Over State Lines: Somewhere Between

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Melodie Past on January 20, 2005

Over State Lines: Somewhere Between

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Melodie Past on January 20, 2005

Different Countries, Same Homophobia and Transphobia: A Cross-Cultural Survey of So-Called Conversion Therapy Practices and the Move Toward Legislative Protections for the United States LGBTQ+ Community

So-called “conversion therapy” consists of dangerous practices that inflict detrimental, long-lasting effects on its victims. As a form of sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression change efforts, conversion therapy is fostered by global homophobia and transphobia. Despite formal public rejection and scientific discreditation, conversion therapy providers across the world continue to target LGBTQ+ individuals, predominately under the guise of offering health care services or obeying religious practices. The following piece compares conversion therapy in three countries with recently introduced LGBTQ+ legislation––(1) Ghana; (2) Canada; and (3) the United States (U.S.)–––in order to identify factors furthering conversion therapy and analyze how these factors contribute to, or hinder, national conversion therapy bans. This Note argues that conversion therapy is a pervasive global problem that must be banned through national law, and the proposed U.S. federal legislation banning conversion therapy must be amended to include all forms of conversion therapy practices and exclude religious exemptions

Island Hopping, Liquid Materiality , and the Mediterranean Cinema of Emanuele Crialese

The history of the “mare nostrum” is a long history of the entanglement of human and more-than-human actors. Three films directed by the Italian Emanuele Crialese, Respiro: Grazia’s Island (2002), Golden Door (2006), and Terraferma (2011), recount stories of encounters and collisions on Mediterranean islands, where the challenges of political, cultural, and ecological cohabitation are intensified. Drawing on theories of material ecocriticism, this article argues that in this trio of films, the Mediterranean sea is not simply a picturesque liquid border. It is instead a generative space that participates in the very process of constituting the narratives, even while the films add another layer to the rich geo-archaeological palimpsest of the region.La historia del “mare nostrum” es una larga historia la implicación de actores humanos y más-que-humanos. Tres películas dirigidas por el italiano Emanuele Crialese, Respiro (2002), Nuovomondo (2006, Nuevo mundo), y Terraferma (2011), cuentan historias de encuentros y colisiones en islas mediterráneas, donde las dificultades de la convivencia política, cultural, y ecológica se intensifican. Apelando las teorías de la ecocrítica material, este artículo sostiene que en estas tres películas el mar Mediterráneo no es solamente una frontera líquida pintoresca, sino un espacio generativo que participa en el proceso de constituir las narrativas. Por su parte, las películas añaden una capa al palimpsesto geo-arqueológico de la región

Itinerant ecocriticism, Southern thought, and Italian cinema on foot

This short essay explores an impulse guiding Italian ecocriticism, and also a recurrent trend in Italian cinema: that of thinking on foot. Drawing on the work of sociologist and philosopher Franco Cassano, I consider why contemporary philosophers seek to understand Italy at a pace that works strategically (sometimes defiantly) against petroleum-fueled speed. Three recent Italian films that proceed on foot (“Basilicata Coast to Coast” [2010], “La lunga strada gialla” [2016], and “Il cammino dell’Appia antica” [2016]) attempt to reanimate southern Italian landscapes as “vehicles of identity, solidarity, and development” (Cassano xxxvi). Each film represents a socio-political project enabled by its walking pace; each, in turn, has the potential to unveil how these projects depend on the naturalcultural health of the landscapes being traversed. Against the “slow violence” being perpetrated on Italian landscapes—a slow violence of toxic contamination at the hand of ecomafias, of the cementification of agricultural landsand delicate coasts—and against the speed of turbocapitalism, thinking on foot enables modes of ethics and aesthetics simultaneously attuned to historical depth and ecological crisis. In this view, Italy is no longer a “bel paese,” but rather an ecocultural landscape in which the seeds for meaningful change are deeply embedded.Este breve artículo explora uno de los conceptos que está impulsando la ecocrítica italiana, así como una de las tendencias más recurrentes en el cine italiano: el acto de pensar a pie. Basándose en el trabajo del sociólogo y filósofo Franco Cassano, se consideran las razones por las cuales los filósofos contemporáneos buscan entender Italia con un ritmo que funciona estratégicamente (a veces desafiantemente) frente la una noción de velocidad alimentada por el petróleo. Usando breves ejemplos de tres películas italianas recientes en las que se “piensa a pie” ("Basilicata Coast to Coast" [2010], "La lunga strada gialla" [2016] e "Il cammino dell'Appia antica" [2016]) se observan los intentos de reanimar los paisajes del sur de Italia "vehículos de identidad, solidaridad y desarrollo” (Cassano xxxvi). Cada película representa un proyecto sociopolítico habilitado por el ritmo de su marcha; cada uno, a su vez, tiene el potencial de revelar cómo estos proyectos dependen de la salud cultural-natural de los paisajes que se atraviesan. Contra la "violencia lenta" que se perpetra contra los paisajes italianos (una violencia lenta de contaminación tóxica a manos de las ecomafias, de la cementación de tierras agrícolas y costas delicadas) y contra la velocidad del turbocapitalismo, pensar a pie permite modalidades de ética y estética simultáneamente compenetradas con la profundidad histórica y la crisis ecológica. Desde este punto de vista, Italia ya no es un "bel paese," sino más bien un paisaje ecocultural en el que están profundamente arraigadas las semillas para un cambio significativo

Navigating Shallow Waters::Symbolic Violence and its Implications for Education for Sustainable Development in Neoliberal Japan

