Search results for: cultural orientation

Authors: D. Mokhtari

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Any variation in environmental characteristics of geomorphosites would lead to destabilisation of their geotouristic values all around the planet. The Urmia lake, with an area of approximately 5,500 km2 and a catchment area of 51,876 km2, and to which various reasons over time, especially in the last fifty years have seen a sharp decline and have decreased by about 93 % in two recent decades. These variations are not only driving significant changes in the morphology and ecology of the present lake landscape, but at the same time are shaping newly formed morphologies, which vanished some valuable geomorphosites or develop into smaller geomorphosites with significant value from a scientific and cultural point of view. This paper analyses and discusses features and evolution in several representative coastal and island geomorphosites. For this purpose, a total of 23 geomorphosites were studied in two data series (1963 and 2015) and the respective data were compared and analysed. The results showed, The total loss in geomorphosites area in a half century amounted to a loss of more than 90% of the valuable geomorphosites. Moreover, the comparison between the mean yearly value of coastal area lost over the entire period and the yearly average calculated for the shorter period (1998-2014) clearly indicates a pattern of acceleration. This acceleration in the rate of reduction in lake area was seen in most of the southern half of the lake. In the region as well, the general water-level falling is not only causing the loss of a significant water resource, which is followed by major impact on regional ecosystems, but is also driving the most marked recent (last century) changes in the geotouristic landscapes. In fact, the disappearance of geomorphosites means the loss of tourism phenomenon. In this context attention must be paid to the question of conservation. The action needed to safeguard geomorphosites includes: 1) Preventive action, 2) Corrective action, and 3) Sharing knowledge.

Keywords: geomorphosite, environmental changes, changing lake, Urmia lake, northwest of Iran

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Authors: Shakila Singh

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Sexual harassment continues to be a problem both in educational institutions and workplaces with the main victims being women and the main perpetrators being men. The achievement of quality education demands to create safe learning spaces for all students and requires extensive and integrated interventions. This article draws on the data from a broader study that aims to create safer learning environments at university by addressing gender violence. It attempts to understand male students’ perspectives about their role in sexual harassment on the campus. It is a move away from interventions that place the responsibility of prevention of sexual harassment, on women. The study adopts an interpretive paradigm within a qualitative approach. The sample comprises twenty male university students who were purposively selected because they live in the campus residences. The main data generation methods included focus group discussions and individual interviews. Findings show that while many male students agree that victims of sexual harassment are mainly women, they also suggest that men are victims of sexual harassment by women. Male students have varying understandings of what constitutes sexual harassment. They position themselves as victims who feel harassed by women’s dress and behaviour. Male students also felt under pressure by sexual advances made by women that forced them to comply in order to protect their masculinity. This article argues that social norms of masculinity are powerful drivers of behaviour that play a key role in the perpetuation of sexual harassment. Male students who feel strongly against sexual harassment of female students are constrained by their masculinities in their ability to act against it. Effective interventions need to actively engage students in reflecting on and challenging social and cultural norms that contribute to violent expressions and to develop alternatives with them.

Keywords: gender violence, male students, sexual harassment, university students

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Authors: Rebecca Sager, Gary Adler, Damon Mayrl, Jonathan Cooley

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The United States’ unique constitutional structure and religious roots have fostered the flourishing of local communities through the close interaction of church and state. Today, these local relationships play out in these circumstances, including increased religious diversity and changing jurisprudence to more accommodating church-state interaction. This project seeks to understand the meanings of church-state interaction among diverse religious leaders in a variety of local settings. Using data from interviews with over 200 religious leaders in six states in the US, we examine how religious groups interact with various non-elected and elected government officials. We have interviewed local religious actors in eight communities characterized by the difference in location and religious homogeneity. These include a small city within a major metropolitan area, several religiously diverse cities in various areas across the country, a small college town with religious diversity set in a religiously-homogenous rural area, and a small farming community with minimal religious diversity. We identified three types of religious actors in each of our geographic areas: congregations, religious non-profit organizations, and clergy coalitions. Given the well-known difficulties in identifying religious organizations, we used the following to construct a local population list from which to sample: the Association of Religion Data Archives ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, Guidestar, and the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Business Master File. Our sample for selecting interviewees were stratified by three criteria: religious tradition (Christian v. non-Christian), sectarian orientation (Mainline/Catholic v. Evangelical Protestant), and organizational form (congregation vs. other). Each interview included the elicitation of local church-state interactions experienced by the organization and organizational members, the enumeration of information sources for navigating church-state interactions, and the personal and community background of interviewees. We coded interviews to identify the cognitive schema of “church” and “state,” the models of legitimate relations between the two, and discretion rules for managing interaction and avoiding conflict. We also enumerate arenas in which and issues for which local state officials are engaged. In this paper, we focus on Korean religious groups and examine how their interactions differ from other congregations, including other immigrant congregations. These churches were particularly common in one large metropolitan area. We find that Korean churches are much more likely to be concerned about any governmental interactions and have fewer connections than non-Korean churches leading to more disconnection from their communities. We argue that due to their status as new immigrant churches without a lot of community ties for many members and being in a large city, Korean churches were particularly concerned about too much interaction with any type of government officials, even ones that could be potentially helpful. While other immigrant churches were somewhat willing to work with government groups, such as Latino-based Catholic groups, Korean churches were the least likely to want to create these connections. Understanding these churches and how immigrant church identity varies and creates different types of interaction is crucial to understanding how church/state interaction can be more meaningful over space and place.

