55453 research outputs found
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Low Brass Studio, disc two
Get PDFDisc two of twoLow Brass Studio RecitalTuesday, April 10, 2025 at 8:00 p.m.Sonia Vlahcevic Concert HallW.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts922 Park Avenue | Richmond, Virgini
Junior Recital, Kevin Nguyen, cello
Get PDFJunior RecitalKevin Nguyen, celloDaniel Stipe, pianoMagdalena Adamek, pianoFriday, April 11, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, Virgini
“Science Belongs Everywhere”: Outlooks on Post-secondary STEM Education for Correctional Centers in Virginia
Get PDFVirginia has an incarceration rate of 679 per 100,000 residents, the highest among independent democratic nations. This scoping review examines perspectives on post-secondary STEM education to promote STEM education within Virginia\u27s correctional facilities, assesses programs to improve rehabilitation, reduce recidivism, and address systemic inequalities by developing the scientific potential of incarcerated individuals. The review finds that while STEM education in correctional facilities faces limitations, its potential benefits are being realized nationwide. Virginia has made strides through initiatives like House Bill 2158, which aims to expand higher education access for incarcerated individuals. Examples such as the programs at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Danville Community College, Southside Virginia Community College, Piedmont Virginia Community College, and Rappahannock Community College illustrate ongoing efforts to provide educational opportunities in various fields. While Virginia has made progress in reducing recidivism and incarceration rates, there is still a need for more STEM education programs in correctional facilities. Recommendations include creating STEM dual enrollment for juvenile programs, adapting STEM courses for correctional facilities, securing Pell Grant funding, and building strong partnerships to facilitate the successful reintegration of incarcerated individuals to contribute to safer, fairer communities
Faculty Recital, VCU Jazz Faculty Septet, video
Get PDFDVD VideoVCU Jazz Faculty SeptetRoy Haynes TributeThursday, February 13, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.Sonia Vlahcevic Concert HallW.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts922 Park Avenue | Richmond, Virgini
Reimagining education: Revisiting a quantitative study of NAEA members
Get PDFIn 2020, (anti)racism, implicit bias, and white supremacy were topics that were becoming highlighted in school systems across the country (Krauth, 2021). However, as stay-at-home orders relaxed, the same educators who were regarded as heroes at the beginning of the pandemic were suddenly criticized for trying to teach anti-racism, equity, and other systemic social issues (Graham, 2021). The inability to acknowledge uncomfortable truths about history has highlighted a major shortcoming of education in the United States: we can continue to teach in ways that we know oppress students from the Global Majority or we can reexamine education and move towards a more equitable model. If we acknowledge that the current system is wrought with bias (Butler-Wall, et. al, 2016; Ighodaro & Wiggins, 2013; Morris, 2016; Wolfgang, 2018)—we should use this opportunity to reimagine what education could be. In this article, I revisit findings from a previous study to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of efforts in the field to be inclusive of diversity. Through a constructivist lens, the discussion focuses on critical race theory and anti-racism in order to glean areas of growth in our efforts to becoming more critically reflective, equitable pedagogues
“You’re Only as Good as your Resources”: Exploring Virginia Police Chiefs’ and Sheriffs’ Decisions as Public Administrators to Engage in Community Collaborations with Domestic and Sexual Violence Agencies
Get PDFThe collaborations between domestic and sexual violence victim-serving agencies (DSVAs) and law enforcement agencies help connect victims of crime to needed services. To maximize the benefits of these victim-serving initiatives in Virginia, it is imperative that victim-serving agencies understand the perceptions and factors that influence the decision-making of law enforcement administrators. In this study, I first present a theoretical framework of Herbert Simon’s Decision-Making Theory as a guide to understanding police chiefs and sheriffs as public administrators. A review of the literature demonstrates gaps in existing scholarship around chiefs’ and sheriffs’ decision-making about domestic and sexual violence victim-serving initiatives. Next, I present a modified grounded theory research design with attention to phenomenological influences, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 13 Virginia police chiefs and sheriffs, seeking to develop a theory about how law enforcement administrators perceive and make decisions about collaborating with DSVAs. Based on participants representing a diverse sample of Virginia localities, the results of this study yield themes supporting the theoretical framework and evidence for expansion of the theory to include police chiefs’ and sheriffs’ emphasis on visionary ideas for their partnerships with DSVAs. This study also provides evidence for three key findings: police chiefs actively seek partnerships with DSVAs, communication between these agencies is crucial to their success, and officer experiences are prioritized by chiefs. These findings provide a basis for practical implications that can potentially help improve DSVA and law enforcement partnerships to benefit the futures of victims throughout the Commonwealth
(Art) Education in the Afterlife of Massive Resistance: Constructing, Capturing, and Commodifying Racialized Disability in Virginia’s Student Assignment Practices, 1956-1966 and Present Day
Get PDFThis dissertation explores discursive functions of disability in pupil placement decisions in Massive Resistance Virginia, the relationship between disability and race that was constructed through these moves, and how these relationships surface in the reflections, perceptions, and pedagogy of a practicing art teacher, Nathan, who works at Arts High School (AHS), a Virginia specialty center high school. Under the umbrella of the Discourse Historical Approach, which relies on multiple, interdisciplinary data sources to explore how discourses evolve, I connect a robust archival analysis of historical data collected in the records of Virginia’s Pupil Placement Board (746 boxes, 1956-1966) with present-day demographics from Virginia schools, school district documents, and nearly 30 hours of interviews and classroom observations conducted in collaboration with Nathan. Utilizing a post-structural feminist interpretive framework that relies most heavily on Critical Disability Studies, Disability Critical Race Theory, and Critical Whiteness Studies, I trace historical throughlines from Massive Resistance to present-day.
