1613 research outputs found
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Kristin A. Rawlings
No full texthttps://publications.lakeforest.edu/writing_contest_gallery/1020/thumbnail.jp
Is Social Media Content Art?
No full textI investigate whether the postings of photographs, videos, etc., on social media can be considered art, as they might be if we encountered them in a museum or a book. In Plato’s Gorgias, the interlocutors distinguish works of art from forms of flattery, roughly as persuasive practices performed with and without knowledge, respectively; this distinction is apt for considering social media. In their work, The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, Adorno and Horkheimer critique mass-produced cultural products. Their work is readily applicable to social media. I conclude that photography, etc., posted on social media should not be considered art, but rather a kind of flattery, using a variety of real-world examples to flesh out my claim
Unearthing Chicago
No full textHow can we understand the lives of ordinary Chicagoans by looking at what they left behind? Drawing from recent excavation and laboratory analysis of the Gray-Cloud House and Mecca Flats sites, we discuss the ways that archaeological and historical analysis of Chicago can challenge, reframe, and expand our understandings of daily life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Our sites are the 1856 Gray-Cloud House, a home that purportedly operated as a station on the Underground Railroad, and Mecca Flats (1891–1952), a now-demolished apartment building in the heart of Bronzeville and a socially significant site for Chicago’s African-American community
Chronic Administration of Nicotine Does Not Improve Cognitive Flexibility in an Attentional Set-Shifting Paradigm
No full textA common way to measure cognitive flexibility is through an attentional set-shifting paradigm. Studies demonstrate that administering nicotine before the task improves performance. No studies have examined the effect of chronic administration when rats are tested drug-free. To assess the effect of prior chronic nicotine administration, daily nicotine or saline injections were given to rats across 14 days, and tests were conducted drug-free. Due to neuroplastic changes in brain reward circuits induced by repeated nicotine administration, this regimen was predicted to improve performance. However, this treatment did not influence performance, suggesting nicotine must be present at test to enhance behavior
Bees in the Big City: Investigating the Effect of Urbanization on Native Bees in Chicago, Illinois
No full textAbundance and diversity of pollinators, especially native bees, have been declining worldwide. Habitat fragmentation and destruction caused by urbanization is believed to be a major cause of these declines. Certain functional traits are thought to impact native bees\u27 ability to adapt to the effects of urbanization. However, information regarding how bee functional traits relate to survivability in urban environments is limited. Further understanding is critical to predicting how native bees will respond to increasing anthropogenic changes in the environment. I hypothesize that functional traits of native bee communities, such as tongue length and body size, will change along a suburban to urban gradient in the Chicago area
Exploring the Effect of Emotional Chatbots on Sociopsychological Processes
No full textArtificial intelligence conversational agents (chatbots) have become more skilled at interacting with humans than ever before. Although a large portion of attention has focused on task-oriented chatbots (e.g., Siri, Alexa), little research has focused on how emotional chatbots, which are built for companionship and emotional connection with humans, can influence sociopsychological processes. The current study analyzes reviews of an emotional chatbot app, Replika, to provide insight on (1) how emotional chatbots might provide social and emotional support, (2) who might benefit from interactions with emotional chatbots, and (3) the next steps in the psychological study of human-chatbot interaction
The Implications of the 1999 U.S. Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on Contemporary Sino-American Relations: A Theoretical Analysis
Get PDFOn May 7, 1999, during NATO\u27s air war against Serbia, a U.S. bomber launched five guided missiles and destroyed a portion of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese citizens and wounding 20 others, three seriously. Outraged by the incident, Chinese citizens took to the streets and attacked U.S. diplomatic buildings across China, and the Chinese government suspended cooperative endeavors with the U.S. Two decades later, the bombing\u27s impact on contemporary Sino-American relations is alive and well. This project employs international relations theory to analyze how the bombing has positively and negatively shaped this critical bilateral relationship, focusing on the intensifying strategic rivalry, the prospects for cooperation on a range of international issues of importance to both countries, and China\u27s determination to be treated as America\u27s equal on the world stage
Hip Hop: A Vehicle for Social Critique and Commentary
No full textWhen hip hop first formed in the early 1970s, it began as a soundtrack to a party and a way for African-American and Latino youth to escape the oppression they faced in New York. No one thought the genre would become mainstream, nor did they predict it would become an important voice in politics, culture, and society. This panel will discuss important hip-hop albums and artists who have helped make hip hop a central space and device for underrepresented groups to the many isms of society