Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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Place-making and Its Impact on International Graduate Student Persistence
No full textThis study explored the impact of place-making activities on the persistence of graduate international students at an American university. Sixteen international graduate students over the age of 18, attending an American university and living in the community for at least 1 year, participated in an in-depth interview about their experiences of places in the Midwestern state where they are currently enrolled as students. The study used a qualitative research method with the goal of uncovering the unique experiences of the participants. The study results indicate that international students benefit from having access to a combination of places that foster growth, social interaction, restoration, and safety. This research contributes to the knowledge of factors impacting international student persistence in graduate education. Results are discussed in the context of strategies that universities can implement to facilitate adjustment among their graduate international students
Wealth, Class, and Status in William Faulkner\u27s Snopes Trilogy
Get PDFThis thesis discusses three of Faulkner’s later novels: The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion. It examines the concept of class stratification with respect to the theories of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Pierre Bourdieu. The work analyses the major characters in all three novels with respect to wealth, class, and status as identified by the sociological concepts introduced by these respective sources. Concentration is focused on the factors that constitute the divisions of upper class, middle class, and lower class by evaluating the impact of not only economic factors, but also the social and cultural influences that affect an individual’s reputation within a community. Considerable attention is also given to various environmental and developmental aspects such as power and prestige, the means for measuring the level of each, and the effects on those in society who are lacking of either
Sympathy for the Devils: An Analysis of the Villain Archetype Since the Nineteenth Century
Get PDFThe portrayal of villains has changed dramatically since the late nineteenth century. Modern villains are not necessarily punished, and they are presented as relatable or at the very least sympathetic. An analysis of the major events that shook the Western World in the last century reveals a pattern that links the classical style villain to the modern anti-villain via sociological and cultural changes. The Victorian period showed the West that the British Empire was not eternal and could be threatened. Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represented these fears and forced the Victorians to reexamine everything from their belief in science to the role of family. The Modernists came to further question the validity of things like manhood and bravery, and characters like Robert Cohn Ernst Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises served as a way to teach readers that even assumptions about race said more about those who made the assumptions than the targets of said prejudices. His portrayal as a complex human being labeled as a “villain” simply because the other characters vilified him helped set up the idea that antagonists need not be vile creatures to stand against the “heroes.” Finally, the Post-Modern period continued this trend by showing the West that nuclear weapons could destroy life on Earth, not just target nations. As the Cold War overshadowed politics, the Joker in Batman comics came to symbolize the grotesque and evil Other, and yet his characterization in The Killing Joke draws parallels between his relationship with Batman and the relationship between the United States and Russia. The Joker represents the final evolution before the twenty-first century anti-villain. He forced readers to question just what separates a hero from a villain. These three examples explain today’s anti-villain. Today’s antagonists are charismatic and sympathetic. The new wave of fear following the 9/11 attacks rekindled the old colonial fears of the Victorians, and the threat of nuclear or biological weapons has brought back the fears of the Cold War. Additionally, the War on Terror has created the kinds of trauma that plagued the Modernist period. Villains today help us cope with these problems by offering a way to examine questions that “heroes,” by virtue of being “good,” cannot answer
Los amantes en la época del smartphone: aspectos comunicativos y psicológicos relativos al inicio y mantenimiento de la relación romántica
No full textLos teléfonos celulares inteligentes o smartphones constituyen una parte importante, a veces indispensable, de la vida contemporánea de las personas en múltiples dimensiones. El presente trabajo tiene como propósito fundamental analizar el uso de estos dispositivos en el ámbito de las relaciones románticas. A partir de un enfoque sociodeterminista de las tecnologías de la comunicación, se hace una revisión de las motivaciones comunicativas y psicológicas asociadas a los distintos patrones de uso del smartphone en las fases previa (ej., búsqueda de pareja a través de aplicaciones de micro-citas) y posterior al inicio de la relación. En particular, se describen algunos de los avances más relevantes en esta línea de estudio y se discute el grado de influencia que este tipo de dispositivo tiene en la formación, consolidación o término de la relación . Además, se revisan algunos patrones de uso del aparato móvil con efectos negativos para la relación, tales como el phubbing, sexting y el ciberbullying. Este trabajo también pretende trazar una hoja de ruta para posteriores análisis empíricos respecto al papel instrumentador de las tecnologías en las relaciones sentimentales
Albornoz, L. A. y García Leiva, M. T. (Eds.). (2017). Diversidad e industria audiovisual: El desafío cultural del siglo XXI. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
