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General Personality Traits and College Adjustment in Relation to Academic Achievement and Engineering Identity
No full textThis study seeks to examine whether and to what extent general personality traits based on the Big Five model (McCrae & Costa, 2003) and students’ adjustment to college as measured by the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (Baker & Siryk, 1999) correlate with and explain unique variance of academic achievement and engineering identity among undergraduate engineering students. Correlational analysis revealed moderate positive relationships between engineering identity and academic, social, personal-emotional, and institutional adjustment as well as small positive relationships between engineering identity and personality traits of Extroversion and Conscientiousness. College adjustment explained 10% of the variance in academic achievement and 17% of the variance in engineering identity scores, whereas personality traits of Neuroticism and Extraversion explained 2% of the variance in GPA. The purpose of the present study is to help college engineering students to develop a comprehensive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, critical for their personal and professional development as engineers
Jewish Life in the Bronx
No full textFordham’s Bronx Jewish History Project: An Introduction Since 2015, Fordham has been building a Judaica collection. While the university already had an outstanding Holocaust collection—the Sydney Rosenblatt Holocaust Collection, which boasts over 10,000 items, including books, ephemera and material objects, and a teaching collection in Jewish history, with standard scholarly literature. It did not have a Judaica collection that would spotlight the historical and geographic breadth of Jewish culture. When I arrived in 2015, with a passion to teach with historical artifacts, with the support of the late Provost Stephen Freedman and Director of Fordham Libraries Linda Loschiavo, I began to acquire Judaica for the Special Collections and archives. The first items were some sixteenth-century works, including an expurgated copy of the 1546/7 Daniel Bomberg’s edition of Sefer Mitsvot Gadol, known as the SeMaG, by Moses of Coucy and Moses Isserless’s Zot Torat Hatat, published in Cracow in 1591. Over the years, we collected hundreds of Judaica, from early Hebrew prints, including an incunabula edition of the SeMaG, through centuries of examples of haggadot (our oldest original haggadah is from 1663, but we also have magnificent facsimile editions of several medieval haggadot, donated by Dr. James Leach; our newest from 2023). The collection now represents various aspects of Jewish life on all permanently inhabited continents. A few years ago, I realized that while we were collecting Judaica from all over north America, India, Argentina, Europe, Africa, and now even Australia, we did not have anything from the Bronx. Our first Bronx item was the invitation to a bar mitzvah from 1951. Then came a few other ephemera. In April 2022, Julian Voloj presented his photographs of the remnants of the vibrant Jewish life in the Bronx in a webinar. After the talk, Ellen Meshnick, whose parents grew up in the Bronx sent us a small family archive—a treasure trove giving us a glimpse of Jewish life in the Bronx in the 1930s and 1940s.
So, when we dedicated the Henry S. Miller Judaica Research Room to honor the Fordham trustee’s decades of service and support of the university, we opened an exhibit of Julian Voloj’s photographs curated by Ray Felix and accompanied it with an exhibit curated by Reyna Stovall FCLC ’25 spotlighting our growing Bronx Judaica collection. A few weeks later, when Julia Gergely published a story about the collection in The Jewish Week, we began to receive many inquiries about the project from people who grew up, or whose parents grew up in the Bronx wanting to share their documents, photographs, and stories. Fordham had already had the Bronx African American History Project directed by Professor Mark Naison, and had recently established sister projects on Bronx Italian History and Bronx Irish History, all collecting oral histories through interviews. One of the students involved in the Bronx African American History Project was Sophia Maier FCRH ’23. She worked with Mark Naison on interviews and then wrote a thesis “A New-ish Jewish Diaspora: Rethinking Perspectives on Bronx White Flight, 1960s to 1990s,” which studied how Jews began to leave the Bronx. We thus decided to launch Bronx Jewish History Project, which would begin to collect oral histories and continue to collect personal archives, focusing on the daily life of Jews in the Bronx. I want to thank Professor Daniel Soyer, an expert in American and American Jewish history, for taking a lead on this project. In this volume, we publish Julian Voloj’s photographs along with highlights from our Bronx Jewish collection curated by Reyna Stovall, Sophia Maier’s essay, and some personal stories. This project would not have been possible without the staunch support from the University and especially from Linda Loschiavo, Director of Fordham University Libraries, or without the enthusiasm and patience of Vivian Shen and Gabriella DiMeglio at the O’Hare Special Collections and Archives, who have been instrumental in making the exhibits happen and in accommodating the needs of our students. The generosity of Eugene Shvidler, who provided the seed funds for the first years of the collection, and of Fordham Trustees Henry S. Miller, Eileen Sudler, Dario Wertheim, whose gifts have supported student curatorial internships, sustained the larger project of using historical objects and material culture in our classes on Jewish history and culture. Finally, and crucially, the Bronx Jewish History Project, would not have happened without the outpouring of interest from the public and without so many wanting to share their stories and family treasures. I want to thank Ellen Meshnick for sharing her mother’s and father’s memorabilia and Shoshanna Sanders for sharing her father’s written memories and photographs. This project is about a community, and it has come to life because of a community.
