Golden in Glass

The hymn chosen for this glass piece is “Jerusalem the Golden” which was written by Bernard of Cluny in the 12th century and set to music by John Neale in the 19th century. The original tune given to the hymn is known as “Ewing” and was written by Alexander Ewing. Although this hymn is not used in all hymnals and is not as widely known as hymns like “Amazing Grace,” it is a lovely, hopeful one that paints a picture of the wonders of heaven. Hymn singing is an important part of the Christian church service and has been for hundreds of years. Hymns are powerful and moving while at the same time helping the congregation both learn and remember the Word of God. Similarly, stained glass windows have also been a part of the church as a way to help people visually see and remember scripture since about the 10th century. The objective of Golden in Glass is to combine the traditional hymn and stained glass window into a new form that also draws inspiration from the icons and symbols used in the church for just as long. The final glass piece is made up of sixteen chords following the form of the first sixteen beats of the tune “Ewing” while the seven colors of colored glass represent the notes in the musical scale. The top glass piece of each chord holds one of the sixteen lines of text from the hymn along with an icon representing it

We live in a society: Violence and radicalization in the Internet Manosphere

In a world of incels, pick-up artists, and other Men’s Rights Activists, friction between the so-called Manosphere and contemporary feminist thought has led to documented violence with regards to American mass shootings. Starting with the violent outbursts of disaffected young men, I will work backwards to the point of contact between the man and the Manosphere. This piece seeks not to draw a connection between radical MRAs and violence – the mass shooters draw that connection themselves in their manifestos by outlining their dissatisfaction with society as it is, and particularly with what they perceive as a politically correct and anti-male society. As outsiders we purport to know the why of this violence, the motives of the actors. But this thesis seeks out the intrigue of the Manosphere from the members themselves, as influenced by neoliberal feminism and neoliberalism more generally. By examining both the rhetoric of MRA ideology and the feelings of the individual men who have participated in this community, we can discern why these radical movements appeal so strongly to men in particular and from where this discontent comes. Beyond that, I will lay a framework for a prescriptive approach toward remedying this discontent and, in the absence of its source being removed, diverting alienated men from the path of radicalism

Rational Creatures: Examining the Cat-Dog Divide in the Medieval World

The spiritual chasm of status that exists between man and beast is daily put to the test by the very beasts kept in our homes. Human beings have a long history of keeping animals for one reason or another, but it has only been recently that the concept of animals purely maintained for companionship has taken center stage. The Middle Ages in particular served as a transformative moment in the history of the “pet,” where not only was the role of the animal within man’s existence re-examined, but so, too, were the specific animals preferred by different cultures more solidly defined. As the old axiom of “man’s best friend” is so ubiquitous within the Christian consciousness today, so does Islam parallel this with the normalized presence of cats in urban centers like Istanbul – and the roots of this divergence can be found in the Medieval period. Pet ownership for the sake of companionship is at least demonstrated to be most common amongst the elites. Pets are far more likely to be used for their ability to aid humans, and any friendship the owner may take up with the animal is often regarded as incidental. Dogs can be utilized for their skills of hunting and tracking, something that would be more widely useful for the common man, or even for a Christian nobleman interested in hunting for sport. Cats, contrastingly, are primarily beneficial in terms of their ability to control rat populations, protecting not only food stores, but also expensive texts that may be chewed by them; furthermore, cats are notoriously independent and difficult to train.The preference for cats in the medieval Muslim world and dogs in the medieval Christian world can thus be explained not by differences in the religions or animals themselves, but rather by a complicated blend of factors ideological, political, and social in the respective environments

“It is not enough to be in one cage with one self”: The Poetic Subject, Incarceration, and Envisioning Abolition

The Beat poet Bob Kaufman was in many ways nearly destroyed by the state. Forcible electroshock therapy, repeated targeting by police, repeated brutalization by police, and frequent homelessness all threatened to snuff him out, but Kaufman refused to give in. He remained a political beacon of hope for his community throughout his life, asking those around him to envision a world where he could be free. Through his poems, through the poems of Etheridge Knight and Jimmy Santiago Baca, and through contemporary visions of abolition from Angela Davis and community organizers that become ever more relevant as the prison system continues to destroy its subjects, we can look towards a deeply necessary shift. Envisioning the world without prisons is foreign to many, perhaps even unimaginable. However, with the perspectives I will incorporate in this thesis, the necessity and beauty of envisioning abolition is clear

Standing Tall: U.S. Efforts at Democratizing Rural Japanese Women During the Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952

During the U.S. Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952, dismantling the political and cultural systems that were perceived to have led Japan to war was a primary goal. Democracy, a word that came to encompass much more than its standard definitions, was to be the replacement ideology and coupled with demilitarization. Through a survey of SCAP documents from Record Group 331 located in the National Archives, this paper examines the way in which varying concepts and meanings of democracy were promoted to rural Japanese women by U.S. Occupation forces. It also explores the ways in which Japanese farm women embraced, rejected, and/or modified the evolving ideas about democracy into their daily lives. While the impact of democracy - in all of its many guises - was not as powerful as Occupation members desired, it still had a definite effect on the way rural Japanese women thought about their society and on their daily lives

Attrition from an internet-based psychological intervention for erectile dysfunction : who is likely to drop out?

The current study evaluated the dropout rate from an internet-based treatment program for erectile dysfunction (ED), and determined reasons for attrition from this program. Only 12 of 40 treatment group men and 19 of 20 control group men completed the post-test measures. Reasons for the men being excluded or dropping out of the study are discussed. These reasons included medical conditions that contributed to their ED, the man\u27s partner not being interested in participating in the program, a lack of motivation from the man, or the time commitment being too demanding. <br /

Polygenic risk scores in Alzheimer’s disease: current applications and future directions

Genome-wide association studies have identified nearly 40 genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which are associated with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Due to the polygenicity of AD, polygenic risk scores (PRS) have shown high potential for AD risk prediction. PRSs have been shown to successfully discriminate between AD cases and controls achieving a prediction accuracy of up to 84% based on area under the receiver operating curve. The prediction accuracy in AD is higher compared with other complex genetic disorders. PRS can be restricted to SNPs which reside in biologically relevant gene-sets; the predictive value of these gene-sets in the general population is not as high as genome-wide PRS, but they may play an important role to identify mechanisms of disease development and inform biological experiments. Multiple methods are available to derive PRSs, such as selecting SNPs based on statistical evidence of association with the disease or using prior evidence for SNP selection. All methods have advantages, but PRS produced using different methodologies are often not comparable, and results should be interpreted with care. Similarly, this is true when PRS is based on different background populations. With the exponential growth in development of digital electronic devices it is easy to calculate an individual's disease risk using public databases. A major limitation for the utility of PRSs is that the risk score is sample and method dependent. Therefore, replicability and interpretability of PRS is an important issue. PRS can be used to determine the probability of developing disease which incorporates information about disease risk in the general population or in a specific AD risk group. It is essential to consult with genetic counselors to ensure genetic risk is communicated appropriately

Promoting Partnerships for Student Success: Lessons from the SSPIRE Initiative

The Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources and Education (SSPIRE) initiative aimed to increase the success of young, low-income, and academically underprepared California community college students by helping colleges strengthen their support services and better integrate these services with academic instruction. This report describes what the nine participating community colleges did to meet the goals of SSPIRE and offers lessons for other institutions drawn from MDRC's research on the initiative