UMBC Language, Literacy, and Culture Department
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Item #SayGay(Collateral, 2023-07) Morse, NicoleItem A Flat Tire Deflates. Weariness and DEI(Rektoverso, 2024-06-07) Morse, NicoleGenderqueer Professor Nicole Erin Morse is fed up with Florida's exhausting diversity policies and protests. In weariness, they find an affective state that allows them to 'be burned up yet keep burning.'Item “It’s Not Steroids, It’s Testosterone!”: Deconstructing Gender and Sex in Bros (2022)(Flow, 2023-09-20) Herold, Lauren; Morse, NicoleItem Dressed to Kill Cis Hetero Patriarchy(Open Library of Humanities, 2023-09-29) Morse, NicoleThrough re-cutting misogynist horror, this video essay approaches the diptych as a tool to construct resistant trans feminist readings in Dressed to Kill, Brian De Palma’s 1980 homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho.Item A place for (socio)linguistics in audio deepfake detection and discernment: Opportunities for convergence and interdisciplinary collaboration(Wiley, 2024-07-09) Mallinson, Christine; Janeja, Vandana; Evered, Chloe; Khanjani, Zahra; Davis, Lavon; Bhalli, Noshaba Nasir; Nwosu, KifekachukwuDeepfakes, particularly audio deepfakes, have become pervasive and pose unique, ever-changing threats to society. This paper reviews the current research landscape on audio deepfakes. We assert that limitations of existing approaches to deepfake detection and discernment are areas where (socio)linguists can directly contribute to helping address the societal challenge of audio deepfakes. In particular, incorporating expert knowledge and developing techniques that everyday listeners can use to avoid deception are promising pathways for (socio)linguistics. Further opportunities exist for developing benevolent applications of this technology through generative AI methods as well.Item Washing Away Brokenness: A Narrative Reflection on Emblems of Black Education(Bowie State University, 2024) Kelly, KristinObjects serve as symbols and emblems that hold stories of family history.This paper uses narrative to investigate the idea and power of emblemsand symbols. It is a socio-historical exploration of a mid-twentieth-century washboard owned by the grandmother of a now 73-year-old Blackmale. Findings in this study unpack socialization stories and reimagineeducational practices of a Black, multi-generational family in the rural American South in the 1950s–1960s by taking a socio-historical approach to understanding family structure, education, and labor. In thispaper, the author argues how Black women, especially Black Grandmothers in the mid-twentieth century, challenged the understanding oflabor and child-rearing and the impact on Black children’s socializationand education.Item RAISING MIXED KIDS IN THE ’BURBS: MIXED-RACE FAMILIES NAVIGATING RACE, IDENTITY, AND DISCRIMINATION IN SUBURBAN SCHOOLS(2024-01-01) Peng, Jackie Matise; Goings, Ramon G; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureThe purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the intersection of familial and school-based racial–ethnic socialization of mixed-race children in suburban schools. Suburban schools provide educational services to most youth in the United States and a growing number of mixed-race families. This dissertation focused on how parents prepare children to navigate racialized school experiences and the impact of their decisions on the racial knowledge development of multiracial youth, the fastest-growing racial demographic under 18.Critical multiracial theory was the theoretical lens used to present findings through storytelling, allegories, and narrated dialogue. The findings showed that parents strategically chose where to live and which schools to send their children. The findings suggest varying parental efforts in cultivating awareness of race based on children’s racial background and appearance. Parents may struggle to address issues of racism, racial stratification, and discrimination due to their perceptions of residing in a good community with good schools. Although young people might downplay the significance of racism in their lives, many acknowledge the subtle impact of systemic racism on their school experiences. The study found structural barriers, such as academic tracking and school zoning, to access to peers from minoritized heritage groups. However, minoritized peers are critical for fostering positive racial–ethnic identities at school. Findings also suggest that young people’s inability to identify the structural elements of everyday racism could relate to the lack of multiracial representation and the neglect of structural and systemic racism in formal curricula. The study could have implications for parents, school leaders, young people, and scholars of racial–ethnic socialization and suburban education.Item THROUGH THEIR LENS: BLACK PRE-PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDENTS’ VIEWS ON THE ENTRY-LEVEL PA DOCTORATE(2024-01-01) Fleming, Shani D; Goings, Ramon; Language, Literacy & Culture; Language Literacy and CultureBy 2025, Physician Assistants (PA) will be the sole prescribing medical provider without an entry-level doctorate. Over the past two decades, the PA community has vigorously debated the possible shift from a master's degree to an entry-level clinical doctoral degree. Concurrently, the representation of Black PAs has experienced a steady decline, carrying significant implications for addressing Black health disparities and advancing health equity. Studies show a negative link between advanced degree requirements and diversity in the PA field. This study investigates Black pre-PA students' views on the transition and identifies key factors for success. Utilizing the validated Professional Entry Doctorate Degree Survey (PEDDS) instrument supplemented with open-ended questions, the research aims to answer the following questions: 1) What are Black pre-PA students' perceptions of the entry-level doctorate? (2) How do perceptions of the entry-level doctorate vary by Black pre-PA students’ (a) gender; (b) perception of academic rank; (c) first-generation; (d) level of education; and (e) family income? 3) What do Black pre-PA students perceive as essential factors for successfully pursuing an entry-level PA doctorate? While previous studies show opposition to the transition, this study finds mixed opinions among Black pre-PA students. Demographic differences do not significantly impact perceptions. Participants highlighted key areas needing attention, including increased costs, admissions processes, prerequisite barriers, bias, discrimination, and resource limitations. Recommendations include bolstering outreach, scholarships, faculty diversity, and educational initiatives to enhance Black representation and shape future PA policies effectively. These insights hold significant promise for advancing health equity within the PA profession.Item Do Grow-Your-Own Programs Work? Evidence from the Teacher Academy of Maryland(IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024-05) Blazar, David; Gao, Wenjing; Gershenson, Seth; Goings, Ramon; Lagos, FranciscoLocal teacher recruitment through “grow-your-own” programs is a prominent strategy toaddress workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand,and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of theTeacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program acrosspublic high schools, finding that exposed students were more likely to become teachersby 0.6 percentage points (pp), or 47%. Effects are concentrated among White girls(1.4pp/39%) and Black girls (0.7pp/80%). We also identify positive impacts on wages (5%on average/18% for Black girls), countering a prevailing narrative that teaching leaves oneworse off financially relative to other labor market opportunities.Item A place for linguistics in combating disinformation by audio deepfakes(UMBC Review, 2024) Evered, Chloe; Mallinson, ChristineDeepfakes and their potential as vehicles for deception and disinformation pose some of the most pressing new challenges of our time. This paper includes a review of existing literature on automatic detection and human discernment of audio deepfakes in particular and identifies three major areas that lend themselves to further study. These areas include (1) the interaction between a voice’s gender and our ability to accurately identify it as fake or real, (2) how an understanding of language variation is relevant to the issue of deepfake detection and discernment, and (3) the potential for socio-variationist and perceptual linguistic principles to be incorporated into educational programs that improve listeners’ ability to differentiate between genuine speech and deepfakes. Findings support a crucial role for linguists to play in addressing the broader societal challenges surrounding misinformation and disinformation.Item Active Fathers in the United States: Caught Between De-Gendering Care and Caring Masculinities(Sage, 2021-12-01) Adler, MarinaThe United States occupies a unique position among OECD countries because the US provides little policy support for working parents. Despite the resulting extreme time scarcity, US fathers perform similar amounts of child care as European fathers under more family-friendly policy conditions. Using recent national time use survey data, this paper examines whether time scarcity among American working parents, coupled with limited access to affordable child care and traditional masculine identity ideas, is associated with American fathers’ involvement in the daily care of their young children. Results show that fathers do one third of all care activities, contribute one third of the care time, and perform over one half of the 10 activities analyzed here daily. Multivariate analysis indicates that time scarcity, lack of