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Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships in Music Industry Education: A Mixed Methods Exploration of the Music Industry Technical Camp in Trinidad and Tobago
Get PDFThe Music Industry Technical Camp (MITC) is a public-private partnership designed by DianJen and delivered in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts in Trinidad and Tobago. Its focus is on providing intensive practical training on the business and technical aspects of the music industry to persons 18-65 years of age and comprises 90 hours of instruction delivered over a six-week period. Between 2014 and 2018, 89 participants graduated from the MITC. Some have established new or improved their existing arts enterprises, whereas others are currently employed as full-time and part-time professionals in the local music industry. This article reports on a comprehensive study of how the structure, curriculum and instructional strategies of the MITC, the first program of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago, are aligned with the needs and achievement of graduates, the state partner and the country’s music industry from a holistic perspective. Using a two-phase, explanatory sequential mixed methods design, a statistical quantitative result was obtained from a sample of graduates of the MITC. This was followed by interviews with a subset of individuals from this group to probe and explore the results further. The data suggest significant benefits when graduates apply their learnings to their careers. These include greater capacity to plan their careers or represent their clients, enhancements to their music business and production knowledge and skills, improvements to the business aspects of their career and more confidence when venturing into new industry-related ventures
Holocene Paleofloods and Land-Use Legacies in the Ocoee River Region
No full textHuman activities have shaped river basins for centuries, significantly impacting river flood dynamics and the watershed\u27s environmental health. This study examined how pre-European settlement land-use changes influenced flood frequency and magnitude on the Ocoee River, spanning the Paleo-Indian period (ca. 10,000 BCE) to the Late Mississippian/Protohistoric period (ca. 1650 CE). By analyzing archaeological evidence and sediment-based flood frequency and magnitude proxies, this study evaluated the effects of evolving land-use practices, from small-scale hunter-gathering to large-scale agriculture, on flood dynamics. While post-European land-use impacts are well-documented, the linear rise in pre-European environmental disruption often goes underrecognized despite its significant role in shaping flood patterns. Results revealed heightened flood frequency during major climatic transitions and intensive land uses, particularly in the Late Woodland and Mississippian periods. Climatic and geomorphic factors also played a critical role in driving flood frequency and magnitude. Further research on the anthropogenic and natural effects on flooding is needed to anticipate future flood risks in frequency and magnitude more accurately
This Seeming Chaos: Finding Home in the Archives of Memory. A Work of Creative Nonfiction.
No full text“This Seeming Chaos: Finding Home in the Archives of Memory” is a family memoir in the form of creative nonfiction, exploring how personal and public histories intersect. Through the lens of her family history, the author explores how historical events continue to reverberate in contemporary life. The work moves between past and present, weaving together historical documentation, narrative scenes, and personal reflection. It examines how trauma and resilience pass through generations, and how understanding one’s ancestors can lead to self-understanding. The author employs multiple narrative techniques, including direct address to ancestors, present-tense historical scenes, and documentation of her own journey of discovery. The author’s research process itself becomes part of the narrative, as she learns to trust in what she calls “the natural order” rather than imposed structures. Drawing on archival materials, military records, and oral histories, the dissertation reconstructs not just what happened, but how events were experienced and remembered. The author develops what anthropologist Keith Basso calls an “experience-near” approach to history, combining factual documentation with imaginative reconstruction to create intimate portraits of historical figures and events. Moving fluidly between past and present, the narrative suggests that understanding and healing can occur across generations. Through this approach, the work challenges traditional boundaries between memoir, history, and creative nonfiction, demonstrating how personal narrative can illuminate larger historical patterns and cultural intersections
Three Essays on Auditors\u27 Going Concern Opinions, Critical Audit Matters, and Audit Outcomes
Get PDFThree essays are included in this dissertation. In the first one, I investigate whether auditors show their leniency to companies during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining their reporting of going concern opinions (GCOs). The pandemic triggers significant global economic and financial uncertainty. Auditors are responsible for evaluating whether a company can sustain its operations in the foreseeable future as a going concern, particularly during challenging situations. Using a sample of 10,548 firm-year observations, ranging from 2017 to 2022, this study tests the association between GCO and the pandemic period. The results indicate a notable decrease in GCO issuance after the pandemic, meaning that auditors are lenient in the post-pandemic period. Additional analysis reveals that this effects is more significant in government-supported industries. Our main results are also supported by several robust tests. This study enhances the understanding of auditors’ behavior during crisis conditions, and the impacts of governmental support on audit practices. Essay 2 explores the impact of shared audit firms on the textual characteristics of critical audit matters (CAMs), especially similarity and readability. This research examines 1,486 CAM disclosure reports from 9,405 company-year peer pairs, analyzing CAM similarity by cosine similarity metrics and measuring readability with the Gunning Fog Index. The data show that firms under the common audit firms experience a 3% increase in CAM similarity, but there are no significant differences in CAM readability. Additional analysis shows that the audit firms’ responses components of the CAM are more similar and easier to read compared to the CAM descriptions components. These findings provide valuable insights in understanding auditors’ behavior and how they affect the comparability and readability of audit reports, helping stakeholders make informed decisions. Essay 3 examines auditors’ response to ASC 606, especially audit report lag, audit fees, and audit independence. Based on the flexible nature of ASC 606, auditors must exercise greater professional judgment in the evaluation process. Findings show that audit report lag increases, audit fees rise, and more efforts are involved after the implementation of ASC 606. Considering whether auditors adjust their professional judgment process depending on potential earnings management behavior under the new standard, this research also applies earnings management as a moderating factor to verify the main results. This study enhances the understanding of auditors’ behavior and the audit outcomes in response to a new standard implementation, especially the introduction of ASC 606
