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A Spiritual Passage From Santiago To Sligo: Celtic Pilgrimage From St. John’S Eve To Queen Maeve’S Procession, Nichole Lariscy Ph.D.

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper explores the spiritual dimensions of Celtic pilgrimage through a comparative analysis of two journeys: the Celtic Camino, primarily known as the English Way to Santiago, in Galicia, Spain, and the pilgrimage to Queen Maeve’s Cairn in Sligo, Ireland. It examines how invented traditions and mythological narratives contribute to a sense of ancestral connection and spiritual homecoming. The study employs autoethnographic narrative and theoretical frameworks including Simon Coleman’s concept of laterality and Jenny Butler’s observations on neo-pagan re-sacralisation of the landscape. Field observations, personal reflections, and literature review inform the analysis. The paper identifies ritual, festival, and storytelling as …

The Pilgrimage Paradox: Accepting Hardship As A Pathway To Peace, John K. Moore

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This essay examines the paradoxical relationship between pilgrimage and inner peace, focusing on the Camino de Santiago and referencing the Shingon Buddhist Goma fire ritual in Japan and the holy mountain of Kata Tjuṯa in Australia. While pilgrimage is often associated with physical hardship and discomfort, the paper argues that adopting a mindset of acceptance toward inevitable suffering can foster psychological and spiritual contentment. Drawing on historical, literary, and contemporary examples—including penitential practices, therapeutic walking, and rituals at the Iron Cross—the article highlights how symbolic acts of relinquishing burdens can lead to inner transformation and may set into motion one’s …

Editorial: Exploring The Personal, Spiritual, Cultural, And Historical Dimensions Of Sacred Journeys, Ian S. Mcintosh, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, Nichole Lariscy Ph.D.

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The papers in this special issue of the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage represent a rich sampling of offerings from the annual Sacred Journeys conferences held in Kyoto (Japan) in 2024 and Canberra (Australia) in 2025. Collectively, they explore pilgrimage as a transformative and multifaceted practice that encompasses personal, spiritual, cultural, and historical dimensions.

The Transformative Essence Of Liminality: Pilgrimage And The Example Of St. Francis Of Assisi, John Kruse

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Looking at the life of St. Francis of Assisi (1181/2–1226) through the lens of liminality can help to understand this complex figure. Anthropologist Victor Turner, for example, has explored Francis’s embrace of poverty as a means of experiencing liminality and the communitas that accompanies it. Three episodes in the life of Francis in particular constitute liminal experiences in that Francis left behind old ways of being, crossed thresholds, and experienced transformation: his encounter with lepers, his renunciation of possessions and coinciding embrace of poverty, and his encounter with Sultan Malik al-Kamil. Understanding these episodes as liminal experiences not only helps …

Ijrtp Volume 14(I) Table Of Contents, Ian S. Mcintosh, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, Nichole Lariscy Ph.D., Kevin Griffin, Razaq Raj, Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

IJRTP Volume 14(i) Table of Contents

Special Issue papers from annual Sacred Journeys conferences held in Kyoto (Japan) in 2024 and Canberra (Australia) in 2025.

Pilgrimage On Paper: A Contemplative Writing Practice, Angelika Halstead

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Autobiographers, poets, and journal keepers have always intuitively known the transformative and healing power of personal writing. Some people write in a cathartic way to empty themselves of stored up emotions and experiences. Having freed themselves from old baggage they are prepared for their lives to take new directions. Others write because they want to find out what they think and make meaning of their lives. They write in pursuit of truth and find that as they become honest and face the truth their lives change and their stories turn into new and re-storied versions. It is also known that …

Understanding The Rising Popularity Of (Un)Religious Pilgrims: Belonging Without Believing, Gregory Smith

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

While researchers are in agreement about the positive relationship between spiritual activities (SAs) and mental health (MH) among the general population, the relationship between spiritual tourism (ST) and MH, particularly among young adults, is yet to be adequately investigated. As such, important questions regarding the status of religion in the contemporary world can be addressed through the study of current pilgrimage trends. A ‘pilgrimage boom’ is occurring in Britain and other parts of the global anglosphere (Williams, 2020 & O’Keeffe, 2022). Yet, many of these modern pilgrims do not identify with established religious categories (i.e., Christianity). Significant gaps in our …

Pilgrimages In Aotearoa - Uncovering The Hidden, Giving Voice To The Silences, Peter Bowden (Te Atiawa, Ngati Te Whiti), Sarah Bowden

