This study focuses on the novels of Quicksand by Nella Larsen and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison to explore the phenomenon of poqéakh through the fictionalized lived experiences of their protagonists, Helga Crane and invisible man. Each novelist’s representation of poqéakh offers a portrait of the protagonists’ psyches. The narratives reveal an unsettling truth for the protagonists, who are members of a population often targeted, stigmatized, and fashioned or re-fashioned by Americans and various environs in American society, that they must (...) assimilate—not only their bodies, but their psyches too to fit the “white man’s pattern”. Their realities inform them that non-conformity and/or developing or utilizing their intellect is disadvantageous—perceiving is unfavorable. Each protagonist learns that she and he will not only be limited by their imaginations or abilities, but also by persons and constructs within American society keeping them witless and amenable. The environs presented in forms such as schools, jobs, even people who prepare each protagonist to accept all and any disparity, they are made to be persistently and surreptitiously instructive. As such, these environs are always educating, always molding the psyches of the protagonists to live within a frame—the construct. These ever informing boundaries thoroughly acquaint each protagonist on “how to scale down [their] desires and dreams so that they will come within reach of possibility”. Poqéakh leads Helga Crane to perceive the boundaries while it prevents the invisible man from returning to unblissful ignorance, thus, for him, providing momentary periods of lucidity. This study utilizes a qualitative research design and method, and relies on phenomenological theory to successfully analyze the novels and explicate on the representations of poqéakh. As this study will illustrate, Larsen and Ellison offer as representative via their novels two narratives of the diasporic psyche, wherein their protagonists’ experiences of poqéakh lead to some unmitigated facts and disturbing truths about their reality. (shrink)

This is a book review of Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights by Sherry F. Colb and Michael C. Dorf.

Martin Luther King’s primary emphasis was upon ‘beloved community,’ a phrase he borrowed from Royce, but an idea that he shared with St. Augustine. Theories of the state tend to focus upon division, in which one stratum dominates another or others. King’s context is the US in the segregated South—a region whose internal divisions sharply instantiate the idea of the state as an unequal hierarchy of dominance. King’s appeal was less to end black subjugation than to end subjugation as such. (...) Hence King was called by some a ‘dreamer,’ given his background commitment to equality and community, ideals taking marginal precedence over his foreground commitment to liberty and autonomy. This article explores the notion of ‘beloved community’ broadly and then specifically in Martin Luther King along with related notions in Howard Thurman and in Josiah Royce. (shrink)

Grades on assignments and tests are reliable, yet imperfect, indicators of students’ knowledge and understanding of a subject matter. Overall course grades are also often influenced by students’ complying with class procedures: e.g., if attendance and participation are required, then students who rarely attend class may get poor grades, even if they understand the course content and have done well on the assignments and tests. A variety of extra credit opportunities are often given as a way to raise grades on (...) assignments and tests and overall course grades. But there are reasons why instructors should not offer extra credit, that doing so is unjustified and unfair. Extra credit is common but is surprisingly controversial. (shrink)

This video is a conversation with Dr. Michael Janis. Dr. Janis talks about his book, Africa After Modernism: Transitions in Literature, Media and Philosophy. Yolanda Gilmore-Bivins, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer.

This book provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society, have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why? We will explore the most influential and most developed answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their (...) critics – to try to determine which positions are supported by the best moral reasons. (shrink)

Although DuBois has been the subject of considerable scholarly work, little of that scholarship has concentrated on his political thought. This dissertation addresses that lacuna in the literature on DuBois by analyzing his writings from the standpoint of a concern with their political and philosophical dimensions and their relation to the social and intellectual contexts within which DuBois wrote and acted. Most significant in this research among the contexts within which DuBois' work was constituted are those aspects related to: rise (...) of the corporation as a central organizing force in United States political economy; development of intellectuals as a self-conscious, discernibly interested stratum in twentieth-century American society; and the continuing efforts of elites within the Afro-American population to congeal a social and political agenda for themselves and hegemony over the organization of the race. This study identifies collectivism as a useful critical concept in interpretation of the intellectual and institutional thrusts of those three elements of the environment of DuBois' theoretical development and points of similarity and confluence among them. Collectivism is seen as a meta-theoretical outlook that values specialized expertise in social decision-making, rational organization and planning and asserts the primacy of the economy in society. To that extent collectivism provides a rubric subsuming the principal ideological stances common among intellectuals during the early decades of this century-i.e., socialism, progressivism, and the varieties of managerialism--and their derivatives. DuBois' thought is found to demonstrate sharp continuities at the philosophical or meta-theoretical level. These continuities are most significant in his attitudes concerning the nature and purposes of knowledge and the proper organization of society in general and of the Afro-American population in particular, and they resonate with the attitudes of his collectivist contemporaries. Notwithstanding DuBois' movements into and out of the university and "activism," the Socialist Party, the NAACP, Pan-Africanism and finally the CPUSA, he is found to have maintained throughout his career commitment to: a positivist-pragmatist view of knowledge; a rationalistic, collectivist view of proper social organization, including a preference for meritocracy; and a belief that the elite of "ability" or the "Talented Tenth" should have primacy in and over the Afro-American population. (shrink)

