Letter from the Editor in Chief

Abstract

It is an honor to return as editor of Scientia et Humanitas for the second consecutive year. This journey has proven to be exceptionally rewarding, and I am delighted to unveil the largest volume in the journal’s history. Serendipitously, Volume Fifteen features exactly fifteen articles, each reflecting the richness and diversity of the contemporary interdisciplinary research conducted at Middle Tennessee State University.

The volume opens with Emiliya Mailyan’s article, “From Waves: The Deliberate Odds and Ends of Mansfield’s Garden Parties,” in which Mailyan analyzes Katherine Mansfield’s intricate narrative techniques. Landon Funk then offers “The Ramifications of Female Sexuality: Cultural Uncertainty, Domestic Confinement, and Threatened Patriarchy in Robert Frost’s ‘Two Witches,’” in which she discusses Robert Frost’s complex place in the patriarchal trajectory of American history. Evan Knutila’s genre-bending piece, “From Anomie to Metanoia: The Spiritual-Political Thought of Henry Thoreau and Thomas Merton,” takes an inward turn, reflecting on Thoreau and Merton’s understanding of solitude as a means to discover the inner dimension of divinity.

We shift our emphasis to contemporary social sciences in Elaina Manuel’s “A Harm Reduction Approach: A Discussion of Supervised Consumption Site to Address Opioid Use Disorder” in which Manuel advocates for the establishment of supervised consumption sites as a vital intervention for opioid use disorder. Harley Mercadal provides a literary reading of Cormac McCarthy in “Where ‘dead people lay like saints’: Gothic Modernism in Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God,” making a case for the author as an expression of Gothic Modernism. In “The Purpose of Comparison Between Grendel, the Dragon, and the Hero in Beowulf” Miles Wine examines the monsters of Beowulf as reflections of moral conventions in archaic England.

Returning us to social science, Elizabeth Counts and Dr. Elizabeth Smith examine the relationship between processed foods and chronic diseases among food bank clientele in “Examining Processed Foods in Food Banks and the Presence of Chronic Diseases in Food Bank Clientele.” Rashieq Cockerham brings us into the natural sciences in “Characteristics of the Structure and Selected Biological Activities of Polysaccharides Isolated from Fedora 17 Hemp (Cannabis sativa),” investigating the use of hemp polysaccharides as potential applications in developing sustainable, bioactive products.

Matthew Hutton’s article, “A Fool’s Errand: Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and the Parodic Use of Tragic Characterization in Early Elizabethan Drama,” challenges the conventional reading of Marlowe’s play, interpreting Doctor Faustus as a parody of the title character. Feminist theory informs Mavis Wolff’s piece, “Off with Her Head! An Analysis of Female Awakening Through Social Deviance in Lynn Nottage’s Las Meninas,” considering Queen Thérèse as an expression of female empowerment.

The last movement of the volume showcases its interdisciplinary component. In “How the Courts Affect Social Change Through Rent Control,” Alexander Garcia examines cultural mores through a social science lens, arguing that the courts are limited by the judicial system’s constraints. Brandon Black’s literary analysis “Outcast of All Outcasts: The Doppelganger in Poe’s ‘William Wilson’” discusses Poe’s use of the doppelganger archetype. Nethanial Belmont reconsiders the American historical narrative in “Survival of the Tribe: How the Cherokee Nation Fought Genocide,” reframing the history the Cherokee through firsthand interviews and accounts. Angela Benninghoff discusses Milton’s characterization of the Biblical Eve in “The Mother of All Living: Eve’s Redemptive Role in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Finally, Patrick Wells highlights the frequently overlooked contributions of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War in “Those Who Paved the Way: A Detailed Look into the Contributions of the USCT in Tennessee.”

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to our diligent reviewers, Briley Welch, Hannah Antrican, and Eilidh Hancock, whose thorough evaluations and constructive feedback have significantly enhanced the quality of the journal. Additionally, I would like to extend my appreciation to my associate editors, Rebecca Price, Nicholas Krause, Angela Benninghoff, and Brittney Norton, for their unwavering commitment and hard work. Your dedication to fostering innovative scholarship has been commendable and has substantially contributed to the success of this volume. Notably, I wish to acknowledge my managing editor, Matthew Hutton, whose expertise and efforts have ensured that this volume is not only polished but also impactful. I would also like to extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Philip Phillips, Associate Dean of the MTSU Honors College, not only for the opportunity and help with this volume of Scientia, but also for the continued mentorship he has offered throughout my graduate career. An exceptional amount of thanks is also due to Honors College Dean John R. Vile and Strategic Communication Specialist Ms. Robin E. Lee, both of whom extended significant guidance.

Thank you all for your continued support of Scientia et Humanitas. I hope you enjoy this volume as much as we enjoyed bringing it to fruition.

Best regards,
Kylie Petrovich
Editor in Chief