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Cleaning the House: Radical Domesticity and Patriarchal Resistance in We Have Always Lived in the Castle
No full textShirley Jackson\u27s We Have Always Lived in The Castle follows Merricat and Constance Blackwood, wealthy sisters who have poisoned and murdered a majority of their family members and live an isolated, independent lifestyle in their family mansion. Once ruled by their family\u27s patriarchal control and obsession with wealth, their house transforms into a space where domestic rituals such as cooking, cleaning, and preserving food become sources of independence and empowerment. Throughout the novel, patriarchal forces attempt to reassert control through the villagers, who ridicule the sisters for their defiance of social norms, and through their cousin Charles, whose intrusion mirrors the greed and dominance of their father. Both the villagers’ hostility and Charles’s fixation on wealth highlight the tension between patriarchal authority and the sisters’ radical domesticity. The sisters’ choice to live in isolation, however, resists these pressures. Constance reclaims domestic labor as a tool of preservation and protection, while Merricat safeguards their sanctuary through ritual and, ultimately, by setting the fire that destroys the male-dominated spaces within the house. Rather than imprisoning them, the mansion becomes a sanctuary for the sisters that rejects patriarchal structures and ideals. Ultimately, Jackson redefines the domestic sphere as a site of rebellion rather than repression. The Blackwood sisters achieve agency through seclusion, self-sufficiency, and refusal to conform to patriarchal expectations, and the closely secured remains of their mansion stands as a representation of their private world structured on feminine control and resistance
Effects of E-Cigarette Flavoring on Chondrocyte Viability and Arachidonic Acid Metabolism
No full textThe rise of electronic-cigarettes or “vaping” in the United States has introduced uniquely interesting questions as to their effects on overall pulmonary health. Specifically, more research is currently needed to understand how the individual ingredients of electronic cigarettes affect individual components of the pulmonary system, such as lung cartilage (1,2). Electronic-cigarette liquid flavoring additives (ELFAs) provide distinct tastes to inhalants which are an increasingly popular component added to electronic-cigarette cartridges (ECCs); however, the ingredients of these additives are not well disclosed and their effect on chondrocytes needs to be further reported (2). The purpose of this study was to determine if commonly used ELFAs such as cinnamon (CFAs), menthol (MFAs), tobacco (TFAs), strawberry kiwi (SKFAs), and flavorless (FAs) mixtures induce inflammation via the arachidonic acid pathway, increase incidences of cell death, and impair chondrocyte function. In an effort to understand ELFAs effects on chondrocyte cell viability and inflammatory pathways, ATDC5 murine chondrocytes were grown and treated with increasing concentrations (0-16%) of 5 ECCs flavorings (CFAs, MFAs, SKFAs, TFAs , & FAs) for 24 hours. After 24 hours, cells were assayed via flow cytometry, bicinchoninic acid assays (BCA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and immunoblotting using standard methods to quantify cell death, total protein concentrations, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) activity, and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) levels, respectively. Results indicate that ELFA concentrations of 4-16% can lead to significant decrease in cell viability as seen from decreased overall protein concentrations and increased average percent cell death. The arachidonic acid cycle is also modulated as PGE2 levels significantly increase in 4% FA treated cells, with the exception of SKFAs. Our research provides further evidence that ELFAs present in ECCs have detrimental effects on chondrocytes, a component of pulmonary cartilage & supports other research in the field studying ELFAs and human health consequences
DIPL 3800 Investigating International Relations
Get PDFThis class is an introduction to research methods for diplomacy and international relations. Students are introduced to essential skills for researching and writing a thesis paper. The essence of the scientific method is efficiently testing and evaluating an empirically falsifiable research hypothesis. This course provides a basic introduction to research statistics, tools that are widely used to analyze quantitative data. literature reviews are another essential component of research methods. Students will develop annotated bibliographies relevant to their research topics. The existing social science and policy literatures offer insights into how research professionals make methodological choices to develop theoretical arguments. Through this class students gain a deeper understanding of the assumptions that underlie quantitative analyses and the proper (and improper) uses of quantitative evidence.
