18th Century Political Satire as Exemplified by Jonathan Swift through Gulliver\u27s Travels

During the seventy-eight years of Jonathan Swift\u27s life, from 1667 to 1745, English satire was in its heyday. The stinging bit of the pen became recognized as one of the strongest political weapons, and those who possessed the natural gift of creating this weapon were sought high and low by those who desired to sway public opinion. There are really three main reasons why this period, in particular, was an age of satire. First, it was a time of radically changing values, when intensely held convictions were in conflict with each other, and a new world order was emerging. Second, a new style of writing developed that made a most effective satiric instrument. It was the style advocated by the new science which requires a simple, plain, clear, expository vehicle to describe the experiments of the newly formed Royal Society, which ironically enough, was the target of some of Swift\u27s most biting satire. As Dryden once said, With its neat clean strokes, satire could cut off a man\u27s head without knocking it from his shoulders. And third, politicians became aware for the first time that the writer, especially the satirist, could be a powerful weapon against the opposition. Political parties courted him. He acquired new dignity and status within the close-knit coffee house society of London. Yes, the satirist\u27s influence was considerable, and Jonathan Swift was one of the most influential satirists of this period

Where Does Information Literacy Fit? Mapping the Core

This session covers a flexible, easy-to-adapt curriculum mapping method used by the University of North Texas Libraries to complete a core curriculum map. The University of North Texas is a large four-year public, Tier-1 research university with HSI status. The UNT Libraries provides a wide range of student- and faculty-centered initiatives that are integral to the UNT community. We mapped Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) on course syllabi to the AAC&U Information Literacy VALUE Rubric and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. We identified key phrases and verbs from the two threshold documents, reviewed a sample of English syllabi to develop a code book to use in the analysis, and tested our coding methods by running a pilot coding project of Freshman-level, core composition courses. After the pilot was completed, we commenced coding the rest of the core syllabi. With information gleaned from this project, we know which core courses address which standards and frames. This understanding allows us to identify gaps in library instruction and address them through the work of our subject librarians and strategically targeted library instruction. Subject librarians present this information to their faculty and collaborate on how best to restructure how information literacy is taught in each department. This backward design allows each department to evaluate their student learning objectives and scaffold information literacy through research assignments. It also allows the departments to provide evidence on how their courses meets state, SACSCOC, and AAC&U requirements for accreditation

The impact of Library Instruction on Undergraduate Student Success: A Four-Year Study

Poster presented at the 2018 Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Annual Conference. This poster describes a study to determine if library instruction has a positive impact on undergraduate student success

The impact of library instruction on undergraduate student success: A four-year study

Presentation at the 2018 Texas Library Association. This presentation reflects on a four-year study of data from a freshman level English composition course to examine possible correlations between participation in a library instruction session and student success

Studies of the laser-induced fluorescence of explosives and explosive compositions.

Continuing use of explosives by terrorists throughout the world has led to great interest in explosives detection technology, especially in technologies that have potential for standoff detection. This LDRD was undertaken in order to investigate the possible detection of explosive particulates at safe standoff distances in an attempt to identify vehicles that might contain large vehicle bombs (LVBs). The explosives investigated have included the common homogeneous or molecular explosives, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), cyclonite or hexogen (RDX), octogen (HMX), and the heterogeneous explosive, ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO), and its components. We have investigated standard excited/dispersed fluorescence, laser-excited prompt and delayed dispersed fluorescence using excitation wavelengths of 266 and 355 nm, the effects of polarization of the laser excitation light, and fluorescence imaging microscopy using 365- and 470-nm excitation. The four nitro-based, homogeneous explosives (TNT, PETN, RDX, and HMX) exhibit virtually no native fluorescence, but do exhibit quenching effects of varying magnitude when adsorbed on fluorescing surfaces. Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mixtures fluoresce primarily due to the fuel oil, and, in some cases, due to the presence of hydrophobic coatings on ammonium nitrate prill or impurities in the ammonium nitrate itself. Pure ammonium nitrate shows no detectable fluorescence. These results are of scientific interest, but they provide little hope for the use of UV-excited fluorescence as a technique to perform safe standoff detection of adsorbed explosive particulates under real-world conditions with a useful degree of reliability

University of North Texas Libraries: We make a difference in our student's and faculty's lives

Poster for the 2015 UNT Student Portraits Symposium. This poster discusses the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries making a difference for students and faculty

Promoting Positive Changes with Assessment in a Public Services Setting

This presentation discusses the positive aspects of change using the case study of UNT Libraries' Public Services setting, as well as how public services impacts students, faculty, and community members

Where Does Information Literacy Fit? Mapping the Core

A thrust towards collaborative professionalism is a growing trend in education because of its impacts on institutional community relationships and empowerment. Thus, ways must be sought to birth collaborative professionalism in institutions where such a culture is missing. The secondary school in this study is just such an institution. An interventional, mixed-methods study will be conducted using a pragmatic approach by engaging two interdepartmental teams to collaborate on cross-curricular, horizontal curriculum coherence. This topic was chosen because of a deficit many teachers have reported on - the perceived inability of students to transfer learning from one subject to another. I propose that this is due to the compartmentalized way in which they are taught. Initially, student opinions towards curriculum coherence will be sought through surveys. Thereafter, two Departmental Heads will each be engaged in working with one other Departmental Head to assign members of their teams to look for overlapping areas and ways to create coherence. Each team will be debriefed to gauge attitudes towards interdepartmental collaboration and prospects for future and ongoing collaborations. In addition, improvements in curricular coherence will be documented. A preliminary review of the literature revealed that initiatives to promote collaborative professionalism have generally been successful because many educators see a need for high levels of collaboration to improve their practice. Barriers experienced included cultures of autonomy, contrasting models of professionalism and prior professional development experiences which did not benefit educators as practitioners. The goal of this intervention is to create a desire for collaborative professionalism through a successful project, which may then spur more voluntary engagement with it

Distributed Sensor Particles for Remote Fluorescence Detection of Trace Analytes: UXO/CW

This report summarizes the development of sensor particles for remote detection of trace chemical analytes over broad areas, e.g residual trinitrotoluene from buried landmines or other unexploded ordnance (UXO). We also describe the potential of the sensor particle approach for the detection of chemical warfare (CW) agents. The primary goal of this work has been the development of sensor particles that incorporate sample preconcentration, analyte molecular recognition, chemical signal amplification, and fluorescence signal transduction within a ''grain of sand''. Two approaches for particle-based chemical-to-fluorescence signal transduction are described: (1) enzyme-amplified immunoassays using biocompatible inorganic encapsulants, and (2) oxidative quenching of a unique fluorescent polymer by TNT