Magda Teter
Professor of History
The Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studie
Recounting Trauma: Adjusting for Differences in Extreme Responding on PTSD Measures Between Pan-Ethnic Groups in the United States and Mexico
No full textBackground: Psychological measurements often ask respondents to select their answer choice from several ranked options. Scale usage is affected by many factors, including culturally socialized response styles, such as extreme responding. If unaccounted for, systematic extreme responding could skew scores, affecting both research and clinical assessment. Method: Extreme responding was operationalized by tallying endpoint responses on two measures related to but distinct from the target construct, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. Extreme responding was assessed among a gender-balanced sample of 1,820 participants: 936 in the U.S. (n = 312 Black; n = 312 Latinx; n = 304 White) and 884 in Mexico (n = 607 mestizo/a; n = 277 Indígeno/a). Results: Contrary to expectations, Mexican participants demonstrated less extreme responding than U.S. participants, driven by high levels of this response style among Black participants in the U.S. Extreme responding predicted PTSD scores beyond the contributions of environmental and sociodemographic factors. Two methods to account for the effects of extreme responding were attempted. Following ipsatization, intergroup differences remained significant; truncating scoring removed national differences in PCL-5 scores, but not all pan-ethnic differences. Discussion: Culturally influenced response styles, including extreme responding, represent an important source of potential measurement error. However, methods to assess and account for this form of bias have not yet been standardized, and questions remain as to the proportion of valid interpersonal variance that may be lost to standardization procedures. Future work is required to incorporate cultural response style into assessments in both research and clinical contexts
Social Realities and Purposeful Learning in Multilingual Contexts
No full textVolume 12 represents a new opportunity for JMER’s book section. We are presenting three very different book reviews that we believe complement one another. Olivares Orellana’s review of Ahit Mohanty’s (2018) The Multilingual Reality: Living with Languages highlights how multilingualism in India is an everyday, complex phenomenon characterized by hierarchical relationships among languages, discrimination, and marginalization. In sharp contrast, Falchi’s review of Espinosa and Ascensi-Moreno’s (2021) Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers is deeply situated in early-childhood bilingual classrooms where translanguaging is at the core for propelling reading and writing success. Ijalba’s review centers on Cioé-Peña’s (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers (2021). In this book, the lives of three Latinx mothers raising children who are labeled both bilingual and disabled are explored
Beyond Bilingualism: The Education of Immigrant Children
No full textThis is a review of the book (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers by María Cioè-Peña published by Multilingual Matters
The Impact of Political Will by Donor Governments on Humanitarian Funding Decisions: A Comparative Study
No full textThis thesis aims to investigate the extent to which political will influences the humanitarian funding decision-making process. To accomplish this, it examines the historical context in which humanitarian funding mechanisms operate and their impact on beneficiaries and programming. To provide a more in-depth analysis, the case studies of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ukraine are explored. The humanitarian response to these two crises varies significantly, and the primary factor contributing to this difference is political will. The situation in Ukraine has global implications, real or perceived, that led to a remarkable mobilization of aid from the Western world, despite the perceived greater need in the DRC. This paper reveals that political will is a crucial factor in shaping humanitarian responses and should be considered when developing funding strategies and policies. Media coverage is an influential factor that contributes to prioritizing one crisis over another. When a particular crisis receives substantial media attention, it diverts funding and global attention from other pressing needs. This thesis delves deeper into these notions and elucidates how they are manifested in the cases of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine
Stern, Mark
No full textMark Stern was born in 1961 in the South Bronx. His paternal grandfather moved to the Bronx from Germany because of the Nazis. Stern’s maternal grandfather was from Turkey and a Ladino speaker. He moved to the Bronx where he met Stern’s paternal grandmother and got involved in the laundry business. Stern’s maternal grandmother’s family lived on Warner Street and owned a bakery, however because of local competition from Pectoris and a lack of enthusiasm for continuing the family business, the bakery closed. As a kid, Stern remembers visiting the industrial laundry building and visiting his grandparent\u27s home in Clawson Point in the East Bronx.
