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Who’s Laughing Now? Comedy as Coping Mechanism and Critique in Paul Beatty’s The Sellout
Get PDFThis paper examines the ways in which Paul Beatty uses dark humor as a coping mechanism for racial trauma, as well as a way of critiquing society’s treatment of Black people in his novel, The Sellout. Throughout his novel, Beatty discusses various controversial topics such as police brutality, segregation, and slavery. Although these topics are not lighthearted in any sense, Beatty uses satire and comedy to describe them to the reader. This paper seeks to elucidate why Beatty would use comedy to discuss the racial injustices and inequalities that Black people have faced in the past and in the present. Much research has shown that African Americans have used humor to laugh at instances that were unjust and cruel in order to create distance from what would otherwise obliterate a sense of self and community. Therefore, I drew upon Dexter B. Gordon’s research and analysis of how African Americans speak about their oppression, and applied this theory to The Sellout to demonstrate how humor is a coping mechanism for racial trauma. In the same sense, this paper strives to explain how satire and irony work together in The Sellout to criticize how society views and mistreats Black people
More than a Punchline: A Comparative Analysis of Diversity in Dropout.tv & CollegeHumor
Get PDFThis paper examines the evolution of digital comedy through a comparative analysis of CollegeHumor and its offshoot, Dropout.tv, focusing on how each platform has approached the portrayal of diversity and inclusion. Utilizing a qualitative content analysis, the study contrasts selected episodes from both platforms to explore shifts in the representation of queer and POC comedians, and the thematic treatment of identity issues. The findings reveal that Dropout.tv significantly advances the inclusivity of comedic content, moving beyond CollegeHumor’s earlier reliance on stereotypical and controversial humor. This shift not only reflects changes in contemporary comedy but also highlights Dropout.tv\u27s commitment to fostering a diverse and thoughtful comedic environment. The study proposes further research into audience perceptions to deepen understanding of digital comedy\u27s impact on societal attitudes towards diversity and inclusion
Electing Generational Immigrants: Campaign Messaging Strategies of Asian American Candidates in Virginia
Get PDFAsian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the U.S. due to immigration – so why don’t we hear more of their stories in electoral politics? Ninety percent of Asian Americans are immigrants or children of immigrants, which is an identity that can and often does influence political participation and motivation for both voters and candidates. Recent theories look directly at linked fate, which posits that individuals who share a group identity, usually a racial or ethnic minority identity, also share a sense that anything that affects another member of the group, impacts them all. This research seeks to use this theory as a framework to observe how Asian American candidates’ campaigns in the state of Virginia message on their generational immigrant identities. The case studies suggest that first-generation immigrants are more likely to present their personal immigrant stories to voters, while second-generation message on theirs relative to their issue platforms. They also suggest that more Asian American candidates, regardless of generational immigrant status, message more on that identity when running in a district that contains an Asian enclave. As Asian Americans’ political participation continues to increase and different generations of immigrants will also be increasingly represented, their distinctive campaigning strategies and approach to their immigrant identities can add to the sparse literature on Asian American candidate behavior and open new avenues of research into the nuanced ways in which generational immigrant identity shapes that behavior
Programas de ELL dentro del área de Fredericksburg, VA: Una Descripción y Justificación para su Defensa
No full textEl propósito de esta investigación es analizar y discutir los desafíos comunes que los estudiantes aprendiendo Inglés como segundo idioma (para aquí y delante ELL) experimentan en Virginia. Con el fin de lograr este objetivo, realizaré entrevistas a varios maestros de ELL en las Escuelas Públicas de la Ciudad de Fredericksburg para discutir los problemas y desafíos que estos programas experimentan. Con mis hallazgos espero abogar por la comprensión de estos temas y sugerir ideas para ayudar a desarrollar programas de ELL más eficientes para la población actual de K-12 de ELL del 10% en las escuelas públicas de Virginia desde 2022
Fallen Creator and Failed Christ: An Exploration of Religious Imagery and Metafiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement
Get PDFThis paper examines the religious imagery in Atonement by Ian McEwan through a close reading of the structure and main characters Briony, Cecilia and Robbie. The novel is deeply concerned with questions of sin and redemption, which intersect with religious symbolism and metafiction to create the story. This paper reads Briony as both a creator god and a failed Christ figure and Cecilia and Robbie as Adam and Eve characters, showing the text’s self-awareness through its use of narrative to create meaning. It argues that the field of religious studies offers many theories and terms that enrich the field of literary analysis, such as ritual, sacred vs. profane space and time, and creature consciousness, all exhibited in Atonement. Finally, the paper explores the relationship between literature and religion’s meaning-making myth, all of which parallel the Judeo-Christian tradition
The Chinese Room and Creating Consciousness: How Recent Strides in AI Technology Revitalize a Classic Debate
