Middle Tennessee State University: Journals@MTSU
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Topical Stamps in the Classroom
Full text linkExplores using postage stamps as a teaching tool in the classroom. 
Letter from the Editor in Chief
Full text linkWhen undergraduate, graduate, and recently graduated scholars scour calls for papers, pursuing broader audiences for their work, they are often met with the requirement that their work fit a particular theme. Themes can unite people with shared concerns, in turn connecting scholars who can collaborate on future research and reassuring individual scholars that their work is a part of a larger conversation. While theming has its benefits, some researchers find the most fitting forums for their research are unconstrained by themes.
Scientia et Humanitas conventionally forgoes theming its volumes, a choice that increases the possibility of amplifying vastly diverse concerns. This choice also allows our submitters, students and recent graduates who often have arsenals full of interesting projects that have not yet wandered far from campus, relative freedom to choose the work they submit. Volume 13 exemplifies how, when those with the power to uplift scholarly voices designate thematically-unconstrained spaces, both those voices and their audiences are benefited by a collection of impressive, timely work.
I have had the honor of spending nearly a year assembling and managing editorial staff, corresponding with submitters, copyediting the manuscript, and arranging the layout of this volume. To the scholars who offered our team twenty-nine intriguing submissions, thanks are certainly in order. While we are proud to present the twelve that we have selected for publication, we also hope that our feedback supports the works we have not selected in reaching future audiences.
This volume is roughly organized by discipline, and we start with two articles in the area of natural sciences. In “Deconstructing the Moral Animal Stigma,” Sav Buist invites other scientists to re-evaluate their frameworks for understanding non-human animals’ capacity for empathy and emotion. Next, Elizabeth Kowalczyk tests a potential treatment for a common viral infection in “Investigating the Inhibition of Herpes Simplex Virus-1 by Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3.”
Six articles based in the humanities come next. Kat Kolby’s “Discovering Nothing to Create Anything” demonstrates that the philosopher Gorgias’s framework of logos can be more fully appreciated and understood when examined in concert with game studies. Then, through close reading of Homer’s Iliad , Hayley Rhodes Wittenberg invites readers to acknowledge a romantic dimension of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in “He Whom I Loved as Dearly as My Own Life.” Additionally, in her article “‘Everybody you tell will be haunted too,’” Harley Mercadal highlights the melding of Gothic and Modernist tropes in the work of American author Mildred Haun. Those interested in popular culture or children’s media might take interest in the next three articles. Caroline LaPlue investigates an incongruent reception of the novel and film versions of The Princess and the Goblinin “‘Seldom Like Yesterday.’” I am pleased to share my own article, “Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and Dora the Explorer Teach the Value of Non-English Language,” in which I examine language use in the premier episodes of two animated programs from the beginning of the twenty-first century. Sarah Hicks, in “Representation in Raya and the Last Dragon ,” considers this 2021 film in the context of Disney’s complicated track-record with representing genders, sexualities, and races.
The volume ends with four articles that apply historical or social scientific lenses to highlight important people or cultural phenomena. First, in “Subversive Habits,” Sarah E. Wolfe calls for an understanding of medieval and early modern nuns as complex individuals who transcend stereotypes. Next, Lis Sodl’s “Integration and Education” uncovers ways that literature including Constance Fenimore Woolson’s “Rodman the Keeper” and W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk exemplify shifts in American identity after the Civil War. Inspired by conversations regarding COVID-19 restrictions in the early 2020s, Carol A. Stuart revisits documented responses to an earlier pandemic in “Closures, Masks, and Quarantines.” Finally, Parvez Rahaman synthesizes his own primary research– interviews with those who encountered Mahatma Gandhi– with secondary research on Gandhi and conceptions of memory in “The Retrieving Memories of Gandhi’s Peace-mission.”
For the opportunity to facilitate the publication process for these articles, I extend thanks to several faculty mentors at Middle Tennessee State University. I first have Dr. Stephen Severn, Chair of the English Department, to thank for recommending me for the Editor in Chief position before I had even imagined myself in the role. Immense thanks are also due to Dr. Philip E. Phillips, Associate Dean of the MTSU Honors College, and Ms. Marsha Powers, retired Coordinator of Special Projects and Publications. I am grateful for the immense agency these two mentors have entrusted in me, for their time and attention when questions arose, and for the opportunity to meet and work with Ms. Powers during her final semester in the role. During the copy editing phase, Honors College Dean John R. Vile and Strategic Communication Specialist Ms. Robin E. Lee have also offered invaluable advice.
My editorial staff members also deserve abundant thanks for their close reading, thoughtful feedback, and intentional recommendations regarding which work should be featured this year. Samira Grayson, Lis Sodl, Angela Benninghoff, Kat Kolby, Parvez Rahaman, Elizabeth Polson, and Emaa Elrayah offered their own specialized knowledge and demonstrated flexibility to evaluate pieces beyond the fields that typically constitute their scholarly homes. We are grateful for Dr. Matt Elrod-Erickson, who graciously offered his support as a guest reviewer at a time when we sought expert advice in the field of genetics. I have developed as an editor by encountering my collaborators’ varied approaches to scrutinizing and supporting the work of our submitters.
Thank you all for the chance to play a role in sharing twelve insightful works of scholarship with a broader audience. I invite you, while enjoying this volume, to celebrate and support unthemed spaces like this one, as they invite unexpected, important work.