On November 18, 1994, academic, activist, and philosopher Cornel West addressed the National Alliance of Black School Educators at a conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Dr. West’s speech, captured in this video recording, focuses on the experience of African Americans in America, a culture that, according to West, is steeped in the “pernicious and vicious” influence of white supremacy. West argues that 1994 is one of the “more frightening and terrifying moments” in the history of (...) the United States, and he laments the election of Newt Gingrich as well as the leadership positions of such figures as Strom Thurmond and Orrin Hatch. He urges the audience to adopt an approach to democratizing American politics by not only resisting white supremacy but also male supremacy, heterosexual supremacy, and any other attitude that dehumanizes other people. West also deplores the decline of “non-market values” such as kindness, community, and love, contending that “market culture” leads to “market morality,” in which every part of human life is commodified. (shrink)

The Hermetic literature or the Corpus Hermeticum, as it is more commonly referred to, concerns an extensive body of writings which evolved in the early Christian era around the personage of Hermes Trismegistus; Trismegistus meaning three times great. The name Hermes Trismegistus has been generally accepted as a Greek ascription to the Egyptian god, Thoth; Thoth being the ancient Greek attempt to pronounce Djehty. While some portions of the HL may have been written prior to the beginning of the Christian (...) era, it is generally believed that most of the HL was produced between 100 and 300 CE in Egypt. While it has been generally accepted that the frame-work of the HL is Egyptian, the content has been construed as an eclectic mix of ideas and concepts derived from the various schools of Greek philosophical thought --- Platonism, Aristotelianism, Neo-Platonism et cetera. The literature is extant in Greek, while one long tractate has come down to us in Latin; namely, the Asclepius tractate which is sometimes also referred to as the Perfect Sermon. Several Hermetic excerpts were found at Nag Hammadi in late 1945. The Nag Hammadi excerpts have been preserved in Coptic. Curiously enough, Corpus Hermeticum XVI, paragraphs 1 and 2 constitute a very explicit polemic against translating the HL into Greek. See note 48 for my translation of these paragraphs accompanying this abstract. In a thesis of four chapters, I present evidence with a view toward demonstrating that the Egyptian element in HL is present to a more significant degree than many previous interpreters, particularly in the twentieth century, have argued. However, I am hardly the first to assume such a stance; Pietschmann, Reitzenstein, Stricker, Derchain and Griffiths are some of those who have taken positions quite similar to mine. In conclusion, my interest in the HL is a two-fold one. On the one hand, this interest has evolved directly out of my identity as a person of African descent. On the other hand, it has also grown out of my interest in the bible in general and the New Testament in particular. Most specifically, my interest in the HL has ultimately stemmed from the realization that there is a seminal relationship between the development of the New Testament and Christian origins and northeastern Afrika in general and ancient Egypt in particular. (shrink)

This audio recording contains a lecture led by Dr. William Christian, Dr. Shirley C. Guthrie, and Dr. Stanley R. Hopper on November 20, 1965 as a part of the America and the Future of Theology Lecture Series. Dr. William Christian discusses the possibility of interaction between metaphysics and theology, the concept of God in Alfred North Whitehead’s metaphysics, the relation of Whitehead’s metaphysics to Platonism, and the relation of Whitehead’s metaphysics to Christian theology. Dr. Guthrie responds to Dr. Christian by (...) accepting the interaction of metaphysics and theology as a possible subject and how metaphysics is necessary to theology, but only as an instrument not a dictator. Dr. Stanley responds to Dr. Christian by posing two questions: Can the relationship between theology and philosophy or theology and metaphysics be adequately represented when the concept of God has a strong family resemblance according to Whitehead, and What is the relationship between metaphysics and theology? Lastly, Dr. Christian responds to both Dr. Guthrie and Dr. Stanley. (shrink)

