Search results for: articulate minority

Authors: George Kamil Kamal Abdelnor

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Every major educational institution has incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into its administrative, hiring, and pedagogical practices. Yet these DEI principles rarely incorporate explicit language or critical thinking about disability. Despite the fact that according to the World Health Organization, one in five people worldwide is disabled, making disabled people the larger minority group in the world, disability remains the neglected stepchild of DEI. Drawing on disability studies and crip theory frameworks, the underlying causes of this exclusion of disability from DEI, such as stigma, shame, invisible disabilities, institutionalization/segregation/delineation from family, and competing models and definitions of disability are examined. This paper explores both the ideological and practical shifts necessary to include disability in university DEI initiatives. It offers positive examples as well as conceptual frameworks such as 'divers ability' for so doing. Using Georgetown University’s 2020-2022 DEI initiatives as a case study, this paper describes how curricular infusion, accessibility, identity, community, and diversity administration infused one university’s DEI initiatives with concrete disability-inclusive measures. It concludes with a consideration of how the very framework of DEI itself might be challenged and transformed if disability were to be included.

Keywords: cognitive disability, cognitive diversity, disability, higher education disability, Standardized Index of Diversity of Disability (SIDD), differential and diversity in disability, 60+ population diversity, equity, inclusion, crip theory, accessibility

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Authors: Afsana Afsar Tuly

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The Rohingyas are a group of minority Muslimsin Myanmar who witnessed series of persecution, violence, and torture from Burmese military since 1948. In 2017, around 700,000 Rohingyas fled to the neighboring country Bangladesh and took shelter as refugees after facing clashes with Myanmar security forces. The number increased to 1.8 million in 2020, creating one of the largest refugee crises of recent times. This research focuses on the vulnerability and poverty faced by Rohingyas in refugee camps and how thelack of long-term solution and silence from international communitycan pose national security threat and increasing Islamic extremism in Bangladesh. Islamic religious and terrorist groups have used the Rohingyas position as stateless people to influence them into speaking against the secular government of Bangladesh. There has been increasing crime rates and formation of different rebel groups in refugee camps, causing clashes with Bangladeshi police and authority. Human trafficking, illegal drug dealings, prostitution, and other illicit activities have continuously gone up in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. Some economic, social, and environmental factors are studied and analyzed to show the change in Bangladesh between 2017 and 2020.

Keywords: national security threat, islamic extremism, rohingya refugees, refugee studies, Bangladesh, myanmar

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Authors: A. Abada, S. Hiadsi, T. Ouahrani, B. Amrani, K. Amara

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Using the first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital (FP-LAPW+lo) method based on density functional theory (DFT), we have investigated the electronic structure and magnetism of some Co2- based full Heusler alloys, namely Co2ZrGe and Co2NbB. The calculations show that these compounds are to be half-metallic ferromagnets (HMFs) with a total magnetic moment of 2.000 µB per formula unit, well consistent with the Slater-Pauling rule. Our calculations show indirect band gaps of 0.58 eV and 0.47 eV in the minority spin channel of density of states (DOS) for Co2ZrGe and Co2NbB, respectively. Analysis of the DOS and magnetic moments indicates that their magnetism is mainly related to the d-d hybridization between the Co and Zr (or Nb) atoms. The half metallicity is found to be robust against volume changes and the two alloys kept a 100% of spin polarization at the Fermi level. In addition, an atom inside molecule AIM formalism and an electron localization function ELF were also adopted to study the bonding properties of these compounds, building a bridge between their electronic and bonding behavior. As they have a good crystallographic compatibility with the lattice of semiconductors used industrially and negative calculated cohesive energies with considerable absolute values these two alloys could be promising magnetic materials in the spintronics field.

Keywords: half-metallic ferromagnets, full Heusler alloys, magnetic properties, electronic properties

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Authors: Rohan Bhasin

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Agrammatism in non-fluent Aphasia Cases can be defined as a language disorder wherein a patient can only use content words ( nouns, verbs and adjectives ) for communication and their speech is devoid of functional word types like conjunctions and articles, generating speech of with extremely rudimentary grammar . Past approaches involve Speech Therapy of some order with conversation analysis used to analyse pre-therapy speech patterns and qualitative changes in conversational behaviour after therapy. We describe this approach as a novel method to generate functional words (prepositions, articles, ) around content words ( nouns, verbs and adjectives ) using a combination of Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning algorithms. The applications of this approach can be used to assist communication. The approach the paper investigates is : LSTMs or Seq2Seq: A sequence2sequence approach (seq2seq) or LSTM would take in a sequence of inputs and output sequence. This approach needs a significant amount of training data, with each training data containing pairs such as (content words, complete sentence). We generate such data by starting with complete sentences from a text source, removing functional words to get just the content words. However, this approach would require a lot of training data to get a coherent input. The assumptions of this approach is that the content words received in the inputs of both text models are to be preserved, i.e, won't alter after the functional grammar is slotted in. This is a potential limit to cases of severe Agrammatism where such order might not be inherently correct. The applications of this approach can be used to assist communication mild Agrammatism in non-fluent Aphasia Cases. Thus by generating these function words around the content words, we can provide meaningful sentence options to the patient for articulate conversations. Thus our project translates the use case of generating sentences from content-specific words into an assistive technology for non-Fluent Aphasia Patients.

