Faculty Proceedings April 3-4, 2018

Mita Choudhury

Named Collaborators: Jessica Groen, Independent Scholar

College(s) Represented: CHESS

Title: A Conversation with English Alumna Jessica Green (MA 2016): Leopard Trophy, Panther Corpse, and the Futures of Neoliberal Ethics Aesthetics

Abstract: Ta-Nehisi Coates is “particularly vulnerable to the charge that he is popular among white liberals since he assuages their guilt about racism”—or so says Pankaj Mishra. Coates’s latest book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, illustrates the visible bond between author and subject, between Coates and Obama, a filiation which holds up a mirror, Mishra contends, to the very shaky foundation of the American liberal consciousness. Artfully argued, Mishra’s review of Coates’s book (LRB, vol.4, no. 4, February 2018) links the notion of America’s “black problem” with “the obdurate pathologies of American life that stem from America’s original sin”—slavery. Consider in this context Black Panther (2018), which presents a Wakanda with no room for its own transnational offspring, the geopolitical orphan Erik Killmonger, one who seeks to use Wakandan resources and technology to overcome global white supremacy by using the tools and tactics of militaristic imperialism. Keeping in mind these ongoing multimedia debates, Jessica Groen and I will engage in a dialogue about James Meek’s autobiographical essay, “The Leopard” (2014). Meek’s ethnography positions him as geopolitical orphan even as he tells the story of his family’s prized heirloom and artifact, a leopard-skin trophy acquired in India. We agree that the imperial consciousness which emerges from Meek’s story makes him the master of postcolonial consciousness. Yet, since colonial life blurred the boundaries between the various species (D. Losurdo 2014), how does the human-animal bond infect Meek’s narrative with the burden of that other original sin, the eco-systemic assaults of empire? Moreover, we ask, why does the trajectory of empire require both black and white geopolitical orphans to choose between two non-futures: to live either as a caged live Panther or a fetishized trophy corpse?

Elizabeth Christo-Baker

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: COB

Title: Lunch, learn, and Lean-In: A multidisciplinary approach to Enhancing Professional Women’s Motivation and Career Advancement Efforts

Abstract: While participating in the workforce at near parity levels with men, (US Department of Labor, 2014) women constitute only 14.6% of executive officers, 8.1% of top earners, and 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs (Warner, 2014). On the other hand, women are more likely than man to experience anxiety, depression, and other job stress issues (Burke & Richardsen, 2009). Unfortunately, research focusing on work habits of professional women is very limited (Levy, 2015) and we know little of the mechanisms and methodologies that help improve women’s professional’s working attitude, motivation and satisfaction. This study aims to extend the previous gender research on workplace wellness and motivation through developing and testing an intervention model in the form of a lunch, learn, and lean-in (LLL) program. A longitudinal research design is applied to investigate how the LLL sessions assist female workers to review and develop their skills in communication, self-care, and confidence in a professional working environment. This study solicit participants from various organizational levels and occupations enabling cross-level and occupational comparisons. The researchers adopt a multidisciplinary approach that integrates workplace psychology, organizational leadership and culture, professional communication and job-life satisfaction to analyze professional women’s socio-demographic and occupational characteristics. This cumulative case study builds upon an earlier exploratory case study conducted in 2015. Findings from the previous study suggest that professional women in general perceive the activities and speakers to be the most helpful part of the “lunch and learn” experience. Furthermore, the gender-specific stress perceptions and burnout-risk projection are highly associated with their personal health projection and workplace satisfaction. Themes identified in the previous study will be explored further. This study advances our understanding about how positive intervention reshape the relationships between gender perception, workplace stress and motivation in regard to professional women in the context of higher education. The findings of this study help the development of policies and practical routines for professional women in a variety of organizations to achieve better performance and employee satisfaction.

Carin Chuang

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: COB

Title: The Integrating of Mobile Technologies to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Abstract: Advancement in mobile technology is rapidly widening the scope of teaching and learning in many areas outside of traditional education. The advanced mobile technology offers a new generation of mobile learning (m-learning) with great potential for learners of all ages anywhere and anytime. In recent years, universities have made significant investment in technology systems to support various aspects of educators’ teaching tools and students’ learning styles. The investment in technologies, at one hand, is to attract or “pull” students into the online environment of the university. Students, on the other hand, also have come increasingly equipped with smart mobile devices which allow educators to “push” information to students for quick and easy learning, communication and information sharing. So, the “pull” and “push” each adds value to the other and complements each other in many ways and at many levels. This study first describes the mobile device usage facts in the US and the mobile technologies used in the classroom. Further, this study discusses the focus of m-learning and the unique features of mobile devices offered to m-learning. The educational benefits and implementation issues in m-learning are examined. Lastly, this study makes recommendations for designing effective m-learning, and make suggestions for directions of future research and practices in mobile integrated education.