The resistance of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia to antimicrobial agents has become a major medical and public health problem. The frequent treatment of S. maltophilia borne infections with the same anti-microbial agent over a period of time inherently results in the pathogen developing resistance to the drug. A polyclonal antibody cocktail, D-Squared David L Scott 01 was used to recover surface exposed immunogenic polypeptides from the cell walls of S. maltophilia. Bioinformatics strategies were performed to identify epitopes of ferric enterobactin receptor homolog (...) in S. maltophilia. Data showed that D2-DLSO1 recognized regions along the Fep A peptide sequence that was confirmed in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay assay. The amino acid sequences of Escherichia coli Fep A Iron receptor could serve as a target for the development of anti S.maltophila IgG that are useful in protection against infections caused by S. maltophilia and other Gram negative bacteria. Individual S. maltophilia surface exposed immunogenic polypeptides were evaluated in growth inhibition studies and ELISA was used to determine applicability as targets for immunological neutralization. The data suggest that serial dilution of D2-DLSO 1 antisera representing ljig/ml showed significant binding ofD2-DLSO1 to S.maltophilia antigens as compared to controls. The data indicated that D2-DLSO1 inhibited the proliferation of S. maltophilia and several Gram negative bacteria. However, D2-DLSO1 did not show any inhibition of proliferation on Gram positive bacteria , suggesting that there are no common conserved sequences among Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. Human monoclonal antibodies recovered from transgenic mice were capable of inhibiting the proliferation of S. maltophilia in vitro. These monoclonal antibodies showed potential of being excellent therapeutic agents for infections caused by S. maltophilia and possibly other Gram negative nosocomial pathogens. (shrink)

This research addressed two areas of interest: the contemporary role of American public diplomacy in the post-9/11 world and the formal and informal role of hip-hop music in 21st century American public diplomacy. This study examined the formal and informal role of hip-hop music in American public diplomacy to determine the degree to which the U.S. government is formally employing hip-hop music as a tool for public diplomacy. The researcher hypothesized that the U.S. government uses hip-hop music as means to (...) champion its foreign policy objectives and American democratic values vis-à vis cultural imperialism. This study employed the case study model as its principal research method and used three data analysis techniques: content analysis, process model analysis, and voice analysis. The conclusion whether hip-hop reflects or champions American cultural imperialism is mixed. From a formal perspective, the answer is no for three reasons: the stated objectives of the Rhythm Road program, the types of artists that are chosen to serve as cultural diplomats, and the prior existence of hip-hop communities throughout the world. On the other hand, when considering informal hip-hop diplomacy from an economic and political perspective, it is feasible to argue that it does reflect what James Petras describes as American cultural imperialism. In the final analysis, the researcher concludes that the U.S. government does in fact practice and promote cultural imperialism vis-à-vis public diplomacy: however, the use of hip-hop music in the formal process plays no significant role in this process. (shrink)

Since the beginning of the 1990s, there has been a sharp rise in anti-tobacco activism, adverse public opinion, litigation, and new legislation to counter the tobacco industry and reduce use. Despite this sharp rise in activism, the role of African Americans in this advocacy process has mostly escaped the analysis of the political science research community. This includes 1999 when payments to the states began from the historically significant Master Settlement Agreement , which was signed in 1998 between 46 Attorneys (...) General and the tobacco industry. This research project analyzed the dynamics in the state tobacco coalitions in Arkansas and Georgia. It delved into the roles African Americans played in an effort to leverage resources for the black community. These funds represented needed resources for building capacity and infrastructure. The research used both primary and secondary data. The primary data were gathered by semi-structured interviews with state health officials, coalition members, and policy-makers all intimately involved in the allocation process. Secondary data were gathered from journals, newspaper articles, by-laws and program reports. Information was also gathered from publications and websites of reputable organizations working in tobacco prevention. These included the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids and Americans for Non Smokers’ Rights.Through the lens of Interest Group Theory research analyzed the role African Americans played in the initial allocation of Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funds in Arkansas and Georgia. It was found that African Americans in leadership roles are important to the initial allocation process. Despite Arkansas’ success in securing 15% of State Tobacco Prevention funds allocated through an Historically Black College or University for minority communities, blacks in leadership positions were no guarantee that resources would be allocated to black communities. (shrink)