Keywords: aphasia, expressive aphasia, assistive algorithms, neurology, machine learning, natural language processing, language disorder, behaviour disorder, sequence to sequence, LSTM

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Authors: J. Cabral, C. Barreto Carvalho, C. da Motta, M. Sousa

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Community integration is a construct that an increasing body of research has shown to have a significant impact in well-being and recovery of people with psychiatric problems. However, there are few studies that explore which factors can be associated and predict community integration. Moreover, community integration has been mostly studied in minority groups, and currently literature on the definition and manifestation of community integration in the more general population is scarce. Thus, the current study aims to characterize community integration and explore possible predictor variables in a sample of participants with psychiatric problems (PP, N=183) and a sample of participants from the general population (GP, N=211). Results show that people with psychiatric problems present above average values of community integration, but are significantly lower than their healthy counterparts. It was also possible to observe that community integration does not vary in terms of the socio-demographic characteristics of both groups in this study. Correlation and multiple regression showed that, among several variables that literature present as relevant in the community integration process, only three variables emerged as having the most explanatory value in community integration of both groups: sense of community, basic needs satisfaction and submission. These results also shown that those variables have increased explanatory power in the PP sample, which leads us to emphasize the need to address this issue in future studies and increase the understanding of the factors that can be involved in the promotion of community integration, in order to devise more effective interventions in this field.

Keywords: community integration, mental illness, predictors, psychiatric problems

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Authors: Thomas C. Nash

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New Zealand has a small, yet racially diverse, population of only 4.6 million people, consisting of a majority European immigrant population and a large indigenous Maori population. Because disparities in healthcare often exist among minority populations, it could be expected that the White and Maori populations of New Zealand would have unequal access to healthcare. In order to understand the ways these disparities may present themselves, it became important to travel to New Zealand in order to interview both Western and natural healthcare professionals, public health officials, health activists and Maori people. In observing the various mechanisms within the New Zealand healthcare system, some stand out as effective ways of alleviating the racial disparities often seen in healthcare. These include the efficiency of regional District Health Boards, the benefits of individuals making decisions regarding their treatment plans and the importance of cohesion among the Maori and White populations. In forming a conclusion around these observations, it is evident that the integration of Maori culture into contemporary New Zealand has benefited the healthcare system. This unity has generated support for non-Western medical treatments, in turn forming a healthcare system that creates low barriers to entry for non-traditional forms of healthcare. These low barriers allow individuals to allocate available healthcare resources in ways that are most beneficial for them and are consistent with their tastes and preferences, maximizing efficiency.

Keywords: alternative and complementary healthcare, low barriers to entry, Maori populations, racial cohesion

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Authors: Awe Ayodeji Samson, Adeuja Yetunde Omowunmi

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Corruption is a ‘monster’ that can consume a whole nation, continent and even the world if it is not destroyed while it is still immature; It grows in the mind of the people, takes over their thinking and guides their decision-making process. Corruption snowballs into socio-economic catastrophe that might be difficult to deal with. Corruption which is a disease of the mind can be alleviated in Africa and the world at large by transforming a Corruption-Prone Mind to a Corruption-Immune Mind and to achieve this, we have to change our value system because the use of anti-graft agencies alone is not enough. Therefore, we have to fight corruption from the inside and the outside. Value System is the principle of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group; the reviewing and reordering of our value system is the solution to the problem of corruption as proposed by this research because the African society has become a ‘Money and Power Driven Society’ where the ‘I am worth concept’ which is a problematic concept has created an ‘Aggressive Society’ with grasping and money-grabbing individuals. We place more priority on money and the display of opulence. Hence, this has led to a ‘Triangular Society’ where minority is lavishing in plenty and majority is gasping for little. The get rich quick syndrome, the ethnicity syndrome, weakened educational system are signs of the prevalence of corruption in Africa This research has analyzed role and impact of the change in our value system in the fight against corruption in Africa and has therefore proposed the change in our value system as the way forward in the fight against corruption in Africa.

Keywords: corruption-prone mind, corruption-immune mind, triangular society, aggressive society, money and power-driven society

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Authors: Jagoda Przybysz

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The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of the immigrants in Poland, especially situation at the labour market. The paper will provide descriptive information on the composition of immigrants in Poland, and how this has changed over time, their socio-economic characteristics, their industry allocation and their labour market outcomes. Then we will investigate various labour market performance indicators (labour force participation, employment, wages and self-employment) for immigrants of different origins based on reached statistics. Individual interviews with immigrants will indicate areas of problems of living in Poland, mostly on labour market. The article shows that immigrants from some ethnic minority groups are more active in selected sectors of labour market. The empirical basis for the work related to the situation on the labor market of foreigners who came to the Poland and live in Lodz. The studies assumed that foreigners work in Poland and operate in different ways being integrated / excluded in varying degrees. Theoretical framework for analysis are: concepts of inclusion and exclusion, the concept of a dual labour market and the concept of social anchors. Completed in the 2014-2016, a pilot study (The forms of individual interviews) with 32 foreigners arrived in the last decade to Lodz. Preliminary studies have enabled the formulation of research issues and have set the future direction of research revealing to the personal experiences of respondents, a group of factors hindering integration and exclusion areas.

