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Conference Calls Volume 1

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A selection of Conference Calls which should be of interest to our readers.

Book Reviews Volume 1, Carlos Fernandes

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A selection of book reviews submitted to the Journal

Buddhism In The United States: An Ethnographic Study, Jaeyeon Choe, John Mcnally

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper focuses on Buddhism in America, an neglected area of inquiry in anthropological study. There is a need for modern ethnographic studies to shed light on historical issues, paradigms for comparative inquiry, and thus, explore the impact of Buddhism on modern American society (Glazier, 1997). The enormous growth of Buddhism in the last quarter century (Smith, 2002) makes this an especially pertinent topic in American anthropology. We utilize Glazier’s model to add Buddhism as a topic in the area of modernity studies.

This is a preliminary study of the nature of Buddhism in America. We conducted participant observation with …

Via Francigena Mountain Itineraries: The Case Of Piacenza Valleys, Stefania Cerutti, Ilaria Dioli

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism has experienced a strong growth in recent years. It represents a complex and articulate phenomenon, in which the reasons and proposals related to the devotional and personal sphere are combined with a series of innovative opportunities that help reach a depth knowledge of a territory. The religious motive often means that pilgrims travel along specific routes to visit a number of shrines or even to complete lengthy itineraries. Increasingly, purely religious motives are becoming mixed with more secular forms of religious tourism, which often centre around specific religious sites. In this perspective, faith itineraries can be interpreted as …

A New Pilgrimage In Portugal: Following The Steps Of Saint Nuno, Carla Braga, Margarida Soares, Miguel Brito

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism is an ever-changing reality. Pilgrimages need different stimuli to attract new followers. In this context we propose to create an itinerary following the steps of Saint Nuno of Santa Maria, canonized in 2009. Nuno Álvares Pereira was the real name of Saint Nuno, who was granted the title Constable of Portugal, and became a historic legend in the independence wars of Portugal during the political crisis of 1383-1385. After fighting against the power of Castile (Spain) he decided to devote his life to religion as a Carmelite Friar. He represents the perfect hero of the Middle Ages - associating …

The Sacred Economy: Devotional Objects As Sacred Presence For German Catholics In Aachen And Trier, 1832-1937, Skye Doney

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

There is a long-standing tradition within western Germany of religious journey, and more pertinent to this paper, of pilgrims requesting Andenken (remembrances) when they could not physically attend pilgrimages. In the following essay, I analyze pilgrim correspondence sent to the Catholic Pilgrimage Committees, groups of clerics who facilitated pilgrimage to Aachen and Trier, Germany. I argue that Catholic pilgrims participated in an ‘economy of the sacred’ through their requests for and use of various pilgrimage objects; including, commemorative cards, medals, and rosaries. Within this economy wealth, worth, and merit were determined by an item’s physical proximity to the relics of …

A Scalar Comparison Of Motivations And Expectations Of Experience Within The Religious Tourism Market, Daniel H. Olsen

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Academic studies on tourism market segmentation have decreased in scale over time, with the focus on tourist segmentation changing from segmenting the market as a whole to segmenting specific tourism niche markets. This change in scale can also be seen in how academics have attempted to segment the religious tourism market moving from discussions related to the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy to segmenting visitors based on religious affiliation to world regions and countries to specific religious activities such as religious festivals and infrastructural amenities such as hotels. In this paper the author, following Wall’s (1997) discussion of the spatial characteristics of tourist …

The Pilgrimage To The San Nicola Shrine In Bari And Its Impact, Katia Rizzello, Anna Trono

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is defined as a journey to the Holy but more specifically as an inner journey to one’s deepest religious feelings. This type of journey has assumed new forms and types that bring it closer to modern tourism in general, though it maintains its distinctive characteristics, which will be the object of this paper. These changes in the nature of pilgrimage, which in part reflect the parallel socio-cultural transformation of the average visitor, have brought about a major reorganisation of the places involved and have had a significant socio-economic impact on the territories involved. The concentration of visitors and in …

Faith Tourism: For A Healthy Environment And A More Sensitive World, Veena Sharma

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The domain of the ‘religious’ / ‘spiritual’ has become a significant source of revenue production for the tourism industry . Faith-based tourism seems to draw increasing numbers of people who wish to travel not just for leisure, or pleasure, but in search of personal meaning and fulfilment in a postmodern capitalist world.

Though undertaken as a physical journey, pilgrimage seems to be embedded in the traveller’s wish for some kind of personal transformation. The journey is often distinguished from regular travel through its inherent call for a letting-go, be it of mental constructs, pathologies, personal and social conditioning, artefacts, logic …

How Long Does The Pilgrimage Tourism Experience To Santiago De Compostela Last?, Lucrezia Lopez

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism and pilgrimage are different social phenomena (Cohen, 1992; Collins-Kreiner, 2010a); tourism is more secular than pilgrimage, which is mainly a sacred journey (Barber, 2001). In spite of this, both indicate a ‘movement’; so that tourists and pilgrims are ‘foreigners, travellers and strangers’ (Smith, 1992) who look for authentic experiences (Collins-Kreiner, 2010a). The question: ‘What kind of Experience Pilgrimage is?’ has many answers. From a social point of view, pilgrims are free from social obligations; they share the same destination and the same social status. Because of this, the anthropologists Turner and Turner (1978) defined pilgrimage as an anti-structural experience …

Introducing The International Journal Of Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Welcome and Introduction to the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The Santa Clara, 2014-02-13, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Levered Etfs, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Levered ETFs are designed to track a particular benchmark, but in an exaggerated fashion. For example, the Pro Shares Ultra S&P500 (SS0) is a 2X fund, meaning its performance should be twice the level of the index. However, this performance only matches short term. In particular, since volatility reduces compounded returns, levered funds "lose" performance through time. In fact, some funds may actually produce a negative buy-and-hold return during even if the underlying benchmark was positive. Unfortunately, many retail investors are flocking to these funds without understanding their risks. (See article here, Reuters.)

