Digital Commons Network^™

C3) Green Spiritual Tourism And Sacred Landscape Experience On Mount Emei, China, Feiran Yang, Katia Hueso Kotekaas Dr

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Mount Emei (China), one of Buddhism’s Four Sacred Mountains and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attracts pilgrims and leisure visitors seeking spiritual meaning, nature connection and wellbeing. Yet East Asian sacred mountain traditions remain under-represented in religious tourism debates, particularly regarding how sacred landscape, ritual practice and ecological philosophies co-produce visitor experience. This research examines green spiritual tourism on Mount Emei by integrating restorative environments theory, nature connectedness, authenticity scholarship, and Turner’s concepts of liminality and communitas. Methodology adopts a qualitative case-study design, combining participant observation along sacred trails and at key temples with semi-structured interviews with pilgrims, leisure tourists, …

D1) Pilgrimage Routes As Spaces Of Interaction: Shared Experiences Of Blind And Sighted Participants, Jolanta Kručkauskaitė

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This presentation examines pilgrimage routes as spaces of interaction in which blind and sighted participants create shared experiences by traveling together. In this context, pilgrimage is understood not only as a religious or touristic practice, but also as a sociocultural activity that enables social and educational interaction.

Drawing on the concepts of educational interaction, social inclusion, and phenomenological experience, the presentation addresses how walking together along pilgrimage routes shapes relationships between blind and sighted participants, how attitudes toward visual impairment change, and how the pilgrimage route becomes a space for mutual learning. Particular attention is given to the multisensory dimension …

C1) Authenticity, Multifunctionality, And Sustainability In Religious Tourism: The Case Of The Strahov Monastery In Prague, Dimitrios Mylonopoulos, Polyxeni G. Moira Dr

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This article examines the dynamics of historic monastic complexes as multifunctional religious spaces in the context of contemporary religious and cultural tourism, focusing on Strahov Monastery in Prague. The study recognizes that these historical sites currently operate in a complex field that intersects sacred tradition with the demands of the tourism market.

A key theoretical starting point is the need for a conceptual distinction between pilgrimage and religious tourism, as well as the difficulty of accurately capturing visitors' motivations. These motivations often fall within a spectrum that includes spiritual, cultural, and recreational motivations. In this context, the Strahov Monastery is …

D4) From ‘Non-Places’ To Meaningful Places: Lourdes And Camino Lituano Cases, Marius Minkevičius, Elżbieta Bilska-Wodecka

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

How pilgrimage routes shape cultural heritage practices, place attachment, and the risk of places becoming “non-places” (Augé, 2008).

This presentation contrasts two models of pilgrimage route development. Institutionalized, top-down pilgrimage routes, often embedded in tourism and heritage policies, tend to prioritize economic growth and commercialization. Prominent pilgrimage destinations such as Lourdes (Kaufman, 2005) exemplify how top-down management can transform sacred spaces into functional “non-places” (Augé, 2008), privileging consumption and large-scale flows. This raises questions about whether pilgrimage can retain spiritual meaningfulness under increasingly market-driven logics.

In contrast, community-driven, bottom-up pilgrimage routes provide an alternative model, where social and moral commitments, …

Young Lives, Early Journeys: Understanding Teenage Pregnancies Within Blistt, Meri Elijakim Pereyra Mangulabnan, Vhyen Elliz Maliones Laban, Aaron Nash Sebastian Madriaga, Wade Chrysler Rivera Mondina, Aaron Jay Domingo Selan

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

This research investigated the multifaceted experiences of teenage mothers within BLISTT (Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay), where adolescent pregnancy remains a persistent social and public health concern. The study highlighted how these young mothers navigated interrupted education, limited economic opportunities, and fragile family relationships, all compounded by cultural stigmas and a lack of reproductive health education. The core research questions explored the lived experiences of these teenagers, the influence of cultural beliefs on societal attitudes, and the challenges and support systems that shaped their lives and futures. Findings revealed that teen mothers within BLISTT faced profound emotional, social, …

