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Ascende Altius: Issue 5
Get PDFWelcome to the UofM Graduate School newsletter Ascende Altius! This May 2025 edition documents key developments and achievements within the University of Memphis graduate community. It features a message from the Vice Provost and Dean, Dr. Deborah Tollefsen, outlining strategic initiatives including the awarding of Dissertation Completion Grants, the launch of a doctoral research grant competition, and enhancements to professional development programming.
This newsletter spotlights outstanding graduate students and alumni, celebrates faculty recognized for exemplary mentorship, and provides highlights from Spring Commencement, the Student Research Forum, and the Graduate Student Association Awards. Ascende Altius affirms the Graduate School’s ongoing commitment to academic excellence, student success, and scholarly impact
Tennessee Education Glossary: 2025 Update, May 2025
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-comptroller-office-research-education-accountability/1168/thumbnail.jp
Research Recap: Evaluation of Tennessee\u27s Retail Accountability Program (RAP)
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-comptroller-office-research-education-accountability/1171/thumbnail.jp
Correspondence, to Abe D. Waldauer from John Langdon-Davies, 1930 February 24
Get PDFCorrespondence, to Abe D. Waldauer, Memphis, TN, from John Langdon-Davies, New York City, New York, 1930 February 24. He thanks Waldauer for “saving me from my expected boredom in Memphis.” Langdon-Davies was a British author, journalist, and war correspondent.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-waldaueradpapers1/1001/thumbnail.jp
The Autocrat\u27s Dilemma: Balancing Loyalty and Competence in Ministerial Appointments Under Threats
No full textAutocratic leaders face a constant challenge in balancing loyalty and competence when appointing ministers. While existing research suggests that autocrats favor loyalty to mitigate threats, this study investigates how they adjust their preferences based on the nature of threats they face. Using several datasets covering 41 autocratic countries from 1980 to 2016, this research applies a two-way fixed effects panel regression to analyze the strategic trade-off between loyalty and competence in cabinet appointments. It argues that autocrats systematically prioritize loyalty over political competence in response to internal threats. In contrast, during external threats, autocrats favor technically competent ministers over loyalty. To further illustrate these dynamics, I include two illustrative examples of Iran and China, analyzing key periods of internal and external threats. While the loyalty-competence trade-off has been widely discussed, this study systematically examines its variation in response to different types of threats, offering broader insight into authoritarian resilience
Preludios Colombianos: A Recording Project Of The Piano Preludes By Adolfo Mejía And The Preludes Op.48 And Op.56 By Guillermo Uribe Holguín
Get PDFPreludios Colombianos is an audio recording album dedicated to the piano works of Colombian composers Adolfo Mejía Navarro and Guillermo Uribe Holguín, performed by pianist Natalia Vanegas Escobar. The album features Uribe Holguín’s Preludes op. 48 and op. 56 and Mejía’s Four Preludes, offering listeners a focused look at two important yet underrepresented voices in classical music. Despite the significance of these composers in the Colombian national repertoire, many of their pieces have never been professionally recorded, and some have no audio record whatsoever. This project responds to that need, providing accessible, high quality, and more performance interpretations of these works, which remain largely unknown outside academic circles. The initiative was supported by the Patronato Colombiano de Artes y Ciencias, the institution charged with preserving and promoting the legacy of both Uribe Holguín and Mejía Navarro. The recording took place in March 2025 at Plough Hall, located in the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center in Memphis, Tennessee, using a Steinway D concert grand piano. Recording engineer Walker Higgins led the technical production of the album. This dissertation documents the creative and technical aspects of the project, including the challenges of accessing materials, the interpretive decisions involved, and the logistics of recording under professional conditions. It also offers short analytical insights into each work, drawing attention to stylistic features and the notable influence of French music education on both composers, particularly in harmonic language and formal design. Exploring these works and their composers raised broader questions about musical identity and heritage. Though the selected pieces are shaped by European traditions rather than Colombian folk rhythms, they iv reveal the diversity of Colombia’s piano repertoire and challenge common stereotypes about Latin American music. By distributing the album on digital streaming platforms, Preludios Colombianos serves not only as a reference for performers and scholars but also as a tool for cultural preservation and international outreach. It contributes to ongoing efforts to raise awareness of Latin American piano music and invites its further exploration. A listening link is included to encourage accessibility and engagement with the works beyond the scope of this written document
