“Becoming Our Best, Most True Selves”: An Exploration of the Psychologization of Yoga in the United States

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Integrating the Fine Arts Across the Elementary Curriculum

I began my research with the intention of discovering in what ways elementary teachers incorporate the fine arts across the curriculum. For those teachers who do, I wanted to know where they learned how to do so, and how their students respond to the integration of the arts. I have a strong personal connection to this topic. The fine arts always have been an integral part of my life, which I attribute to my education: my teachers introduced me to the arts and fostered my love of the arts. From an educational standpoint, I began to wonder how teachers incorporate the arts, in order to learn ideas and approaches that I might adopt as a future educator. My original proposal was to explore the arts across the curriculum as a means to learn how educators incorporated the arts as part of the overall education of their students. I had some concerns that the special programs in arts would be eliminated when budget cuts occurred in school districts. How could teachers then sustain the arts education and experiences in their classrooms? While I followed through with my plans to explore why and how the arts can be incorporated, I chose not to focus on schools that had eliminated the fine mts as specials . Although this remains a concern, schools that have eliminated the arts are not the only elementary programs necessary to address. There is no such thing as overexposure to the arts, so even those students who are fortunate to experience special art, music, drama, and dance classes in their schools could benefit from an integrated arts curriculum within the classroom as well

Relationship of maternal serum fatty acids and body mass index

Maternal supply of nutrients is critical for the developing fetus during all stages of gestation. The altered lipid metabolism that is often seen in pregnancies complicated by obesity and insulin resistance may negatively impact maternal supply to the fetus. More women are entering pregnancy overweight or obese and recently body mass index (BMI) has been found to be a positive predictor for decreased maternal plasma phospholipid concentrations of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA). These nutrients play important roles in early development and their availability is critical to fetal growth and development. The purpose of the present study was to assess if maternal serum fatty acids in the second trimester of pregnancy are associated with BMI. Serum samples are frequently stored after blood draws during pregnancy and the availability of these samples provided the opportunity to examine if serum samples collected from non-fasting, pregnant women could provide information similar to what has previously been reported for BMI and fatty acid status in pregnancy. Sera from 265 women from the Foundation for Blood Research (FBR, Maine) were analyzed for fatty acid content using gas chromatography. The BMIs of each participant around 13-18 weeks of gestation were provided by FBR. Participants were grouped by BMI category and fatty acid concentrations were compared across BMI categories. There were significant differences for weight percent of the LCPUFA eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) as well as for the total ω3 LCPUFA. In this data set BMI was a negative predictor of maternal serum concentrations of DHA and EPA. These results support previous findings for fatty acids in plasma phospholipids of pregnant women. We conclude that increased BMI may negatively impact maternal LCPUFA concentrations and stored sera may be used to further assess this relationship

Elemental Abundances in M31: Alpha and Iron Element Abundances from Low-Resolution Resolved Stellar Spectroscopy in the Stellar Halo

Measurements of [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe] can probe the minor merging history of a galaxy, providing a direct way to test the hierarchical assembly paradigm. While measurements of [$\alpha$/Fe] have been made in the stellar halo of the Milky Way, little is known about detailed chemical abundances in the stellar halo of M31. To make progress with existing telescopes, we apply spectral synthesis to low-resolution DEIMOS spectroscopy (R $\sim$ 2500 at 7000 Angstroms) across a wide spectral range (4500 Angstroms $<$ $\lambda$ $<$ 9100 Angstroms). By applying our technique to low-resolution spectra of 170 giant stars in 5 MW globular clusters, we demonstrate that our technique reproduces previous measurements from higher resolution spectroscopy. Based on the intrinsic dispersion in [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe] of individual stars in our combined cluster sample, we estimate systematic uncertainties of $\sim$0.11 dex and $\sim$0.09 dex in [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe], respectively. We apply our method to deep, low-resolution spectra of 11 red giant branch stars in the smooth halo of M31, resulting in higher signal-to-noise per spectral resolution element compared to DEIMOS medium-resolution spectroscopy, given the same exposure time and conditions. We find $\langle$[$\alpha$/Fe]$\rangle$ = 0.49 $\pm$ 0.29 dex and $\langle$[Fe/H]$\rangle$ = 1.59 $\pm$ 0.56 dex for our sample. This implies that---much like the Milky Way---the smooth halo of M31 is likely composed of disrupted dwarf galaxies with truncated star formation histories that were accreted early in the halo's formation.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, accepted to Ap

