies tend to have more risk factors for arterial hypertension, researchers wanted to examine if the effects of caffeine are dangerous for these individuals. Fourteen male Paralympic weightlifters, each with at least 18 months of experience and top national rankings, participated. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: supplementation of 9 mg/ kg of caffeine anhydrous capsules or a placebo. During week one, participants completed body assessments and were exposed to the 1RM test. During weeks two and three exercise sessions were performed with either caffeine or placebo. The exercise consisted of five sets of five bench-press repetitions at 80% of 1RM, with one-minute of rest between sets. Seven days of rest between sessions was required to remove the caffeine from the athletes’ systems (5). In the third week those who used caffeine received the placebo and vice versa. Blood pressure, rate pressure product, myocardial oxygen volume, and heart rate were recorded immediately after, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 minutes and 24 hours post-exercise.

Menezes et al. (5) concluded that caffeine did not cause post-exercise hypotension. Caffeine produced significantly higher values in systolic blood pressure (p = 0.048), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.037), rate pressure product (p = 0.003), and myocardial oxygen volume (p = 0.003), but after 24 hours, these values inverted (5). Mean blood pressure values were most significant (p=0.036) at 20 minutes post-exercise, with caffeine raising mean blood pressure to approximately 100 mmHg, while the placebo was around 104 mmHg. Heart rate was significantly (p = 0.018)

higher in the caffeine condition, by about 8 bpm but decreased about 40 minutes after exercise. Rate pressure product in the caffeine condition raised from roughly 10,000 mmHg bpm before exercise to 12,000 mmHg bpm after, but these values are not considered to be concerning levels for cardiovascular complications (5). Myocardial oxygen volume produced similar effects. Despite the elevated values during exercise, 24-hour readings were similar or less than the placebo, indicating that the stimulatory effects of caffeine on the cardiovascular system are temporary and resolve over time. According to these researchers, caffeine supplementation is safe because it did not result in long term cardiovascular stress (5). Limitations include the lack of control over athletes’ diets and sleep, the exclusion of additional cardiac measures such as stroke volume, and a small sample size.

A study done by Karayigit et al. (3) assessed caffeinated coffee’s effects on muscular endurance, cognitive performance, and cardiac autonomic modulation in caffeine naïve female athletes. For this paper, we will focus on the cardiac effects. Seventeen healthy, nonsmoking, resistance-trained female team sport athletes participated in this study. Each participant became familiar with the test protocol, then completed three sessions separated by 48-72 hours of rest. The protocol was completed after ingesting either 6 mg/kg of caffeine from coffee, 3 mg/kg of caffeine from coffee, or decaffeinated coffee as a control, or placebo, before the exercise. The exercise consisted of establishing the athletes 1RM for bench press and squats and three sets until failure at 40% of 1RM. Heart rate variability was measured at baseline, 60 minutes after coffee ingestion, and post-test.

Karayigit et al. (3) found that 6 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg caffeine doses improved lower body muscular endurance and cognitive performance by increasing arousal without harming cardiac autonomic function. The root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) helps illustrate the average difference in time between heartbeats; it assesses the activity of the autonomic nervous system and indicates parasympathetic activity. RMSSD showed no significant change (p=0.84) across different treatments, indicating caffeine did not place additional autonomic stress on these athletes’ hearts; it only varied by about 10 milliseconds across the conditions after each measurement (3). In addition, average heart rate only increased by about two beats per minute across treatments. For example, post squat average heart rate went from 163.47 bpm with the placebo, to 164.11 bpm from 3 mg/kg, and finally 163.58 bpm for the 6 mg/kg condition. No significant increase (p= 0.67) was observed across the treatments, allowing us to conclude that caffeine did not induce adverse effects

on heart rate response. Karayigit et al. (3) concluded that caffeine may be beneficial for athletes seeking to improve muscular endurance and cognitive performance with no adverse effects on the heart. Limitations to this study include the absence of blood pressure measurements, untested blinding effectiveness, and uncontrolled coffee temperature, which can influence caffeine levels.

Weightlifters consume caffeine in many different forms, with energy drinks being one of the most popular. Some of the most popular energy drinks contain up to 300 mg of caffeine per can. A study by Park et al. (6), examined the effects of energy drinks on arterial stiffness and endothelial function in young male bodybuilders with habitual caffeine consumption. Forty-five men around the age of 30 participated in this study. After reporting their physical activity levels, they were placed into one of three groups: sedentary, physically active (more than three hours of exercise per week), or bodybuilders (weightlifting for at least 5 years and participating in competitions). The bodybuilders reported habitually consuming energy drinks containing high doses of caffeine before and after training. Additionally, all participants reported being healthy with no history of cardiovascular disease. Participants avoided food, caffeine, and smoking for at least 8 hours pre-experiment. Arterial stiffness and endothelium-dependent reactivity were measured along with heart rate and blood pressure before, 30 minutes after, and an hour after quickly drinking 437 mL of Monster Energy (160 mg of caffeine).

Brachial SBP (p=0.004), brachial DBP (p=0.023), aortic SBP (p=0.001), and aortic MAP (p=0.002) significantly changed after caffeine intake (6). Sedentary and physically active groups exhibited the most change, while bodybuilders experienced no significant changes. For example, brachial SBP rose from 118 mmHg to 130 mmHg in the sedentary participants, 115 mmHg to 128 mmHg in physically active participants, and 130 mmHg to 134 mmHg in the bodybuilders (6). No significant change in heart rate, aortic DBP, and aortic central pulse pressure were found. Endotheliumdependent vasodilation improved (p=0.002) in bodybuilders and physically active participants postenergy drink consumption (6). Data highlights that the flow mediated dilation of the brachial artery increased to about 14% in the bodybuilder and about 8% in the physically active group post-energy drink consumption, compared to the baseline of 5%. Park et al.

speculated that these effects occurred because caffeine stimulated vasodilation through endogenous nitric oxide production in the endothelium by releasing more calcium in these groups (6). However, other substances within the energy drink, which include nitric oxide donors, may also increase endothelial function. There was no significant change in central arterial stiffness in any group. Overall, energy drinks may induce favorable acute cardiovascular effects on endothelial vasodilators function of bodybuilders, while significantly increasing blood pressure in the other groups (6). Although caffeine presents positive effects in some individuals, it may negatively affect others. Limitations include the relatively small caffeine dose used when compared to most bodybuilder studies, lack of identifying mechanisms that allow energy drinks to affect vascular function and the sympathetic nervous system, and the inability to generalize these results to caffeine alone due to other ingredients present in energy drinks. Further research should be done to study these effects on women and during resistance training.

Conclusion

Overall, these studies suggest that while caffeine does not always induce adverse heart effects in weightlifters, it may create conditions which increase heart complication risks. Since caffeine commonly raises blood pressure and workload on the heart, repeated exposure may lead to higher baseline measures, such as hypertension, in some cases. There are a variety of conclusions and numerous amounts of data to consider from these studies, but I think it is safe to assume that moderate caffeine use does not induce heart complications in healthy individuals. Studies that used higher doses of caffeine tended to show a more significant increase in heart rate and RPP (work of the heart), suggesting that limiting caffeine intake to about 3-5 mg/kg before a workout may help reduce the risk of excessive stress on the heart. However, weightlifters with pre-existing heart conditions or hypertension risk factors should monitor their intake more closely. Even those without health concerns may benefit from avoiding excessive amounts of caffeine on a regular basis due to potential risks. Before consuming high amounts of caffeine, weightlifters should ask themselves if the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Further research should explore the long-term effects of caffeine on the heart and its impact on prehypertensive individuals.

References

Astorino TA, Rohmann RL, Firth K, Kelly S. Caffeineinduced changes in cardiovascular function during resistance training. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2007;17(5):468–77.

Farzam K. Stimulants [Internet]. StatPearls [Internet] 2023; [cited 2024 Nov 8] Available from:https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539896/#:~:text=As%20 the%20most%20commonly%20used,stimulant%20 effects%2C%20which%20promote%20alertness.

Karayigit R, Naderi A, Akca F, et al. Effects of different doses of caffeinated coffee on muscular endurance, cognitive performance, and cardiac autonomic modulation in caffeine naive female athletes. Nutrients 2020;13(1):2.

McLellan TM, Caldwell JA, Lieberman HR. A review of caffeine’s effects on cognitive, physical and occupational performance. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2016;71:294–312.

Menezes JL, Aidar FJ, Badicu G, et al. Does caffeine supplementation associated with Paralympic powerlifting training interfere with hemodynamic indicators? Biology 2022;11(12):1843.

Park W, Lee D, Beak HJ, Hong K. Acute effects of energy drink on arterial stiffness and endothelial function in young male bodybuilders with habitual caffeine consumption. Journal of Men’s Health 2024;20(4):29–38.

Student Reflection:

Many individuals my age regularly use caffeine when working out. While it is often said that caffeine can have detrimental effects on the heart, many people do not take the time to research its impact. This paper explores four different research studies and the information they have found about the effects of caffeine on heart health. I discovered that heart complications related to caffeine use depend on the dosage and an individual's overall health. Conducting this research enhanced my understanding of both the negative and positive effects caffeine can have on the heart. Through this paper, I hope readers will learn about the potential risks and benefits of caffeine use and consider this information when deciding wether to use this substance.

Is Drug Crop Eradication an Effective Method to Combat the Illicit Drug Industry?

by Elijah Hafer

CRJU 310: Research Methods

Dr. Carlos Rojas

Assignment:

The assignment had us look at common conceptions within the criminal justice system and do research on the topic of our choice to determine whether the concept was truthful or not. The topic for my assignment was “crop eradication will reduce the demand for drugs by causing street prices to increase”. My paper includes a personal hypothesis as well as interpreting the data found while researching my topic and all data found proves my selected concept to be false, by going over results from Plan Colombia, drugs prices before and after eradication processes began to be practiced, as well as looking at the population of drug abusers before and after eradication processes began being practiced.

Introduction to the Theory

Most people may have heard the theory that “if drug crops are eradicated, then street prices will increase and reduce the demand for drugs.” Sounds like a reasonable theory, right? My personal hypothesis is that crop eradication is not an effective way to combat the illicit drug market. I believe that, while crop eradication can increase the price of a targeted drug, the demand for drugs will never go away, and people will look for cheaper alternative ways to satisfy their craving to experience a high. This literature review will go over what crop eradication is, when it started, and the results I found on the effectiveness of crop eradication by taking a look at Plan Colombia and its results, as well as looking at the drug addict population before and after drug crop eradication methods began and after Plan Colombia took place.

What is crop eradication and when did it start?

Crop eradication began in the 1970’s, the same year that the U.S. government passed the Controlled Substances Act, as an attempt to combat the amount of illicit drugs crossing the border and into the United States from other countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Peru (Faure, 2019). According to the Department of State, in countries with very low governmental control, farmers can easily take advantage of the opportunity to grow illicit crops (Eradication and Interdiction). To determine whether the theory of crop eradication reduces the demand for drugs by increasing their prices is either true or false, we must take a look at the results of crop eradications that have been recorded, most notably Plan Colombia where the results have been tracked by the U.S. government over the course of 8 years.

Plan Colombia and Its Results

Plan Colombia is the most notable crop eradication plan that first took place in the year 2000. The plan was created in 1999 by the Colombian government and had proposed a military focus on primarily attacking the cocaine industry by eradicating illicit coca fields in Colombia, which had become the leading cocaine producing country in the world. Later in 2000, under the Clinton administration, the U.S. began funding Plan Colombia. Between the years 2000 and 2007, the U.S. would go on to spend over $600 million each year to continue funding Plan Colombia only to reduce the amount of cocaine entering the U.S. by 0.29% by the end of 2007 (Faure, 2019), this data alone proves that crop eradication is not effective, proving a portion of my original hypothesis correct. While the plan did succeed in reducing opium and heroin production by 50 % it did not, however, succeed in reducing the production of its intended target, cocaine. By the end of 2007 coca cultivation and cocaine production rather than decreasing, had instead increased, with coca cultivation increasing by 15%, and cocaine production increasing by 4% (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2008), and by 2015 coca cultivation increased by 42.5%, and cocaine production by 68% (Faure, 2019), by looking at this data it is safe to determine that plan Colombia failed at impacting the illicit cocaine industry.

Cocaine Prices After Crop Eradication Begins

As stated earlier, crop eradication methods began in 1970, with this in mind, you would think that crop eradication would have increased prices of the drugs that are being targeted. Christopher Woody, an editor for the Business Insider, wrote an article that explains

that the prices of cocaine have actually been declining since the 1980’s. Included in his article was a chart following the average prices of cocaine for both the “retail level” and “dealer level” from 1981 to 2011.

The chart shows that a drug addict could have bought 10 grams of cocaine in 1981 off the street for an average price of around $750, while dealers could buy 10 grams or more for an average price of around $400. Jumping into 1998, an addict could buy 10 grams of cocaine for an average price of just below $200 and dealers could buy 10 grams of cocaine for less than $100. In the year 2000, the year Plan Colombia took place, the chart shows that the prices of cocaine had increased but not by much. Addicts could buy 10 grams of cocaine for just slightly over $200 and dealers, slightly higher than what they could in 1998 but still below $100, however the following years, cocaine prices began to decline again showing that Plan Colombia did not have a substantial lasting effect on the prices of cocaine, thus proving another portion of my original hypothesis regarding drug prices increasing to be wrong. But now the question is, why did prices decline instead of increase? After further investigation as to why drug prices may have decreased instead of

(N.d.). Retrieved from https://i.insider.com/580fb55c36 2ca427008b4b6b?width=700&format=jpeg&auto=webp

increase, is simply because of the fact that illicit drug producers and dealers find ways around law enforcement attempts to combat drug trafficking in order to continue exploiting the illicit drug industry. The same reason can also explain why cocaine production was increasing instead of decreasing during the years when Plan Colombia took place.

Drug Abuse Before and After Crop Eradication

Going back to my original hypothesis, I stated that I believe that the demand for drugs will never disappear and that addicts will always find cheaper alternatives to satisfy their cravings to get high. To determine whether the demand for drugs is decreasing or increasing we must take a look at the amount of people who have abused illicit drugs before and after drug crop eradication policies take place as well as comparing the number of drug abusers in more recent years. I believe that by looking at the number of people who abused drugs through the years we can use the data as an indicator to make an inference whether the demand for drugs is truly increasing or decreasing. For clarification, when I reference people who abuse drugs or drug addicts, I am simply referring to people who explicitly use illicit drugs, not those that abuse drugs like alcohol, nicotine, or prescription drugs. Going back to 1968, before crop eradication methods began being practiced, according to James A. Inciardi and Carl D. Chambers, the recorded number of drug addicts within the U.S. was 63,000 people, in 1972, after crop eradication methods began to be practiced, the recorded number of drug addicts within the U.S. spiked up to 600,000 people (Chambers & Inciardi, 1974). With the number of people abusing drugs increasing from 1968 to 1972 we can safely make the inference that the demand for drugs had also probably increased, the more people who abuse drugs, the more drugs are being produced for consumption. To take this one step further we can compare the recorded number of drug abusers before and after Plan Colombia took effect. In 1999, the number of drug abusers in the U.S. was 14.8 million (The buyers - who are America’s drug users? | drug wars | frontline). Moving to 2008, when Plan Colombia was determined to be ineffective, the number of drug abusers surged to 20.1 million (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2009), this further enhances the proof that drug crop eradication is not an effective measure to combat the illicit drug market. To go even further we can look at the data from 2023, 15 years after Plan Colombia was proven to be ineffective. Surveys conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recorded that 48.5 million people within the U.S. were abusing illicit drugs in 2023. With the data provided we can see that

the drug addict population has increased exponentially since the 1960’s and it is safe to say that the demand for drugs will undoubtedly forever be existent.

External Factors That Restrain Crop Eradication Effectiveness on the Illicit Drug Market

Crop eradication methods mainly deal with targeting and destroying drug sources that come from crops like coca leaves for cocaine and illegal poppy fields for opium, the issue with this is that there is a wide array of drugs that do not originate from crops. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has become a rather popular drug to abuse and can be potentially fatal, becoming the number 1 drug to be the cause of most of the overdoses within the U.S. (Council on Foreign Relations, 2023). Not only are people abusing existing deadly drugs, but newer, deadlier substances are also being discovered by the illicit drug market and are being added into drugs. Xylazine, a chemical used in horse tranquilizer, has recently been discovered to be laced within synthetic opioids and is more potent than fentanyl (Council on Foreign Relations,2023). Criminology Professor Yvon Dandurand wrote about his research after reviewing studies made after drug crackdowns. One of the observations that was made on a drug crackdown that occurred in Australia was that when Heroin was being targeted, the illicit sales of pharmaceuticals had increased (Dandurand, 2021). This proves the portion of my original hypothesis regarding that abusers will find alternatives to satisfy their craving to get high.

Conclusion

With the previous information in mind, it seems that crop eradication is not an effective measure alone to combat the illicit drug market, for Plan Colombia was ineffective at reducing its targeted crop due to drug producers and traffickers finding ways around the law enforcement attempts to disrupt the cocaine industry and cocaine production actually increased and prices dropped while the plan was in effect. Drug abusers also have a wide array of drugs that they can get a hold of, lots of these alternatives are not affected by crop eradication due to the fact that they do not originate from plants. After doing the research on this topic I have found that the majority of my original hypothesis was correct. Crop eradication is not an effective practice to combat the illicit drug market, drugs will always be in demand, abusers will find alternatives, however, street prices will not be substantially affected.

References

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. (n.d.). Eradication and Interdiction. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/ eradication-and-interdiction/ Chambers, C. D., & Inciardi, J. A. (1974). Drugs and the Criminal Justice System. Sage. Council on Foreign Relations. (2023). Fentanyl and the U.S. opioid epidemic. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ fentanyl-and-us-opioid-epidemic Dandurand, Y. (2021). Law enforcement strategies to disrupt illicit drug MARKETS1-2. https://icclr.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/11/Dandurand_Law-EnforcementStrategies-to-Disrupt-Illicit-Drug-Markets_Nov-152021.pdf

Faure, A. (2019, November 1). Crop eradication SmartDrugPolicy. https://smartdrugpolicy.org/ crop-eradication/ Isacson, A. (2016). 15th anniversary of Plan Colombia: Learning from its successes and failures. https://www. wola.org/files/1602_plancol/content.php?id=us_aid Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). The buyers - who are America’s drug users? | drug wars | frontline. PBS. https:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/buyers/ whoare.html

Substance abuse and addiction statistics [2023]. NCDAS. (2024, May 2). https://drugabusestatistics.org/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2009). Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. https://www.ojp. gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/results-2008-nationalsurvey-drug-use-and-health-national-findings

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2024). 2023 companion Infographic report. https:// www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/ rpt47096/2023-nsduh-companion-report.pdf

U.S. Department of State. (2018, July 16). Reducing the Supply of and Demand for Illicit Drugs: Strategic Approaches. U.S. Mission to the OSCE. https://osce. usmission.gov/reducing-the-supply-of-and-demand-forillicit-drugs-strategic-approaches/

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2008). Plan colombia: Drug reduction goals were not fully met, but security has improved; U.S. agencies need more detailed plans for reducing assistance. Plan Colombia: Drug Reduction Goals Were Not Fully Met, but Security Has Improved; U.S. Agencies Need More Detailed Plans for Reducing Assistance | U.S. GAO. https://www.gao.gov/ products/gao-09-71

Woody, C. (n.d.). Here’s what’s driven changes in cocaine prices on US Streets since the 1980s. Business Insider. https:// www.businessinsider.com/us-cocaine-prices-change2016-10#while-cocaine-prices-in-the-us-have-variedsome-year-to-year-they-have-held-relatively-stable-sincedeclining-from-highs-in-the-1980s-1

Student Reflection:

Before doing the research on my selected topic I had hypothesized that crop eradication is not an effective measure to combat the illicit drug market, I believed that even though prices would go up on drugs, people would just find cheaper alternatives, allowing the demand for drugs to be persistent. After doing the research, I learned that a portion of my original hypothesis was incorrect. While crop eradication was proven to be ineffective by looking at the results of Plan Colombia and the following years after it was determined to be ineffective by the U.S. government, drug prices, mainly cocaine prices, have been declining since the 1980’s and Plan Colombia did not have a substantially lasting effect on the prices of cocaine during the time it was put into practice. I had also learned that the U.S. would go on to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of seven years only to reduce the amount of cocaine crossing over the border by less than 1%. Cocaine production had instead increased, allowing for prices to continue declining. As for the population of drug abusers, after looking at data from the 1960’s the population had been increasing, which allowed me to make the inference that the more drug abusers, the more drugs are being produced. After delving even deeper into why crop eradication is not effective, I have learned that drug producers and dealers find ways to evade law enforcement attempts to restrict the production and distribution of drugs. Another thing that I have learned that can contribute to the ineffectiveness of crop eradication is the fact that there is a wide array of different drugs that do not all originate from crops, allowing drug producers to not have to manufacture drugs from crops.

Assignment:

Job/Career/Calling Influence

by Kaden Emerick

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Thomas Crochunis

A 2-4+ page, interview-based investigation of someone’s past work experience, it influenced them and their sense of their life concerning one of several possible topics. The student chose the topic of how a person’s thinking of their work as a job, career, or calling influenced them.

This interview-based paper centers around my father’s experience with work as he went through his life and how different factors affected his view of work. Throughout my life, I have always recognized my father as being a hard-working man. I have seen him gain significant advancement throughout his field and have very unique experiences. When I first got the prompt for this assignment, my mind immediately went to my father as the subject of my interview. When I got on the video call with him, I explained the differences between a job, career, and calling. I then asked him to explain his career trajectory and how these viewpoints may have had an influence on his work.

Well, a job doesn’t necessarily require any kind of professional education, right? You get a job, you learn the job, it is what it is. When I joined the Army, it was a job. It was a job because it paid the bills. It gave me healthcare, it gave me housing, and it gave me food in my belly. I had no job experience other than working at The Arena Restaurant and Lounge. So, for an unskilled person at the time, it was a job.

Well, I originally joined the Army as a means to go to college. Essentially the Army was my means of getting an education which would then lead to a career. At first, I thought I would go into law enforcement, but then I decided I didn’t want to do that because I did that in the Army. So, I decided I would be an educator. The Army was a job that would provide me with independence and security while I obtained an education. The original term of my contract was to do five years in the Army, then get out and go to school.

Nearing the end of this contract I had a job at UPS loading trucks in the evenings. I got offered a supervisor job at UPS, which would have eased my transition out of the Army because they paid for college and gave me a small salary as well. But then I had the opportunity to deploy. So, I decided to stay in the Army. I re-enlisted and I deployed. This deployment put me ahead of my peers because this was before 9/11, and nobody was deploying. So, I had a deployment

which gave me experience that many didn’t have, and it accelerated my career. I was quickly promoted to Staff Sergeant, and now I’m making better money, right? While I was deployed, I was still planning on going to school. But then my mindset changed, and I decided I should stick around in the Army because I was pretty good at it. I stayed in the Army instead of going to school and I got awards and extra training. The possibility of making it a career was becoming more of a reality. So it was literally because of the experience that I gained in my first handful of years in the Army that led me towards turning the job into a career.

A career, right, has advancement opportunities. It has professional development opportunities throughout the course of time that you’re there that help lead you to move up in the organization. The Army turned into that for me. When I was deployed, I realized that I was very good at what I was doing. When I came back, the SWAT team that I used to be on invited me back. The team had been handed over to new leadership and it was kind of going down the tubes. So, my people asked why don’t you come back to the team? So, I said okay, and I did. Somewhere in there, I stopped working at UPS, and was working as a bouncer in a nightclub somewhere. But the Army was just easy, it paid the bills, and I was promoted, so I was making more money right? More money than I figured I could make on the outside. Then I went on recruiting duty, you and your brother were born, and I got promoted again, just for doing my job. Then I went to Fort Drum, and I was deployed again. And again. And again.

The next thing you know is I’m a First Sergeant in charge of 170 people, right? Then I went to West Point, and I was selected for promotion again. At this rate, I had well surpassed any of my original goals with joining the Army. There was no reason to get out now, at 20 years you get a pension. There are very few places in the world where you can get a job, turn it into a career, have one employer, and retire after twenty years. I ended up sticking around for 26 years. So, I had a job, I turned it into a career, then I retired from the

career. I have a pension; I don’t have to work. I work at the school as the Athletic Director strictly because I want to pay off the mortgage. It’s a job. I enjoy it, kind of. But it’s a job.

Present day, I would say that I’m pursuing my calling. In my mind, a calling is something that you enjoy doing, right? You enjoy doing it, there is a benefit to both you and the people you do it for. Yes, you could make money at it, and you could make it a career. But my career was the Army. This career was motivating because it was exciting. Not many careers where you can go shoot a machine gun, jump out of an airplane, travel around the world to different countries, right? But it was experience throughout my career that led me to decide to do what I’m doing now. I’m working on what I believe to be my calling which is homesteading. I was in Romania right, on my way back from Afghanistan. In Romania, there are these little plots of land around the place we were staying. Everyone had a little garden, everyone had a few fruit trees, and everyone had a few animals or chickens running around their backyard. They were semi-self-sustaining, right? When I was in Iraq in 2009, I started planning what I’m doing now. It was fifteen years ago I started planning what I needed for a property, and what attri-

Student Reflection:

butes it had to have based on my experiences traveling around the world. I needed running water, a stream or a pond, a barn, I needed land, right? Those are the things that I needed so I started doing the math on it, looked at properties and I found this one that fits all the bills, so I bought it. Now, I’m pursuing my calling. Raising animals, growing my own vegetables, selling my products to the public, right? I’m expanding my interests, learning new things, and ultimately doing the things that I enjoy; sawmilling, lasering, routing CNC work, building projects. I’m providing a product to people that I believe in and trust. I won’t sell somebody else’s food or vegetables from my store. I won’t do it because I don’t know how they produced it.

Anyway, I started out with a job. I thought that job would lead to one career, but the job turned into a career itself. The experience that I gained throughout the career helped me to advance further in the field and cement it as a career. On top of that, I figured out a calling of mine, figured out what I needed, and I worked toward it. Today, I still have a job that’s paying the mortgage off. But it’s just a job. And on the side, I’m working on what I consider my calling. Does that answer your question?

Working on this paper proved to be a very interesting experience for me. It was definitely one of the more unique assignments that I have been able to work on. This had actually been the first time that I had to interview anyone. At first, that was a little nerve-racking. I was worried about being able to get all the information I needed in order to craft something coherent. However, the interview went well, and I felt as though I had gathered what I needed to respond to the prompt. The most unique part of this writing experience came once I had to piece together my paper from the information I had gathered. Writing a paper using someone else’s words was a very foreign idea to me, but it turned out to be a good experience. Overall, this paper gave me the opportunity to learn more about my father’s life and experiences as well as expand my writing skills. Both are things that I cherish.

Assignment:

Key Themes in Teen Dating Violence

by Hally Buffington

CRJU 363: Intimate Partner Violence

Dr. Melissa Ricketts

Students were to choose a topic of intimate partner violence relating to criminal justice that was not a focus during the course (CRJU 363: Intimate Partner Violence). Once the topic was chosen, a paper had to be written using sources other than those presented in class. This paper examines and discusses relevant information linked to course themes as well as recent statistics surrounding the topic.

Introduction and Overview

Teen dating violence (TDV) is all too common, yet not often talked about topic in intimate partner violence. Until recently, relatively few empirical studies have been conducted on abusive relationships between adolescents, instead relying on older college students as their study samples (Giordano et al., 2010). This was largely in part due to a lack of parental consent for study participants. Further, since TDV is positively correlated with poor academic performance, when conducting research in schools, those most at risk for TDV are most likely to be absent or suspended (Giordano et al., 2010). According to a 2021 survey of highschoolers by the Centers for Disease Control, 13.6% of students who dated experienced some level of one or both of physical and sexual violence (Clayton, 2023). However, TDV is not limited to physical aggression, with about “20% to 30% of adolescents experienc[ing] psychological and verbal aggression” (Stephenson et al., 2012, p. 204). For example, teens may experience being berated with insults, or being screamed at, as well as being threatened, social humiliation and isolation, or gaslighting (Ricketts, 2024). Regardless of whether or not these experiences are coupled with a physically violent experience or not, they are some of the emotionally and psychologically manipulative tactics used in many TDV relationships.

Research has also found that TDV differs based on the age and gender of the adolescents, based on what they learn from early same sex friendships (Wincentak et al., 2017). One of the most surprising findings is that girls tend to be the primary aggressors in most of earlier relationships among younger adolescents (Wincentak et al., 2017). One theory as to why this occurs is that early adolescent relationships model their behavior toward their partner off the opposite sex (Wincentak et al., 2017). Another reason could be due to social approval, with peers reporting that it is “quite acceptable for girls to hit their boyfriends” (Wincentak

et al., 2017, p. 225). However, when these relationships grow more complex, and the adolescents change and grow physically, this dynamic tends to shift, as boys’ physical aggression becomes more effective in controlling and dominating (Wincentak et al., 2017). In these, late adolescence the overall rate of TDV tends to decrease, but where it is still present, the severity of violence increases (Wincentak et al., 2017).

