Confronting Becky: An Autocritographic Examination of White Women\u27s Gendered Racism in Higher Education

This study examines how I, as a white woman social justice educator at a southeastern public university, practiced gendered racism and was supported in these practices by administrators at my institution. White women have been socialized throughout history to use our gender subordination as a defense when confronted with our racism. I built a theoretical framework with intersectionality as a baseline to investigate of how white women are complicit in gendered racism. I then intertwined idealized objectification standards and racial gatekeeping to reveal how white women use practices such as innocence, embodying goodness, and protecting white men, to gain and maintain power and restrict access from People of Color. I used autocritography, a self-study methodology focused on the telling and retelling of stories, to examine how my idealized objectified practices protect and insulate me from addressing my active racism. Through five tellings detailing an event in my role as a social justice educator, I explained how one of my programs came under scrutiny and revision from upper administrators at the institution. Using dramaturgical and theoretical framework-based coding, I found three areas where my practices helped me maintain my reputation as a good white woman. I also discovered ways I faced consequences for not upholding this reputation. I then discuss how these findings revealed the everyday subtle ways that white supremacy maintains its presence and operation in our society as well as the way it is tied to our norms and expectations. I also outlined how racism is practiced at all times and that, if white women want to make change, we must let go of our reputations as good white women. I finish with a discussion of how this study relates to and further supports studies regarding the negative experiences of People of Color in higher education spaces. Finally, I connect these findings to implications for students, staff, and faculty both inside and outside of the classroom

Remains

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Paleoecology of Twin Cays: interpretation of palynological, isotopic, and stomatal proxies in a peat core from Belize

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005Reconstructions of Holocene climate from numerous mid- and high-latitude sites have identified millennial-scale cool and arid intervals at 8,200 and 4,200 yrs. B.P. The global nature of these events can only be established by examination of Holocene climate records from low latitude sites. The Central American island of West Twin Cays was chosen as the study location due to its thick peat deposits, which allow for the reconstruction of Holocene vegetation, sea level, and climate for the Belize coastal region. Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove) dominated the island's vegetation since its formation 8,200 cal. yrs. B.P. Alternating periods dominated by dwarf or tall R. mangle reflect changes in phosphorus and nitrogen availability. Heightened Myrsine-type pollen concentrations between 6,300 and 4,200 cal. yrs. B.P. suggests lower sea levels and drier climates. Regional warming accompanied by increased precipitation in the middle to late Holocene is recorded by an increase in exotic Pinus concentrations. These vegetation shifts correlate with regional Central American climate changes and westem Atlantic sea level shifts at 8,200 and 4,200 cal. yrs. B.P. More importantly, these data link Central American changes to worldwide climate events

The Feast

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Cargivers\u27 Pain Recognition in Older Adults with Chronic Pain and Dementia

Problem: Older adults with pain and dementia often are cared for by informal caregivers. Persons with dementia may not always be able to verbally communicate when they experience pain and inaccurate pain identification can result in adverse outcomes. Informal caregivers, typically spouses/family members, are tasked with accurately identifying pain for care recipients that cannot verbally communicate their pain, making their assessment skills and use of pain relieving strategies important. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of an informal caregiver pain management intervention (education about pain and pain management strategies and training of how to use a pain assessment a structured scale; PASS) when caring for older adults with dementia and arthritis. Methods: The design was a single-group design with two intervention sessions and a two week follow-up. Informal caregivers of care recipients with arthritis and moderate/severe dementia were recruited from an existing memory assessment disorder clinic database. Measures included daily diary for recording structured pain scale scores, pain intensity scores, pain management strategies and care recipient negative behaviors. Additional standard instrument measured care recipient negative behaviors, and caregiver confidence and knowledge in pain assessment and management. An exit interview about using PASS was done. Results: A total of four informal caregiver/patient dyads were enrolled and received the PASS intervention. All four caregivers completed the study and used the structured pain assessment daily except for 4 days. Pain intensity on average was mild 1.8± 1.9. Descriptively, care recipients had low pain scores and caregivers used few nonpharmacological pain management strategies. After the PASS intervention caregivers reported fewer care recipients’ negative behaviors and these behaviors were less bothersome to caregivers. Caregivers’ confidence and knowledge in assessing and managing pain was slightly higher after the PASS intervention. Conclusions: Informal caregivers and care recipients may benefit from pain management interventions. The current study was a first step in examining the feasibility of informal caregivers learning more about pain management including using a structured assessment pain tool as part of pain management. A larger study is needed to further refine the PASS intervention and examine its effect on caregiver and care recipient outcomes

KOREAN DANCE AND PANSORI IN D.C.: INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS, THE BODY, AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY AT A KOREAN PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO

This thesis is the result of seventeen months' field work as a dance and pansori student at the Washington Korean Dance Company studio. It examines the studio experience, focusing on three levels of interaction. First, I describe participants' interactions with each other, which create a strong studio community and a women's "Korean space" at the intersection of culturally hybrid lives. Second, I examine interactions with the physical challenges presented by these arts and explain the satisfaction that these challenges can generate using Csikszentmihalyi's theory of "optimal experience" or "flow." Third, I examine interactions with discourse on the meanings and histories of these arts. I suggest that participants can find deeper significance in performing these arts as a result of this discourse, forming intellectual and emotional bonds to imagined people of the past and present. Finally, I explain how all these levels of interaction can foster in the participant an increasingly rich and complex identity

Using Geographic Information System Technology to Identify Environmental Education Field Sites

Natural resources Extension educators use outdoor environmental education sites to increase public knowledge of environmental issues, but locating appropriate sites can be time-consuming. Geographic information system (GIS) software and geospatial data can help Extension professionals choose such sites more efficiently. We describe our use of GIS technology to select a natural resources field day site in Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama. We used site characteristics such as forest type, road access, and slope to narrow potential sites from 94 possibilities to the two best options. Sources of free and low-cost geospatial data also are discussed

Experimental Simulation of Volatile Organic Contributions to Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

We present the results of a new simulation of the atmospheric entry heating experienced by extraterrestrial dust particles, quantifying their volatile loss into the early Earth atmosphere and characterising their organic volatile components