English 105 Independent Research

English 105 Independent Research Project Conference Papers [ALL DRAFTS], Fall 2014

This essay will give a very brief explanation of the Nitrogen cycle and discuss several different solutions that could be the implemented in order wane he Nitrogen Problem. This issue began in 1909 when Fritz Haber first learned how to synthesize nitrogen fixation in order to stimulate plant growth. The fixed nitrogen takes a Jekyll and Hyde turn when it seeps into the environment. The issue we must over come is that the world must cut back on the use of fertilizers while still increasing crop yields and not clearing more land for farming purposes. The solutions that will be discussed in this paper are plant breeding, changing farming techniques, the creation and use of genetically modified organisms, and the integration of symbiotic plant and fungi behaviors. The one that will be pushed the most is the synthesis of GMO plants, fungi ad bacteria, because although a change in farming techniques and plant breeding are cheaper and less ethically challenged the time it will take for them to effect the environment in a positive manor is too far to long. There will be a brief anthropological look into different ways the UN can use laws and government subsidies in order to integrate these changes into society. The sources used in this paper will range from a publication date of 2010 and 2014, all sources used will be peer reviewed.

Everyone in the biological studies is aware of the Nitrogen problem. This double-edged sword as been sharped by human synthesis of nitrogen and can only be dulled by human ingenuity or interaction. Although Fritz Haber (1909) discovered a way to transform the unreactive nitrogen gas into ammonia, the chemical that helps run the biological processes in plants, sparking the green revolution, saving millions of lives, the adverse effects of NH₃ almost completely out way the lives it saved (Townsend 64). The issue is that too much nitrogen is toxic towards the environment, and too little nitrogen stunts plant growth. There needs to be the perfect amount in order for the cycle to run smoothly. There are many different ways being researched in order to combat this global crisis. Some ways range from changing farming techniques, plant breeding, implementation of GMO crops, and creating a symbiotic relationship between plants and nitrogen production fungi. One thing is for certain though; “According to a report… by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment… a business-as-usual approach … could exacerbate global warming, food security threats and human… ailments” (Townsend 70)

Discuss the natural environmental cycle (bacteria/fungi who break the triple bond to the bacteria who put it back together)

-using advanced GPS tech to map out fields and sense plant nutrition levels(Telling farms how much and where to put the proper amount of fertilizer) --> expensive

Look in to the UN and how an international law implementation on set nitrogen regulation. In either the form of a law or a new committee who’s sole purpose would be to manage how much nitrogen is used in agriculture. (Don’t know if I should branch into animals, waste and fuels) Also discuss how they should employ sustainability solutions from the get-go in order to not recreate the mistakes of the US and other over fertilized countries.

-I don’t know if I am incorporating too many ideas/responses/ ways to go about solving.

Borel, James, Valdemar Fischer, David Fischhoff, and Antonio Galindez. "Biotech's Plans to Sustain Agriculture." Scientific American (2009): 86-94. Print.

Davidson, Eric, Mark David, James Galloway, Christine Goodale, Richard Haeuber, John Harrison, Robert Howarth, Dan Jaynes, Richard Lowrance, Thomas Nolan, Jennifer Peel, Robert Pinder, Ellen Porter, Clifford Snyder, Alan Townsend, and Mary Ward. "Excess Nitrogen in the U.S. Environment: Trends, Risks and Solutions." Issues in Ecology. Ecological Society of America, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.esa.org/esa/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/issuesinecology15.pdf>.

Foley, Jonathan A. "Can We Feed the World & Sustain the Planet?" Scientific American (2011): 60-65. Print.

Glover, Jerry, Cindy Cox, and John Reganold. "Future Farming: A Returning to Roots." Scientific American (2007): 83-88. Print.

"Manage the Nitrogen Cycle - Engineering Challenges." Manage the Nitrogen Cycle - Engineering Challenges. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9132.aspx>.

"Nitrogen Fertilizers - Agronomy Guide (Penn State Extension)." Agronomy Guide (Penn State Extension). Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide/cm/sec2/sec28>.

Oldroyd, Giles Ed, and Ray Dixon. "Biotechnological Solutions to the Nitrogen Problem." Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2014): 19-24. Print.

Selosse, Marc-André, and François Rousset. "The Plant-Fungal Marketplace." Science AAAS (2011): 828-29. Web. <www.sciencemag,org>.

Townsend, Alan, and Robert Howarth. "Fixing the Global Nitrogen Problem." Scientific America (2010): 64-71. Print.

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How Media and International Relations Warps the Meaning of Pussy Riot [DRAFT IN PROGRESS]

The topic I aim to explore is the question of why feminist punk group, Pussy Riot have been received differently in the United States than in Russia. I would also explore whether the images and media constructs of the group’s ideals and intentions are represented in an accurate manner. The research necessary to adequately address this inquiry is interdisciplinary; databases from political science, communications, and women’s studies were used for my preliminary sources.

This research project needs proper insights into Russian and United States political history, to illuminate the tensions found in the present day relationship between the two countries. Sufficient knowledge of feminism and women’s movements in both regions are also needed to establish a context in which Pussy Riot exists in that realm in Russia and the United States. Lastly, a knowledge of the various mediums of media and communications and the degree to which it shapes and reflects the culture in which one lives is necessary to develop a thesis pertaining to the importance of this changed perception could to the public.

