Recent Submissions

  • Mississippi Zion: The Struggle for Liberation in Attala County, 1865-1915

    Ashford, E. Howard (2023-10)
    Dr. E. Howard Ashford of the History department uses experts from his new book to illustrate the ways in which African Americans in Attala County after the Civil War, influence economic and social politics as a non-majority racial group. The book, Mississippi Zion: The Struggle for Liberation in Attala County, 1865–1915 also offers a broader perspective on Black life in the state of Mississippi during the same historical period.
  • Presentation of Colonial Geography: Race and Space in German East Africa, 1884-1905

    Unangst, Matthew (2023-02)
    Dr. Matthew Unangst of the History department uses excerpts from his new book to illustrate the ways in which Europeans combined ideas about race and geography to establish and justify colonialism in Africa. The book, Colonial Geography: Race and Space in German East Africa, 1884-1905, charts changes in conceptions of the relationship between people and landscapes in mainland Tanzania during the German colonial period. In German minds, colonial development would depend on the relationship between East Africans and the landscape. The book argues that the most important element in German imperialism was not its violence but its attempts to apply racial thinking to the mastery and control of space. Utilizing approaches drawn from critical geography, Colonial Geography posits that the development of a representational space of empire had serious consequences for German colonialism and the population of East Africa. In this lecture, Dr. Unangst demonstrates how spatial thinking shaped ideas about race and colonialism in the period of New Imperialism for all European empires, not just Germany.
  • Patient decision-making modes and causes: A preliminary investigation

    Bullinger, Jonathan M.; Kantor, Paul B.; Gal, Celia S. (Wiley, 2012-05)
    A recent study of patient decision making regarding acceptance of an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) provides a substantial but nonrandom sample (N = 191) of telephone interviews with persons who have made an affirmative decision regarding an ICD. Using a coding scheme developed through qualitative analysis of transcribed interviews, these data can be subjected to exploratory statistical analysis. The reasons given by respondents for getting the ICD differed by both region and gender, and show some correlations with whether the device has or has not delivered any stimulation (shocks) since implantation. Cluster analysis reveals association among certain important themes in the discussion of the decision process, particularly linking rather opposite concepts into clusters related to specific dimensions. The results suggest the importance, to patients, of maintaining the integrity of the self by asserting control and independence. The majority of the respondents (61%) have not received the primary intended benefit of the device (stimulation). Thus, the findings suggest that psychological benefits alone of having the device (such as anxiety reduction) serve to justify acceptance of a computerized device. Implications for other lines of computerized health support and for further study of these issues are discussed.
  • A Theory of Brand WW2

    Bullinger, Jonathan M.; Salvati, Andrew J. (Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture, 2011)
    Myths about the Second World War, grounded within stores of knowledge, often act as narrative templates to be drawn upon by collective memory. These myths and memories are transformed and commodified in a reductive manner into a brand encompassing simplistic narratives, easily recognized visual signifiers (including logo, colors, and associated symbols), and emotional cues that connect with the audience. This posits a theory that what most individuals today interact with is not a fragment of memory related to World War Two but rather a reductive representation sold as BrandWW2.
  • Marvel tells / sells its own history: figureheads, promotion, curation, and application, 1982-1987

    Bullinger, Jonathan M. (Taylor & Francis, 2022)
    This research explores Marvel Comics Group’s (MCG) efforts to actively construct and sell its own history during the early-to-mid 1980s. This active historicization was achieved through persistent promotion by company figurehead Stan Lee and fans-turned-professionals actively curating the history in an official capacity. The historical reference products focused on the growing direct market-based older fan types of cultists, enthusiasts, and petty producers and younger, newer consumers and fans attracted to the authority of both history and official releases. These reference materials included encyclopaedias (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe), a promotional arm (Marvel Age), an official history (The Marvel Saga), commemorative ceremony (1986ʹs 25th Anniversary), and New Universe that in contrast reaffirmed the specialness of the original Marvel Universe. MCG’s efforts from 1982 to 1987 provide a rare instance to watch history actively be constructed, curated, sold, and applied and to illustrate to us the power inherent within such actions.
  • Experiential Branding and Curating the Social Space

