Middle Tennessee State University: Journals@MTSU
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Supporting the Mental Health of School Children During the Summer Months
Full text linkThe summertime, though a time for children to relax from the stresses that come with attending school, also poses a challenge for maintenance of their mental health due to loss of routine and regular social interaction, increased access to electronics, and the possible exposure to unsafe environments and food insecurity. This manuscript explores research discussing the risks that students may encounter through the loss of school-based supports and structure including higher rates of mental illness, increased social isolation and increased sedentary behavior. Content includes strategies stakeholders may consider and employ to best support students’ mentalhealth, such as leveraging community programming, ensuring continued access to mental health services and encouraging outdoor play throughout the summer months. Accessibility of summer support strategies is considered as well as options appropriate for children across the economic spectrum are provided
For the Dead Travel Fast’: Foreign Contagion in Dracula
No full textExisting as a “dead man made alive” (Stoker, Notes 17), Count Dracula reflects Victorian fears of foreignness and illness spreading into the individual bodies of English citizens and the national body of English society. Lorenzo Servitje notes that cholera, in particular, was linked to the understanding of disease as enemy (34). Throughout Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), the Count exists as a physical manifestation of this diseased, foreign enemy threatening the safety and civilization of England. Between 1831 and 1866, cholera epidemics in England resulted in the deaths of over a hundred thousand men, women, and children in three waves of contagion (Underwood 173), which served to emphasize and reinforce racial understandings of the disease
From Chalkboards to Chatbots: Why Education Must Play a Role in AI’s Creation
Full text linkThe rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) demands an equally transformative response from education, positioning it as a critical player in shaping the future of technology. This paper explores the essential role of education in AI development, focusing on STEM initiatives that foster both technical expertise and ethical awareness. By examining the historical trajectory of educational technology, the benefits of AI integration in STEM education, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, this paper highlights how educators can guide the evolution of AI to align with societal values. Special attention is given to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) as a fledgling intelligence, emphasizing the need for educators to serve as mentors in its responsible growth. Through proactive involvement, education can prepare students for an AI-driven future, foster innovation, and safeguard the ethical impact of AI on society
Education Pays
Full text linkEnrollment in higher education has been on the decline for nearly a decade. Some factors contributing to this decline are the rising tuition cost, the amount of student loans debt, political meddling, public opinion, and the emerging post-secondary alternative pathways to career options. Alternative pathways include bootcamps, apprenticeship programs, in-house certifications by some employers, or trade school. The cost or investment in these alternative pathways appears to be less in both time and money compared to investment in higher education
From the Editor
Full text linkWhenever I consider how best to make an argument for the study of the humanities, the first thing that pops into my mind is Louis Armstrong’s response when he was asked what jazz is: “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” For those of us who love the humanities, it is easy to see the value of disciplines such as art, history, and literature: they shape us, help us navigate the world, give value and meaning to our lives. Yet explaining this to administrators and politicians who weigh “value” only in monetary terms often proves difficult, and they view the humanities only as a superfluous pastime. We have struggled with an assault on the humanities—once widely considered the foundation of the university
Powers, Heather, editor. Fairy Tales in the College Classroom: Essays to Spark Lesson Plan Ideas Across the Curriculum. McFarland, 2024
Full text linkAs a curation of finely crafted essays on “the closest thing we have to a universal antidote” (8), Heather Powers’s Fairy Tales in the College Classroom: Essays to Spark Lesson Plan Ideas Across the Curriculum provides important resources to locate the pedagogical impact of fairy tales. Revisiting narratives that most readers are fairly well acquainted with, the essays span across the discursive terrains of linguistics, critical race studies, gender studies, visual studies, and adaptation studies. Exploring the potential of fairy tales as educational tools across various disciplines, the collection offers important perspectives on how these narratives can resourcefully enrich college-level teaching. Along with its rigorous academic approach, a reader’s familiarity with the background makes it an insightful read. This combination of academic rigor and familiar reading experiences makes the work an intriguing exploration of the several approaches the study of fairy tales invites: social, historical, anthropological, philological, and literary