Keywords: foreigners, immigrants, labour market, migration, Poland

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Authors: Abilio Pires Zacarias

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Analyzing company boards of directors is a relevant and timely topic. As the representative of shareholders, the board is the most senior management body of this type of company. Therefore, ascertaining the best kind of candidates to nominate, namely the most appropriate characteristics for leading the board to achieve better levels of performance, is certainly of great interest. The companies selected for this study were the 1,000 largest non-financial companies and the 100 largest financial companies in Portugal according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística for 2010. The information stemmed from a questionnaire addressed to the person in charge of daily company management and then processed through STATA 17 with the multivariate analysis of variables - MANOVA. The study may correspondingly report that the vast majority of boards in the sample operate a dual leadership structure. By in terms of its prevalence, unitary leadership represents only a minority. Agency theory and stewardship theory postulate different characteristics for the ideal chairman but neither receive confirmation from our results. On the other hand, our findings do validate the behavioral theory of firms (BToF), concluding that experience is associated with organizational performance. This study is also relevant due to its analysis of companies not listed on the financial markets not only because of their weighting in the economy but also because they remain only very poorly studied in this field and thus also correspondingly contributing to deepening the literature.

Keywords: agency theory, behavioral theory of the firm, board of directors, corporate governance, stewardship theory

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Authors: Aicha Bouhlala, Sabah Chettibi

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A systematic investigation on structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Ce₀.₇₅A₀.₂₅O₂ (A = W, Mo) is performed using first-principles calculations within the framework Full-Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT). The exchange-correlation potential has been treated using the generalized gradient approximation (WC-GGA) developed by Wu-Cohen. The host compound CeO2 was doped with transition metal atoms W and Mo in the doping concentration of 25% to replace the Ce atom. In structural properties, the equilibrium lattice constant is observed for the W-doped CeO₂ compound which exists within the value of 5.314 A° and the value of 5.317 A° for Mo-doped CeO2. The present results show that Ce₀.₇₅A₀.₂₅O₂ (A=W, Mo) systems exhibit semiconducting behavior in both spin channels. Although undoped CeO₂ is a non-magnetic semiconductor. The band structure of these doped compounds was plotted and they exhibit direct band gap at the Fermi level (EF) in the majority and minority spin channels. In the magnetic properties, the doped atoms W and Mo play a vital role in increasing the magnetic moments of the supercell and the values of the total magnetic moment are found to be 1.998 μB for Ce₀.₇₅W₀.₂₅O₂ and to be 2.002 μB for Ce₀.₇₅Mo₀.₂₅O₂ compounds. Calculated results indicate that the magneto-electronic properties of the Ce₁₋ₓAₓO₂(A= W, Mo) oxides supply a new way to the experimentalist for the potential applications in spintronics devices.

Keywords: FP-LAPW, DFT, CeO₂, properties

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Authors: Kaori Mori Want

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American society is a racially diverse society and there are children books that tell the importance of respecting racial differences. Through reading books, children understand the world around them little by little along with their direct interaction with the world in reality. They find role models in books, strive to be like role models, and grow confidence in who they are. Books thus nurture the mind of children. On the other hand, because of their small presence, children books for multiracial Asian American children are scarce. Multiracial Asian American population is increasing but they are still minority in number. The lack of children’s books for these children may deprive the opportunities of them to embrace their multiraciality positively because they cannot find someone like them in any books. Children books for multiracial Asian American are still not that many, but a few have been being published recently. This paper introduces children books for multiracial Asian American children, and examines how they address issues pertaining to these children, and how they could nurture their self-esteem. Many states of the US used to ban interracial marriages and interracial families and their children once were discriminated against in American society. There was even a theory called the hybrid degeneracy theory which claimed that mixed race children were inferior mentally and physically. In this negative social environment, some multiracial Asian American people report that they had trouble embracing their multiracial identity positively. Yet, children books for these children are full of positive messages. This paper will argue the importance of children books for the mental growth of multiracial Asian American children, and how these books can contribute to the development of multiculturalism in the US in general.

Keywords: critical mixed race studies in the US, hapa children literature, interracial marriage, multiraciality

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Authors: Ayman Mohammed, Abdul Raffay Ilyas, Syeda Rohma Sadia, Zuha Durrani, Fareeha Kamal, Shaheryar Syed, Arshiya Shareef, Mukarram Zaidi

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On June 16, 2019, Coalition Avenir de Québec (CAQ) passed Bill 21, a controversial bill impacting many Canadians. The Bill prohibits workers in the Quebec provincial sector from wearing any form of religious articles. While the Bill claims to treat all religious symbols equally, those with distinctive items of dress such as hijabs, kippahs, and turbans become targets of the discriminatory nature of the Bill. With the rise in xenophobic behaviour across Canada and the West, Think For Actions conducted a study of Bill 21. The study included responses from Indigenous, Muslims, Sikhs and Jewish people residing in Calgary. The focus was on the recent passing of Bill 21, their opinions on the perceived attitudes of intolerance, and the perceptions of common stereotypes. The data collection and analysis happened over 9 weeks. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews held in focus groups in different religious institutions and cultural/community centres in Calgary. The focus groups generated unanimously negative responses to the Bill. Participants described the Bill as “hateful” and one which “targets minority religions”. The participants had hopes that the Bill would be defeated and Quebec residents would be protected by their basic rights to practice their religion.