alternative child care options, and traditional masculine identity affect the degree of fathers’ involvement in daily care activities with their under five year olds. Implications for the development of caring masculinities are discussed.Item How Age- friendly is Brooklyn? Perceptions of Seniors Aged 65+(2023-07-25) Adler, Marina; Finch, Molly; Gilliland, David; Reed, Markya; Schlinzig, TinoMethodology 12 Asset-based and Community-based Participatory Research Methodology 12 The Interviews with Brooklyn Residents Aged 65+ 13 Sample 14 Analytic Strategy: Thematic Analysis 15Results 16 1. Transportation and Necessary Mobility 18 2. Access to Services 20 3. Long-term residents’ perceptions of neighborhood change 26 4. Law and Order 27 5. Informal Support Networks 28 6. “Forgotten” Part of the City 29 7. The Built Environment 32 8. Food Access 33Conclusion and RecommendationsItem Mellon Foundation grants CAHSS $750K to establish Global Asias Initiative(UMBC News, 2024-04-03) Duque, Catalina Sofia Dansberger; Demond, MarlaynaItem Decolonizing Linguistics(Oxford University Press, 2024-03-01) Hudley, Anne H. Charity; Mallinson, Christine; Bucholtz, MaryDecolonizing Linguistics, the companion volume to Inclusion in Linguistics, is designed to uncover and intervene in the history and ongoing legacy of colonization and colonial thinking in linguistics and related fields. Taken together, the two volumes are the first comprehensive, action-oriented, book-length discussions of how to advance social justice in all aspects of the discipline.The introduction to Decolonizing Linguistics theorizes decolonization as the process of centering Black, Native, and Indigenous perspectives, describes the extensive dialogic and collaborative process through which the volume was developed, and lays out key principles for decolonizing linguistic research and teaching. The twenty chapters cover a wide range of languages and linguistic contexts (e.g., Bantu languages, Creoles, Dominican Spanish, Francophone Africa, Zapotec) as well as various disciplines and subfields (applied linguistics, communication, historical linguistics, language documentation and revitalization/reclamation, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, syntax). Contributors address such topics as refusing settler-colonial practices and centering community goals in research on Indigenous languages; decolonizing research partnerships between the Global South and the Global North; and prioritizing Black Diasporic perspectives in linguistics. The volume's conclusion lays out specific actions that linguists can take through research, teaching, and institutional structures to refuse coloniality in linguistics and to move the field toward a decolonized future. , This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Decolonizing Linguistics, the companion volume to Inclusion in Linguistics, is designed to uncover and intervene in the history and ongoing legacy of colonization and colonial thinking in linguistics and related fields. Taken together, the two volumes are the first comprehensive, action-oriented, book-length discussions of how to advance social justice in all aspects of the discipline.The introduction to Decolonizing Linguistics theorizes decolonization as the process of centering Black, Native, and Indigenous perspectives, describes the extensive dialogic and collaborative process through which the volume was developed, and lays out key principles for decolonizing linguistic research and teaching. The twenty chapters cover a wide range of languages and linguistic contexts (e.g., Bantu languages, Creoles, Dominican Spanish, Francophone Africa, Zapotec) as well as various disciplines and subfields (applied linguistics, communication, historical linguistics, language documentation and revitalization/reclamation, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, syntax). Contributors address such topics as refusing settler-colonial practices and centering community goals in research on Indigenous languages; decolonizing research partnerships between the Global South and the Global North; and prioritizing Black Diasporic perspectives in linguistics. The volume's conclusion lays out specific actions that linguists can take through research, teaching, and institutional structures to refuse coloniality in linguistics and to move the field toward a decolonized future.Item Inclusion in Linguistics(Oxford University Press, 2024-03-01) Hudley, Anne H. Charity; Mallinson, Christine; Bucholtz, MaryInclusion in Linguistics, the companion volume to Decolonizing Linguistics, aims to reinvent linguistics as a space of belonging across race, gender, class, disability, geographic region, and more. Taken together, the two volumes are the first comprehensive, action-oriented, book-length discussions of how to advance social justice in all aspects of the discipline. The volume's introduction theorizes inclusion as fundamental to