Connecting Disciplines

This thesis presents the Italian adaptation of Stephen Wilson’s Quick Aphasia Battery (QAB), titled the Test Rapido di Valutazione dell’Afasia (QAB-ITA), along with a detailed overview of the adaptation process. Responding to the need for accessible yet comprehensive aphasia assessments, the QAB-ITA was carefully modified to ensure cultural and linguistic appropriateness while maintaining the original tool’s reliability and validity. Each subtest was adapted to align with Standard Italian, preserving the structure and psychometric strengths of the original QAB. The QAB-ITA offers a fast, effective tool for clinicians and researchers working with Italian-speaking individuals with aphasia. To support clarity and accessibility, the full QAB-ITA is provided at the beginning of this paper.

This thesis interrogates the theoretical aspirations and academic realities of World Literature. The thesis specifically interrogates World Literature within the DePaul University Honors Program and as a survey course in American Universities. This thesis asserts that World Literature, though often framed as a vehicle for cross-cultural engagement and cosmopolitanism, instead frequently reinforces anglocentric idealism. While drawing on existing scholarship, a dataset of HON 101 (World Literature) classes is analyzed and dissected. Pedagogical constraints and institutional issues with the study of World Literature are also assessed. Ultimately, this thesis calls for reform of current World Literature practices while maintaining hope for a more attainable study.

In the event of an injury or stroke interrupting the regions responsible for language production and comprehension in the brain, musical interventions like melodic intonation therapy and songwriting have been shown to successfully recover and improve speech. Yet, most of the research conducted in this field is centered around stroke-induced aphasia, leaving traumatic brain injury-induced aphasia a less explored topic. Here, through reviewing and applying the neurological, psychological, and social implications of music therapy on speech production, it is suggested that the integration of music therapy and speech therapy for treating patients with aphasia occur much more frequently.