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Northwestern Amazonian Spanish as a macro-region: Current Research and Future Directions
No full textThe Amazon rainforest, home to many and diverse indigenous language populations, expands over a vast territory in South America, the most extensive river system in the world. In the western area, Spanish coexists with many indigenous languages since colonial times. New varieties of Amazonian Spanish emerged in this context of long-term language contact. These varieties are understudied, although research has increased in the last decade. Recent works show that Spanish linguistic features are shared across political borders and point to a macro-region. This paper discusses the socio-historical and linguistic contexts of the expansion of the Northwestern Amazonian Spanish in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, emphasizing the contextual relationship between the Andes and Western Amazon. It also highlights the roles and responsibilities that (socio)linguists have in linguistic documentation in increasing the visibility of linguistic varieties that emerged under intense contact with indigenous languages
Isn’t There a Better Way to Nominate Presidential Candidates?
No full textThis lecture examines why every four years the major political parties undertake a drawn-out, confusing series of primaries, caucuses, and conventions to determine their presidential nominees. Over the years, a number of rational and more orderly ways to select presidential nominees have been proposed but none of these ideas have been adopted. Brookings Institution scholar Elaine Kamarck, who has written extensively on the topic and served as a presidential and presidential campaign advisor, addresses these topics and more
Teaching Creatives to be A.I. Provocateurs: Establishing a Digital Humanist Approach for Generative A.I. in the Classroom
No full textThis case study examines the implementation of OpenAI\u27s Generative AI (GenAI) in a graduate interactive storytelling course at Ball State University in Spring \u2723. Adopting a Posthumanist perspective, the course treated GenAI as a synthetic collaborator to bridge technical disparities among the students, enhancing their characters, dialogue, and visual production. Students also used the tool to help understand complex technical documentation. However, while the approach led to overall success, the case study proposes a shift towards Digital Humanism for a more balanced, ethical integration of GenAI in the classroom. This perspective prioritizes human creative agency over computational creativity, encouraging students to interact strategically with GenAI and nurture their unique creative style. The study emphasizes the role of educators in preparing students for a world increasingly utilizing GenAI while ensuring human creativity remains central
Hidden Portals An Architectural Intervention Of Casino Employee Entrances
No full textThe current design of employee entrances across the Las Vegas Strip starkly contrasts the vibrant and inviting atmosphere experienced by visitors (Sheehan, 2004). This oversight undermines the potential for creating a hospitable and efficient work environment where every design decision contributes positively to the employees\u27 experience. There is a critical need for a shift towards authentic utilitarian architecture in these spaces, where the primary goal should be to simultaneously enhance functionality, productivity, and employee well-being.
This book posits that a transformative architectural intervention of resort employee entrances, rooted in principles of architectural determinism, is a necessity to enhance employee morale and profoundly foster an elevated work environment.
Biophilia, or the innate human inclination towards nature, will be the guiding philosophy for integrating natural elements into the back-of-house areas, aiming to create aesthetically pleasing spaces conducive to a healthier, more efficient work environment. Through the use of architectural behaviorism (Pop, 2014), our design approach will challenge the conventional boundaries of back-of-house design, setting a new standard for how resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and beyond consider their most valuable asset: their employees.https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/arch_grad_capstones/1058/thumbnail.jp
Crafting a Queer Information Literacy (QIL) Framework: An Exploration of Embodiment, Digital Learning, and Information Literacy in Academic Spaces
No full textThis presentation introduces and explores Queer Information Literacy (QIL) as a critical, embodied, and transformative framework within academic and digital learning contexts. Bridging theoretical explorations with practical applications, the project delves into the intersections of queerness, embodiment, and information literacy, challenging and subverting normative structures embedded within traditional literacy models and digital learning environments. Personal narratives from the researcher’s experiences as an academic librarian and digital learning specialist enrich the discussion, offering tangible insights and strategies for enacting QIL. The presentation ultimately advocates for a QIL that is collaborative, adaptive, and reflective, honoring the fluidity and multiplicity of queer experiences and identities
Generative Algorithms for Art and Architecture: A Collaborative Teaching Approach
No full textWe will present a course that we have been offering for the past few years that engages art, architecture and engineering students and challenges them to collaborate using generative methods to produce creative work. Our work contributes to the long-term understanding of AI in the arts and design in higher education because we have developed a successful course model focused on collaboration between creatives and technologists that can be replicated at other institutions. Feedback between creatives and technologists has been fundamental to opening new frontiers, giving students the tools to collaborate successfully is tremendously important. We will share example of in-class exercises, assignment prompts and examples of work. The course culminates in a final exhibition, open to the public. Some key themes emerge from the final works. First, generative algorithms are opening new avenues for creative[BA1] work. Second, creative applications of machine learning often reveal the flaws and bias present in these methods.
