Social Class and the Stubbornness of Family Myths: How Nonbeliever and Pagan Parents Cope with Intrusions on Parenting by Proselytizing Christian Family Members in the U.S. Bible Belt

Family scholars have documented how powerful institutions intrude upon marginalized parents. Yet, few have examined the effect that intrusion on parenting takes on a more intimate level. Guided by insights from theories of emotion management and family inequality, I compare how two religiously marginalized groups in the Bible Belt cope with a ubiquitous experience they face as parents—unwelcomed proselytizing by Christian family members. Based on participant-observation and forty in-depth interviews, I document nonbeliever and Pagan parents’ experiences with proselytizing by Christian family members to be common, intrusive, and often perceived as potentially harmful to children. Failing to enforce desired boundaries between children and proselytizers, many parents resort to constructing narratives of equality to describe a condition of inequality. They do so by claiming a “we just don’t talk about religion” arrangement. This narrative, though seemingly equitable, serves as a family myth, obscuring painful truths about power and inequality. Nonbeliever and Pagan parents differ in their reliance on this rhetoric. While nonbeliever parents cling to the family myth as an emotion management device, Pagans more readily acknowledge the “we just don’t talk about religion” strategy as more fiction than fact. I analyze how differences in social class explain nonbelievers’ and Pagans’ differing levels of commitment to this family myth. I place this phenomenon within the culture of Christian hegemony in the Bible Belt, where proselytizing is normative and prevailing norms of privatization within parenting are overridden by a culture of evangelism

The Role of the Elementary Principal in Building Relational Trust with Low-Income Families

Students in schools across the country are failing to meet academic standards. School leaders are responsible for solving the problem and must search for ways to help all students learn and improve academic achievement. Although copious studies have been devoted to exploring the benefits of and barriers to family involvement and engagement in schools, very few have deconstructed the direct role of principals in family involvement in school. The purpose of this study was to explore how elementary principals in low income, elementary schools in the southeastern U.S. use elements of relational trust in family involvement efforts. Grounded in cultural study and critical theory research traditions, and informed by symbolic interactionism, the study was guided by an overarching question and was supported by three sub-questions. After a thorough review of relevant literature including the topics of family involvement, trust, and leadership practices, a phenomenological study was conducted to answer the research questions focused on the perceptions of current principals of low income, Red Carpet award winning elementary schools in South Carolina regarding their role in building trust with families. The study consisted of conducting face-to-face interviews of ten (10) purposefully sampled participants using a structured interview protocol consisting of fifteen (15) questions and review of artifacts. Thorough and extensive analysis of the data revealed themes and sub themes. Principal perceptions provided thick, rich descriptions allowing the researcher to support the goals of the study. Principals defined family-school trust as providing a safe comfortable place that is inclusive of all stakeholders and inspires a sense of confidence in the principal and school. Principals held the following beliefs: trust plays an important role in family school trust; certain strategies are the most productive for working with low income families to build trust and improve involvement; competently acting in the best interest of families and having high academic expectations demonstrates leadership best practices; and finally, principals believe they have a moral imperative to ensure that children in their care are receiving the quality education they deserve. Recommendations include suggestions for future research in the area of the principals\u27 role in trust building for family involvement

Examining a Ripple Effect: Do Spouses’ Behavior Changes Predict Each Other’s Weight Loss?

Background. Including spouses in obesity treatment has been found to promote weight loss. We assessed whether spouses’ diet and activity changes impacted each other’s weight loss when both members attended an active weight loss program (TOGETHER) or only the primary participant attended treatment (ALONE). Methods. Heterosexual couples () enrolled in an 18-month randomized controlled weight loss trial were weighed and completed measures of dietary intake and physical activity at baseline and 6 months. We conducted dyadic data analyses using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Results. Participants’ weight loss was not predicted by their partners’ behavior changes. However, partners’ weight loss was predicted by their participants’ changes in calorie and fat intake. When partners were coupled with a participant who did not reduce their own calorie and fat intake as much, these partners had higher weight loss when treated in the TOGETHER group but lower weight loss when they were untreated in the ALONE group. There were no reciprocal effects found with physical activity changes. Conclusions. Direct treatment had the greatest impact on participants and partners who were treated. Untreated partners’ weight losses were positively impacted by their spouses’ dietary changes, suggesting a ripple effect from treated spouses to their untreated partners

