Bodies on the border: (re)materializing and decolonizing ecologies of mobility in the Mexico-US borderlands

Current human migrations and nonhuman extinctions on massive scales compel us to more carefully apply interspecies concepts of mobility to understanding the roles played by geopolitical borders, as well as the various, ongoing forms of colonialism that have produced and continue to perpetuate these borders. This essay applies bioregional, material, decolonial, and borderlands ecocriticisms to historicize prevention through deterrence enforcement measures in the Mexico-US border region, and discusses several significant entanglements of interspecies actors in migratory contexts, exploring a range of ways that nonhuman nature has been and continues to be deployed materially against migrants. In historicizing US enforcement tactics, the essay tracks the distribution of human agency from settler colonial, ethnonationalist, and neoliberal US policy makers, to armed paramilitary human bodies, then into structures of the built environment, and, finally, to the ways that agency is further diffused across complex webs of multiple kinds of human and nonhuman actors—plants, animals, landforms, watercourses, climate and weather conditions, and so on. While in some instances, nonhuman animals are deployed against migrant and other indigenous and mestizo people, in other multispecies entanglements, animals participate in the revelation and denunciation of state sponsored violence, leading to larger questions of the status of other nonhuman animals in the borderlands. The essay’s primary focus is on illustrating the practical untenability of, and the severe harm done in, continuing to regard the borderlands from settler colonialist or human exceptionalist positionalities.Las migraciones humanas actuales y las extinciones a escala masiva de seres no-humanos nos obligan a aplicar de forma más cuidadosa conceptos interespecie de movilidad para entender los papeles que juegan las fronteras geopolíticas, así como las diversas formas de colonialismo en desarrollo que han producido y que continúan perpetuando estas fronteras. Este ensayo aplica las ecocríticas bioregional, material, descolonial y de frontera para historizar la prevención por medio de la puesta en práctica de medidas disuasorias en la región fronteriza entre México y Estados Unidos, y debate las diversas implicaciones significativas de los actores interespecies en los contextos migratorios, explorando las varias maneras en las que la naturaleza no humana continua desplegándose materialmente contra los inmigrantes. Al historizar las tácticas de imposición de los Estados Unidos, este ensayo rastrea la distribución de la agencia humana desde los legisladores coloniales, etnonacionalistas y neoliberales estadounidenses, pasando por los cuerpos humanos paramilitares, por las estructuras del entorno construido, hasta, finalmente, las maneras en las que la agencia se difumina aún más a través de las complejas redes de los diversos tipos de actores humanos y no-humanos—plantas, animales, accidentes geográficos, cauces de agua, condiciones climáticas y meteorológicas, etcétera. Mientras que en algunos ejemplos los animales no-humanos se despliegan contra los inmigrantes y otros pueblos indígenas y mestizos, en otras implicaciones interespecies, los animales participan en la revelación y denuncia de la violencia patrocinada por el estado, llevando a cuestiones más amplias sobe el estatus de otros animales no-humanos en las zonas fronterizas. El principal centro de atención del ensayo es ilustrar lo prácticamente insostenible que es, y el daño severo que se hace al seguir contemplando la frontera desde las posiciones del colonizador o de la excepcionalidad humana

True Merit: Ensuring Our Brightest Students Have Access to Our Best Colleges and Universities

America's top colleges and universities should institute an admissions preference for low-income students because such students -- even when they are high-achievers academically -- now face unjustified barriers and make up a mere 3 percent of enrollment at the elite schools, according this report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The Cooke Foundation found that such a "poverty preference" for admissions to selective higher education institutions, akin to existing preferences for athletes and the children of alumni, would create a more level playing field for disadvantaged students.The Cooke Foundation report shows dramatic differences between enrollment rates at the most selective schools for students from families with the highest and lowest incomes. It highlights the major challenges low-income, high-achieving students face when seeking admission to these colleges and universities.Perhaps the most significant new finding of the report is that the vast majority of students in America's most competitive institutions of higher education -- 72 percent -- come from the wealthiest 25 percent of the U.S. population. In sharp contrast, only 3 percent of students in the most selective schools come from the 25 percent of families with the lowest incomes. The report is the first comprehensive analysis conducted on the postsecondary admissions process as it affects high-achieving, low-income applicants

Bending the Arc of Writing Assessment Toward Social Justice: Enacting Culturally Responsive Professional Development at Standing Rock

