Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Meaning And Relevance Of Video Game Literacy, Jeroen Bourgonjon

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "The Meaning and Relevance of Video Game Literacy" Jeroen Bourgonjon argues that video gaming deserves scholarly attention as a social practice and a site for meaning-making and learning. Based on an overview of contemporary trends in literacy and cultural studies, he argues that video games cannot be approached like traditional text forms. He contends that video games serve as an important frame of reference for young people and call for informed decision making in the context of culture, education, and policy. Bourgonjon provides an integrated perspective on video game literacy by employing theoretical insights about their distinctive …

Table Of Contents

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

Introduction

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.

Latino Catholicism And Indigenous Heritage As A Subfield Of Latino Studies: A Critical Evaluation Of New Approaches, Elizabeth C. Martinez Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Posed through critical theory on "third-space," and a brief history of Latin American Studies, this article pursues analysis of recent interdisciplinary scholarship in English, to delineate the emergence of a new subfield in Latina/o Catholicism, connected to greater understanding of Indigenous legacy. The article also demonstrates the path of study toward creation of a themed academic issue.

The Representations Of Arab-Muslims Through The Language Lens, Abed El-Rahman Tayyara

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

The article examines the use of Arabic as a sociolinguistic marker in American films that were released around the time of the events of 9/11/01 and investigates the extent to which stereotypical factors have been continuing in the same vein as in the past. Specifically, this study is a textual analysis of the application of Arabic in five recent films: Three Kings (dir. David O. Russell, 1999), Hidalgo (dir. Joe Johnston, 2004), Kingdom of Heaven (dir. Ridley Scott, 2005), Syriana (dir. Stephen Gaghan, 2005), and Body of Lies (dir. Ridley Scott, 2008). The article demonstrates that …

Religiosity In Constitutions And The Status Of Minority Rights, Brandy G. Robinson

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

Minority rights and religion have never been topics that are simultaneously considered. However, arguably, the two have relevance, especially when combined with the topic and theory of constitutionalism. Historically and traditionally, minorities have been granted certain rights and have been denied certain rights under various constitutions. These grants and denials relate to cultural differences and values, arguably relating to a culture’s understanding and interpretation of religion.

This article explores the relationship and status of minority rights as it relates to religiosity and constitutionalism. Essentially, there is a correlation between these topics and research shows where certain nations have used religion …

Immigrant Social-Economic Landscape Changes And Ethno-Racial Border Formation In Columbus, Ohio, David M. Walker Dr., Jack Schemenauer

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

In this study we analyze new immigrant gateways in the U.S. and the role African and Latino immigrants play in reinventing urban spaces while culturally and economically regenerating neighborhoods juxtaposed to orthodox city planning practices. Through this research we aim to further understand how urban space is produced at divergent scales in the era of heightened globalization. Through this understanding we analyze how the contestation over how urban space is used and consumed leads to distinctive forms in the production of urban space and the subsequent unintended formation of newly perceived cultural borders, often based upon race and ethnicity. Through …

Transferential Poetics, From Poe To Warhol, Adam Frank

Literature

Transferential Poetics presents a method for bringing theories of affect to the study of poetics. Informed by the thinking of Silvan Tomkins, Melanie Klein, and Wilfred Bion, it offers new interpretations of the poetics of four major American artists: Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, and Andy Warhol. The author emphasizes the close, reflexive attention each of these artists pays to the transfer of feeling between text and reader, or composition and audience— their transferential poetics. The book’s historical route from Poe to Warhol culminates in television, a technology and cultural form that makes affect distinctly available to perception. …

A Case Study Of Internationalization At Western Kentucky University, Minh Dao

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The study investigates the student levels of satisfaction and engagement with internationalization at Western Kentucky University (WKU). This study surveyed 418 undergraduate students (84.50% domestic and 15.50% international students) on WKU’s main campus to examine how students perceive and interact with various components of the institution-wide internationalization efforts: international-related curriculum and extra-curricular activities, presence of international students and faculty, study abroad opportunities and cross-cultural friendships. Statistical methods were used to analyze student responses. Research findings show that students are more satisfied with international efforts at home when faculty actively engages in promoting international learning in the classroom. Furthermore, students who …

Faith, Works, And Praxis: Emergent Post-Colonialism And The Catholic Church In North America, Alexander Odicino

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The personal papers of American Jesuit priest, Wilfrid Parsons, evince an international information war concerned with the praxis of "facts" pertaining to Mexico’s Church and state conflicts of 1925 to 1939. While editor-in-chief of the Jesuit weekly magazine, "America", (1925-1936) Parsons transformed the publication into the pre-eminent Catholic source of information about the "Mexican situation", consequently enabling him to coordinate the publication of "facts" with several other New York based Catholic publications. However, rather than speaking to strictly Catholic interests in the Mexican conflict, research has shown that, when analyzed as a focal point of information processing, the sources in …

