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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Journal

2016

Agency

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Moral Call To Learn: A Qualitative Investigation Of Encounters With Unfamiliarity In Everyday Life, Jonathan S. Spackman, Stephen C. Yanchar, Edwin E. Gantt Nov 2016

The Moral Call To Learn: A Qualitative Investigation Of Encounters With Unfamiliarity In Everyday Life, Jonathan S. Spackman, Stephen C. Yanchar, Edwin E. Gantt

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study explored the moral aspects of learners’ “encounters with unfamiliarity” in their everyday experiences. The encounter with unfamiliarity, as a basic phenomenon within the conceptual framework of embodied familiarization, was investigated using a multiple case study approach (Stake, 2006). Findings from this study are presented first as brief case narratives and second as themes based on a cross-case analysis. Themes of the study point to the nature and significance of the encounter as a part of learning, often as an invitation with a kind of moral significance that called participants to learn, or not learn, in particular ways. …

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The Book Of Feral Flora By Amanda Ackerman & Skeena By Sarah De Leeuw, Emily Mcgiffin Aug 2016

The Book Of Feral Flora By Amanda Ackerman & Skeena By Sarah De Leeuw, Emily Mcgiffin

The Goose

Review of Amanda Ackerman's The Book of Feral Flora. Review of Sarah de Leeuw's Skeena.

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Insects Have Agency But Probably Not Sentience Because They Lack Social Bonding, J. H. Van Hateren Aug 2016

Insects Have Agency But Probably Not Sentience Because They Lack Social Bonding, J. H. Van Hateren

Animal Sentience

Klein & Barron (2016) argue that insects have sentience because of functional similarities between the insect brain and vertebrate midbrain. Based on a recent theory of agency and consciousness, I argue that the functional similarities merely point to an advanced form of agency. Insects presumably lack the capacity for social bonding that may be required for subjective experiencing.

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Words Matter: Discourse And Numeracy, Samuel L. Tunstall Jul 2016

Words Matter: Discourse And Numeracy, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

Here I discuss elements of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and their importance in relation to quantitative literacy (QL). Through an overview of theory, synthesis of research, and examples, I argue that the discursive nature of textbooks has a nontrivial impact on students' mathematical dispositions - an important component of QL. In particular, texts are a means of disseminating the culture of mathematics, one which has a tendency to paint mathematics as esoteric and male-dominated. Such a characterization has profound implications for the numeracy community, one of which is that we cannot assume that changes in curriculum are sufficient for effecting …

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Turning Atrocity Prevention Inside-Out: Community-Based Approaches To Preventing, Protecting, And Recovering From Mass Violence, Bridget Moix Feb 2016

Turning Atrocity Prevention Inside-Out: Community-Based Approaches To Preventing, Protecting, And Recovering From Mass Violence, Bridget Moix

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Abstract: This article reviews recent research and evolving practice of community-based approaches to preventing and mitigating mass violence. It considers growing evidence that externally driven international interventions in response to violence are failing due to a lack of recognition and support for local actors, and increasing research into locally-led efforts, such as community protection strategies, early warning and response systems, interreligious peacebuilding, and post-atrocity trauma healing. Drawing from examples from a wide range of cases, including Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia, and Sri Lanka, the article identifies key lessons for improving atrocity prevention policy and …

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From Object To Mediator: The Agency Of Documents, Sally Irvine-Smith Jan 2016

From Object To Mediator: The Agency Of Documents, Sally Irvine-Smith

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper takes as a starting point one particular development in social theory – the concept of mediation – and applies it to the document. Central to this discussion is a conceptualisation of documents as objects, albeit one which fails if we assume the document to be nothing more than a receptacle of content. Drawing from contemporary social theories which give mediating objects a pivotal role in human affairs, many researchers find that viewing documents as mediators allows us to concentrate on function over content. Indeed, evidence indicates that viewing documents as mediating objects is well accepted and largely unproblematic. …

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