Direct Marketing, Igor Skender, Dr. Kristen B. Detienne

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Direct marketing, as a profit making tool, was introduced in the United States and Europe just a few decades ago. It became widely spread in our society with its presence especially accentuated in the advertising field. This type of marketing has forever revolutionized the way consumers shop as well as the business world as a whole.

Applying The Kano Model To Service Recovery Quality, Jeremy Stowell, Dr. Kristie Seawright

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Successful firms that practice TQM have adopted the philosophy “the customer is king.” (2) Service firms would like to provide their customers with quality service in every transaction. However, mistakes in service related businesses are inevitable because of the high degree of customer contact.

Summary Of Analysis And Marketing Plan Prepared For A Haitian Handicraft Company, Christian Syphus, Dr. Christopher Meek

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The economic and political instability of Haiti has rendered it “the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and its only least-developed country” (1). Familiar with social unrest due to military takeovers and high unemployment, Haitian leadership has struggled to provide consistency for its citizens since Haiti became the first black independent nation in 1804. The future of Haiti depends on the ability of its leaders to discover solutions to bring it successfully into the 21st century.

Results Of The January Survey Of Nebraska Business: February 12, 2014, Eric Thompson, Shannon Mcclure, Mihdi Vahedi

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Summary: Respondents to the January Survey of Nebraska Business were cautious in their outlook for sales and employment at their own business. More respondents expected sales to decline (29%) than rise (21%) in the next six months while slighly more expected to add employees (7%) than to reduce employees (6%). When asked about the most important issue facing their business, half of businesses named ongoing business concerns such as customer demand, competition, the costs of goods and services and labor availability and quality. But, nearly as many businesses named public policy concerns including taxes, the Affordable Care Act and other …

What Is Socially Responsible Business?, Kevin Pestinger

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is becoming increasingly apparent in the world of business that companies have to address the issue of social responsibility. Consumers have begun to demand, with both their purchases and their investment dollars, that companies start to account for their impacts on numerous social issues such as poverty, unemployment, the environment, and world peace. As information becomes readily available to the masses, people recognize the disparity between those whom business should serve and those whom business does serve. The future of business does not lie in the maximization of profits for the owners at the expense of society, but rather …

A Retail Location Spreadsheet Simulation, Todd Mccauley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The key to success In retail is a good store location. Several models have been developed to help retailers determine optimal store locations. This project is a store location simulation for a QuatroPro spreadsheet. The model is based on the Huffs Gravity Model, a well-known retail model, which states-in part-that a store’s revenues are based on its proximity to population centers.

Developing Food Provenance In The 'Boyne Valley', Dermot Seberry

Other resources

A presentation on how Best Practice Food Tourism Initiative can be used across Ireland

Theatre Department To Present Into The Woods, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

2014-February-11-Etsu To Host North Carolina Poet Thomas Rain Crowe, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

Tips As An Asset Class: Implications For Asset Allocation, Alexander Hardt

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

2014-February-11-Eastman Credit Union, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

Reducing Conflict And Violence In Hospitality Establishments., James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

Bar owners and staff members must be more concerned about safety and security issues. This is the result of a variety of factors, most notably recent legislative changes at national and international level and the subsequent high costs of assaults (including costs relating to litigation and compensation). Poor health, safety and security standards place staff members and customers at risk of serious injury if not death; employers suffer in terms of lost productivity and potentially higher premiums and the morale of the staff, as well as the industrial relations climate in the bar, can be adversely affected. At a minimum, …

New England Seaweed Culture Handbook, Sarah Redmond, Lindsay Green, Charles Yarish, Jang Kim, Christopher Neefus

Seaweed Cultivation

A new 92-page handbook published by Connecticut Sea Grant provides instruction on nursery culture for four economically and ecologically valuable seaweeds. The volume builds on decades of research on the physiological and culture techniques led by Dr. Charles Yarish at UConn and Dr. Christopher Neefus, U. of New Hampshire.

The Huntsman Post, February 2014, Usu Jon M. Huntsman School Of Business

Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Huntsman Post Issues Collection

Monthly newsletter for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Lindenwood University To Host Grant Writing Basics Workshops, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Russian Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the Winter Olympics finally underway is it possible that the American journalists, if we can use that term in these circumstances, will be able to write about something other than the failure of Russia to be the United States? Having traveled to Russia multiple times since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I have witnessed the remarkable transformation of this society. Caught in a time warp created by the failure of the Soviet Union, the standard of living of the average Russian trailed behind that of most of Western Europe and the United States. The Soviet Union was not …

Creation Of An Instruction Manual In Portuguese To Teach Principles Of Computer Aided Design, Richard Kendall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The financial support awarded to me helped contribute to one of the greatest experiences of my life. My main goal for my project was to effectively help an architectural company by teaching them the techniques of computer-aided design (CAD).