Keywords: Bill 21, Islamophobia, Quebec, minorities, discrimination

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Authors: Suha Alawadhi, Malak Alrasheed

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In the recent past, public participation in governments has been declined to a great extent, as citizens have been isolated from community life and their ability to articulate demands for good government has been noticeably decreased. However, the Internet has introduced new forms of interaction that could enhance different types of relationships, including government-public relationship. In fact, technology-enabled government has become a catalyst for enabling social inclusion. This exploratory study seeks to investigate public perceptions in Kuwait regarding the use of social media networks in government where social capital is built to achieve social inclusion. Social capital has been defined as social networks and connections amongst individuals, that are based on shared trust, ideas and norms, enable participants of a network to act effectively to pursue a shared objective. The quantitative method was used to generate empirical evidence. A questionnaire was designed to address the research objective and reflect the identified constructs: social capital dimensions (bridging, bonding and maintaining social capital), social inclusion, and social equality. In this pilot study, data was collected from a random sample of 61 subjects. The results indicate that all participants have a positive attitude towards the dimensions of social capital (bridging, bonding and maintaining), social inclusion and social equality constructs. Tests of identified constructs against demographic characteristics indicate that there are significant differences between male and female as they perceived bonding and maintaining social capital, social inclusion and social equality whereas no difference was identified in their perceptions of bridging social capital. Also, those who are aged 26-30 perceived bonding and maintaining social capital, social inclusion and social equality negatively compared to those aged 20-25, 31-35, and 40-above whose perceptions were positive. With regard to education, the results also show that those holding high school, university degree and diploma perceived maintaining social capital positively higher than with those who hold graduate degrees. Moreover, a regression model is proposed to study the effect of bridging, bonding, and maintaining social capital on social inclusion via social equality as a mediator. This exploratory study is necessary for testing the validity and reliability of the questionnaire which will be used in the main study that aims to investigate the perceptions of individuals towards building social capital to achieve social inclusion.

Keywords: government, social capital, social inclusion, social networks

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Authors: Abdulsalami M. Deji

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Prolonged military incursion in Nigeria politics which favored the oligarchy brought agitation for democratic rule it exacerbated ethnicity integration of minority for fear of domination. The advent of democracy ushered in new breath of life to Nigerians from the shackle of military oppression to democratic governance. Democratic rule became a mirage as a result of prevalent insecurity in Nigeria; effort to bring lasting peace to all sections of the country had not yielded positive result till date. In the process of struggling for democracy among ethnic groups in Nigeria, they had instituted various militia groups defending the interest of their identity due to unequal distribution of wealth by military junta. When democracy came on board, these various militia groups became demons hunting democratic institutions. Quest by the successful government to find lasting solution has proved abortive. The security of politics which guaranteed stability is not visible in Nigeria, what we have now is politics of security. The unrest in Nigeria today has cripple socio-political and economy of the nation; the growth of economy favored elites without meaningful impact on the common man. This paper focus on the effects of democracy on Nigerians and, how security under democratic rule has hindered dividends of democracy since 1999-till date and way forward. The source is strictly base on secondary source from textbook, newspapers, internet, and journals.

Keywords: democracy, interest, militia, security

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Authors: Asad Salahuddin

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Crime rates seem to be severely augmenting over the past several years in Pakistan which has perpetuated concerns as to what, when and how this upsurge will be eradicated. State institutions are posed to be in utmost perplexity, given the enormity of worsening law and order situation, compelling government on the flip side to expend more resources in strengthening institutions to confront crime, whereas, the economy has been confronted with massive energy crisis, mass unemployment and considerable inflation which has rendered most of the people into articulate apprehension as to how to satisfy basic necessities. A framework to investigate the variability in the rising street crimes, as affected by social and institutional outcomes, has been established using a cross-sectional study. Questionnaire, entailing 7 sections incorporating numerous patterns of behavior and history of involvement in different crimes for potential street criminals was observed as data collection instrument. In order to specifically explicate the intent of street crimes on micro level, various motivational and de-motivational factors that stimulate people to resort to street crimes were scrutinized. Intent of mobile snatching and intent of street assault as potential dependent variables were examined using numerous variables that influence the occurrence and intent of these crimes using ordered probit along with ordered logit and tobit as competing models. Model Estimates asserts that intent of mobile snatching has been significantly enhanced owing to perceived judicial inefficiency and lower ability of police reforms to operate effectively, which signifies the inefficiency of institutions that are entitled to deliver justice and maintaining law and order respectively. Whereas, intent of street assaults, as an outcome, affirms that people with lack of self-stability and severe childhood punishments were more tempted to be involved in violent acts. Hence, it is imperative for government to render better resources in form of training, equipment and improved salaries to police and judiciary in order to enhance their abilities and potential to curb inflating crime.

Keywords: deprivation, street assault, self control, police reform

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Authors: Cara Williams

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This paper considers the media’s role in formulating a dominant social deviance paradigm and medicalised portrayal of disabled people and examines how those representations of impairment reinforce the personal tragedy view that underpins the social value given to the category of disability. According to a materialist perspective, the personal tragedy medical model approach condemns disabled people to live an inferior 'life apart', socially excluded and prevented from living as fully participating citizens on an equal basis to non-disabled people. Commonly, disabled people are portrayed as a person who needs to be cured in order to achieve a better 'quality of life'; otherwise stories center on deviance, criminality or scrounger. Media representations have consistently used negative language and images that reinforce the personal tragedy 'deficient' view of disability. The systematic misrepresentation within film, literature, TV and other art forms have validated a process about what it means to be 'normal' and how 'difference' and 'identity' are interpreted. The impact of these stereotyped disabling images for disabled people is a barrier not experienced by many other oppressed minority groups. Applying a materialist analysis, this paper contends that the impact on audience’s perceptions of impaired bodies and minds, and the harmful effects on disabled people can be linked with agenda setting theory - the relationship between the media and the political agenda.

