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How Does the Way We Categorize Disability Influence the Morality of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis?
Get PDFThe increased use of in vitro fertilization has raised many ethical questions pertaining to preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PDG). PGD allows parents to screen for and diagnose chromosomal and genetic disorders in the created embryos. This raises great concern for the ability to select for or against disabilities. In this paper I argue that the definition of disability needs to be modified in order to determine whether or not PGD is moral and supports human flourishing. Using Aristotle’s model of virtue ethics, three modes of disability are applied to various cases of PGD. Working through the cases I argue that a model of purely social or medical disability is not sufficient to determine the morality of PGD, as they fail to acknowledge the intersection between physical impairments and an obstructive environment. A mixed model in which social discrimination is directly caused by a medical disability, and actively includes the voices of people with disabilities is the best way to address the morality of PGD
It’s Not Just About Civility: How Procedural Fairness and Social Capital Can Cure Congressional Gridlock
Get PDFUndeniably, our country has reached a moment of heightened partisan competition. Political polarization, negative partisanship, the disappearance of institutionalism, and the tribal nature of our two-party system all point to the dysfunction that Congress currently experiences. Some have called for a restoration of civility in both political rhetoric and actions, yet civility might just be the ultimate lost cause in Washington. Congressional gridlock cannot be cured with civility as niceness. Looking at how Jim Wright (D) and Newt Gingrich (R) conducted their political business, each while Speaker of the House, serve as case studies that provide an understanding of how our government has reached the current period of cutthroat politics. While their rhetoric was divisive, their actions that defied institutional rules and signaled a breach of regular order were more astounding. Hence, a restoration of civility is still not the appropriate remedy. Reinstituting procedural fairness and efforts to increase social capital among members of Congress represent the two-pronged solution that will cure Congress’s current crisis. These solutions aim to restore Congress’s effectiveness and bolster elements of cooperation and compromise among Members
Against Colonial Imaginaries: Rewriting Latin America in Juan José Saer’s El entenado & Bernardo Carvalho’s Nove Noites [REPORT]
Get PDFFamous for its fantastic and magical narratives, Latin American literature has been a focal point for Western perpetuation of colonial views that seek to define the region, its people, and its literature as primitive, untamed, and mystical. During this preliminary investigation, I sought to understand how the Argentine author Juan José Saer and Brazilian author Bernardo Carvalho contested the conventions of Latin American literature. In particular, I aimed to analyze how these authors used fiction to rewrite colonial imaginaries and break away from a fantasized Latin America. Within this investigation, I focused on the essays of these two authors “La selva espesa de lo real” (1994) and “Fiction as Exception” (2010) respectively, as well as two of their fictional works El entenado (1983) and Nove Noites (2002) respectively. In addition to the works of Saer and Carvalho, I also drew from the work of scholars, such as Mariano Siskind and Héctor Hoyos to understand the commodification and trends of Latin American literature within a global setting, as well as Carlos Jáuregui and Nancy Leys Stepan to understand the construction of the historical and cultural identity of Latin America by both domestic and international forces. Within this report I will discuss the following three items 1) the scholarship I used to frame and develop my research, 2) the work/essay(look) of both authors, and 3) my hypothesis for further investigation. In doing this research, I aimed to explore how these authors used works of fiction to contest Western conceptions of Latin America and to critique the exclusion of Latin American writers from the universal literary discourse that has thus far been dominated by Western authors
Autonomic Nervous System Changes in Individuals with Anxiety And Depression Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND AIMS: As a measure of systemic health, heart rate variability (HRV) can strongly and independently predict adverse future prognosis.1–3 Reduced HRV has been correlated to numerous chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and chronic pain.4 Evidence suggests that psychiatric disorders can have similar systemic effects.5 Anxiety and depression are two of the most common psychiatric disorders in the world.6 The primary aim of this systematic review is to determine the relationship between anxiety and/or depression and heart rate variability across the age spectrum.