Open access. Originally published: “Bending the Arc of Writing Assessment Toward Social Justice: Enacting Culturally Responsive Professional Development at Standing Rock.” In Writing Assessment, Social Justice, and the Advancement of Opportunity. Eds. Mya Poe, Asao Inoue, and Norbert Elliott. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado and the WAC Clearinghouse, 2018. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2018.0155.2.1

A Review of State Guidelines for Recreation in Juvenile Justice Facilities

Quality recreation programs have been shown to strengthen protective factors in youth to mitigate risk factors, ultimately improving youth outcomes and reducing juvenile delinquency. How recreation is employed within this unique setting has been unknown until this point. This study is the first step to understanding how recreation programs can enhance the rehabilitative efforts of the juvenile justice system by reviewing the legislative and administrative regulations related to recreation practices in juvenile justice facilities in the United States. The research questions that were asked include: 1) whether or not a legislative and/or administrative authority exists that governs a minimum amount of recreation time for youth in juvenile justice facilities (including the type of written authority and how recreation is defined), 2) the type, frequency, location and length of recreation allowed for youth while in confinement, and 3) the circumstances in which youth can be denied access to recreation. A systematic review of the written authorities was conducted by searching state websites, legal and government databases. A survey was developed to capture archival data elements and utilized to review the documents. Among other discoveries, we found that seven different types of written authorities exist, and only 40% of states include a purpose for the recreation services that are offered to youth in confinement. We found that the terms recreation, leisure and exercise are used interchangeably and 70% of states require that recreation is available to youth on a daily basis. The results of this investigation present implications for policy-makers, recreation professionals and the public alike. These include the need to advocate for the provision of recreation services in the juvenile justice system, establishing an appropriate minimum standard for recreation programs in juvenile justice, and communicating the positive impact recreation programs can have for youth and the community