Elemental Abundances in M31: A Comparative Analysis of Alpha and Iron Element Abundances in the the Outer Disk, Giant Stellar Stream, and Inner Halo of M31

We measured [Fe/H] and [α/Fe] using spectral synthesis of low-resolution stellar spectroscopy for 70 individual red-giant-branch stars across four fields spanning the outer disk, Giant Stellar Stream (GSS), and inner halo of M31. Fields at M31-centric projected distances of 23 kpc in the halo, 12 kpc in the halo, 22 kpc in the GSS, and 26 kpc in the outer disk are α-enhanced, with ⟨ [α/Fe]〉= 0.43, 0.50, 0.41, and 0.58, respectively. The 23 and 12 kpc halo fields are relatively metal-poor, with ⟨ [Fe/H]⟩ = −1.54 and −1.30, whereas the 22 kpc GSS and 26 kpc outer disk fields are relatively metal-rich with ⟨ [Fe/H]⟩ = −0.84 and −0.92, respectively. For fields with substructure, we separated the stellar populations into kinematically hot stellar halo components and kinematically cold components. We did not find any evidence of a radial [α/Fe] gradient along the high surface brightness core of the GSS between ~17 and 22 kpc. However, we found tentative suggestions of a negative radial [α/Fe] gradient in the stellar halo, which may indicate that different progenitor(s) or formation mechanisms contributed to the build up of the inner versus outer halo. Additionally, the [α/Fe] distribution of the metal-rich ([Fe/H] > −1.5), smooth inner stellar halo (r_(proj) ≾ 26 kpc) is inconsistent with having formed from the disruption of a progenitor(s) similar to present-day M31 satellite galaxies. The 26 kpc outer disk is most likely associated with the extended disk of M31, where its high α-enhancement provides support for an episode of rapid star formation in M31's disk possibly induced by a major merger

Outdoor Learning Spaces; The use of outdoor learning spaces in shaping student learning experiences in Australian secondary schools

This item is only available electronically.Insight into the current use of outdoor learning spaces to engage secondary school students and shape their learning experiences in Australian educational contexts is provided through a narrative literature methodology. The benefits of the use of outdoor learning spaces for teaching adolescent students are shared along with limitations and challenges. Connections between The Australian Curriculum, other curriculum documents and effective pedagogies and the use of outdoor learning spaces are outlined to highlight the importance of the use of these spaces and to frame suggestions for their improved use across learning areas. The lack of literature that describes the current use of outdoor learning spaces in Australian secondary schools provides the rationale for this dissertation and underpins the exploration of ways to improve the use of outdoor learning spaces. Findings from this research provide insight into the many benefits that outdoor learning spaces offer students. This includes building positive human-nature relationships, freedom from the constraints of traditional teaching pedagogies and increased health and wellbeing benefits for students, stimulation and engagement in learning and skills and knowledge acquisition. Challenges and constraints in utilising outdoor learning spaces are also revealed through the systematic review of literature and include a fear of nature exhibited by students and teachers, teachers’ lack of confidence and capability is using outdoor spaces for learning across learning areas, and a shortage of resources, leadership, administration support and professional learning for teachers that would support the effective use of outdoor learning spaces. The Discussion and conclusion draw together themes in the findings and highlight the positive relationship between the use of outdoor learning spaces and the effective shaping of adolescent student learning experiences.Thesis (MTeach) -- University of Adelaide, School of Education, 201

Militaries, finance, and (in)security

This essay points to some of the ways that militaries are focused on money and economics, and addresses what this means for understanding the entanglements of security and finance. We cannot think about security in the contemporary moment without also thinking about militaries and war, and it is only by addressing how military power engages money and finance that can we better understand how insecurity is enacted