Language, Life, And Indigenous Knowledge: Cultural Contexts In Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Education Approaches To Indigenous Language Revitalization In Kik'aslemal Ri Kaqchikela': An Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Textbook, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. This article examines the relationship between Indigenous language revitalization and the continuity of socially embedded systems of knowledge through the case of advanced Kaqchikel Maya language education. Drawing upon scholarship on Indigenous pedagogies, linguistic anthropology, and Indigenous epistemologies, the article explores how culturally grounded approaches to language learning contribute not only to the development of linguistic competence but also to the reproduction of memories, values, and intellectual traditions. Particular attention is devoted to Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela': An Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Textbook, whose thematic organization and collaborative development illustrate broader processes of knowledge production and cultural continuity. Rather than …

B1) The Implementation Of Digital Tools In The Interpretation Of Heritage From A Cultural And Pastoral Perspective, Silvia Aulet, Anna Gili Vilanova-Prat

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The digitisation of cultural languages supposes new challenges and opportunities in the interpretation of religious heritage. From a theoretical perspective, sacred sites can be understood as symbolic realities where material and immaterial dimensions converge. Sacred places are not only architectural containers, but spaces of meaning that articulate identity, memory and transcendence (Aulet & Vidal, 2018).

The preservation of the meaning, identity and original function of sacred spaces in contexts of high tourist accessibility (Aulet & Duda, 2020). Technology, far from being a merely instrumental element, can act as a symbolic mediation that reinforces this sustainability if it contributes to improving …

B3) Ai-Enabled Religious Pilgrimage: A Human Centred Sacred Framework For Authenticity And Responsible Transformation, Parichay Parivesh, Razaq Gili Raj

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping pilgrimage tourism in India by mediating the practical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of sacred travel. While AI is increasingly used in tourism for personalised recommendations, multilingual assistance, predictive crowd management, virtual interpretation and service automation, its application in religious travel requires deeper cultural and ethical reflection. Using India’s large and diverse pilgrimage ecosystem as the focal context, the paper argues that AI should not be treated merely as a tool for efficiency, but as a socio-technical mediator that influences access, authenticity, ritual participation, trust and post-journey meaning-making.

The paper proposes a Human-Centred …

A3) Reconstructing Sacredness In The Digital Age: Mobile Digital Sacred Spaces And Transformative Experiences In Heritage, Dong Wang, Silvia Gili Aulet

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This study explores the reconstruction of sacredness and cultural meaning in digital immersive experiences at religious heritage sites. Traditional sacredness is rooted in physical space and material authenticity, while the Longmen Grottoes (a UNESCO World Heritage Site and important Buddhist destination in China) is accelerating digital transformation through mobile-based digital incense offerings, algorithmic "Buddha affinity" matching and digital twin visualization platforms, breaking the classical ontology of fixed sacred space.

Based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, this study defines digital atmosphere, narrative engagement and interactive rituality as external stimuli, "digital sacredness" a second-order internal psychological state encompassing transcendence, awe, serenity and …

A1) When The Oracle Is An Algorithm: The Future Of The Sacred Experience, Po Man Tse

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) into religious sites presents both profound opportunities and significant challenges (Arnold & Shultz, 2025). While AI shows considerable promise for enhancing visitor experiences (Khan, 2024), its deployment in sacred spaces where tradition and authenticity are paramount requires careful investigation. This study explores visitor perceptions of AI-mediated experiences at Hong Kong's Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, a major pilgrimage site uniquely housing Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. Employing a qualitative approach, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study utilized the vignette method (Finch, 1987) to anchor conversations in a tangible context, …

A2) Instagrammable Sacredness: The Commodification And Visual Consumption Of Mosque Tourism, Kristel Kessler

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Tourism experiences are increasingly shaped by digital technologies and social media, with destinations and attractions often selected, consumed, and remembered through their visual appeal. Platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have transformed the ways in which tourists select and engage with tourist sites and attractions, including sacred and religious sites. While mosque tourism emerged over a decade ago as a central feature of Islamic tourism, emphasizing the religious, cultural, and social significance of mosques for both Muslim and non-Muslim visitors, the rapid growth of social media has fundamentally altered how these spaces are experienced and represented. Today, mosques function …