Lady Gaga: Performer, Persona, And Political Advocate, Cassidy Burns

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Facilitating Holistic Spiritual Formation At The Northside Church Of Christ In Laredo, Texas, Kirk R. Cowell

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis describes a project to facilitate holistic spiritual formation at the Northside Church of Christ in Laredo, Texas. A program consisting of seven weekly sessions of intergenerational religious experiences was enacted at the church in hopes of catalyzing growth in the cognitive, relational, affective, and behavioral domains. These sessions were constructed on a foundation consisting of the experiences of the non-class Churches of Christ—a group of congregations that has historically rejected the Bible class model—and informed by the intergenerational formation literature. Evaluation of this project showed relational and affective growth greater than what the congregation had experienced with the …

"The Falling Man" As Viewed In The Lens Of The "Public Sphere", Laura Reinacher

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique Of Lgbt Characters And Themes In Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies, Robert Dallas Byrd Jr.

Dissertations

This analysis of primetime situational comedies feature LGBTQ characters argues that through heteronormative and homonormative constructions of sexuality, race, gender, and class, many LGBTQ people are rendered invisible in the mainstream. Through discourse analysis, the study describes how these programs work to normalize gay and lesbian identity, which then resembles the dominant heterosexuality, aiding in the advancement of white, middle class gays, who privatize sexuality and mimic dominant conventions of gender, race, sexuality, and class in the public sphere. This research is important in understanding the American public’s most recent shifts in public opinion on issues of marriage equality and …

Agency In Posthuman Ir: Solving The Problem Of Technosocially Mediated Agency, Michael Schandorf, Athina Karatzogianni

Athina Karatzogianni

Vernal Pool: A Participatory Art Project About Place + Precipitation, Karen Miranda Abel, Jessica Marion Barr

The Goose

Produced by Karen Miranda Abel with Jessica Marion Barr, Vernal Pool is an immersive, elemental water installation created as a participatory, contemplative inquiry into our transitory interrelationships with water and landscape. From November 2013 to April 2014, 114 individuals across Canada and abroad gathered snow samples as a form of extrinsic artistic practice about place and precipitation. With the arrival of spring, the reservoir of melted snow was convened for four days at Toronto’s historic Gladstone Hotel to create Vernal Pool.

Signs Of Wildness: Codes Of The “Primitive” In Masculine Commodity Culture, Matthew P. Ferrari

Doctoral Dissertations

This project broadly examines articulations of the “primitive” emerging from various sites of popular cultural production, considering their operation within the wider “semioscape”– defined by Thurlow and Aiello (2007) as “the globalizing circulation of symbols, sign-systems, and meaning-making practices.” Taking my lead from Kurusawa (2002, 2004), Torgovnik (1991, 1998), Chow (1995), and Di Leonardo (1998), who have demonstrated the importance of the “primitive” as an interpretive discourse, I add to this body of thought by extending its scope into the realm of popular media and cultural production, examining cases within film, television, advertising, sports, and associated lifestyle commodities. I pose …

The Colonial Legacies Of “Fiesta Island”: A Critical Study Of Live-Music Events Production In Puerto Rico, Anilyn Diaz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the historical relationship between the state and national culture in Puerto Rico as seen through the case of the entertainment industry, specifically live-music events production. The dissertation is located within two bodies of literature: critical post-colonial cultural studies of cultural industries and cultural policy, and cultural approaches to scholarship on collective action and state-civil society relationships in neoliberal contexts. The research design includes archival work and analysis of organizational material, supported by a cultural ethnography approach to semi-structured informant interviews and group interviews. The interviews focus on the historical development, cultural legacies, and practices of the entertainment …

Media Now: A Historical Review Of A Media Literacy Curriculum, Yonty Friesem, Diane Quaglia Beltran, Ed Crane

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The Elizabeth Thoman Archive at the Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island, has the last complete kit of one of the milestones in the early chronology of media literacy, the 1972 Media Now curriculum. This curriculum was the first of its kind, using self-contained lesson modules that were part of a larger series of kits, text references, and accompanying workbook. Its self-directed learning model gave students the opportunity to learn about the media, by doing, responding to, and reflecting on core concepts of media production. Using physical artifacts from the Media Now kit, historical documents, promotional …

Jiahd In The Global Village: Al-Qaeda's Digital Radicalization And Recruitment Campaign, Katie Cannata

Honors College Theses

Following America’s “War on Terror,” al-Qaeda and its affiliates became highly decentralized in terms of organizational and media operations. Though mass media outlets continue to play a significant role in drawing attention to al-Qaeda’s transnational campaign, Salafi Jihadists have recently begun to rely on new media for purposes of legitimization and promotion. The Internet serves as a suitable platform for these groups’ media objectives since it is inherently anonymous and absent of censorship. Most importantly, the Internet facilitates al-Qaeda in reaching a global audience, which is made evident by the growing amount of Salafi Jihadist media that is translated or …