Keywords: religion, congregations, government, politics

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Authors: Jacqueline Jasmine Kumar

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This paper seeks to challenge the predominate Western-centric paradigm concerning empathy by conducting an exploration of its presence within both Western and Eastern philosophical traditions. The primary focus of this inquiry is the examination of the Indian yogic tradition, encompassing the four yogas: bhakti (love/devotion), karma (action), jnāna (knowledge), and rāja (psychic control). Through this examination, it is demonstrated that empathy does not exclusively originate from Western philosophical thought. Rather than superimposing the Western conceptualization of empathy onto the tenets of Indian philosophy, this study endeavours to unearth a distinct array of ideas and concepts within the four yogas, which significantly contribute to our comprehension of empathy as a universally relevant phenomenon. To achieve this objective, an innovative approach is adopted, delving into various facets of empathy, including the propositional, affective/intuitive, perspective-taking, and actionable dimensions. This approach intentionally deviates from conventional Western frameworks, shifting the emphasis towards lived morally as opposed to engagement in abstract theoretical discourse. While it is acknowledged that the explicit term “empathy” may not be overly articulated within the yogic tradition, a scrupulous examination reveals the underlying substance and significance of this phenomenon. Throughout this comparative analysis, the paper aims to lay a robust foundation for the discourse of empathy within the contexts of the human experience. By assimilating insights gleaned from the Indian yogic tradition, it contributes to the expansion of our comprehension of empathy, enabling an exploration of its multifaceted dimensions. Ultimately, this scholarly endeavour facilitates the development of a more comprehensive and inclusive perspective on empathy, transcending cultural boundaries and enriching our collective repository of knowledge.

Keywords: Bhakti, Yogic, Jnana, Karma

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Authors: A. Sunkar, A. Saraswati, Y. Santosa

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Controversies surrounding the impacts of oil palm plantations have resulted in some heated debates, especially concerning biodiversity loss and indigenous people well-being. The indigenous people of Dayak generally used wildlife to fulfill their daily needs thus were assumed to have experienced negative impacts due to oil palm developments within and surrounding their settlement areas. This study was conducted to identify the characteristics of the Dayak community settled around an oil palm plantation, to determine their perceptions of wildlife loss or gain as the results of the development of oil palm plantations, and to identify the determinant characteristic of the perceptions. The research was conducted on March 2018 in Nanga Tayap and Tajok Kayong Villages, which were located around the oil palm plantation of NTYE of Ketapang, West Kalimantan-Indonesia. Data were collected through in depth-structured interview, using closed and semi-open questionnaires and three-scale Likert statements. Interviews were conducted with 74 respondents using accidental sampling, and categorized into respondents who were dependent on oil palm for their livelihoods and those who were not. Data were analyzed using quantitative statistics method, Likert Scale, Chi-Square Test, Spearman Test, and Mann-Whitney Test. The research found that the indigenous Dayak people were aware of wildlife species loss and gain since the establishment of the plantation. Nevertheless, wildlife loss did not affect their social, economic, and cultural needs since they could find substitutions. It was found that prior to the plantation’s development, the local Dayak communities were already slowly experiencing some livelihood transitions through local village development. The only determinant characteristic of the community that influenced their perceptions of wildlife loss/gain was level of education.

Keywords: wildlife, oil palm plantations, indigenous Dayak, biodiversity loss and gain

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Authors: Ndje Ndje Mireille

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For some years in Cameroon, there has been an increase in violence in schools. This violence has gone from verbal to physical, sometimes going as far as murder. At the centre of this violence, we find the student who is a teenager in the midst of both physical and psychological changes. The unpredictable transformations of his body, the unexpected emotions arrouse when he encouters someonelse, intrusion, shortcomings, boredom, loneliness and self-deception are the threats to which the teenager faces daily. From the psychopathological point of view, the greatest threat in adolesence is probably the depresive threat. During adolescence and for several resons, the subject is confronted with the self image. He displays certantity which sometimes hides great uncertaintity about what leads him to manifest some particular behaviours or undertake certain actions. Faced with aggressiveness twards those he confronts, he feels more or less guilt. This can lead a certain number of adolescents to feel heplessness faced to their vis-à-vis, faced to life. This helplessness is sometimes reinforced by the social, cultural and economic context in which they are. The teeneger then feels threatens by this depression which, when it reaches its extreme, it is manifested by the feeling that he can no longer do anything. Generally, the depressive threats manifest itself in defensive forms vis-à-vis with the depression itself. Reason why, it is indeed a threat and not a threshold already crossed. This threat often manifests itself in inappropriate forms of attack on one’s own body as seen in a number of repetitive risky behaviours. We also see teenegers confront peers and even adults through physical attacks and often go as far as murder. All these behaviours appears as an absurd way of attacking and at the same time confronting the feeling of remaining alive. This depressive threats can also be expressed in forms of attacks on an individual’s thinking abilities or more explicitely in the form of accademic downfall. The depressive threats does not sum up all the problems of adolescence, but, undoubtly represents currently, one of the deepest form of unease adolescents face.

Keywords: violence, school, depression threats, adolescent, behavior

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Authors: Maria Armalita Tumimbang

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Jathilan or Kuda Lumping is a dance-drama with warfare as the main theme and the dancers mimicking mighty horsemen armed with sword in the middle of the battle field. However, to most people this dance-drama is more identical with magical nuanced dance and trance, beside the attractive and even dangerous acts of the dancers, such as eating shard or broken glass in a state of trance. Several music players play the accompaniment made up of incomplete gamelan set that include saron, kendang, gong, and kempul. In general, it remains unchanged with regards to the seemingly monotonous beat and occasional “bumps” that may lead the dancers into a trance state. The dances performed also tend to be of repetitive patterns. The development of Jathilan and other traditional art performance in this globalization and industrialization era can be divided into two: firstly, they are subjected to the power of industrialization, which means their performances are to be recorded for commercial purpose, and secondly, they are to be presented in live performances. To some people, live performances are preferable, and for some reasons, they represent a form of cultural résistance to globalization and industrialization. The present study is qualitative in nature. It aims to describe the music and performance of Jathilan in the era of globalization in Indonesia. The subject of this study is a traditional art group, Jathilan Kuda Pranesa of Godean, Yogyakarta. Data collection was conducted by interviews with the leader of the group, the dancers and music players, as well as the audience. The wave of globalization has brought strong capitalistic industrialization that render traditional arts simply into industrial commodities tailored to the need of the era. This very fact has made the repositioning of traditional art performance of Jathilan a necessity. And by repositioning we mean that Jathilans should be put back to their traditional forms and functions as they used to be.