Keywords: media, disabled people, political agenda, personal tragedy

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Authors: Akshay Rege, Lara Gomaa, Maneesh Kumar Verma, Sem Carree

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The aim of this paper is to articulate design strategies and recommendations for introducing robots into the city life of people based on experiments conducted with robots and semi-autonomous systems in three cities in the Netherlands. This research was carried out by the Spot robotics team of Impact Lab housed within YES!Delft, a start-up accelerator located in Delft, The Netherlands. The premise of this research is to inform the development of the ‘region of the future’ by the Municipality of Rotterdam-Den Haag (MRDH). The paper starts by reporting the desktop research carried out to find and develop multiple use cases for robots to support humans in various activities. Further, the paper reports the user research carried out by crowdsourcing responses collected in public spaces of Rotterdam-Den Haag region and on the internet. Furthermore, based on the knowledge gathered in the initial research, practical experiments were carried out using robots and semi-autonomous systems in order to test and validate our initial research. These experiments were conducted in three cities in the Netherlands which were Rotterdam, The Hague, and Delft. Custom sensor box, Drone, and Boston Dynamics' Spot robot were used to conduct these experiments. Out of thirty use cases, five were tested with experiments which were skyscraper emergency evacuation, human transportation and security, bike lane delivery, mobility tracking, and robot drama. The learnings from these experiments provided us with insights into human-robot interaction and symbiosis in cities which can be used to introduce robots in cities to support human activities, ultimately enabling the transitioning from a human only city life towards a blended one where robots can play a role. Based on these understandings, we formulated design guidelines and strategy recommendations for incorporating robots in the Rotterdam-Den Haag’s region of the future. Lastly, we discuss how our insights in the Rotterdam-Den Haag region can inspire and inform the incorporation of robots in different cities of the world.

Keywords: city life, design guidelines, human-robot Interaction, robot use cases, robotic experiments, strategy recommendations, user research

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Authors: Muhammet Erbay

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The phenomenon of communication that has been studied by different disciplines has social, political and economical aspects. The scope of communication has extended from a traditional content to the modern world which is under the control of mass media. Nowadays, thanks to globalization and technological facilities, many companies, public or international institutions take advantage of new communication technologies and overhaul their policies. European Union (EU) is one of the effective institutions in this sphere. It aims to harmonize the communication infrastructure and policies of member countries which have gone through the process of political unification. It is a significant problem for the unification of EU to have legal restrictions or critical differences in communication facilities among countries while technology stands at the center of economic and social life. Therefore, EU institutions place a particular importance to their communication policies. Besides, communication processes have a vital importance in creating a European public opinion in the process of political integration. Based on the evaluation above, the aim of this paper is to analyze the cohesion process of Turkey that tries to take an active role in EU communication policies and has on-going negotiations. This article does not only confine itself to the technical details of communication policies but also aims to evaluate socio-political dimension of the process. Therefore, a corporate review has been featured in the study and Turkey's compliance process in communication policies on European Union has been evaluated by the means of deduction method. Some problematic areas have been identified in compliance process on communication policies such as human rights and minority rights, whereas compliance process on communication infrastructure and technology proceeds effectively.

Keywords: communication policies, European Union, integration, Turkey

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Authors: Rajeswar Pal

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Toni Morrison’s novels belong to present day relations of Africans with the White peoples and tangible man-woman relations. Her literary criticism can be seen as a contribution to the debate over the revision of the canon that dominated much of the scholarship of the 1980s and 1990s. New Criticism began to give way to theories of cultural studies, feminist scholarship, postcolonial revisions and investigations of race and ethnicity. Morrison is concerned with the definition of the American literature whether it reflects an eternal, universal or transcending paradigm – a paradigm that separates it clearly and unequivocally Chicano or African-American or Asian-American or Native American literature. She sees evidence on an incursion of third world or so-called minority literature into a Eurocentric stronghold, which threatens power structures and leads to an upheaval of existing norms. We see women more aligned, cross-culturally, with nature; however, the very critical distinction is that within a white world, the alignment seems to lead towards individuation for women yet separation from white male culture, and within a black world the alignment leads towards individuation and connection to a ownership of a racial consciousness. Whether externally or internally, the characters of Morrison are marked with a sense of incompleteness and mutual conflict, which drives them towards some force of wholeness. Present study fucusses to elucidate and enunciate the man-woman relations and an individual cataclysmic conflict in their minds.