Three of Stern’s grandparents were Ashkenazi but his Sephardic maternal grandfather had a significant influence on the family’s traditions, including Stern’s being named after his living grandfather and the food they ate, such as bourekas. Stern grew up on 1115 Jerome Avenue but also lived with his parents in the South Bronx and then on Grand Concourse although he has few memories of either location. Eventually, Stern’s family moved to 197th Street and when he went to college at Boston University his mother moved to 2745 Reservoir Avenue. Stern remembers feeling safe as a kid but the Bronx became more dangerous later on in his life. During his adulthood, while living at XXX he was mugged in his apartment building prompting him and his wife to move to Dobbs Ferry in Westchester, NY in 2002.
Stern had a difficult school experience enjoying primary school but struggling in junior high where he attended Bronx School 143 also known as Tetard. He was a part of the SP program and skipped eighth grade going to Bronx Science for high school, which he graduated from in 1978. He remembers the 1967 ‘68 Teachers\u27 Strike and the boredom of being held in the school cafeteria all day while the teachers were on strike. Eventually, Stern went to Boston University but dropped out and later went to Fordham University, commuting from his mother’s home on Reservoir Avenue. He became a teacher and taught at Walton High School and then transferred to DeWitt Clinton High School before retiring early at the age of 54.
Stern describes his father’s death, a suspected suicide, and the emotional toll it took on him. Additionally, he reminisces on the old Yankee stadium and describes his love of baseball as both a Yankees and Mets fan.
Keywords:
Holocaust, Ladino, South Bronx, East Bronx, Grand Concourse, Bakery, Laundry, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Bronx Science, 1967/68 Teachers\u27 Strike, Fordham University, Walton High School, DeWitt Clinton High School, Yankees, Met
Psychological Implications of Accessing SITB-Related Online Content
No full textOnline content related to self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) is of increasing concern as generations raised on the internet age and as rates of SITBs increase in adolescents and young adults. Previous research on online SITB-related content has provided mixed results, but generally shows that use of this content is associated with a more severe SITB-related presentation, and that use of this content may confer increased SITB-related risk. Contrastingly, some research and lived-experience accounts indicate that this content may increase feelings of community and belongingness for individuals struggling with stigmatized mental health phenomena. However, the research that has been conducted has been cross sectional or longitudinal on the magnitude of months. No research to date has investigated this content using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to understand the momentary effects that this content may have on individuals who engage with it. Therefore, the present study explored whether engagement in SITB-related content was associated with change in suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) thoughts, and belongingness. This research also investigated if the valence of SITB-related content (i.e. more negative and SITB-advocating, or more positive and recovery-advocating) is predictive any changes in suicidality, NSSI thoughts, and belongingness that may emerge. Participants (n = 141), recruited online, completed measures related to SITB-related experiences and described their SITB-related digital media use. Participants then completed a one-week EMA study in which they self-initiated short EMA surveys before and after engaging in SITB-related online content. It was hypothesized that use of SITB-related online content would be associated with increases in suicidality, NSSI thoughts, and belongingness and that positive content would predict with more positive outcomes as compared to negative/neutral content. Results indicated decreases in suicidality and NSSI thoughts from pre- to post-use of SITB-related online content, with no change in belongingness. Positive content use was predictive of a greater decrease in NSSI thoughts and a greater increase in belongingness as compared to negative/neutral content. Valence was not predictive of changes in suicidality. Overall, the current study demonstrates that the momentary effects of this type of content may differ from longer-term outcomes. These results may indicate immediate behavioral functionality of use of this type of behavior as associated with regulating NSSI urges and suicidality. The results from this study support the expansion of positive SITB-related content online as potentially beneficial to individuals in the short term, though no data was collected on long-term outcomes
Daily Fluctuations in Self-Concept Clarity and Emptiness as Predictors of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