B2) Ai Generated Narratives In Religious Tourism Marketing: Opportunities And Ethical Risks, Md Javed Kawsar, Rashed Gili Khan

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to redefine narrative construction in religious tourism marketing, creating new opportunities for digital engagement while also raising critical ethical concerns. As religious destinations increasingly adopt AI-enabled storytelling tools, ranging from conversational agents to multimodal generative systems, the nature of narrative authenticity, cultural sensitivity, and visitor perception is being significantly reshaped. Recent work on AI-driven religious tourism indicates that AI-enabled conversational agents influence tourists’ cognitive and affective evaluations, shaping memorable religious tourism experiences and future engagement intentions, highlighting the transformative potential of AI in sacred contexts. Likewise, studies examining AI-driven strategies …

On The Securitization Of Residential Real Property, Luke Maher

New Mexico Law Review

This article aims to reframe the scholarly discussion about securitizations—transactions in which multiple passive investors use a special purpose entity to take passive fractional ownership shares in one or more assets—in the context of residential real property interests. Residential real property securitizations (including mortgage-backed securities and real estate investment trusts) are relatively modern financial instruments and so are relatively underexamined from a policy perspective, and this article seeks to evaluate whether residential real property interests are amenable to securitization at all, concluding that they are not. In so doing, this article uses the principles of property law to present a …

Boycott Governance, Carlos Berdejó

New Mexico Law Review

Despite the power they wield in modern society, corporations are hardly democratic institutions. Their governance structure is designed to further the interest of a narrow set of stakeholders, leaving little room for safeguarding the interests of other constituencies. Moreover, the power to manage corporate affairs rests in the hands of a few individuals who enjoy broad discretion and face limited accountability. This decision-making structure fosters an environment that favors the pursuit of profits at the expense of the interests of those who lack access to the corporate governance framework. Since infiltrating this governance mechanism to influence a firm’s decision-making is …

Algorithmic Monocultures In Hiring, Rishi Bommasani, Sarah H. Bana, Kathleen A. Creel, Dan Saul Jurafsky, Percy Liang

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Many employers screen job applicants with algorithms built by the same few algorithm vendors. We hypothesize that algorithmic monoculture leads to the same individuals and members of the same racial groups facing rejection. We acquire and analyze a novel dataset of 3 million applicants submitting 4 million applications where all the applications are screened by algorithms built by the same vendor. We find clear racial disparities in applicant outcomes. Of all applications submitted by Asian and Black applicants, 14.74% and 25.87% are submitted to positions that adversely impact Asian and Black applicants, respectively, according to U.S. employment discrimination standards. Individuals …

Resourcefulness, Ingenuity, And Community Strengths In Meeting Rural Youth Mental Health Needs: A Multiple Case Study, Aaron Leo, Jessie Tobin, Paul Guay, Kristen Campbell Wilcox

The Rural Educator

This study investigated how 133 educators in six rural schools experience and address youth mental health challenges and the adaptations they use to meet students’ needs. Interview and focus group data were examined through the lens of rural community wealth to draw attention to the ways educators support their students and the resources on which they draw in their efforts. Findings illustrate that rural educators shift to providing as many services to students as possible on their school campuses; increase the capacity of staff members to address students’ mental health through targeted professional development and training; and integrate social-emotional learning …

Challenges And Opportunities In Rural Education: The Case Of La Araucanía, Chile, Katerin Arias-Ortega, Viviana Villarroel

The Rural Educator

The article reports on the challenges that rural education has been facing in La Araucanía, Chile, from the perspective of Mapuche parents. The study’s methodology was qualitative and involved Mapuche families who sent their children to rural, single-teacher schools located in an Indigenous context. The findings indicate that Mapuche mothers perceive the education that their children receive in rural schools to be of lower academic quality. Furthermore, they acknowledge that rural education receives less economic support than education in urban settings, which creates a disadvantage for Indigenous and peasant children. This disparity limits their ability to acquire the same resources …

