American Citizens Research Articles

"We Don't Need Any More Martyrs": Anti-War Protests at the University of Iowa 1970

This thesis argues that the May 1970 anti-Vietnam War protests at the University of Iowa were nonviolent compared to similar demonstrations at other colleges. This was due to the actions of University President Willard “Sandy” Boyd, who was able to strike a delicate balance between maintaining civil order and protecting the right to protest. Students protested the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the killings of students at Kent State University during a time of intense political upheaval. American politicians and citizens debated how to handle the war in Vietnam best and what course of action to take when coping with anti-war demonstrations. This thesis examines the protests at the University of Iowa to understand better the local political dynamics and how local leaders coped with a dynamic political environment. This thesis uses sources from the University of Iowa archives, the Iowa State Historical Society, and the Daily Iowan archives. While many college and government officials chose to adopt repressive stances towards the protests that occurred nationally, the Iowa protests were de-escalated without any deaths. This resolution gives current elected officials a model of how to maintain civil order without violating the rights of American citizens.

Males are Toxic: A Masculine Critique of Ayad Akhtar’s Play The Who & The What

Hegemonic and toxic traits of masculinity are complex ideas that have affected personal relationships and social hierarchies for centuries. The play The Who & The What by Ayad Akhtar presents these traits through the male character Afzal, a Pakistani American citizen whose traditional culture and modern American lifestyle lead him to adopt these forms of masculinity. Therefore, the present study basically aims to focus on the impact of Afzal’s masculinity in Akhtar’s play The Who & The What over his daughters, Zarina and Mahwish, as well as Zarina’s husband, Eli. The Who & The What centers around Zarina, the female protagonist, who challenges her society by writing a novel entitled The Who & The What, exploring the personal life of the prophet Mohammed (BPUH). As the play moves, her father, Afzal, opposes her and anyone who crosses the limits set by their traditional Arab-Muslim culture. However, employing the notion of Hegemonic Masculinity by R. W. Connell and the Toxic Theory of Masculinity as proposed by Terry A. Kupers provides new lenses to analyze the text of the play. Thus, the present study found that Afzal’s actions reflect certain hegemonic and toxic assets such as authority, domination, control, superiority, and making decisions for others.

Perceptions of Cultural Adaptations and Other Characteristics of Weight Management Interventions among Hispanic/Latinx Immigrants.

Hispanic/Latinx immigrants have high obesity rates, yet they participate less in weight management interventions. This cross-sectional online study recruited Hispanic/ Latinx immigrants living in the United States (US). In a within-subject experimental crossover component, participants were presented with brief information about a hypothetical weight management intervention that was culturally adapted for Hispanics/ Latinx, or a standard intervention (not adapted) and asked about their willingness to enroll. Participants also reported their preferences for weight management intervention features. Participants (n = 54) were majority female (51.9%), aged 51 years or older (56.0%), American citizens (87.0%), and immigrated to US ≥10 years ago (81.7%), with a mean BMI 29.6 + 3.7 kg/m2. There was no difference in willingness to enroll in a culturally adapted (46.3%) compared to standard intervention (48.1%), though more participants preferred a culturally adapted intervention (68.5%). Preference for a culturally adapted intervention was greater among females (p = 0.008) and those with lower acculturation (p = 0.052). Use of non-evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine strategies was common and associated with greater willingness to enroll in a behavioral program (p = 0.007). Preferences for intervention features varied. These findings may inform efforts to increase the reach of weight management interventions for Hispanic/Latinx immigrants.

Le mythe de la Pennsylvanie, l’Histoire des deux Indes et les Recherches sur les États-Unis de Filippo Mazzei

The “Myth of Pennsylvania,” an overly idealized representation of Pennsylvania, its founder William Penn, and the Quakers, was embraced by many 18th-century French philosophes. It appears in Voltaire’s Philosophical Letters (1734), Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie (1751-65), and most prominently in Raynal’s influential History of the East and West Indies (1780). According to the myth, Penn’s colony offered an image of the Golden Age and a model of good government. William Penn was portrayed as a great legislator who established a popular representative government and gave laws that guaranteed civil liberties, maintained equality and ensured religious tolerance. As for the Quakers, their morals and customs were deemed to revive the virtues of early Christians. However, around the time of the American Revolution, many liberal intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic responded critically to such idealistic distortions of American reality, no matter how well intended. Filippo Mazzei, a naturalized American citizen from Italy who played an important role in the War of Independence, is a good case in point. In the third of his four-volume Researches on the United States (1788), Mazzei develops an extended refutation of Raynal’s version of the myth of Pennsylvania. Penn is now depicted as a greedy, sly opportunist who mostly looked after his own interests and those of his family. Similarly, the Quakers are criticized for having always deftly advanced their own political and commercial interests, and for not having clearly supported the Revolution. Mazzei—and his friends Jefferson and Condorcet, who collaborated with him on the Researches in Paris—could only feel irritated by the propagation of utopian myths or fanciful notions about America when the goal of the Revolution was to establish a large modern republic founded upon human rights and a complex legal and constitutional apparatus. Refuting the myth of Pennsylvania meant also discrediting the outdated ideals of the philosopher king and the primitive virtuous utopia.

