To my betas, endless chocolate frogs! : exploring the intersections of emotion, the body, and literacy in online fanfiction.

This project examines the complex intersections of identity, including gender, sexuality, and social class, in the literacy practices of online fanfiction. Previous scholarship has focused solely on the gender and/or pedagogical implications of fanfiction communities, and my project engages and extends these conversations by analyzing how fanfiction practices provide a distinctive space to explore how we understand identity, digital technologies, and fannish participation. I conducted textual analysis of stories, authors\u27 notes, how-to guides, and questionnaires and interviews. A close inspection of fanfiction practices provide insight into how digital technologies and literacy practices interact within exchange economies. My dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 include a review of the literature as well as a theoretical approach to the project and its methods. Chapters 3 and 4 address the functions of online fanfiction by looking at fan websites, fan stories, and how-to fan documents, as well as questionnaires and interviews. Finally, Chapter 5 develops a theory of online fanfiction literacy practices, and the ways in which these practices are shaped by power structures, identity construction, community norms, and material circumstances. I focus, in particular, on developing a theory of emotion in terms of literacy practices—what I come to call “emotioned literacy” (borrowing from Micciche).The investigation of online fanfiction spaces is especially valuable for rhetoric and composition because it highlights how writing is a deeply embodied and emotional, life-long (learning) process. In addition, this project highlights the importance of a network of dedicated participants with knowledge(s) in different areas. Finally, this project highlights the importance of paying closer attention to the ethics of our online research methodologies

CRACKS IN THE MELTING POT : NATIVE AMERICANS, MILITARY SERVICE AND CITIZENSHIP

This paper focuses on Native American military service in Euro-American Wars. It analyzes their reasons for fighting and compares those reasons to the reasons of other racial and ethnic groups. This paper explores how certain racial and ethnic groups are marginalized and “otherized” and how they occasionally attempt to assimilate into mainstream society through military service. Irish Americans and African Americans viewed the Civil War in this way, while Native Americans hoped they would be able to improve their individual situations. Native Americans fought for purposes of assimilation and citizenship in World War I, and while they were technically granted citizenship their conditions did not improve. Neither military service or various government policies have allowed Native Americans to fully integrate into mainstream society. Today they still suffer because they are seen as “others” and stereotypes

Delivering Bad News: Crisis Communication Methods in Academic Libraries

This exploratory study analyzed the specific crisis communication methods of academic libraries. A survey was sent to library staff at Association of Research Libraries-member colleges and universities to describe if, who, when, and how they communicated bad news to their stakeholders for major, minor, and emerging crises. The findings show that respondents used multiple communication strategies, which varied based on the crisis. The data show that libraries communicated journal and database cancellations and health and safety emergencies more slowly than access issues and were more likely not to communicate those crises at all. Respondents also more frequently chose to communicate journal and database cancellations only when asked as compared to other crises. While access issues and health and safety emergencies were primarily communicated through social media and the library’s website, stakeholders received communication about journal and database cancellations primarily through targeted emails from library liaisons, face-to-face meetings with faculty, and the library’s website. These findings suggest that respondents communicated more quickly for minor crises but were more hesitant for crises that may have presented the potential for reputational harm. The varied responses between crisis types often conflicted with best practices for whether to deliver bad news, and if so, when and by whom. These findings indicate a need for academic libraries to develop comprehensive crisis communication plans which emphasize timeliness and transparency

Chronic Myopia: Foundations of Contemporary Western Perspectives on the Balkans

The construction of Southeastern Europe in Western imagination is the result of assertions of imperial power from some of the first recorded histories onward to modern time. Instead of providing alternative narratives gaping differences in time period, literary genres and geographical origins ballast stereotypical racist tropes and derogatory images of the countries of Southeastern Europe. For example, Roman histories, secondary historical works, twentieth century travel literature, and Central Intelligence Agency estimates all exhibit the same perception. The narrative created by these accounts is limited, remarkably racist and counterfactual. While there has been an abundance of new scholarship aimed at debunking the myths surrounding the area, much of the revisionist histories focus on placing blame, proving ethnogenesis, and serving political purposes. Understanding how the sources continue to influence perception is a pivotal step to understanding Southeastern Europe

Modeling Risk for Child Abuse and Harsh Parenting in Families with Depressed and Substance-Abusing Parents