METHODS: Online databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Ovid, and CINAHL were searched for papers dated 2004 through 2019. The search terms “anxiety,” “generalized anxiety disorder,” “depression,” and “major depressive disorder” were each paired with HRV. Search initially included were randomized control trials (RCTs) but due to availability of systematic reviews and metanalyses, RCTs were later excluded. Review protocol was preregistered though PROSPERO.
RESULTS: Ten articles were included (7 depression, 3 anxiety).5,7–15 Both separately and together, anxiety and depression are correlated to diminished HRV. This is primarily demonstrated as a reduction in high frequency (HF) power and low HF/low frequency (LF) ratio, and inconsistently through a reduction in LF power. The most significant reduction in HRV was demonstrated in those with anxiety comorbid with heart disease.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that psychiatric disorders including anxiety and depression can have a deleterious effect on the autonomic nervous system, resulting in decreased HRV. Earlier detection of these systemic changes may allow institution of interventions to restore healthy ANS function, perhaps preventing progression of systemic disease.
STUDY SELECTION: Search pairs were issued to each researcher for independent initial search. Final included papers were then reviewed by two additional researchers for eligibility. Search initially included were randomized control trials (RCTs) but due to availability of systematic reviews and metanalyses of discrete populations, RCTs were later excluded. DATA EXTRACTION: Eligible papers were independently assessed for quality but two researchers using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool, with scores ranging from three to nine. Independent extraction of: number of included studies, subject characteristics, method of HRV collection, and conclusions was performed by two researchers.
OBJECTIVES: Upon completion, participant will be able to describe the relationship between anxiety and depression and heart rate variability. Upon completion, participant will be able to list the changes in heart rate variability that can occur in individuals with anxiety or depression. Upon completion, participant will be able to describe the importance of heart rate variability in a wholistic intervention plan for individuals with anxiety or depression
We Are Never New: “Transing” the time of music through the life and works of Beverly Glenn-Copeland
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On Teaching Ethnography In Troubled Times
Get PDFIn this essay, I describe an incident stemming from a field-based ethnographic exercise I utilize in one of the courses which I have designed and which I regularly teach. In my estimation, the contours of the incident I describe here reveal the institutional and ideological parameters of a paradigm that currently dominates contemporary American campuses. I suggest that my experience points to frictions between that seemingly hegemonic academic paradigm and the core values and practices that the discipline of anthropology endeavours to carry into the new millennium. I conclude that this experience, and the institutional practices and ideologies it reveals, portends a difficult future for an anthropologically moored practice of ethnography-one that seeks to systematically and empathically explore the experiences of diverse others in this world
Naming Resistance and Religion in the Teaching of Race and White Supremacy: A Pedagogy of Counter-Signification for Black Lives Matter
Get PDFThe need to bring religion into our teaching of race and white supremacy is critically important, but by simply naming it, we take the first step in inviting our students to understand the how’s and why’s of it. The pedagogy of naming described herein, which is inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement, is theoretically grounded in the theory of signification and counter-signification developed by scholars of religion, Charles H. Long and Richard Brent Turner. I explore how the act of naming, as a form of signification, can be employed to heuristically structure intersectional considerations of religion in the teaching of a Black Lives Matter course. Specifically, the study draws upon teaching units from my Black Lives Matter course in order to address how a critical analysis of Christian privilege and Christo-normativity, Islam, and religious history can figure into critical engagements with race and white supremacy
Building Racial Coalitions: Limitations and New Directions to Teaching “White Privilege”
Get PDFIn this article, I pull from critical race theory, psychology, and philosophy to deconstruct the underlying psychological components that lead to “white fragility,” and I explore the limitations in current pedagogical approaches to teaching privilege. I argue that we adopt a more nuanced and context based understanding of “white privilege,” one that breaks down the concept into its two constituent parts: the “privilege/adversity paradigm” and “colonizer alignment privilege.” In the former, basic human physical or cultural traits are presented to students as capable of being beneficial or detrimental depending on context. In the latter, the ways in which people create contexts to favor specific traits as well as the various contexts individuals shift between are analyzed. If done properly, these approaches can validate the personal struggles of all students, help them to acknowledge their advantages, and guide them towards overcoming the psychological hurdles that prevent effective coalition building