The Myth of the 50-Minute Epiphany: #MeToo and Implications for Teaching

Because university campuses are microcosms of broader political and social climates, the increasingly polarized climates outside universities can permeate the classroom, challenging faculty who teach topics characterized by controversy and discomfort. We conducted a lesson study project at a college in the southeastern United States in three first-year courses from different disciplines to examine how the broader tensions of the #MeToo movement emerged and affected a class activity focused on gender. We sought to understand our students’ responses to a moment of discomfort generated by discussions of sexual roles, consent, and assault—issues that are relevant in both this cultural moment and in the lives of many first-year college students. We observed responses ranging from affirmation to resistance in what felt at times like our own failure. Without this collaboration, each of us may have been left with a narrower view of what the students learned and an incomplete sense of our own work. What began as an investigation into students’ transformative learning experiences ended as a transformative experience in our own understanding of the acts of teaching and the complexities of student learning. Click here to read the corresponding ISSOTL blog post

Variation in host home range size decreases rabies vaccination effectiveness by increasing the spatial spread of rabies virus

Animal movement influences the spatial spread of directly transmitted wildlife disease through host-host contact structure. Wildlife disease hosts vary in home range- associated foraging and social behaviours, which may increase the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. The consequences of variation in host home range movement and space use on wildlife disease dynamics are poorly understood, but could help to predict disease spread and determine more effective disease management strategies. We developed a spatially explicit individual-based model to examine the effect of spatiotemporal variation in host home range size on the spatial spread rate, persistence and incidence of rabies virus (RABV) in raccoons (Procyon lotor). We tested the hypothesis that variation in home range size increases RABV spread and decreases vaccination effectiveness in host populations following pathogen invasion into a vaccination zone. We simulated raccoon demography and RABV dynamics across a range of magnitudes and variances in weekly home range size for raccoons. We examined how variable home range size influenced the relative effectiveness of three components of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) programmes targeting raccoons—timing and frequency of bait delivery, width of the ORV zone and proportion of hosts immunized. Variability in weekly home range size increased RABV spread rates by 1.2-fold to 5.2-fold compared to simulations that assumed a fixed home range size. More variable host home range sizes decreased relative vaccination effectiveness by 71% compared to less variable host home range sizes under conventional vaccination conditions. We found that vaccination timing was more influential for vaccination effectiveness than vaccination frequency or vaccination zone width. Our results suggest that variation in wildlife home range movement behaviour increases the spatial spread and incidence of RABV. Our vaccination results underscore the importance of prioritizing individual-level space use and movement data collection to understand wildlife disease dynamics and plan their effective control and elimination

Motivation and Hesitancies in Obtaining the COVID-19 Vaccine—A Cross-Sectional Study in Norway, USA, UK, and Australia

Background: Vaccinations protect the public against serious diseases or death; however, some individuals are hesitant in obtaining them. We aim to contribute to the understanding of the challenges of vaccination roll-out by examining the motivations, hesitancies, and their associated factors, in obtaining the COVID-19 vaccines two years into the pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional online surveys were conducted in Norway, the USA, the UK, and Australia (N = 1649). The participants self-reported whether they had obtained one of the COVID-19 vaccines. Those who had obtained a vaccine reported the reason for their motivation, and those who had not obtained a vaccine reported the reason for their hesitancies. Results: More than 80% of the total sample obtained a COVID-19 vaccine because of public health recommendations and trusted that it was safe. Among those who had not obtained one, the most frequent reason was concerns about side effects. Most who obtained the vaccine reported that they believed in science, but many of those who had not obtained one reported distrust. Among those who had not obtained a vaccine, reports of distrust in policies and science were frequent. Concerns about side effects were more common in males and those with lower education, and those living in rural or remote areas. Conclusion: People who endorsed the vaccine believed that the vaccine reduces the risk of illness, protects the health of others, and had trust in scientific vaccination research. Conversely, the most frequent reason for vaccine hesitancy was concerns about side effects, followed by distrust in healthcare and science. These findings could inform public health strategies that aim to increase vaccination rates