    Bullinger, Jonathan M. (University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2015)
    The branding of experience, which works to strengthen consumption practices by tying them into social and group behavior, is an extension of previous efforts that likewise attempt to brand traditionally non-commodified societal institutions including education (Twitchell, 2004), religion (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Twitchell, 2004), and our everyday lives (Moor, 2007). The logic of branding has crept into areas of our lives that previously were not branded – into large institutions like schools and museums and into micro-level everyday experiences and social relationships. This is possible today, in part, due to the rise of networked, social-media-based, smart phone technology that transforms our communication and looking into labor. This communication is increasingly visual; photos, gifs, video, and emoticons, for example, mirror the basic components of a brand.
  • The U.S. Housing Bubble: Implications for Monetary Policy and the Global Supply of Saving

    Storrie, Christine L. (North American Business Press, 2019)
    A VAR framework is used to determine impacts of key variables thought to have impacted house prices around the time of the housing boom. Separate models are used to capture traditional and nontraditional policies monetary policies during that time. Results show house prices respond to shocks in the federal funds rate and increases in the Fed’s balance sheet as well as shocks in net capital inflows but do not move in response to changes in mortgage or delinquency rates. The inclusion of higher lag orders is necessary to capture the delayed response of important variables affecting the housing market.
  • Demystifying Bubbles in Asset Prices

    Storrie, Christine L. (Pennsylvania Economic Review, 2018)
    This paper provides a survey of asset price bubbles. I focus on the theoretical model for pricing assets from both a classical rational expectations model as well as some of the theories from newer behavioral models. A review of empirical methods used to estimate bubbles is presented along with an examination of the difficulties of empirically identifying bubbles in asset prices. I provide a discussion of the role of central banks and whether a response to asset-price bubbles is appropriate on their part and conclude with a summary of some of the more famous bubbles throughout history.
  • Examining the Relationship Between Capacity Utilization and Inflation

    Storrie, Christine L.; Voyer, Melissa (New York State Economics Association, 2019)
    This paper provides insight into the complex relationship between capacity utilization and inflation in the U.S. economy. We test various current and expected inflation rates in separate models to examine the strength of relationship between capacity utilization and inflation from 1984-2018. We find the relationship between current inflation and capacity utilization has continued to weaken over time. Long run expected inflation and capacity utilization, however, have the strongest relationship, with changes in expected inflation having larger impact on utilization rates since 2000. These results suggest more emphasis should be placed on the relationship between capacity utilization and expected future inflation.
  • Experiments in Voice and Visibility: Creating Space for Graduate Student (Single) Mothers in the Mother-Free Space of the Academy

    Cunningham, Summer (Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI), 2015)
    In my doctoral department, the invisibility of my situation as a single mother and the way it was so often at odds with academic culture left me feeling alienated from my peers and my community. In an effort to balance school and single motherhood, to make visible the reality of my situation, and to connect more deeply with my academic community, I begin a series of research experiments in voice and visibility. These projects often involved my son, as he was an inextricable part of my situation as a mother. Moreover, his life and our relationship were undoubtedly impacted by “my situation” as a graduate student. In this essay, I discuss a few experiments invoice and visibility that were instrumental to getting through my doctoral program. These projects involved risk, creative strategies, and lots and lots of support from other members of my community. I hope sharing these stories might inspire other graduate student mothers to push through even when it feels impossible. Likewise, I hope faculty members and graduate students will be inspired to support and empower the mothers in their respective departments.
  • A Lonely Discourse

    Cunningham, Summer (University of California Press, 2016-03)
    This performative text is a study of relationships at multiple levels. I ask readers to (re)consider the desire and possibility for connection in various types of relationships—romantic and intertextual as well as relationships between mothers and children, mothers and others, readers and writers, presence and absence. In relating my experiences of single motherhood, I raise questions about the possibility for creative communication scholarship—performative writing in particular—to perform the relational work of connecting us to others with whom we do not share similar life experiences or situations.
  • Re-Writing Interpersonal Communication: A Portfolio-Based Curriculum for Process Pedagogy and Moving Theory Into Practice

