College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Panel discussion: Nazi Treatment of the LGBTQ community
No full textVideo showing and faculty/student panel discussion on Nazi oppression of LGBTQ+ folks in the Holocaust. Part of the 35th Annual CSBSJU Peace Studies Conference
Video shown at event is here: Ruthless persecution and torture of Gay Men under Nazi Regime - Nazi Germany (youtube.com) . We removed the video portion from the recording due to copyright.Faculty/Student Panel:Kelly Kraemer, Prof. of Peace StudiesEthan Riddle (Peace Studies senior)Miel Aronson (Psychology senior, QPlus Member
Encountering Artificial Intelligence: Ethical and Anthropological Explorations.
Get PDFWhat does it mean to consider the world of AI through a Christian lens? Rapid developments in AI continue to reshape society, raising new ethical questions and challenging our understanding of the human person. Encountering Artificial Intelligence draws on Pope Francis\u27s discussion of a culture of encounter and broader themes in Catholic social thought in order to examine how current AI applications affect human relationships in various social spheres and offers concrete recommendations for better implementation. The document also explores questions regarding personhood, consciousness, and the kinds of relationships humans might have with even the most advanced AI. Through these discussions, the document investigates the theoretical and practical challenges to interpersonal encounter raised by the age of AI. --From the Publisher\u27s websitehttps://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/sot_books/1117/thumbnail.jp
Credentialing Care: COVID-19 and the Bureaucratization of Doulas
Get PDFDoulas in the United States offer embodied, informational, and continuous one-on-one care to birthing people. Doulas have historically sought certification to gain knowledge through training and to gain legitimacy for healthcare providers and clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals required doulas to provide proof of certification. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the proliferation of state-sponsored doula programs, has sparked a shift in how doulas are viewed and regulated, enabling new forms of bureaucratic oversight and control. Based on participant observation, surveys, and semi-structured interviews, we examine the connection between certification and care including motivations doulas have for certification, the perceived value of certification, certification as a form of gatekeeping, and increased bureaucratization of doulas. Using a critical feminist approach, we argue that increased bureaucratization and surveillance of doulas has not improved standards of care or led to more equitable access. Indeed, doulas provide a window into the negative impact of bureaucratization on care. While some of these negative impacts are byproducts of policies intended to increase oversight and access to doula care, we argue that increased bureaucratization and surveillance of doulas is also intended to act as a gatekeeping mechanism demonstrating how policies contribute to uneven reproduction
A reliable diabetic retinopathy grading via transfer learning and ensemble learning with quadratic weighted kappa metric
Get PDFThe most common eye infection in people with diabetes is diabetic retinopathy (DR). It might cause blurred vision or even total blindness. Therefore, it is essential to promote early detection to prevent or alleviate the impact of DR. However, due to the possibility that symptoms may not be noticeable in the early stages of DR, it is difficult for doctors to identify them. Therefore, numerous predictive models based on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have been developed to determine all stages of DR. However, existing DR classification models cannot classify every DR stage or use a computationally heavy approach. Common metrics such as accuracy, F1 score, precision, recall, and AUC-ROC score are not reliable for assessing DR grading. This is because they do not account for two key factors: the severity of the discrepancy between the assigned and predicted grades and the ordered nature of the DR grading scale.
This research proposes computationally efficient ensemble methods for the classification of DR. These methods leverage pre-trained model weights, reducing training time and resource requirements. In addition, data augmentation techniques are used to address data limitations, improve features, and improve generalization. This combination offers a promising approach for accurate and robust DR grading. In particular, we take advantage of transfer learning using models trained on DR data and employ CLAHE for image enhancement and Gaussian blur for noise reduction. We propose a three-layer classifier that incorporates dropout and ReLU activation. This design aims to minimize overfitting while effectively extracting features and assigning DR grades. We prioritize the Quadratic Weighted Kappa (QWK) metric due to its sensitivity to label discrepancies, which is crucial for an accurate diagnosis of DR. This combined approach achieves state-of-the-art QWK scores (0.901, 0.967 and 0.944) in the Eyepacs, Aptos, and Messidor datasets
2024 Black History Month Keynote: Dr. Ashley Howard
No full textAshley Howard, who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and is an assistant professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Iowa, was the keynote speaker highlighting Black History month in February at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John\u27s University. Howard, whose research interests include the Black Midwest, social movements and the global history of racial violence.
Howard\u27s forthcoming book Prairie Fires analyzes the 1960s urban rebellions in the Midwest and the ways race, class, gender and region played critical and overlapping roles in defining resistance to racialized oppression.
Her scholarship has appeared in the Journal of African American History, American Historian, Labor Studies Journal and Middle West Review. Her article, titled Then the Burnings Began, was winner of the 2018 James L. Sellers Memorial Prize. Howard’s work has also appeared in numerous media outlets including the Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC World News Hour, National Public Radio and Al Jazeera English. In 2023, she and co-investigator Colin Gordon were awarded a Mellon Foundation grant to examine race-based property restrictions in Iowa. As an educator, Howard encourages her students to be effective writers, critical thinkers and active global citizens. In documenting incarcerated people’s experience with solitary confinement or identifying the connection between history and memory through a two-week Civil Rights tour, her students develop their skills through experiential learning
The Twin Sins of Islamophobia & Antisemitism: Why Christians Can’t Do Dialogue in Isolation
No full text“Dr. George-Tvrtković will draw on her scholarly work in the field of Christian-Muslim relations and on her experience as a professor at a Catholic university with a 25% Muslim student body,” said John Merkle, director of the Jay Phillips Center. “She will also discuss how in recent years she has felt compelled to address antisemitism due to escalating hate crimes against Jews in the United States and elsewhere.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between antisemitism and Islamophobia in the last four years,” George-Tvrtković said. “Especially due to antisemitic incidents on my campus and in the wider world.”
Her lecture will discuss why Christians must combat what she has called the “twin sins” of Islamophobia and antisemitism, not only for the safety and well-being of Muslims and Jews, but for the integrity of Christian faith.
George-Tvrtković earned her doctorate in theology at the University of Notre Dame and is a professor of theology at Benedictine University in metro Chicago. A specialist in medieval Christian-Muslim relations and contemporary interreligious dialogue, she was appointed by Pope Francis to be a consultor for the Vatican\u27s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
George-Tvrtković has written such books as A Christian Pilgrim in Medieval Iraq: Riccoldo da Montecroce’s Encounter with Islam (2012) and Christians, Muslims, and Mary: A History (2018), as well as articles in a number of scholarly journals, including Catholic Historical Review, Journal of Jesuit Studies and Theological Studies