The question of the difference in the attitudes of Americans towards Pussy Riot and Russians is obvious and stark. Russians are either indifferent to the punishment of “hooliganism” Pussy Riot faced, or they believe that the charge was fair. Professor Robert Service, an academic expert on Russia called the girls of Pussy Riot, “self-indulgent and incoherent” (Street 48). Other rhetoric in Russian media gives great attention to religious hatred of the group rather than their Anti-Putin agenda. This is most likely a conscious effort on the part of Putin’s hard-lined government policies, which could use more research to verify. The rhetoric in the courtroom has certainly been described as leaving out information regarding the group’s political rhetoric and focusing on the religious disrespect. Although the guerilla performance in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ was without permission, the members of Pussy Riot have no particular issue with religious ideology, as lyrics in their song read, “Holy Mary Mother of God/Be a feminist to us” (Mayer 151). Pussy Riot simply staged the performance in the cathedral to draw attention to the way in which Putin uses the Russian Orthodox Church as a puppet to reinforce his policies. Pinkham explains the widespread contempt for Pussy Riot in her academic book review with the claim, “Pussy Riot’s anti-capitalist, anarchist, radical feminist views were unpalatable for many Russian liberals, as well as for conservatives” (Pinkham 90). A historical analysis of the women’s movements in Russia would bring to light the origins of these negative attitudes towards women in action. The fact that both Putin and the members of Russian society show disgust towards the group is just one of many facts generally left out of the Pussy Riot narrative in the United States.

It has become evident through media representation that the people of the United States support Pussy Riot. In the West, Pussy Riot is more often portrayed as a music group in a David and Goliath struggle (Forbes 56). Their origins in protest art group Voina (in English translates to “war”) is disregarded. Voina carried out many terrorist acts of art and protest such as staging an orgy in a state museum and defacing a landmark in Moscow with graffiti (Mayer); these acts would be undoubtedly be seen as “hooliganism” in the eyes of many Americans. Masha Gessen in her new book on Pussy Riot also leaves out that they had performed without permission previously to the famous show in the Cathedral, for almost all their performances (Forbes 58). Members rejected any sort of ticketed event, for they refused to be a part of the capitalist system that their art revolted against. This an example of the Pussy Riot that was not explicitly exposed in American media. When Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were freed from jail, celebrities such as Madonna and Yoko Ono asked to play shows with them, and Pussy Riot rejected this ploy for media attention and money (Street 47). The chief facets of Pussy Riot shown in the public eye in the United States were of the group’s anti-Putin rhetoric. When reports of bad living conditions in Russian prison flooded in from the girls and Tolokonnikova began a hunger strike, media coverage of Pussy Riot went viral (Pinkham 87). It is hereby possible that the American media used the fresh-faced image of Pussy Riot, in colorful balaclavas and stockings, as a story of sacrifice to illustrate how Russia was returning to its Soviet ways.

Despite that both the United States and Russia have had radical protests with the use of body before, I believe Pussy Riot is unique in their international reach in the media, which can yield truth about the nature of our countries’ different media relations. The Guerilla Girls are another example of a group that used their bodies for protest. They wore gorilla masks and pointed out the flaws in art culture and museums in the United States but did not gain much support internationally. A Russian example is Pyotr Pavlensky, who nailed his scrotum to the Red Square a year after the arrest of Pussy Riot to protest the prison system (Pinkham 86), but received little attention. Pussy Riot somehow transcended international boundaries and the research of this project will attempt to explain why, and if in cases like this, the group can keep their ideologies intact while being represented on so many international mediums.

Russia’s resistance to accepting the meaning and intentions of Pussy Riot caused the Western media to transform their image into that of the victim rather than an art group of radical protestors. It is possible that this transformation is a commodification of the group in order to further a specific political agenda within the United States.

Forbes, Malcolm, "The Tyranny Of Punk Rock." Columbia Journalism Review 52.6 (2014): 54-57. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Street, John. "The Sound Of Geopolitics: Popular Music And Political Rights." Popular Communication 11.1 (2013): 47-57. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Mayer, Sophie. "The Size of a Song: Pussy Riot and the (People) Power of Poetry." Soundings.54 (2013): 147-58. ProQuest. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

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The term "outsider art" has reffered to a great number of things, but the general common thread between them is that they are items considered as art, created by artists disconnected, in one way or another, from the structures of the fine arts. Through much of history, they've been disregarded, with artistic merit only assigned to "high" art. However, when they began to be addressed in the 20th century, they were seen not only as having value, but as having value the fine arts could not imitate. The advantages, in a sense, of the outsider arts became a subject of critical circles, and continues to influence thinking about art. It could be argued that it influenced the developement and reception of many "insider" art styles, and, further, that the patterns of its increase in consideration and acclaim suggest a pattern for that of future art, incluenced by similar ideas. Art is fundamentally subjective, so the way people consider it is, in a sense, everything.

Jean Debuffet's "art brut" movement was one of the primary early recognitions of outsider art, and one of the merits it emphasized was the idea that unfiltered expression of the artist was the most valuable goal of art, and the structures of the fine arts detracted from that. That's easily connected to a greater appreciation for technically undemanding art occuring at the time, as minimal and avant-garde styles arose, as well as the "transcendental" nature of the individual that has been an influence throughout history. It also demonstrated a fixation on what was sometimes called the "authentic" or "sincere", broadly, the idea that art influenced by certain factors was dishonest, and that artists should value integrity against those outside factors. Outsider art, with complete disregard for conventions other than those set by the artist, was seen as, in a sense, the ultimate goal.

