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The Anti-Slavery Almanac
No full textThe Anti-Slavery Almanac collection is owned by the New York Public Library and visible via their digital commons. This collection of almanacs was published between 1836-1844, and contains a multitude of anecdotes meant to appeal to those in the country who wanted to abolish slavery. In analyzing the collection using digital text analysis tools, our group found that three subjects stood out. These include appeal to religion/morality, sectionalism, and the profound impact women had on the anti-slavery movement. Our research explores each of these topics using The Anti-Slavery Almanac and other supplementary sources. By examining each of these three topics, we hope to provide insight into the humanity behind the abolitionist movement, and illuminate the complexity of a deeply compelling and at times divisive ideology that has shaped the face of America since the early 1800’s
Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck! Dramaturgy
No full textIn the early 20th Century, circuses were one of the central sources of entertainment in Midwestern America. One of the most prominent circuses was the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, known for their talented clowns and exciting animal acts. However, early in the morning of June 22, 1918, disaster struck as an empty military train crashed into the Hagenbeck-Wallace train as they passed through Hammond, Indiana. This crash left eighty-six of the circus members dead and another 127 injured. Due to poor record keeping in the circus, the vast majority of the deceased were left unnamed. Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck! is a play that brings to light the story of the Hagenbeck-Wallace train wreck that occurred in 1918 by giving life to performers that could have perished in the crash. As dramaturge for Hope College’s production of Roustabout, I explored how the circus culture in the 20th century influenced the Hagenbeck-Wallace train wreck and its aftermath. I looked at the performers, the animals, the advertisements, and the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus itself to find answers
Improving student assessments of elections: the use of information literacy and a course-embedded librarian
Get PDFThe study of U.S. elections as a part of introductory political science courses has become an increasingly difficult endeavour as students encounter the ever-changing landscape of electoral politics. Instructors seeking to equip students with the skills needed to navigate this complex terrain may look for partnerships with library faculty and staff as a means of bridging the research gap faced by students in these courses. This article examines the efficacy of a course-embedded librarian and information literacy training as a means of increasing student research confidence and competence. The findings of our quasi-experiment suggest that students participating in a course with an embedded librarian, information literacy training and an assignment based on the training session reported higher levels of research confidence and demonstrated the use and understanding of selected information literacy skills and concepts
Virtue, Positive Psychology, and Religion: Consideration of an Overarching Virtue and an Underpinning Mechanism
Get PDFThe virtues are a central focus of research at the intersection of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality. Humility, patience, and gratitude are addressed in the target articles of this special issue. Beyond examining each individual virtue, we argue here that the connections among virtues also warrant empirical attention. Specifically, we explain the unity of the virtues thesis, which suggests that individual virtues may be a part of a larger overarching construct, which we propose may be practical wisdom, or simply general virtuousness. Similarly, we propose that a common mechanism, such as automatic self-regulation, may facilitate these virtuous expressions. Thus, despite differences in content and expression, most virtues may have a common overarching construct and undergirding mechanism
The Anchor, Volume 131.02: September 13, 2017
Get PDFThe Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular
The Anchor, Volume 131.05: October 4, 2017
Get PDFThe Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular
The Anchor, Volume 131.10: November 15, 2017
Get PDFThe Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular
Shaping Urban Modernity in Shanghai and Paris through the Building of Roads and Parks
No full textIn this paper, I argue that urban modernity is characterized by functional utility and aesthetic elements. Nineteenth-century Paris and early twentieth-century Shanghai provide strong evidence for this argument, because both cities underwent large-scale building projects in the form of roads and parks. What is striking about these two cases is that two distinct forces, the imperial government in Paris and private enterprise in Shanghai, created cities that were symbols of modernity and cosmopolitan values in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, respectively. This research examines the impact of the road and park building projects of the Shanghai International Settlement on Shanghai’s urban modernity. By juxtaposing the International Settlement’s road and park building projects with Paris’s urban renewal under Napoleon III’s Second Empire, the effects of road and park building projects on urban modernity becomes evident. The Report of the Hon. Mr. Justice Feetham to the Shanghai Municipal Council (1931), a consultative report for the Shanghai Municipal Council authored by the South African Judge Richard Feetham, is used as the main primary source for this research on Shanghai, and its contents provide valuable insights into the intricacies of the International Settlement
Secret Desire: Islam, Mysticism, and Peace-Making in Hikayat Hang Tuah
No full textThis paper analyzes the peace-making role of Islam in Hikayat Hang Tuah, a 17th-century Malay epic, and its implications for the imagined glorious past in modern Malaysian politics. Hang Tuah, the legendary protagonist, remains a fiercely loved but hotly contested national hero, claimed by various ethno-religious factions in present-day Malaysia. My argument hopes to establish that Muslim piety in HHT is portrayed as a resource for resolving interpersonal conflict, reimagining the honor-based rivalry depicted in its earlier chapters. As Salleh comments in the introduction of his translation, the second part of HHT enters a “sober…mature phase” (XXI), painting scenes of reconciliation between brothers, foreign kingdoms, and between humans and Allah. Hang Tuah’s personal mysticism too reflects the role of faith as a conduit of cross-cultural camaraderie. Islam in HHT connects the Malay world to its neighbors and to the divine, just as the classical Malay author sought to connect the audience through literature to divine insight. Drawing on Braginsky and Errington’s scholarship, my paper adopts the traditional reading of the Malay hikayat, in which the audience received literature as both a mirror of contemporary events, and as a guide to navigate human society. My paper hopes to establish that HHT’s depiction of peace, Malay identity, and Islam runs in antithesis to its factional conscriptions in modern politics. Ultimately, it encourages a reevaluation of Hang Tuah not as a symbol of polemics but of peace, and of the latent inclusivity woven into the nation’s literary fabric
Exposure to Homocysteic Acid Early in Postnatal Development Leads to a Mixed Depressive/Manic Behavioral Phenotype and Changes in NMDA Receptor Expression
No full textHomocysteic acid (HCA), a NMDA receptor agonist, is an endogenous metabolite formed from the oxidation of homocysteine. Since hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD), we tested the hypothesis that elevated HCA levels in developing rats may induce alterations in NMDA receptor expression and the development of associated behaviors. Twenty postnatal male and twenty female rats were injected daily with either HCA or saline from P3 to P21. HCA-treated rats displayed increased risk-taking behavior, reduced social behavior, novelty-induced hyper-locomotion, anhedonia, and reduced spatial learning, consistent with a depressive state with manic tendencies. As expected, HCA treatment had no effect on motor coordination or paired-pulse inhibition. In addition to these behavioral changes, we observed that HCA led to an increase in expression of the GABAergic marker, GAD-67, in the cortex, but not the hippocampus, of both male and female rats. In the cortex, we also observed that HCA triggers a significant increase in the NMDAR2b:NMDAR2a subunit expression ratio in male rats, while female rats exhibited a decreased ratio. The results suggest that HCA triggered an increase in NMDAR2a expression in the hippocampus of both males and females. Finally, HCA also led to a decrease in NMDAR2b expression in females, but an increase in NMDAR2b expression in the hippocampus of males. We are currently examining the effect of HCA exposure on NMDAR1 subunit expression. Collectively, these data suggest that early postnatal exposure to HCA may lead to a mixed manic/depressive phenotype that may be accompanied by GABAergic signaling changes in the cortex. Given the proposed regulatory role of NMDA receptors on GABAergic interneuron activity and mood, we suggest that this may serve as a novel animal model for studies of complex mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder or MDD