Recent literature indicates that, while TDV can, and does, affect teens of all races and ethnicities, there is a higher risk for non-white, and Latino teens (Fix et al., 2022). When looking at race and ethnicity, rates were particularly high among Native American, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (Fix et al., 2022). Additionally, LGBQ youth were much more at risk of physical and sexual TDV when compared to heterosexual youth (Fix et al., 2022). When Fix and her colleagues looked at the intersection between these demographics they found that, unsurprisingly, LGBQ youth of Latino, Native American, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander background were at the highest risk of physical and sexual TDV (Fix et al., 2022). Wincentak and her colleagues point out that this higher risk among minority youth may also be related to the “economic disadvantage and community violence” that those communities are affected by disproportionately (Wincentak et al., 2017, p. 225). Other factors, like family structure also have mixed results, with some studies reporting that it makes no difference to TDV rates, and others suggesting girls in single-mother homes were more at risk (Wincentak et al., 2017). However, one of the clearest and biggest predicting factors for TDV is “grow[ing] up in an environment characterized by persistent exposures to violence” (Debnam & Temple, 2021, p. 188). Exposure to violence outside of the home may also contribute to adolescents learning and becoming desensitized to aggressive behavior (Debnam & Temple, 2021).

Connection to Class Themes

Throughout our class course on Intimate Partner Violence, we discussed, researched and read about several topics surrounding abusive relationships. Many of these key themes overlap with the more specific topic of teen dating violence and carry a particularly strong connection in both teen relationships, as well as the everyday lives of adolescents. By looking closer at how these issues deeply impact TDV, we can get a clearer sight on the problem of TDV, and plan out support, and solutions geared towards teens specifically, to better help those who are in abusive relationships.

Digital Abuse

One common intersection between TDV and our class content was the use of technology to threaten and abuse. Digital abuse is especially pertinent to TDV because of how much of today’s teens’ lives can revolve around what Zweig and her colleagues call “new media” including “cell phones, engaging in instant messaging, watching and creating online videos, and connecting to social networking websites” (Zweig et al., 2013, p. 1063). They cite the fact that nowadays, 77% of adolescents between 12 and 17 have cell phones, 95% have internet access, with about a quarter having access via their cell phones (Zweig et al., 2013). In addition, about 80% of adolescents report using social media, and according to Zweig and her colleagues, “many report using such sites daily” (Zweig et al., 2013, p. 1064). In light of this, it is no wonder why digital abuse is such a key topic in TDV research.

According to the Abuse Can Look Like wheel, one example of digital abuse is “using technology of any kind to monitor you” (Ricketts, 2024). Since dating adolescents tend not to live together, texting and social media gives them more access to each other. Often in situations of TDV, adolescents will monitor their partner’s “private life, interactions with others, and activities through social media” (Løkkeberg et al., 2024, p. 1955). These details gathered online, as well as more intimate information can be used in a variety of abusive tactics, like blackmail, harassment, cyber-stalking, and doxing (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). Behaviors like blackmail align with other digital abuse tactics like “sending you negative or threatening messages,” and “texting you constantly…” can be a form of harassment (Ricketts, 2024). In addition, sexual photos may be used and shared to “humiliate, objectify or violate” (Løkkeberg et al., 2024, p. 1955). The prevalence of this type of abuse in TDV varied wildly in the studies Løkkeberg and her colleagues examined, from as little as 5.8% to as high as 92% (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). Zweig and her colleagues found eight ways teens in relationships communicated electronically, six of which were “related to violence, abuse, or controlling behaviors” (Zweig et al., 2013, p. 1064). Teens used digital communication to argue, monitor

their partners, express their aggression, seek help in a case of violence, cutting their partner off digitally, and re-establishing contact after a violent incident (Zweig et al., 2013). Typical elements of abuse, like aggression, control, harassment, and coercion, can all be present in a TDV relationship, even without in-person contact, via digital abuse (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). In addition to the abusive behaviors being similar whether in person or online, many of the consequences are similar too. While digital abuse may not involve physically hurting the victim, their physical health can still take a toll, along with their mental health (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). The decline in mental health can extend all the way to self-harm and even suicide (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). Finally, Løkkeberg and her colleagues explain how the digital behaviors of the victim may change in response to abuse, like self-isolation by limiting contact with others on social media or limiting their own self-expression and online presence (Løkkeberg et al., 2024). Technology is a powerful part of our everyday lives, especially in younger generations, but it can also be a powerful weapon in abusive teen relationships. By gaining a greater understanding of the relationship between TDV and the digital sphere, more targeted solutions can be developed, and technology can be used to help TDV victims instead.

Childhood Exposure

Another significant overlap between our class topics and TDV is the impact childhood exposure to domestic violence has on adolescents and their likelihood to either be victimized or be a perpetrator in TDV relationships. Cheung and Huang cite a study that said “13.4% of youth who have witnessed family assault also experienced TDV” (Cheung & Huang, 2022, p. 264). Overall, the studies Cheung and Huang found a clear connection between TDV victimization, especially among female adolescents, and IPV exposure (Cheung & Huang, 2022). Children who are exposed to IPV may be witnesses to violence, victims of abuse themselves, they may be used by their abusers as a hostage or active participant, and may experience neglect from one, or even both of their parents (Ricketts, 2024). This sort of maltreatment increases adolescents’ likelihood they will either be victims or perpetrators of TDV (Ricketts, 2024) and some studies show that as early as 15 years old, adolescents begin to model these violence patterns (Cheung & Huang, 2022). In addition, teens exposed to IPV are more likely to engage in risky behaviors that are correlated with TDV, like substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors (Ricketts, 2024) like “early age at first intercourse, number of partners, or inconsistent use of condoms, rather than sexual behavior within a particular relationship that are associated with TDV (Giordano et al., 2010). Children who witness IPV may learn some lessons from their abuser that influence how they act in adolescence.

From typical male-on-female domestic abuse, children may learn that “women are weak, incompetent, and illogical,” that “boys and men should be in control,” and that love equals abuse (Ricketts, 2024). Taking these lessons to heart may lead adolescents to seek out similar relationships and behaviors, and the literature Cheung and Huang examined seems to agree on the connection between IPV exposure and TDV victimization, however, the link between it and TDV perpetration is a bit foggier. While there are some studies that show no significant link between the two, others have seen a positive association (Cheung & Huang, 2022). Teen dating violence prevention can begin very early, by presenting pre-teens with healthy relationship models to emulate in the future.

Allies, Friends, and Peers

One of the chapters we covered in class of Bancroft’s (2003) book, Why Does He Do That, focused on the allies of the abusers, some of which can be the abuser’s, or even the victim’s friends and peers. Since peer relations are already such a key part of adolescent life, they can be a great help or hindrance to those experiencing TDV. Social media and peer subculture are important to creating the “norms, values, and rituals that guide adolescent dating practices” (Stephenson et al., 2012, p. 205).

Stephenson and her colleagues collected a table of common ways both male and female peers are involved with. Both male and female peers engage in behaviors that assist the abuser, or agitate abuse, as well as behaviors that help the victim (Stephenson et al., 2012). Males typically engage by directly or indirectly playing the ally of the abuser. One way this was done was by becoming an active participant in abuse or directly encouraging the abusive behavior. In class, some of the common reasons the abuser’s friends may ally with him is because they believe his lies, or just out of sheer, plain, loyalty (Ricketts, 2024). Another factor to this could be that the abuser’s peers and friends share his attitudes towards abuse (Ricketts, 2024). Finally, males tended to assist the abuser by spying on the victim, reporting “damaging information with the boyfriend about his girlfriend,” and simply minimizing the abuse (Stephenson et al., 2012).

Stephenson and her colleagues did not seem to find the same sort of active involvement in abuse with female peers, but they still served as allies by serving as bystanders and audience members to female abusers and even abandoning their friends who had been victimized (Stephenson et al., 2012). Females tend to ally with abusers via the “myth of neutrality,” the myth being that there can be a “neutral” position in a case of abuse, when in reality a neutral position actually serves in the abuser’s favor (Bancroft, 2003). Bancroft writes that “If you are aware of chronic or severe mistreatment and do not speak out against it, your silence

communicates implicitly that you see nothing unacceptable taking place” (Bancroft, 2003, p. 325).

Some peers, however, do speak out, and Stephenson and her colleagues found that female peers specifically spoke out by giving support to the victim, and “helping her realize the relationship was unhealthy” (Stephenson et al., 2012, p. 206). However, both males and females were found to speak out against abuse by confronting one or both of the partners about ending the relationship (Stephenson et al., 2012). Peers and friends can have a significant impact on victims’ lives, both positively, and unfortunately in many cases, negatively. Whether they are allied to the abused by being an active participant, or apathetic bystander, they can hurt and remove the critical support victims need.

Breaking Up and Suicide

Another key topic of TDV that intersects with our class material is how abusive relationships end, and how suicide coincides with TDV and breaking up. According to Martsolf and her colleagues, there are a multitude of ways TDV relationships end, but first they address why so often TDV relationships drag out as long as they do. According to Martsolf and her colleagues, these reasons mainly boil down to ignorance, of healthy relationships, or inexperience with relationships in general (Martsolf et al., 2013). They may not think help is necessary, and “view dating violence as the norm” (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 71). Another major reason is fear--fear that outside help would exacerbate the violence, fear of hurting others, of revealing their own misconduct, fear of disapproval or of secrets getting out, and most of all fear of “retaliation by the dating partner” (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 72). Many of these reasons overlap with what Susan McGee pointed out in her article, Why Do Battered Women Stay? She writes that some women stay because they are given and believe inaccurate, or false information about the justice system, or abuse (McGee, n.d.). In addition, McGee hinted at the fear of the justice system being used against the victim, for example, to take away child custody, and Bancroft explains that some victims fear ridicule or lack of belief (McGee, n.d.), (Bancroft, 2003). While the types of inaccurate information or fear may differ from adolescents to adulthood, the underlying reasons as to why they stay are very similar. However, not all victims of domestic abuse--or TDV for that matter--stay. Martsolf and her colleagues identify six major reasons why couples in TDV relationships finally break up. The most common breakup method, consisting of 26% of the 156 breakups they examined, was deciding that “enough was enough” (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 73). The participants either said they gained insight from a third party, or were tired to the point of the relationship being “intolerable” (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 73). Bancroft describes

in chapter nine, how sometimes the abuser will also want to break off the relationship, though it is rarely ever that simple (Bancroft, 2003). At least 12% of Martsolf and her colleagues’ participants had a similar breakup experience, though many failed to identify the violence as the main cause (Martsolf et al., 2013), and this is where the study of adolescents differs from what Bancroft writes. While he explains that the breakup may be used to hurt the woman one last time, because he does not like to be challenged, or because he is interested in someone else (Bancroft, 2003). Bancroft also writes that the abuse may not end with the relationship (Bancroft, 2003). While Martsolf and her colleagues seem to point to inexperienced adolescents being unable to pinpoint what about their relationship didn’t work, but still showing “good judgement” by breaking the relationship off. (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 74).

However, they point out that some, or perhaps even most TDV relationships end through a series of “off and on again” relationships (Martsolf et al., 2013). Although this only made up a little over 15% of the 156 participants, the pattern of cutting ties with an abusive partner reflects another one of McGee’s points--that many women in IPV relationships have tried to leave before, and according to Martsolf and her colleagues “often leave more than one time” (McGee, n.d.), (Martsolf et al., 2013, p. 75).

One way that TDV relationships end that Martsolf and her colleagues did not touch on, however, was in death--particularly suicide. Suicide is an all too common occurance among adolescents, even without the stress of TDV in their lives. However, suicide was also commonly found to be used as a tactic to prevent a breakup, particularly by using it as a threat. Baker and her colleagues studied this by observing separate focus groups of adolescent boys and girls, along with an interviewer and note-taker to guide discussion (Baker et al., 2015). During the boys’ group, threat of suicide came up in the context of an ex-girlfriend’s reaction after a final breakup (Baker et al., 2015). They mention that the girls’ group also discussed threats of suicide in the context of a breakup, however, as a manipulative tactic prior to the breakup (Baker et al., 2015). One of the girls said of a past relationship, “He used to like rage out at random points and like say, “I wanna go kill myself! And, if you leave me I’m gonna kill myself!” And then we fought after” (Baker et al., 2015, p. 658). In chapter nine of Bancroft’s book, we discussed some of the tactics abusive partners may use to get their partner to stay, one of them being threatening suicide, as a way of guilting the partner into staying (Bancroft, 2003). The reasons teens stay in TDV relationships, the ways they leave, and even the tactics used to try and prevent a breakup were all reflected in our class material and the IPV relationships between adults that we examined.

Education and Awareness

Finally, a recurring point throughout our class was the lack of education on IPV among adolescents in school, as well as the desperate need for it. Adolescence is a critical time for shaping how teens view dating and healthy relationships. However, we’ve also discussed in class how living in an IPV environment, whether at home or among peers, can warp adolescents’ view (Ricketts, 2024). While most states have provided protections for TDV victims since 2007, and there has been a recent push for high schools to provide education on TDV and examples of healthy relationships, only a few people in our class had ever received such an education (Ricketts, 2024). Temple and his colleagues agree with the need for TDV education, specifically in schools, citing that at least 10% of teen report physical violence in their relationships, around 5.3% report both physical and sexual violence, and 61% to 63% report psychological abuse (Temple et al., 2013). They also found a variety of school-based programs to be effective in creating a long-term increase in TDV knowledge, and decreasing “acceptance of and justifying attitudes about the use of dating violence” (Temple et al., 2013, p. 3). Adolescents tend to spend a plurality of their time in school, or school-related activities. However, Temple and his colleagues address the fact that teens most at risk for TDV are also most at risk for dropping out of school or being otherwise absent (Temple et al., 2013). In addition, De La Rue and her colleagues found that while these programs may be effective in changing knowledge, or even attitudes, they have little to no impact on, and make no significant difference to TDV perpetration or victimization (De La Rue et al., 2014, p. 6). This may not be a total loss, though, because while some individual programs may be less effective, administering them in a school environment has particular benefits. Firstly, schools offer access to a wide audience of adolescents, specifically a captive audience (Temple et al., 2013). Secondly, while a change in behavior is more difficult, school-based programs can “elicit a change in culture” and can be sustained by staff training (Temple et al., 2013, p. 5). Finally, schools provide not only the physical infrastructure, but access to people like nurses and counselors, who can help administer these programs and give aid to adolescents in TDV relationships (Temple et al., 2013). Despite De La Rue and her colleague’s findings, it is clear school-based education and awareness programs can help change the atmosphere and work to create a culture where TDV is unacceptable, and where victims of TDV have support.

Conclusion

Teen dating violence is an often overlooked topic under the broader IPV umbrella. While some research disputes on how prevalent it is, with estimates ranging

wildly from 10% to 50%, there is no doubt that TDV is a significant issue facing youth in this country. There are a number of topics we discussed throughout the semester that are extremely pertinent to TDV, from the influence of peers and technology, to the risks from childhood, the patterns of breakups, and the desperate need for education in schools. By better understanding IPV issues specific to TDV, we can tailor TDV programs more toward adolescents and the issues they most often face. With that, perhaps we can impact individual and cultural attitudes towards TDV and provide help for those experiencing TDV.

References

Baker, C. K., Helm, S., Bifulco, K., & Chung-Do, J. (2015). The Relationship Between Self-Harm and Teen Dating Violence Among Youth in Hawaii. Qualitative Health Research, 25(5), 652–667. Sage Pub. 10.1177/1049732314553441

Bancroft, L. (2003). Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men. Penguin Publishing Group.

Cheung, S. P., & Huang, C. (2022, February 21). Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Teen Dating Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 38, 263–274. Springer. 10.1007/s10896-022-00377-7

Clayton, H. B. (2023, April 28). Dating Violence, Sexual Violence, and Bullying Victimization Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021 | MMWR. CDC. Retrieved February 3, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/su/ su7201a8.htm

Debnam, K. J., & Temple, J. R. (2021). Dating Matters and the Future of Teen Dating Violence Prevention. Prevention Science, 22, 187–192. Springer. 10.1007/ s11121-020-01169-5

De La Rue, L., Polanin, J. R., Espelage, D. L., & Pigott, T. D. (2014). School-Based Interventions to Reduce Dating and Sexual Violence: A Systematic Review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 7. 10.4073/csr.2014.7

Fix, R. L., Nava, N., & Rodriguez, R. (2022). Disparities in Adolescent Dating Violence and Associated Internalizing and Externalizing Mental Health

Student Reflection:

Symptoms by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(17-18), NP15131-NP15152. SagePub. 10.1177/0886260521997944

Giordano, P. C., Soto, D. A., Manning, W. D., & Longmore, M. A. (2010, November). The characteristics of romantic relationships associated with teen dating violence. Social Science Research, 39(6), 863-874. Elsevier. 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.03.009

Løkkeberg, S. T., Ihlebæk, C., Brottveit, G., & Del Busso, L. (2024). Digital Violence and Abuse: A Scoping Review of Adverse Experiences Within Adolescent Intimate Partner Relationships. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(3), 1954–1965. SagePub. 10.1177/15248380231201816

Martsolf, D. S., Draucker, C. B., & Brandau, M. (2013). Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: How Teens End Violent Dating Relationships. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 19(2), 71-77. Sage Pub. 10.1177/1078390313484801

McGee, S. (n.d.). Why Battered Women Stay. Stop the Violence. http://comnet.org/dvp/>

Ricketts, M. (2024). CRJU 363: Intimate Partner Violence Class Notes

Stephenson, P. S., Martsolf, D., & Draucker, C. B. (2012, December 13). Peer Involvement in Adolescent Dating Violence. The Journal of School Nursing, 29(3), 204-211. Sage Pub. 10.1177/1059840512469232

Temple, J. R., Le, V. D., Muir, A., Goforth, L., & McElhany, A. L. (2013). The Need for School-Based Teen Dating Violence Prevention. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 4(1), 1-11. The TMC Library. http:// digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol4/ iss1/4

Wincentak, K., Connolly, J., & Card, N. (2017). Teen Dating Violence: A Meta-Analytic Review of Prevalence Rates. Psychology of Violence, 7(2), 224 –241. APA Psych Net. 10.1037/a0040194

Zweig, J. M., Dank, M., Yahner, J., & Lachman, P. (2013). The Rate of Cyber Dating Abuse Among Teens and How It Relates to Other Forms of Teen Dating Violence. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 42, 1063–1077. Springer. 10.1007/s10964-013-9922-8

In many ways, I enjoyed writing this paper, but the subject matter was particularly heavy and eye-opening. I am fortunate enough to have never been in an abusive teen dating relationship, but considering how many teens reported being in some type of abusive relationship, I can’t help but wonder how many of my peers experienced abuse in their adolescent relationships. The statistics I found were also concerning because they only showed part of the picture and can’t possibly account for all the unreported abuse. The section on digital abuse and peer relations shed some light on how important social image can be to adolescents. Additionally, the education about intimate partner violence for teens is sorely lacking and can lead to many teens not reporting or identifying their abuse. These factors combined indicate an even deeper problem than what I was able to research. However, this paper did not leave me in total despair, and in fact, left me with some hope. While nowhere near sufficient yet, research is being done, programs developed, and efforts made to combat teen dating violence. The current picture may look grim, but I have high hopes for the future.

Assignment:

Laissez-faire, Authoritarian, and Democratic Leadership Impact on Employee Motivation in the Workplace

by Taylor Behner

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

For your final research project, you will write an expository research paper using relevant scholarly research. The topic for this paper is relatively open, but you are encouraged to explore a topic related to:

• your major

• your career aspirations

• your hobbies or interests

Once you’ve determined a topic, you will locate and read at least 6 scholarly sources and pull important information from each source to explore and expand upon your topic. Your paper will utilize this research to write a descriptive (not a persuasive) essay.

Introduction

Employers globally face the challenge of their employees feeling unmotivated. While employee engagement will vary based on different leadership styles in the workplace, business owners need to begin considering the mental health and well-being of their employees more often to resolve this issue. This essay aims to demonstrate the array of leadership styles in businesses, how each one can impact employees’ work ethics and explore what strategies are most effective at keeping employees’ content and productive.

Laissez-faire

Laissez-faire is just one of the numerous government leadership-styles. Laissez-faire can provide some of the most lenient and cohesive environments. Laissez-faire governance provides a great sense of autonomy, because the term “laissez-faire” is derived from two French words meaning “to let” (laissez) and “to do” (faire), carrying the connotations of allowing something to take care of itself” (Laissez-faire). Laissezfaire leadership provides extensive learning opportunities. It allows the group to set goals, and work through any issues that might prevent that. Laissez-faire leadership is most effective when employees are already highly skilled in their field. This leadership style allows the people to decide what is needed, and the leaders respond by providing them with the equipment necessary.

There are some challenges that Laissez-faire leaders may face. Fiaz et al. argue that “Laissez faire leaders try to avoid communication by only conversing when

it is needed, which also suggests a lack of support and guidance” (2017, p. 147). This lack of communication brings forth the idea that Laissez-faire leaders think that the employees are fine to work on their own. Leaders leaving complex business issues on employees could produce high rates of anxiety, causing their overall mental health to decline. Hundi (et al.) claim that “[A]mong leadership styles, transformational with idealized influence and intellectual stimulation, laissezfaire approaches were significantly associated with employee performance” (Hundi et al.) This research supports the theory that Laissez-faire leadership does have a significantly positive impact on employee motivation and productivity.

Democratic

Democratic governance is best defined as a group of people who may give opinions, new ideas, or suggestions for a party, with the leader moderately involved in the decision making. In a democratic approach to leadership, people may vote after getting input from everyone in the group, while the leader acts more as a mentor, encouraging the most efficient solution to an issue. Democratic leadership is “increasingly becoming the governance model of choice in the twenty-first century” (Auerbach). Democratic ruling can be demonstrated in businesses by appointing a leader that listens to issues revolving the company and working together to find a compromise or solution as one company, this is what mainly differentiates LaissezFaire from Democracy.

It was discovered that “Autocratic leadership style is found to be more dominant and exhibits significant negative relationship with employees› motivation, whereas democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles are shown to positively predict motivation of employees” (Faiz et al). Employees under a democratic leadership style are proven to have more motivation and engagement at work than those under an autocratic leadership style. These results are commonly inferred and accepted by many. This is not to say that Democratic governance is always the best option, however it is the middle ground between Laissez-faire, and Authoritarian, making it adequate for human enrichment. Democratic leaders should take care of most of the companies’ important issues, rather than leaving it up to the employees. This less stressful workload is beneficial to employees who aren’t mentally ready for that commitment.

Authoritarian

Authoritarian leadership is much less lenient compared to Laissez-Faire and Democratic governance. Authoritarian leadership can be defined as “gained through punishment, threat, demands, orders, rules, and regulations. The functions of authoritarian leadership include unilateral rule-making, task-assignment, and problem-solving, while the roles of authoritarian followers include adhering to the leader’s instructions without question or comment” (Flynn). There is little to no exception for innovative ideas, perspectives or inputs. Authoritarian ruling causes limitations on creativity and self-expression. Expectations from authoritarian leaders can feel strict and harsh, but research proves that “[T]his expectation of high performance can be intimidating to the employee, but it can also increase their focus on the benefits associated with achieving performance goals, leading to the willingness and motivation to prioritize current performance demands” (Zhang). Eventually, this style of leadership can bring employees further towards their workplace goals, but it could tax the employee’s mental health. Working long hours in a workplace where someone might feel stuck, unappreciated, or bored can have a massive effect on their work ethic.

Extensive studies have been conducted to see the diverse impact of these leadership styles. Authoritarian governance can be demonstrated in the workplace in many different scenarios. Authoritarian leadership can be effective in businesses where there is a consistent influx of new employees, however, it is ineffective when employees already know how to complete required tasks. Researchers conducted a study in South Africa and found that Authoritarian leadership “dictates procedures and policies while ignoring communication, resulting in disengaged employees” (Molemane et al).

Disengaged employees are more likely to experience prominent levels of anxiety, pressure, and depression, especially in the workplace. The researchers then determined that “autocratic leadership styles have a negative relationship with employee engagement” (Molemane et al). This statistic proves that an Autocratic leadership style is not an effective way to motivate and excite employees.

Analysis

The solution to this global issue is clear, letting employees take charge of themselves to a certain extent can allow significant improvement for the mental health of employees globally. It’s the business owners’ right to decide which leadership style they use, though they might not always choose the best one. Working long hours in a workplace where someone might feel stuck, unappreciated, or bored can have a massive effect on their work ethic. Instead, allowing employees to express themselves creatively and openly will allow them to decompress while working, rather than feeling immense pressure constantly. Business owners must begin deeply considering how their leadership could impact others, or else the risk of low-performance workers will continue to increase. If employees work to their full potential consistently the business will significantly improve, so there is no excuse for letting employee mental health go unnoticed.

Conclusion

Overall, Laissez-faire, Democratic, and Authoritarian are all options when running a company, however business owners must focus on which leadership styles are most effective for keeping employee motivation high. It has been proven that each leadership style has benefits and detriments. What works for one might not work for another, that is why it is both the employee’s and the business owner’s responsibility to decide whether each applicant is the right fit for employment. It is crucial that business owners and managers consider the well-being of employees more often, to create a more cohesive, relaxed, and productive environment. Someday, the world of business could be completely changed for employees with this research, giving them new hope for leadership in the future.

Works Cited

Auerbach, Michael. “Participative Democracy.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2024. https://search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=ers&AN=1002 59593&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Accessed- Nov 14, 2024

Fiaz, Muhammad, et al. “Leadership Styles and Employees’ Motivation: Perspective from an Emerging Economy.” Journal of Developing Areas, vol. 51, no. 4, Fall 2017, pp. 143–56. https://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=1 23825695&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936 Accessed- Nov 10, 2024

Flynn, Simone I. “Authoritarian, Democratic, and LaissezFaire Leadership.” Salem Press Encyclopedia2024.   https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru e&AuthType=sso&db=ers&AN=89185351&site=e ds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936 Accessed- Nov 13, 2024

Hundie, Zeleke Amena, and Ephrem Mannekulih Habtewold. “The Effect of Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles on Employees’ Level of Performance: The Case of Hospital in Oromia Region, Ethiopia.” Journal of

Student Reflection:

Healthcare Leadership, vol. 16, Feb. 2024, pp. 67-82. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &AuthType=sso&db=ccm&AN=175878482&site=e ds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936 Accessed- Nov 14, 2024

Minkey Molemane, et al. “Assessment of Transformational and Autocratic Leadership on Employee Engagement in the South African Education Sector.” Journal of Research and Innovation for Sustainable Society, vol. 5, no. 1, Mar. 2023, pp. 90–96. https://search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsdoj&AN=e dsdoj.4e6076ee43aa46b2b61235d92be0bb15&site=e ds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936 – Accessed Nov 13, 2024

Purdy, Elizabeth Rholetter, PhD. “Laissez-Faire.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=ers&AN=873 23088&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936 Accessed- Oct 28, 2024

Zhang, Siyi et al. “Performance Pressure and Employee Presenteeism: The Joint Effects of Authoritarian Leadership and Independent Self-Construal.” Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 14,3 236. 14 Mar. 2024, doi:10.3390 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ articles/PMC10968470/ Accessed- Nov 7, 2024

I thoroughly enjoyed researching this topic and writing this paper regarding it. Through my years I have worked a few jobs, all with different leadership styles. This began my belief that certain leadership styles were more effective than others for certain occupations. This paper has changed the way I view certain jobs or tasks, and the steps needed to get them done. I hope the importance of this essay was prominent, because the quality of many different organizations could improve with the application of these concepts.

Assignment:

Learning Environments in Schools

by Aiden Williams

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

For your final research project, you will write an expository research paper using relevant scholarly research. The topic for this paper is relatively open, but you are encouraged to explore a topic related to:

• your major

• your career aspirations

• your hobbies or interests

Once you’ve determined a topic, you will locate and read at least 6 scholarly sources and pull important information from each source to explore and expand upon your topic. Your paper will utilize this research to write a descriptive (not a persuasive) essay.

In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has stirred up the learning environments of students and teachers in many parts of the world. Before the pandemic, most schools used the traditional classroom setting as their main source of learning. However, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, more and more schools have incorporated online learning, also known as e-learning,’ in their agendas. Students and teachers have been able to attend school at home through their computers, and this new style of learning has created a toss-up on the question of whether online learning is able to keep schooling productive. Ultimately, this essay aims to highlight the effectiveness of both the classroom setting and online setting while exploring how students and teachers feel about each of the environments.

