2045 research outputs found
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The Collective
Full text linkThis novella follows the protagonist Katya as she fights for her chance at a better life. It is both psychological thriller and heart- wrenching romance and brings up questions of morality and humanity at every turn
Finding the Holy in Nature: Emily Brontë’s Revolutionary Conception of the Transcendental Religious Experience
No full textEmily Brontë’s infamous 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights, is a revolutionary text. While Brontë is deeply appreciated by contemporary scholars for the complexity of Wuthering Heights, this was not always the case. Her initial audience took her political and religious commentary as blind endorsement of harmful behavior, and found her themes nigh disturbing, despite the text’s placement in the gothic subgenre. However, by tracing her own religious education, and early poetic efforts alongside Wuthering Heights, clear thematic preoccupations on the part of the author can be observed as she passed through adolescence and her worldview solidified. These recurring themes, particularly in her novel, which portrays complicated and potentially unlikable characters who do not always make the “correct” decisions, showcase her intellectual concerns. When understood together, Brontë presents a uniquely imagined spirituality. In her only published novel, Brontë explores complex topics such as race, gender, and cycles of familial abuse with nuance. Underlining all else, she critiques Victorian culture and the Christianity that informed it in radical ways. Within her own body of work, Wuthering Heights demonstrates the culmination of subjects that possessed Brontë’s imagination and literary endeavors long before she published the novel. In Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë develops most completely the literary themes that haunt her earlier work by depicting Christianity as a moralizing cultural force that creates and reinforces a strictly hierarchical, exploitative, and punitive society. She sets this in direct contrast with an alternative kind of spirituality–one more personal, freeing, and mystical, that she ties to the natural world rather than the human world of Victorian England, characterizing it as one that encompasses all, rather than imposing a rigid and “othering” binary
World’s Coolest Dictator: Nayib Bukele’s Populist Authoritarian Digital Footprint
Full text linkAcross the globe, country after country is seeing populist movements gain power and even win office. When these populist ideas are adopted and utilized by authoritarian-leaning leaders, democratic erosion and the disrespect of human rights become a real threat. For my thesis, I will be looking to the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, as an example of this dangerous combination of populism and authoritarianism. Under his leadership, the country has achieved the highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world at 1.7%, he stacked the courts with loyalists that allowed him to run for a previously unconstitutional second term, and he shaped the legislature to allow his party a supermajority. Despite all of this, Bukele is incredibly popular. He enjoys a nearly 90% approval rating, much of which is derived from the drop in violence and gang presence in El Salvador. He is an authoritarian without the need for the military or election meddling. Instead, all Bukele needs right now is his popularity and social media presence.
I first contend with existing literature on populism and authoritarianism to formulate my own definition of populist authoritarianism. I will then be looking at Bukele’s social media presence, specifically on X, as evidence that he is a populist authoritarian. It is his platform of choice; he posts multiple times each day and interacts daily with supporters and critics alike. I hope that my analysis will be a helpful guide into how populist authoritarians use platforms like X to spread their message, and what Bukele’s presence and popularity might mean for democracy in the country and in the region
An Analysis of NFL Betting Strategies: A Look Into High Value Bets
Full text linkThis paper uses data from NFL games throughout the 2013-2019 seasons and analyzes the profitability of several correlated parlays and straight bets. Independent variables such as temperature, wind, prime time, and divisional game status were incorporated. Using OLS regression analysis, several strategies are presented that would have been profitable throughout the sample period. Results suggested that wagers on the under in divisional games with high wind were profitable. Furthermore, it was profitable to wager on a home favorite and over parlay in prime time and non-divisional games. Results also indicated it was profitable to wager on a home underdog and under parlay in divisional games when the spread line was between 10 and 13.5 points. However, these results were only profitable during the sample time period and are unlikely to persist due to the extremely efficient nature of bookmakers
Health Literacy in Older Adults: Determining Gaps in the Health Literacy Skills of Older Adults in Saratoga Springs, New York and Suggestions for Effective Interventions
Full text linkThis study aimed to understand the strengths and limitations of health literacy skills among older adults. The results informed a resource to improve any discovered gaps in health literacy. Participants (n=50) were selected through convenience sampling methods at the Saratoga Senior Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) was distributed to evaluate health literacy skills among older adults. Measures of means and standard deviations were used to assess strengths and limitations in health literacy skills among nine domains of the HLQ. The results informed the implementation of a resource designed to increase health literacy specifically for members of the Saratoga Senior Center to access and effectively use health information The elements of health literacy that received the lowest scores among this sample were the scales correlated with finding and using health information. Participants scored the highest on feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers. Scales associated with finding information to manage one\u27s healthcare were found to be the most challenging for older adults in this study. The results reveal that older adults would benefit from additional instructional programs to enhance health literacy skills. The implementation of the resource created in response to the findings of this study has the potential to improve health literacy. Future research should replicate this study with a larger sample size and collect more varied demographic information. Follow-up studies should measure the effectiveness of interventions on health literacy levels among older adults
An Exhibit to the Impossible: Finding Oneself Through Wonderland’s Agential Objects
Full text linkIn 1865, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, Dodgson would publish his story about a girl who falls into a fantastical world and has adventures with whimsical creatures, interacting with enchanted objects all to explore an elaborate “greenhouse” of a story. This book was titled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Carroll’s story, accompanied by John Tenniel’s illustrations, is inseparable from objects’ new significance of objects to invoke wonder in Victorian culture
Examining the Relationship Between Cigarette Smoking and Depression Among Asian American Adults
Full text linkDoes having smoked cigarettes have any relationship to depression? This study explores the relationship between cigarette smoking and depressive frequency within the Asian American adult population. I hypothesized that Asian American adults who have ever smoked a cigarette would report more depression compared to Asian American adults who have never smoked cigarettes. To test this hypothesis, I analyzed data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) using a subset of 1704 Asian American adults aged 18 to 85+. I controlled for native-born status, social/emotional support, relationship status, education, age, and gender. Controlling for the other variables, Asian American adults who have ever smoked a cigarette reported greater depressive frequency than those who have never smoked a cigarette. Additionally, multiple regression results showed that being in a relationship (married or living with a partner together as an unmarried couple) along with one’s level of social/emotional support had the largest effects on depressive frequency in the Asian American adult population followed by smoking status, gender, and native-born status
Gendered Submission and the Poetics of Privacy: Devotional and Domestic Poetry of the 17th and 20th Centuries
Full text linkThe poetry born from the confessional and metaphysical genres together act as a poetic anthology of privacy and submission. This anthology holds poems that powerfully engage with the various gendered experiences of submission and the forfeiture of privacy and agency; while these acts are exalted in their masculine contexts, framed as willful abandons of control that empower the poet spiritually and sexually, in feminine contexts, surrender was never a choice, rather an involuntary and penetrative violation of privacy and bodily autonomy
The Discipline of Film Scoring
No full textThis project explores the intricacies of the discipline of film scoring and how music is used when paired with a visual medium in order to enhance the emotional impact of the visuals within the audience. It delves into the development of theme and motif, how to organize proactively when beginning a film score, and how to structure form and pacing