I’m not much into motivational speakers or inspirational words. They just don’t code for me the ways I think they’re intended. “Be the change (trouble) you want to be in the world,” or “Only those that attempt the absurd, achieve the impossible,” are both sayings that I’ve found some comfort in in the past, but neither of these really speak to my career goals or personal trajectory of growth.
The Source of Language: A Discussion of Skinner versus Chomsky
Communication is an endemic feature of all life, and it manifests across a dizzying range of methods from pheromonal expressions of insects to canine body language to whalesong.
Autism Is Not A Behavior
Autism is a neurotype, not a behavior, and applied behaviorist principles to autistic traits is dangerous and counterproductive.
Blood, Water, Poison: Toxic Family Relationships
The first version of this article first appeared as a final project for the PSY101 course at the University of Arizona Global Campus on April 7, 2018. References and citations have been updated to the most current and relevant versions, as the topic is still highly salient, and the language has been tightened up. “Blood…
On the Nature of News Media
First published December 1, 2021, as the final course assignment for JRN200 at the University of Arizona Global Campus. Loosely defined, journalism is a genre of writing that reports on events relevant to the public. “The press” is a catch-all term for journalism in its many formats – newspapers, television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, and online…
Open Access to Information Is a Democratic Imperative
This piece first appeared as a discussion post for the course JRN200 at the University of Arizona Global Campus. …a popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to…
Commentary on Journalism in Democracy
This article first appeared as a discussion post for the JRN200 course at University of Arizona Global Campus. I mentioned briefly before that a democratic society is not defined by what kind of government structure or economic system it uses but rather by the principle of the collective voice of the people being the highest…
Journalistic Integrity Versus Fake News
This post first appeared in the JRN200 course in the University of Arizona Global Campus. Fake news is broadly defined as a story presented in credible-looking media that is not just written with false information but does so with the intent to influence readers 1 . These pieces are usually written with a tiny core…
Student Paper: Understanding and Overcoming Climate Change Denial
This article first appeared as a final project for GEN499 General Education Capstone at the University of Arizona Global Campus, October 17, 2021. Certain URLs have been left unlinked to avoid providing additional validation to known disinformation sites, but their full addresses have been left for the sake of transparency. Anthropogenic climate change is a…
Student Paper: Exploration of Autism Spectrum Disorder
This article first appeared as the final project for PSY350 Physiological Psychology at the University of Arizona Global Campus, July 31, 2021. Final Project: Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects up to 2% of the general population to varying degrees of severity. People with ASD range from non-verbal…