There are a variety of different computer programs that generate statistics, in text and graphic formats. This course uses SPSS. SPSS is widely used by data analysts, and students can find many online support tools to assist with learning SPSS (YouTube videos, etc.}. SPSS is also relatively easy for students to learn. Students may use university computers equipped with SPSS either in the information commons area of the library on the second floor or at one of the public computer labs. SPSS provides a student version of the software for purchase. PSPP (very similar to SPSS} is opensource software, free to download at: https://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/get.html
DIPL 2120 International Conflict and Security
Get PDFInternational conflict and security are a broad focus in the international relations field on conflict, war, and instability as states and non-state actors alike struggle in an insecure world. This course will survey the major topics and themes in security including war, technology, and modem strategy, providing a gateway for those who wish to undertake advanced research in the field. The student will also be required to think and develop ideas like a policymaker confronted with an international crisis, seeking to provide solutions to the pressing questions of the time in geopolitics
DIPL 2101 AB Ethnopolitical Landscapes
Get PDFThis course surveys the politics of cultural and ethnic/national pluralism, understood mainly in terms of the cultural, linguistic, religious diversity that shape the contemporary world, and their impact on the international system and the practice of international relations. It focuses on the salient issues that have taken center stage after the end of the Cold War, and deals with issues related to the rise of politicized ethnicity and other cultural cleavages around the world. The course includes examination of the possible factors that contributed to the rise of ethnic, religious, linguistic and other parochial attachments, and the accompanying political meanings they assume. In addition, theories/approaches/perspectives/schools that purport to explain ethnic/national group solidarities will be briefly introduced. Towards the end of the semester, formulas for accommodation of cultural pluralism in multi-ethnic societies will be explored.
The course will cover some important cases in greater detail: Quebec, Serbia and Croatia (Former Yugoslavia, Kurdistan (Iraq), Ukraine, and Quebec (Canada). These cases have been selected for various reasons, including:
(1) Representativeness: taken together, the cases are broadly representative of current ethno-nationalist currents around the world.
(2) Currency: each case may be understood in the context of the emerging New World Order and global governance. That is, each has been affected by post-Cold War developments.
(3) Contrast: Canada has so far managed issues related to its multiculturalism in a civil way. However, in the remaining cases- Kurdistan, the former Yugoslavia, and Ukraine -- the ethnic/national conflicts have been violent, and the prevailing cultural divide have resulted in problems of mammoth proportions.
In addition, the students in the course will have the opportunity to explore cases in-depth through research of different cases. The instructor will assign cases to groups of three students to conduct a detailed study on the nature, evolution, causes, dynamics, actors, and attempted resolution mechanisms of each of the cases. The course will conclude with student PPT presentation of research findings and submission of a term paper.
To this end, the course examines national and ethnic identities around the globe and their impact on the human condition. The instructor hopes that, by the time the course topics are covered, each student will have developed increased interest in the study of cultural pluralism and an appreciation of the extent to which ethnicity and nationalism have become salient in national and international politics at the beginning of the 21st century
DIPL 6001 WB Politics of Cultural and Ethnic Pluralism
Get PDFThis course surveys the politics of cultural and ethnic pluralism/diversity as manifested in terms of the plurality of political, economic, cultural, and socio-demographic variables shaping the contemporary world, and their impact on the international system and the practice of international relations. The course focuses on the salient issues that have taken center stage in the modern world, and deals with general issues related to the rise of politicized ethnicity and other cultural cleavages around the world. It explores different theories and perspectives on identity formation, activation, and mobilization. Moreover, factors that contributed co the recent revival of ethnic, religious, and linguistic attachments are investigated.
The lectures for chis course are organized around three schools of thought -- primordialism, instrumentalism and constructivism, all of which purport to explain cultural solidarities. We will try to apply these three perspectives in our study of the politics of cultural pluralism in the contemporary world, with emphasis on why and how ethnic cleavages have become more salient at the beginning of the 21st century. Towards the end of the semester, possible formulas for accommodation of cultural pluralism in multi-ethnic societies are explored.
To this end, the course interrogates national and ethnic identities around the globe and their impact on the human condition. The instructor hopes that, by the time the course topics are covered, each student will have developed a heightened interest in the study of cultural pluralism and an appreciation of the extent to which parochial solidarities (e.g. ethnic, religious, and linguistic solidarities) have become politically salient nowadays. As students interested in Diplomacy and International Relations, you are expected to chink in terms of theories and related policy issues that potentially affect the domestic and foreign policies of culturally plural societies.
Each student will write and present a research paper on any topic related to cultural pluralism either in a specific country (that is, at the sub-national or national levels) or group of countries (that is, at the group level), or globally (that is, at the systemic level), subject to the instructor\u27s approval of the topic. The course will conclude with student PowerPoint (PPT} presentation of research findings and submission of the research paper
