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Papers & Publications

The current discourse on Islam in the U.S. separates Islam from American history and creates a binary between two entities that are in fact very much intertwined. When we forget the history of Islam in America it becomes easy to create conceptual dichotomies and draw clear distinctions between Islam as one category and “the West” as another, and argue that they are incompatible. Instead of breaking down the categories of “Islam and the West,” “Islam and modernity,” or “Islam and democracy,” scholars have attempted to show how the beliefs, values and practices of Islam are complementary to western liberal values such as freedom, democracy and tolerance. They have attempted to make Islam palatable for non-Muslim readers instead of questioning the very foundation for the claims that Islam and democracy or modernity are two juxtaposing categories in the first place. However, through examining the history of American Muslim’s experience in America, I attempt to demonstrate that Islam and the “the West” are not mutually exclusive, static and immutable categories, but rather traditions that are dynamic, relational and can be re-thought and re-configured according to different historical contexts. I examine the psychological and social implications of being identified as an “other” in society and how this works to degrade and demoralize not only minority groups, but society as a whole. It is necessary to listen to people’s voices and acknowledge the complexities and subtleties in their understandings of gender, forms of empowerment and religion, for once we start to define people based on our own assumptions and prejudices, it becomes exceedingly easy to either speak for disempowered groups or oversimplify their self-understandings and their religion so that it becomes detached from their actual experiences.

Islam in America: Breaking Down the Binaries Between “Islam and the West”

Gut microorganisms have important influences on animals, and diet of animals can affect what microorganisms are present. Little research has been done on the gut microbes of predatory arthropods, and it is not currently well known whether gut microbes of predators are influenced by different types of prey. In this study, we compared the culturable gut microbes of the predatory stinkbug Podisus maculiventris when fed either Ceratomia catalpae larvae, which sequester plant toxins, or Trichoplusia ni, which do not. We were able to culture two additional bacteria types from P. maculiventris nymphs reared on the C. catalpae, suggesting that feeding on different prey species may alter the makeup of the gut microbe community in this predator. Further studies with both culturing and culture-independent techniques can offer insights into how feeding on different prey species affects gut microbe communities of predators.

Prey Species Influences Culturable Gut Symbionts of a Generalist Predator

We applied critical pedagogy in the college classroom by asking students what topics they would want covered in their Introduction to Sociology courses if they were given the power to decide. Students were also asked to explain why they were interested, and uninterested, in learning about the topics they chose from our questionnaire. Survey data was collected from 191 students at a southeastern community college; the majority were not sociology majors. Overall, students were the most interested in learning about culture, deviance, race, and gender issues. Students were the least interested in learning about topics concerning urbanization and the economy. We found that students are typically interested in topics that are related to general curiosities or are applicable to the students’ personal lives or future careers. However, students were vaguer in their responses regarding why they were uninterested in learning about particular sociological topics; most students claimed that they were simply “just uninterested.” These results support the claim that a student’s desire to learn material is guided by how personally invested he or she is in the topic. By implementing a critical pedagogical teaching approach in the classroom, professors could increase student interest, thus fostering more successful and satisfied students.

‘It Relates to My Everyday Life.’ Critical Pedagogy and Student Explanations of Interest in Sociology Course Topics

Shifts in species distributions caused by climatic oscillations may lead to geographic isolation of populations and fewer opportunities for genetic exchange among locations. Examining trends in genetic relationships among stonefly populations can help us predict how organisms might respond to environmental changes. Prior work established that isolated montane populations of the stonefly Doroneuria baumanni had high levels of genetic structure within the Great Basin and that this diversification occurred during the Pleistocene. This differentiation may have resulted from historical climatic oscillations. With this in mind, we evaluated the contemporary genetic structure of another Great Basin stonefly, Hesperoperla pacifica. Because H. pacifica has relatively broader habitat requirements, we predicted its populations would display less genetic structure than those of D. baumanni. We estimated genetic differentiation among and within 12 populations of H. pacifica using 568 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b gene. FST estimates indicate that H. pacifica populations are less structured than D. baumanni, which had showed deep levels of divergence across limited geographic distances. These results confirm the benefits of a comparative approach to understanding the phylogeography and population genetic structure of stoneflies of the Great Basin.

Contrasting Patterns of Population Genetic Structure in Two Great Basin Stoneflies

In William Faulkner’s Sanctuary and Toni Morrison’s Sula, the female characters encounter life-changing traumas that challenge Southern ideas regarding womanhood. While many scholars examine the similarities between other Faulkner and Morrison texts, such as Absalom, Absalom! and Beloved, they overlook the parallels between heroines Temple Drake and Sula Peace, who reverse racial roles when Temple, an aristocratic white woman, is raped, and Sula, a black woman, is not. According to Mae C. King, from 1891 to 1921, during the time period that Sanctuary and part of Sula are set, “Rape of the black woman was ‘as common as whistling Dixie in the South’” (16). By creating strong female characters, specifically African-American characters, Morrison challenges Faulkner’s and the South’s vision of women as sexual objects for men to violate. It takes sexual assault and a trip through a psychological underworld hell for Temple to find her inner strength, but Sula never loses control of her body. In Sanctuary, Temple suffers from her image as a Southern Belle and sexual violation. Here, Temple descends into her psychological underworld, where half-past-ten-oclock is the only time Temple recognizes. In doing so, Temple surrenders her physical body to men. However, she maintains control over her mental faculties and reemerges as an avenging Southern Belle who wields men as she likes, using her newfound strength she accumulates in her underworld. Conversely, in Sula, from a young age, Sula Peace controls her sexuality, and her sexual acts fortify her. These physical relationships last fleetingly, though. She foregoes emotional attachments due to the childhood trauma she experiences when she accidentally kills Chicken Little and when her mother denies loving her. Nevertheless, no matter what she experiences, Sula defines herself. Temple and Sula undergo emotional and physical deaths, but they resurrect as new women who reign supreme.