Children with substance abusing parents are at considerable risk for child maltreatment. The current study applied an actor–partner interdependence model to examine how father only (n=52) and dual couple (n=33) substance use disorder, as well as their depressive symptomology influenced parents’ own (actor effects) and the partner\u27s (partner effects) overreactivity in disciplinary interactions with their children, as well as their risk for child maltreatment. Parents completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), the overreactivity subscale from the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O’Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993), and the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Ondersma, Chaffin, Mullins, & LeBreton, 2005). Results of multigroup structural equation models revealed that a parent\u27s own report of depressive symptoms predicted their risk for child maltreatment in both father SUD and dual SUD couples. Similarly, a parent\u27s report of their own depressive symptoms predicted their overreactivity in disciplinary encounters both in father SUD and dual SUD couples. In all models, partners’ depressive symptoms did not predict their partner\u27s risk for child maltreatment or overreactivity. Findings underscore the importance of a parent\u27s own level of depressive symptoms in their risk for child maltreatment and for engaging in overreactivity during disciplinary episodes

Integrin α6β4 Promotes Autocrine Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Signaling to Stimulate Migration and Invasion toward Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF)

Integrin α6β4 is up-regulated in pancreatic adenocarcinomas where it contributes to carcinoma cell invasion by altering the transcriptome. In this study, we found that integrin α6β4 up-regulates several genes in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway, including amphiregulin (AREG), epiregulin (EREG), and ectodomain cleavage protease MMP1, which is mediated by promoter demethylation and NFAT5. The correlation of these genes with integrin α6β4 was confirmed in The Cancer Genome Atlas Pancreatic Cancer Database. Based on previous observations that integrin α6β4 cooperates with c-Met in pancreatic cancers, we examined the impact of EGFR signaling on hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-stimulated migration and invasion. We found that AREG and EREG were required for autocrine EGFR signaling, as knocking down either ligand inhibited HGF-mediated migration and invasion. We further determined that HGF induced secretion of AREG, which is dependent on integrin-growth factor signaling pathways, including MAPK, PI3K, and PKC. Moreover, matrix metalloproteinase activity and integrin α6β4 signaling were required for AREG secretion. Blocking EGFR signaling with EGFR-specific antibodies or an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor hindered HGF-stimulated pancreatic carcinoma cell chemotaxis and invasive growth in three-dimensional culture. Finally, we found that EGFR was phosphorylated in response to HGF stimulation that is dependent on EGFR kinase activity; however, c-Met phosphorylation in response to HGF was unaffected by EGFR signaling. Taken together, these data illustrate that integrin α6β4 stimulates invasion by promoting autocrine EGFR signaling through transcriptional up-regulation of key EGFR family members and by facilitating HGF-stimulated EGFR ligand secretion. These signaling events, in turn, promote pancreatic carcinoma migration and invasion

Acceptability of Aggression Among Children Who Reside With Substance-Abusing Parents: The Influence of Behavioral Dysregulation, Exposure to Neighborhood Violence, and Interparental Violence

The present study examined how interparental violence, neighborhood violence, behavioral regulation during parental conflict, and age predicted beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and the acceptance of retaliation against an aggressive peer among youths. Participants were 110 families (mothers, fathers, and children) in which one or both parents met criteria for substance use disorder. Results of a bootstrapped multivariate regression model revealed higher exposure to neighborhood violence predicted greater acceptability of general aggression, whereas higher father-to-mother violence perpetration predicted lower acceptability of general aggression. Higher exposure to neighborhood violence, behavioral dysregulation during parental conflict, and older child age predicted greater approval of retaliation toward an aggressive peer. Findings are interpreted as related to the cognitive-contextual framework

Exploring innovative pedagogies in a global information context

SIG Innovative Pedagogies offers a panel that includes four sets of speakers who examine innovative pedagogies for LIS education in a global information context. Each presentation features a different innovative pedagogical approach. Presentations are followed by an interactive discussion period, and attendees are invited to continue the conversation after the program via Twitter. Kyungwon Koh and Alaine Martaus discuss Design thinking for teaching the foundations of librarianship, showing how design thinking can be a tool of innovation for teaching core courses in LIS graduate programs. Their talk also features examples of how they applied design thinking in their course designs, and includes details about course assignments, student projects, and reflections. Denice Adkins and Nina Exner show how Using Library Carpentry methods and resources in the LIS classroom can be used for technology training in LIS education programs. This presentation provides an overview of the Library Carpentry instructional approach and shows how it is different from traditional LIS classroom instruction. Adkins and Exner conclude with an overview of Library Carpentry lesson design principles and standards that can be used for LIS classrooms and LIS practitioner training. Vandana Singh discusses Integrating professional librarians into open source software (OSS) communities. Singh notes that professional librarians are increasingly integrated into OSS communities, and she shows how this integration has inspired an innovative participatory action model for OSS that can be used to guide curricula for current LIS students as well as continuing education programs for working practitioners. In Gender, community and narrative: Exploring the social aspects of fanfiction, Kristen Schuster and Brittany Kelley show how creative aspects of fanfiction contributes to the development and maintenance of social networks, which in turn facilitates deeper and transferrable forms of learning and literacy. In this talk, Schuster and Kelley combine learning theory and information behavior models into a framework for teaching literacy and information-seeking practices