Keywords: Jathilan, globalization, industrialization, music, performance

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Authors: Sharon Sibanda, Benny Motileng

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) identified the Sars-Cov-2 (COVID-19) as a pandemic on the 12ᵗʰ of March 2020, with South Africa recording its first case on the 5ᵗʰ of March 2020. The rapidly spreading virus led the South African government to implement one of the strictest nationwide lockdowns globally, resulting in the closing down of all institutions of higher learning effective March 18ᵗʰ 2020. Thus, this qualitative study primarily aimed to explore whether post-graduate psychology students were in a state of a depleted or cohesive self, post the psychological isolation of COVID-19 risk-adjusted level 5 lockdown. Semi-structured interviews from a qualitative interpretive approach comprising N=6 psychology post-graduate students facilitated a rich understanding of their intra-psychic experiences of the self. Thematic analysis of data gathered from the interviews illuminated how students were forced into the self by the emotional isolation of hard lockdown, with the emergence of core psychic conflict often defended against through external self-object experiences. The findings also suggest that lockdown stripped off this sample of psychology post-graduate students’ defensive escape from the inner self through external self-object distractions. The external self was stripped to the core of the internal self by the isolation of hard lockdown, thereby uncovering the psychic function of roles and defenses amalgamated throughout modern cultural consciousness that dictates self-functioning. The study suggests modelling reflexivity skills in the integration of internal and external self-experience dynamics as part of a training model for continued personal and professional development for psychology students.

Keywords: COVID-19, fragmentation, self-object experience, true/false self

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Authors: Hina Javed

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This study investigated the different strategies used by Pakistani students learning English as a second language at secondary level school. The basic premise of the study is that ESL students face tremendous difficulty while they are reading a text in English. It also purports to dig into the different causes of their slow reading. They might range from word reading accuracy, mental translation, lexical density, cultural gaps, complex syntactic constructions, and back skipping. Sixty Grade 7 students from two secondary mainstream schools in Lahore were selected for the study, thirty being boys and thirty girls. They were administered reading-related and reading speed pre and post-tests. The purpose of the tests was to gauge their performance on different reading tasks so as to be able to see how they used strategies, if any, and also to ascertain the causes hampering their performance on those tests. In the pretests, they were given simple texts with considerable lexical density and moderately complex sentential layout. In the post-tests, the reading tasks contained comic strips, texts with visuals, texts with controlled vocabulary, and an evenly distributed varied range of simple, compound, and complex sentences. Both the tests were timed. The results gleaned through the data gathered corroborated the researchers’ basic hunch that they performed significantly better than pretests. The findings suggest that the morphological structure of words and lexical density are the main sources of reading comprehension difficulties in poor ESL readers. It is also confirmed that if the texts are accompanied by pictorial visuals, it greatly facilitates students’ reading speed and comprehension. There is no substantial evidence that ESL readers adopt any specific strategy while reading in English.

Keywords: slow ESL reading speed, mental translation, complex syntactic constructions, back skipping

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Authors: Kiyanoush Ghalavand

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We have a complex paradox in the agriculture and environment sectors in the age of technology. In the one side, the achievements of the science and information ages are shaping to come that is very dangerous than ever last decades. The progress of the past decades is historic, connecting people, empowering individuals, groups, and states, and lifting a thousand people out of land and poverty in the process. Floods are the most frequent natural hazards damaging and recurring of all disasters in Iran. Additionally, floods are morphing into new and even more devastating forms in recent years. Khuzestan and Lorestan Provinces experienced heavy rains that began on March 28, 2019, and led to unprecedented widespread flooding and landslides across the provinces. The study was based on both secondary and primary data. For the present study, a questionnaire-based primary survey was conducted. Data were collected by using a specially designed questionnaire and other instruments, such as focus groups, interview schedules, inception workshops, and roundtable discussions with stakeholders at different levels. Farmers in Khuzestan and Lorestan provinces were the statistical population for this study. Data were analyzed with several software such as ATLASti, NVivo SPSS Win, ،E-Views. According to a factorial analysis conducted for the present study, 10 groups of factors were categorized climatic, economic, cultural, supportive, instructive, planning, military, policymaking, geographical, and human factors. They estimated 71.6 percent of explanatory factors of flood management obstacles in the agricultural sector in Lorestan and Khuzestan provinces. Several recommendations were finally made based on the study findings.

Keywords: chaos theory, natural hazards, risks, environmental risks, paradox

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Authors: Mohammadreza Khanmohammadi, Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari, Soofia Naghdi

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Purpose: Our study aimed to validate single item presenteeism question (SIPQ) into the Persian language for patients with low back pain. Background information: low back pain is a common health problem, and it is one of the most prevalent disorder in working people. There are the different subjective way to evaluate the effect of back pain on work productivity that one of them is by implementing single item presenteeism question. This question has not been validated into the Persian language. Method: Patients were asked to answer SIPQ and pain from 0 to 10 according to numerical rating scale (NRS). The functional rating index was administrated to evaluate construct validity. For test-retest reliability, almost 50 patients re-completed the Persian SIPQ. The construct validity of SIPQ was assessed by analyzing Spearman rank correlation between this question and the Persian version of Functional rating index questionnaire. To analyze test-retest reliability, we assessed intraclass correlation coefficient (agreement) (ICC agreement) (two-way random effects model, single measure). Results: The SIPQ score of two groups of patients (84 males, 16 females, mean age ±SD: 33.85±11.16 years, range: 19-67 years) and healthy subjects (48 male, 2 female ones, mean age ±SD: 24.24 ±8.07 years) was statistically significant. (Mann-Whitney U =198.00, P<.001). The Spearman correlation of data showed that there is a significant correlation between Persian SIPQ score and Persian FRI band (r= .559, P<.001). The ICC was .62. So, the analysis indicated good, test-retest reliability. Conclusion: This study showed that Persian version of SIPQ is reliable and valid when applied to back pain patients.

