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Faith and Friction: The Influence of CCCU Membership and State Policy on LGBTQ Acceptance at Religious Universities
No full textA Stage of Their Own: Nandan Performers and the Reimagining of Gender, Sexuality, and Social Hierarchy in Republican China
No full textFrom novels to movies to music, Chinese popular culture has been enamored with the nandan-a male actor who plays female characters in Jingju (Peking Opera)-for the last hundred years, evolving from a theatrical curiosity to a symbol of national identity and high art by the mid-20th century. This thesis explores the transformative role of the nandan as it relates to Chinese society from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) through the Republican Era (1911-1949). The nandan, traditionally viewed within the confines of the theatre, reflects broader societal changes in gender, sexuality, and social status. By employing historiography, close reading, and performance analysis, I delve into the evolution of the nandan from mere theatrical performers to symbols of Chinese national identity. This research highlights Qing restrictions on female performers as a catalyst for the rise of the nandan, and the factors that allowed this figure to morph into a respected icon during the Republican Era. Through a detailed examination of the classic opera The Drunken Concubine and key figures such as Ouyang Yuqian and Mei Lanfang, the thesis underscores the nandan\u27s dual role as both a performer and a cultural intermediary, reflecting and influencing the changing dynamics of Chinese society. This analysis reveals the intricate interplay between theater and the socio-political landscape, asserting the nandan not only as a component of cultural heritage but also as a mirror of societal evolution in Republican China
A Qualitative Study of Acts of Resistance to Perfectionism Amongst Women of Color in the Academy
No full textPerfectionism does not have a clear-cut definition, but the most well known features include the setting of inordinately high standards for oneself, accompanied by overly critical evaluative tendencies (Frost et al., 1990). A counter narrative to the perfectionism literature writ large is Okun’s (2021) assertion that perfectionism is both a tool of, and inseparable from, White supremacist culture. Women of Color in the academy are largely absent from the perfectionism literature. On the whole, perfectionism research has excluded Women of Color, and perfectionism research within academia has typically focused on students. This study asks the question, in what ways do acts of resistance and empowerment interface with perfectionism in Women of Color in the academy? This research explores the ways in which Women of Color experience perfectionism within the academy; investigates the acts of resistance and empowerment in which Women of Color engage; and examines how these acts of resistance and empowerment interface with perfectionism. To answer this question, I conducted Inductive Thematic Analysis, using complete coding, to categorize textual data from Presumed incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia (2020) into overarching themes. Analysis of these themes suggests that White supremacist culture is expressed through other oriented perfectionism perpetrated by the academy, impacting Women of Color in ways that cause mental, emotional, and physical harm, with negative career effects. The results also demonstrate that Women of Color derive benefit from acts of resistance and empowerment against White supremacist culture/other-oriented perfectionism, although these benefits do not abrogate the negative effects of perfectionism. These results suggest that for Women of Color in the academy, acts of perceived perfectionism may arise in response to demands from the environment, rather than upbringing or personality
Theatre Responds to Social Trauma: Chasing the Demons
No full textThis book is a collection of chapters by playwrights, directors, devisers, scholars, and educators whose praxis involves representing, theorizing, and performing social trauma.
Chapters explore how psychic catastrophes and ruptures are often embedded in social systems of oppression and forged in zones of conflict within and across national borders. Through multiple lenses and diverse approaches, the authors examine the connections between collective trauma, social identity, and personal struggle. We look at the generational transmission of trauma, socially induced pathologies, and societal re-inscriptions of trauma, from mass incarceration to war-induced psychoses, from gendered violence through racist practices. Collective trauma may shape, protect, and preserve group identity, promoting a sense of cohesion and meaning, even as it shakes individuals through pain. Engaging with communities under significant stress through artistic practice offers a path towards reconstructing the meaning(s) of social trauma, making sense of the past, understanding the present, and re-visioning the future.