No full textReseña de libroRosas Mantecón, Ana (2017), Ir al cine: antropología de los públicos, la ciudad y las pantallas, CDMX: Gedisa Editorial/UAM IztapalapaEn este libro, la investigadora Ana Rosas hace una radiografía de la ciudad de México, de cómo se fueron desarrollando sus espacios cinematográficos en medio del resto de la oferta cultural, de cómo los públicos, en distintos tiempos y con diversas historias de vida, tenían sus modos de ver, sus reacciones ante las pautas que proponían las ofertas de cine y los pactos de consumo que se generaban. Su visión sobre los públicos, en su perspectiva antropológica, nos muestra que ir al cine es más que ver una película; se trata de una práctica de acceso cultural a través de la cual nos relacionamos con un filme, pero también con otras personas y con el espacio que contextualiza la experiencia cinematográfica
A Being of Great Order: Reading Lacan in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing
Get PDFCormac McCarthy’s The Crossing follows Billy Parham on a psychologically taxing series of adventures that leave the teenaged would-be cowboy in utter despair by the end of the novel. His unhappiness and dissatisfaction invite a Lacanian reading. This thesis first explores his efforts to trap a pregnant shewolf as an illustration of Jacques Lacan’s treatment of das Ding and the role of the objet petit a. While the she wolf functions as an objet petit a in the trajectory of Billy’s desire, la matriz, a scent used by hunters to lure wolves, is used as a conceptual depiction of das Ding. To follow, McCarthy’s use of maps and emphasis on storytelling throughout the novel are contextualized within Lacan’s understanding of signification, a highly linguistic aspect of the psychoanalytic process. As Lacan insists the analysand be prompted to situate himself within a chain of memories and emotions, McCarthy demands his characters participate in the exchange of narratives to find meaning. Resisting, as Billy does, results in a sense of displacement and complicates any attempt at forming an identity. Finally, the corrido which memorializes Billy’s younger brother is compared to the genre of courtly love poetry as accessed by Lacan. The troubadour’s Lady and the corridista’s hero function in the system of human desire as well as signifiers in the signifying chains of those who write, sing, read, and listen to these ballads. Billy’s resistance to the corrido’s induction of his brother reveals that Boyd has become yet another objet petit a in Billy’s strain of desired objects. By the novel’s end, it would appear meaningful signification and the creation of identity are beyond Billy who will become an itinerant wanderer in a vast landscape of structures outside his purview
Callon’s models of science and their implications on doctoral science mentoring: Adumbrating on a contemporary model of advanced scientific training
No full textValidity of Selected Bioimpedance Equations for Estimating Body Composition in Men and Women: A Four-Compartment Model Comparison
No full textNickerson, BS, Esco, MR, Bishop, PA, Schumacker, RE, Richardson, MT, Fedewa, MV, Wingo, JE, and Welborn, BA. Validity of selected bioimpedance equations for estimating body composition in men and women: A four-compartment model comparison. J Strength Cond Res 31(7): 1963-1972, 2017-The purpose of this study was to compare body fat percentage (BF%) and fat-free mass (FFM) values from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) equations to values determined from a 4-compartment (4C) model. Eighty-two adults (42 men and 40 women) volunteered to participate (age = 23 ± 5 years). Body fat percentage and FFM were estimated from previously developed BIA equations by Chumlea et al. (BIACH), Deurenberg et al. (BIADE), Kyle et al. (BIAKYLE), and Sun et al. (BIASUN). Four-compartment model body composition was derived from underwater weighing for body density, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for bone mineral content, and bioimpedance spectroscopy for total body water. The standard error of estimate (SEE) for group BF% and FFM ranged from 3.0 to 3.8% and 2.1 to 2.7 kg, respectively. The constant error (CE) was significantly higher and lower for BF% and FFM (p \u3c 0.001), respectively, for 3 BIA equations (BIACH, CE = 3.1% and-2.2 kg; BIADE, CE = 3.7% and-2.9 kg; BIAKYLE, CE = 2.3% and-1.9 kg), but was not significant for BF% (p = 0.702) and FFM (p = 0.677) for BIASUN (CE =-0.1% and 0.1 kg). The 95% limits of agreement were narrowest for BIACH (±5.9%; ±4.2 kg) and largest for BIADE (±7.4%; ±6.2 kg). The significant CE yielded by BIACH, BIADE, and BIAKYLE indicates these equations tend to overpredict group BF% and underestimate group FFM. However, all BIA equations produced low SEEs and fairly narrow limits of agreement. When the use of a 4C model is not available, practitioners might consider using one of the selected BIA equations, but should consider the associated CE
Structural equation modeling with factors and composites: A comparison of four methods
No full textRecent methodological developments building on partial least squares (PLS) techniques and related ideas have significantly contributed to bridging the gap between factor-based and composite-based structural equation modeling (SEM) methods. PLS-SEM is extensively used in the field of e-collaboration, as well as in many other fields where multivariate statistical analyses are employed. The author compares results obtained with four methods: covariance-based SEM with full information maximum likelihood (FIML), factor-based SEM with common factor model assumptions (FSEM1), factor-based SEM building on the PLS Regression algorithm (FSEM2), and PLS-SEM employing the Mode A algorithm (PLSA). The comparison suggests that FSEM1 yields path coefficients and loadings that are very similar to FIML\u27s; and that FSEM2 yields path coefficients that are very similar to FIML\u27s and loadings that are very similar to PLSA\u27s
The timing of auditor hiring: Determinants and consequences
No full textSYNOPSIS: Regulators and legislators have long been interested in the auditor change process and in auditors’ learning curves. We find that auditor changes closer to the year-end are associated with longer reporting lags and lower audit quality. We find that both audit fees and audit report lags are higher when there is a hiring lag between announcements of the predecessor auditor’s dismissal and the hiring of the successor auditor. We also find that the appointment of new executives is associated with the timing of the auditor change, suggesting that client executives have a significant role in the auditor-hiring process