Dubuffet, Jean. "In Honor of Savage Values." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics No. 46. Polemical Objects (2004): 259-68. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Lingis, Alphonso. "The Outsiders: The Search for Authenticity." Qui Parle 17.1, Special Issue: Thinking Alterity, Reprise (2008): 199-221. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Minturn, Kent. "Dubuffet, Lévi-Strauss, and the Idea of Art Brut." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics No. 46. Polemical Objects (2004): 247-58. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

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Discipline Within the Educational System and the Affect on Youth’s Time Perspective [DRAFT IN PROGRESS]

The educational system in the United States has unique specifics when it comes to the rules, policies, and regulations of individual school districts and institutions; however much of the infrastructure of the system remains consistent throughout. Specifically, disciplinary tactics such as suspension tend to translate over jurisdiction but often do not relate the intended affect to the youth whom they influence. With a focus on suspension within the United States’ educational system, the subject of time perspectives becomes relevant in the way in which the youth are conditioned to view their futures. Philip Zimbardo’s concept of time perspectives boils down to the mindset with which an individual views his or her life, choices, and overall place in the world. Zimbardo articulates that in order to be future-oriented it is necessary to hold trust in the future and belief in the fruition of goals based on decisions made in the present. Suspension, then, is a detrimental punishment when it comes to maintaining and encouraging a positive and proactive mindset in students. The lack of control over one’s reactions to his or her environment, along with space given to the issue rather than a resolution are ways in which suspension dissuades students from taking ownership over their actions and finding trust in working toward future goals. While a noteworthy amount of research has been done recently on both time perspectives and suspension/disciplinary techniques in the educational system, these two topics may very well correlate or at least intertwine significantly, and thus further research on the subjects combined is likely to be intriguing and wholly informative.

Beyond Zimbardo’s work with time perspectives, and the work that others, like Robert Levine, Pan Chen, and Alexander T. Vazsonyi, have studied as relevant topics of time orientation, there are also many people who have focused on education and discipline. As Winn and Behizadeh explored, “the right to learn” is something that each person has (Winn.) With all of this in mind, the idea is that this bundle of current information has the potential to coexist amongst itself. The role of suspension in educational discipline and the position of future orientation within Zimbardo’s time perspectives are related in their ties to “the right to learn” and the awareness and utilization of this right as seen implemented by youth in the United States.

Suspension – affects on children – way in which it changes time perspective away from

Better, more affective ways of discipline that maintain or promote a healthy time

Behizadeh, Nadia, and Winn, Maisha T. “The Right to Be Literate – Literacy, Education, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.” American Educational Research Association 35.1 (2011) : 147-173. Print.

Chen, Pan, and Vazsonyi, Alexander T. “Future orientation, impulsivity, and problem behaviors: A longitudinal moderation model.” Developmental Psychology 47.6 (2011) : 1633-1645. JSTOR. Print

Gregory, Anne, and Noguera, Pedro A., and Skiba, Russell J. “The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap: Two Sides of the Same Coin?” American Educational Research Association 39.1 (2010) : 59-68. Print.

Horstmanshof, Louise, and Zimitat, Craig. “Future time orientation predicts academic engagement among first-year university students.” British Journal of Educational Psychology 77.3 (2007) : 703-718. JSTOR. Print

Kennedy, M. M. “Attribution error and the quest for teacher quality.” Educational Researcher 39.8 (2010) : 591-598. Print.

Way, Sandra M. “School Discipline and Disruptive Classroom Behavior: the Moderating Effects of Student Perceptions.” The Sociological Quarterly 52.3 (2011) : 346-375. Print.

Zimbardo, Philip. “The Secret Powers of Time.” Online video clip. RSA Animate. RSA Animate, 24 May 2010. Web. 13 March 2013.

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A case study of globalization in the identity of the British colonizers of India [DRAFT IN PROGRESS]

The sun never set on the British Empire. All the way around the world, from icy arctic woods to sweltering equatorial jungles, from empty, dusty desert to crowded, flooded cities, over the vast oceans of the world to a tiny foggy island, ruled Britannia. Indeed, when one hears “Rule, Britannia” it is not a small island which appears in the imagination, but waves. Waves are not a place in and of themselves, but a thing which connects, indeed, something which connects the entire world. In an age before the Internet, there was the Empire, and the imperialists who ran it, global citizens.

The complexities of individual identity in the colonist abroad are profoundly articulated by such canon of modern literature as Rudyard Kipling and E.M. Forster, but do these stories reflect a wider story common to colonists in general? This paper will attempt to address that question by examining the colonists of British India from 1877[i] to post-independence colonist migration. This paper is anchored to individual identity. It proposes to document people’s concept of themselves becoming and/or remaining complex and global in an era when the vocabulary for expressing such notions was limited and imperialist[ii]. In its most basic form, the thesis of this paper is that the individual identity of colonists in British India was what is now termed Globalized[iii].

This paper shall prove said thesis by examining a variety of individual colonists identities through letters and government reports written by them at the time. Additionally, by examining secondary academic sources, which may tell a portion of their story or illuminate theory behind it, in broader context. This paper will also assess the group as a whole through study of the migration patterns of colonists. --In the best of French philosophical tradition, all shall become clear.

Current portrayals of the colonial era in the academic literature on globalization leave out the changes in individual identity of colonists. This hole is particularly noticeable in light of the wealth of documentation as to the effect of possessing colonies on the globalization on Britain -for example, in the appearance of mosques and curry-houses in the Home Counties- as in Winder’s Bloody Foreigners (214, 467). Steger, in his book Globalization, looks at Globalization during the Industrial/Imperial era primarily as a question merely of technology. Indeed he doesn’t mention colonists in the entire culture chapter (34 78, 79). Tomlinson holds that the majority of literature on Identity and globalization postulates globalization as a destroyer of identity (270). If successful in proving its thesis, this paper will address all the above holes, demonstrating globalization creating new identity in colonists themselves. Complexity of identity does not necessarily mean “postmodern glocalization” –the hypothesis that globalization always takes place in local contexts[iv] (Steger 80). Indeed, if this paper’s thesis is true, it would rather support Tomlinson’s thesis, which is that cultural experience is in various ways ‘lifted out’ of its traditional ‘anchoring’ in particular localities (Tomlinson 273).

