6788 research outputs found
Sort by
Transitioning to Geothermal Energy for University Sustainability
Full text linkRetrofitting Gerety Hall with geothermal heating offers Salve Regina University a strategic way to advance its Mercy Mission and improve sustainability. Geothermal systems would lower utility costs, cut emissions, and support the university’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Though the initial investment is high, federal tax credits and long-term savings would make the project financially viable. With early assessments already completed, moving forward would position Salve as a leader in environmental stewardship.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/glo350/1000/thumbnail.jp
The Militarization of Space: The Cold War and the Space Race
Full text linkThe weaponization of space during the Cold War would have posed a significant threat to global security if left unchecked. The Cold War showcased the ideological rivalry between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and their development of a nuclear arsenal. Space was an unexplored domain that actors thought could be weaponized and even become a strategic advantage if a war between these superpowers broke out. The decision to not militarize space, not place orbital weapons in space, and not utilize weapons of mass destruction came from a standoff in which both parties could not move forward with their plans without risking their nation\u27s security or provoking a global nuclear catastrophe. Both actors individually agreed to prevent militarization, yet conflict and competition required a decree to ultimately stop weaponization. The United States and Soviet Union\u27s development of space-based military systems during the Cold War created a need for strategies and policies to regulate outer space that would help ensure global and space security
Justice, Common Good, and Connectivity: A Thomistic Evaluation of the Role of Social Media in Shaping Global Integration
Full text linkThe growing influence of social media presents important implications for global integration and governance where platforms can rapidly be leveraged to promote cohesion, a sense of community or, sadly, as a powerful tool for societal fragmentation. The challenges and potential benefits of social media usage are examined in the context of a State’s integration responsibilities from a Thomistic ethical and moral perspective which emphasizes the need for justice and promotion of the common good. An assessment will be included on how social media platforms have been utilized to inform and mis-inform citizens under recent governmental integration campaigns and disintegration efforts which have targeted various religious, ethnic, and political groups. Social media usage and reliance in both developing and Westernized States will be examined, including for South Africa and Israel
Ireland at a Crossroads: The Path to Peaceful Unification in a Post-Brexit Era
No full textThe post–World War II international system has promoted stability, economic integration, and conflict resolution, fostering conditions increasingly conducive to a peaceful and prosperous unification of Ireland. Central to this transformation is the European Union, the region’s most advanced form of supranational governance, which has deepened cooperation and strengthened resilience against violent conflict. This dissertation traces Ireland’s political trajectory from the formal partition under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which established Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State. It examines the island’s progression through the Troubles to the peace and prosperity brought about by the Good Friday Agreement, emphasizing the role of European integration in this transformation. Drawing on the Triple Helix Model in conjunction with neofunctionalist and liberal intergovernmentalist frameworks, this study analyzes the interaction among the sovereign state, the international system, and supranational institutions in reshaping Ireland’s political and economic landscape. It contends that Brexit has accelerated the conditions for unification by underscoring Northern Ireland’s unique position between the United Kingdom and the European Union, thereby reinforcing the rationale for integration with the Republic of Ireland. By synthesizing historical analysis, political theory, and contemporary developments, this dissertation demonstrates how divided societies can utilize supranational governance to achieve peace, stability, and democratic self-determination. It concludes that Irish unification, once a remote aspiration, has become a viable and increasingly likely outcome within a strengthened European framework
Visions of Catastrophe: Human Enhancement in Contemporary, Dystopian Speculative Fiction
No full textGenetic engineering and human-machine interface technologies hold great promise for alleviating a wide variety of diseases and medical conditions. They also have the potential to enhance human physical and cognitive capabilities beyond natural limits. Historically, we have often struggled to anticipate the negative human consequences of new technologies, and to avoid or mitigate their effects. Because such enhancement applications raise serious moral concerns and could plausibly lead to catastrophic consequences, it is especially important to carefully consider how we approach their research, development, and distribution. Yet a variety of powerful influences push us to go faster, impatient with restraints. Speculative fiction offers a unique, counterbalancing perspective on what the future might hold. Grounded in contemporary events and scientific progress, works from this genre transport us to recognizable, near-future worlds. While no discipline can reliably predict the future with any great fidelity, these novels envision a range of plausible human consequences which can help us recognize real dangers and act to avoid them
The Heart of Advanced Heart Failure Caregivers: Impact of Social Support on Subjective Burden