Forging a Lineage: Kinship, Mobility, and the Zildjian Cymbal

Abstract Renowned for its 400-year-old Ottoman/Turkish/Armenian past and produced by “America's oldest family-run business,” the Zildjian cymbal is paradoxically rendered an unremarkable “humble object” in its assumed inclusion in orchestras and bands around the world. Tracing the lineages of the Zildjians and their cymbals through historical documentation, ethnography, and the materiality of the instruments themselves, I first discuss the cymbal's shifting musical contexts and functions in Ottoman Janissary mehter bands, European orchestras, American jazz bands, and many other ensembles over the past four centuries, as well as the role of the Zildjians in this musical expansion. Then, I examine how twentieth-century negotiations of Zildjian kinship emerged in contentions over the authenticity and ownership of cymbal production. Finally, I consider how the assimilatory pressures of nation-states shaped narratives of cymbal production as well as the Zildjians’ mobilities, particularly in the context of the ethnoracialization of minority populations in the late Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic as well as the struggle of Armenian migrants to the United States to be recognized as valid U.S. American citizens at the turn of the twentieth century. By approaching the cymbal itself as the main interlocutor of this exploration, I aim to foreground the ways in which cymbals have sounded and resounded the mobility and kinships of its human creators. In doing so, I regard musical instruments as essential mediators of histories of cultural and musicological development as well as constructions of human identity and relationship, glimpsing how such objects may both reify and unsettle our epistemologies and the institutions of modern life.

Factual belief polarization between Democrats and Republicans: source or epiphenomenon of ideological and affective polarization?

Democrats and Republicans have polarized in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization). Simultaneously, both groups also seem to diverge in their factual beliefs about reality. This preregistered survey experiment among 2,253 American citizens examined how this factual belief polarization may or may not fuel ideological and affective polarization around four key issues: income differences, immigration, climate change, and defense spending. On all issues except immigration, Democrats and Republicans were equally or more divided in their factual beliefs about the present than in their ideals for the future. Corrective information decreased partisan polarization over some ideals, but not directional policy attitudes. Priming respondents' factual beliefs conversely increased polarization around defense spending, but not other issues. Much remains unclear about the complex relation between factual beliefs and polarization, but measuring ideals and priming beliefs could be promising avenues for future research.

Pride and Prejudice: The Dual Effects of “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy” on Domestic and International Audiences

China has shifted its foreign policy from careful diplomacy to “wolf warrior diplomacy” (WWD). I argue that WWD increases the Chinese public’s support for their government. However, foreign audiences are likely to view WWD as aggressive and threatening; as a result, WWD has dual effects, increased security for the regime at the domestic level and heightened tensions at the international level. To examine these hypotheses, I conducted preregistered parallel experiments, in which I presented identical sets of survey vignettes to Chinese and American citizens. The results show that WWD significantly increases the Chinese public’s support for their government. However, this diplomatic rhetoric also antagonizes the U.S. public and bolsters their support for aggressive foreign policies toward China. These findings contribute to our understanding of the dual effects of authoritarian diplomacy in the global arena where national leaders face a trade-off between preserving domestic support and triggering international hostility.

Ideologie językowe w programach wyborczych Nowej Partii Postępowej w Portoryko

The aim of this article is to analyze language ideologies towards Spanish, English and bilingualism articulated in selected political party programs (or party platforms, programa de gobierno) of the New Progressive Party (NPP) in Puerto Rico after 2000. The study examines the beliefs, declarations, and objectives related to the main language ideologies on the island, regarding: (1) Spanish as the national language of Puerto Ricans (monolingualism); (2) English as the language of American citizens and the U.S. federal government (monolingualism); (3) English as a resource for social and economic advancement (linguistic instrumentalism and/or linguistic entrepreneurship); (4) bilingualism as a resource for social and economic advancement (linguistic instrumentalism and/or linguistic entrepreneurship); (5) English as a global language (perceived as a universal means of communication). The article examines the programs presented during the general elections that led to the NPP candidates assuming the positions of governors: Luis Fortuño (2009-2013), Ricardo Rosselló (2017-2019), and Pedro Pierluisi (2021-2024). This analysis is contextualized within the language debates that form part of the island’s long history of the coexistence of Spanish and English since 1898.

