“It’s About Whose Voices Matter”: Reflections on Insider/Outsider Status in Prison Classrooms

Based on the author’s experience of teaching on a higher education project in two English prisons - one for men aged 18-30 and one for women aged over 21 - the article considers how critical reflection on prison norms encourages authenticity and respect in the classroom. These elements provide a foundation for students to negotiate conflicting subject positions and meanings and build critical thinking skills. Both prisons and universities are risk averse and bound by structured approaches to risk and authority that may impact the development of such relationships. The author reflects on how conflicts and collaboration in both classrooms were mediated through the her status as a former prisoner, and how that offered opportunities to disrupt notions of expertise, authority and authenticity in productive - if sometimes uncomfortable - ways

The Art of Mourning

Panel: The Art of Mournin

Writing Sample

Includes excerpt from The Glass Eye, The Invisible Worm, Bat, What We Heard About the Americans, What We Heard About the Canadians, Honey, Delivery Room Under Renovation, Sheets, Waiting for the Biopsy Results, and Ways to Begin A Poem

A Structured Airway Clearance and Exercise Program to Improve Clinical Outcomes in Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that impairs mucus clearance in the lungs, causing chronic inflammation and recurrent infections. Several airway clearance modalities are recommended to improve or preserve lung function, including chest percussion and exercise. However, there is no clinical consensus on the best treatment regimen to maximize the effect of airway clearance therapies and exercise. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a structured order of exercise and airway clearance therapy improves lung function. Using a randomized study, we will evaluate the effectiveness of a structured regimen compared to a non-structured regimen by following lung function over one year. Upon completion, we expect the structured program will result in improved lung function when compared to the non-structured program. Our results may benefit cystic fibrosis patients by informing the adoption of structured exercise and airway clearance practices to improve lung function and quality of life

Fourteen Years of Silence: An Exploration of Intimate Partner Violence in the Jewish Community

With the background that Jewish women stay in abusive marriages twice as long as their non-Jewish American counterparts, we attempt to understand the religious and cultural factors that may inhibit Jewish women from leaving violent relationships, and examine Scriptural and Rabbinic texts as to Jewish beliefs regarding spousal violence. A variety of academic sources and primary scriptural texts were analyzed for religious and cultural attitudes towards Jewish intimate partner violence. Eight Jewish victims of spousal abuse, five Rabbis and seventeen community support workers were interviewed. Jewish women face a variety of unique issues with regard to how domestic violence is experienced. Issues of communal shame, fear of anti-Semitism, learned accommodation, community disapproval, divorce law and other cultural and religious factors act as barriers to leaving. Biblical, Talmudic, and Rabbinic texts, however, speak clearly against marital violence and support a community effort toward victim support. There are thus conflicts between actual Jewish religious doctrine, and the interpretation of Jewish values amongst Jewish community members. There are social and cultural barriers to Jewish women leaving their abusive relationships, but an analysis of religious doctrine offers a source of strength for women to leave. The onus is on the Jewish community to effect change by breaking the silence and renouncing abuse

Seasonal, synoptic, and intraseasonal variability of the West African monsoon

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.The simulation of the West African monsoon is examined in two coupled general circulation models (CGCMs). The first model is the standard Community Climate System Model (CCSM) which uses traditional parameterizations to represent convective processes. The second model is the superparameterized-CCSM (SP-CCSM), in which convective parameterizations have been replaced by embedding a two-dimensional cloud resolving model into each gridbox. Superparameterization is intended to improve simulation of the complex multiscale interactions that occur between the large-scale environment and clouds. Key features of West African climate are analyzed in both models including: the mean annual cycle of the monsoon, African easterly wave (AEW) activity and dynamics, and the intraseasonal modulation of precipitation. Adding superparameterization improves the position and intensity of the summer maximum in precipitation which is shifted from over the Gulf of Guinea in CCSM (not realistic), to over the continent in SP-CCSM which is in keeping with the observations. AEWs and their relationship with convection are also improved in the SP-CCSM: In the standard model, little to no easterly wave activity occurs over West Africa, and the relationship with convection is tenuous at best. SP-CCSM on the other hand produces strong AEWs over the region that exhibit similar horizontal and vertical structures to observations. AEWs in SP-CCSM are strongly coupled to convection, more so than is supported by observations. An examination of the energetics of the simulated AEWs suggests that convection drives the generation and propagation the waves in SP- CCSM. Consistent with observations, intraseasonal variations in West African precipitation in SP-CCSM appear to be linked to variations in convection in the Indo-Pacific region corresponding with the MJO and the Indian monsoon. Because of these physically-realistic relationships, SP-CCSM has potential to deepen our understanding of the teleconnections between the MJO and West Africa, helping to improve seasonal rainfall forecasts