Category Archives: Academic Articles

Academic Articles, Authors R-Z

The Polygraph Test: A Scientific and Moral Dilemma – by Koula Zambounis-Black

   Introduction:

Throughout history, societies advanced in various methods of deception detection. In the earliest of times, it seems torture was the ideal method for identifying truthfulness. Confessions provided on the rack, by fire, water submersion, or even blood ritual, placated those seeking the truth during our early human history. The first noted scientific approach for lie detection arrived in 1885 when Cesare Lombroso invented a device that measured changes in blood pressure in individuals being questioned about truthfulness. In 1917, William M. Marstin, J.D., Ph.D. a student at Harvard University, alleged the discovery of a specific lie response that launched the means of distinguishing deception from truthfulness. This discovery birthed the creation of what we now know today as the polygraph test after considerable innovations and a patent by a police officer in California named Leonarde Keeler during the 1920s.

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Academic Articles, Advisors, Education

End of Affirmative Action? A Tale of Two Stories – by Dr. Carlos Cortés

Keynote Address for Constitutional Law:
The End of Affirmative Action
Part of the Signature DIAlogue Webinar Series of the
Los Angeles County Department of Human Resources

Thank you for the opportunity of reflecting on Affirmative Action, particularly the two recent Supreme Court decisions that struck down the admissions policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. I’ll approach this topic as both an 89-year-old retired history professor and a half-century diversity consultant/public lecturer who actually witnessed the birth of affirmative action.    

The six-decade affirmative action journey involves two intersecting stories: a vision story and a systems story. Both are rooted in the civil rights movement and were launched officially by President John F. Kennedy’s March 6, 1961, Executive Order 10925.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H

The Demise of Billionaires: Allure of Economic Reckoning – by Ainesh Dey

ABSTRACT:

The case for restricting wealth seems rather intense. Indeed the onus of proof is on those who defend the sanctity of the existence of billionaires, to show why they should be allowed to amass or even siphon off millions of dollars. However, this is not the end of the road. The erecting of a so-called “wealth ceiling”, as championed by Belgian- Dutch philosopher  Ingrid Robeyns  so that “no one has more than an upper threshold of valuable goods”, seems rather baffling in the contemporary age of economic slackness.

Indeed, a world without billionaires, would have profound contemporary significance. With the positive implications ranging from a steep fall in disruptive climatic conditions on the environmental front to reduced incidences of poverty, on the economic front, the grass might seem greener on the other side, however not correctly so, and this is where we get a glimpse of a different picture.

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Academic Articles, Advisors

Defining, Practicing, and Protecting Dialogue in Higher Education – by Dr. Carlos E. Cortés

What role can faculty play in changing the national conversation about campus dialogue? 

That’s actually two questions in one.  First, what national conversation –- or conversations — are we talking about?  Second, what role -– or roles — can faculty play?  I’ll take these questions one at a time.  But first let me tell you where I’m coming from.

No, I’m not indulging in today’s identity politics.  I’m not positioning myself by race or sex or gender identity or religion or sexual orientation?  But I am going to play the age card.  At 89, that’s one of the few cards I’ve got left.  And it’s relevant to today’s discussion because age rhymes with experience, and three aspects of my personal journey inform what I’m going to say.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Of Women

Where Are the Women’s Voices? – by Sheryl Axelrod

Aside

legal The Under-Representation of Women at the Highest Levels of the Legal Profession 

The extent of gender diversity at the highest levels of the legal profession, is dismal.  

I. BY THE NUMBERS: AT THE UPPER ECHELONS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, WHITE WOMEN ARE OUTNUMBERED BY MEN BY A FACTOR OF ALMOST AT LEAST 2 TO 1, AND THERE ARE NEARLY NO WOMEN OF COLOR AND LGBT+ WOMEN
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Academic Articles, Advisors, Authors R-Z, Inclusion

Embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Dr. Nagwan Zahary

A Business Perspective

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) becomes a business necessity rather than a choice. Organizations – including businesses, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities  have to reconsider that U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043 and by 2060, 57 percent of the U.S. population will consist of racially ethnic minorities.1 This change towards a more diverse population will have substantial impact on the workforce and how organizations rethink its processes to manage opportunities and challenges related to DE&I. 