Aubrey KellerEditor in Chie
Discovering Nothing to Create Anything: Gorgias’s On the Nonexistant and the WorldBuilding Power of Logos
Full text linkThis paper begins by tracing instances throughout history wherein the fieldsof rhetoric and philosophy have quarreled, focusing primarily on how theydefine their own studies as well as language and its connection to, or lack of,an objective reality. With a close examination of the theoretical frameworkand definition for logos as presented in Gorgias’s On the Nonexistent or OnNature, it is possible to flesh out a better understanding of the connectionsbetween any medium of communication and the process of creating andconveying both perceptual and virtual realities. Gorgias, in the context of thispaper, refers to the sophist and rhetorician, 483 to 375 BC, and is not to beconfused with the character in Plato’s Gorgias meant to discount sophistry. Inmy argument, backed by game studies scholars such as Ian Bogost and JamesJ. Brown Jr., the rhetorical impact of video games as it is relayed through theauthorship of code can serve as an alternative medium that parallels rhetoricalimpact of speech through the authorship of logos. Viewing video games asexamples of virtually constructed worlds within an outer world can also helpdemonstrate how Platonic suggestions that logos has any direct connection toobjective substantiality are inherently flawed. This dismissal of the primacy oflogos as truth-revealing suggests that rhetoric is an inherent part of all formsof composition and, thus, communication necessarily precedes the ability toconvey any philosophical ideas. Looking through the interpretive act for boththe communicator and the audience, logos can be seen as its own kind ofsubstance with a power far superior to mere persuasion or influence
Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and Dora the Explorer Teach the Value of Non-English Language
Full text linkSagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat premiered in 2001, featuring both MandarinChinese and English. A year prior, Dora the Explorer introduced a group oflinguistically diverse characters in a multilingual English-Spanish program.Over twenty years later, American children continue to develop relationshipswith non-English languages in multilingual communities. Since the languagesbesides English that many speak face the threats of attrition and stigma,children’s television shows that highlight the value of non-English languagesare timely and applicable.I respond to this current need by engaging in rhetorical analysis of languageuse in the first episode of Sagwa and of Dora as well as promotional materialfor each series. This analysis focuses on two features of language use that I callform and delivery, with form referring to whether the language is written orspoken, and delivery referring to which characters are using which language. Ifind that while Sagwa highlights how those with written Mandarin proficiencycan preserve cultural values and enact community impact, Dora framesspoken Spanish fluency and multilinguality as applicable assets to everydaysocial situations and problem-solving. Although pointing to different benefits,both cartoons express to their child audiences that non-English languages arevaluable
TOWARDS A RENEWED PERSPECTIVE ON TEACHING TRADE
Full text linkThe objective in this paper is to provide a renewed perspective on teaching trade. The idea is to create a teaching module like the one offered by the CORE textbook that blends microeconomics and macroeconomics concepts to address globalization. Neoclassical textbooks are contrasted with heterodox ones to provide a comparative outlook on key themes on trade. Subject material from various textbooks is complemented with YouTube videos, game theory applications, and a nuanced graphical analysis on topical issues. Apart from tariffs and current account deficits, the issues of fair trade, environmental sustainability, and economic sanctions are considered to appeal to students
Subversive Habits: The Study of Nuns from the Sixth Century to the Early Modern Era
Full text linkThrough examining Boniface’s correspondence with female friends of hiscircle, a vita of Saint Radegund, an anonymous medieval story of a pregnantabbess, the tale of Chaucer’s Prioress, and Marlowe’s play The Jew of Malta, Iseek to uncover nun’s “real selves” in contrast to their often-uncomplimentaryportrayals in medieval and early modern literature. The vivid and diverseliterature nuns composed or the works that were written about them revealshow they saw themselves or were perceived by others. Because these women’screative and intellectual abilities add richness and multilayered perspectivesto the realm of medieval literature, their importance and visibility are vital tostudy, reflect, and discuss to a comprehensive audience of both laypersonsand specialists
Introduction
Full text linkThis Spring issue provides readers with diverse and holistic perspectives on a variety of topicsincluding the parent involvement in early childhood education and community in online earlychildhood programs. Moreover, this issue discusses face masks and student engagement, cybersafety, and the utilization of games in telemental health with children. The IJWC continues to becommitted to promoting holistic learning and the development of the whole child
Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Exploring Cultural Beliefs and Practices Through the Figured Worlds Approach to Support Learning Success for All Children
No full textThe authors of this article explore the impact of parent involvement in early childhood education in Korea. The work is grounded in the Figured Worlds Approach which states that people’s worldview is impacted by their culture, values, and communities. Context is provided for deeper understanding of cultural practices and values, language and communication, and strategies for understanding diverse groups. The author identified many implications for educators such as incorporating traditions, eliminating bias, and supporting learning through a growth mindset. Finally, the findings suggest future research could explore intersectionality, innovative family engagement, as well as policy changes and community partnerships.  
Facial Masks and Student Engagement in Early Childhood and Exceptional Student Education Classrooms
Full text linkThe authors of this paper examine whether wearing masking affects student engagement in both early childhood education (ECE) and education of students with exceptionalities (ESE). COVID-19 greatly impacted education as schools moved to a virtual format and instruction was split between in person and virtual modes. The authors discuss the specific impacts on individuals with exceptionalities such as inability see visual language cues and social and emotional components of language. Additionally, the use of masks greatly impacted behavior and social and emotional engagement in the classroom as well as interfering with lipreading and literacy. The use of transparent masks and their reduction of barriers is discussed. Finally, the authors suggest opportunities for future research, such as the impacts of different face masks with or without a remote microphone