Traditional In-Classroom Learning

Though the online learning method has been used more frequently recently, the traditional classroom setting provides students with benefits. According to Mushtaq et al., “School education plays a crucial role in the personal, social, and intellectual development of individuals. It provides a strong foundation for future success and contributes to the overall well-being of society” (320). In essence, the traditional classroom allows students to grasp skills and expand their social lives. Whether a student is in kindergarten or in their senior year of college, the ability to build personal and social relationships is a key component of their lives and overall well-being. Most students believe their ability to learn in an effective way is reflected through in-person learning (Basar et al. 123). When students attend class that has a face-to-face component, they feel they learn most effectively and in a way that they are most engaged. They can communicate

with a teacher and other students in-person, building connections and social foundations in this setting. In relation to this, “68.2% of students believe there’s more learning and knowledge transfer in traditional setting” (Nambiar 789). In attending physical classes, students can learn in different ways than online learning, such as strong communication, hands-on activities, and consistent schedules. Altogether, the traditional classroom setting delivers many crucial skills to students, and students build strong connections with others.

Oppositely, learning in the classroom may bring challenges for some students, but more so on teachers. Rowdy behavior in traditional classrooms not only brings challenges to productive learning and the endangerment of the academic success of students, but is the main source of stress for teachers (Mushtaq et al. 322). When students are disruptive in class, it creates a difficult learning environment for themselves as well as a tough teaching environment for teachers. This minimizes the learning potential that happens in the classroom, hindering the best performance from both teachers and students. In addition to disruptive actions in the classroom, teachers notice the absence of attention of students as the next most encountered problem (Mushtaq et al. 324). At times, teachers have trouble getting students to pay attention in class, making it hard to teach for them. This neglects the ability of students to learn effectively and expand their knowledge.

Online Learning

In a similar way to traditional learning, the online learning setting has positive effects that it places on students and teachers. According to Akay, “Online learning environments are important in education, thanks to the flexibility in place, time and learning pace, and

access to learning resources” (134). E-learning provides students with the ability to learn on a computer remotely from the classroom, allowing them to choose their own pace for classes. The ability for students to work at their own pace is known as self-regulated learning, or SRL. Through SRL, students can access lessons whenever they want and at their own pace, creating a sense of independence and preference. To expand on this, SRL impacts the attitudes students have towards online classes (Waluyo et al, 3). When students learn at their own pace, they get a sense of how the course is set up and how they prefer to work, which builds on their attitude toward the course. Lastly, online learning saves a substantial amount of time for students and faculty since they do not need transportation and instead work from home (Alzahrani 2). This is beneficial to school staff and students by saving time and money on transportation. Nobody must drive to and from school, and work can be done from the comfort students’ and teachers’ homes.

Although e-learning is effective in allowing students to work remotely, it poses difficulties as well. Fathelrahman mentions, “Include lack of focus among some students and infrequent opportunities for them to communicate, which can then restrict the exchange of cultures, experiences, and knowledge” (qtd. in Alzahrani 2). The lack of attention in students is a main concern of teachers, and when learning is done from home, many teachers note that it is hard for them to keep students interested and engaged. The focus of students is crucial to their ability to learn, and without this focus, students are not going to gather information effectively. In addition, “Failure in online courses can upset the student, cause a negative attitude of the student and reduce their satisfaction” (Akcay 136). It can be hard for students to communicate with their teachers over their computers if teachers do not see emails or are not available at certain times, and this can cause them to not do as well in the class. Students may have a hard time learning online due to the sudden switch from classrooms during COVID-19, and this stress may build up and cause a decline in their satisfaction toward their course.

Opinions of Online Learning

In the differences the ways that traditional and online learning can be effective, students and teachers have mixed views on each learning environment. In a study done in the Malaysian state of Meleka, a small percentage of students felt they benefitted from online learning, and instead they preferred a traditional classroom setting (Basar et al. 127). In this study, students noted they had practically no benefits from online learning and focused on how they benefited much more from learning in the classroom. Similarly,

“68.4% of students find it difficult to understand and follow online” (Nambiar 789). In several studies the biggest issue students ran into was consistently the ability to follow along and pay attention. While at home students may have distractions around them, potentially causing it to be hard to follow along and understand the course. Connecting to this, “76.3% of teachers agree that students don’t take online classes seriously and make excuses for not attending class. This in turn tends to make the teachers feel demotivated” (Nambiar 789). Teachers notice when students are not connected and when they are not serious, even in online classes. This is important because when students are not paying attention and are not attending class, they do not gain the proper knowledge that the teachers provide. Overall, teachers and students both see ineffective factors in online learning, and they have mixed views on different parts of this learning environment.

Lastly, students and teachers not only see negative aspects of online learning, but they reflect on how it has been beneficial as well. According to Basar et al., “The majority of respondents expressed that they were qualified, confident and comfortable using computers, and electronic communications equipment (such as smartphones), during their online learning sessions” (126). In this study, most students felt they were comfortable with computers and other online communication, showing they are capable of learning effectively online. In being able to navigate electronic equipment confidently, students can maximize their potential in accessing online courses. Nambiar mentions how teachers feel positively about e-learning when she writes, “Majority of teachers (37.1%) felt that online classes were flexible and convenient, could be easily accessed, can be scheduled as per their convenience and made evaluation and grading work easier” (789). Flexibility plays a big role in allowing schoolwork to be done at home and not having to travel, saving time and money. Online learning makes grading work smooth and allows teachers to save time that they can put into other aspects of teaching, such as preparing lessons or answering emails. In the same study, the majority of teachers agree that e-learning has boosted their confidence in teaching (Nambiar 787). A confidence boost in teachers is important because they can recognize what they specialize in and how to improve skills in teaching. These skills benefit students in the ways that teachers are now able to teach in different ways.

Ultimately, traditional classroom learning and online learning play different roles in providing students with effective ways to learn. While online learning offers flexibility in schedules for both students and teachers, traditional learning provides an engaging face-to-face style. Both settings have distinct pros and cons, and opinions in students and teachers play

the biggest role in personal preferences. As usage of technology evolves, others may continue this research by studying how artificial intelligence and future technology influences online learning. Will there be new innovative methods to learn remotely? Will robots be able to help students get work done? There is a lot to explore in the vast field of learning environments, and the future holds a world of possibilities as technology continues to grow.

Works Cited

Akcay, Arif. “Examination of the Prediction of Flexibility for Learner Satisfaction in Online Courses.” Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, vol. 24, no. 4, 2023, 132–45. ERIC, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1409925&site=e ds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Alzahrani, Mojib. “Traditional Learning Compared to Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned from Faculty’s Perspectives.” SAGE Open, vol. 12, no. 2, 2022, 2-11. ERIC, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=eric&AN=EJ1351059&site=eds-live&scope=site&c ustid=s3915936

Student Reflection:

Basar, Zulaikha Mohd, et al. “The Effectiveness and Challenges of Online Learning for Secondary School Students -- A Case Study.” Asian Journal of University Education, vol. 17, no. 3, 2021, 119–29. ERIC, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=eric&AN=EJ1309475&site=eds-live&scope=site&c ustid=s3915936.

Mushtaq, Muhammad Faisal, et al. “Challenges Confronted by Primary School Teachers in Classroom Learning Environment.” International Journal of Social Science Archives (IJSSA), vol. 7, no. 2, 2024, 320–26. Academic Search Ultimate, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct =true&AuthType=sso&db=asn&AN=178610964&site= eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Nambiar, Deepika. “The Impact of Online Learning During COVID-19: Students’ and Teachers’ Perspective.” Academia, April–June, 2020, (PDF) The impact of online learning during COVID-19: students’ and teachers’ perspective | IJIP Journal and Deepika Nambiar - Academia.edu. Accessed 11 November 2024.

Waluyo, Budi, et al. “Enhancing Online English SelfRegulated Learning through Gamification and Active Learning in Higher Education.” TESL-EJ, vol. 28, no. 2, 2024, 1-25. ERIC, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?d irect=true&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1434085& site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

This paper impacted me by providing me with knowledge about different learning environments for schools. My major is Mid-Level Education, so I was invested in this paper and wanted to learn more about how online learning affects both students and teachers. I want to provide my future students with a positive and effective learning environment, and this paper allowed me to strengthen my understanding of how both students and teachers feel about different learning environments.

Significant Something Kikuyu Tribe Presentation

by Ellie Manyara

COST 100: Introduction to Human Communication

Dr. Gretchen Leitner

Assignment:

This assignment is for an informative speech in which the student proposes a presentation centered on a significant person, significant place, or a significant thing in their life. The student writes an outline and then presents the prepared speech in the classroom for their peers.

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the history of the Kikuyu Tribe from Kenya that my dad is from.

Thesis: I will introduce information and history about the Kikuyu Tribe of Kenya and explain my connection to it.

Introduction

1. Attention Getter: Muriegha. Jitagwo (Mori-egga Jay-tag-wa) Elizabeth Nicole Wakarima Manyara. Does anyone know what I just said? I spoke in my father’s tribal language, Bantu. I said Hello, my name is…

2. Introduce your topic: Today I am going to talk about the Kikuyu Tribe, which is a tribe located in Kenya, Africa.

3. Credibility statement: This is the tribe my dad’s side of the family is from, and I have visited Kenya and am familiar with many family members who are part of this tribe.

4. Thesis statement: I will introduce information and history about the Kikuyu Tribe and explain my personal connection to it.

5. Audience Relevance: We are living in an increasingly diverse global community and learning about other cultures and their histories helps us relate to one another.

6. Introduce your three main points: Today I am going to discuss the history of the Kikuyu Tribe, some traditions from the tribe that my family follows here in the states, and finally how I am connected to the tribe.

7. Transition to Point 1: First I will give you a background on the Kikuyu Tribe’s history.

Speech Body

1. Main Idea: The history of the Kikuyu Tribe is unique and interesting.

A. Supporting Point 1: You’re probably thinking “what is the Kikuyu Tribe?”

1. According to “whileinafrica.com, there are around 3,000 different tribes located in Africa, but the Kikuyu are one of the largest tribes making up about 20% of the total Kenya population.

2. According to britannica.com the Kikuyu are a group of Bantu-speaking people who live in the highland area of south-central Kenya.

3. Since they are located close to Mount Kenya, it became a sacred place, and they used it for religious and political meetings according to atlasofhumanity.com.

B. Supporting Point 2: There is a special origin myth of how the nine Kikuyu Tribes came to be.

1. According to atlasofhumanity.com the founder of the tribe was a man named Gikuyu. He had nine daughters who each of which are believed to have had the names of the nine different sub-groups in the tribe.

2. Every member of the subclans know which daughter their clan dates back to and in my case my family’s sub clan’s name is Wambui.

Transition to Main Idea 2: Now that you know some background on the Kikuyu Tribe, I will now tell you about some traditions from the tribe that I take part in.

2. Main Idea: Even though I don’t live in Kenya, some traditions of the Kikuyu Tribe have still been instilled in me by my family.

A. Supporting Point 1: The Kikuyu have delicious traditional foods that my aunt and grandmother have taught me how to make.

1. One of my favorite foods my aunt Carol makes is mandazi which is a form of fried dough like a donut. However, mandazi does not include all of the frostings, fillings, and toppings making a healthier alternative.

2. She also makes Bhajia which is a type of potato that is coated in eggs, seasonings and is fried.

3. My grandmother, who I call Cucu, also makes mukimu, which is a dish with mashed potatoes, mashed peas, and corn that is traditionally made with a large wooden mashing tool.

4. My mother has adapted over the years to cooking with spices brought from Kenya and will often make my dad meals like stew that my cucu taught her to make.

B. Supporting Point 2: Moving away from food, weddings are considered a very sacred event in our tribe and there are a set of traditional steps everyone must go through.

1. The groom must present the intended bride’s family with a dowry, or bride price. My dad for example presented my mom’s parents a cow (that was still in Kenya), traditional baskets, and carvings which is actually quite modest compared to some of the gifts grooms usually present their in laws. My cucu makes the joke that her son marrying an American saved them many goats because they couldn’t bring on the plane with them.

2. According to an article on Kenyans. co.ke, “Ruracio (roar-rah-shio) has been a solemn practice in Kikuyu traditional culture as it involves the negotiations and payment of the bride price before any marriage can be completed.”

3. Since my dad comes from a tribe where marriage is important, I often find him being very overprotective of me when it comes to the dating world.

Transition to Point 3: Now that I’ve shared some of the Kikuyu Tribe traditions, I take part in, I will now further explain my Kikuyu routes.

3. Main Idea: Although I live in the United States, I am proud of my Kenyan and Kikuyu heritage.

A. Supporting Point 1: My full name is Elizabeth Nicole Wakarima Manyara, which is in part dedicated to my Kikuyu routes.

1. According to tradition, the first-born child is named after the father’s mother or father. I am named Elizabeth after my great grandmother, and Wakarima is the traditional Kikuyu name of my grandmother.

2. The naming system is important as the person is seen to partake of the Spirit of the one, he or she is named after according to mukuyuwordpress.com. (mu-ku-yu) 3. Wakarima means “from the mountains” and while it is not a traditional first nine sisters name, it is a name that is common in Kenya and has been passed through my family for generations.

B. Supporting Point 2: I hope to have the opportunity to spend more time in Kenya learning about my tribe and cultures firsthand.

1. I visited Kenya when I was 12 years old. My grandparents took me on a safari, I saw the Indian Ocean, and I got to meet and connect with many aunts, uncles, and cousins I had never heard of before.

2. I would like to go back and spend more time with my family so that I can become knowledgeable about the Kikuyu customs and traditions so that someday I can pass them down to my children.

Transition to Conclusion: My Kenyan family’s history, traditions, and culture from the Kikuyu tribe have proven to be an important aspect of who I am as a person.

Conclusion

1. Summarize your main points: Today I have informed you of who the Kikuyu Tribe are, some of their traditions that I follow in my own life, and how I connect myself to this tribe even though I do not live in Kenya.

2. Restate your thesis: In all my Kikuyu roots are something that are very unique and important to me.

3. Final statement: In the words of my family’s language, Nato konana. We will see each other again.

References

Atienza, E., 21, E. A. on N., 4, E. A. on M., 20, E. A. on A., & Name. (2021, April 15). Meet the tribes in Africa: An overview by region. While in Africa. https://whileinafrica. com/meet-the tribes-in-africa/ Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Kikuyu. Encyclopædia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kikuyu

The kikuyu dowry process (ruracio): The steps and procedure Lughayangu. (n.d.). https://lughayangu.com/post/ the-kikuyu-dowry-process-the-steps-and-paymentprocedure

Sunday, B. K. on, & Kimani, B. (2021, September 12). Ruracio steps: Complete Guide to kikuyu dowry processes Kenyans.co.ke. https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/68388ruracio-steps complete-guide-kikuyu-dowry-processes

Mũkũyũ. (2018, September 3). Kikuyu naming system Gīkūyū Centre for Cultural Studies. https://mukuyu. wordpress.com/tag/kikuyu-naming-system/ Atlasofhumanity.com. (n.d.). Kikuyu tribe, Kenya. Atlas Of Humanity. https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/kikuyu Mũkũyũ. (2018a, September 3). Kikuyu naming system Gīkūyū Centre for Cultural Studies. https://mukuyu. wordpress.com/tag/kikuyu-naming-system/

Photo Credits: Bobbi Manyara h3ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Kenya h3ps://www.dinewithdina.co.uk/recipes/mandazi-zanzibaricoconut-amp-cardamom-donuts h3ps://cookpad.com/ ke/recipes/3757222-bajia h3ps://www.saltandlavender.com/beef-stew/

Student Reflection:

In my significant something speech, there were a few things I did in order to plan my speech most effectively. One of these things was calling my dad to get more background on the Kikuyu tribe. The information he gave me really helped me to shape my outline and provided some key points I wanted to talk about in the speech. When planning I also figured out ways to include my unique personal experiences and connections to the tribe to keep my audience more engaged, which I felt made my speech easier to write since it was something I’m passionate about. However, in planning I still tried to tie in a fact wherever I could so that the audience knew I was getting official information and not going completely based on experience, which I also felt was effective. To improve my rehearsal process I think I could have practiced my speech in front of people. I practiced a lot alone in my room and I do not think that this really prepares well to speak in front of a whole class. I think I also should have practiced a little bit more with incorporating my slides because I felt there was a disconnect between my speaking and the slides since I did not practice with them much. As far as my confidence for this speech, it rose significantly compared to where it was for the first speech. I was a lot more knowledgeable on my subject and I feel as though that really helped up my performance altogether and helped me to get out of my notes.

Assignment:

Social Skills in Elementary Schools

by Madison Fickinger

ENGL 114: Academic Writing

Dr. Nicole Santalucia

In this problem/solution research paper students will identify a social issue that is important to them; thoroughly research many sides of this issue; build context to interest readers; present a stance/argument and debatable thesis statement; evaluate and present research that addresses the issue; seek and present researched solutions, resolutions, awareness, advocacy, facts; become an advocate and persuade readers to enact meaningful change, awareness, or a call to action.

The development of social skills is one of the most important factors impacting any person’s life. Without social skills, just about any daily task is almost impossible. Unfortunately, the pandemic has greatly stunted the development of these skills in many people, especially those of children. Elementary schools can impact how well a child’s social-emotional learning develops, either for the better or worse. Many elementary schools could and need to be doing more to help these kids, now more than ever before. Free play and social-emotional learning strategies need to be used more often in elementary schools in order to reintroduce the social skills and learning children have lost due to residual effects of the pandemic.

Social skills in children have been greatly declining due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid forced not just children, but everyone to remain within their homes and become greatly unsocialized. However, the effects on children were detrimental. All aspects of children’s development were negatively impacted, including social, academic, and emotional learning. Some kids born into Covid or those who were very young during the pandemic never developed their necessary social skills and now do not know how to communicate. Children were also reported to have academic struggles and behavior issues (Brockmeier). These other issues children are exhibiting can further isolate them from their peers, making the development of social skills much harder for them. With proper social-emotional learning, not only would they better develop these skills, but it is likely that they would perform better overall in school and their behavior issues would fade.

The definition of social-emotional learning is imperative to the understanding of why it is necessary to help kids develop these skills. Social-emotional learning (SEL) is defined as “the process of developing essential skills for understanding and managing emotions, setting and achieving goals, feeling and showing empathy, maintaining positive relationships, and making responsible decisions” (Belaire 2). SEL affects

just about every aspect of someone’s life, so without proper development and teaching, it is likely their life will be a lot more difficult. Think about how much trouble you would have if you could not understand your own feelings or if you were unable to ever make a decision. That would make day-to-day life a lot harder than it needs to be. Without the implementation of development techniques, this is the future all too many children are facing. Another important term to understand is emotional quotient (EQ). EQ may also be referred to as “emotional intelligence” and is how capable a person is of understanding others’ emotions and regulating your own (Srakocic). Emotional intelligence goes hand in hand with SEL and should be developed as so. Some important skills Srakocic mentions EQ and SEL help children to develop other than the ones previously mentioned include communication, problem solving, motivation, and stress response. These are skills used daily in everyone’s lives, and it is unfair not to give children the opportunity to properly learn these skills.

Recess is a very important tool in the development of social skills in elementary school. The CDC recommends that schools provide children with at least 20 minutes of recess daily (1). However, some teachers will argue that 20 minutes of recess results in a greater loss of instructional time (Sullivan). 20 minutes, or even 30, a day in the grand scheme of things is really not all that long, especially when thinking about all of the benefits this time provides. However, not nearly enough schools are providing this. In a study done during the 2011-2012 school year, it was found that 60% of districts have no rule about having daily recess and that only one state requires the minimum of 20 minutes of daily recess (CDC 1). The CDC mainly recommends recess in a sense of physical activity to promote physical well-being. However, they do acknowledge the importance of recess as an important factor in “social [,] and emotional well-being [,] and [as a way to] enhance learning” (CDC 1). Recess not only

helps to get kids active, but it also promotes a sense of belonging as it allows children to engage in free play and unregulated socialization with their peers, while also giving them space to use their imagination.

Tying into recess is another very important outlet of socialization in school, gym class. From my experience, kids in elementary school only get one day of gym class a week, and that is if they are lucky. Gym class offers another opportunity for physical activity during the school day, and it has already been established that physical activity is good for social development. Gym class can help to develop a slightly different set of social skills as it is a more structured free play than recess is. Generally, when a child goes out to recess, there are many options for what they may do during that time and there is no adult telling them which option they must pick. During gym class, there is normally a set activity that kids are required to participate in. These activities will tend to promote “teamwork, good sportsmanship, and learning and following rules” (Mooney). These are all also important skills that children generally cannot be effectively taught while just sitting at a desk all day. Giving them the chance to get up and move around with their peers offers them better opportunities for better social skills.

Within the classroom, there can also be many opportunities for social-emotional learning, when approached correctly. Some of the best ways to do this are unstructured time and group work. Unstructured time is when there is no explicit work for a student to complete. This may just be time to chat with a neighbor or it may be time to do makeup work. Either way, it teaches children a sense of responsibility for themselves, while also developing skills such as time management, prioritization, and communication. Group work can be implemented in many different ways. Some common examples include group projects, small reading groups, learning stations, or discussing topics with other students. All these assignments give similar opportunities that unstructured time allows for. Students take on a new role where they become responsible for their own and their peers’ learning. This can also be an effective tool in teaching them responsibility, while further developing communication skills, whether it is through communicating with their peers or asking for help from the teacher.

Not all social-emotional learning can be done at school, but schools can help to promote development outside of the classroom. Social-emotional learning can take place just about anywhere. Home is one of the most important, after school. Schools can provide activities that encourage development at home. Communication is a big part of this. Teachers need to effectively communicate with their students’ parents to get a better understanding of what they can do to help with the students’ development. Simply talking to parents about routines at home can help the teacher

to get a better gauge of the kinds of learning that are already being modeled and then be able to supplement that in their classroom. Homework is another opportunity for SEL at home. Being able to work on your own or to ask for help from the people you live with is an important skill that can be fostered through homework. It does not just have to be traditional homework, like a sheet of math problems. It could be reading a book with someone else or partaking in physical activity at home. There are many ways that homework can help to develop social skills, even if the two do not appear directly related.

Another way schools can encourage social development outside of the classroom is through extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities can include anything from clubs to sports to events hosted at school. These all offer unique opportunities for children to develop social skills in a different capacity. Joining a team, for example a basketball team, offers children the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than themselves while having a similar effect on development to that of gym class. It also helps to teach them a sense of discipline as they now have something to do after school, so they must be able to effectively manage their time. A school sanctioned activity, such as a school dance, can offer a different type of development entirely. This gives children the opportunity to socialize with their peers in a safe setting that is very different from being in school. All these types of opportunities presented by schools are another important factor in children’s social-emotional development. However, the school can only do so much to promote these opportunities. In this sense, both the parents and the children need to take responsibility and seek out these opportunities.

Problems with children’s social-emotional development are occurring all over the place, but I have witnessed it firsthand. Both of my parents are teachers in my home school district, Williams Valley. I used to volunteer in that same elementary school. All the teachers in this district are witnessing these negative effects on their students. Specifically, in talking to one of the kindergarten teachers, she stated that she will not let her children on devices during the school day as she believes it is impacting their socialization. She also reported that the kids get angry with her and will repeatedly ask why they cannot be on their laptops. I know personally, when I was in kindergarten, I was not worried about laptops. I wanted to play with my friends. These kids do not have that same concern. They are more worried about when they will get to play on a device. This worry is making them less social, and they are isolating themselves from others. If this behavior does not stop, these kids will not be able to develop properly, and they will struggle all throughout their lives.

Technology, however, is not inherently bad for children and their development. It is a matter of how it is being used that can have negative effects. Giving children breaks from technology forces them to develop real world social skills. But having social skills online is now becoming extremely important in people’s lives too. Technology can be positively implemented as a way to help children interact with their peers. There are multiplayer games that could be used in order to teach teamwork. The way children feel about technology and the internet also need to be approached. They need to be taught what is and is not appropriate and how to behave online. For example, they need to learn about cyberbullying, which can in turn help them develop more empathy for others (Prothero). Exploring technology in school allows children a safe space to learn and grow and can also help them with their social skills.

The effects of not developing social skills would be detrimental for children. The benefits of proper development have all been mentioned already. But what happens if we fail to adequately develop these skills? One of the biggest issues is there would be a major negative effect on their overall health. Not just mental health, but also physical. A lack of social skills leads to loneliness and stress, which causes a major impact on a person’s physical health (Blue). The problems can have extreme effects on people, and in the worst-case scenario, can cause death, especially when looking at mental health. Depression and/or anxiety are likely to form from these feelings of stress and being alone. This in turn can cause people to feel hopeless and end up taking their own lives. While this sounds extreme, this is a sad reality children could be facing later in their lives if action is not taken now to prevent it.

Elementary schools across the country have a choice to make. The Covid pandemic in 2020 greatly stunted the growth of children’s social skills, but through the implementation of social-emotional learning strategies and free play, this loss can be recovered. Without these skills, children will not properly develop, and their lives will be much harder. Elementary schools can choose to fix this, or they can choose to do nothing and let their students suffer.

Works Cited

Belaire, Evan, et al. “Relationship of Social–Emotional Learning, Resilience, Psychological Well-being, and Depressive Symptoms with Physical Activity in School-Aged Children.” Children, vol. 11, no. 8, 2024, pp. 1032. ProQuest, https://go.openathens. net/redirector/ship.edu?url=https://www.proquest. com/scholarly-journals/relationship-socialemotional-learning-resilience/docview/3097888730/ se-2?accountid=28640.

Blue, Alexis. “Poor Social Skills May Be Harmful to Mental and Physical Health.” The University of Arizona, 6 Nov. 2017, https://news.arizona.edu/news/poor-social-skillsmay-be-harmful-mental-and-physical-health

Brockmeier, Lindsay, et al. “The Return to In-Person School: Teacher Reports of Student Behavior and Social–Emotional Learning.” Children & Schools, vol. 46, no. 4, Oct. 2024, pp. 223–31. EBSCOhost, https://doi. org/10.1093/cs/cdae019.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). “Strategies for supporting recess in elementary schools.” 2014, https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/45577.

Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs - Eric, 2013, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED581699.pdf.

Fuentes Diaz, Maria F., Martin Sénéchal, and Danielle R. Bouchard. “Impact of Outdoor Play Structures on Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in Children during Recess: A Comparative Study.” Children, vol. 11, no. 7, 2024, pp. 828. ProQuest, https:// go.openathens.net/redirector/ship.edu?url=https:// www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/impact-outdoorplay-structures-on-moderate/docview/3084718647/ se-2?accountid=28640.

Mooney, Lisa. “Why Is Gym Class Important?” Livestrong, https://www.livestrong.com/ article/443955-why-is-gym-class-important/

Prothero, Arianna. “Is Tech Destroying Kids’ Social Skills? Here’s How Social-Emotional Learning Can Help.” Education Week, 12 April 2022, https://www.edweek. org/leadership/is-tech-destroying-kids-social-skills-hereshow-social-emotional-learning-can-help/2022/04

Srakocic, S. “Why Social and Emotional Learning Is So Important Now.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 28 Apr. 2022, www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/ social-emotional-learning-important.

Sullivan, Nicole. “The advantages and disadvantages of recess.” Graduate Research Papers, 2006, https:// scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/1597.

Student Reflection:

As an aspiring teacher, I believe it is very important to find the best ways to support children in school. In a post-Covid world, teaching now looks very different than it did just a few short years ago. In this paper I explore the negative effects Covid has had on the social-emotional learning of school age children along with ways teachers can best help students develop their social skills. Social skills are a vital part of everyday life and thus the development of them is imperative. This paper and the research that went into it has helped me to better prepare for ways to develop these skills in my own classroom one day.

Assignment:

The Confluence of Transnational Gangs and Terrorism: Reclassifying Barrio 18’s Tactics as Terrorism

by Maria Luiza Takahashi

CRJU 411: Terrorism

Dr. Carlos Rojas

The purpose of this assignment is to enhance your research, writing, and critical analysis skills by conducting research about a domestic or international terrorist organization and producing a succinct summary about your topic. Your research paper should include at least five academic references from reputable sources.

Abstract:

Reaching a consensus on the definition of terrorism has been an ongoing debate in the international realm for a long time, but there are some universally agreed upon characteristics of what constitutes an act of terrorism. The broadness and subjective interpretation of existing definitions generate overlap between acts of terror and other illicit methods, such as transnational gang tactics. Still, the commonalities are not enough when trying to classify actions as terrorism. The goal of this paper is not to make transnational gangs tactics synonymous to terrorism but to argue that the methods of oppression by gangs such as Barrio 18 are unique to the Northern Triangle region (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala) in Central America, and that their employment of nontraditional forms of human trafficking and coerced servitude merit the reclassification of terrorism as their activities have created an unsustainable living environment for those subjected to the violence and abuse.

Definitions help provide frameworks and create uniformity in domestic and global affairs. Having defined standards and parameters to specific subject issues is integral in facilitating our understanding of the world and daily occurrences. There are instances, however, that the issues presented are far too complex to establish a feasible narrowed definition that transcends borders. In such cases, definitions are more limited in scope and rely on subjective interpretations of what falls within the purview of the issue. This is found to be the case when dealing with topics such as terrorism; it is a beast of many forms and natures. We have a broad understanding of what constitutes an act of terrorism, so why aren’t some illicit behaviours not

classified as such when they are acts of terrorism? This is the case for transnational gang tactics in the Central American region known as the Northern Triangle. This paper aims to reaffirm the importance of maintaining a definitional ambiguity of terrorism, while presenting a case that the brutal and distinctive methods used in Central American gangs, combined with the overlap of tactics, are enough to reclassify their methods as acts of terrorism.