The Analysis of President Biden's Twitter Account's Representative Illocutionary Act

Representative illocutionary acts are speech acts that convey truth values based on the actual meaning of the spoken or written utterances. This research aims to identify the types and purposes of representative illocutionary acts contained in President Biden's Twitter account. The present research is grounded in John R. Searle's theory, which posits that a representative illocutionary act refers to a statement made by a speaker that is believed to be either true or untrue, depending on a prior event witnessed by the speaker. This study employs a qualitative research methodology. The subject of investigation in this research consists of President Biden's tweets, which are utilized as the primary data source. The statements are classified and examined based on the categories of representative illocutionary acts and their roles. The research findings identify various types of representative illocutionary acts that serve distinct roles based on their respective types. The act of recommending, as a typical illocutionary act, holds a significant impact due to Joe Biden's position as the president of a mighty nation. As the leader of a country with substantial capital, advanced industry, and a formidable military, Biden wields considerable global influence. Hence, the tweets of President Biden are not only monitored by American citizens but also by global citizens. Furthermore, President Biden's statements are currently a prominent global concern. President Biden frequently offers recommendations to the citizenry, who are an audience impacted by various issues or challenges, to resolve them.Keywords: Illocutionary Act; President Biden; Representative Act; Twitter Account.

Challenging Discourses of Sexual Violence on X: The Linguistic Representation of Victims and Perpetrators in Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Process

In September 2018, American Justice Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during his nomination to the US Supreme Court. The sexual allegations provoked a crisis in American society concerning the rights of female American citizens and created a heated debate among X (formerly Twitter) users, who commented on the event and expressed their (dis)affiliation. Research has shown that X is one of the most sexist and abusive social media services due to the constant spread and negotiation of different discourses relating to rape culture on the platform (Mendes et al. 2018). Consequently, the objectives of this research are to examine the linguistic patterns and discourses employed by X users to denounce patriarchal oppression and negotiate the identities of the different social actors involved in Kavanaugh’s confirmation process. To do so, two datasets of posts (previously known as ‘tweets’) containing the opposing hashtags #KavanaughConfirmation and #NoKavanaughConfirmation were analyzed and contrasted drawing on Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis tools (i.e., keywords and concordances) (Partington et al. 2013) and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (Lazar 2005). The results revealed a high presence of keywords concerning gender and violence to construct identities of victims and perpetrators. However, not only were such identities related to sexual violence but also political and institutional violence. In addition, the analysis revealed the creation of discursive protests on X to resist patriarchal discourses and practices in American society.

Whitman's Democratic Citizen

In 1858 a series of essays titled Manly Health and Training made their appearance in the New York Atlas, written by Walt Whitman under the penname of Mose Velsor. The professed goal was to discuss suggestions and ideas to improve the general physical condition of its readers. Whitman regarded this as a necessary condition to match America’s democratic character. Indeed, from reading his guide we can see how for him the health of the body politic is dependent on the health and physical vigour of its citizens. In typical Whitman fashion, the essays address a multitude of topics other than the usual issues expected of a fitness manual. Besides the customary issues of diet and exercise, he also talks politics, morality, the weather, longevity, Greek athleticism, hygiene habits. This article will focus on Whitman’s thoughts about the physical standards he believed the American people ought to meet to sustain American democracy, link this with Whitman’s view of Ulysses Grant as an example of the ‘ideal’ American citizen and also venture why he was so understanding towards the latter during his troubled presidency.

Cardiac involvement in Chagas disease and African trypanosomiasis.

Trypanosomiases are diseases caused by various species of protozoan parasite in the genus Trypanosoma, each presenting with distinct clinical manifestations and prognoses. Infections can affect multiple organs, with Trypanosoma cruzi predominantly affecting the heart and digestive system, leading to American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, and Trypanosoma brucei primarily causing a disease of the central nervous system known as human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. In this Review, we discuss the effects of these infections on the heart, with particular emphasis on Chagas disease, which continues to be a leading cause of cardiomyopathy in Latin America. The epidemiology of Chagas disease has changed substantially since 1990 owing to the emigration of over 30 million Latin American citizens, primarily to Europe and the USA. This movement of people has led to the global dissemination of individuals infected with T. cruzi. Therefore, cardiologists worldwide must familiarize themselves with Chagas disease and the severe, chronic manifestation - Chagas cardiomyopathy - because of the expanded prevalence of this disease beyond traditional endemic regions.