I would love to prove that some groups are demonstrably more Colonists than they are British, or even British-Indian[v], because it lends profound support to the idea of Global citizenship, and dates it to a time before the concept was articulated ^{[citation needed[vi]]}.

Since global citizenship is only recently beginning to be seriously studied, proving that these colonists were global citizens in an era before “globalization” was a buzzword could cause academia to re-interpret words used in primary sources. For example, academia could consider the possibility that “colonist” could be read as an imperial-age term for global citizen. This would help open an exciting angle in the study of the history of globalization, and lend credibility to the notion that globalization is a far cry from a late twentieth century phenomenon.

One challenge to the thesis that Colonization is a process of Globalization comes from Geographies of Empire. According to Butlin, the main weakness in the argument of discussing imperialism as a process of Globalization lies in the “unevenness of penetration” (Butlin 40). However, this perception of unevenness is primarily discussed in institutional terms, allowing modernization and industrialization to act as confounding variables. This paper will be in a position to provide an effective counterargument by eliminating modernization of infrastructure confounding things. Within an individual, it should become apparent that the colony penetrates the colonist a much as the empire penetrates the colonial. Even in this, the preliminary research, this conclusion is suggested by Hume, a colonist Raj administrator, referring in the first person to “Indian Orinthologists” (Hume 2).

In examining primary sources, this paper shall concern itself with the following questions: Who comes, with what, and why do they believe they are going? What jobs do they work? Who stays when the Raj ends, with what property or social standing, and why? What are the associations with birth or growing up in the colony? Where do those who go, go to? If they go to England, how many stay there? Who, or how many, end up buried in a colony? What is the correlation[vii] between colonists dying in a colony versus Britons dying in Britain? Different groups, categorized by time in India, job, status, et cetera, may exhibit particular characteristics. Checking for patterns will be enlightening. The sum of this paper’s research should be a numerical and personal story of what it means to be a colonist.

There are several different avenues of research to walk down. In the research process, each shall be attended to briefly and the most productive or consequential continued to the fullest extent necessary or possible. For broad sociological context, academic discussions of the British Raj need attention, as does some migration theory. Nothing more complicated than a well-placed chi square analysis should be necessary to analyze and describe the patterns in any of the numerical data this paper is concerned with. Letters can be analyzed with more of a humanities bent, searching for revealing key phrases and repeated themes regarding home, India, and Britain. Certainly not least, to invest this study with meaning and relevance, contemporary discussions of Globalization[viii], especially as regards identity[ix] (or culture on an individual level) are necessary[x].

Of course, data gathering hath its challenges. What follows is a detailed list of obstacles current and future, the author’s attempts at surmounting, hopes and dreams:

Firstly, it is unusual just to get ahold of the personal letters of minor and/or unimportant Raj bureaucrats. So far I have found a few letters from and to such people because they have mentioned or been sent to a person of importance, and thus been placed in a collection, but these letters are of course, hit and miss. Digging up a large amount of them will take time.

I have not yet been able to access India’s census data from before 1948, although I have been able to access secondary reports about it written at the time, as well as modern reflections on them. I may need to go through British government offices or websites. All of it should be public domain and much of it purports to be publicly accessible from the British Library.

The process of tracking an individual colonist across his lifespan and migrations is going to be a difficult one, requiring the repeated searching for different names among the immigration, visa records, and ship’s manifests of many commonwealth countries[xi]. Much of it I will not be able to access under privacy laws. This is why letters, reports and general patterns of immigration will be so important to proving a thesis that is fundamentally about the life of individuals.

The British online archives might be an excellent place to search for publicly accessible data on the colonies as a whole, or on government officials who ran them. Duke University subscribes to the British Online Archives. It may well be worth a Fall Break trip to relations in North Carolina for research.

The United Society for Proliferation of the Gospel also kept detailed records in both India and South Africa. It may reveal lifelong missionaries and colonists, as well as tell, in the longer view, the careers of even minor players. As of yet, its files have not contributed to my thesis, but missionary records remain a source of hope for this author, quite apart from their inspiration to the faithful.

It would be nice to find out exactly how many people of British origin left India -and when- in the years around the independence movement. Census data should suffice to answer this question. I remain hopeful, despite the fact that many sources, seemingly promising, have proved non-useful[xii][xiii]

I am in contact with Professor Rauwerda, who is recommending novels. I am looking for points of contact for uncovering more pure primary data, including people with family stories of grandfathers involved with the British Raj

Butlin, R. A. Geographies of Empire: European Empires and Colonies, C. 1880-1960. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2009. Print.

Collar, N. J., and R. P. Prys-Jones. "Pioneer of Asian Ornithology: Allan Octavian Hume." BirdingASIA 17 (2012): 17-43. University of Cambridge, 12 July 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Hume, Allan. "Preface” Stray Feathers 2 (1874): 2. Openlibrary.org. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

"Queen Victoria's Hindustani Diaries." The Official Website of the British Monarchy. The Crown, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

Tomlinson, John. "Globalization and Cultural Identity." (n.d.): n. pag. Global Transformations. Polity, 19 Mar. 2003. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <https://www.polity.co.uk/global/pdf/GTReader2eTomlinson.pdf>.

Winder, Robert. Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain. London: Abacus, 2007. Print.

[i] The date 1877 was chosen because it is the date that Queen Victoria was proclaimed “Empress of India” (“Queen Victoria’s Hindustani Diaries”).