There are multiple working definitions of terrorism in international and domestic organizations. Historically, the term terrorism can be traced back to the late 18th century in France, during Robespierre’s Reign of Terror. Since then, the definition has been subject to shifts in meaning, all of which were shaped by historical, political, and cultural factors. Throughout this process, defining the term became ever more complex (Schmid, 1-15). Hodgson and Tadros do not propose a new definition of terrorism but instead confront the dilemma of defining the term by highlighting some limitations and requirements for a definition. The two important ambitions, as they call it, when defining terrorism relates to the purpose and morality of the definition. Criteria must be met to successfully address the issue in the legal system, both domestically and internationally. The other ambition is the moral component that must be met when defining the term. This means that the term must be reflective of the general understanding of what constitutes an act of terrorism, and that such actions require condemnation. Despite this understanding, defining terrorism presents additional challenges. If the term is too narrowly defined, it would exclude attacks on states and state officials; if the definition is too broad, it would incorporate freedom fighters into the categorization of terrorists. Even if the definition distinguishes between

legitimate and illegitimate attacks, political motivations and biases hinder legal actors’ capabilities to justly distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate attacks. Regardless of its definitional complexities, common characteristics of acts of terrorism usually consist of acts of general violence and threats towards civilians with the intent to intimidate, coerce, or incite fear. These acts, generally but not exclusively, are driven by ideological motives (including political and religious) and can be used to influence governments or other institutions (Hodgson and Tadros, 496-510). Other definitions of terrorism determined by organizations like the FBI include general characteristics like the use of violent, criminal acts meant to intimidate or coerce a population (FBI, 2024).

In contrast, while transnational gangs are complex organizations, there is more generally accepted definitions on what they are and their general characteristics. Transnational gangs are criminal organizations that operate in multiple countries. They tend to have more organization and structure in leadership and can resemble organized crime syndicates in their structure. Some can be “very mobile, highly adaptable to new geographic areas, and [maintain] connections in their native countries” (Franco, 2010) (DHS, 2024). Common social factors contributing to the formation of these groups include a lack of individual or structural support systems, the need for survival, and general socioeconomic instabilities. These conditions are often exploited as ways to recruit and retain young members by providing them a sense of structure and stability (SWJ Staff, 2020). They are organized and structured into semiautonomous cells or “cliques” and have elaborate but flexible organizational structures, contributing to their ability to be mobile and adaptable. To maintain their activities, many engage in transnational drug trafficking, money laundering, violence towards opposing factions or civilians, kidnapping, and human trafficking (Pérez, 2013, p. 225).

Barrio 18, or the 18th Street Gang, emerged as a youth street gang in Los Angeles, California, between the 1960s-1970s. The group was created as an alternative for individuals of Mexican American, mixed, or non-Mexican backgrounds who were rejected from admission to an existing gang in Los Angeles, the Clanton 14. Many of the founders of Barrio 18 resided in the Pico-Union neighborhood near 18th Street, giving the group its name. What distinguished Barrio 18 from other gangs in the region was their openness to having members of diverse ethnic and national backgrounds, a fact which partly contributed to the dynamic growth and expansion of membership across the city and the country. The proliferation of gangs with substantial foreign-born and irregular migrant populations led to increases in security concerns for the United States government. As a result, reactionary

immigration policies were implemented, with one being the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1997. This Act aimed to address the issue by increasing the list of criminal offenses that are punishable by deportation. This, in conjunction with The Violent Gang Task Force (VGTF) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), resulted in an estimated deportation of over 20,000 youth affiliated with gangs in the United States between 1998-2002. (Nicholl, B. et al. 1994). Most of those who were deported were foreign nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, and once they reached their respective countries of origin, efforts to establish local youth gang networks began. Despite the efforts and mass deportations by the United States government, Barrio 18 continued to grow and diffused to suburbs and cities across the country. Membership reached an estimate of 30,000-50,000 people by 2008 and in 2011, the FBI documented their presence in over 19 states and the District of Columbia (Savenije, 209-211). Members of Barrio 18 and their rival gang MS-13 who were deported, brought their rivalry and animosity with them. This generation soon began establishing local gangs with the same name and became organized and structured to the point where their membership and influence superseded that of existing gangs. After a while, Barrio 18 and MS-13 became the most powerful gangs in Central America (SWJ Staff, 2020).

Currently, the main issue Barrio 18’s activities (and its rival MS 13) are bringing to the Northern Triangle region of Central America is that their activities have disrupted the lives of the local populations and transformed the region into the hub for the highest homicide rates in the world. The Pan American Health Organization reported that “violence is one of the main causes of death in the Hemisphere.” (Pérez, 217). Homicide rates have skyrocketed since the early 2000s in the Northern Triangle, despite government efforts and mano dura (iron fist) policies to attempt to counteract this crisis. Such tactics, often involving jailing anyone affiliated or suspected of being affiliated with gangs, have proved ineffective and have contributed to the crisis. Citizens still feel insecure and perceive the threat of violence and crime committed by gangs as threats to national safety and personal security. Approximately 40 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala expressed fear of becoming a victim of a crime. Those who expressed this sentiment often reside in areas where gang violence and activities are prevalent, which can indicate that the existence of these groups is a significant contributing factor to fear and insecurity. (Pérez, 218-223).

What distincts the tactics used by Barrio 18 as and is a key argument as to why their methods should be classified as terrorism is their use of a non-traditional form of human trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery. Boerman and Golob conducted a study regarding human trafficking as a tactic of gangs in the Northern Triangle, making a clear distinction between gang membership and coerced servitude. Membership implies benefits, protection status, and power, while coerced servitude entails deprivation of bodily autonomy and agency, void of benefits from affiliation. (Boerman and Golob, 2020, 1). In coerced servitude, tactics often involve coercion and force, where the person is being exploited in the short term instead of the long-term affiliation associated with gang membership. In the case of coerced servitude against women, the gender dynamics of the region already make women more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. Societies are male-dominated, impunity against any psychological, physical, or sexually violent behavior against young girls and women is virtually assured for offenders. Gang culture and dynamics contribute to the issue as behaviors are hyper-masculinized and, in many cases, women are treated as property. This emphasizes violence against women as “a central element of gangs’ strategy of terror and a means by which they deepen their control over communities and the state” (Boerman and Golob, 2020, 9-10). Terror tactics usually involve the exploitation of women to serve as drug smugglers, be forced into sexual slavery, and perform other illegal activities. The way that gangs maintain compliance of those they coerce involves threats of violence or death against family members. Even if the person manages to flee from direct violence, there is some form of retaliation against their families (Boerman and Golob, 2020, 11).

So, why should Barrio 18’s tactics be considered as a form of terrorism? Reiterating some key characteristics of terrorism, it involves the use of general violence and threats toward civilians with the intent to intimidate, coerce, or incite fear, which can be but are not exclusively ideologically driven (Hodgson and Tadros, 496-510). Meanwhile, gangs rely on criminal activities, fear, coercion, and in the case of gangs in the Northern Triangle, forced servitude to maintain their viability and achieve their goals. There is a general overlap between Barrio 18’s tactics and terrorism: the use of violence toward a specific group. In this case, while the general population is significantly impacted and lives in constant fear and threat of gang action against them, the main targets are youth and women. (Boerman and Golob, 2020, 5-10). Though they may not be driven by political or religious motives, not all terrorism needs to be (Hodgson and Tadros, 496-510). However, this overlap is partly the reason why their tactics should be

classified as terrorism. The pervasive and disruptive nature of their use of nontraditional human trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery makes their actions one of endemic terror. Their tactics create and endless cycle of exploitation and suffering, creating a humanitarian and systemic crisis and they have transformed the Northern Triangle into the ‘deadliest’ place in the world.

References:

Boerman, T., & Golob, A. (2020). Gangs and Modern-Day Slavery in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala: A Non-Traditional Model of Human Trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/23 322705.2020.1719343

Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (2024, April 22). Transnational Gangs | Homeland Security. Www.dhs.gov. https://www.dhs.gov/hsi/investigate/transnational-gangs FBI. (2024). Terrorism. Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism

Franco, C. (2010). “CRS Report for Congress the MS-13 and 18 Th Street Gangs: Emerging Transnational Gang Threats?” https://www.everycrsreport.com/ files/20100122RL34233_4b315f7c50b19e1bb 2d2b746a949a0bec3521cf9.pdf

Hodgson, J. S., & Tadros, V. (2013). The Impossibility of Defining Terrorism. New Criminal Law Review: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, 16(3), 494–526. https://doi.org/10.1525/nclr.2013.16.3.494

Nicholl, B. et al. (1994). “Violent Gang Task Force | Office of Justice Programs.” U.S. Department of Justice 61 (6) 30-35. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/ abstracts/violent-gang-task-force

Pérez, O. (2013). “Gang Violence and Insecurity in Contemporary Central America.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 32 (s1): 217–34. https://doi. org/10.1111/blar.12114.

Savenije, W. (2006). Desafíos Trasnacionales en Centroamérica. In Lesser, T. (2006). Intra-Caribbean Migration and the Conflict Nexus. 209-211.

Schmid, A. (2023). Defining Terrorism. 1-15. https://icct. nl/sites/default/files/2023-03/Schmidt%20-%20 Defining%20Terrorism_1.pdf

SWJ Staff. (2020, August 31). Eighteenth Street: The Origins of “Barrio 18” | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University. Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University. https://smallwarsjournal.com/2020/08/31/ eighteenth-street-origins-barrio-18/

Student Reflection:

Terrorism it's a broad concept that is not tangibly measured using mathematical formulas. Rather, what constitutes terrorism is subjective to cultural, political, and historical contexts. This makes it a complex issue to study, but compelling as a student of international politics. Going into this assignment, I knew that I wanted to bring a different approach to the topic and knew that studying the intersection of gang violence and terrorism would be beneficial to my understanding of the broadness of the phenomenon but also hopefully shed some light on the conditions and terror that this group is inflicting on people in Central America with their activities and tactics. There are many misconceptions surrounding the topic, but not enough emphasis or protections are given to those who are personally impacted; I hope reading this may contribute to our general understanding of the topic and how complex such issues are.

The Framing of the Poor in Netflix’s Arcane

by Lillie Matiko

COMM 245: Diversity and the Media

Dr. Dhiman Chattopadhyay

Assignment:

This is the Content Analysis Project. Students are required to choose eight (8) episodes of a television show, or three (3) feature films from the same series, and asked to analyze the framing/depiction of at least any one of the following types of diversity. Students are provided a holistic rubric and assignment guide, advising them on how each paragraph may be constructed. Students must have the following sections in their final paper: (a) a rationale or justification for choosing the topic (e.g., why is understanding how gender is presented in popular TV serials so important), (b) a brief review of what at least two previous studies may have said about this topic - explaining or justifying why they chose their artifact, (c) describing what the show/film series is about (d) the method of data collection and analysis (e) emerging themes /findings (f) a short discussion section and (g) a separate reference page.

Introduction:

Research shows that mass media can have a unique capacity to connect with audiences, and that media messages have the power to shape social norms, attitudes, and behaviors. That being said, it has been reported that there are misconceptions and stereotypes being portrayed in the media about people in poverty (Rosenthal, 2021).

This topic was chosen because I feel our society can be out-of-touch, sometimes. I think that fighting against the stereotypes given to people who live in poverty takes a back burner in society, making it not as important and not as recognized. As a society, we aren’t in a place where we see others’ financial situations before factors like race and gender. Oftentimes, we perceive the immediate outward appearance first before we see the reason behind it. The amount of resources available to people in a society dictates how successful they can be.

Arcane (2021) Context:

A new season of the show I will be analyzing, Arcane on Netflix, came out in the month of November 2024 and many people, including me, find it to be an addicting show. The show is an animated series based on the popular video game, League of Legends, featuring the stories of some characters you are able to play as in the game. I have never played the game, but that knowledge is not needed to watch the show. There are two city states in which the show takes place: the innovative, rich city of Piltover (also referred to as the Uppercity, Topside) and the crime-ridden, poor state of Zaun (also referred to as the Undercity, Underground, Trenches) (IMDB, 2021). The show follows multiple characters on both sides, below you will find a chart of characters and which side they belong to:

Piltover (Uppercity)

In-Betweens Zaun (Undercity)

Jayce Talis Victor Jinx (AKA Powder)

Mel Medarda Vi Silco

Caitlyn Kiramann Heimerdinger Sevika

Ambessa Medarda Ekko Vander Enforcers (Grayson, Marcus, Maddie)

Council Members (Salo, Shoolah, Cassandra Kiramann)

Dr. Evil man (Singed)

Gang leaders (Finn, Renni, Smeech)

Milo & Claggor

Zaun is under the control of Piltover, which is governed by a council of 7 leaders of innovation. All members of the council are from the Uppercity and belong to rich, influential, legacies, there is no representation of the Undercity. Throughout the two seasons of the show, Zaun is fighting for their independence and against the injustice they experience as being stuck in the cycle of poverty.

The main characters from Zaun are Vi and Jinx/ Powder. Vi and Powder grew up under the care of Vander, the leader of Zaun at the time. After Vander was murdered, Vi was shipped off to jail where she spends 8 years in a Piltover prison and Powder is

adopted by Silco, who exercises power over Zaun til the end of Season 1. While in Silco’s care, her name changed to Jinx. Vi is taken out of prison by Caitlyn Kiramann, an enforcer and council member’s daughter, to help stop the violence that is ever persistent in the Undercity and a new drug epidemic, Shimmer. Shimmer is being produced by Silco and is keeping him in power. Vi and Caitlyn have a ‘will they, won’t they’ trope throughout the whole first season and become official by the end of the show and of season 2.

The main characters from Piltover include 2 council members, Jayce Talis and Mel Merdarda. Jayce is an educated man who went to their highest educational facility, called the Academy. Jayce is a scientist who throughout the show is attempting to harness the power of magic by creating an artificial power source. His partner, Viktor, grew up in Zaun but currently resides in Piltover where he aids in the scientific discovery that they like to call, Hextech.

Analysis Method:

There are two seasons of the show, so for each season I watched the first two episodes and the last two episodes, totaling 8 episodes. Through this method, I examined the portrayal and representation of people in poverty in the show Arcane (2021). While watching the episodes, I picked out scenes that screamed “Rich vs Poor.” When I observed something being said, done, applied, enforced, etc. that affected the way the viewer perceives people who live in poverty, I took note of characters, timestamps, the ‘standout’ moment of the scene, and recorded which category.

A study conducted by USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center states that there are 5 common types of narratives being enforced in the media about poor people: Character, Meritocracy, Greed, Culture, and Systematic Narratives. Character narratives occur when there are common biases and stigmas that are related to the character of people in a certain group. People living in poverty have been shown to have character narratives like the belief that poor people are dishonest, dirty, lack intelligence, and that they are a drain on society. Meritocracy narratives can be thought of as the ideals that align with the ‘American Dream.’ These narratives enforce the idea that everyone has the same opportunities for success, it’s about will power and drive. Meritocracy narratives can be closely connected to both character narratives and greed narratives. Greed narratives depict poor people as selfish and dishonest. It enforces that poor people are ‘gaming the system’. Culture narratives suggest that there are cultures amongst poor people, as well as people who are rich, that maintain and perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Systematic narratives recognize the governing roles and societal influences that create conditions to

keep people in poverty and create divides (Rosenthal, 2021). There are many ways that our perceptions can affect people, Rosenthal et. a explains the negative perspectives of how poverty is depicted in the media.

After categorization, I used a point system to assign scores to each category. I gave each of the scenes observed a total of 4 points at most. Depending on if the scene was significant or just ‘passing by’. Points could then be allocated amongst the 5 categories (character, meritocracy, greed, cultural, and systematic narratives). I further split the categories into positive and negative impacts for Piltover and Zaun. All categorizations were concluded based on content, context in the episode, and morals that are universally held in our society today. In deciding, emphasis is placed on how a viewer of the show would interpret what was being shown. It is acknowledged that Arcane is a story-dependent show. Only the episodes described above will be examined independent of what occurs between the beginning and end of seasons.

Findings:

Across the 8 episodes watched, 61 scenes were found that depicted ‘rich vs poor’. A total of 205 points were allocated, with the most being 51% of those points in character narratives and least being 6% in Greed Narratives. For Piltover, the category that received the most points is negative systematic narratives (36 points and 42% of all combined points).

Character:

A total of 105 points awarded to character narratives found in the scenes across both Piltover and Zaun (Image 1). People who lived or came from Zaun were depicted negatively the most, representing almost half of the points in the whole category. Most commonly depicted traits that were found negatively depicting people in poverty were similar to that said by Rosenthal et a., being that people who live in poverty are dirty, dishonest, violent, drugheads, extremist, and subordinate. All other categories remain relatively even, representing 15-20% of the total points.

Throughout the whole of the Season 1 episodes 1 and 2, many character narratives and stereotypes are being set up in order for the watcher to create the bias in their heads for the rest of the show. At 19:30 in the first episode of the first season, the viewer sees the first look around Zaun. At first glance, the Underground can be described best as grimy, scary, and ‘somewhere you don’t want to be’. The whole of the scene is dark colored with pops of neon. There is a man stumbling around inebriated and urinating on the side of a building (35:30). Directly after we see that man, the viewer is shown a billboard that has a middle finger graffitied onto it. Most of the negative points come from the character, Jinx, who is from the undercity and is the daughter of the man who is running the show in Zaun, Silco. Jinx is most well known for her terrorist acts, like the bombing of Piltover’s city hall in Season 1 episode 9.

With the scene starting at 27:42, Jinx kidnaps her sister, Vi, Caitlyn, and her father, Silco. Jinx wants Vi to choose between Powder and Cailtyn, and Vi couldn’t choose. As a result, Jinx threatens to kill Caitlyn herself. While Vi is talking Jinx down from this decision, Caitlyn gets loose from her restraints and aims her gun at Jinx. It is now a stand off between the two people Vi loves the most, her sister from Zaun and her girlfriend from Piltover. After some back and forth, Jinx ends up accidentally shooting Silco and killing him. Jinx rises and chooses to be who she believes she has always been: a Jinx. Jinx didn’t let others decide who she was and took her autonomy back, but she made the choice to be bad. At time stamp 35:20 in the same episode, Jinx walks to an edge looking up to Pilotver, aims a missile, and fires. As she fires, the council members are voting in favor of granting Zaun their independence.

Meritocracy:

A total of 21 points were awarded to meritocratic narratives found in the scene across both Piltover and Zaun (Image 2). This represents 12% of total points available in the study. People who lived or came from Zaun were depicted negatively the most in this cat-

egory, representing 19 points and 85% of points in the meritocracy category. The 3 points awarded to positive perceptions of Piltover in this category was due to a skew. In the big picture, those 3 points represent 1% of total points available so it is relatively insignificant. This can be interpreted as people who live in Zaun are in a position where they are less fortunate than others.

Season 1 episode 1 at time stamp 7:12, young Vi says “Look around you, Do you think anyone on topside is going hungry.” Vi, Powder, Milo (friend), and Claggor (friend) are performing a heist on a laboratory in Piltover. As the kids enter the room, they are amazed by the sheer amount of gadgets in this room. Milo says, “You know what, Claggor? For once you’re right. We are definitely not supposed to be here.” All of the children in this scene grew up in poverty and are still in poverty. They don’t know what the gadgets are so they start to grab ‘anything that looks expensive’. Milo picks up a gadget to show Powder how cool it was, to which she quickly corrects that he is holding a nose hair trimmer. This scene can be interpreted as poor people/kids don’t have the resources to afford, yes, but they aren’t privileged enough to seek out these gadgets in a casual way. They don’t get to think about buying/ owning anything besides what is necessary to survive. That’s why they were doing the heist in the first place; they were going to pawn what they stole.

Greed:

The category with the smallest point allocation was greed narratives, with a total of 12 points and representing 6% of total points (Image 3). People who lived or came from Zaun were depicted negatively the most in this category, representing 9 points and 75% of points in the greed category. Alike to what was stated in the meritocracy category, the 3 points awarded to positive perceptions of Piltover in this category was due to a skew and represent 1% of total points available, making it insignificant. These findings can be interpreted as people who live in Zaun are depicted as more selfish, desperate, dishonest, and just looking to get ahead.

In Season 1 Episode 1 (15:00), Vi, Powder, Milo, and Claggor are returning from their heist with their loot. They have been chased by enforcers and almost got caught, but they made it back to the ‘safety’ of the underground. Some other street kids confront them and fighting breaks out. Claggor throws dirt in one of the kids’ faces and a street kid pulls out a knife. They were fighting like rabid dogs to get the loot in order to sell it. Vi ends up winning the fight for the group. This scene depicts them as desperate and proves that they will do anything to get ahead.

Cultural:

A total of 22 points awarded to cultural narratives found in the scenes, representing 11% of total points (Image 4). People who lived or came from Zaun were depicted negatively the most in this category, representing 13 points and 59% of points in the cultural category. Second highest was Piltover culture being depicted negatively, with points 5 and 23% of points in the category. These findings can be interpreted as people who live in Zaun hold beliefs that cause the cycle of poverty to stay strong. Most examples found in this category would be hopelessness of an end to their poverty.

In season 1 episode 8 at 16:35, a man in Zaun punches another man in the face. They proceed to fight and the former councilman, Heimendinger, is walking through. The men stop beating up on eachother to look at Heimendinger. We see that he is missing his nose and has a prosthetic, along with tattoos on his face. He gives Heimendinger a dirty look as he walks away. As he continues walking, people say “Watch it, fur ball,” and “move” and are shoving him out of the way. There is a man on the street who is being affected by the ‘Shimmer drug epidemic. He is pale, almost purple, and his eyes are glazed over as he is crouching on the ground. His hair is a mess and he is only wearing pants. He only grunts as he reaches out his hand to ask for help. Heimendinger jumps at the sight of him.

Moving into a side street, a child walks up to Heimendinger and hands him some nuts and bolts she

had found. Heimendinger being a scientist, does some motions with his hands and makes a spinning top out of the parts. She looks enchanted. However, her mother rushes to her child and pulls her by the arm as she is telling him to get away from her.

This scene shows how the culture of the underground affects how people who have more resources than them see them. Heimendinger, being a former council member, knew things were bad in Zaun but he didn’t fully realize how bad until he was there. He later in the episode says that he was there to help, but he didn’t feel welcomed and he left. The people of Zaun have an automatic tendency to be ‘tougher than the guy next to you’, which is one of many different beliefs that give people a reason to think poorly of them.

Systematic:

A total of 44 points awarded to cultural narratives found in the scenes, representing 21% of total points (Image 5). In a shocking turn of events, people who were in charge from Piltover were depicted negatively the most in this category, representing 36 points and 82% of points in the systematic category. Second highest was Piltover governing being depicted positively, yet only having points 4 and 9% of points in the category. These findings can be interpreted as the leaders in Piltover are causing injustice to the other side significantly more often than looking out for all of their people, including Zaun.

In Season 2 episode 1 at timestamp 6:05, we find out that Councilor Salo had become paralyzed from the waist down due to Jinx’s missile attack. They are having the first council meeting after the attack and they are discussing what their next course of action is. Salo begins the conversation with the statement, “To think, we nearly extended sovereignty to the creatures who did this. We’re charged with imposing order. And we’ve been asleep at our posts. Well, my eyes are open. There will be no more fairy tales of peace until we scour our basement of its demons.” Councilor Salo was never a big fan of releasing his authority of the undercity. But now he has a personal reason to hate all of the people who live down there. One person committed

a heinous act that would result in his life changing forever. However, when it comes to making decisions as a councilor, he never feels this passionately about the decisions he is making for others. This instance along with the sheer amount of enforcer raids of places in Zaun, it is apparent that the ‘system’ is working negatively against the poor people of Zaun.

Conclusion:

Within the scope of the episodes observed, it can be concluded that there are certain narratives used to portray people who live in poverty. Character narratives have shown that poor people are dirty, dishonest, violent, drugheads, extremist, and subordinate. Meritocracy narratives have shown that there is not a level playing field and success takes different resources for everyone. Greed narratives enforce the belief that poor people are selfish and are gaming the system. Systematic narratives show that even if a government has the duty to protect, doesn’t mean it actually happens. There was one quote in my watching of this show that summed up everything perfectly:

“It’s not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live.” -Ekko (Season 1 Episode 9, 17:00)

References:

IMDb.com. (2021, November 6). Arcane. IMDb. https:// www.imdb.com/title/tt11126994/

Rosenthal, E. L., Jauriqui, V., Jung, K., & Weinstein, D. (2021, July). Rags-to-Riches, Welfare Queens, and Broken Families: Media representations of poverty and their impact on audiences. USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. Wiki, C. to A. (n.d.). Arcane. Arcane Wiki. https://arcane. fandom.com/wiki/Arcane

Assignment:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Frankenstein Analysis

by Regan Henry

ENGL 130: Literary Studies

Dr. Jordan Windholz

For this essay, students had to write a literary analysis paper that put forth an interpretive claim. They defended their interpretation through a series of close, critical analysis of textual evidence. They were permitted limited use of outside sources, but primarily had to make their argument solely through the strength of their interpretations and synthesis of primary textual evidence.

In our society, we often place great value on aesthetic beauty, holding each other to high standards and making superficial judgments based on physical appearance. We tend to associate beauty with goodness and ugliness with evil, creating a rigid, black-andwhite view of the world. This leads to estrangement, dismissal, and harm, as people are judged and rejected for things beyond their control. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein critiques this tendency by illustrating the tragic consequences of valuing appearance over character. Main character Victor Frankenstein discovers the key to creating life, stitching together a “creature” from parts he finds at the “slaughter house,” resulting in an eight foot tall monster with a devastatingly disgusting appearance. Terrified of his own creation, Frankenstein abandons the monster, leaving him to wander and learn the ways of the world on his own, a world that is not kind to the creature due to his ugliness. Frankenstein’s horrid reaction to the form of the creature sparks a tragic cycle of rejection and violence. Shelley critiques the way external appearance dictates moral worth, highlighting the deep psychological impacts of rejection due to physicality. Through vivid descriptions of the monster’s suffering and responding acts of violence, Shelley challenges the conventional association between beauty and goodness, and ugliness with evil, suggesting that outward appearances distort moral perceptions, leading to unwarranted judgment and cruelty that can have detrimental effects.

Shelley’s critique addresses prevalent societal issues that continue to plague us today. In a world where appearances often shape how individuals are perceived, treated, and valued,

Shelley’s exploration of the connection between external appearance and moral judgment resonates strongly in contemporary culture. The emphasis placed on physical beauty in media, advertising, and social media platforms creates a culture where those who

do not meet conventional beauty standards are often marginalized. Shelley’s novel jabs at our narrowmindedness in the face of these impossible standards and gross associations.

In Frankenstein, Shelley demonstrates how beauty and ugliness are socially constructed concepts, with the monster’s appearance acting as a reflection of society’s superficial judgments. When the creature is hiding in the hovel, watching the cottagers, he admires their kindness and hard work, desiring deeply to reveal himself to them. He displays characteristics of fondness and genuine kindness, spending his nights collecting firewood for the family: “I found that the youth spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the family fire; and, during the night, I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days (Shelley 81). He desires the companionship of the people he has long admired, stating he “persuaded [himself] that when they should become acquainted with [his] admiration of their virtues, they would compassionate [him], and overlook [his] personal deformity” (Shelley 95). Despite his training to be the best he could be and his unseen helpfulness, the cottagers still were horrified of him, abandoning their home, screaming, and fainting: “ Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung” (Shelley 99). His deformity leads to immediate rejection, regardless of his internal desires for kindness and connection, suggesting that societal standards of beauty are harmful. The creature had no ill will in meeting the cottagers, however judgements on his appearance gave way to isolation and violence. Shelley’s writing in this scene invites the reader to think deeper about the role of beauty when it comes to the

treatment of others. She evaluates the role of physical standards in our reactions and the damaging effect they may have.

The Monster’s suffering and transformation into a vengeful figure, driven by the cruelty he faces due to his physical appearance, reflects the psychological toll of being judged solely on physical appearance. Shelley’s depiction of his evolution from innocence to violence highlights how external judgments, particularly those based on looks, can shape an individual’s sense of selfworth and moral compass. The creature throughout his entire existence uses self deprecating language to describe himself, saying he is a “wretch,” a “daemon,” and a “fiend,” for no reason other than his ghastly appearance. As the creature pleads with Frankenstein to hear his tale, he states “Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me” (Shelley 73). The creature’s low sense of worth can be attributed to the constant rejection he experiences, even by the one who created him. After the cottagers run away from him, the monster is erupted with rage and desire for revenge: “My protectors had departed, and had broken the only link that held me to this world. For the first the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to controul them” (Shelley 101). This is exhibited again when the monster comes across the path of William, Frankenstein’s youngest brother. The creature believes the boy will not be phased by his ugliness: “Suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity” (Shelley 104). The creature is wrong, finding William still terrified of him, despite his reassurances he meant no harm. He strangles William when he finds he is related to Frankenstein, switching lightning fast from kindness to unbridled anger. Shelley uses this characterization of the monster, transitioning from innocent and thoughtful to vengeful and vicious, to draw attention to consequences of hatred based on physical features. Through this method, Shelley emphasizes how society’s rejection and derogatory labels can erode an individual’s sense of self-worth, ultimately leading to destructive behaviors. She employs discriminatory language towards the creature, by others and by himself, to highlight the self-loathing the monster internalizes because of his exterior.