“It Didn’t Even Hurt”: Temple Drake’s and Sula Peace’s Resurrections

Considering Junot Diaz’s sexy and thought provoking novel, I analyze the fashion in which he utilizes underlying racial conflict in the Dominican Republic throughout the development of not only Oscar, but many of the other characters as well. By investigating the history of Africans in early Dominican Republic and the racial profiling that led to cultural oppression, I unearth a more profound understanding of the complexity of Oscar’s psyche and his battles uncovering the truth behind the self. Not only do I hone in on Oscar’s identity issues, but I also shine a light on his mother and his sister Lola, who both individually redefine what it means to be considered a “Dominican” woman. I dive into the concept of “otherness”—specifically “black” versus “not black” and more specifically “Dominican” versus “Haitian.” The false acceptance of Europeanness drives the racial issues in the novel and in Dominican society overall.
In an unorthodox fashion, Diaz uses hair to illustrate racial differences and identity amongst the characters of the novel. Diaz’s keen attention to hair, his characters’ attitudes towards hair, and its correlation to racial identity combined serves as a microcosm of Dominican society. I address how the historical oppression of Dominican Africanness is reflected in the characterization in Oscar Wao, how hair is used as a mechanism to describe ethnic identity, and lastly, how Dominicans in and out of the novel use hair as a representation (or denial) of their racial identity.

Significance of Hair as a Means of Racial Identity in the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

This project strives to decouple the 12th century writer Heloise d’Argenteuil from her husband, the notorious Peter Abelard, establishing her as a significant thinker and writer, particularly in the tradition of women’s literature. Heloise, in fact, anticipated the querelle des femme of a later medieval scholar, Christine de Pizan, as she sought to combat stereotypical thinking about women within the circumscribed role of a devoted lover and wife to Abelard. Drawing on the work of Sally Livingston and others, I will examine various medieval discourses.
In her letters, Heloise is revealed as a figure aspiring to be viewed not as a wife succumbing to a man, but rather as a woman devoting her mind, body, and future to her husband. Thus, this paper will examine her rhetorical strategies that engender a conversation between husband and wife and enable her to consciously retain an unbreakable connection with Abelard.

“I shall read that you are my husband and you shall see me sign myself your wife”: Analyzing the Rhetorical Strategies of Heloise d’Argenteuil

In my creative nonfiction piece, I explore my relationship with my sister, Sabrina. Almost three years ago, she was in a car accident. Afterwards, both of our lives changed. One month after the accident, she moved away to live with her boyfriend in Charleston, South Carolina, and she told me the day before she left. Her car accident and her move to Charleston jarred me, causing memories from the past to flood the present. Two poems, which I wrote within the months following her accident and moving away, showcase how I reacted to her sudden departure and transformation. Although she experienced the accident, and she moved away, her actions affected me as much as they affected her. I tried to deny that the events never occurred, but pictures and memories reminded me of the truth. I tried to prove that I could live without her in my daily life, but I lied to myself, suppressing the pain. In the deep recesses of my mind, I blamed myself for her moving away. After living together for twenty years, she finally gave up on trying to fix her broken sister. She witnessed me struggle with mental illness; therefore, when she finally saw a way out—a life in Charleston—she took it as fast as she could. In my writing, I attempt to accept that she moved away from me, from our sisterhood, but her actions still resonate and hurt me as if she left only yesterday.

We're the Real Accident

Women were active participants in the anti-slavery movement. They made up a large portion of professional abolitionists who traveled the country to educate the public on the perils of slavery. Unfortunately, their efforts were hindered by their gender, and it led to the restriction of their rights to speak publicly on the issue of slavery. This paper chronicles freedom of speech and the abolition movement and its impact on the women who fought for their rights to share in the emancipation fight. It’s a story about the efficacy of language and its impact on history and social change. The modern Women’s Rights Movement did not begin as a fight for equality, but as a fight for freedom of speech.

Emancipation for Slaves or Emancipation for All: Women, Free Speech and the Abolition Movement

Emma Madison has dealt with insomnia for years. She considers her condition as trivial, and she quickly handles the issue with pharmaceuticals instead of first addressing her sleep hygiene. Her doctor offers no suggestions of lifestyle changes that may help Emma. Instead, he prescribes Ambien, a common drug used to treat insomnia. She experiences initial success, but soon discovers that the drug's side effects will ultimately destroy her health.

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