Keywords: tangible, postcolonial, ethnicity, paradigm, upheaval, alignment, elucidate, cataclysmic

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Authors: Argyro Maria Skourmalla

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Internationalization and management of linguistic diversity in Higher Education (HE) have gained much attention in research in the last few years. Internationalization policies in HE aims at promoting the dual role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), civilization and competitiveness. In the context of the European Union, the European Education Area initiative aims at “inclusive national education and training systems” through networking and exchange between HEIs. However, the use of English as a ‘lingua academica’ in the place of the official, national, and regional/minority languages raises questions regarding linguistic diversity, linguistic rights and concerns that have to do with the scientific weakening of these languages. In fact, the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism, in the Declaration for Multilingualism in Higher Education, draws attention to the use of English at the expense of other regional/national languages and the impact of English-only language policy on an epistemological level. The above issues were brought up during semi-structured interviews with lecturing staff coming from three multilingual Universities in Europe. Lecturers shared their experiences and the practices they use to manage linguistic diversity in these three Universities. Findings show that even though different languages are used in teaching across disciplines, English -or ‘Globish’ as mentioned during an interview- is widely used in research. Despite English being accepted as the “lingua academica,” issues regarding loss of identity come up

Keywords: higher education, internationalization, linguistic diversity, teaching, research, English

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Authors: Christine K. Ormsbee, Jeremy S. Robinson

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Teacher quality is important for United States universities. It impacts student achievement, program and degree progress, and even retention. While course instructors are still the primary designers and deliverers of instruction in U.S. higher education classrooms, students have become better and more vocal consumers of instruction. They are capable of identifying what instructors do that facilitates their learning or, conversely, what instructors do that makes learning more difficult. Instructors can use students as resources as they design and implement their courses. Students have become more aware of their own learning preferences and processes and can articulate those. While it is not necessarily possible or likely that an instructor can address the widely varying differences in learning preferences represented by a large class of students, it is possible for them to employ general instructional supports that help students understand clearly the instructor's study expectations, identify critical content, efficiently commit content to memory, and develop new skills. Those learning supports include reading guides, test study guides, and other instructor-developed tasks that organize learning for students, hold them accountable for the content, and prepare them to use that material in simulated and real situations. When U.S. university teaching and learning support staff work with instructors to help them identify areas of their teaching to improve, a key part of that assistance includes talking to the instructor member's students. Students are asked to explain what the instructor does that helps them learn, what the instructor does that impedes their learning, and what they wish the instructor would do. Not surprisingly, students are very specific in what they see as helpful learning supports for them. Moreover, they also identify impediments to their success, viewing those as the instructor creating unnecessary barriers to learning. A qualitative survey was developed to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to identify instructor behaviors and/or practices that they thought helped students learn and those behaviors and practices that were perceived as hindrances to student success. That information is used to help instructors implement more student-focused learning supports that facilitate student achievement. In this session, data shared from the survey will focus on supportive instructor behaviors identified by undergraduate students in an institution located in the southwest United States and those behaviors that students perceive as creating unnecessary barriers to their academic success.

Keywords: effective teaching, pedagogy, student engagement, instructional design

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Authors: Suparna Bagchi

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Education as a discipline will probably be shaped by the importance it places on a conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical need to shift the emphasis toward transformative classrooms working for positive change through cultural diversity. Awareness of cultural diversity and race equality has heightened following George Floyd’s killing in the USA in 2020. This increasing awareness is particularly relevant in areas of historically low ethnic diversity which have lately experienced a rise in ethnic minority populations and where inclusive growth is a challenge. This research study aims to explore the perspectives of practitioners, students, and parents towards multiculturalism in four South West England primary schools. A qualitative case study methodology has been adopted framed by sociocultural theory. Data were collected through virtually conducted semi-structured interviews with school practitioners and parents, observation of students’ classroom activities, and documentary analysis of classroom displays. Although one-third of the school population includes ethnically diverse children, BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) characters featured in children's books published in Britain in 2019 were almost invisible, let alone a BAME main character. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) are vocal about extending the Curriculum beyond the academic and technical arenas for pupils’ broader development and creation of an understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, race equality and community cohesion which could help in the students’ broader development are not Ofsted’s school inspection criteria. The absence of culturally diverse content in the school curriculum highlighted by the 1985 Swann Report and 2007 Ajegbo Report makes England’s National Curriculum look like a Brexit policy three decades before Brexit. A revised National Curriculum may be the starting point with the teachers as curriculum framers playing a significant part. The task design is crucial where teachers can place equal importance on the interwoven elements of “how”, “what” and “why” the task is taught. Teachers need to build confidence in encouraging difficult conversations around racism, fear, indifference, and ignorance breaking the stereotypical barriers, thus helping to create students’ conception of a multicultural Britain. Research showed that trainee teachers in predominantly White areas often exhibit confined perspectives while educating children. Irrespective of the geographical location, school teachers can be equipped with culturally responsive initial and continuous professional development necessary to impart multicultural education. This may aid in the reduction of employees’ unconscious bias. This becomes distinctly pertinent to avoid horrific cases in the future like the recent one in Hackney where a Black teenager was strip-searched during period wrongly suspected of cannabis possession. Early research findings show participants’ eagerness for more ethnic diversity content incorporated in teaching and learning. However, schools are considerably dependent on the knowledge-focused Primary National Curriculum in England. Moreover, they handle issues around the intersectionality of disability, poverty, and gender. Teachers were trained in times when foregrounding ethnicity matters was not happening. Therefore, preoccupied with Curriculum requirements, intersectionality issues, and teacher preparations, schools exhibit an incapacity due to which keeping momentum on ethnic diversity is somewhat endangered.

