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The Radical Potential of Ecopoetics: Ecological Intimacy in Forrest Gander’s Twice Alive
Get PDFEcopoetics is a contested term, one defined by its capaciousness. Through its focus on deep ecology, it draws together the world system and the individual, the collective and the singular, and the global and the placed-based within its dialectical framework, without resolving any of these oppositions. Instead, the apparent contradictions underlying ecopoetics offer productive material for a poetic praxis that aims to foreground the complex connections that string together nature, culture, politics, and society. Forrest Gander’s Twice Alive engages with these contradictions in an attempt to foreground the intimacy of ecological thinking, and its basis in personal connections that are both affective and biological. By doing so, it models the possibilities of a poetics that opposes the extractivist notion of nature’s exteriorization and separateness from human society. Through this poetics, Gander critiques the anthropocentricism that underlies both the nature-society binary and certain forms of nature poetry, particularly those based on Romantic models of nature as a poetic resource for the elevation of the poet above the nonhuman world
Book Review: River Fiction of India: Intersectional Flows of Narratives, Geographies, and Histories
Get PDFBook Review of
River Fiction of India: Intersectional Flows of Narratives, Geographies, and Histories,
edited by Subhadeep Ray
London & New York: Routledge, 2025
306 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-032-66253-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-98346-2 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-003-59818-3 (ebk
Planetary/Peripheral Appalachia
Get PDFOne of the characters in William Gibson’s science fiction novel The Peripheral describes the timeline-manipulating technology around which the story turns as a way of “third-worlding” the past. By sending information back and forth across time, the users of the technology, in our future, outsource work to inhabitants of their past (our near-present). An entire world becomes the “third world” for another world, home to cheap labor and expendable resources. The characters this happens to in the novel live in Appalachia, a choice that works in part to ground the otherwise cosmic scale of timeline manipulation and global catastrophe while also providing a lens through which to view the marginalization of humanity. Taking this fictional work as inspiration for real-world conceptualizations of planetary crises, Appalachia lends a tangibility to planetary thinking that also reorients “the planetary” away from an all-encompassing move that would purport to remove context. This article seeks to develop an understanding of the planetary that does the opposite: instead of removing context or flattening complexity, a planetary perspective should provide ways of grappling with and confronting the multitudes that make up what we might think of as a singular “planet.
0888: West Virginia Activists, Stories of Social Change (donated by Dr. Eric Lassiter)
No full textA collections of posters depicting various WV activists
20250812: Jean Howard Smith Kittle and Stephen Kittle Student Collection, 1947-1976
No full textThese items include materials from two students who attended Marshall (Jean Howard Smith Kittle & Stephen Kittle). Items were received in 2025 from Susan Norris (daughter to Jean and sister to Stephen). Within this collection includes a Marshall College Schedule of Courses, Curriculum Elementary Education, a test on the social norms of 1947, Parthenon student newspapers, Parthenon newspapers from the plane crash era and beyond, and select yearbooks. This is not an exhaustive list. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents
The glymphatic system and sleep: functional relevance for brain homeostasis and beyond
No full textIt has been less than 15 years since the glymphatic system was identified. The discovery has revolutionized the understanding of the unique functions of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the extracellular fluid within the central nervous system (CNS) and their unique connectivity to the rest of the body. The role of sleep in regulating glymphatic clearance from the brain and the potential reciprocal role of the glymphatic system in modulating regional neuronal activities, including sleep states, is rapidly emerging. It is shedding light on the role of sleep and the glymphatic system as toxic waste clearance facilitators for the brain, revealing their synergistic roles in preserving cognitive function and their protective activity in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and aging
A decade-wide view into medical student professional identity formation using the career eulogy: Are Gen Zs different?
No full textIntroduction
Students born after 1996 (Gen Z) perceive themselves as distinct from millennials. Earlier surveys described Gen Z as valuing relationships, meaningful work, financial security, and happiness. Over the past decade, medical school populations have shifted from predominantly millennial to Gen Z. This study examined changes in professional identity formation across this period, using a validated career eulogy instrument.
Methods
From 2015 to 2024, 113 medical students at a rural regional medical school completed an annual career eulogy (98% participation). Students responded to the prompt: “Imagine you are retiring from medicine. In about 50 words, what would you like to be said about you at your retirement ceremony?” Free-text responses were coded into validated thematic clusters. Generalized estimating equations assessed differences in the theme frequency by generation and gender.
Results
No significant generational differences were found in themes of quality, patient relationships, calling, community, coworker, service, or family. However, Gen Z students were significantly less likely to mention passion (p
Conclusion
Findings diverge from earlier studies of college students and assumptions about current medical students. If replicated, these results may prompt medical educators to reconsider how professional identity, wellness, and mentoring are addressed. The lower emphasis on passion, compassion, and enjoyment among Gen Z students may suggest the need for curriculum redesign to help students find fulfillment in leadership and community engagement.
Gender differences suggest further complexity. Women across generations more often emphasized patient relationships and Gen Z women mentioned passion less, which may require educators to support new ways of fostering passion and connection. The increased mention of coworker relationships among Gen Z men may signal evolving values. Continued use of the career eulogy and similar tools will help clarify how future physicians form their professional identities and what support they need during training
A localized strategy to boost public opinion and increase community support for rural public education by understanding parental motivations for school choice
No full textFamilies and educators understand school choice as a broad concept, however its implications for rural public education in Virginia are less frequently considered. In rural areas, school choice has a disproportionate impact due to funding formulas and the effects of average daily membership (ADM) on school budgets. While there is a great deal of research on school choice, the rationale behind families’ decisions varies depending on the cultural and material resources of their community. It is vital to consider the regional and cultural context when developing strategies to support rural public schools. By analyzing motivations and factors which influence school choice, educational leaders can identify actionable factors to address. This is grounded in the philosophy that community culture plays a central role in shaping family decisions and educational engagement. Many families prefer their child to attend the local public school, but a growing number are opting for alternatives, even when the local option offers convenience and quality. This mixed-methods study investigated the perspectives of families and school administrators in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck regions of Virginia. It examined family perceptions of school choice, the factors which motivate their choices, levels of school engagement, support structures at home, and the strategies administrators employ which garner the most support from families and the community. Findings show that school choice in this region is shaped by location, safety, staff quality, and curriculum. Alternative school choice families value class size and communication, while local public school families prioritize proximity. Religion had minimal influence. Key themes include the following: reputation, communication, and lingering segregation. These themes reflect broader issues of trust, equity, and declining public confidence. Essex County has the region’s highest shift to alternative education, influenced by broad access to school choice options, limited family engagement, and ongoing communication challenges. A logic model outlines a strategic approach to strengthening school-family-community relationships through investments in personnel, training, communication, and partnerships. This will lead to improved engagement, trust, transparency, and long-term academic gains and public support for Essex County Public Schools
20251001: President\u27s Papers, Early Marshall College History, 1847-1950
No full textThese items include materials from the office of the President at Marshall College from 1847-1950. Items were received probably in the 1980s, but not realized until 2025. Materials from this collection include correspondence written by Corbly, a Historical Pageant titled The Unquenched Torch from 1920-1921, copies of the Alma Mater from 1948, Newspaper Clippings from 1950, and other early correspondence about the College (1919-1944). Please download this inventory for a list of contents