The Transnational Political Involvement Of Nigerian Immigrants In New York City: Motivations, Means And Constraints, Leila Rodriguez Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Africans represent a small but rapidly growing immigrant population in the United States. Nigerians, who constitute the largest group, form a well-organized community with numerous ethnic, hometown and social associations. Through some of these organizations, many Nigerians have successfully intervened in the economic and social development and the political processes of their hometowns. Their political involvement in the U.S. is less. In this article I use quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the motivations that Nigerian immigrants have for political involvement in Nigeria or the U.S., the means that enable this participation, and the constraints to participating. Findings suggest the …

Constructing International Relations, Charmaine G. Misalucha

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review on:

• Rebecca Adler-Nissen, ed. Bourdieu in International Relations: Rethinking Key Concepts in IR. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.
• Nicholas Greenwood Onuf. World of Our Making: Rules and Rule in Social Theory and International Relations. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.
• Arlene B. Tickner and David L. Blaney, eds. Thinking International Relations Differently. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.

Raoul Bianchi & Marcus L. Stephenson. Tourism And Citizenship: Rights, Freedoms And Responsibilities In The Global Order. 2014. Abingdon, Routledge., Maximiliano E. Korstanje

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Danilo Di Mauro. The Un And The Arab-Israeli Conflict: American Hegemony And Un Intervention Since 1947. London And New York: Routledge, 2012., Ellen Jenny Ravndal

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Integrating Microstates Into Cross-National Research: An Exploratory Analysis, Timothy S. Rich Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

How do microstates potentially challenge our understanding of international and comparative politics? Microstates comprise as many as one-fifth of all sovereign states yet are rarely incorporated into cross-national research. Cursory analysis suggests that microstates challenge the conventional wisdom in several ways. This paper highlights some of these challenges and presents preliminary quantitative evidence suggestive of a microstate divergence. Ultimately the evidence here makes the case for increased consideration of the theoretical and empirical leverage attained by analysis of microstates.

Important Components Needed In Today’S Global Society From A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Helena H. Wallenberg-Lerner Ph.D., Wayanne B. James Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This article reviews the extent to which individuals from different geocultural regions view and identify affective components perceived to be important in today’s global society. Various regions of the world were categorized to ensure equivalent participation around the world. Eight geocultural regions were identified to compare responses by geographical regions to obtain information on possible differences. A questionnaire was administered to respondents in the eight geocultural regions to obtain their perceptions of important affective components needed in today’s global society. Based on this study, there were at least nine different affective components perceived to be important in today’s global society. …

The State As A Person?: Anthropomorphic Personification Vs. Concrete Durational Being, Robert Oprisko Ph.D., Kristopher Kaliher

Journal of International and Global Studies

In “The State as Person in International Theory,” Wendt explores the analysis and comparison of the classic unit of international relations to a human subject. In an unprecedented manner, Wendt takes his comparison to the limit, finding connections between the biological aspects of personhood as well as the social. In this essay, we use a structure similar to Wendt’s but come to different conclusions. Using the works of Searle’s intentionality and Mitzen’s ontological security, among others, we find that the social category of state personhood is determined to be both accurate and helpful for progressing IR theory. We depart from …

Negotiating Development: Valuation Of A Guesthouse Project In Southern Guinea-Bissau, Brandon Lundy Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This paper provides a case study illustrating the crossroads between the agendas of international/national economic development with that of the development objectives of local communities. It shows how a community development project connects villagers to the larger world – both practically and imaginatively. This study takes a single case, the process of developing a guesthouse building project among the Nalú of southern Guinea-Bissau, to illustrate how a local attempt to connect to the outside world is intersected by community relations, NGOs, and development discourse. Through a community study using ethnographic methodology including participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, the village …

Politics Of Technoscapes: Algorithms Of Social Inclusion & Exclusion In A Global City, R. Swaminathan

Journal of International and Global Studies

Social media and the Internet are seen as Siamese twins. The discursive architecture of social media is so tightly coupled with the various imaginaries of the Internet that the distinct spatiality, territoriality, and relational power dynamics of each is often simplistically blurred and merged. This paper makes the case that the sociality and spatiality of social media is not only different from that of the Internet but is increasingly becoming part of our contemporary built environment in a manner that confers social media a high degree of relative autonomy in its relationship with the Internet. The paper further argues that …

The African Union And The Conflict In Mali: Extra-Regional Influence And The Limitations Of A Regional Actor, Abiodun Joseph Oluwadare Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

The role of regional and sub-regional organizations cannot be overstated in conflict resolution, especially in their sphere of influence. The African Union and The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have played prominent roles in places like Burundi, Darfur, Chad, Somalia, and Liberia. The success achieved in these interventions would not likely have been forthcoming if the US, European Union and its member nations, along with the United Nations had not given their support to these regional and sub-regional organizations. In other words, the cooperative, collaborative, and supportive understanding between these extra-African bodies and the regional and sub-regional organizations …