[ii] An interesting, even fundamental, feature of this issue is that identity can be demonstrably globalized without the individual in question being aware of it. An individual may refer to themselves as an English maintainer of the Empire, for instance, and yet show themselves to be globalized by other means. One example would be the axiom of revealed preference, specifically as to where they live out their lives, or by discussing differences with those who haven’t been to the colonies in personal documents. Thus this paper can address modern conceptions of globalization in a culture without a word for it.

[iii] This thesis will develop in specificity as I find, refine, or create an appropriate theory of identity globalization to apply to this study.

[iv] Robertson originally coined the term “Glocalization”, and is responsible for the articulation of aforementioned hypothesis

[v] Regarding an identity of British-Indian: this paper has implications for immigration policy worldwide by demonstrating how those who are unmistakable ethnically, loyally, absolutely British become also Indian, colonial and global, necessitating the complexities of identity the contemporary nation state finds itself awash in.

[vi] Please do not interpret this as a mistake. I will research this before the final paper.

[vii] Known as “r” in the statistical methods I will be using.

[viii] Particularly as the terms used in analyzing Globalization are not yet broad terms of art, I will have to work out of a particular theory, or at least a precise and internally consistent set of definitions.

[ix] One intriguing and terrifying idea I have run across: “What we call ‘identity’ may not be a universal, but just one particular, modern, way of socially organizing – and indeed regulating – cultural experience” ( Tomlinson 272). I am hungry for details and analysis of this.

[x] Ideally, this paper will conclude by liking the data to a current or developing theory of globalization. Of course, cultural anthropology literature is necessary to understanding the word “Identity” as scholars mean it.

[xi] But I have a starting point: I suspect many former-raj colonists will pass through Australia or South Africa

[xii] Some of the more interesting sources I have looked into, and reached dead ends.

https://archive.org/stream/mahatmalettersto00sinnuoft#page/470/mode/2up

http://www.censusindia.gov.in/data_products/library/anthropologic_link/anthro.pdf

*I have prospected the International Forum on Globalization, which I found through the ISP page on GoucherLearn, but without discovering a treasure trove of identity-centered debate or body of literature.

[xiii] Helena Norberg-Hodge, associated with the International Forum on Globalization, does not, at this stage, appear to be a helpful person to look into, despite her work in individual identity, because she works in development and local community.

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Although the Internet has existed for approximately two decades, many of its impacts are still evolving. The Internet has produced many positive impacts, including connecting individuals around the world instantaneously and the democratizing of information. More people may now access a greater quantity of information and need not incur expenses in doing so. However, the information of which there is an abundance is not necessarily reliable. The democratization of information gathering has caused the major newsgathering organizations to adapt and shrink in order to continue to have a sustainable business model. These changes have critically impacted journalism as an entire field. In particular, these changes have significantly impacted foreign coverage. In a world which enables anyone with a phone or a computer to report information, and in a world in which foreign issues can immediately and profoundly impact domestic issues, the quality of news being reported and the role of the foreign correspondent must be better understood. With this research project, I intend to study the impacts of the rise of the Internet on foreign coverage. In doing so, I hope to gain an understanding of the ways in which this revolutionary technology has both benefited and been a setback for foreign news reporting.

In the preliminary stages of my research I focused on two articles that analyze the state of foreign correspondence. One, “In the Foothills of Change,” which was written by John Maxwell Hamilton in 2009, focuses on the the rise of the internet and the impact on foreign news reporting in the United States, while the other, “Which Future for Foreign Correspondence” focuses on the situation in London. There are two specific reasons that I focused on these two sources besides where they are from. Whereas the Hamilton article is from 2009, the article from London is from 2012. This allows me to analyze the trajectory of the rise of the Internet, as three years is a significant span of time.

The article by Hamilton discusses the beginning of the apparently catastrophic effects of the rise of the Internet in an effort to disprove that the end of newspapers and the end of foreign coverage are equivalent to one another. This is an important and intriguing source due to Hamilton's line of analysis. Rather than taking a scientific approach to proving his thesis, he looks back at the history of foreign correspondence as a field. Hamilton breaks the history of foreign correspondence into eras. By doing so, he builds on the past, rather than creating his own scientific study. (Hamilton 52) This, to me, provides a really interesting source analysis because the approach is methodical and based on information that was already available to him. Hamilton's thesis that foreign correspondence is evolving, rather than dying, allows communications scholars to look at his research and his conclusions and compare them to the events that have occurred, rather than the events he predicted would occur.

Hamilton's conclusions, which are now 5 years old, are part of the reason why I will also be using Christina Archetti's 2012 article “Which Future For Foreign Correspondence.” However, there are some other significant benefits to her article. Archetti's article is based on a series of interviews she conducted with foreign correspondents from across Europe. Archetti's study had an interesting intention, which is important to my research. She intended to study analyze the routines of the output of foreign reporters in London, in order to explore the changes that the rise of the Internet and globalization brought forth in the new practices of journalists in London. (Archetti 848) This intention directly and significantly impacted my approach to my study. Journalism is changing significantly, and the elements of globalization and the Internet are two important and intriguing aspects of the changes in the field of journalism, and more specifically, the subcategory of foreign reporting.

These two articles are fascinating sources of comparison because they come to the same conclusion using very different methodologies. This will allow me to study my topic from various different angles. The articles mentioned here reflect just the start of my research, but they provide me with a really interesting preliminary conclusion. Foreign coverage is not dying. Rather, foreign newspaper coverage is declining while foreign coverage otherwise is growing.