In the face of ongoing ecological, economic, and social concerns, the UN’s sustainable development framework emerges as a map for securing a brighter tomorrow. Yet, against this backdrop, the neoliberal values of deregulation, open marketisation, and individualisation constrain sustainable development outcomes. Building on previous research conducted in Japan, a nation positioned at the forefront of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this ‘think piece’ seeks to offer a critical examination of its implementation and positionality within Japan’s education system, specifically the imbalance between public and private educational providers. Drawing on Bourdieu’s symbolic violence, we seek to shed light on the social norms (in this case, skill-based human capital development) replicated through education, the long-standing power structures reinforcing them, and finally, the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in terms of access to attaining covetable neoliberal skills. The goal of this piece is not to reject the altruistic good of ESD. On the contrary, through this analysis, we hope to generate greater awareness by engendering a more meaningful and transformative ESD aligning with sustainability as a shared public good. Consequently, we call for more equitable ESD available to all students, regardless of educational setting

Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF)-I and -11 and IGFBinding Proteins-l, -2, and -3 in Children and Adolescents with Diabetes Mellitus: Correlation with Metabolic Control and Height Attainment.

The putative effects of diabetes and metabolic control on circulating levels of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and their binding proteins (IGFBPs) remain controversial. In the present study, serum levels of IGF-I and IGF-II and IGFBP-1, -2, and -3 were measured in 58 patients (age, 0.8-17 yr) with treated (51 subjects) or untreated (7 subjects) insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and were compared with the levels in normal subjects. In the untreated patients IGF-I and IGF-II were decreased as compared with the healthy controls. In the treated diabetics IGF-I and IGF-II were reduced; IGFBP-2 (only in prepubertal subjects) and IGFBP-3 were increased. Furthermore, age-adjusted values of IGF-I, IGF-II, and IGFBP-3 were lower in prepubertal than in pubertal patients. Regression analysis revealed a negative correlation between hemoglobin (Hb)A1c and standard deviation scores (SDS) of IGF-I and a positive association between HbA1c and IGFBP-1 SDS or IGFBP-2 SDS. In the treated patients HbA1c was positively related to IGFBP-1 SDS and IGFBP-2 SDS when applying simple regression analysis and to IGFBP-2 SDS when using a multiple regression model. Strong correlations were observed between height SDS and IGF-I SDS, IGF-II SDS, and IGFBP-3 SDS in prepubertal subjects who had had IDDM for at least 2 yr, but not in adolescents. Such correlations have also been found in healthy children and adolescents. In conclusion; 1) IDDM is associated with alterations of the IGF-IGFBP system, which are partially accounted for by differences in metabolic control and pubertal status; 2) the lower plasma concentrations of serum IGF-I may play a role in the pathogenesis of growth impairment of poorly controlled prepubertal, but not pubertal, children and adolescents with IDDM; and 3) in addition, a potential role of the altered IGF-IGFBP system for the development of diabetic late complications is hypothesized

Can a home country benefit from FDI? A theoretical analysis

The effects of outward FDI on home country’s growth remain an open question. The growth of outward FDI has renewed this attention. By allowing for endogenous decisions of firms on both whether to conduct FDI and whether to flow capital returns back to the home country, we have found several interesting results. First, as long as the probability of conducting FDI is positive, a higher proportion of entrepreneurs may harm economic growth of the home country in short-run and long-run. The ambiguous effects of transaction costs and MRS between domestic and foreign consumption on the home country’s economic growth result from the role of financial intermediaries. If the effect via inflow probability dominates, conducting FDI in a host country with a more liberalized capital account, or with a higher capital return rate may promote the home country’s economic growth rate. This is consistent with the findings in the outward FDI in European Union since 1970s

The Racketeering of International Oil Trade: A Synergy of Economic Growth in Nigeria

The study examined the impact of international trade on economic growth in Nigeria The specific objectives of the study were to investigate the impact of oil export on the economic growth in Nigeria to investigate the impact of oil import on the economic growth in Nigeria to investigate the impact of non-oil export on the economic growth in Nigeria to investigate the impact of non-oil import on the economic growth in Nigeria Secondary data collected from the statistical bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria was used The unit root test result was conducted using Augmented Dickey-Fuller technique which showed that all the variables were stationary though at different levels The Johansen co-integration result revealed that all the variables in the model have a long run relationship The estimated result disclosed that there is a negative and insignificant relationship between oil import and economic growth in Nigeria positive and insignificant relationship between oil export and economic growth in Nigeria positive and significant relationship between non-oil import and economic growth in Nigeria positive and significant relationship between non- oil export and economic growth in Nigeri

A Microscopic View of the Exotic Influence of Fiscal Policy on Some Selected Macroeconomic Variables in Nigeria

The paper examines the impact of fiscal policy on certain macroeconomic variables in Nigeria from 1980 to 2015 We used Government Expenditure Total tax revenue Unemployment rate and Gross Domestic Product GDP variables data from CBN statistical bulletins Our econometric analysis used was the Ordinary Least Square OLS and cointegration The OLS result revealed that there is a significant relationship between government expenditure and unemployment rate as well as economic growth in Nigeria but there was no substantial relationship between government tax revenue and unemployment in Nigeria as well as no serious relationship existed between the government tax revenue and economic growth in Nigeria The results of the co- integration text revealed a long-run relationship among the variables and the study suggests that government should implement appropriate fiscal policies to stimulate the economy and also find answers to reduce the unemployment rate use necessary financial policy tools to fine-tune the economy in terms of government spending and taxation to enhance the economic growth of Nigeri