social justice and describes the extensive dialogic and collaborative process through which the volume was developed. Contributors discuss intersectional forms of exclusion in linguistics: researchers' anti-autistic ableism; the exclusion of Deaf Global South researchers of color; the marginalization of Filipino American students and scholars; disciplinary transphobia; and the need for a “big tent” linguistics. The volume goes on to outline intersectional forms of exclusion in linguistics, describes institutional steps toward inclusion, offers examples of how to further educational justice, and shares models of collaborations designed to create an inclusive public-facing linguistics. The volume's conclusion outlines actions that linguists can take through research, teaching, and institutional structures to advance inclusion in linguistics and move the field toward social justice.Item TMI or OMG: Jeff Rice Laughs At The King With No Clothes(RHIZOMES, 2021-06-01) Saper, CraigReview of Authentic Writing by Jeff RiceItem Global Reading Supplement(Inscription, 2017-03-02) Saper, Craig; Truelove, IanAugmented Reality remediation of Dr Craig Saper’s essay, ‘Global Reading Supplement’: a collaboration between our digital artist-in-residence for issue one, Craig Saper and our digital designer (AR, VR & Coding) Ian Truelove.Item Reading Mrs. Dalloway(TEXTSHOP EXPERIMENTS, 2020-06-13) Saper, Craig; Worth, ZaraItem Saudades: toward a sociopoetics of diaspora, migration, & exiled writing(SciELO, 2023-12-18) Saper, CraigAbstract Unpacking the term saudades, this article weaves together Claude Lévi-Strauss's research in Brazil for Tristes Tropiques with both Oswald de Andrade's 1928 Manifesto Antropofágico, and Rose and Bob Brown's visual poetry, travel guides, cookbooks, and young adult history books about Brazil. One can consider these projects as decolonial theory, poetry, and sociopoetics seventy or eighty years before decolonial theory became a widely discussed term. Augusto de Campos of the Noigandres group and a leader of the International Concrete Poetry movement wrote introductions to facsimile editions of both Oswald de Andrade's manifesto and then later to Bob Brown's republished collection of visual poems, 1450-1950. Although almost completely unknown now, Rose herself authored three children’s books, Two Children of Brazil, Two Children and their Jungle Zoo, and Amazon Adventures of Two Children, one social geography, Land and People of Brazil, and one biographical history, American Emperor: Dom Pedro II of Brazil, all while living in Brazil. Rose and Bob together edited the Brazilian American business weekly in the early and mid-1920s. All of these people may have known each other in Brazil as they worked and lived among overlapping circles of friends and colleagues involved in the modernist avant-garde, but as-of-yet, whether they met or not remains a mystery.Item 15 Minutes of Existence During A Pandemic: Pseudonyms in Mail-Art and Social Media(RHIZOMES, 2020-06-01) Saper, Craig; Readies, Dj; Sapper, CraigBased on a College Art Association paper on “Not Utopian Dreams: 1960s Avant-Garde Conceptual Art As Warning of Our Current Crisis,” delivered on February 12, 2020, about a month before quarantines and lockdowns began, this article begins with a description of a slip of the tongue during the introduction to that paper. The slip, uncannily connected to the themes of the paper and the entire panel, leads to a discussion of pseudonyms in mail-art and social media. Against the intention of those involved in stamp, mail, and networked-art projects to produce a radically progressive politics and aesthetics, the anonymous and pseudonymous style now looks like the nefarious cyber-manipulations. Reading right-wing disinformation (that occurs by sending-on memes, tweets, and snippets), in terms of mail artists' "on-sendings allows one to see the contemporary mass manipulation as a logic, grammar, or structure. You don't need to intellectually agree with the message to send it on either in disgust, like, or laughter. That's how the earlier on-sendings work: no editorial judgement. They work before any interpretation or close-reading; they work before any established identity has claimed authorship (it could be a bot). The messages appear in a long anonymous chain. The key difference between manipulative cyber-media and networked art involves anonymity and pseudonyms. The participants and artists-audiences know who and where the messages come from; it is only the spying eyes of the delivery person or governmental investigators or marketers who saw only the pseudonym without an identity. It was anonymous for the censors and oppressors, and, at the exact same time, it is not even masked let alone anonymous for networked artists even though we all have well-known pseudonyms, handles, or a dj's monikers. The space between pseudonyms and anonymity determines its sociopoetic position.