Journal Article
21 December 2024
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Journal Article
22 June 2024
Come As You Are: The Rise and Fall of The Grunge Movement and Its Implications on The Identity of Seattle
This paper evaluates the rise of the Grunge movement through Nirvana’s Nevermind album as a unique burst of culture through the city of Seattle. Culturally, in the late 20th century, Seattle found its identity in the area around it, though other American cities overshadowed its significance. Through music, figures such as Jack Endino and the iconic Kurt Cobain gave Seattle an unfathomable uplift within global culture. This paper argues that grunge culture emerged as a distinct facet of Seattleite identity, with elements like flannel clothing and thrifting playing pivotal roles in shaping the city's recognizable and esteemed cultural landscape. It also touches on how progressive issues such as feminism and gay rights contributed to Seattle’s identity and 1990s youth culture. This paper demonstrates the significance of the movement to the locals through personal testimonies as to how grunge developed in the late 1980s and how Seattle was affected during the “grunge explosion” in the early 1990s. It analyses the messaging behind popular grunge songs and how these releases faired in mainstream music. The “Seattle sound” is globally recognized, though many would not understand what that term truly means. Grunge music encapsulated the dreary, disillusioned, and depressive aura of Seattle and helped identify the city through its critical and fanatic recognition.Current Articles
Journal Article22 June 2024
Come As You Are: The Rise and Fall of The Grunge Movement and Its Implications on The Identity of Seattle
This paper evaluates the rise of the Grunge movement through Nirvana’s Nevermind album as a unique burst of culture through the city of Seattle. Culturally, in the late 20th century, Seattle found its identity in the area around it, though other American cities overshadowed its significance. Through music, figures such as Jack Endino and the iconic Kurt Cobain gave Seattle an unfathomable uplift within global culture. This paper argues that grunge culture emerged as a distinct facet of Seattleite identity, with elements like flannel clothing and thrifting playing pivotal roles in shaping the city's recognizable and esteemed cultural landscape. It also touches on how progressive issues such as feminism and gay rights contributed to Seattle’s identity and 1990s youth culture. This paper demonstrates the significance of the movement to the locals through personal testimonies as to how grunge developed in the late 1980s and how Seattle was affected during the “grunge explosion” in the early 1990s. It analyses the messaging behind popular grunge songs and how these releases faired in mainstream music. The “Seattle sound” is globally recognized, though many would not understand what that term truly means. Grunge music encapsulated the dreary, disillusioned, and depressive aura of Seattle and helped identify the city through its critical and fanatic recognition.Journal Article21 December 2024
Lived Experiences of Student-Parents in Higher Education Who Utilize the Childcare Subsidy Program
This paper examines a phenomenological study describing the experiences of student-parents who use the Parents for Higher Education program at Eastern Community College. The theory that guided this study was McClusky’s theory of margin, which addresses the support and services adults need to accomplish their goals in life. This framework provided a connection that explained the importance of childcare subsidies and the needs met while attending classes for community college students—the transcendental phenomenology approach used. The setting for this study was the virtual platform Zoom. The study was conducted using 10 participants, all student-parents who participated in the childcare grant subsidy program. Five themes and one sub-theme emerged: financial concerns, family (with the sub-theme of single parenting), academic success and environment, the benefits of the childcare grant, and the need for available resources. The findings showed that student-parents face challenges with family and school responsibilities that impact their daily lives. Additionally, intergenerational poverty from childhood played a role in student-parent financial concerns. There is a need for additional research on the lived experiences of student-parents who do not receive the childcare grant while attending community college.Journal Article23 September 2025
Healing on the Homefront: Convelescent Homes in England During WWI
This paper explores the response to soldiers needing rehabilitation in World War One and how convalescent facilities impacted the everyday lives of injured men, nurses, and military medicine. During the Great War, there was an influx of the diversity of injuries due to the expanse of biological and machine warfare. Recognizing that field hospitals were insufficient, England’s War Office executed a plan to requisition public facilities and use volunteer forces not only to heal English men but soldiers from across the world. This paper establishes the context for the convalescing system in England and then its accommodation and improvisation for the Great War. Once the War Office established buildings for the men to stay in, they implemented a strict process that attempted to ensure a quality but speedy recovery. This paper explains how an injured man got from the field to the bed back in England and also explores the varieties of injuries and healing methods the hospitals implemented. The research uses newspapers, journals, and books to reconstruct the firsthand accounts and experiences of nurses and soldiers who stayed in convalescent facilities, including J.R.R. Tolkien. Procedures and therapies invented in convalescent facilities were revolutionary and showcased impeccable medical creativity. This paper explores a few examples of physical and recreational therapy put into practice. Along with medical practices, the staff ensured an enjoyable stay through entertainment including concerts, visitors, and games. When the Great War ended, so did the existence of military convalescent facilities, and soldiers, nurses, and military medicine felt the impression they left upon England.Most Popular Articles
Journal Article
6 May 2016
Insight into the Community: Bee Similes in the Iliad and the Aeneid
