From Theory to Practice: Establishing the Classroom as the Setting for Race Talk Through the Intentional Analysis and Discussion of Poems by Authors of Color

Modern-day racism exists in mostly subtle ways and is often felt most keenly in the classroom. When schools began the legal integration process in 1954, Black teachers were fired, all-Black schools were closed, and Black students were bused to the formerly all-White schools. In this new environment, Black students and all Students of color were forced to accept and adapt to an educational system that favored Whites over all other racial groups. Today, White Supremacy in education affects the establishment of state and national standards, school and district boundaries, and the un-fair disciplinary action taken against Students of Color. In addition to all of these factors, White Supremacy in education also affects what and how content is being taught in schools. It is manifest in History class when the plights of Native Americans are described as a necessary evil for the advancement of true Americans. It is manifest in Science class when the work of White scientists is heralded as the usual and norm while the work of Scientists of Color is often not highlighted. It is also ever-present in the Language Arts classroom where works of White authors are celebrated as the standard for Literature and writing while works by Authors of Color are often categorized as ethnic and other.   While many Language Arts instructors are teaching works of Authors of Color in their classrooms, these same teachers need to use these texts to help engage their students in real discussions about race and identity and the impact of bias and racism on today\u27s society. Productive race talk is essential to dismantling White Supremacy, helping individuals overcome personal racisms, and to helping Students of Color feel represented in their classrooms. The high school Language Arts classroom is the prime atmosphere for race talk because it is a somewhat controlled environment where teachers can use literature and poetry by Authors of Color to help their students learn how to have these difficult discussions. This thesis argues that it is important for high school students to engage in conversations about race and privilege and that the empowerment of diverse voices in the classroom will only serve to benefit students both inside and outside of the classroom. One way Language Arts teachers can facilitate productive race talk is to use poetry to humanize the other. Students can use poems as a starting point to discuss topics such as bias, privilege, language and power, and microaggressions. Poetry has a way of reaching the human spirit in a way that no other writing can. Through the discussion of theory and practice, this thesis concludes that through intentional integration of poems by Authors of Color, teachers can help their students confront issues of race and identity and, hopefully, encourage them to take steps towards anti-racism in their individual lives and in society. It also includes a four-week unit plan centered around poetry by Authors of Color that provides practical application of these concepts in 11th and 12th grade Language Arts classrooms

Becoming a Tutor: Teachers as Tutors in One-on-One Conferences

University Writing Centers are valuable tools for university students of any level: first-year undergraduates through doctoral candidates. Peer reviews and edits help students recognize possible flaws in their writing that they otherwise would not have seen. The climate of the Writing Center allows students to review their writing in a low-stakes, comfortable environment where their concerns are heard and addressed by an understanding peer instead of an all-knowing professor. Techniques used in the Writing Center such as making immediate connections with students, allowing students to drive the tutoring session, and continually asking about and focusing on student’s concerns with their writing, can and should be applied to one-on-one meetings between students and instructors. Cultivating a Writing Center climate during one-on-one paper conferences can help instructors provide students with the opportunity to identify problems in their writing and come up with their own solutions to address those problems. It will also allow instructors to provide their students with tools they can use in the future to write and edit their drafts on their own

Chapter 3- Improving the General Education Experience Through Equitable and Inclusive Pedagogical Practices

General education courses sometimes have the reputation among students of being obstacles to overcome, wastes of time, and a squander of tuition. In my opinion, student dislike of general education courses is fueled by two factors: 1) students’ misunderstanding of the purpose of general education and 2) general education instructors designing courses with a gatekeeping mentality. Traditionally, general education courses have served as the gatekeepers of the university experience by—intentionally or unintentionally—funneling out students who “don’t belong” through poor course design. Racially minoritized students, women, and first-generation college students are disproportionately affected by the gatekeeping mentality of general education instructors

Influence of anodizing process on fatigue life of a machined aluminium alloy

In order to investigate the coupled effects of machining and anodizing processes on fatigue life of alloy 7010-T7451, a series of rotating bending fatigue tests were conducted at 60Hz. In the as machined condition, test results showed that fatigue life is surface roughness dependent and that fatigue life decreases with an increase in surface roughness and this effect is found to be more pronounced in high cycle fatigue where major portion of fatigue life is consumed in nucleating the cracks. Effects of pretreatments, like degreasing and pickling employed prior to anodizing, on fatigue life of the given alloy were also studied. Results demonstrated that degreasing showed no change in fatigue life while pickling had negative impact on fatigue life of specimens. The small decrease in fatigue life of anodized specimens as compare to pickled specimens is attributed to brittle and microcracking of the coating. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination revealed multi-site crack initiation for the pickled and anodized specimens. SEM examination showed that pickling solution attacked the grain boundaries and intermetallic inclusions present on the surface resulting in pits formation. These pits are of primary concern with respect to accelerated fatigue crack nucleation and subsequent anodized coating formation

A comparison of disease susceptibility and innate immune response between diploid and triploid Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) siblings following experimental infection with Neoparamoeba perurans, causative agent of amoebic gill disease

Few studies have focussed on the health and immunity of triploid Atlantic salmon and therefore much is still unknown about their response to commercially significant pathogens. This is important if triploid stocks are to be considered for full-scale commercial production. This study aimed to investigate and compare the response of triploid and diploid Atlantic salmon to an experimental challenge with Neoparamoeba perurans, causative agent of amoebic gill disease (AGD). This disease is economically significant for the aquaculture industry. The results indicated that ploidy had no significant effect on gross gill score or gill filaments affected, while infection and time had significant effects. Ploidy, infection and time did not affect complement or anti-protease activities. Ploidy had a significant effect on lysozyme activity at 21 days post-infection (while infection and time did not), although activity was within the ranges previously recorded for salmonids. Stock did not significantly affect any of the parameters measured. Based on the study results, it can be suggested that ploidy does not affect the manifestation or severity of AGD pathology or the serum innate immune response. Additionally, the serum immune response of diploid and triploid Atlantic salmon may not be significantly affected by amoebic gill disease

Citation as a Critical Practice

This discussion will explore the politics and ethics of citation. As academics, how, why, when, and whom do we cite, and what is at stake in these practices? Areas for discussion will include representation in disciplinary canons and the undercitation of scholars who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+, women, and members of multiply marginalized groups. By considering citation in the context of power and privilege, this panel will unpack what it means to adopt a critical approach to citation in our research, teaching, and scholarship. Watch the video to see the discussion. Click on the download button for a list of readings and resources.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/inter_inclusion/1000/thumbnail.jp

Multiple sclerosis susceptibility alleles in African Americans.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease characterized by complex genetics and multifaceted gene-environment interactions. Compared to whites, African Americans have a lower risk for developing MS, but African Americans with MS have a greater risk of disability. These differences between African Americans and whites may represent differences in genetic susceptibility and/or environmental factors. SNPs from 12 candidate genes have recently been identified and validated with MS risk in white populations. We performed a replication study using 918 cases and 656 unrelated controls to test whether these candidate genes are also associated with MS risk in African Americans. CD6, CLEC16a, EVI5, GPC5, and TYK2 contained SNPs that are associated with MS risk in the African American data set. EVI5 showed the strongest association outside the major histocompatibility complex (rs10735781, OR=1.233, 95% CI=1.06-1.43, P-value=0.006). In addition, RGS1 seems to affect age of onset whereas TNFRSF1A seems to be associated with disease progression. None of the tested variants showed results that were statistically inconsistent with the effects established in whites. The results are consistent with shared disease genetic mechanisms among individuals of European and African ancestry