My findings expose how, during Massive Resistance and in present-day, the language of ability and disability functions to deny Black children (art) educational opportunities and solidifies historically-prevalent associations between Blackness and lack. I put forward a cycle of construction, capture, and commodification, suggesting that in Massive Resistance and present-day, such discourses construct a racialized understanding of disability that is captured by white parents and commodified to accrue additional resources for their already-privileged children, enacting metaphorical and literal harm on Black children and further reinscribing the construction of Black disability. This evidences what I call an afterlife of Massive Resistance in which present-day (art) education operates. I explore strategies of resistance, practiced during Massive Resistance and in present day, which make the movements of power visible and endeavor toward a constructive and collective politics. I conclude by discussing limitations of the study and directions for future research
THE EFFECT OF SPERM-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN-17 GENE (SPAG17) ON FUNCTION AND SIGNALING IN THE CERVIX
No full textAdvanced female age is associated with fibrosis in the reproductive tract, causing cervical dysfunction. As maternal age increases worldwide, there is a pressing need to prevent age-associated infertility and pregnancy complications. The molecular mechanisms underlying female reproductive aging and fibrosis are currently not well understood. We recently discovered a new mechanistic pathway implicated in aging and fibrosis via sperm associated antigen-17 (SPAG17) signaling. Our studies revealed SPAG17 localizes in the cervical stroma, and loss of function of this gene promotes increased collagen deposition, tightly packed extracellular matrix accumulation, and increased stiffness in the cervix of Spag17 knockout females compared to wild-type females, further complicating parturition. At the molecular level, Spag17 loss activates key aging-associated pathways, including proinflammatory, profibrotic, and senescence signaling. These results show SPAG17 is an important regulator of aging-related mechanisms in the cervix
Psychometric Evaluation: Extending the Reliability and Validity of the Teacher Attribution Measure for Early Elementary (TAM-EE)
Get PDFTeacher attributions of student challenging behavior have the potential to influence teacher-student relationships. However, the literature on teachers’ attributions of challenging behavior is sparse and lacks measurement standardization. This limits the replicability and generalizability of research findings. To determine if teacher attributions of student challenging behaviors influence teacher-student relationships, a measure demonstrating a specific score reliability and validity profile is needed. The present study evaluated the item- and scale-level score reliability and validity of a measure of teacher attribution of student challenging behavior, the Teacher Attribution Measure for Early Elementary (TAM-EE; Nemer, 2019), within a sample of teachers (N = 114; 96.5% female, 70.2% White, 21.9% Black) reporting on their attributions of students in their classrooms with chronic challenging behaviors (N =237; M age = 7; SD = 1.16; 70.9% male, 43.5% Black, 32.1% White). The intended factor analysis method, exploratory factor analysis, was not possible due to method effects. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and produced an eight-factor model, which contradicted the hypothesized two-factor model. Correlations between the eight factors and theoretically related constructs provided some support for the construct validity of seven of the eight factors, excluding the control factor. Overall, the analyses suggested that the TAM-EE does measure teachers’ purposefulness, globality, stability, motivation, locus, blame, and negative intent attributions of students’ challenging behaviors; however, not in the hypothesized way or in alignment with prominent attribution theories. This limits the usability of the measure and suggests that significant revisions or a new measure are needed
Show Them, Teach Them, Let Them: Empowering Undergraduate Voices through Student-Centered Theatre
Get PDFThis thesis explores the urgent need for theatrical works that resonate with undergraduate students, arguing that student-centered playwriting and production can foster deeper engagement with theatre, reflect contemporary issues, and empower the next generation of theatre-makers. Grounded in a hybrid methodology of creative practice and qualitative research, the study proposes a comprehensive, student-driven model for university theatre programs. Drawing from the author\u27s experiences at both the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Virginia Commonwealth University, the thesis examines institutional season selection processes, inclusive pedagogical strategies in playwriting, and the development of new works through student festivals. Central to the research is a survey of undergraduate theatre students at VCU, used to identify themes such as identity, mental health, and social justice that students find most compelling. These findings inform practical recommendations for curriculum design, collaborative creation, and inclusive season programming that amplify student voices. Ultimately, this work advocates for a theatre education framework that prioritizes student involvement not only in performance but in the very creation of the narratives that shape their academic and artistic journey