No full textCross-sectional research has shown that identity disturbance is related to nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Self-concept clarity is one aspect of identity disturbance that has been associated with NSSI thoughts and behaviors. However, the majority of studies in this area have reported on their between-person relationship, limiting our understanding of their within-person association. Furthermore, self-concept clarity is closely related to the construct of emptiness, which has been linked to short-term fluctuations in NSSI. As such, it remains unknown how much of the link between self-concept clarity and NSSI is confounded by each of their correlations with emptiness. Additionally, NSSI thoughts are under-studied despite being a relevant treatment target and source of distress. This study used an ecological momentary assessment design to (a) investigate self concept-clarity as a within-person predictor of NSSI thoughts, and (b) examine the conceptual and empirical associations between self-concept clarity and emptiness. People with recurrent NSSI behaviors were recruited to participate in a 2-week EMA study that involved answering surveys four times a day. The final sample consisted of 119 participants. The hypothesis that self-concept clarity and NSSI thoughts would have a negative within-person association was supported for the contemporaneous model (i.e., when NSSI thoughts were measured at the same time as self-concept clarity). However, self-concept clarity was not found to have a prospective effect on NSSI thoughts (i.e., when NSSI thoughts were measured at the next time point, about three hours later). Meanwhile, emptiness and self-concept clarity had a significant and moderate negative within-person association, and showed independent predictive utility in accounting for NSSI thoughts on a within-person level. Future research may investigate the interplay between self-concept clarity and interpersonal factors in predicting NSSI thoughts and behaviors, and conduct qualitative studies to better understand how states like low self-concept clarity and emptiness contribute to risk of NSSI
The Role of Egr1 in Driving Sex-Specific Transcriptional Programs and Anxiety-Related Behavior
No full textWomen have a two-fold increased risk for anxiety and depression disorders compared to men, though the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are understudied. Clinical and epidemiological data indicate ovarian hormone fluctuations are a critical female-specific risk factor for these disorders. Accordingly, we previously demonstrated that anxiety-like behavior in female mice varies across the estrous cycle. We also showed estrous cycle-dependent changes in neuronal chromatin accessibility and gene expression in the ventral hippocampus, a region critical for emotion regulation in rodents. Analysis of these data identified Egr1, a transcription factor and estrogen-responsive immediate early gene product, as a candidate regulator of chromatin regulation and gene expression across the estrous cycle. To test this, in the current study, I first profiled behavior and Egr1 expression across the four estrous cycle phases, revealing that high-estrogenic proestrus females have lower anxiety indices. However, following the withdrawal of estrogen levels that characterizes the other phases, anxiety-related behavior increased. In parallel, I observed cycling Egr1 mRNA expression across the estrous cycle, following estrogen levels. To mechanistically link Egr1 to the estrous cycle-dependent behavioral and molecular phenotype, I performed AAV-mediated, neuronal-specific overexpression of Egr1 in the ventral hippocampus of intact-male and ovariectomized-female mice. I then performed anxiety- and depression-related behavioral tests, as well as cell type-specific genomics assays profiling neuronal chromatin (ATAC-seq) and gene expression (RNA-seq). Results from behavioral tests implicate Egr1 in driving cyclical changes in anxiety- and depression-related behaviors in females, with no effect of Egr1 overexpression in males, indicating the effect is sex-specific. Further, Egr1 overexpression induced sex-specific changes in gene expression and chromatin organization, including Egr1-directed chromatin opening, in ventral hippocampal neurons that give crucial insights into this behavioral phenotype, including female-specific regulation of genes related to serotonin and anxiety. Overlapping these data with the previously generated estrous cycle data demonstrated that Egr1-induced chromatin regulation facilitates the downregulation of anxiety-related genes and the upregulation of synaptic plasticity-related genes during the high-estrogenic proestrus phase. Taken together, these results causally link Egr1 to estrous cycle-dependent gene regulation and behavioral plasticity and establish a foundation for developing sex-specific treatments for anxiety and depression