No full textInformal caregivers often experience a perceived lack of social support, leading to a greater sense of subjective burden. Caregivers of those living with advanced heart failure are faced with many competing responsibilities throughout the course of an unpredictable illness trajectory. In comparison to caregivers of those living with illnesses such as cancer or dementia, there is little research available on the needs of advanced heart failure caregivers. This project aimed to address the social support needs of advanced heart failure caregivers to help mitigate caregiver burden and address knowledge gaps. Through community-based participatory research, a monthly topic-facilitated caregiver support group was established through the HeartBrothers Foundation. Perceived social support and social conflict outcomes were measured using the Perceived Social Support for Caregiving (PSSC) and Social Conflict (SC) scales through pre- and post-surveys conducted at the start of the intervention and at six months. The Mann-Whitney U test for unpaired samples was used to compare the pre- and post-survey results. The results of this study showed an improvement in perceived social support among participants after six months of online monthly facilitated support groups. These results provided a greater understanding of interventions that may help reduce caregiver burden by providing a means of social support. Caregiver feedback at the end of the six-month study period expressed a desire to sustain the monthly support groups
‘Entertaining the President’: Chester Arthur and Newport, 1882-1885
No full textEmily Parrow and Michael A. Davis, the authors of “‘Entertaining the President’: Chester Arthur and Newport, 1882-1885,” have created a meticulous account of Chester Arthur’s various visits to Aquidneck Island and its environs during the first half of the 1880s while he served as president of the United States. Drawing from copious documentary evidence including newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, published memoirs and secondary sources, the two authors have constructed a colorful narrative of Arthur’s visits when he mixed some official business with social engagements as wealthy summer residents vied for his presence at elaborate luncheons and soirees. The two authors also describe the sojourns when Arthur eschewed the intense social churn in Newport to pursue his love of fishing at the West Island Club, off Sakonnet Point in Little Compton. Despite his mingling with upper-class friends and acquaintances, while in Newport Arthur attended to naval business and once hosted a reception attended by hundreds of Newport residents from all walks of life. Emily Parrow serves on the Preservation Society of Newport County’s advancement team. She is a member of the Straw Dog Writers Guild’s advisory board and the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Her work has been published by Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History and Woodhall Press. Michael A. Davis is a Professor of History at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is the author of Politics as Usual: Thomas Dewey, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Wartime Presidential Campaign of 1944, published by Northern Illinois University Press in 2014
Dreaming Spires: Collegiate Gothic Architecture on American Campuses
No full textIn the 19th and early 20th centuries, Collegiate Gothic architecture became a favored style on the campuses of several elite educational institutions in the northeastern United States. This style best exemplifies the Anglophile and Christian value system of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) upper class. Sociologist E. Digby Baltzell referred to the upper class as “the Protestant Establishment” which included several mainline Protestant denominations but was largely Episcopalian. The WASP upper class was shaped by what Baltzell described as “the Episcopalianization of the American business aristocracy.” This phrase refers to a cultural assimilation process whereby members of the American upper class shed the religious denominations of their ancestors to join the Episcopal Church, which resulted in a cohesive class identity and consciousness.
Social history and architectural history are a Venn diagram. They have an area of overlap, an intersection or intertwining. The American upper class influenced the development of Collegiate Gothic architecture as a reflection of its value system, heavily rooted in Anglophilia and the Episcopal Church. The rise and decline of the Protestant Establishment from the 19th to the early 20th centuries correlates to the rise and decline of the Collegiate Gothic architecture movement during the same period of time
Comparing Loneliness Assessment Tools in a Veteran\u27s Community
No full textProblem Statement: The current screening practices used in the Vet Center may not effectively capture veterans’ levels of loneliness. With increasing recognition of the impact of social and behavioral determinants on health outcomes, policy makers, payers, and professional organizations have called for health systems to improve their means of identifying and addressing health-related social needs (Russell et al., 2023). Purpose: The quality improvement project aims to compare the University of California, Los Angeles 3-Item Loneliness Scale (TILS) to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) item six, used to screen veterans. Methods: Veterans will be screened for loneliness using the TILS, alongside the SWEMWBS. The Vet Center uses item six of the SWEMWBS as a specific measure of loneliness. The QI will compare the effectiveness of the TILS and the SWEMWBS item-six to determine any differences in identifying loneliness. Results: The paired t-test showed a significant difference between the TILS and SWEMWBS, question 6, scores. TILS captured loneliness better, with higher scores compared to the SWEMWBS, question 6. The correlation between the TILS and SWEMWBS, question 6, scores was weak and not statistically significant, the screening tools may not be strongly related in measuring the same aspects of loneliness. The TILS and SWEMWBS, question 6, captured different dimensions of the loneliness
The Diary of Mary Anna Violet: A Young Woman\u27s Memoir of Fashion in Gilded Age Newport
Full text linkStudents taking an upper-level Art History class at Salve Regina University created the diary of Mary Anna Violet in the fall of 2024. Anthony F. Mangieri and Ernest Jolicoeur co-taught a class called Curatorial Practice and the Gallery Experience (ART 405), which focused on an exhibition of Gilded Age dress that they organized in Salve Regina University\u27s Dorrance Hamilton Gallery.
Mary Anna Violet is not a real person. She is a hypothetical turn of the century protagonist whose point of view becomes the narrative device and interpretive lens through which this book explores fashion and the Gilded Age. Mary Anna\u27s diary is part scrapbook, part journal, and part photograph album. To create the entries, students combined research, creative writing, visual artworks, primary source materials, and their own hands-on knowledge of pieces in the show. The result is a first-person account that creates new narratives and restores the human dimension that motivated the creation of this clothing, no longer worn on bodies in the real world, but carefully safeguarded in storage.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/art405/1000/thumbnail.jp