Keywords: cross cultural adaptation, economic burden, low back pain, Persian language, translation

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Authors: Emilia Klepczarek

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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the OECD found problems with the mechanisms of corporate governance as one of the major causes of destabilization of the financial system and the subprime crisis in the years 2007-2010. In response to these allegations, there were formulated a number of recommendations aimed at improving the quality of supervisory standards in financial institutions. They relate mainly to risk management, remuneration policy, the competence of managers and board members and transparency issues. Nevertheless, a review of the empirical research conducted by the author does not allow for an unambiguous confirmation of the positive impact of the postulated standards on the stability of banking entities. There is, therefore, a presumption of the existence of hidden variables determining the effectiveness of the governance mechanisms. According to the author, this involves concepts arising from behavioral economics and economic anthropology, which allow for an explanation of the effectiveness of corporate governance institutions on the basis of the socio-cultural profile of its members. The proposed corporate governance culture theory indicates that the attributes of the members of the organization and organizational culture can determine the different effectiveness level of the governance processes in similar formal corporate governance structures. The aim of the presentation is, firstly, to draw attention to the vast discrepancies existing within the results of research on the effectiveness of the standards of corporate governance in the banking sector. Secondly, the author proposes an explanation of these differences on the basis of governance theory breaking with common paradigms. The corporate governance culture theory is focused on the identity of the individual and the scope of autonomy offered within his or her institution. The coexistence of these two conditions - the adequate behavioral profile and enough freedom to decide - is a prerequisite for the efficient functioning of the institutions of corporate governance, which can contribute to rehabilitating and strengthening the stability of the financial sector.

Keywords: autonomy, corporate governance, efficiency, governance culture

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Authors: Rajapaksha J. S. R. L., Rajapaksha R. G. D. T., Ranawaka A. U. R., Rangalla R. D. M. P., Ranwala R. D. E. B., Chandratilake M. N.

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Introduction: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients experience discrimination, insensitivity, and ignorance about LGBT-specific health needs among healthcare providers. Developing the correct attitudes among medical students towards LGBT may help provide them with optimal healthcare. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the attitudes of medical students towards the LBGT community. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was among all the medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, using a validated online questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on eight areas. The data were descriptively analyzed, and the demographic groups were compared. Results: 358 students completed the survey. The response rate was 34.26%. Their attitudes on traditional gender roles and comfortability in interacting with LGBT people were moderate, and they disagreed with negative LGBT social beliefs. They knew less about the origin of sexuality/gender of LGBT. Although they accepted LGBT as a part of diversity, they discouraged normalizing the social practices of LGBT people. Their acceptance and association of LGBT were moderately positive. A minority has encountered LGBT in close social circles, and the majority of them were batch-mates. Although males’ knowledge about the origin of LGBT was higher, they favoured traditional gender roles more. The religious groups showed no differences. The favourability of attitudes towards LGBT reflected respondents’ political ideology. Conclusion: Although medical students’ knowledge on the sexuality/gender basis of LGBT is poor, they have moderately favourable attitudes towards them. They accept LGBT as a part of social diversity but not their social practices. Poor knowledge, lack of encounters, cultural influences, and political ideology may have influenced their attitudes.

Keywords: medical students, attitude, LGBT, diversity

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Authors: Jinlu Sun, Shouxiang Lu, Siuming Lo

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Large passenger ship, especially luxury cruise, is one of the most prevalent means of marine transportation and tourism nowadays. In case of an accident, an effective evacuation would be the ultimate way to minimize the consequence. Ship heeling and trim has a considerable influence on passenger walking speed and posture during ship evacuation. To investigate passenger movement pattern under the combined effect of ship heeling and trim, a ship corridor simulator was developed. Both fast and freely individual walking experiments by male and female experimental subjects under heeling and trim conditions were conducted and recorded therein. It is found that routes of experimental subjects would change due to the heeling and trim angles, although they always walk along the right side because of cultural factors. Experimental subjects would also change their posture to adapt the combined heeling and trim conditions, such as leaning forward, adopting larger arm swaying, shorter and more frequent steps. While for individual walking speed, the speed would decrease with the increasing heeling and trim angles. But the maximum individual walking speed is achieved at heeling angle of 0° with trim angle ranging from -15° to -5 °, instead of on level ground, which may be attributable to the effect of the gravitational acceleration. Female is approximately 10% slower than male due to the discrepancy in physical quality. Besides, individual walking speed shows similar trends in both fast and freely walking modes, and the speed value in freely walking mode is about 78% of that in fast walking mode under each experimental condition. Furthermore, to designate the movement pattern of passengers in heeling and trim conditions, a model of the walking speed reduction was proposed. This work would provide guidance on the development of evacuation models and the design of evacuation facilities on board.

Keywords: evacuation, heeling, individual walking speed, ship corridor simulator, trim

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Authors: Jessy Abouarab

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For more than half a century, international norms related to refugee security and protection have proliferated, yet their role in alleviating war’s negative impacts on human life remains limited. The impact of refugee-security processes often manifests asymmetrically within populations. Many issues and people get silenced due to narrow security policies that focus either on abstract threat containment and refugee control or refugee protection and humanitarian aid. (In)security practices are gendered and experienced. Examining the case study of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this study explores the gendered impact of refugee security mechanisms on local realities. A transnational feminist approach will be used to position this research in relation to existing studies in the field of security and the refugee-protection regime, highlighting the social, cultural, legal, and political barriers to gender equality in the areas of violence, rights, and social inclusion. Through Photovoice methodology, the Syrian refugees’ (in)securities in Lebanon were given visibility by enabling local volunteers to record and reflect their realities through pictures, at the same time voice the participants’ anxieties and recommendations to reach normative policy change. This Participatory Action Research approach helped participants observe the structural barriers and lack of culturally inclusive refugee services that hinder security, increase discrimination, stigma, and poverty. The findings have implications for a shift of the refugee protection mechanisms to a community-based approach in ways that extend beyond narrow security policies that hinder women empowerment and raise vulnerabilities such as gendered exploitation, abuse, and neglect.