The study documents a formal program evaluation and examination of the Refugee Women’s Network program’s impact on acquired leadership skills by the participants who are currently involved in the program or have recently completed the entire curriculum. The elements of the Stufflebeam content-input-process-product evaluation model provided the structure for this study. The researcher used elements of the CIPP model to assess and report on the merit, worth, and significance of the leadership training component of the RWN agency. The researcher interviewed (...) former students who had worked with the RWN during the program years of 2007 through 2009. Current program administrators, leadership, and instructors have also been interviewed, participated in a focus group, and completed a valid survey instrument. An examination of program documents and research literature also provides significant implications for future research, and program development for the RWN and hopefully other similar leadership training programs. Findings from interviews and surveys within the study added to the body of research that addresses leadership training achievement of refugee and immigrant women. Previous research revealed that refugee women who participate and complete community leadership training programs ultimately learn to exhibit a transformationa leadership style, which is the main hypothesis of this study. The research design is a cross-sectional survey and program evaluation. The following questions formed the foundation inquiry of the study. 1. What is the level of success of the implementation of the RWN leadership training component as indicated by stakeholders’ perceptions? 2. How did certain operational factors impact the input, process, and products within the leadership training component? 3. What areas of course content impacted the leadership training objectives as perceived by the stakeholder group? The self-assessment process revealed how participants became empowered by setting goals, becoming self-reliant, and able to influence others in their community. (shrink)

This study examines mRNAs of less than 5000 base pairs in size, to determine the effects of base composition on folding free energy. Statistical analysis between the native mRNA and its randomized sequences was conducted, and when comparing mRNAs in human, chimp, chicken, mouse, and several other transcriptomes, we found that the native mRNAs were more stable . It has been found that when length and base composition are conserved, native mRNA sequences are more stable than random mRNA sequences. More (...) stable folding conformations have greater negative free energy values. This negative bias in free energies can be statistically measured as a Z-score which normalizes for sequence length. In an effort to determine if sequence patterns correlate with secondary structure, a neural network was trained using three training sets separately to compare the effect of neural network learning from the folding characteristics of the gene sequences. The training sets were typically allowed to run for up to 100,000 generations, and the resulting sum square errors were periodically saved. We found that the negative Z-score training set gives lower neural network sum square errors than the positive Z-score training set, and the Z-scores near zero have the highest training error. This indicates that there are more detectable sequence patterns in genes with more secondary structure than in genes exhibiting more positive Z-scores. (shrink)

This study examines the impact of welfare reform on Georgia Temporary Assistance to Needy Family recipients’ labor force entry and self-sufficiency following passage of the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The study was based on the premise that the use of the cultural explanations of poverty theoretical framework was deficient in explaining the impact of welfare reform on Georgia TANF recipients’ and based on a review of the existing literature and the experiences of Georgia leaver cohorts at (...) multiple time points. A longitudinal case study analysis approach was used to analyze data gathered from Georgia leaver studies from 1997 to 2007 to provide a secondary analysis of the impact of welfare reform on Georgia’s welfare recipients’ entry into the labor force, workforce attachment, household earnings and the ability to lift their families above the poverty level. The researcher found that the political-economic structure of poverty theories should be the theoretical framework used to explain how welfare reform has impacted Georgia’s TANP leavers following the passage of the PRWORA. This study’s findings and the researcher’s review of the literature reveal that in order for Georgia’s TANF population to maintain an acceptable standard of living, they will need access to job opportunities, expanded safety net programs, and increased wages which are strategies that are purported by political economic structural theorist. In turn, this information should be used to inform programmatic and policy changes that will best meet the needs of those transitioning into the labor force and self-sufficiency. (shrink)

This study proposes the use of the cooperative model as an alternative strategy for rural development in Kenya and Tanzania. Failure of prior models and the misuse of foreign aid in these nations lead to this proposal. The research’s theoretical framework is grounded on the neoclassical economic theory. Core questions asked included but, were not limited to: finding out the types of policies implemented the role of the cooperatives in job creation and poverty reduction, the status of cooperative education and (...) finances, the status of poverty in both nations and many more. Peter Warbasse, Adam Chambo and other proponents of the model reaffirmed the important role played by cooperatives and advocated for policies which uplift ordinary citizens from dependency to selfreliance. In Kenya, data came from the ministry websites, the ministry headquarters and its affiliates. In Tanzania, data came from the ministry’s websites and from a visit to Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies research center in Moshi. The research found that in 2008, Kenya had 8,507,000 cooperative members while Tanzania had 1,600,000. Primary cooperatives alone had created 300,000 jobs in Kenya and only 34,524 in Tanzania. Indirect employments were 303,455 in Kenya while Tanzania had no figures for indirect employment nor for the total jobs created in the same year. Cooperatives created 3,445 jobs within Kenya’s government offices and their affiliated institutions versus Tanzania’s 425. The big disparity between the two nation’s data is bewildering as discussed. The policy analysis supports the hypothesis that indeed, both nations had indeed implemented policies to support their cooperative organizations right from independence but, especially to rescue these organizations from the International Monetary Fund’s Structural Adjustment Program Mandates. Most of these policies had been formulated in accordance with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals which strives to reduce poverty in the less developed nation by half by the year 2015. Study limitations included but were not limited to: bureaucracy, partial and unavailability of research data. There is optimism in the future of these organizations as evidenced by the latest cooperative policies which focus on improving both nations’ rural development. (shrink)