BETWEEN CLASSIC SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY AND HEGELIAN STATE: A CASE FOR FREEDOM’S BROADER CONCEPTION
Get PDFThe classic social contract theorized by Hobbes, Rousseau, and Locke advocates for establishing the state based on individual freedom; for them, a contractual agreement rather than nature serves as the foundation for the state. In his Philosophy of Rights, Hegel rejects this classic view of the social contract, which sees freedom and consent as the basis of the state. While the perspectives of the classic social contract and Hegel yield differing interpretations of freedom, the dissertation explores their relationship against contemporary challenges to freedom. It investigates the extent to which the classic social contract\u27 s conception of subjective freedom, which prioritizes the individual over the state, can establish any meaningful conception of freedom in the state. Within that framework, it also examines Hegelian communitarian theory, which emphasizes the state over the individual, to see how it can lead to a better understanding of individual freedom. Against this background, the dissertation investigates some of their claims to determine how they can address the question of freedom and provide a more comprehensive understanding of freedom that responds to contemporary challenges. From the results of this investigation, the dissertation concludes that while their differing views are significant for comprehending freedom, neither is sufficient to establish a broader conception of individual freedom within the state today. Their limitations arise from the failure of their theories to address the challenges posed by today\u27s globalized and unequal society, driven by digital technology, due to their primary identification with the nation-state. Against this backdrop, the dissertation argues that only when freedom is understood as a transcendent value will it be comprehensive enough to tackle these contemporary issues that the social contract and Hegel\u27s theories cannot address. Thus, the dissertation sees social contract freedom as the thesis, Hegel\u27s communitarian freedom as the antithesis and transcendent freedom as the synthesi
Optimal Placement of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Using Modified Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm in an Electric Grid
Get PDFThe rapid adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) necessitates to optimize the grid through strategic placement of Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS). Conventional algorithms such as Greywolf Optimization Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization have been used for the placement of EVCS, but they have difficulties in dealing with dynamic and complex environments. With this background, this thesis proposes a Modified Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (MAHA) for optimal placement of EVCS in the IEEE 9-bus, 57-bus, and 118-bus systems. The first approach uses a single objective function that minimizes transmission losses due to EV charging, while the second approach considers a multi-objective function that includes dynamic user demand, battery energy storage system, and solar photovoltaic generation. MAHA, inspired by the foraging of hummingbirds, provides a more flexible approach and helps ongoing efforts for smart grid development and sustainability regarding EVCS deployment. Matlab/Simulink based simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MAHA method in optimal placement of EVCS
Recorded Tour Excerpts: Art, Science, and History Museums (Side 1)
No full textProduced by Acoustiguide, this tape provides museums with demonstrations of audio-based tour excerpts from various types of museums. Tapes like this demonstrated both the services available from Acoustiguide and the ways in which a museum could integrate audio-based tours. This side focuses on art, science, and history museums. (Side 1 of 2
Graduate School Blog - June 2025
No full textThe June 2025 edition of the UofM Graduate School Blog helps prospective and current students make informed financial decisions with Part 1 of the Graduate School Cost Guide, breaking down tuition structures such as per-credit hour versus flat-rate models, highlighting UofM’s tuition cap for in-state students, and explaining key university fees and cost differences between online and on-campus formats. The blog also features Brianna Reilly, a Doctor of Musical Arts graduate from New York, who shares how a graduate assistantship and her passion for music education led her to continue at UofM through the pandemic. Additional resources include an overview of the UofM Writing & Communication Center’s graduate-specific support services, as well as summer highlights around Memphis from cheering on the Redbirds at AutoZone Park to commemorating Juneteenth at the National Civil Rights Museum. This edition combines practical planning, student storytelling, and community engagement to showcase the full graduate experience at UofM