Keywords: gender, (in)security, Lebanon, refugee, Syrian refugees, women

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Authors: Ganiyu Rasaq Omokeji

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The growing recognition of the pivotal role of universities in promoting socio-economic development has led to a focus upon the expansion of the sector around the world. As the economy and society become more ‘knowledge intensive’, the role of universities in development is more onerous than just teaching, research, and service. It is to help create the open society upon which the progress of ideas depends on. Driven to fulfill this role, universities are likely to become even more important in building regional networks of their host communities. Currently, there are about 129 universities in Nigeria, with a total number of 37 federal, 36 state, and 56 privately owned universities. Fountain University is among the private universities in Nigeria located in Osogbo, Osun State. The university is committed to the total development of men and women in an enabling environment, through appropriate teaching, research, and service to humanity, influenced by Islamic ethics and culture. The university focuses on educational development and growth that are relevant to the nation’s manpower needs and global competitiveness through a gradual but steady process. This paper examines the role of Private University in the socio-economic development of host community using Fountain University as a case study. The research methodology design for this paper has a total of 200 respondents. The research instrument of data collection was a questionnaire and in-depth interview (IDI). The finding reveals that Fountain University plays an important role in socio-economic and cultural development through their Islamic culture. The paper recommend that universities must bridge the gaps between creative individual with innovative ideas and the application of technology for economic progress and social betterment of their host communities. University also must serve as a bridge that carries the traffic of social and economic development.

Keywords: private university, socio-economic development, host communities, role of universities and community development

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Authors: Edeaghe Ehikhamenor, Jennifer Nnamdi

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Introduction: Gender-based violence (GBV) was a well-known global crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic burden only intensified the crisis. With prevailing lockdowns, increased poverty due to high unemployment, especially affecting females, and other mobility restrictions that have left many women trapped with their abusers, plus isolation from social contact and support networks, GBV cases spiraled out of control. Prevalence of economic with cultural disparity, which is greatly manifested in Nigeria, is a major contributory factor to GBV. This is made worst by religious adherents where the females are virtually relegated to the background. Our societal approaches to investigations and sanctions to culprits have not sufficiently applied forensic/DNA tools in combating these major vices. Violence against women or some rare cases against men can prevent them from carrying out their duties regardless of the position they hold. Objective: The main objective of this research is to highlight the origin of GBV, the victims, types, contributing factors, and the applications of forensics/DNA tools and remedies so as to minimize GBV in our society. Methods: Descriptive information was obtained through the search on our daily newspapers, electronic media, google scholar websites, other authors' observations and personal experiences, plus anecdotal reports. Results: Findings from our exploratory searches revealed a high incidence of GBV with very limited or no applications of Forensics/DNA tools as an intervening mechanism to reduce GBV in Nigeria. Conclusion: Nigeria needs to develop clear-cut policies on forensics/DNA tools in terms of institutional framework to develop a curriculum for the training of all stakeholders to fast-track justice for victims of GBV so as to serve as a deterrent to other culprits.

Keywords: gender-based violence, forensics, DNA, justice

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Authors: Eve-Andree Laramee

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The aesthetics and ethics of the Nuclear Anthropocene are explored through artists responses to the impact of radioactive materials on ecological systems, global issues, energy policies and ourselves. This presentation tracks and reveals the invisible traces of the nuclear weapons complex and the nuclear energy industry, in relation to environmental justice. Radioactive pollution transgresses international borders, boundaries between land and water, contaminating ecological systems. Radioactive waste is never disposed of; it is dispositioned, placed out of sight and out of mind. These materials leave behind an invisible toxic legacy lasting millions of years. As we are learning post-Fukushima, when climate change occurs and vulnerability spectrums shift, nuclear sites and the life forms surrounding them are at increased risk. By visualizing this contamination through art installations, videos, and social-sculpture interventions, information is shared with the public, raising awareness, and activating community participation in remediation and nonproliferation efforts. The emerging Ecological Art genre proposes paradigms sustainable with the life forms and resources of our planet. It is comprised of artists, scientists, philosophers and activists devoted to these. EcoArt is distinguished by a focus on systems and interrelationships within our environment: the ecological, geographic, political, biological and cultural. This presentation will cover artworks addressing the recent Fukushima meltdowns, weapons proliferation, climate change, radioactive waste disposal and environmental justice. Possibilities for art-and-science collaborations will be discussed as projects that sharpen our ethics and politics in our behaviors and social interactions. The presentation will consist of a PowerPoint talk (paper presentation) accompanied by images and video clips.

Keywords: art, ecology, environment, anthropocene, nuclear

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Authors: Nkatow Mafany Christian

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No other period in human history has offered such great opportunities for grievances not only to last long but also to be manifested across international boundaries. This state of affairs is likely a common feature of the advent of social media. The Anglophone Question in Cameroon has been a problem of poor constitutional arrangements that can be traced to 1961 when the former French Cameroon reunified with former British Southern Cameroons following a plebiscite in which the latter overwhelmingly voted to reunify with the former. Though Southern/Anglophone Cameroons complained of perceived marginalization and an attempt by the majority French section to assimilate them, the manifestation was subtle and took place only through protests, petitions, strikes movements and demonstrations. However, with the advent of social media, a new cream of leaders emerged in the diaspora, including the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, to champion the manifestations leading to violence and conflicts that have bedeviled the region since 2017. The feeling of political subjugation, economic exploitation, social suppression and cultural assimilation among Anglophone Cameroonians united them under diaspora leaders against the government of Cameroon, calling for the creation of a separate state for Anglophones. This paper draws from this lead-up to analyze the current Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon in the light of the Grievance Theory and Transnationalism. The paper makes an appeal to field experience, interviews, official sources, documentation, and the internet to succor its central thesis. From the fertility of its sources, the paper submits that social media is a potent source of conflicts and makes nonsense of the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity by its capacity to promote the transnational manifestation of grievances.