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Aotearoa / New Zealand has a history of colonisation with a significant destructive impact on Mãori, the indigenous people. It is only in more recent decades that this history has become more widely ‘remembered’ by the non-Māori population, in large part due to efforts made by Māori activists, scholars and legislators. The growing awareness of this difficult history is often met with a mixture of bewilderment and anger. The authors have observed a growing readiness in themselves and others to look at the emerging truth of our history. We see the practice of pilgrimage as a powerful tool to amplify …

The Stars That Fall At Our Feet: Personal Reflections On The Serendipity Of Liminality In Pilgrimage, Ian Palmer

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

I was not familiar with the concept of liminality before walking the Camino de Santiago (Camino Français) for the first time in 2000. ‘Liminal’ is a Latin word for a doorway. It is the ‘threshold’ or, literally, ‘the-rush-hold’. This paper explores liminality as an in-between space when we are no longer ‘here’ but not yet ‘there’. It is a time when we can take stock, review, remember, and re-frame. That’s a gift of pilgrimage; away from the familiar, away from routines and day-to day responsibilities: an in-between time. Link to this the feelings that come with serendipity and the liminality …

Mundane Or Mystical: Journeying From An Islamic Perspective, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Within Islam generally, and Sufism in particular, journeying (safar) takes on a great importance. From the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) to the vertical night journey (almiraj), the well-trodden path (shari’ah) to the narrow path (tariqa), there are many kinds of journeying, all of which are ultimately understood as being in the path of Allah (fi sabillillah). Common to all types of journeying is an engagement with Allah’s signs (ayat) ‘on the horizons and within themselves’ so that, correctly understood, this will support the realisation of Truth (Qur’an 41: 53). For …

Dante Down Under: Poetic Inversion And The Way Back To Eden, Mary A. Watt

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In the closing moments of Dante’s Inferno, as the pilgrim protagonist and his guide, the Roman poet Virgil, finally emerge from the dark depths of hell, their hope of reaching paradise is rekindled as they look up, ‘to see once again, the stars.’ This directional shift has been effected at the centre of a spherical earth, where Dante and Virgil had to invert themselves in order to start the journey to the southern hemisphere. To find his way back to the ‘right road,’ Dante has had to turn himself upside down, but in order to craft a redemptive iter …

The Journey Of The Soul In Aboriginal Australia, Ian S. Mcintosh

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

For the past decade, I have been studying pilgrimage in all its dimensions in what my colleagues and I have been calling a kaleidoscopic inquiry (McIntosh et al., 2024). In my current investigations, I have been exploring the journey of the soul upon the death of its host. My focus in this working paper is the myths and traditions of the Yolngu Indigenous peoples of northeast Arnhemland in remote northern Australia with whom I lived and worked in the 1980s and 90s. The Yolngu go to great lengths to prepare the dying for their ultimate journey, painting the body with …

Phishing Susceptibility Among Healthcare Workers: A Multiyear Study, Darin Challacombe, Elizabeth Mcelhiney

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Understanding and improving phishing awareness is an important aspect of ensuring patient health information (PHI) is protected. Many health organizations require associates to complete annual training and supplement that training with simulated phishing email campaigns.

This poster will provide the results of a multiyear group of four studies in which health information (HI) professionals were provided various types of training and then tested on their susceptibility to simulated phishing emails. This will supplement the research on the viability of this method. And, this will present the findings by using real HI professionals (vs. college students).

We will provide a summary …

Predicting House Prices Using Machine Learning, Pejal Rath, Robert Slater

SMU Data Science Review

This study explores the use of Machine Learning methods to predict housing prices, a problem of significant interest in real estate economics, and data science. Traditional hedonic pricing models have long been used to evaluate the impact of housing attributes on property values, but they often lack the flexibility to capture nonlinear relationships and complex feature interactions. Recent advancements in regression based and Machine Learning approaches provide promising alternatives that may improve prediction of accuracy and market insights. This research will investigate how models such as linear regression, random forest, and gradient boosting can be applied to publicly available housing …

Application Of Open-Source Small Large Language Models For Finance Report Analysis, Tue Vu, Mark Austin, Marcel Tuijn

SMU Data Science Review

The rapid integration of generative AI in finance introduces both opportunities and challenges, particularly when analyzing sensitive data such as Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. This study investigates the use of open-source Small Large Language Models (SLLMs), deployed locally through the Ollama and LangChain frameworks, combined with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for extracting financial insights relevant to index performance and reporting quality. Two key objectives guide this work: (1) benchmarking multiple open-source SLLMs for sentiment analysis, multiple-choice reasoning, and financial question answering, and (2) assessing the feasibility of locally deployed SLLMs for domain-specific financial queries. A standardized set of 50 …