Susan Conners

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: COB

Title: Stakeholder Loyalty in Mergers: An Application of Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract: The current research employed the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical foundation to test the loyalty of employees and customers to remain with a company during a merger behavioral intention. The hypothesized model proposed that communication, perceived control, and subjective norm are associated with attitude, and perceived behavioral control and attitude are associated with intended behavior. The data and hypotheses were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that communication, subjective norm, were positively related to attitude and attitude is positively related to behavioral intention. Perceived control was negatively related to attitude and behavioral intention. Findings of this study demonstrate that the proposed modification of the Theory of Planned Behavior is applicable in measuring stakeholders’ loyalty to remain with an organization during a merger.

Curtis Creighton

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: CES

Title: Does the Cost of Reproduction Increase With Age? A Test Using Burying Beatles

Abstract: A core concept in life history theory is that trade-offs constrain how organisms allocate resources among competing demands. Allocation of energy to reproduction results in increased senescence and shortened lifespan. However, it is not clear whether reproduction early in life has the same impact as reproduction later in life. I address this question using the burying beetle Nicrophorus marginatus, a species that provides extensive parental care to their offspring. I conducted two experiments. In the first, females were bred once at either 21, 43 or 65 days old. In the second experiment, females either did not breed, bred once or bred twice. In both experiments, females were then maintained on ad libitum raw chicken liver for the rest of their life cycles. Females that bred later in life lived longer than females that bred earlier. However, the number of reproductive events did not affect lifespan. Our results suggest that the cost of reproduction is mainly dependent on the age at which a beetle reproduces, not how many times it reproduces. Once a beetle starts paying the cost of reproduction they will continue to pay it for the rest of their lives independent of how many times they reproduce.

Janet Davis

Named Collaborators: Denise Comet Dillard, DILLARD Consulting, LLC & The Methodist Hospitals

College(s) Represented: CON

Title: Influencing a Diverse Nursing Workforce to Reduce Health Disparities: Developing Academic and Community Partnerships Phase I

Abstract: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, racial minorities in the United States continue to experience a disproportionate burden of health conditions. The Institute of Medicine recommends increasing the racial diversity of the healthcare workforce as an important approach for improving the nation’s health and reducing health disparities. In Northwest Indiana the nursing workforce lacks the diversity of its population and Lake County ranks near the bottom of health outcomes. If the nursing workforce is to be adequately diversified, there is a critical need for key stakeholders to develop strategies to recruit and retain underrepresented minority groups into the nursing field. Some healthcare institutions have implemented interventions and support for the newly graduated nurse. However, it is unknown what if any strategies are focused on the recruitment and retention of the minority nurse. If implemented, the impact of these strategies is also unknown. The first phase of this research project is to systematically review the evidence on RN workforce diversity to determine the best available evidence related to institutional structures and processes for influencing where a diverse nursing workforce distributes itself. The review will consider studies that include the following outcomes: • Primary - recruitment typically measured by the number hired in a fiscal year and retention typically measured by the number who actively resigned divided by number on board in a fiscal year. • Secondary - minority nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention measured by objective quantitative instruments. Whereas, this systematic review will focus on interventions specific for recruiting and retaining the minority nurse, conducting a systematic review to identify institutional practices that positively correlate with influencing a diverse workforce can lead to the development of best available guidelines and practices for healthcare institutions to adopt in attracting and retaining racial and ethnic minority nurses.

