Literary and cinematic perspectives on gender studies

This project focuses on gender studies including women, men, and sexual diversity studies. Students explore gender and sexuality in the fields of literature and cinema related to cultural, social, and economic issues in Latin America and Spain. The analysis includes a diverse selection of topics: gender and science, gender and sexuality, gender and minority ethnicities, feminism and diversity, transgender identities, transgender healthcare, lesbian and gay figures and trends, and intersex and culture

Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework

We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality

Dimensions of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Beliefs

A multidimensional perspective captures the complexities of African American racial identity. While the dynamics of racial oppression limit the range of attitudes blacks may construct and hold, their basic humanity introduces additional attitudinal variance that is nearly boundless. Rather than claim it is possible to conceptualize and measure every iteration of blackness, modern social theorists such as Robert Sellers and William Cross Jr. contend that one should systematically “sample” the unmanageable range of different identity frames found among blacks. In Dimensions of Blackness, the authors suggest there is no single, solitary way to express black racial identity. They move away from blackness as binary and instead reveal what happens when black racial identity is conceptualized with “difference of opinion.” Using a multidimensional perspective this book explores whether black racial identity differences among blacks influence political attitudes and behavior.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/libarts_book/1064/thumbnail.jp

Metric forensic anthropology decisions: Reliability and biasability of sectioning-point-based sex estimates

Subjective decisions make human cognitive processes more susceptible to bias and error. Specifically, research indicates that additional context biases forensic anthropologists’ morphological analyses. To address whether metric analyses are also subject to bias, we conducted a pilot study in which 52 experienced osteologists measured a difficult-to-classify human femur, with or without additional contextual information. Using a metric sectioning-point sex-estimation method, participants provided a sex estimate for individual skeletal element(s) and, when given multiple elements, the combined skeletal assemblage. Control group participants (n = 24) measured only the femur. In addition to the femur, bias group participants (n = 28) either measured a female humerus and viewed a female-biasing photograph (n = 14) or measured a male humerus and viewed a male-biasing photograph (n = 14). We explored whether the experts in the different groups would differ in: (1) femoral measurements; (2) femoral sex-estimation conclusions; and (3) final sex-estimation conclusions for the skeletal assemblage. Although the femoral measurements and femoral sex estimates were comparable across groups, the overall sex estimates in the female-biased group were impacted by contextual information—differing from both the control and male-biased groups (p < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that cognitive bias can occur even in metric sex-estimation conclusions. Specifically, this occurred when the metric data and single-element sex estimates were synthesized into an overall estimate. Thus, our results suggest that metric methods are most vulnerable to bias when data are synthesized into an overall conclusion, highlighting the need for bias countermeasures and comprehensive statistical frameworks for synthesizing metric data to mitigate the effects of cognitive bias.Journal ArticleOnline before publicatio

Use of qualitative and quantitative techniques in the resolution of a small-scale medicolegal case of commingled human remains

In 2015, a Florida forensic anthropology laboratory received a commingled assemblage of human remains (one female, one male) recovered from a freshwater context. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to sort the commingled skeletal elements into discrete individuals prior to conducting more in-depth anthropological analyses. Qualitative sorting methods included comparing morphological similarities between paired and/or associated skeletal elements, assessing the fit of anatomical articulations, and matching skeletal elements with consistent secondary sexual characteristics. Quantitative methods included osteometric sorting (which allowed the individual assignment of measured skeletal elements to be supported or rejected) and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry (which established chemical elemental profiles for the individuals, potentially enabling the assignment of unattributed remains to one individual or the other). In general, quantitative analyses supported the qualitative segregation. No quantitative analysis rejected an original qualitative assignment. However, there were instances when the quantitative analyses failed to segregate skeletal elements into discrete individuals, even when qualitative segregation was clearly indicated. Further, pXRF failed to differentiate between the individuals, likely due to diagenetic alteration of all remains. Ultimately, the quantitative analyses supplemented, but could not replace, qualitative analyses in the resolution of this small-scale case of commingling. Both approaches are warranted.Journal ArticlePost-prin

Responding to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences vision, mission, and values statements: Comments, revisions, and proposed actions

We wish to begin a dialogue within the forensic science community surrounding the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) vision, mission, and values statements, recently updated by the AAFS Board of Directors (BoD), Academy staff, and Springboard International. Summaries of the statements are available on the AAFS website, and more detailed information was emailed to members as an AAFS News Alert on March 31, 2021 from the AAFS president Carl McClary. We believe that the statements, as currently written, do not provide meaningful guidance about the Academy’s vision and mission, nor do they adequately describe the values of the forensic scientists the Academy serves. Our authorship includes Anthropology Section student affiliates, trainee affiliates, and fellows, with AAFS membership ranging from years to decades. We are active participants in this organization, and we are committed to serving and improving it. It is our hope that the current AAFS leadership, in keeping with President McClary’s theme of “A Responsive Academy,” considers our critique in the productive spirit in which it is intended, potentially responding by making positive changes to these statements that will enable them to better serve as guiding principles for our practitioner community. We address aspects of the vision, mission, and values statements in turn. The text of these statements is presented in italicized quotes below[1].Journal ArticleArticle #: 10019