    Cunningham, Summer; Bartesaghi, Mariaelena; Bowman, Jim; Bender, Jennifer (International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning (ISETL), 2017)
    How does one create a class where the theoretical concepts emerge through classroom practice and engagement? This is the question that Mariaelena posed to herself when taking over the position of Director of the Interpersonal Communication course at the University of South Florida. In this essay we describe how we worked through a new way of teaching—and doing—interpersonal communication that captures Carey’s (1989) focus on the centrality of process over product. We did so by way of some important tools of what is alternatively known as critical or process pedagogy (e.g., Elbow, 1986; 2013): an interpersonal dynamic that includes ongoing grading, writing to learn, and the portfolio method. This semester-long, process-oriented portfolio assignment is effective and beneficial because it facilitates an important shift in the power dynamic of the classroom by disrupting students’ expectations for evaluation and shifting the learner’s orientation from product to process. We share our portfolio method because we believe it can be adapted to fit the unique cultures and needs of other humanities and social sciences courses, instructors, and institutions.
  • Open House: A Performance Art Project by Single-Mother and Son Or If You Haven’t an Academic Home, Invite the Academy into Your Home

    Cunningham, Summer (Museum of Motherhood, 2018)
    Open House, a performance art project originally titled “Give and Take,” took place in September 2010. My son and I created this project as an invitational gesture: we hoped to make a home for ourselves within the academy by inviting the academy into our home. Members of our academic community were split into small groups, given a key to our home, and, for one week, invited to show up at our home anytime—day or night, announced or not—to see what our life was like. Not everyone showed up, but, nevertheless, there was a shift in our community that was palpable as a result of this project.
  • The Economics of Cupcakes: A Class Activity on the Law of Diminishing Marginal Product

    Storrie, Christine L. (Department of Economics and Finance, Middle Tennessee State University, 2020)
    Economics courses are typically lecture-based. This paper provides an alternative to the traditional chalk and talk method of classroom instruction by outlining a class activity that illustrates the concept of diminishing marginal productivity. The activity incorporates an experiment-based learning approach with minimal direction from the instructor and offers an alternative or complement to traditional lecture-based instruction methods. Although the main lesson is the law of diminishing marginal productivity, other economic concepts can also be incorporated and learned from this experiment. Variations of the experiment and possible outcomes are also discussed.
  • The Impact of Stock Liquidity on Audit Pricing

    Qin, Juan (North American Business Press, 2020)
    This paper investigates whether firms’ stock liquidity is associated with audit fees. Stock liquidity can increase institutional monitoring by either helping investors overcome free-rider problems to intervene in management decisions, or disciplining management through the threat of exit. Given that stock liquidity can enhance institutional monitoring, firms with higher stock liquidity may have incentives to utilize high quality audits which always result in higher audit fees to satisfy the demand of institutional investors. Consistent with these arguments, I find that firms with liquid stocks are more likely to pay significantly higher audit fees.
  • Redesigning the Healthcare Model to Address Obesity Problem Using Incentives Delivered through a Combination of Processes and Mobile Technologies

    Lokshina, Izabella V.; Bartolacci, Michael R. (IGI Global, 2013)
    Obesity and other lifestyle-related illnesses are among the top global healthcare challenges today. Obesity in young population is an alarming predictor for obesity in adulthood, but also entails different short term health complications. Knowing how to stay healthy is not enough to motivate young individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles. However, relevant progress can be achieved with use of incentives delivered through combination of processes and mobile technologies. Recognizing effectiveness of new healthcare model to prevent obesity in young population, an innovative multi-dimensional cross-disciplinary ICT framework should be developed, which uses sophisticated game mechanics to motivate behavior changes towards healthier lifestyles and supports three main functions: individual & environmental monitoring, including wearable sensors, mobile phones and multimedia diaries; feedback to users, presenting personalized healthy options for alternative lifestyles; and social connectivity, encouraging involvement in sharing experiences through social networks and social engagement. System development should be based on user-centered design, social and networking games and online education and supported by a wide stakeholder’s ecosystem, including health authorities and research institutions, industries and academia from the ICT and healthcare sectors, as well as food companies and SMEs.
  • Addressing Ethical Concerns of Big Data as a Prerequisite for a Sustainable Big Data Industry