2025 Higher Education County Profile, Sullivan County
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-higher-education-commission-higher-education-county-profiles/1019/thumbnail.jp
Annual Report, Associated Charities, Memphis, 1913
Get PDFAnnual Report of the Associated Charities, Memphis, TN. It covers the time period of 1912 September 1 - 1913 September 1.https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-famservicememphis1/1001/thumbnail.jp
Poststructural Ontology’s Dialectical Trace: A Critical Analysis of Deleuze and Badiou’s Systematic Philosophies
No full textThis dissertation provides a study and critical analysis of the theoretical context and contributions of the ontologies of Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) and Alain Badiou (1937-present). I focus on how these systems’ accounts of the “event” reprise some fundamental features of Hegel’s dialectical logic despite aiming to radically circumvent them. “Event” here refers to an instance in which novelty emerges, novelty that is irreducible to the previous conditions governing the domain of its emergence. I argue that important aspects of Deleuze and Badiou’s “poststructural” ontologies developed out of a conflict in French theory between two ways of conceptualizing the role of contradiction in explaining change: G.W.F. Hegel’s (1770-1831) dialectical logic, on the one hand, and various versions of structuralist methodology inspired by Ferdinand de Saussure’s (1857-1913) theory of linguistics, on the other. My study of this context explains ways structuralism addresses potential problems with dialectical logic. This study enables me to demonstrate ways Deleuze and Badiou build their systems by reckoning with these predecessor theoretical trajectories. I use Louis Althusser (1918-1990)’s attempt to overcome dialectics and structuralism, “The Underground Current of the Materialism of the Encounter,” to frame the emergence of Deleuze and Badiou’s ontologies of events. Althusser’s work is informative for framing this emergence because it emphasizes a problem with dialectics and structuralism essential to the theme of the event: namely, that the ways both these methodologies conceive contradiction overlook the actual encounter involved in the process of change. Deleuze and Badiou each attempt to rectify this issue in their ontologies of events. However, on the basis of my exegesis of these ontologies, I suggest that they nonetheless harbor unacknowledged aspects of Hegelian dialectical logic that systematically burden the integrity of their explanatory power
(Un)Becoming-Scientist-With: Mapping Material-Discursive Forces that Shape Undergraduate Student\u27s Science Identity Development across the STEMM Learning Ecosystem
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the material and discursive agents that shape undergraduate students’ science identity development within a science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) ecosystem in the Southern United States. Using Karen Barad’s agential realism as a theoretical framework, the study conceptualizes science identity as a dynamic process of (un)becoming-scientist-with, emphasizing the intra-actions of material and discursive agents across formal and informal STEMM learning spaces. Drawing on narrative inquiry methods and graphic elicitation (ecomaps) interviews, this postqualitative study maps the entanglements of racism, discrimination, and systemic barriers that affect science identity construction. Four undergraduate participants engaged in STEMM programs affiliated with the STEMM ecosystem shared stories about the ways that spatial configurations, pedagogical practices, and material conditions shape their relationships with questions and questioning. The findings highlight how systemic racism, and other exclusionary forces operate as adaptive agents, reinforcing boundaries of inclusion and exclusion in science education. The study also identifies mechanisms within the STEMM ecosystem that foster recognition and belonging, offering insights into how justice-oriented pedagogical reforms can disrupt inequitable power dynamics. This research contributes to the fields of STEMM education and identity studies by integrating agential realism into the analysis of science identity development. It underscores the need for an ecosystem perspective that accounts for the relational and contextual nature of learning environments. The findings advocate for reconfiguring STEMM ecosystems to promote equity, fostering inclusive spaces where all students can meaningfully engage in the process of becoming scientists. This study provides actionable insights for practitioners and policymakers aiming to advance justice and inclusivity in STEMM education
The Impact of Belonging on Tennessee\u27s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Workforce and Their Intent to Stay
Get PDFMany infant and early childhood mental health organizations are facing difficulties retaining professionals to provide high-quality services to infants, young children, and families in Tennessee. When professionals do not experience consistent and responsive connections and healthy interpersonal relationships, they are often prepared to seek alternative employment, which can disrupt the relationships and services they provide to families. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that a sense of belonging has on an infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) professional’s intent to stay in their role and its associations with the perception of organizational belonging, psychological safety, organizational culture, and job satisfaction/professional well-being. An online survey was completed by 128 IECMH professionals in Tennessee. Correlation analysis was used to explore relationships between the demographic and organizational variables and each scale. Multiple linear regression and ANOVA analyses were also conducted to further examine the relationship between these variables and a professional’s intent to stay. Primary hypotheses were supported by greater experiences of organizational belonging, psychological safety, organizational culture, and job satisfaction/professional well-being, which led to a professional’s intent to stay in their current role. The qualitative analysis supported the primary hypotheses and provided a deeper insight into factors that foster a sense of belonging in the workplace. This data also gleaned insight into relationships between a professional’s work environment, leadership behaviors, generational differences, and compensation and their intent to stay. Examining these findings could aid in designing organizational strategies to reduce workforce turnover in the IECMH field, which could enhance relationships and outcomes for infants, young children, and families in Tennessee