David Detmer

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: CHESS

Title: Zinnophobia

Abstract: My book, Zinnophobia: The Battle Over History in Education, Politics, and Scholarship, will be published this year. It offers an extended defense of the work of radical historian Howard Zinn, author of the bestselling A People's History of the United States, against his many critics. It includes a discussion of the attempt to ban Zinn's book from Indiana classrooms; a brief summary of Zinn's life and work; an analysis of Zinn's theorizing about bias and objectivity in history; and a detailed response to twenty-five of Zinn's most hostile critics, many of whom are (or were) eminent historians. Some comments on the book: In his life and work, Howard Zinn made an immeasurable contribution to a more educated, enlightened, and civilized generation of Americans, more aware of the authentic history of their country and inspired by his example of courage and integrity. While justly honored and admired for his accomplishments, these also aroused bitter resentment and anger in certain circles, and he was subjected to venomous, contemptible attacks. The critiques and vituperation are subjected to rigorous and informed exposure and refutation in this spirited and comprehensive defense of one of the most admirable figures of the modern period. A major contribution to bringing Zinn’s great contributions to even broader public attention, and exposing features of intellectual and political culture that are of no little interest.~ Noam ChomskyDavid Detmer, a philosopher, has done what no historian to date has accomplished—he has undertaken a systematic examination of Zinn’s critics’ arguments against him and basically has dismantled them. In the process he offers a clinic on how to evaluate the validity of other people’s arguments…. Detmer has has done justice to the complexity of Howard Zinn’’s work and evaluated Zinn’s critics fairly, if unsparingly…. The book is written in clear and compelling prose—it would be accessible to undergraduate students and could be used in History methods classes, in courses on critical thinking, and I would not be averse to assigning it in a graduate seminar. ~ Susan Curtis, Professor of History, Purdue UniversityI've been waiting for this book! Howard Zinn's remarkably passionate and erudite work has attracted a huge readership, even while it has also been the target of shrill attacks by both politicians and academics, and not only rightwing academics. Now finally David Detmer has stepped up to the plate on Zinn's behalf with a calm and careful dissection of the logic and evidence, and Zinn emerges as he should, unscathed and indeed triumphant! ~ Frances Fox Piven, Professor of Political Science CUNY

James Dolen

Named Collaborators: Neeti Parashar, Purdue Northwest University; Tongguang Cheng, Purdue Northwest University; Sheila Amaral, Purdue Northwest University

College(s) Represented: CES

Title: Searches for new particles at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Abstract: The discovery of the Higgs boson particle in 2012 by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and ATLAS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) motivates many new questions about the universe. Is the Higgs boson an elementary particle? Why is the Higgs boson so light? Is the Higgs boson produced (and does it decay) at the rate predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics? Over the next three decades the LHC will continue to operate as an essential tool in studying this particle. I will discuss the tools and methods used to discover the Higgs boson and our current efforts to study its properties. I will further discuss my current project, searching for a new particle known as a Z' boson, whose predicted existence was motivated by the discovery of the Higgs.

Taryn Eastland

Named Collaborators: Denise Comet Dillard, DILLARD Consulting, LLC & The Methodist Hospitals

College(s) Represented: CON

Title: Influencing a Diverse Nursing Workforce to Reduce Health Disparities: Developing Academic and Community Partnerships Phase I

Abstract: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, racial minorities in the United States continue to experience a disproportionate burden of health conditions. The Institute of Medicine recommends increasing the racial diversity of the healthcare workforce as an important approach for improving the nation’s health and reducing health disparities. In Northwest Indiana the nursing workforce lacks the diversity of its population and Lake County ranks near the bottom of health outcomes. If the nursing workforce is to be adequately diversified, there is a critical need for key stakeholders to develop strategies to recruit and retain underrepresented minority groups into the nursing field. Some healthcare institutions have implemented interventions and support for the newly graduated nurse. However, it is unknown what if any strategies are focused on the recruitment and retention of the minority nurse. If implemented, the impact of these strategies is also unknown. The first phase of this research project is to systematically review the evidence on RN workforce diversity to determine the best available evidence related to institutional structures and processes for influencing where a diverse nursing workforce distributes itself. The review will consider studies that include the following outcomes: • Primary - recruitment typically measured by the number hired in a fiscal year and retention typically measured by the number who actively resigned divided by number on board in a fiscal year. • Secondary - minority nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention measured by objective quantitative instruments. Whereas, this systematic review will focus on interventions specific for recruiting and retaining the minority nurse, conducting a systematic review to identify institutional practices that positively correlate with influencing a diverse workforce can lead to the development of best available guidelines and practices for healthcare institutions to adopt in attracting and retaining racial and ethnic minority nurses.