    Lokshina, Izabella V.; Lanting, Cees J. M. (IGI Global, 2018)
    Big Data combines information from diverse sources to create knowledge, make better predictions and tailor services. This article analyzes Big Data both as a technology and an industrial activity, and identifies the points of weakness and ethical concerns created by current business practices. Potential solutions for these concerns are proposed in order to build and maintain business practices respecting ethical standards as a prerequisite for a sustainable Big Data industry. This article covers both the usage of Big Data by industry and the development of a sustainable Big Data services industry.
  • Qualitative Evaluation of IoT-Driven eHealth: KM, Business Models, Deployment and Evolution

    Lokshina, Izabella V.; Lanting, Cees J. M. (IGI Global, 2018)
    This article explains that eHealth has major potential, and its adoption may be considered necessary to achieve increased ambulant and remote medical care, increased quality, reduced personnel needs, and reduced costs potential in healthcare. In this paper, the authors try to give a reasonable, qualitative evaluation of IoT-driven eHealth from theoretical and practical viewpoints. They look at associated knowledge management issues and contributions of IoT to eHealth, along with requirements, benefits, limitations and entry barriers. Important attention is given to security and privacy issues. Finally, the conditions for business plans and accompanying value chains are realistically analyzed. The resulting implementation issues and required commitments are also discussed. The authors confirm that IoT-driven eHealth can happen and will happen; however, much more needs to be addressed to bring it back in sync with medical and general technological developments in an industrial state-of-the-art perspective and to recognize and get timely the benefits.
  • Thinking eHealth: A Mathematical Background of an Individual Health Status Monitoring System to Empower Young People to Manage their Health

    Lokshina, Izabella V.; Bartolacci, Michael R. (IGI Global, 2014)
    This paper focuses on a mathematical background of an individual health status monitoring system to empower young people to manage their health. The proposed health status monitoring system uses symptoms observed with mobile sensing devices and prior information about health and environment (provided it exists) to define individual physical and psychological status. It assumes that a health status identification process is influenced by many parameters and conditions. It has a flexible logical inference system providing positive psychological influence on young people since full acceptance of recommendations on their behavioral changes towards healthy lifestyles is reached and a correct interpretation is guaranteed. The model and algorithms of the individual health status monitoring system are developed based on the composition inference rule in Zadeh's fuzzy logic. The model allows us to include in the algorithms of logical inference the possibility of masking (by means of a certain health condition) the symptoms of other health situations as well as prior information (if it exists) regarding health and environment. The algorithms are generated by optimizing the truth of a single natural “axiom”, which connects an individual health status (represented by classes of health situations) with symptoms and matrices of influence of health situations on symptoms and masking of symptoms. The new algorithms are fairly different from traditional algorithms, in which the result is produced in the course of numerous single processing rules. Therefore, the use of a composition inference rule makes a health status identification process faster and the obtained results more precise and efficient comparing to traditional algorithms.
  • Analysis of Turbo Code Behavior with Extrinsic Information Transfer Charts in High-Speed Wireless Data Services

    Lokshina, Izabella V.; Zhong, Hua (IGI Global, 2017)
    This paper examines turbo codes that are currently introduced in many international standards and implemented in numerous advanced communication systems, and evaluates the process of extrinsic information transfer (EXIT). The convergence properties of the iterative decoding process, associated with a given turbo-coding scheme, are estimated using the analysis technique based on so-called extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts. This approach provides a possibility to predict the bit-error rate (BER) of a turbo code system with only the extrinsic information transfer chart. It is shown that extrinsic information transfer charts are powerful tools to analyze and optimize the convergence behavior of iterative systems utilizing the turbo principle, i.e., systems exchanging and refining extrinsic information. The idea is to consider the associated soft-input soft-output (SISO) stages as information processors, which map input a priori log likelihood ratios (LLRs) onto output extrinsic LLRs, the information content being obviously assumed to increase from input to output, and introduce them to the design of turbo systems without the reliance on extensive simulation. Compared with the other methods for generating extrinsic information transfer functions, the suggested approach provides insight into the iterative behavior of linear turbo systems with substantial reduction in numerical complexity.

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