Proficiency-aware systems

In an increasingly digital world, technological developments such as data-driven algorithms and context-aware applications create opportunities for novel human-computer interaction (HCI). We argue that these systems have the latent potential to stimulate users and encourage personal growth. However, users increasingly rely on the intelligence of interactive systems. Thus, it remains a challenge to design for proficiency awareness, essentially demanding increased user attention whilst preserving user engagement. Designing and implementing systems that allow users to become aware of their own proficiency and encourage them to recognize learning benefits is the primary goal of this research. In this thesis, we introduce the concept of proficiency-aware systems as one solution. In our definition, proficiency-aware systems use estimates of the user's proficiency to tailor the interaction in a domain and facilitate a reflective understanding for this proficiency. We envision that proficiency-aware systems leverage collected data for learning benefit. Here, we see self-reflection as a key for users to become aware of necessary efforts to advance their proficiency. A key challenge for proficiency-aware systems is the fact that users often have a different self-perception of their proficiency. The benefits of personal growth and advancing one's repertoire might not necessarily be apparent to users, alienating them, and possibly leading to abandoning the system. To tackle this challenge, this work does not rely on learning strategies but rather focuses on the capabilities of interactive systems to provide users with the necessary means to reflect on their proficiency, such as showing calculated text difficulty to a newspaper editor or visualizing muscle activity to a passionate sportsperson. We first elaborate on how proficiency can be detected and quantified in the context of interactive systems using physiological sensing technologies. Through developing interaction scenarios, we demonstrate the feasibility of gaze- and electromyography-based proficiency-aware systems by utilizing machine learning algorithms that can estimate users' proficiency levels for stationary vision-dominant tasks (reading, information intake) and dynamic manual tasks (playing instruments, fitness exercises). Secondly, we show how to facilitate proficiency awareness for users, including design challenges on when and how to communicate proficiency. We complement this second part by highlighting the necessity of toolkits for sensing modalities to enable the implementation of proficiency-aware systems for a wide audience. In this thesis, we contribute a definition of proficiency-aware systems, which we illustrate by designing and implementing interactive systems. We derive technical requirements for real-time, objective proficiency assessment and identify design qualities of communicating proficiency through user reflection. We summarize our findings in a set of design and engineering guidelines for proficiency awareness in interactive systems, highlighting that proficiency feedback makes performance interpretable for the user.In einer zunehmend digitalen Welt schaffen technologische Entwicklungen - wie datengesteuerte Algorithmen und kontextabhängige Anwendungen - neuartige Interaktionsmöglichkeiten mit digitalen Geräten. Jedoch verlassen sich Nutzer oftmals auf die Intelligenz dieser Systeme, ohne dabei selbst auf eine persönliche Weiterentwicklung hinzuwirken. Wird ein solches Vorgehen angestrebt, verlangt dies seitens der Anwender eine erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit. Es ist daher herausfordernd, ein entsprechendes Design für Kompetenzbewusstsein (Proficiency Awareness) zu etablieren. Das primäre Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine Methodik für das Design und die Implementierung von interaktiven Systemen aufzustellen, die Nutzer dabei unterstützen über ihre eigene Kompetenz zu reflektieren, um dadurch Lerneffekte implizit wahrnehmen können. Diese Arbeit stellt ein Konzept für fähigkeitsbewusste Systeme (proficiency-aware systems) vor, welche die Fähigkeiten von Nutzern abschätzen, die Interaktion entsprechend anpassen sowie das Bewusstsein der Nutzer über deren Fähigkeiten fördern. Hierzu sollten die Systeme gesammelte Daten von Nutzern einsetzen, um Lerneffekte sichtbar zu machen. Die Möglichkeit der Anwender zur Selbstreflexion ist hierbei als entscheidend anzusehen, um als Motivation zur Verbesserung der eigenen Fähigkeiten zu dienen. Eine zentrale Herausforderung solcher Systeme ist die Tatsache, dass Nutzer - im Vergleich zur Abschätzung des Systems - oft eine divergierende Selbstwahrnehmung ihrer Kompetenz haben. Im ersten Moment sind daher die Vorteile einer persönlichen Weiterentwicklung nicht unbedingt ersichtlich. Daher baut diese Forschungsarbeit nicht darauf auf, Nutzer über vorgegebene Lernstrategien zu unterrichten, sondern sie bedient sich der Möglichkeiten interaktiver Systeme, die Anwendern die notwendigen Hilfsmittel zur Verfügung stellen, damit diese selbst über ihre Fähigkeiten reflektieren können. Einem Zeitungseditor könnte beispielsweise die aktuelle Textschwierigkeit angezeigt werden, während einem passionierten Sportler dessen Muskelaktivität veranschaulicht wird. Zunächst wird herausgearbeitet, wie sich die Fähigkeiten der Nutzer mittels physiologischer Sensortechnologien erkennen und quantifizieren lassen. Die Evaluation von Interaktionsszenarien demonstriert die Umsetzbarkeit fähigkeitsbewusster Systeme, basierend auf der Analyse von Blickbewegungen und Muskelaktivität. Hierbei kommen Algorithmen des maschinellen Lernens zum Einsatz, die das Leistungsniveau der Anwender für verschiedene Tätigkeiten berechnen. Im Besonderen analysieren wir stationäre Aktivitäten, die hauptsächlich den Sehsinn ansprechen (Lesen, Aufnahme von Informationen), sowie dynamische Betätigungen, die die Motorik der Nutzer fordern (Spielen von Instrumenten, Fitnessübungen). Der zweite Teil zeigt auf, wie Systeme das Bewusstsein der Anwender für deren eigene Fähigkeiten fördern können, einschließlich der Designherausforderungen , wann und wie das System erkannte Fähigkeiten kommunizieren sollte. Abschließend wird die Notwendigkeit von Toolkits für Sensortechnologien hervorgehoben, um die Implementierung derartiger Systeme für ein breites Publikum zu ermöglichen. Die Forschungsarbeit beinhaltet eine Definition für fähigkeitsbewusste Systeme und veranschaulicht dieses Konzept durch den Entwurf und die Implementierung interaktiver Systeme. Ferner werden technische Anforderungen objektiver Echtzeitabschätzung von Nutzerfähigkeiten erforscht und Designqualitäten für die Kommunikation dieser Abschätzungen mittels Selbstreflexion identifiziert. Zusammengefasst sind die Erkenntnisse in einer Reihe von Design- und Entwicklungsrichtlinien für derartige Systeme. Insbesondere die Kommunikation, der vom System erkannten Kompetenz, hilft Anwendern, die eigene Leistung zu interpretieren