Using the contrast between Frankenstein and his creature, Shelley critiques the tendency to equate physical beauty with moral superiority, showing that beauty is not an accurate reflection of character or virtue. Frankenstein is described as “attractive and amiable” by Walton, noting that he must have been a “noble creature in his better days” (Shelley 18). He is

regarded as intelligent and respected and symbolizes the outward appearance of a morally virtuous person. Yet, despite his outward appeal, Victor’s actions reveal a profound moral flaw: he is selfish, obsessive, and irresponsible. In stark contrast, the monster, with his hideous form, is initially a blank slate. He is innocent and capable of love, compassion, and a desire for acceptance. Shelley addresses this shallow view of morality by suggesting that judgments based on appearances alone are harmful, as they ignore the deeper moral and emotional complexities of an individual. A powerful instance that illustrates this point occurs when Frankenstein first creates the monster. Despite his initial intentions and obsess that drove his work, Frankenstein judges the creature harshly from the second he opens his eyes: “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep” (Shelley 38). Frankenstein focuses on the creature’s “ugly” physical attributes at first sight, describing his horror with his “yellow skin,” “watery eyes,” and “shrivelled complexion” (Shelley 38). The Creature, abandoned and isolated because of his looks, longs for companionship and acceptance. In this way, Shelley critiques society’s tendency to judge based on surface-level traits and emphasizes the importance of understanding the deeper moral and emotional complexities that define a person. This is also a problem relevant in Frankenstein’s descriptions of Elizabeth. Frankenstein often alludes to her beauty, stating “She was now a woman in stature and expression of countenance, which was uncommonly lovely” (Shelley 55). She’s described as “renew[ing] the spirit of cheerfulness” (Shelley 28). Elizabeth’s acceptance stems from her attractiveness, cementing her as “good” in Frankenstein’s mind. Shelley uses these characters to show that morality is not an inherent quality tied to physical appearance, beauty as good and ugly as bad, but rather something shaped by experiences, actions, and the treatment one receives from society.

While we often associate our beauty standards with bodily appearance, Shelley additionally uses descriptive sequences of landscapes and settings to continue her critique of this superficial affiliation. While some scenes, such as the creation of the monster, use related “ugly” scenery, like storms and darkness, often Shelley contrasts in-depth descriptions of gorgeous landscapes with the corrupt, morally ambiguous actions of her characters. Frankenstein’s journey to the island in which he is set to create another monster is filled with descriptions of beautiful settings, yet it is only a

backdrop for Frankenstein’s growing inner turmoil and impending doom: “Filled with dreary imaginations, I passed through many beautiful and majestic scenes; but my eyes were fixed and unobserving” and “In truth, I was occupied by gloomy thoughts, and neither saw the descent of the evening star, nor the golden sun-rise reflected in the Rhine” (Shelley 116). This juxtaposition can be seen again as the monster describes his setting as having “gentle breezes of evening” and “bright sun” as he considered “the prospect of the sun setting behind the stupendous mountains of Jura,” before he strangles William to death and frames Justine in a vengeful act of retaliation (Shelley 104). Shelley reminds readers that beauty in the natural world does not imply moral goodness, and ugliness does not inherently carry evil, as each of her characters commit morally grey actions under the beauty of natural landscapes. This is also worth consideration, as Shelley positions her characters, one considered “ugly” and the other not, as similarly destructive and corrupt. Shelley’s contrast of setting and action challenges conventional assumptions, using her descriptions of nature to highlight the flaws of simplistic association. Frankenstein raises a pressing contemporary question about the standards of beauty and how they shape judgment. Through the tragic experiences of the monster, who is condemned for his appearance, Shelley

reveals how superficial judgments lead to suffering and cruelty. Initially a victim, the monster transforms into a vengeful figure, not from inherent evil, but due to society’s rejection of his exterior. Constant rejection leads him to believe only another creature as ugly as he is could accept him, prompting his desire for revenge. Shelley contrasts the experiences of Frankenstein and his monster, where Frankenstein is respected despite his flawed moral compass, while the monster is labeled a “daemon” before committing any violence. Through Frankenstein’s perception of beauty in Elizabeth and his demonization of the monster, Shelley encourages readers to question how appearances influence moral judgment. By exploring this, she emphasizes the need for empathy and the importance of recognizing humanity beyond physicality. Ultimately, Shelley compels readers to confront the effects of superficial judgments, urging them to move beyond the constraints of appearance and embrace a more compassionate, nuanced understanding of humanity that acknowledges the complexities of individual character and the profound consequences of societal rejection.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and J. Paul Hunter. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text, Contexts, Criticism. W. W. Norton & Company, 2022.

Student Reflection:

This assignment required me to craft a strong argument for my interpretation of Frankenstein. It involved close reading, gathering evidence, and structuring my ideas in a clear and logical sequence. One of the main challenges I encountered was not only analyzing what the text says, but also how it says it, and using that analysis to strengthen my argument. Through this process, I gained a deeper understanding of how to interpret a text and the foundations of writing a compelling argument. Additionally, I learned more effective ways to present and incorporate textual evidence. Overall, this assignment not only enhanced my research and writing skills but also boosted my confidence as a writer and deepened my passion for studying literature. It has inspired me to continue pursuing knowledge and refining my skills in future literary work.

Assignment:

The History and Harm of ISIS

by Brett Organtini

CRJU 411: Terrorism

Dr. Carlos Rojas

The paper describes the history and rise to power of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The essay talks about what makes ISIS a terroristic group as well as why they carry out their terroristic acts.

Abstract

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world today. ISIS began as a part of Al-Qaeda but eventually branched off into their own caliphate in 2014. Much like Al-Qaeda, ISIS has its own views that see Islam as the right way to live. It views anyone who does not follow Islam as an enemy. ISIS especially dislikes the West and their cultures, viewing them as a threat to Islam. To spread its beliefs, ISIS uses excessive violence to intimidate others. Terroristic acts by ISIS include suicide bombs, car bombs, and warfare. ISIS justifies its actions by claiming the committed terrorist acts were for the Jihad. The fight for Islam has grown across the world and ISIS has expanded its organization to other countries. The creation of new groups for ISIS brings more followers and funds for its terroristic acts. ISIS has evolved with its recruitment methods through propaganda, the internet, and social media. Despite the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019, ISIS and its followers continue to cause terroristic acts in the world to this day.

Introduction

Terrorism is emerging every day as a greater threat to the world. Groups are forming across the world to cause harm to send a message. One of those groups, and one of the more known terrorist organizations, is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS is notorious for causing harm through bombings and destruction. ISIS has a hatred for the West and its ways of living. ISIS has extremist views on how countries should run and how their people should live but believes their ways of living are the only right way.

The creation of ISIS dates back to the early 2000s. In 2004, an Iraqi extremist network merged with al-Qaeda to form al-Qaeda in Iraq or AQI. In 2010, a man by the name of Amir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took over the group and began expanding into Syria. By 2013, Amir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi changed AQI’s name to ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), and by 2014, ISIS cut ties with al-Qaeda to declare

itself as its own group or caliphate (Counter Terrorism Guide, 2022). As mentioned, ISIS is one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world due to their violent means of pushing their extremist views. ISIS is notorious for using weaponry such as suicide bombs, car bombs, and other explosives to carry out their violence. Notable attacks by ISIS include the suicide car bombing that killed more than two hundred people in Iraq in 2016 and a 2019 suicide bombing at a Syrian restaurant, killing fifteen people, four of whom were Americans (Counter Terrorism Guide, 2022). ISIS is also recruiting people from outside Middle Eastern countries, even recruiting from the United States. With the use of the internet and social media, ISIS is reaching out to outsiders on social media sources to connect with people and draw them to join ISIS.

The United States must combat ISIS and its terroristic acts to get a step in the right direction of ending terrorism. It is important to put an end to ISIS and its terroristic acts to prevent destruction, harm, and deaths in the world. The more information the United States knows about ISIS, the easier it will be to recognize terroristic acts and defend against those acts. With ISIS being so prevalent in the news, I want to understand the various aspects of ISIS. What other groups are ISIS associated with? How has ISIS evolved over time with recruitment? What are ISIS’s beliefs and reasons behind their attacks? ISIS is a dangerous terrorist group, however, with the right resources, ISIS can be stopped.

ISIS’ Message and Violence

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) itself is a “newer” terrorist group in the world, however, its roots date back to the early 2000s. ISIS first established itself as an Islamic group alongside Al-Qaeda in 2004 by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, called Al-Qa’ida Organization for Holy War in Iraq (AQI). However, after Zarqawi died in 2006, AQI was renamed to the Islamic State of Iraq then later changed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2013 after the Arab Spring Protests (Martin, 2021). With tensions and conflict being

high between Iraq and Syria, ISIS decided on two components: 1. They refused to recognize borders between Syria, Iraq, and other countries around, and 2. They would wage war as much as they could to achieve the goal of establishing a caliphate, or Islamic State to encompass all of the Muslim world. In 2014, new ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi achieved the goal of establishing the Islamic caliphate, named the Islamic State. With the formation of the caliphate, ISIS was officially born.

Much like Al-Qaeda, ISIS disliked the American presence in the Middle East and rejected Western beliefs, seeing those beliefs as a danger to Islam. ISIS pushes its Islamic beliefs through brutal and violent tactics such as suicide bombs, car bombs, kidnapping, and mutilating prisoners of war. In their article, “The Islamic State (IS): Threat of Terrorism and Policy Issues in Relation to Sectarianism,” authors Muhammad Fahim Khan (University of Peshawar in Pakistan) Muhammad Ibrar (Ilma University in Pakistan), and Azeem Gul (National University of Modern Languages and Quaid-i-Azam University, both in Pakistan), discuss ISIS in its entirety, from its origins, to its use of violence, and to their beliefs. Khan et al. describes ISIS’s use of violence as a way to get through to people stating, “It is IS’s idea that excessive violence is the best tool for creating disorder, purging societies, and upending Western states, which drives its use of violence and intimidation. The motivation for these actions is the production of disorder, which is eventually followed by the establishment of a just and Islamic government” (Kahn et al., 2023). To get their beliefs across to others, ISIS uses intimidation through violence. This is what makes ISIS a terrorist group, instead of an extremist group. Extremism is defined as a “quality that is ‘radical in opinion, especially in political matters; ultra; advanced.’ It is characterized by intolerance toward opposing interests and divergent opinions, and it is the primary catalyst and motivation for terrorist behavior” (Martin, 2021). According to Martin, extremism is the “prerequisite” to terrorism. Extremism is the set of radical beliefs one has, rejecting all other beliefs in the world, whereas terrorism is using violence to push those extremist views. ISIS clearly is a terrorist group that uses extreme violence such as bombs and warfare to push their extremist beliefs.

The Expansion of ISIS

ISIS has established many associates as it expands across the world. In many countries, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa, ISIS has established new Islamic State territories. According to the Congressional Research Service, nine Islamic State affiliates are deemed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): Islamic State in Libya (IS-Libya), Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Islamic State West

Africa Province (IS-WA), Islamic State Sahel Province (IS-Sahel), Islamic State Democratic Republic of the Congo (IS-DRC), Islamic State-Mozambique (IS-M), and the Islamic State-Somalia (Congressional Research Service, 2024). IS-Libya was formed in 2014 and finances itself through trafficking and smuggling. ISKP established itself in Afghanistan in 2015 and works alongside the Taliban for funding and military. IS-WA was formed in 2015 as an extended branch of the Nigerian Islamist group, Boko Haram. IS-Sahel established itself in 2015, and prominently emerged in 2022, operating primarily in the borders of Niger. IS-Sahel carries out mass destruction through civilian massacres. IS-DRC was formed in 2019 and resides in Uganda, establishing a militarized ISIS presence. IS-M emerged as an associate of the Islamic State in 2019 and has carried out terroristic acts since. Islamic State-Somalia hosts an Islamic State regional office, which stands as the financial center for ISIS around the world.

These groups allow ISIS to establish an intimidating presence in different countries. The groups carry out ISIS’s beliefs through various forms of violence in their respective locations. Along with carrying out its beliefs, as mentioned, the ISIS groups are also a way for ISIS to fund their military and terroristic acts. Between committing acts such as trafficking and assisting other groups such as the Taliban, ISIS can build much support and build a following around the world.

The Evolution/recruitment of ISIS

As the organization expands, there is a bigger need for members to join. ISIS posts propaganda texts, images, and videos to convince citizens to join them. From 2014-2017, ISIS created two series of highquality magazines to publish over one hundred articles. ISIS has also been known to make video propaganda. These videos can include warfare, executions, and other forms of mutilation. In recent years, ISIS has been using children in their propaganda videos to convince outsiders to join the fight and fight for ISIS. In the PBS Frontline documentary, Return From ISIS, the son, Matthew was used as one of the children in an ISIS propaganda video. The documentary tells the story of Samantha Marie Elhassani (Sam Sally), her son, Matthew, and her husband, Moussa all travelled to Raqqa and joined ISIS. Samantha’s husband, Moussa, was a member of ISIS and convinced Samantha and Matthew to travel to Raqqa (Baker, 2020). Matthew shared how, as a child, he was forced to participate in propaganda videos or else he would be executed. ISIS has a strict method when creating propaganda: do it or die.

With the emergence of social media, ISIS and its supporters have been able to reach out to outsiders in a subtler way. ISIS supporters post on social media

platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with people in other countries. In the article, Marketing Against Extremism: Identifying and Responding to Moral Disengagement Cues in Islamic State Terrorist Propaganda, author Rebecca Frazer discusses the use of social media by the Islamic State. “IS’s expansive propaganda dissemination efforts on social media empowered IS to reach an incredibly broad audience with its high-quality materials. An analysis of Twitter data in a ten-month period from July 2014 through April 2015 shows that IS possessed a network of nearly 76,000 supporter accounts averaging 60 tweets daily for each account” (Fraser, 2023). The Islamic State has a strong network of followers on Twitter to connect with outsiders. ISIS supporters will post their beliefs and programs to lure outsiders into the ISIS way of life. With the ability to recognize the use of social media accounts by ISIS supporters, United States agencies such as the FBI can work together with social media owners to track ISIS and their violent acts. ISIS has been using propaganda to spread their beliefs and recruit outsiders to their organization.

Conclusion

ISIS is one of the most infamous terrorist groups in the world. The terrorist group pushes its extremist ideology through the use of violence against others, causing death and destruction to the world. Since its official creation in 2014, ISIS has emerged as Al-Qaeda’s successor. ISIS’s beliefs are the same as Al-Qaeda’s. ISIS believes the West’s culture and way of living is wrong and the West is a danger to Islam. With the extreme views it has, ISIS has expanded to different locations around the world. The most notable locations are ): Islamic State in Libya (IS-Libya), Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Islamic State West Africa Province (IS-WA), Islamic State Sahel Province (IS-Sahel), Islamic State Democratic Republic

of the Congo (IS-DRC), Islamic State-Mozambique (IS-M), and the Islamic State-Somalia. The more ISIS expands, the more support and funding it gets to conduct its terroristic acts. Along with support, ISIS has established a massive presence through social media and propaganda on the internet. Gruesome videos of death, warfare, and mutilations are used to intimidate outsiders to push their beliefs. ISIS will use children in their propaganda videos to persuade people to join the cause. However, the children used in the videos are held against their will and coerced to participate. Social media is used to connect with people in outside countries. Understanding how ISIS operates can play a pivotal role in the United States’ fight against terrorism. Taking down ISIS would send a message to other terrorist groups around the world.

References

Baker, J. (Director). (2020, December 15). Return From ISIS (Season 2020, Episode 24) [TV Series Episode]. In J. Baker (Producer), Frontline. BBC. Congressional Research Service. (2024). The Islamic State: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy https:// crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10328 Foreign Terrorist Organizations. (2022, September). Counter Terrorism Guide. Retrieved N vember 19, 2024, from https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/ isis_fto.html

Frazer, R. (2023). Marketing Against Extremism: Identifying and Responding to Moral Disengagement Cues in Islamic State Terrorist Propaganda. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 42(1), 36-55. 10.1177/07439156221096394

Khan, M. F., Ibrar, M., & Gul, A. (2023). The Islamic State (IS): Threat of Terrorism and Policy Issues in Relation to Sectarianism. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 8(1), 201-213. 10.1177/20578911221111589

Martin, G. (2020). Understanding Terrorism (7th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Student Reflection:

CRJU-411 (Terrorism) helped extend my knowledge to understand the concept of terrorism in the real world. The class helped me understand what terrorism truly is. It also helped me understand the different forms that terrorism can take and what constitutes as terrorism. In the future, I want to be a State Police Officer, and after taking CRJU-411, I can understand the dangers that can arise from certain individuals or groups, especially since terroristic acts can occur anywhere in the world. While writing this essay, I learned that no matter what happens, ISIS will never die off. ISIS uses propaganda and social media to spread its message and draw people from all over the country to join its group. The information I learned in the class and the information I learned about to write the essay was very interesting and important for others to learn about the dangers and spread of terrorism.

Assignment:

The Productivity of Hate in Skim

by Kylie Saar

ENGL 213: Writing and Research About Literature

Dr. Erica Galioto

This assignment asks students to write a research paper rooted in one literary theory and one novel read over the course of the semester in addition to multiple scholarly sources. This paper should include a clear, argumentative thesis and a thought-provoking synthesis of the sources, theory and text. This paper should be 7-10 pages, double spaced, with appropriate MLA citations.

The graphic novel Skim written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki follows a young Japanese Canadian girl, Kim (or Skim, as her peers call her) as she grapples with complex emotions that often accompany adolescence. The narrative follows Kim as she navigates friendships, the suicide of a classmate, and even love. Throughout the graphic novel, Kim and her best friend, Lisa, go through trials and experience frustration with one another, eventually drifting apart when other relationships form in their lives. This reflects a typical experience for many girls who were once in close adolescent female friendships. Through following Kim’s progression of self-identity throughout her friendships, Skim illustrates the productivity of the complexity present within young female friendships. I argue that by analyzing Lacan’s and Winnicott’s psychoanalytical theories and applying them to Skim, one can see how Tamaki displays the roles of mother, daughter, and partner that adolescent females simultaneously perform and expect within close friendships with each other. By performing these roles within friendships, young females, or in this case Kim, move closer to developing their own identity as an individual.

My support will begin by analyzing Kim’s selfconfidence and sense of identity at the beginning of the graphic novel. The graphic novel functions as Kim’s diary and utilizes its ability to communicate through words and pictures to display Kim’s uneasiness and inner turmoil with her individual identity and feelings. Building on this, I will move to analyzing the different roles Kim plays in her relationships with friends and crushes, and how these relationships move her closer to developing confidence in her own individual identity. I will focus on the psychoanalytical theories of Winnicott and Lacan to highlight the mother/ daughter dynamic within Kim’s friendships, as well as the dynamics of desire and love. When approaching Kim’s relationships through this perspective, the role placement and performance of mother and daughter functioning in tandem with the role of a partner

becomes evident. To conclude my argument, I will discuss the productivity and positive outcomes resulting from relational aggression that stems from the interpolation of roles and identities. Drawing back to my first point, I will display how Kim’s confidence in herself and her identity grow throughout the trials caused by the different roles she is forced into within her friendships. I believe that Tamaki uses the graphic novel Skim to demonstrate the complex feelings that relational aggression within close female friendships stems from. Within friendships, the interjection of discordant roles onto adolescent girls struggling with identity results in relational aggression, which continually pushes them closer towards finding their own unique individual identity, or as close to one as they can be.

Adolescent emotions, identity and growth are the focus of many of Winnicott’s psychoanalytical theories as well as the graphic novel Skim. According to Winnicott, the feeling of hate is important and necessary for adolescents to obtain a sense of self. Not only do they have to experience hate from others, but the feeling of hate from within themselves. He analyzes how adolescents “must experience hate from the mother to facilitate their own development for hatred” (Winnicott 348). The importance of this emotion is found in its relationship to love. Winnicott argues that if someone is not able to feel “objective or justified hate…he cannot feel…objective love” (Winnicott 353). By applying his theories to adolescents and their mothers, Winnicott concluded that the feelings of hate or discord present in mother/adolescent relationships are productive, in that they allow the adolescent to break apart from the mother, form their own identity and experience other love. Throughout Skim, we see Kim grappling with finding her sense of self and identity through her relationships with her friends, family, and teachers.

Readers first meet the graphic novel’s narrator, Kim, through a list she writes in her diary. The list includes her own name (as well as her nickname, Skim), best friend (Lisa), cat, interests, and favorite

color. Kim’s diary allows the reader to see how unsure she is of herself from the very first page, as her favorite color was originally written as black but is crossed out and replaced with the word red. Michelle Miller addresses this and similar moments in her article “’I Hate You Everything’: Reading Adolescent Bad feelings in Tamaki’s Skim,” where she highlights the significance of the graphic novel portraying both Kim’s first and second thoughts, along with her disapproval or discomfort with them. Miller notes that Kim’s tendency to cross out and correct herself signifies “that Kim doesn’t quite know where she stands or who she is” (Miller 91). As Kim’s relationships develop and dissolve throughout the novel, her self-confidence grows, and a sense of identity begins to form.

While there are many relationships throughout Skim, the first introduced is between Kim and her best friend, Lisa. The novel very quickly develops a parallel between Lisa and Kim’s mother. Multiple panels depict Kim’s mother as she criticizes Kim’s father, who she is divorced from. The mother is seen calling Kim’s father an “asshole,” and states that “even if [he]…had a heart, it couldn’t be broken. [The] heart is a muscle” (Tamaki 10). Kim’s mother focuses on facts when critiquing, rather than sympathizing with the emotions of others. Lisa echoes this critique to Kim but targets it towards the heartbreak of one of their classmates, Katie. Katie is illustrated walking through the halls with broken hearts drawn on her hands as a way to cope with her boyfriend dumping her. Lisa’s responds to this show of emotions by calling Katie a “slut,” “super lame,” and pointing out that “it’s [not] the end of the world” (Tamaki 12). The strategy of insults followed by a focus on facts instead of sympathy positions Lisa’s way of processing other’s heartbreak to be the same as Kim’s mother. Both Kim’s mother and Lisa continue to be critical of the people around them throughout the graphic novel. In “Beyond ‘Obligatory Camaraderie’: Girls’ Friendship in Zadie Smith’s NW and Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s Skim,” Judith Taylor discusses the function of female friendships, and how they are rooted in mother-child dependence. The best friend Kim found in Lisa is “an expression of compensatory longing, an effort to receive the nurturance [her] mother denied [her]” (Taylor 453). By finding a best friend who acts the same way as her mother, Kim is placing the role of mother onto her friend as well as playing the role of daughter herself. Kim seeks out a mother in one of her friends because she “is cognizant that her parents have their own damage and cannot be relied on to heal her or help her make sense of the world” (Taylor 462). Because of this, Lisa becomes the only person actively performing the role of mother in Kim’s mind, even though the performance is created because Lisa acts the same way as Kim’s biological mother.

The “hate” or discord between Lisa and Kim begins to develop and increase as Kim develops a crush on her English teacher, Ms. Archer. In “Controlled Bodies, Mental Wounds: Vulnerability in Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Skim,” Cano discusses the different ways in which vulnerability is present and represented throughout Skim, one of them being Kim’s relationship with Ms. Archer. The relationship at first begins when Kim skips gym class and runs into Ms. Archer in the woods. They share a cigarette and begin to discuss class, gradually branching into more personal topics. As meetings become more frequent, Kim is no longer “emotionally present…as her mind is somewhere else trying to untangle her feelings towards Ms. Archer” (Cano 45). Lisa notices this distance as well as the attention Kim is giving Ms. Archer and becomes increasingly hostile towards Kim, suggesting the role of partner is being played simultaneously with the roles of mother and daughter. Suddenly Lisa’s criticisms are turned towards Kim, calling her a “spaz” and “psycho-bitch,” stating that Kim isn’t as independent as her, and even swearing at Kim (Tamaki 30-34). The turn of criticism and hateful words towards Kim can be read as instances of relational aggression. Lisa’s emotions and verbal responses function as a defense mechanism, causing her to lash out when she feels one of her roles, partner, is being replaced by Ms. Archer.

Relational aggression being utilized as a defense mechanism is triggered because of the disappointment stemming from the interpolation of roles Lisa plays (both mother and partner) for Kim. Scholar Judith Taylor notes that “this conundrum of high investment and high disappointment is not a departure from mainstream…expectations and practices…proclamations of loyalty for women and girls live in tandem with depictions of female relational aggression” (Taylor 449). Both Lisa and Kim highly invest themselves into their friendship, each filling roles themselves that are traditionally filled by multiple different people, such as daughter and partner. Because of this, when one of the roles is filled by someone else and the investment from one side of the relationship lessens, disappointment on the other side increases. In this case, investment from Kim lessens and disappointment from Lisa increases. Lisa uses relational aggression to continue to push Kim away to avoid further disappointment.

This notion of female adolescent friendships not surviving a new relationship is rather common as well as directly related to the exploration of identity. In the article “Absences that Matter: Constructions of Sexuality in Studies of Young Women’s Friendships,” Christine Griffin analyzes the fallout of close friends when one enters a relationship. Like Winnicott, Griffin analyzes the period of adolescence, concluding it is a “period of ‘identity formation’ in which, among other things, one’s ‘mature’ sexual identity will be decided”

(Griffin 234). She relates this exploration of identity to young girls becoming involved in romantic relationship, which is mirrored in Skim through Kim further exploring her identity through this new relationship with Ms. Archer. The fallout with Lisa is reflected through Griffin’s analysis, as she explicitly states, “girls struggle to remain friends with one another if one gets involved with [a relationship]” (Griffin 238). The girls in Skim do remain in each other’s lives, although without the same intense investment in their friendship as before.

Ms. Archer and Kim’s relationship deeply impacts Kim’s mental health, even sending her “to further isolat[e] and ignore the world around her” (Cano 46). This relationship has many severe negative impacts on Kim’s mental wellbeing and is incredibly problematic considering the extremely unequal power dynamic between a teacher and student as well as the fact that Kim is a minor. When objectively analyzing certain aspects of the outcome, it can be argued that the relationship productively served Kim when specifically looking at her journey to discovering her identity. The dissonance Ms. Archer created between Lisa and Kim acted as a catalyst for Kim’s self-discovery and developing confidence in her identity. Kim believes herself to be in love with Ms. Archer. When considering both Lacan and Winnicott’s theories, it is not possible for Kim to have truly loved her, as Lacan theorizes love is an illusion and Winnicott theorizes one cannot feel love without experiencing the emotion of hate within themselves. However, the relationship with Ms. Archer allows Kim to physically explore her sexual identity with someone. Lisa’s experience of negative emotions stemmed from the feeling of her role as partner being replaced by Ms. Archer, as discussed previously. However, Lisa also functions as Kim’s mother in their friendship. Returning to Winnicott’s theory of hate within mother/child relationships, the negative emotions caused by Ms. Archer that drive the gradual disconnection between Lisa and Kim is what allows Kim to separate from her mother, Lisa, and move closer to forming her own identity. While the interpolation of roles within adolescent female friendships results in relational aggression, that aggression is what moves the individuals closer to more forms of self-discovery and developing confidence in their individual identity.

After Kim discovers Ms. Archer is leaving through Lisa, Kim begins to isolate herself even more. The next step in Winnicott’s psychoanalytical theory is taken, where the child is now able to experience the feeling of hate themself. Kim’s hate was unlocked because of the relational aggression, or feelings of “hate” from Lisa. Skim depicts Kim on a splash page drawing the words “I hate you” in the snow, only for Kim to cross the “you” out three times and replace it with an unfinished “everythin” (Tamaki 89). Kim continues to rethink her

choice of language on the page, showing her first and second thoughts. It can be assumed that the message was initially targeted towards Ms. Archer, however the strength of this new emotion of hate rapidly spreads to become overwhelming, causing Kim to feel hate towards everything. Kim continues to isolate herself due to these powerful and unfamiliar emotions, however they are the emotions that allow Kim to move closer to being capable of feeling love and developing a sense of self.