Anne Edwards

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: CHESS

Title: Cultural Persistence: Values of Alask Native Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Abstract: In order to examine how cultural values are preserved and transmitted by grandparents rearing grandchildren in one community in the southeast region of the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, eight individuals completed a semi-structured interview. The eight participants identified as Alaska Native and indicated that they spoke both Yup’ik and English. Participants’ interviews were transcribed and qualitatively coded using content analysis. Themes concerning types of traditional values emerged in the coding process, consisting of 1) loss of traditional values, 2) continuing traditional values, 3) practicing traditional values, and 4) transmitting traditional values. The participants provided examples of how cultural values that were strong at one point in their lives, were no longer exemplified in their community, and, in fact, behaviors that went against accepted values were seen. However, no particular subtheme of the type of value was endorsed more than another. Participants continued the traditional values in their community by expressing how their parents or other elders in their lives practiced these values in the past. Participants spoke most often of how community members were cared for, how the community was valued over the individual, and the connections within families. The GRGs practiced and transmitted the traditional values by caring, supporting, and loving the people in their families and communities, by valuing the community over the individual, and by practicing humor and sharing with others. While this community has been influenced by modern ways of living currently found in the United States and Canada, it still remains relatively isolated from the technological and social influences that dominate what is considered “typical, modern” family life. The findings from this study illustrate the important roles that GRG play in the persistence of cultural values, and the importance of incorporating these values in programs to assist this community.

Mary Jane Eisenhauer

Named Collaborators:

College(s) Represented: CHESS

Title: A Little School, Some Field Experience and Big Discoveries: Measuring Early Childhood Educators’ Beliefs

Abstract: This study, funded with a PNW Catalyst Grant, examined the impact of a unique early learning model on preservice early childhood majors at Purdue Northwest’s Westville campus. In 2013 the MSD of New Durham Township joined with the PNW Early Childhood educator preparation program and Dunebrook, a social service agency, to establish the Westville Little School and form a mutually beneficial and innovative partnership. The Little School model, a two-year program co-designed by PNW and Westville school faculty, offers a seamless transition from the early childhood setting into the elementary school within a nurturing, social, language-rich learning environment. The Westville Little School affords the PNW early childhood preservice educators an authentic setting in which to observe best practices and to apply emerging skills and knowledge. A distinct feature of the Little School model is the focus on partnerships and family engagement. The initial intent to expose preservice early childhood educators to this inventive partnership model was sparked by a curiosity about the undergraduates’ beliefs. Specifically, in what ways do the early childhood educators’ beliefs about their role in supporting families and fostering young children’s growth and development change after their field experience at the Little School? First, characteristics of this partnership model were measured using the Indiana Family Engagement Toolkit with parents and administrators. Second, a pre-test post-test within group design was used with two teacher efficacy scales to measure the impact on beliefs on one cohort of preservice early childhood educators. The results of the study confirmed the characteristics of the unique model had an impact on preservice teachers’ efficacy. This presentation highlights the results of the study and explores future areas for investigation.

Nicole Evans

Named Collaborators: Shaun Wood, Purdue Northwest; Zachary Mullaney, Purdue Northwest; Blake Liazuk, Purdue Northwest

College(s) Represented: CES

Title: Turning Genes On: Understanding Enhancer Structure and Function

Abstract: Nearly every cell in an organism contains identical DNA content, yet every cell takes on a unique identity with specific forms and functions. How is this extreme cellular diversity achieved in the context of DNA uniformity? This is one of the fundamental questions of genetics and developmental biology. The answer lies largely in differential gene expression, a process by which cells only transcribe and translate the genes encoding the proteins they need at the correct time and place. Therefore, despite having the same DNA content, each cell utilizes only the specific proteins they need to function. Differential gene expression is regulated, in part, by non-coding DNA elements called enhancers. Enhancers act as binding sites for transcription factors which in turn activate or repress transcription through a variety of mechanisms. Interestingly, they are able to act independent of orientation and promoter identity, as well as at significant genomic distances in order to determine where, when, and how much a gene is expressed. Despite their importance, our knowledge of enhancer action remains far from complete. By inserting enhancers into a variety of locations in the genome representing an assortment of genomic contexts (heterochromatic, euchromatic, gene proximal, gene distal, etc.) we know that location plays a significant role in overall enhancer activity. Armed with this knowledge we are continuing with a comprehensive examination of the role of genomic context on reporter gene expression. Furthermore, a prominent feature of genomic context is promoter distance and therefore, we are altering enhancer placement with respect to the test promoter in order to identify critical factors involved in long-range gene regulation. As proper enhancer activity is required for the normal development, understanding how enhancers function is critical to understanding human developmental disorders, genetic diseases, and cancer onset.