The chapters combine theoretical and practical work, exploring the conceptual foundations and the artists’ processes as they interrogate the intersections of personal grief and communal mourning, through drama, poetry, and embodied performance. Source: Publisherhttps://scholarworks.smith.edu/the_books/1001/thumbnail.jp
Planning Smith’s Final Steps to Net Zero: Alternatives to Traditional Carbon Offsets
No full textSmith College is on track to meet its pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030. The geothermal energy initiative is expected to reduce campus emissions by up to 90%, with the remaining gap to be closed by carbon offset purchases by 2030.1 This project engages two umbrella approaches to Smith’s final steps to reach net zero. The first builds on a past 312 project that proposes guidelines for buying verifiably high-quality offsets from the carbon market based on total carbon sequestration and the promotion of social and ecological co-benefits. Our alternative approach considers a contribution-focused protocol that posits Smith as a rotating grant fund for developing clean energy, waste management, and conservation projects. By expanding the scope of viable project candidates, we identify significant social justice, educational, and research benefits for the Smith community. Evaluation criteria for this initiative involved cost and quantity of offset credits produced, environmental quality and climate justice as well as research, education and innovation principles of Smith College. One essential benefit of this approach would be opening up funding streams for sustainability work on-campus and at sites of study abroad to facilitate continued student engagement. We propose evaluation criteria to determine reputable mitigation programs, including cost and quantity, environmental quality, and adherence to the research, education, and public service mission of Smith as an institution. We outline a roadmap to 2030 for a contribution approach in compliance with Second Nature’s protocol standards, as well as a mixed approach that combines elements of both traditional and nontraditional carbon offsets
Towards Climate Justice: Designing a Sustainable and Equitable Dining Structure for Workers
No full textHigher education institutions (HEIs) are constantly changing and adjusting to external influences. While HEIs discuss how to battle climate change, certain members of their communities are often excluded from the discussion. This project aims to include neglected perspectives on advancements in climate action at Smith, and to propose ways to avoid problematic changes. The participants in the study were all associated with the college’s dining halls. We engaged staff, administration, and students in this project through activities, interviews, and via email-contact. From these methods of data collection, we used thematic coding, and critical reasoning to analyze results. Our results show that an overwhelming majority of workers feel excluded from climate action discussions at Smith College, the college under study. The main proposition made by administrators to improve sustainability in dining is a transition to centralized dining, but this is strongly opposed by workers. Our participants also voiced many workplace hazards they faced, which connects to climate justice issues within the institution. While the college boasts about many sustainability initiatives, climate justice is neglected as some of the most vulnerable members of the community face dangerous workplace conditions and their voices are ignored. We recommend that the university conduct a widespread evaluation of current conditions within the dining halls, and to invest in improving the current demands of the staff who work in dining. Considering dining workers are essential to the success of the college, we propose that climate and its impacts on staff be recognized, cataloged, and addressed in a timely manner
Mechanism of Iron-Catalyzed Oxidative α-Amination of Ketones with Sulfonamides
Full text linkWe report the mechanism of the iron-catalyzed oxidative α-amination of ketones with sulfonamides. Using linear free energy relationships, competition experiments, and identification of reaction intermediates, we have found that the mechanism of this reaction proceeds through rate-limiting electron transfer to 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) from an iron enolate in the process of forming an α-DDQ adduct. The adduct then serves as the electrophile for substitution with sulfonamide nucleophiles, accelerated by iron and additional DDQ. This mechanistic study rules out formation of an α-carbocation intermediate and purely radical mechanistic hypotheses
The Politics of Incompetence Learning Language, Relations of Power, and Daily Resistance
No full text“Incompetence” is not an objective state lacking competence nor a kind of deficiency that needs to be filled. Rather, it is a constructed state that is productive, working in tandem with its opposite, “competence.” Perception of incompetence/competence works as what Michel Foucault (1977) calls a technology of “normalization” that pushes individuals to aspire to follow a shared norm, while hierarchically differentiating individuals according to their proximity to the aspired norm. The notion of incompetence is thus “productive” in that it turns individuals into specific kinds of “subjects” (Foucault 1977). The Politics of “Incompetence”: Learning Language, Relations of Power, and Daily Resistance further investigates other productive processes around the perception of “incompetence” specifically through its intersections with various ideologies—“academic achievement,” teacher-student hierarchy, “native speaker” ideology, normative unit thinking, and privilege of vulnerability—as such intersections generate new knowledge, new reflection on one’s assumptions and privilege, new space for marginalized language, and more. This volume opens up a new area of study—productive cultural politics of “incompetence”—by focusing on language learning in diverse contexts: Japanese as a Foreign Language classrooms in US colleges, Italian language tourism in Italy, and indigenous Māori language revitalization at an Aotearoa/New Zealand school.
Source: Publisherhttps://scholarworks.smith.edu/eas_books/1011/thumbnail.jp