In fact, there is no shortage of suggestions to create inclusive environments. However, it is crucial to think about the role and positioning of DE&I within an organization’s structure. The question here is whether organizations consider DE&I a HR policy, a management-led initiative, an objective, a trend—or a mixture of all four? Some organizations still struggle to properly define DE&I, which impact the development of appropriate DE&I initiatives to empower and engage underrepresented groups. Making progress on that front requires a deep understanding of the concerns, experiences, and perspectives of people with different ethnicities, nationalities, educational backgrounds, sexual orientation, religion, and gender.

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Education, Trends 2023

Increased Youth Engagement and Educational Productivity – by Ainesh Dey

Abstract

“Education is a passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those, who prepare for it today”, as proclaimed by eminent civil rights activist, Malcolm X, bears a deeper intellectual connotation. It brings out the very holistic foundation of education as an instrument of social awareness and development,  with a subtle mention of its contemporary beneficiaries, “the Youth”. Yes, it is the young people who through their rational interpretation of core educational principles, harness the progressive socio-political development of the world. 

The recent phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to the digital mode of learning, have accentuated the need for increased efforts towards larger educational accessibility, quality and affordability, central to the role of global development in complete coherence with the recently initiated in the “Education for All” under the broader purview of the “Millennium  Development Goals”, laid out by the United Nations, thereby demanding more nuanced responsibility of the young blood in spearheading a meaningful atmosphere of social inclusion , cohesion and stability.

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Academic Articles, Authors I-Q, Education

Antisemitic Rhetoric on Chattanooga Campus – by Rabbi Craig Lewis

1 Comment

Of all the times to learn that about antisemitic literature circulating in my city, the news reached me during the intermission of “Fiddler on the Roof.” It is a great show that captures a moment in time, combining the folklore of Sholom Aleichem, the imagery of Marc Chagall, and great music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick to tell a story from the collective Jewish memory. As with true Jewish history, it includes the good and the bad parts of being Jewish. We love “Tradition,” but much of our tradition has been built under the weight of oppression. “Fiddler” does not ignore this as the Russian constable’s promise of a pogrom, a violent attack against Jewish communities, mostly in the Russian Empire. Like Chekov’s gun, the mention of a pogrom comes to fruition and disrupts the joyous wedding scene. Being that this is still musical comedy, the pogrom is sanitized: a few goose pillows are torn up, a table flipped over, and one wedding guest is beaten. There is just enough to suggest what really would have happened.

An informed viewer of the show knows it more likely looked like the description from Chayim Nachman Bialik’s poem, “The City of Slaughter,” written about the 1903 pogrom in Kishinev. Here are a few excerpts:

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Social Issues

The Ministry of Conversation – by Minister William H. Hicks

“For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My Name, there I AM in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20AMPC]
(Part of the Series of Practical Instruction for Disciples of Christ)

What is ministry? “A person or thing through which something is accomplished.” [Merriam-Webster Online dictionary]; to serve the needs of others, especially their spiritual needs.

What is conversation? Conversations are discourses, usually between two (2) individuals or, at most (in numbers) small groups of 6 to 9 persons. Conversations are characterized by: intimacy and proximity (although this latter has been redefined by modern communication technology); respect; good listening skills; patience; good intentions; positive energy/passion; no fear; trust/honesty and honest differences of opinion; integrity; hope for a strengthened relationship from having participated in the conversation.

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Academic Articles, Advisors, Authors A-H

Equity Rising: DEI Expertise in the Boardroom – by Dr. Deborah Ashton, Tracie Hall

Abstract

After the killing of George Floyd, Equity Rising, a group of Black professionals, came together to address social justice and equity in the government and in corporations. They believed that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) expertise is essential to the total sustainability strategy of corporations and, therefore, is an essential boardroom function. The DEI expertise brings both functional and demographic diversification of board members.  This article contends that since traditionally the DEI function has been populated primarily by people of color and women, DEI expertise will add to the demographic diversification of the board. With the increase in demographic diversity for other functional board positions, DEI experts will aide in establishing a critical mass of women and people of color in the boardroom. 

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