Keywords: case study, curriculum decolonisation, inclusive education, multiculturalism, qualitative research in Covid19 times

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Authors: Hadi Farahani, Mahsa Tahzibi, Laleh Golamrej Eliasi, Mohammad Torkashvand

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Iranian deafs are an under-researched population. The lack of research comes from the fact that if none, there are very few researchers capable of speaking sign language. The exclusion of this minority group from mainstream society often distorts the general understanding of prevalent issues of the deaf in Iran. The topic of this research was co-created through preliminary discussions with the Iranian deaf. Domestic violence then was picked up as an infrastructural issue impacting other dimensions of deaf lives such as work, education, and outside family relationships. For this purpose, we systematically searched the literature seeking a comprehensive questionnaire. We came across a 46-item standardized questionnaire measuring domestic violence in Iran. To adapt this questionnaire, we followed standard procedures reflected in another article. The inclusion criteria of the current research were married (had experienced living with a partner before) and +18-year-old deaf. Sampling was random and recruitment of the participants was through governmental or voluntary organizations for the deaf. 390 questionnaires then were analyzed through SPSS version 27. Analysis showed that the prevalence rate of domestic violence was 26% in general that emotional violence with 29% was the most prevalent type. Findings suggested that the more educated, and economically independent were the participants, the lower the probability of encountering domestic violence. Domestic violence within families where all members were deaf proved to be less usual than in families in which only the participant was deaf. Further interventional research is needed to assess how to empower the Iranian deaf regarding domestic violence.

Keywords: deaf, domestic violence, economic violence, emotional violence, physical violence, sexual violence

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Authors: Frederick Monyepao

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Crack cocaine first appeared on the scene in the form of cocaine freebasing in the late 1970s. Stockbrokers, investment bankers, rock stars, Hollywood elites, and a few pro athletes were regular users of the substance. As criminogenic factors associated with substance abuse began to surface, congress passed new legislation. The laws led to the increase of health coverage insurances and the expansion of hospitals. By the mid-1980s, crack use spread into America's inner cities among impoverished African Americans and Latinos. While substance abuse increased among minority communities, legislation pertaining to substance abuse evolved. The prison industry also expanded the number of cells available. A qualitative approach was taken, drawing from a range secondary sources for contextual analysis. This paper traces out the continued marginalisation and racist undertones towards minorities as perpetuated by certain drug policies. It was discovered that the new legislation on crack was instrumental in the largest incarcerations the United States ever faced. Drug offenders increased in prisons eightfold from 1986 to 2000. The paper concludes that American drug control policies are consistently irrational and ineffective when measured by levels of substance use and abuse. On the contrary, these policies have been successful as agents of social control in maintaining the stratification patterns of racial/ethnic minorities and women. To move beyond prohibition, radical law and policy reform may require a change in narratives on substance use.

Keywords: crack, drug policy, minorities, racism, substance abuse

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Authors: Dongju Kim, Youngjoo Suh, Hyojin Kim, Gyeongyeong Kim

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Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) is widely used to test the structural integrity of an operational hydrogen storage container, and clustering algorithms are frequently used in pattern recognition methods to interpret AET results. However, the interpretation of AET results can vary from user to user as the tuning of the relevant parameters relies on the user's experience and knowledge of AET. Therefore, it is necessary to use a deep learning model to identify patterns in acoustic emission (AE) signal data that can be used to classify defects instead. In this paper, a deep learning-based model for classifying the types of defects in hydrogen storage tanks, using AE sensor waveforms, is proposed. As hydrogen storage tanks are commonly constructed using carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite (CFRP), a defect classification dataset is collected through a tensile test on a specimen of CFRP with an AE sensor attached. The performance of the classification model, using one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1-D CNN) and synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) data augmentation, achieved 91.09% accuracy for each defect. It is expected that the deep learning classification model in this paper, used with AET, will help in evaluating the operational safety of hydrogen storage containers.

Keywords: acoustic emission testing, carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite, one-dimensional convolutional neural network, smote data augmentation

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Authors: Kais Nasser, Ronit Levine-Schnur

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Due to the prolonged negligence of planning institutions, a large portion of Palestinian localities in Israel lack basic infrastructure, development, and urbanism and suffer from a severe shortage of housing. In the past years, planning institutions in Israel began to promote master planning for Palestinian localities and for new neighborhoods. Land readjustment plans (PLIs) were the primary planning mechanism. According to Israel’s planning institutions, readjustment plans aimed to afford housing and to ensure that new neighborhoods enjoy developed infrastructure, modern construction, public lands and urbanism. However, a wide group of Palestinian landowners and stakeholders opposed PLIs. This article exposes the reasons behind such objections. Methodology: The research carried out an in-depth analysis of approximately 1,780 objections to PLIs that have been advanced in recent years. These objections reveal what really concerns landowners, what they defend indeed, and how planning institutions dealt with their arguments. Initial Findings: Exploring the objections submitted by landowners to readjustment plans reveals a conceptual and cultural conflict between landowners and the planning institutions. While planning institutions believe that these plans can transform landowners and Arab society in general from a rural, local, and conservative life to a modern- urban life, the landowners believe that planning institutions strive to change their way of life and force them to adopt an urban life without giving much attention and respect to their tradition, habits and cultural way of life.