Keywords: grievance, transnationalism, anglophone crisis, Cameroon, crisis and social media

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Authors: Angela Mathias Kavishe

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Sexual harassment directed at women is reported in many societies, including in Tanzania. The advent of ICT technology, especially in universities, seems to aggravate the situation by extending harassment to cyberspace in various forms, including cyberstalking. Evidence shows that online violence is more dangerous than physical one due to the ability to access multiple private information, attack many victims, mask the perpetrator's identity, suspend the threat for a long time and spread over time and space. The study aimed to measure the magnitude of cyber harassment in Tanzanian higher learning institutions and to assess institutional sensitivity to ICT-mediated gender-based violence. It was carried out in 4 higher learning institutions in Tanzania: Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy and Institute of Finance Management in Dar es Salaam and SAUT, and the University of Dodoma, where a survey questionnaire was distributed to 400 students and 40 key informants were interviewed. It was found that in each institution, the majority of female students experienced online harassment on social media perpetrated by ex-partners, male students, and university male teaching staff. The perpetrators compelled the female students to post nude pictures, have sexual relations with them, or utilize the posted private photographs to force female students to practice online or offline sexual relations. These threats seem to emanate from social-cultural beliefs about the subordinate position of women in society and that women's bodies are perceived as sex objects. It is therefore concluded that cyberspace provides an alternative space for perpetrators to exercise violence towards women.

Keywords: cyberstalking, embodiment, gender-based violence, internet

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Authors: Jingqian Xiao

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The rapid wave of urbanization triggered by China’s economic growth over the past few decades has inevitably impacted the country’s educational landscape. Educational spaces in China shifted during the 1990s when, due to the government’s tax reforms, large numbers of rural schools were abolished or merged with urban schools, resulting in an “urbanization” of school content and values. While urbanized education is now the status quo, there is as yet no literature review, to our best knowledge, that comprehensively summarizes academic work on this phenomenon. Besides, most research on Chinese educational urbanization relies on basic policy deductions, and there is room for improvement in both the quality and quantity of empirical research on this topic. This paper, therefore, reviews relevant literature on educational urbanization in China from three interrelated factors that shape educational inequality between urban and rural China, namely the urbanization in educational space, school content, and educational values. Results find that the main discussion on Chinese educational urbanization often addresses how Chinese rural education can be improved by reforming the urbanization model to revitalize rural society. While the complete urbanization of Chinese education does not seem feasible, the rapidly changing nature of China’s development patterns and political landscape means the course of Chinese education may shift at any time. When the government does decide to fulfill its intentions to improve the countryside, many formerly dilapidated rural schools may be revived, but for the moment, both rural and urban education in China suffers from governmental neglect. In addition, the breakout of COVID-19, which led to a sudden spread of online education that reopened the gap between the educational conditions and the cultural capital of families in rural and urban areas, has also posed new challenges for China’s attempts to resolve conflicting interests between urban and rural schools and promote educational equality.

Keywords: Chinese education, educational inequality, rural and urban education, urbanization in education

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Authors: R. Vidhya

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Diasporic writings present a comprehensive view of social, cultural and psychological dualities of immigrants. Isolation and the strong feelings of insecurity and inferiority due to constant marginalization coupled with a nostalgia for their motherland, its customs, culture, language, food and people which keep haunting the minds of immigrants are the major themes that are handled by diasporic writers. In the African diaspora, more than the men, it is the women who face the brunt and burden of the triple jeopardy – the racial, class and gender discrimination. Women writers from Africa have successfully sketched the plight of African women in the diaspora. Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian woman writer deftly portrays the African Diaspora in her novels. She skillfully weaves her stories with her own experiences as an immigrant in the United Kingdom. She portrays the immigrant life and psychology through numerous themes like exile, geographical shift of locations, transactions of culture, political instability and the dilemma of moral and religious ideologies in her diasporic novels Second-class Citizen, Gwendolyn and Kehinde. The contemporary Nigerian woman writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has also dexterously depicted the diasporic dilemma of her protagonist Ifemelu in Americannah, who initially has the experience of a despondent and a downcast in the United States of America. This paper aims to analyse the diasporic sentiments and sensibilities of the Nigerian Igbo women writers Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie whose women characters finally find emancipation and empowerment in the African Diaspora. This study is based on the Africana Womanist Literary theory propounded by Clenora Hudson-Weems.

Keywords: African Diaspora, Nigerian women writers, Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, emancipation, empowerment

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Authors: Georgiana Ciobotaru

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The experience of exile is a defining one for the mittleeuropean writers, which is also the generator of an identity discourse manifested in the plan of fiction. In exile, the authors often build their marginality in opposition to that deserted mundi center. The Polish Gombrowicz carried out his existence, for more than twenty-three years, in a geographical exile, distancing himself from his country, and, from a cultural point of view, the writing meant a possibility of escape, of plunge into a literary exile that often constituted a way of conditioning the practice of writers. He opted for one of the attitudes that a writer in exile may have, namely he preferred to continue speaking Polish, although he was far from his homeland, turning to the public in his homeland, his entire literary creation in exile being promoted through Kulturia, the Paris-based immigration magazine. The problem of exile must be constantly related to three essential aspects, namely: territory, identity and language. The exile, both the writer and his characters, displays a characteristic attitude towards the abandoned land, but also towards the adoptive, towards the mother tongue, but also towards the idiom encountered, thus proving an original manner in terms of how it asserts, de-builds or re-builds its identity. In these texts written after leaving Poland, a series of open works by Trans-Atlantic, Gombrowicz assumes and internalizes the inadequacy between his self and the reality outside to make it the principle of his perception of the world. The expression of marginality that characterized the texts developed when the writer was still in Poland seems to acquire a certain coherence against the background of a logic imposed on the new experience, namely that of exile. Texts created during his exile in Argentina appear in a different context, in other words, in a situation of inadequacy towards the world: ignorance of the language, poverty, isolation that characterizes especially the first years spent there. This study aims to highlight how the Polish author de-builds and reconstructs his Mittel-European identity profile through language.