Kim continues to form her identity through her new friendship with Katie. Kim and Katie’s initial drive to spend time with one another forms through different aspects of psychoanalyst Lacan’s theory of love. Lacan’s psychoanalytical theory of love analyzes how desire functions through lack and the fantasy of seeing oneself in another, resulting in loving something (or someone) that is not existent or there. This process begins between Kim and Katie during gym class. The girls were excluded from gym class activities because of having injuries and casts on their arms. Additionally, both Katie and Kim recently lost their partners. For Katie, she is grieving the loss of a relationship and the loss of a life, as her ex-boyfriend recently committed suicide. Kim is grieving the loss of her relationship with Ms. Archer, as well as the loss of the person since Ms. Archer suddenly left the school. This results in Katie and Kim functioning as each other’s “subject supposed to knows.” The recognition of loss with the added layer of broken bones creates the illusion of understanding between them. They become “subject[s] who [are] supposed to know…something about [each other]…[they] in fact, know nothing” (Lacan 267). Kim and Katie’s initial bond comes from a misplacement of assumed understanding of one another, which leads to desire.

The graphic novel draws parallels between Katie and Ms. Archer, further cementing Katie into the role of partner in Kim’s life. Both Ms. Archer and Katie are the only two characters who call Kim by her real name, instead of her nickname “Skim.” Additionally, in Kim and Ms. Archer’s first meeting, a panel depicts Ms. Archer grabbing Kim’s cast to paint on it (Tamaki 27). This event is mirrored in Katie and Kim’s first meeting, where another panel is illustrated with Katie grabbing Kim’s cast in a similar fashion (Tamaki 109). After multiple meetings with Ms. Archer, a double-page spread is illustrated with her and Kim kissing in the woods without any text present (Tamaki 40-41). On the last page of the graphic novel, a spread of Katie sitting alone in the woods is illustrated with two panels of Kim walking on the street, presumably to meet Katie (Tamaki 142). The halt in language in both instances allows “readers to work with unthinkable, invisible, and inaudible occasions and their complicated reverberations” (Miller 93). Because Skim is told through

Kim’s diary, the reader can see that it is Kim drawing these parallels between Katie and Ms. Archer. While the outcome of the meeting in the woods between Kim and Katie is never shown, it points in the direction of partnership if following the similarities Kim has placed between Katie and Ms. Archer. This however is not the only role Katie and Kim perform within their relationship.

Kim’s self-confidence grows throughout the novel and is further stimulated by her friendship with Katie. This self-confidence is aided by Kim’s shift into the role of mother within her friendship with Katie, in addition to her role as partner. Judith Taylor writes that not only do female friendships function as a way to seek out mother’s nurturance, but also “to mimic the maternal drive, experiencing self-care vicariously by attending to the needs of others” (Taylor 453). Kim steps into this maternal drive when she finds Katie destroying the bulletin board of GCL (Girls Celebrate Life), a group created as a result of Katie’s ex-boyfriend committing suicide. The group was created by one of Katie’s friends, but resulted in suffocating Katie, leading to Katie’s disapproval of the group and the resentment of them. When Katie is caught by her old friend who founded the club, Julie Peters, Julie begins to talk down to Katie. This is when Kim realizes “Julie Peters thinks she’s a mom,” illuminating how Katie played the role of daughter in her previous close friendship with Julie, just as Kim did with Lisa (Tamaki 130). The discord from Kim’s previous friendships, the emotional trials from her relationship with Ms. Archer, and this realization are what push Kim into a new role, the role of mother. For the first time in the novel Kim stands up to her peers on Katie’s behalf. She then follows Katie out of the school, providing her sympathy and space to feel her emotions. By doing this, Kim becomes the mother that Lisa and her own mother failed to be, allowing herself to receive the kind of care she really needed by living vicariously through Katie. Through taking on the role of mother and partner in her friendship with Katie, Kim steps into a new sense of self confidence that is communicated through the narration of the graphic novel. Miller notes that it “is the most densely narrated passage of the book. Kim writes sentences-even paragraphs-with no ellipses, no words crossed out” (Miller 99). Kim’s new sense of confidence in her words translates to a sense of confidence in herself as an individual. Because of the “hate” that presented itself through relational aggression from her “mother,” Kim was able to learn and feel the emotion of hate within herself towards others. This allowed her to experience love, in this case self-love. Though relational aggression can result in discomfort and the drifting of friends, I argue that it is a productive cycle that aids adolescents as they move

closer towards creating confidence in an individualized identity. Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s graphic novel, Skim, demonstrates the productivity through the diary entries and illustrations of the life of a high schooler named Kim. She begins as a meek, unsure girl who second guesses everything, including herself. Because of the interpolation of the roles partner and daughter placed on Kim by her friend Lisa, Lisa experiences aggressive negative feelings towards Kim, causing her to lash out and for the two to gradually drift apart. While they remain in each other’s lives, the space between the two allows Kim to fall into a new friendship with Katie. The shift from Lisa’s friendship to Katie displays Winnicott’s theory of hate in the countertransference, positioning experiencing hate between a mother and child (Lisa and Kim) as a productive experience that allows the child to break away, create their own identity, and experience love (Kim and Katie). The graphic novel suggests that the interpolation of roles is still present within Kim and Katie’s relationship, indicating that both girls still have growing to do within their own identities. While experiencing relational aggression, heartbreak, and other negative emotions that come along with adolescence may feel isolating and overwhelming, Tamaki’s Skim illustrates the productivity that comes out of these universal and necessary developmental experiences.

Works Cited

Díaz Cano, Coral Anaid. “Controlled Bodies, Mental Wounds: Vulnerability in Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Skim.” Canada and Beyond: A Journal of Canadian Literary and Cultural Studies, vol. 7, 2018, pp. 37–49. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di rect=true&AuthType=sso&db=mzh&AN=2018701234 &site=eds-live&scope=site.

Griffin, C. (2000). “Absences that Matter: Constructions of Sexuality in Studies of Young Women’s Friendships.” Feminism & Psychology, 10(2), 227-245. https://doi. org/10.1177/0959353500010002003

Lacan, Jacques. In You More Than You. pp. 263-282

Miller, Michelle. “‘I Hate You Everything’: Reading Adolescent Bad Feelings in Tamaki’s Skim.” ESC: English Studies in Canada, vol. 43, no. 1, Dec. 2017, pp. 83–102. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1353/ esc.2017.0007

Tamaki, Mariko, and Jillian Tamaki. Skim. Groundwood Books, 2020.

Taylor, Judith. “Beyond ‘Obligatory Camaraderie’: Girls’ Friendship in Zadie Smith’s NW and Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s Skim.” Feminist Studies, vol. 42, no. 2, Jan. 2016, pp. 445–68. EBSCOhost, https://doi. org/10.15767/feministstudies.42.2.0445.

Winnicott DW. Hate in the Counter-Transference. J Psychother Pract Res. 1994 Fall;3(4):348-56. PMID: 22700203; PMCID: PMC3330380.

Student Reflection:

Writing this paper allowed me to closely analyze a graphic novel as well as female friendship dynamics, a kind of form and content I find incredibly fascinating. Bringing together two different psychoanalytical theories into the world of femininity and female comaraderie allowed me to discover a kind of writing that I truly enjoyed. My goal was to analyze the somewhat universal experience of relational aggression in female adolescent friendships and find the productivity and positivity that stems from the experience through the representation in the graphic novel. As I wrote the paper, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation not only for Skim, but for graphic novels in general as well as feminist and psychoanalytical theories.

The Sinaloa Cartel: A Threat to North America

by Matthew Riley CRJU 411: Terrorism

Dr. Carlos Rojas

Assignment:

This assignment tasked the author with writing an APA-style research paper regarding a terrorist group or organization. While thoroughly investigating at least five peer-reviewed articles to answer multiple research questions.

Abstract

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most dangerous drug trafficking organizations, threatening many countries worldwide. This paper examines the multidimensional threat the Sinaloa Cartel poses to North America by looking at the expansion of the cartel into criminal organizations in other countries, the corruption that allows the cartel to strive, and the threat of the Sinaloan fentanyl trade on the infrastructure of Canada. This paper will also examine the effectiveness of the United States government in its attempts to disrupt the Sinaloa Cartel as well as many other organizations and whether or not other tactics would provide a more positive result.

Introduction

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most prevalent and dangerous international drug cartels in the world. The Sinaloa Cartel came into existence during the dissipation of the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s (Adamoli, 2024). During this dissipation many smaller cartel groups emerged, one being the Sinaloa Cartel based within the state of Sinaloa (Adamoli, 2024). During the early days of the Sinaloa Cartel many Colombian cartels were slowly being eliminated due to government crackdowns. This allowed the Sinaloa Cartel to take over the marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficking into the United States of America through Mexico’s northern border (Adamoli, 2024). By 2015 officials within the United States stated the Sinaloa Cartel controlled the drug market in almost all fifty states (Adamoli, 2024).

Over its existence, the Sinaloa Cartel has been a major target of the United States government as well as many other governments worldwide. However, the Sinaloa Cartel has been extremely successful in evolving to the ever-changing international drug trade as well as the many leaders and members the cartel has lost due to capture and death (InSight Crime, 2024). This has allowed the cartel to avoid mass scrutiny and continue its reign of power within the international drug trade (InSight Crime, 2024).

Currently, the Sinaloa Cartel is a major target of the United States government because of its newfound involvement in the fentanyl trade (U.S. Department of Justice, 2023). Their involvement in the fentanyl trade has led to hundreds of thousands of lives being lost within the United States (InSight Crime, 2024). The involvement of the Sinaloa Cartel in the drug trade raises the questions, is the Sinaloa Cartel a threat to the United States as well as North America as a whole and how large is the threat of the Sinaloa Cartel to North America? It also asks, are the captures of cartel leaders by governments like the United States an efficient way to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel?

The Threat of the Sinaloa Cartel

In the article, The Sinaloa Drug Cartel: A Clear and Present Danger, Connor Hagan discusses the major threats of the Sinaloa Cartel to the United States. One major threat of the Sinaloa Cartel to the United States is its connection to criminal organizations that are present within the United States (Hagan, 2013). Since 1920 many different criminal organizations and gangs within the United States have assisted Mexican cartels with all aspects of their operation inside of the borders of the United States (Hagan, 2013). This poses a major threat to national security within the United States as no one cartel exclusively works with one criminal organization or gang, each cartel works with multiple organizations throughout the eternity of the United States (Hagan, 2013).

A key example of the Sinaloa Cartels’ use of United States-based criminal organizations and gangs is their use of La Eme, more commonly known as the Mexican Mafia (Hagan, 2013). The Mexican Mafia originated as a prison gang to help protect Hispanic inmates, the majority of whom were of Mexican descent (Hagan, 2013). These inmates were constantly abused inside of prison (Hagan, 2013). As this group evolved the prison system needed a way to try and diffuse the Mexican Mafia. The prison system transferred these members and leaders to different states, which allowed the members of the Mexican Mafia to expand the group to

a national scale (Hagan, 2013). One of the group’s values, loyalty creates an environment in which members will carry out an order they are given. This makes them extremely useful to the Sinaloa Cartel as the cartel can use the group to help carry out violence as well as intimidation within the United States (Hagan, 2013).

The Sinaloa Cartel is also a severe threat to Mexico. Aside from the drug trade and the massive amount of violence that accompanies it, the Sinaloa Cartel is a severe threat to Mexico because of the intimidation of victims and government officials as well as the corruption of government officials by the cartel. The cartel uses the phrase “plata o plomo” (Hagan, 2013, p. 32), which means silver or lead, to intimidate their victims of bribery or corruption and their families (Hagan, 2013). The cartel uses this form of intimidation to give an individual an option to either take the bribe, money, etc., silver or take the lead, being killed, or having their family killed.

The national security of Mexico is also under threat because of the corruption of many government officials from the bottom up. Mexico has two major entities in the war on drugs, the Attorney General’s Office and the Mexican Federal Investigative Agency (Hagan, 2013). In 2006 it was found that over onefifth of officers within the Attorney General’s Office were thought to be involved in corruption related to the Sinaloa Cartel (Hagan, 2013). Also during this time period, twenty-five percent of agents within the Mexican Federal Investigative Agency were involved in criminal acts (Hagan, 2013). These acts included but were not limited to kidnappings and the murder of fellow agents, all ordered by the Sinaloa Cartel (Hagan, 2013)).

Finally, the Sinaloa Cartel poses a great risk to national security in Canada as stated before the Sinaloa Cartel is heavily involved in the distribution of fentanyl on an international level. The cartel’s trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has caused an increase of fentanyl within Canada (Tung, 2020). In June 2020 there were one hundred and seventy-five fentanyl-related overdoses within British Columbia, a Canadian province (Tung, 2020). The Sinaloa Cartel is majorly to blame for the influx of fentanyl related deaths within Canada.

The increase of fentanyl trafficked by the Sinaloa Cartel into Canada creates a threat to Canadian national security in two ways. The first threat to national security is the increase in fentanyl deaths and overdoses. The high potency of fentanyl is likely to and will create a high death toll for users. This will create an overbearing burden on the Canadian healthcare system (Tung, 2020). The burden on the Canadian healthcare system will create an inordinate amount of pressure on

the economy as well as the citizens of Canada (Tung, 2020). The ability of the Sinaloa Cartel to place this amount of pressure on another country’s infrastructure is a great threat (Tung, 2020).

The second threat to Canadian national security is the possible increase in Sinaloan presence within Canada. The increase of fentanyl within Canada creates a market for the drug that is attractive to the Sinaloa Cartel. In return, the Sinaloa Cartel will use the Canadian market and bring the violence and crime that is associated with the cartel (Tung, 2020). Secondarily, with fentanyl present in Canada, the cartel may use Canada as a new trafficking route for fentanyl into the United States (Tung, 2020). This will cause higher rates of criminal activity within Canada, as well as an increase in fentanyl trafficked into the United States. A threat to national security for both countries.

High Value Target Strikes

Law enforcement within the United States uses high-value target strikes in their attempt to take down drug trafficking organizations worldwide, this is known as the Kingpin Strategy (Del Rio, 2022).

The high-value target strikes consist of lethal strikes, raids, and other attempts to take down the leaders of drug trafficking organizations (Del Rio, 2022). But do these High-Value Target Strikes substantially affect the cartels and stop the violence that threatens North America?

In the article Do High-Value Target Strikes Reduce Cartel-Related Violence? An Empirical Assessment of Crime Trends in Tijuana, Mexico, Juan Del Rio analyzes the effect of high-value target strikes on the rates of homicide, kidnapping, and extortion (Del Rio, 2022). After a high-value target strike has been successfully completed it may temporarily disable a drug trafficking organization or even cause a diffusion of the drug trafficking organization. However, this does not mean the end of the targeted organization. The strike is likely to cause a diffusion resulting in competition between smaller organizations and or a competition to become the new leader of the attacked organization (Del Rio, 2022).

The results of high-value target strikes will cause an increase in homicide within these drug trafficking organizations and will also cause homicides to increase between drug trafficking organizations (Del Rio, 2022). These homicides are a direct result of territory as well as hierarchical disputes that are caused by the capture or killing of the leaders of these organizations (Del Rio, 2022). A study in Mexico found as a result of high-value target strikes, drug related homicides increased 36.5 percent as well as a thirty-four percent increase in homicides against the rest of the population

(Calderón et al., 2015). This violence is not limited to Mexico as it spreads through the organization’s criminal network worldwide.

A key example of how the violence spreads through the organization’s network is the increase in kidnappings and extortion that is seen following a highvalue target strike. The removal of a leader of a drug trafficking organization causes major problems within the hierarchy of the organization. This may cause the local-level small cell organizations to disengage from the drug trade with the drug trafficking organization which causes these local-level organizations an immense amount of financial stress (Del Rio, 2022). To deal with these increasing financial pressures, smaller organizations turn to kidnappings and extortion to help fuel their criminal enterprises (Del Rio, 2022). A direct result of the high-value target strikes.

The increase in homicide was also seen following the high-value target strike which captured Sinaloa Leader El Chapo for the final time (Del Rio, 2022). Although other factors can contribute to the increase in homicide, following the third and final capture of El Chapo an increased rate of homicide was found within Tijuana, Mexico that was correlated with the Capture (Del Rio, 2022). The high-value target strike against El Chapo also seemingly had no effect on the Sinaloa Cartel as leader El Mayo simultaneously stepped into power following the capture of El Chapo (Del Rio, 2022). This raises the question of whether a high-value target strike is the best way to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel.

Conclusion

The Sinaloa Cartel is a major threat to national security in all three countries within North America. The Sinaloa Cartel is a threat to the United States through the drug trade but also because of its connection with criminal organizations and gangs within the United States (Hagan, 2013). This is a key threat to United States national security as the Sinaloa Cartel as well as cartels as a whole do not exclusively work with one organization or gang; they have connections throughout many different pre-existing criminal enterprises within the United States (Hagan, 2013).

The Sinaloa Cartel also poses a threat to Mexican national security because of the mass corruption seen throughout the entirety of the Mexican Government and the imitation the Cartel uses against officials and other victims (Hagan, 2013). Studies have shown within Mexico the Attorney General’s Office and the Mexican Federal Investigative Agency have been involved in a large amount of corruption and criminal activity (Hagan, 2013). This allows and supports theSinaloa Cartel to further their violence

within Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel also participates in mass amounts of intimidation; they use the threat of killing individuals and their families to help coerce government officials as well as other victims to join their forces (Hagan, 2013). These are two of the many reasons the Sinaloa Cartel is a major threat to the country of Mexico.

Canadian authorities also have reason to believe the Sinaloa Cartel is a major threat to national security in Canada. The increased amounts of Sinaloan fentanyl inside Canadian borders have caused a large amount of overdoses and deaths (Tung, 2020). The new increase in overdoses causes major stress on the Canadian healthcare system that has negative consequences for Canadian citizens as well as the Canadian economy (Tung, 2020). This is a major threat to the infrastructure of Canada (Tung, 2020). The Sinaloa Cartel is also a major threat to Canada because as the desire for fentanyl increases the cartel violence associated with the drug trade will migrate to Canada (Tung, 2020). The Sinaloa Cartel will also use Canada as another trafficking route to the United States (Tung, 2020).

How do we effectively stop the Sinaloa Cartel? The United States has been using a plethora of high-value target strikes to help capture and or kill the leaders of many drug trafficking organizations (Del Rio, 2022). However, these efforts have been proven ineffective as many organizations quickly replace their leaders and continue operations, just like the Sinaloa Cartel after the final capture of El Chapo (Del Rio, 2022).

A more effective way to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel is to attack and dismantle the many criminal organizations and gangs the Cartel is associated with in all countries of North America. “The loss of these groups’ relationship to the CDS would considerably decrease the presence and power of the Sinaloa cartel within the United States” (Hagan, 2013, p. 37). This would also in turn decrease the overall power of the Sinaloa Cartel within the entirety of North America.

References

Adamoli, S. (2024, November 9). Sinaloa Cartel. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/ topic/Sinaloa-cartel

Calderón G, Robles G, Díaz-Cayeros A, Magaloni B (2015) The beheading of criminal organizations and the dynamics of violence in Mexico. J Confl Resolut 59(8):1455–1485

Del Rio, J. (2022). Do high value target strikes reduce cartel-related violence? An empirical assessment of crime trends in Tijuana, Mexico. Trends in Organized Crime, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-021-09444-9

Gurpreet Tung. (2020). The Potential Threat of the Sinaloa Cartel to Canada. The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict and Warfare, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.21810/jicw. v3i2.2373

Hagan, C. (2013). The Sinaloa Drug Cartel: A Clear and Present Danger. eGrove. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?article=3773&context=hon_thesis

InSight Crime. (2024). Sinaloa Cartel. https://insightcrime. org/mexico-organized-crime-news/sinaloa-cartel-profile/ U.S. Department of Justice. (2023, April 14). Justice Department announces charges against Sinaloa Cartel’s global operation. Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Announces Charges Against Sinaloa Cartel’s Global Operation | United States Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justicedepartment-announces-charges-against-sinaloa-cartel-sgl obal-operation

Student Reflection:

Writing this paper has allowed me to expand my knowledge of the Sinaloa Cartel, a threat to each individual residing within North America. Throughout my research, I encountered ideas and facts that helped prove and reassure ideas and hypotheses I had while also opening new avenues of thought to further my research. I was able to expand my knowledge not only on the Sinaloa Cartel, their threat to North America, and the effectiveness of the United States government in its attempts to disrupt the Sinaloa Cartel but also refine my abilities to perform research, ask important questions, and ultimately adequately relay my findings.

Assignment:

The Use of Literary Devices in Ancient Mesopotamian Flood Epics

by Joseph Striggle

HONR 122: Honors Historical Foundations of Global Cultures

Dr. Christine Senecal

This assignment was an independent research project on a historical topic before the 1800s. This paper focuses on ancient Mesopotamian flood epics, ranging from the Biblical flood narrative to polytheistic Mesopotamian myths like the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the literary devices used in each to achieve their separate purposes.

The biblical and polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories can be studied in terms of their individual stories, but an analysis of the literary devices in each of these stories is especially critical for understanding the author’s purpose and how they conveyed that purpose. The polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories’ purposes of the promotion of hierarchy and to represent the cycle of destruction and regeneration are supported by the literary devices of palistrophes, epithets, repetition, and narrative. The biblical flood story’s purposes of setting God above the polytheistic Mesopotamian gods, showing God’s mercy, and to reinforce the importance of Jewish law are supported by the literary devices of palistrophe, allusion, and comparison to the other flood narratives.

Ancient Mesopotamia was a hodgepodge of many different cultures, each with their own varying culture. Since they all lived in the same area, they also had many similarities and cultural overlap, including many having a flood story. These flood stories were narratively similar, but had different purposes based on the cultures that told and wrote them. The polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories, including Atrahasis, The Sumerian Flood Story (also called the Eridu Genesis), and the Epic of Gilgamesh had different purposes than the biblical flood story (as seen in the Bible).

The polytheistic Mesopotmian flood stories were written in part to promote a hierarchy. This can be seen through the disaster that ensues when hierarchy is broken in Atrahasis, where it says:

When the fifth year arrived, A daughter would eye her mother coming in; A mother would not even open her door to her

daughter.

A daughter would watch the scales (at the sale of her) mother,

A mother would watch the scales (at the sale of her) daughter.

When the sixth year arrived

They served up a daughter for a meal, Served up a son for food.

[ ]

Only one or two households were left. Their faces were covered with scabs (?) like malt.1

This breaking of the hierarchy of parent-child leads to consequences. When the mother and the daughter distrust each other, they sell each other into slavery and even turn to cannibalism. These disordered actions lead to mass death, leading to only a few households being left.2 This purpose of hierarchy is supported by the repetition of these lines in the Atrahasis story. Repetition is often used to underscore the significance of something and can be only for a few lines or for a long part of the story.3 Atrahasis repeats the lines above about 40 lines later in the text, underscoring the importance of those lines and the importance of hierarchy overall.4

Hierarchy is also shown through the flood hero being a king and priest, both very high classes in Mesopotamian society. The Sumerian Flood Story’s hero, called Ziusudra, is often portrayed as both a king and priest using the literary device of epithet. Ziusudra is often named with the epithet “lugal-àm,” meaning “being king,” or “lugal-e,” meaning “the king.”5 He also is given the epithet “gudu,” which was a type of priest, and according to some restoration interpretations, he

1 Ipiq-Aya. Atrahasis. Translated by Stephanie M. Dalley. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Omnika Foundation. 25-26.

2 Petra Ellerby. “May the Grass Grow Long: Hierarchy and Destruction in Ancient Mesopotamian Lamentation.” Aisthesis 12, no. 1 (2021).

3 Stephen W. Durrant. “Repetition in the Manchu Origin Myth as a Feature of Oral Narrative.” Central Asiatic Journal 22, no. 1 (1978). 37.

4 Ipiq-Aya. Atrahasis. Translated by Stephanie M. Dalley. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Omnika Foundation. 26-27

5 James R. Davila. “The Flood Hero as King and Priest.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54, no. 3 (1995). 203.

is also given the epithet “ensi,” which was a type of diviner and dream interpreter priest. 6 Since kings and priests were some of the highest social classes in ancient Sumeria, having the flood hero in the Sumerian Flood Story be both a king and priest would show that great things are done by high-ranking people, thus promoting the hierarchy the Sumerians set up. Following a similar line of thinking (and quite possibly derived from the Sumerian Flood Story), The Epic of Gilgamesh has its flood hero be a king. Utnapishtim is shown as a king through allusion. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is called “Man of Shurippak, son of Ubara-Tutu!”7 Though Utnapishtim is never explicitly called a king, these 2 statements allude to the Primeval King List, where Ubara-Tutu is mentioned in the kingly lineage, and thus heavily imply Utnapishtim’s kingship.8 The ancient Babylonians also promoted hierarchy through this kingly flood hero the same way as the Sumerians, by providing an example of a king’s great deeds and thus showing that kings are far greater than the common folk (thus insinuating that the kings should rule over the common folk).

The polytheistic flood stories also had a purpose of showing the cycle of destruction and regeneration. Mesopotamia had plenty of flooding from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, so the people would have been well acquainted with the destruction a flood can bring as well as the regrowth that comes from the fertile soil brought by the floods.9 The destruction that the flood in the flood story brings is especially underscored to differentiate this great destructive event from the smaller (but still impactful) floods that would happen often. This extreme destruction is underscored when even the fickle and temperamental gods of ancient Mesopotamina lament their decision in The Epic of Gilgamesh:

Ishtar cried out like a woman in travail; The lovely-voiced lady of the g[ods] lamented. ‘In truth, the olden time has turned to clay, Because I commanded evil in the assembly of the gods!

How could I command (such) evil in the assembly of the gods! (How) could I command war to destroy my people, (For) it is I who bring forth (these) my people: Like the spawn of fish they now fill the sea!’ The Anunnaki-gods wept with her; The gods sat bowed (and) weeping.10

These lines are set up in a palistrophic structure, also called a chiasm. This literary device uses similar lines mirrored around a center point to draw the reader’s attention to the middle line(s) of the palistrophe.11 In the case of this chiasm, the middle lines talk about the destruction with lines such as “such evil” or “destroy my people,” drawing the reader’s attention to the sheer magnitude and destruction of the flood.12

Destruction wasn’t the only thing that floods brought in ancient Mesopotamia. Floods also helped crops grow, and by doing so they brought regrowth and new life.13 This is reflected in the flood story through the usage of the literary device of narrative, specifically it being in past tense. The Epic of Gilgamesh introduces its flood through Utnapishtim, who speaks of it in past tense, saying “(Now) their heart prompted the great gods [to] bring a deluge.”14 Similarly, the Sumerian Flood Story is in past tense, as seen by the flood announcement:

Zi-ud-sura, standing at its side, heard: “Side-wall standing at my left side, ……. Side-wall, I will speak words to you; take heed of my words, pay attention to my instructions. A flood will sweep over the …… in all the …….15

Even with the destruction brought by the flood, regrowth is shown by the past tense, because society had been rebuilt after the flood in a “regeneration” of humans. This regrowth after the flood was so important that it made the flood be the event that was “ushering in the second beginning of world history.”16 Even with the end (destruction) brought about by the flood, it provided for new life (regeneration).

The biblical flood story was written by the

6 James R. Davila. “The Flood Hero as King and Priest.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54, no. 3 (1995). 203.

7 The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels 81.

8 James R. Davila. “The Flood Hero as King and Priest.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54, no. 3 (1995). 206.

9 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 123.

10 The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels 85.

11 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 339-340.

12 Quotes from The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. 85.

13 Shin Theke Kang. “Irrigation in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Water Resources Bulletin 8, no. 3 (1972). 619.

14 The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels 80.

15 The Sumerian Deluge Account. Translated by Jeremy Allen Black. (Oxford: The University of Oxford, 1997), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

16 Y. S. Chen. “The Flood Motif as a Stylistic and Temporal Device in Sumerian Literary Traditions.” Journal of ancient near Eastern religions 12, no. 2 (2012): 178.

monotheistic Hebrews, and because of that, one of the purposes of it was to show that the Hebrew God was greater than the Mesopotamian pantheon. The biblical flood story was written after the other flood stories (with the Sumerian Flood Story, being written first, Atrahasis being written next, and The Epic of Gilgamesh being written last. Consequently, The Epic of Gilgamesh is the most intact polytheistic Mesopotamian flood story, and the Sumerian Flood Story is the least intact).17 Because the polytheistic flood stories were well known, the ancient Hebrews were able to write their flood story parallel to those stories.18 This literary device of comparison helped them reinforce the purpose of God being greater than all the Mesopotamian gods. In Mesopotamian flood stories, the flood is so destructive that even the gods hide in fear, as shown in The Epic of Gilgamesh:

(Even) the gods were terror-stricken at the deluge.