Keywords: land readjustment, culture, urbanization, minority

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Authors: Yogitha Shetty

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Tulunadu, a Tulu-speaking ethno-linguistic minority region in the west coast of India is abundant with oral narratives and associated rituals very unique to this region. One such major worship tradition prevalent here is the mass possession cult of women called Siri Jatre. Deriving its referential script from the Siri epic or pāḍdana, Siri rituals are performed annually in many places of Tulunadu. During these rituals thousands of afflicted women gather at the temple premises and get possessed by the pantheon of seven Siri spirits. While mapping the existing corpus of literature on Siri Jatre – analyzing it as a mode of spirit possession, its psycho-therapeutic significance, its emancipatory potential, etc – this paper offers a paradigm shift by perceiving the entire Siri ritual as a death rite offered to Siri’s grandfather Berma Alva. It draws its arguments from the fieldworks conducted recently in some Siri shrines, interviews conducted among adept Siri women and by analyzing the death rites performed among Bunt caste of the region, and locating it within the historically matrilineal fabric. Thereby, it problematizes the existing analytical frames and raises the question of – if annual Siri ceremonies are a means to bemoan the end of a matrilineal family of Siri? It would delve on the gender configuration as manifested in the Siri cult, having its base in the Tuluva society’s matrilineage, and thereby add to the prevalent ethnographic investigative approaches.

Keywords: death rite, matrilineage, possession, women

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Authors: Annisa Siu, Ping Zou

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Background: Existent literature addressing Asian American children and adolescents reveals that this population is experiencing rates of depression comparable to those of European American and other ethnic minority youths. Within the last decade, increased attention has been given to Asian American adolescent mental health. Methods: 44 articles were extracted from Pubmed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Proquest CINAHL. Data were subject to thematic analyses and categorized into factors under individual, familial, and community levels. Results: Of all the individual factors, age and gender were the most supported in their relationship with depressive symptoms. Likewise, living situations, parent-child relations, peer relations, and broader environmental factors were strongly evidenced. The remaining psychosocial factors faced contrary evidence or were insubstantially addressed in the empirical literature. Discussion: The identified psychosocial factors within this study offer a starting point for future research to examine what factors should be included in formal or informal methods of screening/consultations. Clinicians should aim to understand the cultural influences specific to Asian American adolescents, particularly the central role that family relations may have on their depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Low awareness of culturally linked expressions of psychological distress can lead to misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of depression in Asian American youth. Further evidence is needed to clarify the relationship of psychosocial factors linked to Asian American adolescent depressive symptoms.

Keywords: adolescent, Asian American, depression, psychosocial factors

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Authors: Yen-Fen Tseng

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Studying migration regimes enables one to identify clusters of countries with policy features in common. A few researchers have pointed out the origin of hardship experienced by foreign workers in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, stems from their exclusionary migration regime. This paper aims to understand the causes and consequences of the East Asia migration regime, exploring the common exclusionary policies features of Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, focusing on the foreign labor policy. It will then present explanations as to factors shaping migration regime; the perspective of factors within political system is adopted, as opposed to political economy and pluralist society approach. In the minds of political elites across East Asia, there exists a powerful belief in mono-ethnicity, namely, the benefits of mono-ethnicity and the social ill of “minority problems”. Guest workers policies of various alterations become the compromise between the want for foreign labor and the desire to maintain mono-ethnicity. The paper discusses the absence of immigrant settlement and formation of ethnic communities as a result of the reluctant hosts. Migrant workers in these societies commonly suffer from irregular working conditions as well as unprotected rights out of their denied legality. The case of Taiwan will be presented with greater details, drawing on data from both first-hand and secondary sources.

Keywords: migration regime, guest worker policies, East Asia, society

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Authors: Mariam Shah

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‘Honour’ crime has commonly been perceived in the UK as being a ‘domestic violence’ related issue due to incidents perceived to take place within a domestic context, and commonly by familial perpetrators. The lack of differentiation between domestic violence and ‘honour’ related incidents has several negative implications. Firstly, the prevalence and extent of ‘honour’ related crime within the UK cannot be accurately quantified due to ‘honour’ incidents being classed statistically as domestic violence incidents. Secondly, lack of differentiation means that the negative stereotypical attitudes ascribed to domestic violence which has resulted in lower criminal conviction rates that are also impacting the conviction of perpetrators of ‘honour’ crime. Thirdly, ‘honour’ related crime is innately distinct from domestic violence due to the perpetrator’s resolute intent of cleansing perceived ‘shame’ in any way possible, often with the involvement and collusion of multiple perpetrators from within the family and/or community. Domestic violence is typically restricted to the ‘home’, but ‘honour’ crime can operate between national and international boundaries. This paper critically examines the current academic literature and concludes that the few similarities between domestic violence and ‘honour’ related crime are not sufficient to warrant identical treatment under UK criminal law. ‘Honour’ related crime is a distinct and stand-alone offence which should be recognised as such. The appropriate identification and treatment of ‘honour’ crime are crucial, particularly in light of the UK’s first ‘white’ honour killing which saw a young English woman murdered after being deemed to have brought ‘shame’ on her ex-boyfriend’s family. This incident highlights the possibility of ‘honour’ crime extending beyond its perceived ‘ethnic minority’ roots and becoming more of a ‘mainstream’ issue for the multi-cultural and multi-racial UK.

Keywords: differentiation, domestic violence, honour crime, United Kingdom

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