Factors Associated with Trust in Public Authorities Among Adults in Norway, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia Two Years after the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the levels of trust in information provided by public authorities 2 years after the COVID-19 outbreak and to examine factors associated with trust. Methods: Using a cross-national approach, online survey data was collected from four Western countries—Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Differences in reports of very low or low levels of trust were examined by age, gender, area of residence, and the highest level of education in the four countries. Results: Levels of trust in the public authorities’ information were highest among Norwegian respondents and lowest among U.K. respondents. Lower levels of trust in public authorities were found among males, individuals living in rural or remote areas, and those with lower levels of education. Conclusion: The outcomes contribute to knowledge regarding differences between socio-demographic groups and countries regarding the levels of trust people have in public authorities’ information concerning a crisis, such as COVID-19. Strategies to promote trust in societies in different countries could consider these socio-demographic differences.publishedVersio

Contemporary Children’s Literature in Education Courses: Diverse, Complex, and Critical

Contemporary Children’s Literature in Education Courses: Diverse, Complex, and Critical While research has established the importance of children’s literature in classrooms, the inclusion of children’s literature courses in teacher preparation programs increasingly faces resistance. A team of children’s literature and literacy education scholars conducted a national survey of children’s literature courses in P-8 teacher certification programs to better understand the role these courses currently serve. Survey questions centered on course types, formats, descriptions, goals/objectives, readings, and assignments. Initial analysis focused on a comparison of undergraduate and dual-degree programs, and further analysis of a subset of undergraduate courses involved cross-data comparison between course descriptions, course objectives/goals, and course assignment descriptions. Cross-program analyses largely revealed many commonalities between undergraduate and dual-degree programs. In-depth cross-data comparison resulted in two key findings: (1) significant attention to diversity in courses, and (2) striking complexity and volume of assignments requiring students to understand, analyze, and integrate quality children’s literature into classrooms. Overall, the survey results offer a compelling argument for the centrality of children’s literature courses, particularly those that focus on cultural diversity, in teacher education programs

Accounting for animal movement improves vaccination strategies against wildlife disease in heterogeneous landscapes

Oral baiting is used to deliver vaccines to wildlife to prevent, control, and eliminate infectious diseases. A central challenge is how to spatially distribute baits to maximize encounters by target animal populations, particularly in urban and suburban areas where wildlife such as raccoons (Procyon lotor) are abundant and baits are delivered along roads. Methods from movement ecology that quantify movement and habitat selection could help to optimize baiting strategies by more effectively targeting wildlife populations across space. We developed a spatially explicit, individual-based model of raccoon movement and oral rabies vaccine seroconversion to examine whether and when baiting strategies that match raccoon movement patterns perform better than currently used baiting strategies in an oral rabies vaccination zone in greater Burlington, Vermont, USA. Habitat selection patterns estimated from locally radio-collared raccoons were used to parameterize movement simulations. We then used our simulations to estimate raccoon population rabies seroprevalence under currently used baiting strategies (actual baiting) relative to habitat selection-based baiting strategies (habitat baiting). We conducted simulations on the Burlington landscape and artificial landscapes that varied in heterogeneity relative to Burlington in the proportion and patch size of preferred habitats. We found that the benefits of habitat baiting strongly depended on the magnitude and variability of raccoon habitat selection and the degree of landscape heterogeneity within the baiting area. Habitat baiting improved seroprevalence over actual baiting for raccoons characterized as habitat specialists but not for raccoons that displayed weak habitat selection similar to radiocollared individuals, except when baits were delivered off roads where preferred habitat coverage and complexity was more pronounced. In contrast, in artificial landscapes with either more strongly juxtaposed favored habitats and/or higher proportions of favored habitats, habitat baiting performed better than actual baiting, even when raccoons displayed weak habitat preferences and where baiting was constrained to roads. Our results suggest that habitat selection-based baiting could increase raccoon population seroprevalence in urban–suburban areas, where practical, given the heterogeneity and availability of preferred habitat types in those areas. Our novel simulation approach provides a flexible framework to test alternative baiting strategies in multiclass landscapes to optimize bait-distribution strategies

Retreat, Adapt, Defend - Urban Design Response to Sea Level Rise in 5 Coastal Georgia Communities

Information on this record corrected per JIRA ticket LDC-1043, 11/16/2021This studio is part of a Georgia Conservancy Blueprints initiative assessing impacts of climate change and sea level rise for Coastal Georgia. The studio was organized into five teams to address issues five cities: Savannah, Tybee Island, Brunswick, Darien and St. Marys. Student teams visited each city, meeting with local officials and leaders of non-profit organization who were involved in adapting to climate change.The Georgia Conservanc