Archetti, Cristina. "Which Future For Foreign Correspondence?." Journalism Studies 13.5/6 (2012): 847-856. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Hamilton, John Maxwell. "In The Foothills Of Change." Columbia Journalism Review 47.6 (2009): 50- 54. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Maier, Scott R. "Newspapers Offer More News Than Do Major Online Sites." Newspaper Research Journal 31.1 (2010): 6-19. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Otto, Florian, and Christoph O Meyer. "Missing The Story? Changes In Foreign News Reporting And Their Implications For Conflict Prevention." Media, War & Conflict 5.3 (2012): 205-221. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

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In so many areas of psychological research, a great disparity can be found between what researchers discover and what the public believes to be true. Public ideas of psychological “fact” are often outdated, unfounded, and simply incorrect. Currently, there is much fear and controversy surrounding the use of electroconvulsive therapy in treating patients with various mental disorders. Many people believe that electroconvulsive therapy can cause a slew of terrible side effects, most importantly loss of cognitive functioning, including intelligence and long-term memory. While it is true that this treatment is only appropriate in extreme cases, the current research indicates that electroconvulsive therapy is a safe and effective treatment for many psychiatric patients, and that its use does not negatively impact cognitive functioning.

Several studies have been done on the long and short term effects of prolonged periodic electroconvulsive therapy, or maintenance electroconvulsive therapy. A variety of studies can provide basis for further research and implementation, including experiments and case studies. One case study done in 2006 showed a significant increase in cognitive functioning of a patient with severe medication resistant bipolar disorder after receiving maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for three years (Sienaert and Peuskens 305). Another case study performed on a young adult with Autism did not find a similar increase in cognitive functioning, however there were no adverse effects (Wachtel et al. 301). Both studies found significant improvement in behavior, and even remission in the former. A controlled experiment done on a group of patients with schizophrenia performed twelve cognitive tests to measure a variety of functions including verbal learning, memory, and selective attention before and after electroconvulsive therapy and found “no significant differences in any cognitive measure” between the experimental and control groups (Rami et al. 186-187). Another experiment looked at immediate effects before and after a single session of electroconvulsive therapy in psychiatric patients who regularly receive this treatment. Several cognitive measures were performed, and while there was “no significant cognitive decline,” subjects did experience some visuospatial dysfunction after treatment (Goti et al. 389). Several of the reports referenced past findings that long-term memory can be effected by the use of electroconvulsive therapy, yet none of them reported similar findings. All four studies indicated that the treatment is highly effective and safe for psychiatric patients who do not respond to more common drug or talk therapy treatments.

Despite the research showing that electroconvulsive therapy does not impair cognitive functioning, the public is still largely misinformed and fearful in regards to the treatment. Many associate the idea of electroconvulsive therapy with the horrors of such outdated and inhumane treatments as icepick lobotomies and cruel institutionalization. This prevailing fear stirs controversy and can cause people to shy away from a treatment that could be potentially lifesaving for themselves or their loved ones. Thus, we must work towards dispelling the misinformation surrounding electroconvulsive therapy, while at the same time further studying its effects to ensure its safety.

The history of the use of electroconvulsive therapy is a significant area for further research. To understand how to dispel misinformation one must first understand how that misinformation developed in the first place. Additionally, one could look into the evolution of the therapy, and the safeguards already in place to keep patients safe. For example, every one of the studies referred to here spoke of using various anesthetics and muscle relaxers used to protect subjects. Furthermore, there is no doubt that other, more extensive research on the effect, or lack thereof, of electroconvulsive therapy on cognitive functioning exists and could be useful to the development of this proposal.

The misinformation that surrounds the use of electroconvulsive therapy has created a controversy over its side-effects that is not necessarily founded in scientific fact. The reality of the current research is that the treatment is safe and highly effective for many patients who can find relief nowhere else. It is important to find a way to spread the results of such research, and to continue to research to allow the public to make educated decisions in choosing treatment for themselves and their families. If the fear surrounding electroconvulsive therapy is dispelled, its increased use could provide aide to so many who are suffering from debilitating mental illness, and has the potential to be lifesaving for others.

Goti, Javier, et al. "Cognitive Functions after Only One ECT Session: A Controlled Study." Psychiatry Research 158 (2008): 389-94. PsycINFO. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Rami, Lorena, et al. "Absence of Additional Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia Patients during Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy." Schizophrenia Bulletin 30.1 (2004): 185-89. PsycINFO. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Sienaert, Pascal, and Joseph Peuskens. "Electroconvulsive Therapy: An Effective Therapy of Medication-Resistant Bipolar Disorder." Bipolar Disorders 8 (2006): 304-06. PsycINFO. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

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The Effect of Parenting Behavior on Child’s Social Inhibition [DRAFT IN PROGRESS]

Previous studies (Fox et al., 1996; Schmidt et al., 1997) have attempted to come to a conclusion for socially inhibited behavior and have found reason to believe that biological/physiological factors play a role in behavioral inhibition and social wariness in young children. Little research was done in these studies to include the possibility of parenting having an important and bidirectional role on childhood behavioral development (Newton et al., 2014). In the study of “Emotion Regulation, Parenting and Display of Social Reticence in Preschoolers” it was found that parental warmth and control greatly effects childhood prosocial behavioral, possibly leading the child to feelings of wariness, anxiety and fear in the presence of socially neutral situations (Rubin et al., 2001).

Rubin’s research first got hold of a variety of middle class, caucasian, American mothers and their 4 year-old children. The mother’s description of her child’s social behavior was collected in order to observe traits of sociability and shyness. The children were placed in quartets with other unknown children within 6 months of the same age, and were involved in peer free play sessions as well as free play and structured play with their mothers. During the mother and child sessions, measurements were taken of the mother’s Proximity and Orientation, Positive affect (positive emotional expression), Hostile affect (anger or irritability), Negative affect (fearfulness or anxiety), Negative control (ill-timed or unnecessary control), and Positive control or guidance.

