Recital presented at the Illinois State University Concert Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Recital presented at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, Illinois in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Teen birth (TB) imposes serious health and economic burdens to both individuals and government. Various attempts have been made to overcome TB such as teen pregnancy prevention evidence-based programs. However, these programs might have declined teen birth rate (TBR), most of which do not address the influencing socio-economic factors linked to areas where teenagers live. This study is aimed at investigating socio-economic factors contributing to TB and identify their geographical disparities. The methodology was developed using the vulnerability theory to examine the complex relationship between TB and socio-economic factors. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) were employed to analyze census data. Findings suggest that socio-economically disadvantaged minorities, including unemployed black and uneducated Hispanic, are more vulnerable to TB. Additionally, geographic locations of communities where such teenager live are recognized. The outcomes verified the utility of the vulnerability theory to predict the geographical locations of vulnerable teens that can be leveraged by policymakers to allocate more health resources and perform place-specific interventions to effectively reduce TBR.

Interview with Barry M. Lewis, an attorney from Chicago, Illinois. Lewis discusses his background in law, education, the COVID-19 Pandemic, his involvement with postpartum cases, postpartum psychoses, the DSM, and literature and treatment related to postpartum mental illnesses.

Interview with Carol Blocker, an activist from Chicago, Illinois. Blocker discusses postpartum activism, her experience with her daughter Melanie, the difference between postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression, the Melanie Blocker Stokes Act, and the lack of detailed information available about postpartum mental illnesses.

Video recording of interview with John Murphy, UNT professor of jazz studies. Murphy discusses his youth in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 1960s and 1970s including his music education at Baltimore County Public Schools, and the musical influence of the Left Bank Jazz Society; His experience as a UNT student in the jazz studies and music theory programs (1981-1986); playing saxophone in the One O’clock Lab Band and at venues around Denton; His research as an ethnomusicologist studying Cuban and Brazilian music and work as a professor at Western Illinois University (1992-2001) then the University of North Texas (2001-2020) where he served in faculty and administrative roles to further develop the jazz studies program and help preserve the program’s history.

Interview with Robert L. Price, desegregationist and civil rights activist. Price discusses his early life in Chicago, role in the desegregation of schools in the Dallas Independent School District, and his affiliations with civil rights activist groups.

Interview with Dr. Susan Benjamin Feingold, a clinical psychologist from Chicago, Illinois. Feingold discusses her education, the early gender gap in her area of study, her own pregnancy, postpartum depression, starting a practice related to perinatal psychology, and the experiences she had speaking on behalf of women with postpartum psychosis.