They fled (and) ascended to the heaven of Anu; The gods cowered like dogs (and) crouched in distress (?).19

In contrast, in the bible flood story, God is portrayed as being above the flood, and in control of everything, and it shows that in the text:

And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth.20

This stark contrast, where the Mesopotamian pantheon has “cowered like dogs” and God calmly controlling the flood and making “a wind blow over the earth,” by which “the waters gradually receded from the earth,” shows God completely in control of the flood, while the Mesopotamian pantheon seems to lose control.21 This comparison would have differentiated the Hebrew God from the other deities popular to worship at that time, and thus would have encouraged the ancient Hebrews to worship God. Another way the

ancient Hebrews used comparison to show that God is greater than the Mesopotamian gods is through the differences in reasons to send the flood. In the polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories, the flood is sent for capricious and shallow reasons, either randomly or because of noise.22 In the Sumerian Flood story, no reason is given for the flooding (though it may have been in the missing parts). However, the flood announcement does talk about the fact that a decision has been made:

A decision that the seed of mankind is to be destroyed has been made. The verdict, the word of the divine assembly, cannot be revoked. The order announced by An and Enlil cannot be overturned. Their kingship, their term has been cut off; their heart should be rested about this.23

This is one of the most intact parts of the Sumerian Flood Epic, and it has no indication of a reason, implying that there was no reason, just a capricious decision. This view is reinforced in The Epic of Gilgamesh, where the only reason given for the flood is that “(Now) their heart prompted the great gods [to] bring a deluge.”24

The only one of these polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories that give a concrete reason is Atrahasis, and that reason is that humans were making too much noise:

‘The noise of mankind has become too much. I have become restless at their noise.

Sleep cannot overtake me because of their racket.’25

These reasons are very fickle, and would not have seemed just to the Hebrews back then. In contrast, God’s actions are shown as just punishment for sins:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals

17 Săvulescu Radu Cosmin. “The Biblical Flood and Parallel Mesopotamian Myths.” Anuarul Institutului de Cercetări Socio-Umane „CS Nicolăescu-Plopșor” 16 (2015): 167, 169.

18 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 115.

19 The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels 85.

20 Genesis 8:1-3 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

21 Quotes from The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. 85 and Genesis 8:1, 3 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

22 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 124.

23 The Sumerian Deluge Account. Translated by Jeremy Allen Black. (Oxford: The University of Oxford, 1997), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

24 The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: ‘He who saw the Deep.’ Translated by Alexander Heidel in The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels 80.

25 Ipiq-Aya. Atrahasis. Translated by Stephanie M. Dalley. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Omnika Foundation. 23.

and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”26

This punishment for evil thoughts in the hearts of men is “a righteous retribution for the sins of the ungodly,” and it’s reinforced by God’s saving of Noah, who was intended by the flood sender to be saved from the flood because of his righteousness that made him “blameless in his generation” (whereas the polytheistic Mesopotamian flood heroes are saved through trickery and because they’re of high rank and close to that god).27 These reasons, grounded in morality and not capriciousness, set God apart from the Mesopotamian pantheon as just, showing God’s greatness in comparison to the Mesopotamian pantheon.

One of the aspects that the Hebrews believed made God so great was mercy. The Hebrew Bible (also the Christian Old Testament) is flooded with examples of God being merciful (Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 25:10, Proverbs 28:13, Isaiah 30:18, Lamentations 3:22-23), and one of the purposes of this flood story is to show that point.28 The literary device used to show God’s mercy is a palistrophe; almost the entire flood story is written as one:

A Noah (vi 10a)

B Shem, Ham and Japheth (lOb)

C Ark to be built (14-16)

D Flood announced (17)

E Covenant with Noah (18-20)

F Food in the ark (21)

G Command to enter ark (vii 1-3)

H 7 days waiting for flood (4-5)

I 7 days waiting for flood (7-10)

J Entry to ark (11-15)

K Yahweh shuts Noah in (16)

L 40 days flood (17a)

M Waters increase (17b-18)

N Mountains covered (19-20)

O 150 days waters prevail ((21)-24)

P GOD REMEMBERS NOAH (viii 1)

O’ 150 days waters abate (3)

N’ Mountain tops visible (4-5)

M’ Waters abate (5)

L’ 40 days (end of) (6a)

K’ Noah opens window of ark (6b)

J’ Raven and dove leave ark (7-9)

I’ 7 days waiting for waters to subside (10-11)

H’ 7 days waiting for waters to subside (12-13)

G’ Command to leave ark (15-17(22))

F’ Food outside ark (ix 1-4)

E’ Covenant with all flesh (8-10)

D’ No flood in future (11-17)

C’ Ark (18a)

B’ Shem, Ham and Japheth (18b)

A’ Noah (19)29

This palistrophe structures the entire flood story (except a few verses, presumably added on for different reasons, as perfect chiasm is often unattainable).30

Like the palistrophe mentioned earlier in The Epic of Gilgamesh, this palistrophe also is mirrored to point towards a center point, in this case one of the central themes of the story and a big hint to the author’s purpose.31 The center point of this palistrophe, “God remembered Noah,” points to a major turning point in the story, and all the regrowth and “fixing” of the flood is done after that turning point.32 This major turning point isn’t about Noah or about chance, it’s about God, and specifically how God shows mercy on Noah (and also the animals in the ark, as the verse also has “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark”).

With these literary devices of comparison and palistrophe, one could argue that it was a chance that they exist in the biblical flood story. After all, since the Mesopotamian flood stories are dated to before the biblical flood story, it could just be borrowing the motif, and the palistrophe could be chance, as in a flood story there has to be some sort of mirroring when the waters rise versus when the waters recede.33 However, there is evidence that the biblical flood story was woven together in such a way that it purposely shows these literary devices. The biblical flood story is believed by many scholars to have been derived from 2 sources, the Yahwist source and the Priestly source,

26 Genesis 6:5-7 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

27 Everything but the second quote comes from Alexander Heidel. The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1949. The second quote comes from Genesis 6:9 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

28 Verses from The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989). This translation sometimes uses the word “faithfulness” or “loyalty” instead of mercy in some cases.

29 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 338.

30 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 340.

31 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 339-340.

32 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 340. Quote taken from Genesis 8:1 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

33 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 338.

often called J and P for simplicity.34 These sources are thought to have contributed a mixture of different aspects to the flood story, and if woven together arbitrarily they would not have these literary devices.35 Comparison is shown to be purposefully added as the biblical flood story almost mirrors the polytheistic Mesopotamian flood stories, with the biggest differences due to a difference in Hebrew and polytheistic Mesopotamian theology.36 The palistrophe is shown to be purposefully added as opposed to accidental through the way the sources are put together–one example of this is the J and J’ lines in the palistrophe shown above. The J line is all about entry to the ark, and says “...and every bird of every kind—every bird, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah.”37 In a complete mirror of the J line, the J’ line says “and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.”38 This is very important to the palistrophic structure, and shows the coherence of the narrative in Genesis because these verses come from different sources. The parts of the J line shown above are from the Priestly source, while the parts of the J’ line shown above are from the Yahwist source.39 Because of the careful weaving of both sources together to make a palistrophe, it is highly unlikely that the palistrophic structure was unintended by the author, and instead used to reinforce his purpose.

A third purpose of the biblical flood story was to underscore the importance of Jewish law. One of the ways that the author achieved this purpose was through allusion to Jewish law and other parts of the Torah. Jewish law (as written in the book of Leviticus) gives a list of clean and unclean animals, then says:

This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.40

Though the flood story happens chronologically before Jewish law is given, Noah is still shown to follow it in the division of clean and unclean animals. In the biblical flood story (after the earth dries up), Noah doesn’t sacrifice the unclean animals to God, but instead “took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”41 The unclean animals were not to be eaten, and definitely not to be sacrificed to God. They were seen as lesser animals, a characterization that is also backed up by the number of clean and unclean animals saved in the biblical flood story, where God tells Noah to “Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth.”42 This division, alluding to the Jewish law laid out in Leviticus, would have reminded the ancient Hebrews of the law and set Noah as a role model of a good Hebrew. Noah is shown to be a model Hebrew through verses such as “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.”43 The biblical flood story also alludes to Jewish law in the timeline of the flood. Some scholars believe the flood story to have the flood be announced on a Sunday.44 Sunday was seen as the first day of creation, and the flood, a means of de-creation, also was announced and sent on a Sunday.45 Following the chronology of the biblical flood story, this would

34 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 336.

35 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 126.

36 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 115-116. Also see page 126 for a table of similarities and differences between the polytheistic Mesopotamian and biblical flood stories as well as presumed source division in the biblical flood story.

37 Quote from Genesis 7:14-15 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989). As a side note, J here refers to the lettered lines in the previous paragraph, and not to the J translation.

38 Quote from Genesis 8:7-8 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

39 Gary A. Rendsburg “Gilgameš and the World of Assyria: The Biblical Flood Story in the Light of the Gilgameš Flood Account.” Gilgameš and the World of Assyria (2007): 126.

40 Leviticus 11:46-47 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

41 Genesis 8:20 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

42 Genesis 7:2-3 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

43 Genesis 6:9 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989). As a note, “walked with God” as mentioned here refers to a close relationship, other people who “walked with God” were Adam, Enoch, and Abraham, all important in the Jewish faith

44 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 345.

45 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 343.

mean that several important parts of the flood story revolved around keeping the Sabbath (Saturday). The Sabbath was a day of rest for the Jewish people, and it was believed to be the day God rested after creating everything.46 Because of this, the day was hallowed, and was written in the Jewish law in one of the Ten Commandments:

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.47

Since Noah was a role model of a good Jewish man, in the biblical flood story he keeps the Sabbath, and it is shown in the days he sent out the birds, which would have been on Sundays, the day right after the Sabbath when he rested.48 This is all shown through the literary device of allusion to the Jewish law, even something as complex and subtle as the unspoken dates in the flood story.

Student Reflection:

These flood stories give historians a crucial insight into the society of the ancient Mesopotamians. It is in disasters that the best and worst part of humanity is shown, from betrayal and cannibalism to faith and a drive to survive. That may be a reason why not only Mesopotamians, but also many cultures around the world have some sort of flood narrative. From the Aztecs, Mayans, and Inca in the Americas to China and India in Asia, the great tragedy brought about by floods has been well-documented in the archives of history and legend. Even throughout all the destruction brought by the floods, one thing in each flood story stands out: humanity survives. Each flood story throughout the world shows the resilience of humanity, how even when all is lost and the floodwaters seem unbearably high, something happens to bring humanity back. And that may just be one of the most important lessons that past stories have to tell us: No matter how bad life gets, there is always hope.

I did this assignment in spring of my freshman year. Doing an assignment like this as a freshman was terrifying, and I had no idea where to start. But with some help and fortunate source material, I was able to write about something that I ended up loving. I often laugh to myself at the name, because whenever I tell people that my research paper was on “literary devices in ancient Mesopotamian flood epics”, most often look at me with a mixture of confusion and pity. And if you told me at the beginning of freshman year that I’d enjoy writing on that, I’d probably have laughed at you. But it was really enriching and fun! I loved being a researcher, looking for sources, connecting dots, and eventually making something of my own, something that I’m proud of!

46 The belief comes from Genesis 2:2-3 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

47 Deuteronomy 5:12-14 The Bible, New Revised Standard Version. Translated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (Washington D.C.: the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 1989).

48 Gordon J.Wenham. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” Vetus Testamentum 28, (1978): 345.

Assignment:

Veiling as Self-expression: How Muslim Women are Reconstructing Feminism

by Gabbie Bower

PSYC 365: Multicultural Psychology

Dr.

Corrine Bertram

The assignment is an adaptation of a paper conceived of by Halonen (2018). This paper is a reflection on what it means to have a “good life” in context with how these values and worldviews are likely to vary based on someone’s culture. Students chose an element of the “good life” and explored how another cultural group might understand that same element.

Veiling as Self-expression: How Muslim Women are Reconstructing Feminism Self-expression in relation to identity is fundamental to the human experience. It is often tied into culture and influenced by worldview. Self-expression can be understood in various ways, but the choice of dress is one of the most apparent symbols of identity. A person’s visible appearance nonverbally communicates something about them, impacting the way they are perceived. From this, comes the idea of autonomy, that people are making decisions of their own volition free from outside pressure, meaning that one’s outward appearance is of their own autonomous choice. An example of such a choice is that of Muslim women who choose to veil in different ways and for a variety of reasons. A conflict of worldviews and some segments of feminism have chosen to cite this symbolic expression of self as a form of oppression. At the heart of this debate is the intersectionality of being a woman of the Muslim faith. It is their specific visible symbol of faith and culture, which is worn only by women, that has made them the target of Western criticism. To shed light on this debate, which illustrates the dimensions of self-expression, one must look beyond louder Western voices and examine the work which boosts the perspectives and experiences of those who choose to veil. Through studying the complexity of the decision to veil, the possibility for female empowerment, and the politicization of veiling, the concepts of self-expression and identity can be better understood outside of the Western worldview. The intersectional experiences of Muslim women are represented by the work of three different psychologists who sought to learn more about the practice of veiling from Western Muslim women. The first study interviewed eight Muslim women in France and eight Muslim women in the United States, all in college and religious, but only half of each sample veiled (Zimmerman, 2015). The second study similarly made

use of interviews, but the sample was made up of twelve women, eighteen and older, who all veiled and lived in North Carolina (Al Wazni, 2015). A third study chose to use group interviews as their method, to facilitate free flowing responses. It used a sample of thirty-eight second generation Muslim women from the United Kingdom and Denmark, and showed diversity in the types of veiling, including some women who did not veil but were considering it (Chapman, 2018). Each of these studies are limited due to their small sample sizes. The different geographical locations present varying perspectives, highlighting voices from the United States and Europe. The inclusion of French women in particular is interesting due to French laws on secularization, which have had unequal consequences for veiling women. All of the articles emphasize thinking beyond the scope of Western values.

One aspect of veiling, as revealed by the articles, is the practice’s complexity in terms of tradition. Veiling is a dynamic practice, as expressed by the wide range of diverse experiences, and should not be limited by reductionist perspectives. Veiling is not a predetermined practice and is not confined to a certain age. In the first article, participants emphasize that veiling is an informed personal choice. More specifically, one participant waited to veil until she fully understood the implications, showing that the practice is not a passive one (Zimmerman, 2015). This is reaffirmed by the idea that three participants admitted to having removed the veil when they realized they were not ready (Zimmerman, 2015). As mentioned, the tradition is not tied to a specific age, but is implemented in correlation with one’s spiritual journey, or in fact may never be practiced at all. The participants of article two had a range of ages from nine to fifty-three in which they started to wear the hijab (Al Wazni, 2015). This demonstrates that veiling is not fixed to a specific age.

The meaning and function of the veil is also complex and negotiable, as it relates to the individual. Article one participants emphasized the veil as part of a spiritual and personal journey with their religion (Zimmerman, 2015). Veiling is understood to be symbolic of a woman’s relationship with herself and her faith, as opposed to being a symbol of patriarchal submission. In reality, the veil may actually act to deflect Western patriarchal values that hypersexualize women’s bodies. Article two explains that one potential function of the veil is as a buffer between public perception and their own physical appearance (Al Wazni, 2015). Finally, article three ties the practice to religiosity. In this context, religion gives the participants a sense of agency, as opposed to the practice being perceived as blind submission to the rules of religion (Chapman, 2018). Even in the context of religion, veiling is not a simple decision. Rather it can be understood as a thoughtful and powerful decision, reflecting one’s identity. Veiling exemplifies the true depth of self-expression and its many dimensions. Veiling is a form of self-expression that allows for women’s empowerment. This is grounded in the reality that choice is a source of empowerment. In the first article, most participants agreed that women are not forced to veil but acknowledge in cases where a woman might be pressured to veil by the family, that she will either come to appreciate it or that she will simply decide to stop the practice (Zimmerman, 2015). The decision to veil is ultimately one of autonomy. This is reflected in the second article as well in which all twelve participants said they wore the hijab of their own volition, and all reported a positive sense of empowerment associated with veiling (Al Wazni, 2015). The third article adds another layer to the power of choice, associating it with their sense of modesty. Participants stated veiling was their choice as it promoted modesty, which they recognized as a non-gendered value (Chapman, 2018). Participants mentioned that men of Islamic faith were expected to dress modestly as well (Chapman, 2018). This opposes a widely held notion of some Western feminists who insist it is men who force women to veil, as they see empowerment through women’s sexual liberation. In fact, all participants in article two agreed that the idea that men oppressed women through forcing them to veil was false and ignorant (Al Wazni, 2015). Finally, in understanding the ways veiling challenges Western feminist views, it is important that the practice is not reduced to an act of counter feminism. The practice must be considered holistically for its nuanced meaning and function. Overall, veiling illustrates how selfexpression can inspire empowerment and proves that empowerment can be derived from sources outside of Western sexuality or patriarchal values.

The most dangerous consequence of the veiling debate is its politicization, which targets Muslim women’s self-expression, and therefore their identity. Western feminism itself is tied up in political history, as it has been used to justify imperial rule over Eastern countries, as seen during the War on Terror (Al Wazni, 2015). Forcing Western standards onto all people, through policy or political rhetoric, creates real consequences for the people they target. It is also dangerous as it allows prejudice and discrimination to become mainstream and therefore more harmful. For example, post 9/11 Muslim women became targets for hate crimes, especially if they wore the visible symbol of a veil (Al Wazni, 2015). In both articles two and three participants mentioned discrimination following the events of 9/11. Article two states that one participant stopped veiling because she no longer felt safe after the event (Al Wazni, 2015). In article three a participant from London changed how she dressed following 9/11 due to hostile reactions (Chapman, 2018). These instances are only two examples of the ways in which prejudice infused politics targets the self-expression of Muslim women. It also demonstrates that this occurred throughout the West and not just in the United States.

The best example of policy which targets the self-expression of Muslim women is that of French law, which seeks to prevent overt displays of religion in public areas. While this is meant to provide separation in church and state, as well as create equal spaces, the law has disproportionately affected Muslim women. As veiling is seen as religious symbolism, Muslim women are forced to remove their veil. In the first article, French Muslim women spoke of their experiences with veil bans in their schools, with one choosing to study at home, another having to reveal her head in class, and the third explained crying as a young child when she was told to remove her veil (Zimmerman, 2015). All three of these experiences were negative, associated with strong emotional reactions in the women. Due to their inability to veil while in public school, veiling freely in college can actually be understood as a feminist symbol, in which they exercise their choice of dress (Zimmerman, 2015). Veiling is a form of self-expression and one should be concerned when such integral parts of human identity become targeted by policy, and when groups of people become stigmatized due to harmful political rhetoric.

Western culture has placed limitations on how self-expression of identity is understood. When stuck within these confines veiling becomes stigmatized, is seen as a form of oppression, and the Muslim women themselves become targets. This point of view is damaging to those it condemns and to those who created it. Instead, feminist ideology should bypass traditional

Western worldviews, entangled in imperialism and prejudice, and embrace a multicultural perspective of identity and self-expression. It must be realized that all women have different goals in life, and that liberation and empowerment looks different between cultures, as demonstrated by the practice of veiling. The practice is notable as it is a nuanced choice, one which expresses autonomy free from the influence of men or Western feminism, and which is being attacked by policy and stigma. From the voices of participants who live this complex reality, veiling reveals itself as a deeply sincere exhibition of autonomous and empowered self-expression.

References

Al Wazni, A. B. (2015). Muslim women in America and Hijab: A study of empowerment, feminist identity, and body image. Social Work, 60(4), 325–333. https://doi. org/10.1093/sw/swv033

Chapman, M. (2018). Modesty, liberty, equality: Negotiations of gendered principles of piety among Muslim women who cover. Feminism & Psychology, 28(4), 509–529. https://doi. org/10.1177/0959353518789714

Zimmerman, D. D. (2015). Young Arab Muslim women’s agency challenging Western feminism. Affilia: Journal of Women & Social Work, 30(2), 145–157. https://doi. org/10.1177/0886109914546126

Student Reflection:

In writing this paper I was asked to investigate an aspect of my ideal life that may be understood and lived differently in another culture. I ultimately chose the ideal of self-expression which is deeply nuanced. Tasked with analyzing the psychology of this ideal from a different cultural viewpoint, I chose to read articles that gave voice to Muslim Women living in Western countries and their reasons to veil. Studying French language and culture here at Ship, I was already familiar with how some secular laws of France impacted veiling women and I wanted to research that cultural tension further. My goal was to highlight the way worldviews and in particular Western values may permeate concepts such as feminism which should uplift the voices of all rather than the desires of a select few. After all, is that not what equality is about? I hope this essay demonstrates the value of diversity in our world, that it exemplifies the rich variation of human experience, and the importance of shedding one’s own ethnocentric bias.

What is the Effect of Gender-Affirming Care on Muscular Strength in Transgender Individuals?

by Josalyn Nelligan

EXER 321: Exercise Physiology

Dr. William Braun

Assignment:

This paper was written to discover what effects gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) have on muscular strength in transgender individuals. In the paper, 4 different research articles were analyzed and interpreted to supplement the information regarding GAHT effects on trans individuals.

What is the Effect of Gender-Affirming Care on Muscular Strength in Transgender Individuals?

The inclusion of transgender individuals in sports has been a hot topic in debates in the political and social world. To understand nomenclature used in the studies that are reviewed here, common terminology describing gender is provided in Table 1, below. With this topic being so new, there is not much evidence proving the impact of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) on muscular strength in all transgender individuals, both athletes and non-athletes.

Trans individuals, ages 13 and older, make up approximately 0.6% of the United States population (4). Although they make up such a small portion of the US population, they experience extreme difficulty in various situations, sports being one of them. There is a controversy around whether GAHT gives the individual a performance advantage. As mentioned previously, the impact of GAHT on muscle strength is unclear.

Term

Transgender or trans

Cisgender or cis

Transgender Woman

Transgender Men

Definition

The point of this paper is to discover what the effects of gender-affirming hormone therapy have on muscular strength in transgender individuals. If more information can be obtained about this topic, then sports organizations can provide fair guidelines and rules for both transgender athletes and cisgender athletes in competitions. Further knowledge can also help transgender individuals understand their bodies better and provide them with a means to take care of their bodies properly.

Muscle Strength, Size, and Composition

In a study conducted by Wiik et al. (6), the effects of gender-affirming treatment on muscle function, size, and composition during 12 months of therapy were examined. The study was a part of a single-center observational cohort study. The study population consisted of 12 trans males and 11 trans women. There were four separate times where examinations were conducted:

A gender identity term for an individual whose gender identity does not match or is at some distance from the gender identity assumed based on their assigned sex at birth. Typically referred to as an “umbrella” term.

A gender identity term for individuals whose gender identity aligns with the gender identity assumed based on their assigned sex at birth.

A woman who was assigned male at birth. They may use feminizing hormone therapy for their gender-affirming care.

A man who was assigned female at birth. They may use testosterone for their gender-affirming care

Note. This table shows the definitions of some common terminology used to describe gender. Note that terminology may vary across different cultures and individuals who have their own definitions or preferences for language. From “Glossary | The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center | Michigan State University.” (n.d.). Gscc.msu.edu. https://gscc.msu.edu/education/glossary.html (3).

Table 1. Common Terminology Regarding Gender

baseline, 4 weeks after initiated gonadal suppression of hormones but before hormone replacement, 3 months after hormone replacement therapy, and 11 months after the start of hormone replacement therapy. There were blood samples taken and then muscle strength was tested using isokinetic dynamometry. There were also CT (computed tomography) scans taken of their lower limbs followed by a whole-body MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan.

The results of the study done by Wiik et al. (6) showed that thigh muscle volume increased in trans men by 15%. The total loss of thigh muscle volume in trans women was 5%. Transgender men experienced increased strength over the time of the study, while transgender women remained relatively the same in strength levels. Even though there were significant changes in the lower-limb muscle mass and strength for trans men, the trans women were still stronger following 12 months of GAHT. This type of muscle mass and strength gain was expected for trans men due to the well-known effects of testosterone on muscle mass. Estradiol treatment may have a protective effect against lean mass loss which could explain why trans women have more strength than trans men following GAHT (6). It is uncertain whether this translates into any physical advantage. In trans men, there was an increase in knee extension (12%) and flexion (26%). This increase likely results from testosterone administration. On the other hand, trans women maintained knee extension strength and knee flexor isometric strength. It is important to note there were some improvements in dynamic knee flexor measurements. This was most likely due to the learning effect (6).

Overall, trans men see great changes in their lower limbs muscle mass and strength while the changes were modest in trans women. This study demonstrated that gender-affirming therapy affects muscle function, size, and composition in transgender individuals.

A study done by Scharff et al. (5) looked at how grip strength may change in trans individuals during their first year of GAHT. This was a multicenter, prospective study that studied 249 trans women and 278 trans men. The trans men were taking testosterone. The women were taking anti-androgen cyproterone acetate and estradiol valerate. The study measured grip strength, lean body mass, and bone mineral density (BMD). Grip strength was found using a Jamar® hand dynamometer. Lean body mass and BMD were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Blood samples were also taken. Measurements were taken at the baseline and after one year.

The results of Scharff et al. (5) showed that grip strength decreases in trans women and increases in trans men after twelve months of GAHT. Grip strength decreased by 1.8 kg in trans women. In

contrast, trans men saw an increase in grip strength (+6.1 kg). It is also interesting to point out that 49% of the increase in trans men occurred in the last three months of hormone therapy. In contrast, 66% of the decrease in grip strength in trans women happened in the last three months of hormone therapy. When comparing the grip strength of trans women and trans men during hormone therapy, their overall grip strength was similar. The absolute grip strength of transwomen during HT was 40.0 kg and for trans men it was 39.2 kg. So, although trans women had a marginally higher absolute grip strength compared to trans men, it was not statistically significant. It is also important to note that, at baseline, transmen had a baseline grip strength of 33.1 kg compared to transwomen during HT who had a grip strength of 40.0. This is important to note as transwomen had a higher grip strength than transmen who have just started their hormone therapy. Similar to the results of the study by Wiik et al. (6), the study by Scharff et al. (5) found that transgender women will experience a decrease in lean body mass while transgender men will experience an increase in lean body mass. More specifically, trans women have an increase in body fat in the abdominal region (+18%), leg region (+42%), and the gynoid (hips and butt) region (+34%). In comparison, trans men had changes in body fat of -16% in the leg region, -14% in the gynoid region, and no change in the abdominal region. This demonstrates that GAHT will cause a more feminine body fat distribution in trans women and a more masculine body fat distribution in trans men. Scharff et al. (5) also found that an increase in grip strength was related to an increase in arm lean body mass (+0.010 kg, 95% CI +0.003; +0.017).

All in all, Scharff et al. (5) showed that there is a decrease in grip strength for trans women and an increase in trans men, along with an increase in lean body mass in trans men. These findings help illustrate that testosterone use in GAHT has a positive effect on muscle mass and grip strength in trans men.

Other Physiologic Effects of GAHT

Along with muscular strength, gender-affirming hormone therapy has a multitude of effects on the body.

Bone Health

Andrade et al. (2) conducted a study to find the influence of testosterone on bone health and muscle strength in transgender men. Thirty-eight (38) participants, who consisted of 19 cisgender men and 19 transgender men, completed the study. Subjects were paired by age and body mass index (BMI). They were tested for clinical and hormonal evaluation, body composition measurement, and evaluation of BMD

(bone mineral density), total body strength (TBS), grip strength, the level of physical activity (IPAQ), and physical performance using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). For the sake of brevity, selected test results are reported here. Results showed that, in transgender men, total body BMD (1.208 g/ cm2) and femoral neck BMD (1.019 g/cm2) were lower than cisgender males. Andrade et al. (2) were able to conclude that muscle strength and BMD values are lower in trans men than cisgender men despite having similar testosterone levels. This is most likely due to factors such as pre-existing bone development during puberty, lower physical activity levels, and differences in body composition according to the Andrade et al. study (2). The timing of the hormone therapy will play a significant role in muscle strength and BMD levels. In the Scharff et al. study (5), transgender women experienced increases in the lumbar spine (LS) BMD, total hip (TH) BMD, and femoral neck (FN) BMD, while transgender men saw increases in LS BMD and TH BMD, but not FN BMD. There were no associations found between grip strength and change in BMD in both trans men and trans women.

It is known that muscular mass and strength can help predict bone mineral density. As muscles grow stronger, they may exert more force on the bones, which puts them under great stress and encourages bone formation and retention. Based on the studies reviewed here, it is difficult to form a strong conclusion about the relationship between muscular strength and BMD in trans individuals. The Scharff et al. (5) study, contradicts the findings related to BMD and muscular strength as they concluded there was no association found between grip strength and BMD. However, using the results from the study by Andrade et al (2), it is safe to conclude there is some type of effect on BMD with muscular strength. It is not an overpowering effect as cisgender men still had a slightly higher value, but it is evident that BMD values still increase when treated with testosterone. This can help contribute to the effect of GAHT on bone health and muscular strength in trans men. The effect of GAHT on bone health in trans women is not as well known.

