Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines Edmund Morris’s controversial biography, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999), as an example of the broader effort in contemporary culture to resurrect national history by misrepresenting it. In Morris’s case, this involves falsifying his own past as an Anglo-African colonial in order to align it with Reagan’s. By doing so, he wants not simply to provide a personal connection with Reagan, however, but rather to disconnect himself from historical fact in a manner comparable to that of his self-fictionalizing subject. It is through such fictionalization, he believes, that Reagan was able to embody the national character, which for Morris is shaped by a disconnection from the European past exemplified by the Holocaust--a traumatic event Reagan falsely claimed to have wtinessed. In short, Dutch exemplifies the way historical disconnection serves as a form of connection in current thinking about national identity. The paper closes by comparing Morris’s version of national identity with recent theories of nationalism and transnationalism, from Anderson to Appadurai, in which imagination plays a constitutive role.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: As it is very difficult to address, in the typical classroom environment, those outcome abilities dealing with use of values and ethical principles, social awareness, cultural diversity, developing collegial relationships, and providing care to terminally ill patients, a written assignment was developed to allow students to express thoughts and reflections related to these very important abilities necessary to provide pharmaceutical care.

Following a series of lectures dealing with care for the terminally ill patients, students were assigned a reflection paper based the book: Tuesdays with Morrie. Students were instructed to include personal reflections and personal experiences in the following areas: the need and potential benefits of providing pharmaceutical care to any patient with a chronic, debilitating, or terminal illnesses; the value of building relationships with faculty, and others; the importance of life-long learning; and the overall impact of the assignment. The students were assessed on their ability to: prepare a well-written paper, with in-depth reflections; and effectively communicate, in writing. Students were then asked to evaluate the assignment at the end of the course.

The student response to the assignments has been overwhelmingly positive. Eighty-five percent of students indicated: they enjoyed completing the assignment; it helped sensitize them to issues related to providing care to terminally-ill patients; it forced them to consider moral ethical issues related to the care of the terminally ill; and they would recommend this assignment continue in the future. The instructor considered reading the papers time consuming but one of the highlights of the academic year.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: A new medical diagnostic code for secondhand smoke was created in 1994, but as of 2004 remained an invalid entry on a common medical form. The process for creating and utilizing medical codes is open to influence by lobbyists with undisclosed private industry clients. Tobacco industry documents reveal that Philip Morris budgeted over $2 million for an “ICD-9 Project” in the mid-1990s. Tactics to prevent adoption of the new code included third-party lobbying, Paperwork Reduction Act challenges, and backing an alternative coding system. A secondhand smoke code should be allowed on the Medicare form, and physicians should be made aware of its utilization within the new ICD-10 coding system.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Many artists and writers begin their careers as members of a collaborative circle, a group of peers who socialize one another into a discipline and negotiate a shared vision that guides their work. Although most circles develop chronic strains that culminate with the members breaking free of the group culture, the strains in interdisciplinary circles can be particularly problematic. In this paper we examine the following questions: (1) How do the stages of circle development in the interdisciplinary arts and crafts circle compare to those in single-discipline circles? (2) What unique strains did the arts and crafts circle experience as a consequence of their multidisciplinary composition, and how were these strains managed? To illustrate the strains, we examine the group dynamics in William Morris’s arts and crafts circle. Like many interdisciplinary circles, this group consisted of "graduates" of single-discipline circles. It formed around a charismatic leader (i.e., Dante Rossetti), and in the early stages of its development, it included the role of group scapegoat or clown (i.e., William Morris). As the group members developed a shared vision and carried out projects together, Morris’s stature both inside and outside the group grew, while Rossetti’s declined. The tensions between the two leaders culminated in a highly divisive split into two subgroups. The changing structure of the group is portrayed with SYMLOG diagrams of the member’s roles at two points in the group’s history. Morris’s roles, first as scapegoat, then as amateur artist-craftsman and executive manager, contributed to group integration for more than a decade. As amateur, he was able to speak the languages of all the disciplines and coordinate the creative work of the circle. We discuss the implications of our findings for a theory of interdisciplinary collaboration in groups.