Redesigning Online Graduate Orientation To Foster Academic Resilience And Prevent Underperformance, Stella Michael-Makri, David E. Rodriguez

Journal of Academic Underperformance

Graduate students in fully online programs often begin their academic journey without adequate preparation for the emotional, structural, and cultural challenges of graduate-level work. For students who are first-generation, racially marginalized, international, or returning to education after time away, this lack of scaffolding can lead to early disengagement, underperformance, or attrition. Orientation, often treated as a checklist of logistical tasks, represents a missed opportunity for meaningful academic intervention. This manuscript proposes a five-module conceptual model for online graduate orientation designed to proactively support online graduate students in the domains of emotional regulation and academic identity, time management and executive functioning, …

Building Competence And Confidence Through Experiential Learning: A Case Study Of The Bengal Triathlon, Caroline E. Faure Edd; Atc

The COSMA Journal

This descriptive case study examines the perceived effectiveness of the Bengal Triathlon, an experiential learning (EL) activity integrated into a sport management course at Idaho State University. Drawing on student reflections over three years, the study highlights how this experience enhanced students’ confidence and skills in planning and managing sport events, particularly in high-pressure areas such as risk management, event logistics, and customer service. Despite participation being a course requirement, a noticeable shift in student attitudes was observed. Students moved from seeing the event as a mandatory task to taking full ownership, driven by increased motivation and enjoyment. This case …

Analysis Of Student Satisfaction With The Ppg Student Registration Process At Universitas Negeri Malang Using The Servqual And Delone & Mclean Models, Dedi Prestiadi, Darmawan Satyananda, Dedi Tiarno

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study aims to analyze student satisfaction levels with the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) registration system at Universitas Negeri Malang using an integration of the SERVQUAL and DeLone & McLean models, as well as to develop a strategy for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) using Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. This study uses a descriptive quantitative approach with 10,701 student respondents from three registration stages (BGT 1, Kemenag, and BGT 2). The data collection instrument is a 1–5 Likert questionnaire covering three main aspects: requirements, process, and registration application. Data analysis was conducted through validity and reliability tests, multiple linear regression, and Principal …

Tribute To Abdelaziz Belal, Mohamed Bennani

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This tribute honors Professor Abdelaziz Belal by recalling both his scholarly contribution and his institutional role in Moroccan higher education. It highlights his academic career, his work in economic science and development economics, his commitment to national causes, and his influence as a teacher, supervisor, and public intellectual. The text also emphasizes his involvement in the construction of the Faculty of Law in Casablanca and in the development of scientific research and university life. It presents Belal as a major figure whose intellectual and human legacy left a lasting mark on colleagues, students, and the broader academic community.

The Governor In Morocco, Abdelfattah Eddahbi

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article studies the legal status and institutional role of the governor in Morocco. It traces the evolution of the office through the major legal texts that organized territorial administration and examines the governor’s dual function as representative of the state and actor within the local administrative structure. The paper discusses appointment, powers, relations with the Ministry of the Interior, and the governor’s place within broader processes of deconcentration and administrative reform. It therefore provides a legal analysis of one of the central institutions of Moroccan public administration.

The New International Economic Order: Historical Overview And Analysis Of The Positions Of Industrialized And Developing Countries, Idriss Fathallah

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article examines the idea of a new international economic order through a historical review of the dialogue between industrialized countries and developing countries. It analyzes how the major positions of the Global South and the industrial powers evolved in international forums, especially around trade, development, and the distribution of economic gains. The paper seeks to clarify the political and economic foundations of the demand for a more equitable international system. It highlights the tensions between reformist proposals and the structural interests that shaped North-South negotiations.

Editorial, Mohammed Bennani

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This introductory note explains the dual mission assigned to universities in Morocco by the legal framework governing higher education: teaching and scientific research. It underlines the practical obstacles faced by a young institution such as the Faculty of Law in Casablanca, including limited documentation resources, insufficient availability of teacher-researchers, and a lack of material means for disseminating research. The text then presents the journal as a platform for reflection, discussion, and interdisciplinary exchange among scholars and students. It also defines the review as a bridge between the university and wider academic and professional circles in Morocco and abroad.