Cardiopulmonary Health

In the study by Alvares et al. (1), transgender women were evaluated to test the long-term effects of estrogen therapy on cardiopulmonary capacity and muscle strength. This cross-sectional study involved 15 non-athlete trans women, 14 cisgender men, and 12 cisgender women. The trans women had been receiving GAHT for around 15 years at the time of the study. Bioimpedance analysis for body composition determination, hand grip strength, and treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing for aerobic power

(VO2max) determination were performed. Alvares et al. (1) showed in their results that cis women had a mean VO2max of 2167±41 ml/min, and there was a VO2max of 2606±42 ml/min in trans women, and lastly a VO2max of 3358±44 ml/min in cis men. When at rest, VO2 was not significantly different when comparing trans women and cis men; however, both groups had a significantly higher (p<.05) VO2 compared to cis women. A higher resting VO2 signifies a higher resting energy expenditure. A strong correlation was found between VO2max and fat-free mass/height2 among trans women (r=0.7388; p<0.01). It is important to note that this association was not observed in the other groups. Concerning VO2max and FFM/height2, trans women had a lower FFM/height2 index which could contribute to a reduction in the oxygen uptake capacity of the muscle as a lower index would reflect less muscle volume.

All these results can indicate that the physiology of the cardiopulmonary system of transgender women is partially maintained in the male pattern at rest; but while exercising, there was an ongoing distancing of the trans women’s parameters from cis men’s performance and an approximation of cis women’s characteristics. This is seen in the VO2 peak levels where transgender women had a value in between cisgender women and men. In terms of strength, body mass or fat-free mass considerably reduces important absolute differences in strength between the sexes. The Alveraz et. al. (1) study showed that trans women had a lower FFM/height index than the other groups, which was statistically significant in comparison with cis men. This can help explain why trans women produce less force per unit of muscle area. Trans women also showed an intermediate muscle mass value between cis women and cis men. Therefore, long-term hormone therapy was not enough to completely shift the body composition of trans women to the female pattern, despite all their effects on fat and lean mass. Overall, the Alveraz et. al. study (1) demonstrated that there were no differences in relative VO2 peak or strength between trans women and cis women when adjusting for fat-free mass.

Limitations of Research

Every study has its limitations and could have been modified in ways; the research included in this paper had some flaws. One limitation seen throughout all studies is the lack of trans athletes as participants in the study. Transgender athletes have been on the hot seat in the media, and it is important to include both athletes and non-athletes in these studies to ensure a more representative data analysis and conclusion. In the study by Wiik et al. (6), they focused only on untrained individuals. The study by Alvares et al. (1) also did not

include athletes and only had 42 participants. There were only 38 participants, who were either trans or cis men, in the study conducted by Andrade et al. (2). In the report by Scharff et al. (5), there were a lot of participants; however, physical activity was not analyzed which could have helped explain the change in grip strength. In general, the studies could have benefited from a more diverse population of participants.

Is Additional Research Needed?

Due to the limitations of the research, I believe that additional research is needed. For starters, there needs to be more research on the difference between trans athletes and cis athletes. This information would help pave the road for forming guidelines for the inclusion of trans athletes in sports. I also think that more studies need to be done on the long-term effects of GAHT. Even though transgender individuals have always been around, research examining the effects of GAHT on the body has just begun. There is so much information that has yet to be discovered, and it is exciting to see what new research will show.

My Conclusion

Gender-affirming hormone therapy does impact muscle strength in transgender individuals as found through the research conducted. Transgender men will experience significant changes in their muscle mass and strength as well as in BMD. Transgender men experience a significant increase in muscle mass, especially in their lower limbs; however, it is not likely to exceed cis men’s values. Transgender men will also experience an increase in lean body mass. In contrast, transgender women will see a decrease in muscle mass and relatively unchanged strength levels. It is important to note that transgender women will only see an intermediate change between cisgender men and cisgender women. Transgender women will also experience less lean body mass and have fat distributed in a more feminine fashion. Trans women will also have an interesting

cardiopulmonary response to exercise in terms of sex characteristics.

Overall, research in this area is fairly novel and it is important to do more research to ensure a more understanding environment in both sports and in the world in general for transgender individuals.

References

Alvares, L. A. M., Santos, M. R., Souza, F. R., Santos, L. M., Mendonça, B. B. de, Costa, E. M. F., Alves, M. J. N. N., & Domenice, S. (2022). Cardiopulmonary capacity and muscle strength in transgender women on long-term gender-affirming hormone therapy: a cross-sectional study. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 56(22), 1292–1298. https://doi.org/10.1136/ bjsports-2021-105400

Andrade, S. R. de L., Mucida, Y. M., Xavier, J. da C., Fernandes, L. N., Silva, R. de O., & Bandeira, F. (2022). Bone mineral density, trabecular bone score and muscle strength in transgender men receiving testosterone therapy versus cisgender men. Steroids, 178, 108951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. steroids.2021.108951

Glossary | The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center | Michigan State University. (n.d.). Gscc.msu.edu. https://gscc.msu. edu/education/glossary.html

Herman, J., Flores, A., & O’Neill, K. (2022). How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States? https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wpcontent/uploads/Trans-Pop-Update-Jun-2022.pdf

Scharff, M., Wiepjes, C. M., Klaver, M., Schreiner, T., T’Sjoen, G., & den Heijer, M. (2019). Change in grip strength in trans people and its association with lean body mass and bone density. Endocrine Connections, 8(7), 1020–1028. https://doi.org/10.1530/ec-19-0196

Wiik, A., Lundberg, T. R., Rullman, E., Andersson, D. P., Holmberg, M., Mandić, M., Brismar, T. B., Dahlqvist Leinhard, O., Chanpen, S., Flanagan, J. N., Arver, S., & Gustafsson, T. (2019). Muscle Strength, Size, and Composition Following 12 Months of Genderaffirming Treatment in Transgender Individuals. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 105(3), e805–e813. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz247

Student Reflection:

As a 20-year-old queer woman in the Exercise Science field, I need to do my best to learn as much as I can and spread as much information about my community as possible. The transgender community has been experiencing extreme difficulties in the sports community, and I think it is important to research the effects of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy on the body for everyone to get a better understanding of transgender individuals' bodies. This research alone has given me a better understanding of how GAHT affects the body, and I think the information could help a lot of people at least get a slightly better understanding of GAHT. Research like this is extremely important for the trans community in both sports and in the world in general.

Assignment:

Writing Skills and the non-English Major

by Karen Zola

ENGL 114:

Academic Writing Dr. Sharon Harrow

Write an article-style essay for The Slate that argues for a change (in thinking or behavior) that will make the university or region a better place. Your essay will be based on your informed judgement. As such, the essay will combine elements of an opinion piece with elements of a researched essay. Write the essay as if it were to be published in The Slate, Ship’s newspaper.

“So, is it good?” my friend, Jackie, curiously asked me one afternoon at a study session on campus. I clenched her MacBook along the sides, signaling my inability to read her essay. She waited impatiently, tapping her long, shimmery, pink-encrusted nails on the wobbly table while sipping her Extra-Large Matcha Tea from Dunkin Donuts. I quickly read the last sentence. “It’s okay,” I said apologetically. She trusted my opinion because she knew I was “good” at writing essays and because I was an English major. Her eyes dashed through the frantically written five-page document she had written for a Business class the night before.

“I think I did fine. Whatever, it’s not like I’ll keep doing this when I get a job.” She reassured herself out loud. As she put her MacBook in her backpack to leave for her class, I couldn’t help but wonder: why should I care about supply chains? Wait. What was her argument about? If I couldn’t understand her words, how could her professor? I should have told her it needed work. My error could doom Jackie to an eternal “F” that would affect her future from being the Business major she proudly proclaimed whenever asked what her major was.

“What’s your major?” Whenever I ask this question to people I meet on campus, I usually hear answers like “Secondary Education!” “Psychology!” “Communication!” “Business!” These are all great majors with bright futures; however, all these majors include one vital skill: writing. Whether students love it or dread it, for most careers, writing will be a necessary skill. Shippensburg University has made multiple improvements over the years when organizing major and minor curriculum requirements. Nevertheless, Shippensburg University doesn’t meet the needs of students for professional/and or creative writing courses outside an English major. As an English major myself, I believe that non-English major students need to understand writing techniques and methods to become successful in their chosen field. Even a Mechanical

Engineer major will need professional writing skills to know how to write laboratory reports with clarity and precision. Shippensburg University should add professional and creative writing courses for non-English major requirements so that students will be prepared to write clearly when they enter their chosen field after graduation.

One misconception some students have when they hear the term “writing skills” is that it is only about correcting grammar. However, there are deeper skills that students don’t realize. For instance, critical thinking is a primary skill that many professors teach. The Cambridge Dictionary defines critical thinking as “the process of thinking carefully about a subject or idea, without feelings or opinions to affect you” (Cambridge University 1). This shows that when a student uses critical thinking, they are analyzing all sides of an argument without bias and are applying the information they have gathered to their paper with the intent to inform. To an extent, many non-English major students do this every day without being aware of it. For example, if they are hearing a debate or conversation about a controversial topic, they will either agree or disagree with the claim being expressed. Because everyone has their own bias, it’s up to the students to decide which argument is based on facts and good judgement – and which argument is faulty. Critical thinking elicits clear thought-processing which can help students understand different perspectives.

One main question is how can professional or creative writing classes teach critical thinking skills that would benefit a non-English major? English professor, Florence E. Bacabac, answered this question by first stating that, “it is important to note that each field or discipline has its own style, structure, and format when it comes to writing, and most composition courses seldom facilitate the transfer of these specialized skills in the classroom” (334). In short, every college major has a different style of writing, and English classes such

as Academic Writing do not always focus on writing in every discipline. Adding to this argument, many nonEnglish major students may not even remember what they learned after passing Academic Writing, because to them it is simply a general education requirement that needs to be checked off. Going further in her argument, Dr. Bacabac states, “…while student writers grapple with new concepts pertaining to their majors in upper-division/content courses, research/composition and capstone classes also need to supplement these efforts with purposeful collaborative exercises to help [students] join the conversations of their field” (334335). Non-English major students need professional and creative writing classes to help them understand concepts of writing in their chosen field. To accomplish this, non-English major students need to work in a collaborative environment where they can thrive without fear of failing because of a simple grammatical error. I asked Professor of English, Carla T. Kungl if nonEnglish major students who passed Academic Writing were gaining enough skills to carry into future essays in their major required classes. Dr. Kungl answered, “I think we give them the tools. Students don’t realize that the tools translate into other topics. You need to take what you learned somewhere” (Kungl). NonEnglish major students cannot afford to pass Academic Writing without applying the techniques to writing in their fields. Dr. Bacabac describes one such transferrable skill: “critical thinking activities in which students describe the structure of scholarly articles will help them become more effective and comfortable writers in the disciplines” (336). This shows that if non-English major students can first learn to analyze the structure, styles, or techniques of other writers’ papers, they can gain skills to incorporate into their major classes and even into employment after graduation.

Not only are critical thinking skills attractive to employers, but written communication skills are also valuable. For instance, psychology majors will have to deal with written communication when assessing clients. The Department of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse claims that “Written communication is one of the top skills that employers are seeking in college educated workers” (Kortenkamp, Marshik and Thakkar 1). A survey conducted by senior research scientist at the Educational Testing Service Research Institute, given to employers inquired if written communication is an important skill for the workplace. The conclusion was that “over 93% respondents reported that written communication was ‘very important’ for the workplace, yet 28% of respondents rated the writing skills of 4-year college graduates entering the workplace as ‘deficient’…written communication skills are crucial for the workplace, yet many employers perceive college graduates as underprepared for the

writing tasks required at work” (Sparks et al. 1). These statistics indicate that employers highlight written communication skills as a top skill to have, yet they do not trust that college graduates have mastered this skill when entering the workplace.

If this is so, the question is: how can professional or creative writing classes benefit non-English major students who need to improve their written communication skills to attract employers after graduation? Fortunately, the Shippensburg University English Department has recently revised their curriculum. Now, many classes such as Technical Writing I and II, Fiction Writing 308 are open to non-English major students who want to improve their writing skills. Even if their major doesn’t require them to take these classes, this is an excellent way for non-English major students to be well-prepared for employment after graduation. Another option is for students to add a Professional Writing Minor, where students will learn to “closely read and identify examples of professional writing in a variety of formats and media and recognize, understand, and implement the components of professional writing in a variety of formats (reports, manuals, memos, grant proposals, etc.)” (Professional Writing Minor). This minor will allow students to practice close-reading skills by identifying different writing styles in professional writing so that they can incorporate this knowledge in the workplace. Another question non-English major students ask is: why learn multiple styles of writing? I, myself, was in the Communications, Journalism and Media major with a concentration in Public Relations until I changed my major to English with a concentration in Professional and Creative Writing. While as a Communications, Journalism and Media major, I took Media Writing 112. When I switched majors, I worried about what my English advisor would say, since Media Writing 112 was not a part of the English program. But the English advisor told me that I should see it as an advantage because employers could see my versatility or adaptability in different writing styles. Because of that class, I have background knowledge of how to write like a broadcaster, journalist, or a public relations professional. These are tools to put in my learning toolbox. My argument for non-English major students is to add to your toolbox skills and classes related to your field. Prepare yourself now by researching what type of writing classes or writing skills are employers looking for in your field.

I encourage non-English major students to take a creative writing class or add a Creative Writing Minor here at Shippensburg University. Creativity is a skill that some students think employers don’t care about, however popular employment website Indeed, cites creativity as “a valuable workplace skill because it can

be a useful tool for developing new ideas, increasing efficiency and devising solutions to complex problems” (Birt 1). In short, employers want employees with the skill of creativity who aren’t afraid to think outside the box to find logical solutions to everyday problems. Creative writing classes allow students to use their imaginations to write different styles of writing; this gives the student freedom to do what they want amid gaining writing skills in a stress-free environment. I asked Professor Connelly what students could gain from taking a creative or professional writing class. Professor Connelly stated, “A sense of how to think more deeply about worthwhile ideas and to find techniques to convey to others” (Connelly). Creative and professional writing classes allow non-English major students to examine ideas and by using different methods of communication to translate or share their findings to others.

Like creative writing, professional writing is useful to non-English majors - specifically STEM and Business majors. According to Research Professor Dr. Gili Marbach-Ad, studies show that “recent graduates are deficient in important skills such as collaboration and professional writing” (Marbach-Ad, Hunt, Thompson 452). Unlike creative writing where students are free to use their imaginations to help them when writing their assignments, Professional writing demands a style of formal writing that is used for grant proposals, reports, contracts, etc. This type of writing requires the student to use correct grammar, correct spelling, and more. STEM majors are not the only students that would benefit from professional writing. Students belonging to Business and Social Work majors, or even students who want to become doctors by becoming Biology/Pre-Med majors, would benefit from clear writing skills. According to Forbes writer, Jeff Bradford, “Business is fundamentally about getting other people to do other things- getting employees to be productive, customers to buy your product or service, government to leave you alone—you can’t make these things happen if you can’t communicate well” (Bradford 2). In short, communication skills are vital in business because if someone is not clear on a certain topic, it can affect millions of people depending on what information is being distributed. Bradford goes on to explain, “…good writing is more than logic in action. It also must touch the reader, listener or viewer emotionally. Otherwise, it won’t connect or lead to the behavior you are seeking to create” (Bradford 2). I implore non-English major students to take advantage of a Professional Writing minor, as it will allow students to “develop a keen eye for proofreading documents and understand advanced grammatical and stylistic structures that help you adapt writing to different purposes and audiences” (Professional Writing

Minor). This minor will train students to analyze formal documentation and expose them to imitate styles of writing that employers are looking for.

One surprising connection between writing and STEM is narrative medicine. Narrative medicine is “an international discipline that at the intersection of humanities, the arts, clinical practice, and health care justice with conceptual foundations in narratology, phenomenology, and liberatory social theory” (Columbia University Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics). Narrative medicine combines science and writing to allow clinicians to have a better understanding of patients and their lives. To understand the life of someone who you are not emotionally connected with, you need great empathy to understand the other person. Healthcare journalist Kim Krisberg writes, “A core component of narrative medicine education is “close reading,” or learning how to thoughtfully and critically analyze a text. This approach helps students develop empathetic listening skills to better understand and connect with patients.” (Krisberg 3). In other words, critical thinking skills are valuable to the healthcare professionals who have the goal of enhancing their emphatic skills towards patients. Similarly, Social Work majors need to meet people in various circumstances or stages in life. This calls for effective communication when dealing with many groups or checking in with officials of the law. According to Professor Emeritus E. Gail Horton, and Professor Naelys: “Effective written communication is essential to social work practice” (Horton and Diaz 53). Dr. Horton and Dr. Diaz continue to say, “In addition, social workers must be able to express their professional judgments clearly and convincingly in writing to law enforcement personnel, funders, and policymakers to ensure the well-being of their clients. Unclear writing can result in inappropriate placements or denial of services” (Horton and Diaz 54). This statement shows that written communication allows a clear flow of thought connecting person-to-person, and if the flow breaks due to a written communication error such as an unclear statement, that mistake could have dire consequences.

In recent years, the same trend seen with STEM majors has occurred with social work majors as “students appear to be unable to explore issues with depth and complexity, to organize material in a coherent manner with full development and detail, and to write with control over diction, syntactic variety, and transition” (Horton and Diaz 54). In other words, social work major students need to translate complex ideas by using everyday language to organize their findings. I also urge social work major students to consider a Professional Writing minor or classes such as Technical Writing I and II, which “suits students

looking to become more technically sound in their writing, which translates well in basically any career field” (Professional Writing Minor). This minor will allow students to not only improve on their critical thinking and written communication skills, but also help students to sound clear in their writing so that they can share their ideas with others while not breaking the flow of communication. This minor can also help social work majors be exposed to the outlines and functions of legal documents, and more, which will be attractive to employers.

What writing assistance is available if a non-English major can’t take a creative or professional writing class? Fortunately, all students can work on their writing skills through tutoring. Tutoring is a great way for students to have a one-on-one talk with an advanced student writer who offers suggestions and helps sharpen their writing skills. Unfortunately, many students don’t use it as a resource, and they may not know all of the benefits. For example, Professional tutor, Doug Kovel, argues, “peer tutoring has motivational benefits, and it has been associated with lower test anxiety and higher student engagement in the learning process” (1). One of the benefits of tutoring is that it helps the student by decreasing anxiety when taking tests, and it can help to motivate students to learn more as they progress in their studies. Kovel further says, “peer tutoring takes away the stigma of asking for help. Students may be more inclined to seek other forms of academic support, such as by going to faculty office hours or the school’s writing center, if they see that getting help is a normal process and nothing to be ashamed of” (Kovel 1). Students who feel comfortable reaching out to their professors or go to tutoring are realizing that asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of.

Even though I’m a tutor now, I had a problem asking for help because I thought it would be seen as a weakness that revealed I was vulnerable to making mistakes. I was always seen by my peers as a “smart” person, and in trying to live up to that evaluation, I started thinking that smart people couldn’t make mistakes. Thankfully, over the years, I have realized that asking for help isn’t a weakness. Rather, I now see it as a fresh pair of eyes that give me feedback on my paper and criticize my writing with the intention of helping me improve my writing skills – rather than belittle me to think I stink at writing. With experience, I know that if you come with a negative mindset to class every day, you will never grow in the learning process, and you will develop a fear of failure. Like it or not, constructive criticism will be a part of your educational journey and your future career. It is better to take constructive criticism as a positive aspect in helping you grow rather than take it personally in a negative way. No non-English major student wants to turn in

a bad paper, yet no one wants to admit when they are wrong. Sometimes you must swallow your pride and hear the advice of tutors who have already taken that class and know what is to be expected. On this note, Kovel states, “Peer tutors can help their tutees become better learners. Peer tutors can also give students insights into how to navigate their academic and personal responsibilities, including useful study and time management strategies” (Kovel 1). In short, tutors go above and beyond to make sure their tutees have enough support as possible for the road ahead of them.

At Shippensburg University, writing tutors (called the Writing Fellows) offer “support in one-on-one and group tutoring sessions… support and assistance at any stage of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, and revision) … [and] host “Tutor Talk” workshops. All students across campus are welcome to attend these workshops. Remember, there is no shame in asking for help, and the Writing Fellows try to make tutoring a comfortable experience for all students. And the “Tutor Talk” allows students to ask questions in a stress-free environment. There is also tutoring at The Learning Center, which can help with reviewing papers, going over assignment sheets, and basic aspects of writing. Overall, there are several ways a non-English major student could receive writing help.

There is a final, important reason why I challenge Shippensburg University to add professional and creative writing classes to non-English majors’ student’s curriculum: an alarming rate of non-English major students feel their words don’t matter. In an interview with English Professor and novelist Neil Connelly, I asked the question: What is the stigma that surrounds writing that ultimately affects a non-English major student negatively? Professor Connelly answered, “Students don’t feel that they have enough to say. It’s a deep insecurity and a self-esteem issue. They think ‘people don’t think I have something meaningful to say.’ Students can say something to me easily with words, but when it comes down to writing it on paper, they’re in a wagon rut, ‘now I’m writing and there are rules’” (Connelly). Similarly, Dr. Kungl stated, “The stigma is that students are focused on grammar and correct writing, [such as] not knowing how to use a comma. In high schools, teachers are so focused on grammar that the love of English gets lost” (Kungl). So how can non-English major students fall in love with writing without having to be afraid of grammar rules?

I want to conclude my argument with some words of encouragement. I want to remind you of something that you may have heard so many times that it probably hasn’t stuck: your words matter. Yes, you, the non-English major. Read and understand that your words do matter. I realize it’s a corny phrase to say to someone who may have just received a bad grade on

their paper, but look around you. Do you see anyone who hasn’t struggled in something they love at least once in their lifetime? For many students, our professors, advisors, parents, siblings, and so many others inspired us to go to college and to be someone with resources they may not have had - resources that could have changed their lives or their world. Now, our world is being threatened by wars, diseases, hunger, global warming, political unrest, and other problems. Now is the time where we will need writers, those who are not afraid to speak out against the status quo or the false structures of our society. You can use your voice for public issues – or even for your own private thoughts. Think you can’t do it? Look at the great women poets and novelists of the past such as Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, who gave us Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights or Louisa May Alcott who wrote Little Women, all of whom used male pseudonyms just to get their voices out into a male-dominated society. Or look at Anne Frank, whose diary revealed to the world many of the horrors of the Holocaust because of Nazi Germany, even though she had only a middle school education. Need more convincing? The great playwright and poet, William Shakespeare, whose plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet have been adapted over the years into films that are now box office successes, wrote so many shocking things that made him vulnerable to censorship or imprisonment or worse - in 16th century England - yet still had the courage to say: “Be not afraid of greatness.” We need poets to tell us the truth, even during times when we don’t want to hear it. We need writers that will hold world leaders accountable, leaders who may hold in their hands the souls of people desperate to leave a war-torn country. We need writers to speak for people who may not be able to do so. Non-English majors - when you entered Shippensburg University, you gave yourself the ability to use your own voice – and the ability to choose to be a voice for others. Who are these voices you are representing? Maybe it’s yourself, maybe it’s those who can’t afford to go to college, those who don’t have a voice because it was taken away, those who live in different countries yet don’t know if they will survive the night, and so many more. I don’t know what career you will go into after you graduate, but I know that it will affect your community, environment, or life in one way or another. All I ask is that you start with a word. Then another and another until it grows into a paragraph that finishes into a paper. You have already begun to make life-changing decisions. For instance, making the choice to go to college is a big step in one’s lifetime. If you can decide who you are and what you want to become, then you can decide the next word of a paragraph. Do not let a silly comma or semicolon mistake lead you to avoid writing for good. Make

your mistakes, because the perfect writer does not exist – only the perfect failure who did nothing and thus changed nothing. Remember my friend Jackie, who walked to her next class to turn in her unclear essay. Don’t be like her. Research your field or talk to your academic advisor, and if possible, take the professional or creative writing classes here at Shippensburg University that can help launch you to get your dream job after graduation.

Works Cited

Bacabac, Florence Elizabeth. “Toward Writing in the Disciplines through Critical Thinking.” CEA Forum, vol. 48, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 334–49. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&A uthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1235453&site=e ds-live&scope=site.

Birt, Jamie. “Creativity Skills: Definition, Tips and Examples.” Indeed, 2024 Indeed, 25 Aug. 2023, www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/ creativity-skills. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

Bradford, Jeff. “Why Writing Ability Is the Most Important Skill in Business (and How to Acquire It).” Forbes, 2024 Forbes Media LLC., 29 Jan. 2019, www.forbes.com/ sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/01/29/why-writingability-is-the-most-important-skill-in-business-andhow-to-acquire-it. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

Buzzi, Olivier, et al. “Writing for the Discipline in the Discipline?” Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 17, no. 4, Aug. 2012, pp. 479–84. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org /10.1080/13562517.2012.711932.

Cambridge Dictionary. “CRITICAL THINKING | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Cambridge.org, 2019, dictionary. cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/critical-thinking. Connelly, Neil. Personal Interview. Conducted by Karen Zola, 10 Apr. 2024.

“Division of Narrative Medicine.” Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, 27 Jan. 2020, www. mhe.cuimc.columbia.edu/division-narrativemedicine#:~:text=Narrative%20medicine%20is%20 an%20international.

Hebert, Marsha. “Written Communication Guide: Types, Examples, and Tips.” Top Resume, 2024 Top Resume, 16 Aug. 2023, www.topresume.com/career-advice/ written-communication-guide?irclickid=VTu130Xn hxyPU4CwFTW4WUlzUkHTXQyOPTRNV00&u tm_source=impact_affiliates_19020&irgwc=1&pt=yZc A5YTzqIRnQ. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Horton, E.Gai., and Naelys Diaz. “Learning to Write and Writing to Learn Social Work Concepts: Application of Writing Across the Curriculum Strategies and Techniques to a Course for Undergraduate Social Work Students.” Journal of Teaching in Social Work, vol. 31, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 53–64. EBSCOhost, https://doi.or g/10.1080/08841233.2010.539141.

Kaufman, Julia, and Christian Schunn. “Students’ Perceptions about Peer Assessment for Writing: Their Origin and Impact on Revision Work.” Instructional Science, vol. 39, no. 3, May 2011, pp. 387–406. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11251-010-9133-6.

Kortenkamp, Katherine V., et al. “Writing across the Curriculum: A Longitudinal Assessment of Psychology Majors’ Writing Development.” Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, Dec. 2023. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000390.

Kovel, Doug. “Peer Tutoring in the Pandemic.” Inside Higher Ed, 2024 Inside Higher Ed, 23 Mar. 2021, www. insidehighered.com/views/2021/03/24/benefits-peertutoring-and-how-develop-effective-program-opinion. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Krisberg, Kim. “Narrative Medicine: Every Patient Has a Story.” AAMC, 2024 AAMC, 28 Mar. 2017, www. aamc.org/news/narrative-medicine-every-patient-hasstory. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Kungl, Carla T. Personal Interview. Conducted by Karen Zola, 10 Apr. 2024.

Marbach-Ad, Gili, et al. “Exploring the Values Undergraduate Students Attribute to CrossDisciplinary Skills Needed for the Workplace: An Analysis of Five STEM Disciplines.” Journal of Science Education and Technology, vol. 28, no. 5, Oct. 2019, p. 452. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10956-019-09778-8.

PA 17257477-7447, Shippensburg University 1871 Old Main Drive Shippensburg. “Shippensburg University - Professional Writing Minor.” Shippensburg University, www.ship.edu/programs/professional-writing-minor/. Accessed 26 April 2024.

PA 17257477-7447, Shippensburg University 1871 Old Main Drive Shippensburg. “Shippensburg UniversityDHC Computer Lab.” Shippensburg University, www. ship.edu/academics/colleges/cas/programs/english/ First-Year-Writing/dhc_computer_lab/. Accessed 27 April 2024.

Sparks, Jesse R., et al. “Assessing Written Communication in Higher Education: Review and Recommendations for Next-Generation Assessment. Research Report. ETS RR-14-37.” ETS Research Report Series, Dec. 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t rue&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1109266&site=e ds-live&scope=site.

Student Reflection:

As Dr. Harrow was explaining this assignment in class, I already had an idea of what I wanted to write about. I am a strong believer in equality when it comes to education, and students who are paying high tuition deserve the very best of what their respected education system can offer them. Throughout my research, I analyzed how various writing professors and scholars of Behavioral Sciences, etc. discussed how students’ performance levels in English were deteriorating. However, there was one missing piece that I was yearning to hear: the voice of the students themselves. Often students wouldn’t like to talk about their experiences in any subject such as English. And so I wanted to be that voice for them. I didn’t want to address them as statistics but as adults with ideas that may have been suppressed throughout their academic careers. It is my goal to bring out in them the very best of themselves, not through grades and testing but through conversation and affirmation. I want students to know that bad grammar does not equal bad writing. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Academic Writing 113 students with strong voices who show that isn’t true. So many students just need a chance to express themselves through writing. Yes, they may make mistakes, but you never know if they will become the next Maya Angelou or Lin-Manuel Miranda that this generation will cling to with each word.

How do I submit to Write the Ship?

Write the Ship is Shippensburg University’s Undergraduate Academic Journal.

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We are now seeking student work for the 2025-2026 issue!

Students who wish to have their work published must be sponsored by a professor and are encouraged to seek sponsorship for papers they feel are of excellent quality. The application for submissions must be completed and turned in with a copy of the work to be considered by the due date.

Visit ship.edu/Write-the-Ship for a submission form, or contact our editor at writetheship@ship.edu with any questions.