This paper offers a comparative analysis of the bee similes in Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid to demonstrate that there are significant thematic connections between the similes in the two epics. In both works, bee similes illustrate the structure of the ideal society, as a close reading of each simile reveals. This paper demonstrates that both Homeric and Virgilian bee similes focus on the concept of community. In the Iliad, Homer’s first extended simile compares the Greek forces to a colony of bees. This prominent placement foreshadows the significance of bee similes in the Homeric epic. As a Greek poet, Homer demonstrates that his understanding of community has been influenced by the social structure of the individualistic Greek city-states. In the Iliad, his bee similes exemplify a tension between unity and self-interest within the Greek camp. Homer’s bee similes emphasize the need for mutual interest and cooperation, lest the Greek forces disintegrate. For Homer, the ideal community is not homogeneous, but it is unified. Unlike Homer’s similes, Virgil’s three bee similes exalt homogeneity as a central characteristic of the ideal society. Individuality is erased in the bee similes of the Aeneid. The wellbeing of the hive transcends the purpose of the individual. This paper examines these similes as a unit to provide a unique perspective on the two poets’ worldviews, thus contributing to the analysis of the relationship between the epics. Clearly, Virgil is well aware of the Homeric epics, and intentionally provides further commentary on the ideal society through his bee similes. When compared with each other, Homer’s and Virgil’s similes artfully depict two divergent portraits of the ideal society.Journal Article
5 January 2024
The USS Liberty Incident: Accident or Intentional Attack
When I first heard the story of the USS Liberty I became extremely interested in learning more about the events that transpired and began reading about the incident in my free time. Thus, when I registered for Modern American Military History with Dr. Snead, I was already eager to research this topic. While my primary fields of study are engulfed in the Colonial American period, I have had a strong interest in American military history since I was a child. This would especially be the case with the U.S. Navy as my father is a retired Naval officer and I grew up living on different military bases around the United States. Furthermore, I am ethnically half-Jewish and have relatives who have gotten citizenship to the state of Israel. The first time I heard of the USS Liberty incident I was shocked that I hadn’t heard of it before. A friend of mine who at the time was an active-duty sailor in the Navy had become acquainted with many of the survivors from the Liberty. Thus, I was able to get in touch with multiple Liberty survivors including Philip Tourney and Ron Kukal. In the last year, Phil and I have been able to build a close friendship and we have communicated with one another often. It has been an honor to have had Phil help me in my research. Finally, as a Christian, I believe we should continually seek for truth. Both Tourney and Kukal attest their survival to God’s Grace, and it has been an honor to develop a relationship with these strong Christians. When conducting this research, I often thought of Proverbs 18:15 which states, "The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge."Journal Article
27 April 2016
Oppression, Empowerment, and the Role of the Interpreter
This paper examines the history of oppression of the Deaf as a cultural minority and the ways in which interpreters may contribute to oppression. The paper then shows how interpreters can recognize and stop such oppressive tendencies and how they can instead empower the Deaf as an ally. Society views the Deaf as defective and requires that they conform to the hearing majority—a type of oppression called audism—this can cause interpreters to unconsciously form a negative view of their Deaf clients. Also, because interpreters are often the only ones that understand what is going on between both languages and cultures, they are in a powerful position that could easily be abused. Even after the establishment of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), interpreters have still frequently caused oppression in the Deaf community, and whether that oppression is caused by ignorance or lack of respect, becoming aware of such tendencies will help to stop oppression. Oppression ceases and empowerment begins when the interpreter becomes an ally, someone who comes alongside and supports the Deaf. There are many different ways to empower the Deaf, such as using a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) and constantly working at improving competence with skills in interpreting and American Sign Language (ASL). The end goal is dynamic equivalence for Deaf and hearing clients. It is when both hearing and Deaf people work alongside each other that the cycle of oppression will be broken.Journal Article
7 May 2016
Possible Causes of Increased Domestic Violence among Military Veterans: PTSD or Mefloquine Toxicity?
After more than a decade at war, our returning service members and their families are facing enormous amounts of difficulty when returning home. PTSD and TBI, the signature wounds of these wars, have been well covered in the media. The family struggles have remained hidden and mostly undiscussed. These families are facing very specific issues in military relationships like infidelity, substance misuse, and intimate partner violence; the latter of which military families are three times more likely to experience when compared to the civilian population. There is a potential effect on caregiver burden in the role of PTSD as a factor for relationship difficulties as well. Many times, spouses can struggle with no longer a being just a wife; they have become full-time, exclusive caregivers. This loss of personal identity is one of many things that can cause a cascade of mental health problems for the spouse. As much as spouses are excited to have their service member home, incorporating the service member back into the family can be stressful. Spouses may be taken off guard to find themselves experiencing deep sadness at the changes they perceive in their veteran. These are some of the more common relationship issues in a marriage where PTSD is present. Yet there seems to be a darker side to all of this. With the higher rates of domestic violence, this paper is researching the possibility of being wrong about PTSD or potentially there may be some previously unrecognized confounder that has not been looked at yet. Mefloquine is an anti-malaria pill given to our military members that is already known to confound the diagnoses of PTSD and TBI. This literature review will assess the difficulties that these veterans and family members are facing by looking at the different possibilities of what could be making veterans more violent.Journal Article
2 September 2015
One Big Thing: Suffering as the Path to New Life in Crime and Punishment
After spending a whole semester reading and thinking about Dostoevsky, the main thing that has struck me about him is his treatment of the theme of suffering. Despite, and even through, his extremely complicated characters and events, he nevertheless focuses his novels, particularly Crime and Punishment, on presenting a nuanced yet unified picture of suffering. After a brief analysis of several of the relevant characters and plot points, his thoughts on what suffering does to and for the individual will be presented. In contrast to our culture’s almost idolization of suffering as an experience which gives one instant respect, authority, and a platform, Dostoevsky’s perspective is honest, informed, pragmatic, and thoroughly Christian.Journal Article
2 September 2015