Management Indicators For Agricultural Cooperatives, Gerard Deshayes

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article examines how the performance of agricultural cooperatives can be evaluated through management indicators better suited to their specific economic nature than conventional business ratios. Using the case of a dairy cooperative, the author shows the limits of judging cooperative efficiency solely through profit rates and accounting results, since cooperatives pursue objectives linked not only to capital but also to member remuneration, product pricing, and service to producers. The paper distinguishes between economic efficiency and financial efficiency, and proposes a framework centered on value obtained and distributed value in order to assess how cooperative activity creates and redistributes benefits …

Foundations Of A New Strategy For Financing Traditional Agriculture Through Agricultural Credit, Bouarfa

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article outlines a new strategy for financing traditional agriculture through agricultural credit in Morocco. It discusses the exceptional mobilization of financial resources after the drought crisis and argues that support to small farmers should move beyond emergency lending toward modern and durable forms of productive financing. The author emphasizes that rural credit for traditional agriculture must be aligned with the realities of peasant households, where production is often oriented toward self-consumption and family labor remains central. The paper advocates credit procedures, repayment methods, supervision, and local outreach mechanisms better adapted to small-scale farming in order to improve both productivity …

The Role Of Agricultural Credit In The Development Of Agriculture: The Case Of Morocco, T. Masmoudi

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This paper examines agricultural credit as a strategic instrument for agricultural development in Morocco. It argues that credit can contribute to investment, modernization, income growth, and social promotion, but only if it is embedded in a coherent economic and social policy framework. The author reviews the main obstacles that limited the effectiveness of agricultural credit, including inappropriate institutional choices, weak agrarian structures, insufficient organization, limited outreach, and intervention rules poorly adapted to small farmers. The article concludes that a more flexible, decentralized, and development-oriented credit system is necessary if rural finance is to serve the needs of traditional as well …

Reference To Spain’S Most Modern Agrarian Laws And The Constitutional Norms That Inform Spanish Agrarian Law, Juan Jose Sanz Jarque

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This paper provides an overview of the principal modern agrarian laws in Spain and the constitutional principles that shape Spanish agrarian law. It identifies major legislative texts on agrarian reform and development, cooperatives, rural leases, agrarian transformation societies, and family farming, and then relates them to constitutional provisions adopted in 1978. The article shows how constitutional norms concerning property, social rights, environmental protection, regional development, and public intervention influence the interpretation and orientation of agrarian legislation. It offers a concise legal framework linking statutory reform to broader constitutional objectives in agriculture.

Production System And The Development Of Tobacco Cultivation In Morocco, A. Salhi

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

The article reviews the historical evolution of tobacco cultivation in Morocco and examines the production system that supported its expansion. It traces the crop’s introduction, the role of the tobacco monopoly and public supervision, the spread of experimental stations and extension efforts, and the shift from larger industrial-style cultivation toward small family-based production in mountainous regions. The author shows that this family farming model reduced average plot size while improving quality, broadening planter participation, and adapting tobacco cultivation to areas with limited agricultural alternatives. Tobacco is presented as an example of how agro-industrial organization can reshape rural production structures and …

Control Of Farm Structures And The Actions Of The S.A.F.E.R. Following The Agricultural Orientation Law Of 4 July 1980 And Current Government Policy, Jean Megret

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article examines the reform of French agricultural structure policy after the Agricultural Orientation Law of 4 July 1980, with special attention to the role of the S.A.F.E.R. institutions. The author revisits the objectives of earlier legislation, discusses why a new reform was deemed necessary, and highlights persistent concerns over regional disparities, indebtedness, farm size, and generational renewal. The paper explains how SAFER procedures were made more operational in order to facilitate land transactions, installation of young farmers, and more effective oversight of agricultural structures. It presents land regulation as a central tool for maintaining viable family farming and balanced …

Rural Exodus And Development In Morocco, Dufraisse

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This paper studies rural out-migration in Morocco and its implications for economic and territorial development. Using census comparisons and demographic estimates, the author seeks to measure the scale of rural exodus and to distinguish it from natural population growth. The article shows that migration from the countryside to towns and major cities intensified over time, with marked regional differences and a growing concentration in the largest urban centers. It argues that rural exodus is both a symptom of structural imbalance and a major development issue, requiring stronger rural policies rather than being treated as a purely demographic phenomenon.

The Crisis Of Moroccan Agriculture: State Strategy And Alternatives, Mohamed Raki

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

The article analyzes the structural crisis of Moroccan agriculture by linking slow production growth to rising food dependence and the increasing weight of agricultural imports. It criticizes the state’s technical choices, especially the heavy emphasis on dam-based irrigation and forms of modernization that favored selected sectors while leaving much of basic food production and small-scale farming behind. The author reviews the limits of hydro-agricultural investment, mechanization, and input-intensive modernization, and argues that these policies deepened external dependence and internal imbalances. In response, the paper calls for alternative development paths better suited to national needs, food security, and the realities of …