An Examination Of Barriers To The Successful Community Reintegration Of African American Male Ex-Offenders, Taylor Wimbish-Bianco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Tinf-Consensus For Multi-Annotator Learning: Separating Neutral Responses From Polarized Disagreement, Mukhtar Ahmad

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Self-Governance, Social Order And Institutional Solutions To Collective Action In A Tent City, Karen A. Snedker, Jennifer Mckinney, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Applying insights from the theory of collective action in self-governance, this paper addresses how a city-sanctioned homeless camp has successfully self-governed for over two decades. Based on a club goods model and democratic practices, this tent city attains social order and provides numerous collective benefits to its residents, who initially bring very little capital to the camp. Our case study, which includes in-depth interviews with residents of a tent city at four time points between 2012-2025, as well as observations from their weekly organizational meeting, illustrates how the possibility of exclusion for rule violation, norms emphasizing voice and service, and …

Feedback Literacy In Colombian High School Students: A Phenomenological Approach, Maria Eugenia Cárdenas, Marcela Valencia Serrano

The Qualitative Report

This study aimed to understand 11^th-grade students' experiences with feedback during the first thematic unit of the mathematics class. It was based on the theoretical model of feedback literacy and used a transcendental-phenomenological design to fulfill its purpose. The participants were seven students from a private school in Cali, Colombia. These students were in the first unit of the mathematics class and interviewed in depth. The data analysis had several phases: epoche, horizontalization and units of meaning, textural and structural description, and composite description. We found that students' relation to feedback was characterized by a predominantly passive-receptive role …

Discourse In Youth Organizations Functioning In Poland: Constructing A Platform For Dialogue, Magdalena Cuprjak, Celina Czech-Włodarczyk

The Qualitative Report

Our research explores the degree to which youth organizations serve as platforms for open dialogue and examines how their discourse aligns with established principles of dialogism, as articulated by van Dijk (2001), Bakhtin (1982), and the 'authentic turn' concept proposed by Ostrowska (2017). In conducting this study, we anticipated finding variability in communication styles, expecting that some organizations—particularly those affiliated with the Polish Council of Youth Organizations (PROM)—would promote more inclusive, dialogic interactions. Conversely, we suspected that groups outside PROM, especially nationalist organizations like the All-Polish Youth, might display more exclusionary or ideologically driven messaging. Our expectations were rooted in …

From Deficit To Dialogue: Reassessing The Role Of Institutional Data In Library Resource Deployment, Rebecca Bryant Penrose, Geoff Walton, Kirsty Fife, Mary K. Bolin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Universities increasingly foreground institutional research (IR) dashboards to steer ‘student success’ agendas, yet much of the library’s contribution operates through relationships that IR cannot readily capture. As a result, the library’s engagement with IR efforts remains underexplored in library and information science scholarship. Drawing on descriptive survey data from 66 academic librarians and library administrators, together with nine semi-structured interviews conducted across the California State University system, this study examines how library resources are allocated at course level and whether IR data inform those decisions. Findings indicate that librarians rely far more on local relationships, timing within the academic calendar …

Intersectional Pathways To Prison And Sentence Disparities: Exploring The Role Of Race, Gender Identity, And Sexuality In Women’S Sentencing Outcomes, Jae Collett

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the relationship between race, gender identity, sexuality, and prison sentence length using data from the Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016. While state and federal guidelines are ostensibly in place to prevent disparate sentencing outcomes, research still finds disparities in prison sentence lengths across identities of defendants. Women generally receive more lenient sentences than men, and may be shown chivalry when processed through the criminal legal system. However, qualifications for chivalrous treatment have historically only been accessible to certain women (i.e. cisgender, heterosexual, white women). The social and institutional exclusion queer women and/or women of color experience may …

Enhancing The Resilience Of Informal Economies In Coastal Cities Against Climate Change: An Integrated Framework For Development, Adaptation, And Mitigation A Global Comparative Case Study Of Alexandria, Safaa Mohamed Abobakr, Marwa Mohamed Hassan Elrashidey

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

This study addresses the escalating environmental, social, and economic challenges confronting informal settlements in coastal cities, with a specific focus on Alexandria, Egypt, as a representative model of the global coastal urban crisis. The research problem centers on the extreme vulnerability of the informal sector—which constitutes approximately 55%–60% of the city’s workforce—to climate change risks, particularly sea-level rise and recurrent storm surges (Nawat). These phenomena result in chronic livelihood disruptions, with an average operational downtime of seven days per storm event, alongside the significant loss of direct physical assets.