The objective of this study was to determine the predictors of risky sexual behavior by an integrated approach using proximate determinants , intermediate variables and wider background factors . The indices evolved from behavioral theories addressing social, psychological and cultural factors that influenced Ghanaian youth. Two hundred and ninety respondents were recruited from high schools, youth clubs, youth workshops and marketplaces from six regions in Ghana using randomization techniques. The responses were examined employing hierarchical logistic regression modeling. All of the (...) ten indices had significant association with the sexual behavior index, the outcome variable, thus making the case that risky sexual behavior was influenced by a wide spectrum of variables including both personal and environmental factors. The bivariate analysis showed eight of the thirteen hypotheses were supported when individual indices,were examined. To accomplish the ultimate objective of changing behavior in order to decrease risky sexual behavior, the integrated model as a whole was highly significant. Therefore, if there were resources to make global changes in relation to all of the factors, one would expect high success, but if resources were limited and one had to prioritize, then one would have to focus on the three determinants which emerged as significant. The intervention should target access to information and contraceptive supplies, relationship status and greater female function in the relationship. The relationship status should encourage steady relationships and discourage casual relationships. (shrink)

This dissertation is a critical study of technopolitical issues in the history of African American people. Langdon Winner's theory of technopolitics was used to facilitate the analysis of large scale technologies and their compatibility with various political ends. I contextualized the central technopolitical issues within the major epochs of African American political history: the Atlantic slave trade, the African artisans of antebellum America, and the American Industrial Age. Throughout this study I have sought to correct negative stereotypes and to show (...) how "technological gauges" were employed to belittle people of African descent. This research also has shown that the mainstream notion that Africans had no part in the history of technology is false. This study identifies and analyses specific technologies that played a major role in the political affairs of Africans and African Americans. Those technologies included nautical devices, fort construction, and automatic guns in Africa, and hoes, plows, tractors, cotton gins, and the mechanical cotton pickers in America. The findings of this study suggested that African Americans have been disengaged and victimized by western technologies. This dissertation proposes how to overcome the oppressive uses of technology. (shrink)

This study examines the relationship between the frequency of technology use and the tendency of child welfare workers to exhibit engagement behaviors with their clients. This study was based on the premise that increased technology use is negatively associated with the quality of direct human interactions. The design of this study is descriptive and quantitative in nature. To identify and describe the potential relationships between demographic, technology use, and engagement variables, numerical data were collected through an anonymous 46-item survey. A (...) multiple regression analysis approach was used to analyze the data gathered in this study. The researcher found that the frequency of technology use has no significant relationship with how participants perceive themselves as engaging their clients. An unexpected finding yielded by this study is that the child welfare workers under study utilize technology so frequently that it becomes apparent they have little time left to have direct client contact and consequently limited opportunities to engage clients. Taken together, these findings suggest that while technology use has no significant relationship with workers' tendency to exhibit engagement behaviors during client interactions, it may be negatively associated with the frequency of opportunities workers have to exhibit those behaviors. (shrink)

The focus of this case study examines black congresswomen in the United States during the 108 th Congressional Session and their legislative advocacy for social justice through progressive policies. The questions guiding the research were: RQ1: Did black congresswomen, in the 108 th Congressional Session, use the sponsorship of legislation to advocate social justice through progressive policies? RQ2: What was the frequency of issues addressed in the legislation and the top five issues advocated? RQ3: What was the outcome of sponsored (...) legislation? This case study examined 300 pieces of legislation sponsored by black congresswomen during the years of 2003 and 2004. The data collected were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that black women in Congress almost exclusively sponsor legislation that advocated social justice through progressive policies. Issues that were strongly advocated were in the categories of Civil and Human Rights, Women and Children, Health and Safety, and Education and Labor. (shrink)