The Spiritual Nature of the Italian Renaissance

This study seeks to investigate the influence of faith in the emergence and development of the Italian Renaissance, in both the artwork and writing of the major artists and thinkers of the day, and the impact that new expressions of faith had on the viewing public. While the Renaissance is often labeled as a secular movement by modern scholars, this interpretation is largely due to the political motives of the Medici family who dominated Florence as the center of this artistic rebirth, on and off again throughout the period. On close examination, the philosophical and creative undercurrents of the movement were much more complex. The thinkers of the era would often place Greco-Roman philosophers in the context of their Christian era and use their wisdom in addition to, rather than superseding, church and biblical authority, embracing figures like Virgil and Augustine in concert rather than opposition. These Christian humanists saw their work as a way to engage humanity in a quest for knowledge in ever expanding ways, but still with an undercurrent of reflection on the role of the divine. Spiritual inquiries of Dante, Lorenzo Valla, and Petrarch in written works are similarly manifested in the visual arts by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarotti, and Raphael Sanzio. These ‘big three’ painters of the Renaissance portrayed their individual Christian ideas through their own writings, sketchbooks, and all forms of artistic expressions, many of which are evaluated in this paper. Finally, the transition of art to a scale inviting the viewer to experience it personally marked a vital change. The shift from divine proportions to more naturalistic and relatable art also logically harmonizes with the mindset of the broader Renaissance movement. This paper seeks to examine the depth and complexity of key Renaissance figures and how concepts of Christian faith and spirituality translated into their works

Revitalizing the One-Shot Instruction Session Using Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) provides the theoretical framework for a learner-centered active instructional experience that relies on collaboration, critical thinking, and hands-on interaction with resources. When used in a one-shot session, PBL challenges the instruction librarian to strengthen and renew their pedagogical skills. Sessions are lively and provide the opportunity for students and faculty to experience library instruction in a new and dynamic way. PBL and information literacy are ideal partners with limitless possibilities for enhanced library instruction

The spectrum initiative : affirmative action in the library profession

In 1998, the American Library Association realized its long-awaited dream, a major diversity initiative, the Spectrum Scholarship, which would address the rapidly changing ethnic and cultural environment of the nation. The Scholarship means that affirmative action can produce significant positive changes over time, not just one life, but in the larger communities that touch all our lives

Virgil and the Elegiac Sensibility

published or submitted for publicatio

Crafting a Campus Sustainability Action Plan: A Grassroots Approach

In recent decades, colleges and universities have taken a leadership role in developing institution-based Sustainability Action Plans (SAPs). A SAP includes a summation of past achievements, current initiatives, and the prioritized goals and implementation strategies for future action in terms of promoting environmental sustainability. These plans can also serve as pedagogical devices that teach students, staff and faculty important lessons of intentional living, global citizenship, and environmental responsibility. While many plans are adopted as top-down initiatives, there is great value in finding ways to engage the entire campus community in such endeavors at the grassroots level. This project documents a ground-up approach to developing a SAP at Gettysburg College, a liberal arts institution in Pennsylvania. Consisting of three phases, the project began with an assessment of current sustainability accomplishments as detailed in ASHE’s Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) data base. The second stage included an investigation of recent SAPs adopted by peer institutions and work by the college’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, President’s Office and student groups to develop and implement as campus survey on potential sustainability priorities. Finally, a series of focus groups consisting of various campus constituencies provided input for crafting a final draft SAP, which was then offered to the campus community for a second round of review. This bottom-up approach helped to cultivate grassroots ownership of the resulting SAP, leading to a greater likelihood of successful implementation. This project may serve as a useful model for other liberal arts institutions

Evaluation of the Program Delivery of Every Women\u27s Life in Virginia

Introduction: Among women, breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death. Although technology advances have improved survival rates for breast cancer overall, improvements have not been universally experienced by all socioeconomic and racial groups. Known determinants of breast cancer care disparities include socioeconomic status, race, age, and social support. As a part of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990 and with the help of CDC funding, the Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (BCCEDP) or Every Woman’s Life (EWL) was created. EWL provides breast cancer screening to female VA residents between the ages of 18 and 64 who lack health insurance and fall at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine if delays in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, within the VDH program EWL, differs based on sociodemographic characteristics and/ or regional location. Methods: From its inception to July 2008, 705 women received a breast cancer diagnosis through the EWL program. For these 705 cases prevalence and crude odds ratios were calculated for both diagnosis and treatment delays for all of the demographic variables along with 95% confidence intervals. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated for sociodemographic variables against screening to diagnosis delays and diagnosis to treatment disparities along with 95% confidence intervals. Results: According to the crude odds ratios more women who fall into the other category of race experienced diagnosis delays (OR=2.28 [1.11, 4.67]), but they were more likely to receive treatment in a timely manner (OR=0.29 [0.11, 0.79]). Women living alone were also more likely to experience diagnosis delays (OR=1.49 [1.10, 3.02]). Hispanic women were more likely to receive treatment in a more timely manner than non-Hispanic women (OR=0.21 [0.05, 0.81]). Also, women being treated in any other region than northern VA were more likely to experience treatment delays. However, according to the adjusted odds ratios, the only significant timing delay was the one experienced more often by women in the other race category. Conclusion: The research indicates known indicators of disparities within cancer care as socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, and social support. The findings of this study indicate that the only significant indicator of disparity within the Every Women’s Life program is race. Although, African-American women were just as likely to receive timely diagnosis and treatment as white women in the program, it was the combined groups of Asian, American Indian, and other women that were more likely to experience diagnosis, but not treatment, delays. The fact that no other significant indicators of disparities were found within EWL indicates a success of the program, as EWL is targeting those women that would have otherwise been missed by the system

Empty Rivers: The Decline of River Herring and the Need to Reduce Mid-Water Trawl Bycatch

Examines the effects of industrial mid-water trawlers on river herring populations along the East Coast and makes recommendations for how to protect herring stocks

His Dollar ? Her Dollar ? Their Dollar: The Effects of Couples' Money Management Systems on Union Dissolution and Women's Labor Force Participation

Most analyses of time and resource allocation in couple households ignore what couples do with their money, assuming that money is “absolutely fungible, qualitatively neutral, infinitely divisible, [and] entirely homogeneous” (Zelizer 1994). If, instead, couples’ money management sets the agenda for household bargaining and serves as a mechanism by which couples “do gender”, we should expect that what couples do with money at an earlier period will have an independent effect on subsequent allocative outcomes. Using three waves of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing, I find that the money management system a couple uses at the 12-month survey is a significant predictor of both union dissolution and women’s labor force participation at the 30-month survey, net of other predictors of these outcomes.