Academic influencers: Teaching faculty as potential departmental change agents for inclusive pedagogy

There is a disproportionate loss of minoritized undergraduate students from STEM majors. Faculty change efforts to confront this diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) challenge, such as the adoption of evidenced-based instructional approaches, has been slow. Research on affecting change in STEM departments suggests that initiatives are more successful when they are sustained and target departments rather than individuals. One potential change strategy to promote DEI-related change within a department is to embed tenure-track education-focused faculty within STEM departments. The specialist faculty have been demonstrated to pedagogically innovate within their department and consistently interact with their colleagues regarding teaching. Therefore, we sought to assess whether tenure-track education-focused faculty can influence their colleagues on instructional topics, including those related to DEI. We surveyed five STEM departments at large research-intensive campuses. The surveys had faculty select colleagues who were influential upon various aspects of instruction, including methodology, course materials, and aspects of DEI. We constructed social networks of influence across these aspects of instruction. Our analyses reveal heterogeneity across these networks. Some, like the teaching strategies network, are highly connected and involve the majority of the department, while others, like the DEI influence network, comprise a significantly smaller population of faculty. We find that tenure-track education-focused faculty are influential across all aspects of instruction and are disproportionately so in the sparsely populated DEI influence networks. This suggests that embedding these specialist faculty within departments may lead to effective sustained change efforts in the DEI values held by STEM academic departments. This research was approved by the institutional review board at the University of California, Irvine

Resegmentation is an ancestral feature of the gnathostome vertebral skeleton.

The vertebral skeleton is a defining feature of vertebrate animals. However, the mode of vertebral segmentation varies considerably between major lineages. In tetrapods, adjacent somite halves recombine to form a single vertebra through the process of 'resegmentation'. In teleost fishes, there is considerable mixing between cells of the anterior and posterior somite halves, without clear resegmentation. To determine whether resegmentation is a tetrapod novelty, or an ancestral feature of jawed vertebrates, we tested the relationship between somites and vertebrae in a cartilaginous fish, the skate (Leucoraja erinacea). Using cell lineage tracing, we show that skate trunk vertebrae arise through tetrapod-like resegmentation, with anterior and posterior halves of each vertebra deriving from adjacent somites. We further show that tail vertebrae also arise through resegmentation, though with a duplication of the number of vertebrae per body segment. These findings resolve axial resegmentation as an ancestral feature of the jawed vertebrate body plan

The natural history of the WRKY–GCM1 zinc fingers and the relationship between transcription factors and transposons

WRKY and GCM1 are metal chelating DNA-binding domains (DBD) which share a four stranded fold. Using sensitive sequence searches, we show that this WRKY–GCM1 fold is also shared by the FLYWCH Zn-finger domain and the DBDs of two classes of Mutator-like element (MULE) transposases. We present evidence that they share a stabilizing core, which suggests a possible origin from a BED finger-like intermediate that was in turn ultimately derived from a C2H2 Zn-finger domain. Through a systematic study of the phyletic pattern, we show that this WRKY–GCM1 superfamily is a widespread eukaryote-specific group of transcription factors (TFs). We identified several new members across diverse eukaryotic lineages, including potential TFs in animals, fungi and Entamoeba. By integrating sequence, structure, gene expression and transcriptional network data, we present evidence that at least two major global regulators belonging to this superfamily in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Rcs1p and Aft2p) have evolved from transposons, and attained the status of transcription regulatory hubs in recent course of ascomycete yeast evolution. In plants, we show that the lineage-specific expansion of WRKY–GCM1 domain proteins acquired functional diversity mainly through expression divergence rather than by protein sequence divergence. We also use the WRKY–GCM1 superfamily as an example to illustrate the importance of transposons in the emergence of new TFs in different lineages

Comparative and functional analyses of PEB-1, a novel DNA binding protein in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Comparative and functional analyses of PEB-1, a novel DNA binding protein in Caenorhabditis elegans

Music in Contemporary Indian Film : Memory, Voice, Identity

Edited by Jayson Beaster-Jones and Natalie Sarrazin (College at Brockport faculty member) Music in Contemporary Indian Film : Memory, Voice, Identity provides a rich and detailed look into the unique dimensions of music in Indian film. Music is at the center of Indian cinema, and India\u27s film music industry has a far-reaching impact on popular, folk, and classical music across the subcontinent and the South Asian diaspora. In twelve essays, written by an international array of scholars, this book explores the social, cultural, and musical aspects of the industry, including both the traditional center of Bollywood and regional film-making. Concentrating on films and songs created in contemporary, post-liberalization India, this book will appeal to classes in film studies, media studies, and world music, as well as all fans of Indian films.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/bookshelf/1424/thumbnail.jp