Keywords: discourse, exile, identity, immigration

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Authors: Yousef Daneshvar Rouyandozagh, Ece. K. Açikgöz

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Conservation of historical urban patterns in the traditional neighborhoods is a part of creating integrated urban environments that are socially more sustainable. Urbanization reflects on life conditions and social, physical, economical characteristics of the society. In this regard, historical zones and traditional regions are affected by dramatic interventions on these characteristics. This article focuses on the Uch Dukkan neighborhood located in Ardabil City in Azarbaijani region of Iran, which has been up to such interventions that leaded its transformation from the past to the present. After introducing a brief inventory of the main elements of the historical zone and the neighborhood; this study explores the changes and transformations in different periods; and their impacts on the quality of the environment and its social sustainability. The survey conducted in the neighborhood as part of this research study revealed that the Uch Dukkan neighborhood and the unique architectural heritage that it possesses have become more inactive physically and functionally in a decade. This condition requires an exploration and comparison of the present and the expected transformations of the meaning of social space from the most private unit to the urban scale. From this token, it is argued that an architectural point of view that is based on space order; use and meaning of space as a social and cultural image, should not be ignored. Based on the interplay between social sustainability, collective memory, and the urban environment, study aims to make the invisible portion of ignorance clear, that ends up with a weakness in defining the collective meaning of the neighborhood as a historic urban district. It reveals that the spatial possessions of the neighborhood are valuable not only for their historical and physical characteristics, but also for their social memory that is to be remembered and constructed further.

Keywords: urban integrity, social sustainability, collective memory, social decay

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Authors: Fiona Armstrong, David Gaul, Michael Barrett, Lorraine D'Arcy

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Playing is an instinctive and universal human behavior, is a child’s way of learning and an outlet for their innate need of activity. Risky play can be defined as any play that is thrilling or exciting involving the risk of injury. The benefits of risky play have been acknowledged as helping children to explore and conquer fears, develop confidence, reduce anxiety, and develop risk-management skills. Studies indicate that children learn sound judgment by assessing and confronting risks in relation to their own capabilities through exposure to carefully managed play experiences. Risky play has been associated with danger and increased risk of injury, with families focusing on risk aversion and protecting children from the risks inherent in the modern world. Despite children needing cultural, social, emotional, physical, and geographical space to play, the opportunity for children to play is diminishing. Aim: This study explores play behaviors and risky play in an Irish context by investigating parental attitudes to risky play. Methodology: This is a mixed methods study involving the State of Play survey and semi-structured interviews exploring parental attitudes to risky play. Data will be quantitatively analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using IBM SPSS and qualitatively analyzed via thematic analysis using NVivo. Conclusion: The information gathered could advise stakeholders regarding the creation and provision of developmentally appropriate, challenging, stimulating, adaptable, accessible, and safe as necessary outdoor play areas. This research can inform parents, planners, architects, and authorities involved in creating environments for play and contribute to policy development.

Keywords: child development, parental attitudes, play opportunities, risky play

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Authors: Sayed Ahmed

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Religious activities that have evolved the sacred into a dynamic cultural phenomenon in the public realm of Sylhet, Bangladesh, and the spatiality of sacred sites and everyday practices in certain built forms have framed these phenomena. Religious rituals in Sylhet gave birth to unique practices of their own and have a vast impact even on contemporary spatial practices, while most Western researchers are not hopeful about the future of religion. However, despite extensive research on urban morphology and religion separately, there is limited literature on the relationship between these two topics to capture religious perceptions and experiences in urban spaces. This research will try to fill the existing gap and explain sacred within the range of Western sociological and philosophical tools implemented in third-world contexts, which was never highlighted before. This perspective of research puts forth the argument that urban morphology influences sacred experiences and how consecrated entities and religious activities shape the city's structure in return. The methodology of the research will map key morphological and religious variables. This mapping might include festival trajectories, street life observations, pedestrian densities, religious activities, public and private interface types with religious commodification, and the identification of blurred boundaries between sacred and profane on smaller to broader urban scales. To relate the derived cartography, illustrative (not representative) interviews about religious signs and symbols will be conducted and compared accordingly. The possible findings might reintroduce the diversity of religious practices in urban places and develop a decent concept of how sacred and urban morphology are mutually reinforcing the city, which has remained a vital nutrient for the survival of its inhabitants. Such infrequent conceptualizations of urban morphology and its relationship to symbolic sacralization are truly ‘outside’ to those that exist in the West.