Research found that social reticence and/or inhibition was present in children with mothers who showered them with stimulation, warmth, or control in unnecessary circumstances. It was observed that mothers who described their child as socially wary or emotionally vulnerable had a preconceived notion that the child needed extra support in an environment that might (even if not probable) cause the child emotional distress. In this case, the mother would keep close proximity and display the bidirectional relationship that negatively impacts the child’s prosocial behavior (Newton et al., 2014). With these overly sensitive and responsive mothers comes an overly sensitive and reactive child that assumes situations to be emotionally stressing. This creates a cycle in which the mother plants the idea of wariness to the child, who in return presents wariness that the mother continues to respond to. In short, through the mother’s overwhelming negative control in realistically neutral social environments, the child demonstrates wariness and fearful social attitudes, precluding the child’s comfort and ability to benefit from independent exploration and socialization.

Fox, N. A., Calkins, S. D., Scmidt, L. Rubin, K. H., & Coplan, R. J. (1996). The role of frontal activation in the regulation and dysregulation of social behavior during the preschool years. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 89-102.

Rubin, K. H., Cheah, C. L., & Fox, N. (2001). Emotion regulation, parenting and display of social reticence in preschoolers. Early Education And Development, 12(1), 97-115.

Newton, E. K., Laible, D., Carlo, G., Steele, J. S., & McGinley, M. (2014). Do sensitive parents foster kind children, or vice versa? Bidirectional influences between children’s prosocial behavior and parental sensitivity. Developmental Psychology, 50(6), 1808-1816.

Schmidt, L. A., Fox, N. A., Rubin, K. H., Sternberg, E. M., Gold, P.W., Smith, C. C., & Schulkin, J. (1997). Behavioral and neuroendocrine responses in shy children. Developmental Psychobiology, 30, 127-140.

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Overcoming Homophobia: The Power of Christianity’s Concept of Redemptive Suffering for HIV-Positive Gay Black Men [DRAFT IN PROGRESS]

Of all the HIV-positive males in the USA, 41% of them are black (Foster, et al.). Additionally, 48% of HIV-positive 13-29 year-old males, and a percentage of all HIV-positive males are black and have sex with other males (Foster et al.). HIV is a current endemic within gay, black communities that causes much suffering. Another large part of black communities is their churches and their Christian faith. The majority of black Americans grow up attending black churches, and at the very least, being heavily influenced by them. 85% of black Americans report religion being very important to them, and 60% attend church weekly (Pitt). Additionally, churches are an integral part in black communities for social, financial, political, ethical, and of course spiritual and religious lifestyles (Foster et al.). Being such a large part of their lives, HIV-positive black males would want to receive support from these institutions. However, the black church in America has been largely non-responsive to the HIV and AIDS crisis that is so prevalent in their own communities (Foster et al.).

This non-responsiveness can be attributed to the values that these churches hold. Several ways of acquiring HIV oppose Christianity’s moral code, including unprotected sex out of wedlock and drug abuse. However, the non-responsiveness can be largely connected to the widespread homophobia and stigmatization of sexual minorities of traditional black churches (Foster et al.). The preaching of black ministers promote these beliefs, which then is spread to the Christian worshippers which constitute the majority of black communities. Therefore, it might be assumed that homosexual, HIV-positive black males would search elsewhere than the faith they grew up with to cope with their suffering.

Contrary to this logic, this has not been the case. Gay black men have been found to remain active in churches, and very active spiritually. Oftentimes, they accuse the homophobic speaker, not the Christian doctrines, for having the wrong morality, focus, and motivations (Pitt). Therefore, they are able to maintain a belief in the God they grew up with. It seems like it would become harder for HIV-positive gay black males to remain faithful, however, due to the church’s non-responsiveness about the crisis, and their refusal to reach out and support the many victims within their communities. And even if the victims departed from the traditional churches with which they grew up with, it seems as if the God they have known and are used to believing in would seem homophobic as well to them. But this has not been the case, either.

In fact, many HIV-positive gay black males remain or become more deeply spiritual and connected with their faith. One study in which 16 HIV-negative gay black males and 15 HIV-positive gay black males from the San Francisco-Oakland area were interviewed found that 15 of the 16 people who discontinued attending church continued identifying as Christian (Foster et al.). More importantly, though, six of the HIV-positive men continued attending traditional black churches, whereas none of the HIV-negative men did (Foster et al.). Only five of the HIV-negative men even attended non-denominational, non-homophobic religious institutions (Foster et al.). This stark contrast raises the question of why HIV-positive black gay men persist with a Christian faith, and an institution that denounces their homosexuality and refuses to support them in their sufferings.

A potential answer may be found in the notion of redemptive suffering that Christianity clearly promotes. Two essays by renowned Christian scholars describe how suffering can cause one to feel closer to God. In one of the essays, Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks of his personal experience with suffering (Pinn). He talks of how in the few years prior to writing the essay, he had been arrested five times, his home was bombed twice, he received daily death threats, and was the victim of a nearly fatal stabbing. And after all of this, his faith grew stronger. He wrote, “the suffering and agonizing moments through which I have passed over the last few years have drawn me closer to God” (226). The reason that he found suffering to be redemptive seems to be inspired directly by Christianity, for he says that he “can now humbly yet proudly say, ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus’” (226). This reasoning, in itself, may explain why HIV-positive black gay males are becoming closer to Christianity, a religion that causes cognitive dissonance among black gay males because of its homophobia, which is especially prevalent in black communities.