Get PDFSince 1950, when Alan Turing first posed the question of whether a machine could think, the possibility of artificial consciousness has sparked intense and ongoing debate, and strong positions have been staked out on each side of the argument. On the one hand, the historically popular functionalist school of thought claims that any system capable of producing suitably “conscious” behavior in a given environment should be considered conscious. On the other hand, John Searle’s famous “Chinese Room” argument insists that this cannot be the case, and that consciousness is in all likelihood not artificially reproducible. However, both positions have issues—the functionalists are forced to ascribe consciousness to a much too wide array of systems, and Searle must rely on his unsubstantiated “causal properties” to deny the possibility of conscious artificial intelligence. These issues give rise to middle-ground positions such as that of Paul and Patricia Churchland, who in 1990 expressed their optimism at the prospect of neural network technology someday achieving consciousness. Today, modern advancements in AI technology and research into large language models give us new and important insights into this debate. Recent research from the AI company Anthropic shows strong parallels between conceptual representation in LLMs and the human brain, supporting the notion that a sufficiently advanced neural network may be capable of achieving consciousness thought. This paper analyzes key positions within the debate on artificial consciousness and evaluates how recent advancements in AI technology challenge and inform these perspectives
Student Resources and Retention Among Transgender and Nonbinary College Students
No full textTransgender and nonbinary (TNB) college students are more likely to drop out of college than their cisgender peers. While robust previous literature has focused on individually experienced stressors, this paper looks at the structural supports offered by the institution. One hundred and fifty-four TNB college students were asked about the resources available on their campuses, their sense of safety on campus, and whether they intended to drop out of college. Campus resources and supports were associated with a greater sense of safety, and in turn, less of a desire to drop out of college. Some resources such as a nondiscrimination policy that includes gender identity, LGBTQ+ student organizations, all-gender bathrooms, an LGBTQ+ resource center, and a policy allowing nonlegal name changes on official documents were more frequently reported by participants as available, while other resources such as gender inclusive housing and appropriate health services were perceived as less available. However, there was wide variability in the availability of resources. The present study suggests that TNB inclusion policies and practices should be of high priority for higher education institutions
Ambivalent Sexism Impacts Attitudes Toward Marital Surname Change Decisions
No full textCouples are making increasingly varied surname change decisions following marriage. However, despite this increased variability, cultural attitudes toward nontraditional surname choices remain rooted in sexism, with women who retain their maiden names often being viewed negatively as individuals and as partners within their marriages. The present study aimed to examine ambivalent sexism as a potential moderator of the link between women’s and men’s nontraditional surname choices and negative perceptions of those individuals and their marriages. To this end, participants (n = 129) viewed a series of vignettes describing heterosexual couples who made traditional vs. nontraditional choices regarding whether to change or retain their surnames following marriage, and participants’ levels of ambivalent sexism were measured. Results indicated that participants with higher levels of sexism perceived nontraditional surname choices, and the individuals who make those choices, more negatively relative to those who make traditional choices. These findings underscore the persistent role of sexism in cultural attitudes toward marital surname choices in an emerging adult population
Borneo Stalagmite Evidence of Significantly Reduced El Niño-Southern Oscillation Variability at 4.1 kyBP
No full textThe timing and geographic extent of a potential “4.2 ky event” remain highly contested. Here we present records of ENSO variability at 3.8 kyBP and 4.1 kyBP derived from a Borneo stalagmite, which suggest a significant change in ENSO properties between these time intervals. The Borneo records show evidence of significantly reduced ENSO activity at 4.1 kyBP, relative to other measured windows within the Holocene. This reduced ENSO activity coincides with a period of drier conditions and enhanced dust events in the Middle East that took place ∼4.0–4.3 kyBP. The Borneo records show evidence of enhanced ENSO activity at 3.8 kyBP. Various hydroclimate changes attributed to the “4.2 ky event” in many regions may thus be reflecting a shift from reduced to enhanced El Niño activity that occurred between 3.8 kyBP to 4.0 kyBP
Coastal Forest Change and Shoreline Erosion across a Salinity Gradient in a Micro-Tidal Estuary System
No full textCoastal Zone Soil Survey mapping provides interpretive information that can be used to increase coastal resiliency and quantify how coastal ecosystems are changing over time. North Carolina has approximately 400,500 ha of land within 500 m of the tidal coastline that is expected to undergo some degree of salinization in the next century. This study examined 33 tidal wetlands in the Albemarle–Pamlico Sound along a salinity gradient to provide a coastal zone mapping framework to quantify shoreline change rates. The primary ecosystems evaluated include intact tidal forested wetlands (average water salinity, 0.15–1.61 ppt), degraded “ghost forest” wetlands (3.51–8.28 ppt), and established mesohaline marshes (11.73–15.47 ppt). The average shoreline rate of change (m/yr) was significantly different among estuary ecosystems (p = 0.004), soil type (organic or mineral) (p \u3c 0.001), and shore fetch category (open or protected) (p \u3c 0.001). From 1984 to 2020, a total of 2833 ha of land has been submerged due to sea level rise in the Albemarle–Pamlico Sound with the majority (91.6%) of this loss coming from tidal marsh and ghost forest ecosystems. The results from this study highlight the importance of maintaining healthy coastal forests, which have higher net accretion rates compared to other estuarine ecosystems