Keywords: sylhet, religion, urban morphology, symbolic exchange, Baudrillard

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Authors: Prachi Chavda

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The world, as of today, is smaller than it was for those who lived few decades ago. Internet, media and telecommunications have impacted the world like never before. Culture is the pillar upon which a society mushrooms. A culture develops with human creativity over the years and also by the exchange and intermixing of ideas and way of life across different civilizations and we can say that one of the influencing medium of exchange and intermixing of these ideas is cinema. Cinema has been the wonderful as well as important medium of communication since it has been emerged. Change is the thumb rule of life and so have been Indian cinema. As society has evolved from time to time so has the stories of Indian Cinema and its characters, hence it directly effects to the Indian culture as cinema has been very strong mediator for information exchange. The paper tries to discuss deeply how Indian cinema (reel life) and Indian culture (real life) has been influencing each other that results into a constant modification in both. Moreover, the research tries to deal with the issue with some examples that as a outcome how movies impact the Indian culture positively and negatively on culture. Therefore, it spreads the wave of change in cultural settings of society. The paper also tries to light the psychology of youth of India. Today, children and youth greatly admire the ostentatious materialistic display of outfits and style of the actors in the movies. Also, the movies bearing romanticism and showcasing disputatious issues like pre-marital sex, live-in relationship, homo-sexuality etc. though without highlighting them extensively have indeed inspired the commoners. Pros and cons always exist. Such revelation of issues certainly give a spark in the minds of those who are in their formative years and the effect of which is seen with the passage of time Thus, we can say that emergence of cinema as a strong tool of social change as well as culture as a triggering factor for transformation in cinema. As, a finding we can say that culture and cinema of India are influencing factors for each other. Cinema and culture are two sides of a coin, where both are responsible for evolution of each other.

Keywords: cinema, culture, influence, transformation

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Authors: Samantha Clarke

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The term social justice is central to social work; however, the meaning behind this term is not as simple as defining the term itself. This is because the meaning of social justice is relative since its origin and development is based on evolving political perspectives. Political perspectives provide numerous lenses to view social justice in social work; however, the realities of changing society have meant that social justice has assumed different values, definitions, and understandings over time and in different geopolitical and cultural contexts. There are many competing and convincing theories of social justice that are relevant to social work practice. Exploring the term is not an idle preoccupation because the meaning of the term is not as crucial as the meaning of the worldview, as it is the worldview that positions social justice as crucial in the emancipation of people marginalized from oppression. The many political assumptions that underlie the term social justice are explored and connected to the contemporary discussions about social justice in social work. These connections are then interrogated in the Canadian Social Works Code of Ethics, and in micro, mezzo, and macro approaches. To be remiss in interrogating the underlying political assumptions of the worldview of social justice is to entrench oppression and to preserve oppressive structures in contemporary Canadian social work. The concept of social justice is unable to withstand closer scrutiny about its emancipatory qualities in Canadian social work when we interrogate the many political assumptions that frame its understanding. In order to authenticate social justice as an emancipatory central organizing principle, Canadian social workers must engage in deeper discussions about the political implications of social justice in their everyday practices based on diverse worldviews and geopolitical contexts. Social workers are well positioned to develop an understanding of social justice that is emancipatory based on their everyday practices because as social and political actors they are positioned to work for and with individuals and toward the greater good of those who are marginalized from oppression.

Keywords: Canadian social work, political analysis, social justice, social work practice

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Authors: Abonti Mehtaz

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The utmost controversial issue that Bollywood movies deal with is religious conflicts and the representation of Islam and or Muslims. The main objective of this paper is to examine that, how Muslim identity is constructed in Bollywood commercial films through the representation of Muslims and/or Islam. Two hypotheses are developed for this study, i.e., (1) Bollywood commercial films often portray the stereotypical image of Muslims. (2) The portrayal of Muslims and Islam in Bollywood commercial films is often negative. (3) Bollywood commercial films frequently construct a wrong and fake identity of Muslims through an inappropriate representation of Muslims and Islam. This study employs qualitative research techniques. To examine the hypotheses of this paper, 10 Bollywood commercial films produced in between 2000-2018 are selected purposively such as Fiza (2000), Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), Company (2002), Aamir (2008), Kurbaan (2009), Anwar (2010), My name is Khan (2010), Raanjhanaa (2013), Omerta (2017) and Pari (2018). By conducting textual analyses of the above mentioned Bollywood commercial films, this paper focuses on different approaches of Muslim identity and their construction as well as representation in Bollywood commercial films in the light of scholarly work in film and cultural studies. Though 10 Bollywood commercial films are selected for contextual analysis, other Bollywood films by other directors are also mentioned in order to establish the hypotheses of this study. Framing theory is used to analyze the media contents. Findings of this study show that all hypotheses are accepted. Bollywood commercial films continually represent Islam and Muslims in incorrect ways and by doing so Bollywood commercial films construct a fallacious Muslim identity. Though the sample size of contents can be considered as a limitation of this study, the findings of the study reveal that how Bollywood commercial film is setting agenda to manipulate the image of Muslims and Islam not only in India but all over the world.

Keywords: Bollywood commercial films, Muslim identity, misrepresentation, representation, stereotypical

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Authors: Ramin Mirzada, Takuya Maruyama

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Kabul is the heart of political, commercial, cultural, educational and social life in Afghanistan and the fifth fastest growing city in the world. Minimum income inclined most of Kabul residents to use public transport, especially buses, although there is no proper bus system, beside that there is no proper fare exist in Kabul city Due to wars. From 1992 to 2001 during civil wars, Kabul suffered damage and destruction of its transportation facilities including pavements, sidewalks, traffic circles, drainage systems, traffic signs and signals, trolleybuses and almost all of the public transport system (e.g. Millie bus). This research is mainly focused on Kabul city’s transportation system. In this research, the data used have been gathered by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2008 and this data will be used to find demand and fare structure, additionally a survey was done in 2016 to find satisfaction level of Kabul residents for fare structure. Aim of this research is to observe the demand for Large Buses, compare to the actual supply from the government, analyze the current fare structure and compare it with the proposed fare (distance based fare) structure which has already been analyzed. Outcome of this research shows that the demand of Kabul city residents for the public transport (Large Buses) exceeds from the current supply, so that current public transportation (Large Buses) is not sufficient to serve public transport in Kabul city, worth to be mentioned, that in order to overcome this problem, there is no need to build new roads or exclusive way for buses. This research proposes government to change the fare from fixed fare to distance based fare, invest on public transportation and increase the number of large buses so that the current demand for public transport is met.

Keywords: transportation, planning, public transport, large buses, Kabul, Afghanistan

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