In another essay, Howard Thurman, speaks of suffering as raising “the ultimate question about the meaning of existence” (227) (Pinn). Martin Luther King’s words exemplify the answer that many sufferers are able to find in Christianity. Through Christianity, the sufferers are able to identify with the supposed Son of God, Jesus Christ, who supposedly suffered more than any other, and was more at odds with his society than any other. Jesus Christ is the most powerful figure that any sufferer is able to identify with, because of his story, and because he is described as the Son of God. This is a possible explanation for why many HIV-positive black gay males have maintained their Christian faith, and in many cases have deepened it, in the face of their churches’ and their fellow Christians’ oppression against them due to homophobia.

I would like to explore this possible explanation further. In order to do this, I would research the role that suffering plays in the Christian religion. This research would include how it is taught in churches, specifically black churches, how suffering is literally presented in the bible, and I would especially focus on how Christianity and suffering have influenced one another throughout history, which would include the role Christianity has played in how Christian oppressors have thought and acted and how the Christian oppressed have thought and acted. This could help me understand how Christianity is currently useful to both the homophobic black churches and Christians and the HIV-positive gay black males. Then, I would conduct interviews with a randomly selected group of black Christians, half of whom would be HIV-positive gay black males. My interviews would focus on the role that the story of Jesus suffering plays in their faith and how it affects them in their life. I would compare the common themes between and within the two groups. Hopefully, my results and research would allow me to prove that the reason HIV-positive black gay males persist with their Christian faith in the face of the oppression from black churches is that they identify with the central figure and story of Christianity, Jesus Christ. For, like them, he suffered greatly and was at odds with the society he was a part of. And, like them, he maintained the faith of the Israelites while questioning certain aspects of it.

Foster, Michael L., Emily Arnold, Gregory Rebchook, and Susan M. Kegeles. "‘It’s My Inner Strength’: Spirituality, Religion and HIV in the Lives of Young African American Men Who Have Sex with Men." Culture, Health, & Sexuality 13.9 (2011): 1103-117. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=49973b4e-ca7a-444e-afe2-8ed364d7bd7b%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4102>.

Howard Thurman, “Suffering.” In Disciplines of the Spirit (Richmond, Ind.: Friends United Press, 1963), 64-85. Repr. in Walter E. Fluker and Catherine Tumber, eds., A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life (Boston: Beacon Press, 1998), 35-54.

Martin Luther King, Jr., “Suffering and Faith,” Christian Century 77 (April 27, 1960): 510. Repr. in James Melvin Washington, ed., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Harper and Row, 1986), 41-42.

Pinn, Anthony B. Moral Evil and Redemptive Suffering: A Histroy of Theodicy in African-American Religious Thought. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2002. Print.

Pitt, Richard N. "“Killing the Messenger”: Religious Black Gay Men's Neutralization of Anti-Gay Religious Messages." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 49.1 (2010): 56-72. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01492.x/full>.

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Abstract: There is a lack of education or an overload of misinformation to the public about feral cats. There are many misconceptions about what is a feral cat, feral cat health, what role they play in the depletion of many types of wildlife, and the solution to feral cat colonies. Feral cats cannot be adopted into homes to live a domestic life because; they are not socialized to humans. There is the misunderstanding that feral cats can spread diseases such as FeLV, rabies, and FIV as well as feral cats face terrible conditions. Several research teams have disproved such accusations. It is also thought that feral cats cause decreases in many animal populations; this was also found to be false. With the increase in the number of feral cats, many organizations have started Trap-Neuter-Return programs (TNR) to sterilize cats so that a colony’s population stabilizes. Such programs have been successful in both the short and long term. The proper education of the public and the installation of TNR programs are key to solving the issues on feral cats.

Chu, Karyen, Wendy M. Anderson, and Micha Y. Rieser. "Population Characteristics and Neuter Status of Cats Living in Households in the United States." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (2009): 1023-030. Print.

Driscoll, Carlos A., Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener, and Stephen J. O'brien. "The Taming of the Cat." Scientific American: 68-75. Print.

Finkler, Hilit, Idit Gunther, and Joseph Terkel. "Behavioral Differences between Urban Feeding Groups of Neutered and Sexually Intact Free-roaming Cats following a Trap-neuter- return Procedure." <i>Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association</i> (2011): 1141-149. Print.

Finkler, Hilit, Erez Hatna, and Joseph Terkel. "The Impact of Anthropogenic Factors on the Behavior, Reproduction, Management and Welfare of Urban, Free-Roaming Cat Populations." Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals (2011): 31-49. Print.

Hughes, Kathy L., and Margaret R. Slater. "Implementation of a Feral Cat Management Program on a University Campus." Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (2002): 15-28. Print.

Levy, Julie K., H. Morgan Scott, Jessica L. Lachtara, and P. Cynda Crawford. "Seroprevalence of Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection among Cats in North America and Risk Factors for Seropositivity." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (2006): 371-76. Print.

Levy, Julie K., David W. Gale, and Leslie A. Gale. "Evaluation of the Effect of a Long-term Trap-neuter-return and Adoption Program on a Free-roaming Cat Population." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (2003): 42-46. Print.

Mackun, Paul. ". Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010. 2010 Census Briefs." U.S. Census Bureau, 11 June 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf>.

Magurran, A. E., and M. Dornelas. "Biological Diversity in a Changing World." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2010): 3593-597. Print.

Scott, Karen C., Julie K. Levy, Shawn P. Gorman, and Susan M. Newell Neidhart. "Body Condition of Feral Cats and the Effect of Neutering." Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science: 203-13. Print.

"Uncompromising Stands on Animal Rights." PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal, 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.peta.org/campaigns/ar- feralcats.asp>.

Wallace, J., and J. Levy. "Population Characteristics of Feral Cats Admitted to Seven Trap- neuter-return Programs in the United States." Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery (2006): 279-84. Print.