Religiosity, transcendent accountability, and civic engagement

Religiosity, transcendent accountability, and civic engagement Academic experts from Baylor University and Pepperdine University explore religiosity, transcendent accountability, and civic engagement. Civic engagement has declined considerably in America since Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political scientist, visited the United States in 1831 and observed the unique tendency toward volunteerism and the role it played in American civic life and culture. He wrote extensively about the inclination of American citizens to form voluntary associations of all types, including religious, community, and political organizations that contributed to volunteerism.

Association between non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and obstructive sleep apnea: a cross-sectional study from NHANES

BackgroundObstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a widespread sleep disturbance linked to metabolic and cardiovascular conditions. The Non-High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratios (NHHR) has been proposed as being a potential biomarker to gauge cardiovascular risk. However, its relationship with OSA remains unclear.MethodsThis survey investigated the link NHHR to OSA in American citizens aged 20 and older using information collected via the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during the years 2017 to 2020. Logistic regression models with multivariable adjustments were employed to assess this relationship. Nonlinear associations were explored using smooth curve fitting, with a two-part linear regression model identifying a threshold effect. Subgroup analyses were conducted to evaluate population-specific differences.ResultsThe survey encompassed 6763 participants, with an average age of 50.75 ± 17.32. The average NHHR stood at 2.74, accompanied by a standard deviation of 1.34, while the average frequency of OSA was 49.93%. Upon adjusting for covariates, each unit increase in NHHR may be associated with a 9% rise in OSA incidence. (95% confidence intervals 1.04–1.14; P < 0.0001). Notably, a U-shaped curve depicted the NHHR-OSA relationship, with an inflection point at 4.12. Subgroup analyses revealed consistent associations, with educational attainment and diabetes status modifying the NHHR-OSA relationship.ConclusionThe study highlights NHHR as a potential tool for OSA prediction, presenting avenues for advanced risk evaluation, tailored interventions, personalized treatment approaches, and preventive healthcare.

The Ordinariness of January 6: Rhetorics of Participation in Antidemocratic Culture

The January 6, 2021, Capitol riot appeared as an extraordinary and shocking event to many American citizens. In fact, the various framings of the riot such as “insurrection,” “sedition,” or “domestic terrorism” seem to confirm the unprecedented nature of the day. By contrast, in this article we argue that January 6 can be understood in terms of its ordinariness, that is, as “the most ordinary thing that could happen” when viewed in the context of right-wing politics. We first argue that the reliance on a universalized dichotomy between authoritarianism and democracy in current research on right-wing politics in the United States tends to reify those terms, and thus miss the ordinary and routine dimension of antidemocratic practices. We subsequently propose the concept antidemocratic cultures to understand how right-wing political dispositions are fabricated through and mediated by rhetorical acts including speech, written texts, and embodied everyday practice. We analyze the rhetoric of participation of riot participants by reading their text messages, social media posts, and interviews with law enforcement and news media, as detailed in their arrest sheets. The rhetoric of participation of riot participants reveals how political dispositions are fabricated through ordinary language use and how these identities congeal in antidemocratic cultures. In the last section, we further discuss how a theory of antidemocratic cultures provides a novel framework to understand contemporary right-wing politics.

A blue ribbon goat: the Rockefeller Commission, public opinion, and the ford administration’s intelligence reform failure

ABSTRACT After allegations of the US intelligence community conducting illegal operations that targeted American citizens, 1975 became known as the Year of Intelligence. The subject dominated national discourse and led to competing programmes of intelligence oversight proposed by Congress and the executive branch. This article examines the Ford administration’s programme that started with the Rockefeller Commission in January 1975 and ended with the issue of Executive order 11,905 in 1976. It argues that neither were enough to stave off Congress intruding on executive control of the intelligence community, because the Ford administration inaccurately measured the public’s demands for genuine reform.