The study employs an integrated analytical methodology that synthesizes a literature …

Development Of An Interdisciplinary Conceptual Framework For A Dialogue-Based Formative Intervention For Transformative Social And Emotional Learning For Adolescents, Rebekah Pollock

The Qualitative Report

I use the plug-and-play method to draw from Vygotskian social learning theories, the participatory culture-specific intervention model, the transformative social and emotional learning framework, and cultural-historical formative interventions to develop a conceptual framework for research that centers dialogue-based data collection and aims to study the associated processes and outcomes. First, I describe how I identified the need for a new conceptual framework. Second, I examine the historical roots, philosophical beliefs, conceptualization of processes related to learning and development and successful outcomes, and methodological requirements of each contributing theory or framework to determine a compatibility of perspectives and complementarity of goals …

Crisis Aporias In Questioning International Law’S Efficacy And Legitimacy, Swati Singh Parmar

Indonesian Journal of International Law

International law events have been sites of contestation among teachers and scholars of international law and beyond. With each unsettling international event, the international law academe faces new wine in the old bottle questions on international law efficacy based on managerial expectations of international law. Though mostly unfair and disproportionate, these questions–diffused and embodied in teaching and otherwise–weigh heavily on international law’s efficacy and legitimacy during and even beyond the temporality of such events. Before any objective and horizontal assessment of IL through crises, as international law scholars, we must try to ask ourselves a few questions. What makes a …

The Impact Of International Trade Liberalization On Oil And Gas Management Policies In Developing Countries: A Case Study Of Indonesia, Bagus Satrio Utomo, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Suyono Thamrin, Donny Yusgiantoro

Indonesian Journal of International Law

This study aims to analyze the impact of international trade liberalization on oil and gas management policies in developing countries, with a focus on Indonesia as a case study. As a country rich in natural resources, Indonesia faces challenges in maintaining sovereignty over the management of its national oil and gas industry amidst commitments to international trade agreements such as the GATT/WTO. Through a qualitative approach and analysis of international agreement documents, national regulations, and oil and gas industry data, this study finds a significant influence of trade liberalization principles on oil and gas management policies in Indonesia. The results …

Legacy Vs. Luxury: Generational Stadium Design And Fan Perceptions In Professional Sport, Joshua Greer, Tim Wilson

Global Sport Business Journal

This study examines whether generational differences in National Football League (NFL) stadium design influence fans' evaluations of venue quality, addressing a gap in the sport management literature on the relative importance of modernization versus heritage in shaping spectator satisfaction. Drawing on the sportscape framework and environmental psychology, the study analyzes 539,660 fan-generated online reviews from across 30 NFL stadiums. Composite satisfaction scores were calculated and used to assess relationships among stadium age, capacity, and perceived quality.

Results indicate no statistically significant difference in satisfaction between legacy stadiums (opened before 2000) and new-generation venues (opened in 2000 or later). Although legacy …

Patterns In Emotional Labor Outcomes: Assessing Seasonal Cycles Of Burnout In Minor League Sport Employees, Mandy Barefoot, Mike Martinez

Global Sport Business Journal

Burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment (Kristensen et al., 2005), is a growing concern among sport employees, with research documenting high levels of emotional strain, role conflict, and turnover intentions in collegiate and professional sport settings (Taylor et al., 2019; Weight et al., 2021). Although burnout is often examined as a stable condition, little attention has been given to how the cyclical nature of the sport calendar may shape its development over time.

This study examines burnout among middle managers in minor league baseball and hockey through the lens of Affective Events Theory, exploring how seasonal …