[BA1]multi-disciplinary creativ
Nevada’s Predictable Housing Train Wreck and What To Do About It
No full textNevada is on the cusp of a housing catastrophe, especially in Southern Nevada.
Consider that the state has fewer households than it should. A household is defined as one or more people who have a home of their own. But for price, location, configuration, and other factors, about 60,000 households in Nevada do not exist because there is no home for them. And it’s going to get worse. Including these “missing households,” nearly 470,000 new occupied homes will need to be built between 2020 and 2040 to meet the housing needs of all Nevadans, or about 23,000 per year. The trouble is that even during the robust housing construction period of 2010-2022, the state produced about 16,000 occupied units annually.
The concern is that while demand is robust, producing homes may be more challenging going forward than in the past. In contrast to the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods that benefited from low interest rates, lower cost materials, and more timely supply chains, the post-pandemic period will not have it as well. Indeed, the number of missing households seems poised to double by 2040, leaving a quarter million or more Nevadans without a home of their own home.
This report includes an overview of these concerns, summarizes the headship rate methodology used in analysis, applies the methodology to census data to estimate the current under-supply of occupied housing units, and considers demographic data to estimate occupied housing unit demand to 2040. The report reviews various local, state, and federal policy options to increase housing supply. An assertive policy framework to expand housing especially in Southern Nevada is outlined
Using Student Voices to Inform Educational Reform: Exploring High School Educational Desires to Improve Curricular Decisions
No full textIn the education system, the integration of student perspectives into effective pedagogical strategies is gaining momentum. This dissertation delves into the concept of \u27Student Voice\u27 and its role in shaping educational frameworks. Recognizing the growing gap in soft skill proficiency among newly recruited employees, contrasted with the emphasis on hard skills within current educational standards, this study analyzes what those skill gaps are in the education and what skills students perceive are necessary to integrate into a high school education to better prepare students for life, the workforce, and higher education. Focused on recent high school graduates in Nevada, the research explores their educational experiences with a specific emphasis on soft skill cultivation. By amplifying student voices, the study aims to understand how students perceive their high school education in terms of soft skill development. Through mixed methods, the research seeks to identify the skills students consider essential for personal and professional growth, aligning these aspirations with broader educational objectives
The Influence of Dual Sources Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Muscle Fatigue
No full textTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied unilaterally to the cerebellum (ctDCS) can improve several aspects of human motor performance. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of dual source tDCS delivered bilaterally over the cerebellar cortices (dsc-tDCS) on the time to task failure (TTF) of a fatiguing contraction. The study utilized a double-blind, randomized, SHAM-controlled, within-subjects, crossover design and participants were given either dsc-tDCS or SHAM stimulation in two different experiments held 7 days apart. Every aspect of the two experiments was the same except the type of stimulation (dsc-tDCS or SHAM) delivered during the fatiguing contraction. The fatiguing contraction was executed with a precision grip at 15% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force and participants were instructed to maintain the contraction for as long of time as possible (TTF). The TTF and fatigue index were both similar for the dsc-tDCS and SHAM stimulation conditions. In addition, the electromyographic (EMG) activity, force error, and standard deviation (SD) of force measured during the fatiguing contraction were also not statistically different between the dsctDCS and SHAM stimulation conditions. The findings suggest that dsc-tDCS does not decrease the rate of progression of muscle fatigue
Barriers to a Real Second Chance: Seeking Redemption While Set Up for Failure
No full textWith the enactment of the Second Chance Act in 2008, there has been a need to better understand the effectiveness of prisoner reentry programs and the services that are provided within these programs. Since then, numerous articles have described the barriers that previously incarcerated persons encounter during reentry and how this increases the likelihood of recidivism. The goal of this current study is to understand what current barriers exist for individuals within a local reentry program and then to suggest future implementations that could reduce the impact of these barriers. To achieve this goal, qualitative research methods are employed to understand the experiences of 24 clients within a local reentry program. In this study, secondary interview data collected in 2022 is reexamined to extract themes that explore the barriers that reentry clients encounter when returning back to the community and to gain an understanding of what resources are needed for this specific population. These thematic findings overlap with the relevant literature and theoretical frameworks presented in this project, which demonstrates why services are inaccessible for this population and how stigmatization negatively impacts the reentry process for previously justice-involved individuals. Future implications explore how altering modern policies could limit the impact of reentry barriers and how conducting additional studies could provide more solutions for overcoming reentry barriers