The effects of Medicaid expansion on the racial/ethnic composition within nursing home residents

BackgroundThe Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, aimed to improve healthcare coverage for American citizens. This study investigates the impact of Medicaid expansion (ME) under the ACA on the racial and ethnic composition of nursing home admissions in the U.S., focusing on whether ME has led to increased representation of racial/ethnic minorities in nursing homes.MethodsA difference-in-differences estimation methodology was employed, using U.S. county-level aggregate data from 2000 to 2019. This approach accounted for multiple time periods and variations in treatment timing to analyze changes in the racial and ethnic composition of nursing home admissions post-ME. Additionally, two-way fixed effects (TWFE) regression was utilized to enhance robustness and validate the findings.ResultsThe analysis revealed that the racial and ethnic composition of nursing home admissions has become more homogeneous following Medicaid expansion. Specifically, there was a decline in Black residents and an increase in White residents in nursing homes. Additionally, significant differences were found when categorizing states by income inequality, and poverty rate levels. These findings remain statistically significant even after controlling for additional variables, indicating that ME influences the racial makeup of nursing home admissions.ConclusionsMedicaid expansion has not diversified nursing home demographics as hypothesized; instead, it has led to a more uniform racial composition, favoring White residents. This trend may be driven by nursing home preferences and financial incentives, which could favor residents with private insurance or higher personal funds. Mechanisms such as payment preferences and local cost variations likely contribute to these shifts, potentially disadvantaging Medicaid-reliant minority residents. These findings highlight the complex interplay between healthcare policy implementation and racial disparities in access to long-term care, suggesting a need for further research on the underlying mechanisms and implications for policy refinement.

Desis’ identity crisis in America: examining cultural and racial politics in Samira Ahmed’s Love, Hate and Other Filters (2018) and Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers (2021)

ABSTRACT This paper examines literary representations of Desis, who are commonly associated with the South Asian American diaspora, in terms of their simultaneous identity formations as ethnic Indians and American citizens. It analyses the vulnerabilities of second generation Desis in America while growing up in the post-9/11 era. Poststructuralist philosopher Judith Butler’s concept of a precarious life is critically employed to investigate sociopolitical agendas that underpin racial and cultural othering of Desis. Through a comparative analysis of Samira Ahmed’s Love, Hate and Other Filters (2018) and Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers (2021), the cultural and psychophysical vulnerabilities of the second generation Desis for whom success is configured in the political construct of the American dream are discussed. This critical attention to an emergent genre of Indian diaspora fiction in English paves the way for nuanced understandings of marginal identities within America’s sociopolitical and cultural locales.

Counterurban sensibilities in the global countryside: The relational making of rurality and heritage in Xizhou Town, Southwest China

This paper investigates the series of works that Brian Linden, an American citizen and the founding president of the cultural tourism brand the Linden Centre (LC), has undertaken in Xizhou, a rural township in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Drawing on the counterurbanisation scholarship, this study recognises the place-based and endogenous qualities and assets of rural place that motivate the migration of Linden and the LC staff to Xizhou. However, we concurrently argue that the counterurbanisation thesis needs to be enriched through a conversation with the ascendancy of relational rurality and the global countryside, as counterurbanisation inevitably entail rich circularities of discourses, meanings, materials, and cultural knowledge. This has resulted in new ways that rural places are valued and appropriated by different actors on the move. Probing into a miscellany of cultural practices and educational programmes masterminded by the LC, this paper analyses how they deviate from the “authentic” meanings and uses of the heritage buildings but respond to broader visions and aspirations for a more fulfilling life vis-à-vis modernity. This study contributes to the counterurbanisation debate by revealing how counterurban movements can be mobilised to provide cultural, discursive, and material resources that address cultural sensibilities, aspirations, and projects articulated at broader scales.

On Social Media Photography

This article looks at the photography of Kris Graves and the circulation of the artist’s images on his social media accounts as a way of promoting social progress and racial justice, with a focus on his 2016 A Bleak Reality photoseries for Vanity Fair. The series consists of eight images that address the haunting specters of police brutality against eight African American male citizens who lost their lives at the hands of the state. Looking at Instagram, I posit a threefold claim about the social media photograph. First, I argue against the association of the social photo with the everyday. I examine a photoseries that initially participated in an economy of art but then migrated across a network of social relations in order to enhance its visibility—its dissemination ushering in the social life of the photograph that undergirds Black Lives Matter. Second, I suggest that the affective residues of Instagram’s content linger in an indexical trace that transcends the transplatform network’s digitally composited, modified, duplicated, and distributed images. This dual focus illuminates how social media function, on the one hand, as a technology of race while they allow Graves, on the other hand, to document instances of police brutality against African Americans. Third, in so doing, this article locates A Bleak Reality within a genealogy of civic media in order to explore how the co-optation of photography’s reproductive affordances by African American photographers, artists, scholars, intellectuals, and abolitionists has allowed them to construct a counter-archive of Black cultural production around historical movements for racial justice.