The Ramifications of Female Sexuality: Cultural Uncertainty, Domestic Confinement, and Threatened Patriarchy in Robert Frost’s “Two Witches”
Full text linkDuring World War I, American women entered the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. However, once their husbands or other family members returned home, women in the workplace were forced out of their jobs in order to support more traditional gender roles. These “New Women” were, for the most part, college-educated, empowered in their sexuality, and had higher aspirations than being a stay-at-home wife and mother. Robert Frost’s 1920 poem “Two Witches” explores what forced domesticity did to New Women mentally, physically, and sexually. The narrative poem is split into two sections, “The Witch of Coös” and “The Pauper Witch of Grafton,” and while progressive in its social politics, the poems still confine their protagonists and reaffirm the tradition of American patriarchy
A Harm Reduction Approach: A Discussion of Supervised Consumption Sites to Address Opioid Use Disorder
Full text linkThe opioid epidemic, a pervasive public health crisis, demands innovative solutions to address its widespread impacts. In Tennessee, the reliance on abstinence-based interventions has resulted in high recidivism rates, highlighting the necessity for alternative strategies. This paper explores supervised consumption sites as a harm-reduction approach that prioritizes individual autonomy while addressing substance use disorders (SUD) comprehensively on micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Grounded in human behavioral theories, the analysis examines systemic contributors to opioid use disorder (OUD), including familial dynamics, societal stigma, and cultural influences. By integrating evidence-based practices, supervised consumption sites are shown to effectively reduce overdose fatalities, enhance access to healthcare services, and strengthen community resilience. The discussion also emphasizes the intersectionality of discrimination, illustrating how marginalized populations disproportionately experience the adverse effects of OUD due to systemic inequities. Through policy analysis and cost evaluations, the findings support the economic and social benefits of harm-reduction measures. This paper advocates for the implementation of supervised consumption sites as a transformative intervention, shifting the paradigm from punitive and stigmatizing practices to inclusive and compassionate care
The Purpose of Comparison Between Grendel, the Dragon, and the Hero in Beowulf*
Full text linkIn an effort to challenge assumptions that dilute these characters as mere antagonists of an ancient epic, this article analyzes the functions of two of the main monsters within Beowulf: Grendel and the dragon. By employing research ranging from historical to literary alongside close reading methodologies, readers can find parallels between the noble warrior, Beowulf, and his adversaries. Considering these parallels, guided by an understanding of societal virtues relevant to the early centuries of pagan Scandinavia, this piece determines whether these comparisons are deliberate measures on behalf of the Beowulf-poet to accentuate the hero’s righteous qualities. Through the personification of corruption and mirroring characteristics linking Beowulf and his opponents, the Beowulf-poet appears to illustrate the differences between an upstanding ruler and rapacious killer. By clarifying these foils, supported by historic reports related to the poem’s creation in ancient civilization, this article contends that the Beowulf monsters are measures for contextualizing the story and gleaning insight pertaining to bygone ideas of goodness and nobility. This paper finds that Beowulf’s adversaries serve as literary tools for his characterization and provide significant knowledge related to moral conventions of ancient societies for readers of the 21st century.
*Winner of the Deans’ Distinguished Essay Awar
Characteristics of the Structure and Selected Biological Activities of Polysaccharides Isolated from Fedora 17 Hemp (Cannabis sativa)*
Full text linkThis study focuses on characterizing the structural properties and biological activities of polysaccharides isolated from the Fedora 17 hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). Hemp polysaccharides are an underexplored resource with significant potential in industries such as biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. Techniques, including ion-exchange chromatography (IEX), size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were employed to elucidate the molecular weight distribution and structural complexity of the polysaccharides. Additionally, antioxidant activity was assessed using the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DDPH) assay. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of hemp polysaccharides’ potential applications in the development of sustainable and bioactive products