The Seekers: American Religion in the Context of Heaven’s Gate

This interdisciplinary thesis aims to trace the roots of the Heaven’s Gate movement, placing the group within its broader religious, cultural, and political context. Founded in 1974 by Bonnie Lu Nettles and Marshall Applewhite, the movement attracted seekers from all walks of life—drawn to the group’s extraterrestrially-infused theology. Individuals part of the movement believed themselves to be extraterrestrials in human bodies, requiring a metaphysical (or in some cases, a literal) transformation to reach the divine level, known as the “Level Above Human”. To achieve this metamorphosis, members engaged in a largely ascetic communal lifestyle, attempting to eliminate all their human desires. In 1997, the remaining thirty-nine members took their own lives, viewing suicide as the final step in their bodily and spiritual metamorphosis. Following the mass suicide—and throughout the movement’s entire existence—Heaven’s Gate received a significant amount of media attention, targeted by allegations of cult abuse and brainwashing. This thesis aims to challenge those assumptions, utilizing archival reconstruction and historical contextualization to examine the larger social trends and political influences that shaped the group’s belief system

Complete Issue, Volume 38, Issue 2

This is the complete issue for Volume 38, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Your Tracks are Showing: Understanding the Experiences of Black Girls in a Middle School with Racialized Tracking

Despite overwhelming research about the negative effects of tracking on minority students, tracking is used to group students in more than 80% of middle schools in the United States. In racially diverse schools, school officials disproportionately place students of color in lower tracks and place an unjustifiable number of White students in the higher tracks, resulting in segregated classrooms. Using tracking to create segregated classes within racially diverse schools is called racialized tracking (Tyson, 2011). In this qualitative study, I explored the educational experiences of six Black girls who attended a middle school with racialized tracking. This study was grounded in Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2015) to acknowledge the distinct social positioning of Black girls and the importance of their lived experiences. I drew upon Critical Race Theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017) to understand how racialized tracking preserved educational inequalities in the girls’ school. I analyzed the data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2013), using the conceptual framework of intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016) to understand how girls’ experiences were shaped by domains of power. Findings showed that all six girls 1) viewed tracking as an unfair hierarchy, 2) experienced othering and marginalization, 3) valued safe spaces and community, and 4) shaped their identities in resistance to negative stereotypes. The implications of this study call for schools and school districts to end tracking systems and create spaces that promote community and belonging for Black girls. Additionally, this study indicates the need for more diverse, inclusive, and comprehensive instruction of Black history and culture in middle schools. An important implication for all stakeholders is the need for antiracist training to adequately address the systemic and individual racism that Black girls face in school

Studying HIV Risk in Vulnerable Communities: Methodological and Reporting Shortcomings in the Young Men’s Study in New York City

This article considers demographic categories used in the Young Men’s Study on HIV risk for men who have sex with men. We critique oversimplified pan-ethnic categories and the polarization of US racial discourse. We also interrogate the use of certain gender and sexuality markers that produced confusing results in this study. We use a critical standpoint derived from cultural studies to suggest that quantitative and qualitative methods of studying health risks and intimate behaviors in vulnerable populations require reorganization to more accurately represent the lives of members of these groups. Interviews, surveys, and statistics can be crude and lacking in practical information. Finally, we address media and governmental response to the Young Men’s Study, and the continued need for organizing across minoritized communities

Craig Santos Perez: Poetry as Strategy Against Military Occupation in Guåhan (Guam)

This thesis is interested in hearing the voices seldom heard. It looks at the poetry of Craig Santos Perez, a native Chamorro from Guam, in an attempt to begin puzzling out the idea of transformation in Guam and the military\u27s complicity in the process. While erasure seems to be trending and emerging as a term that would, on the surface, adequately bring attention to the loss of culture, land, and language in Guam, it has the tendency to overshadow and ignore the varying degrees that Guam has changed in the presence of military rule. Other forms of transformation include, but are not limited to, silencing, damaging, displacement, oppression, repurposing, appropriation, hybridization, recruitment, and assimilation. All of these, to some degree, are represented in Perez\u27s poetry. A hybrid project that includes a creative nonfiction introduction and an interview with the poet, this thesis examines the diverse forms of transformation through a close look at Perez\u27s three books of his multi-book project. Perez\u27s poetry creates focus and familiarity for readers. In other words, it emplaces Guam, an unfamiliar militarized space for most readers, and creates a personal connection to the vernacular spiritual place of Guam that is Chamorro culture. Also, I will show how focus and familiarity present in Perez\u27s work result in shifted environmental commitments, especially as they relate to the consequences of military occupation. In doing so, I will posit the poetry into the current environmental justice discussion that exists among literary scholars and eco-philosophers like Rob Nixon and Ursula Heise, who have successfully demonstrated the important role the imagination plays in understanding, responding to, and doing something about anthropogenically driven environmental change