Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Who Should Be At The Table?: Veto Players And Peace Processes In Civil War, David E. Cunningham

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Civil wars contain a set of actors that have the ability to block settlement and continue the war on their own. When they contain more “veto players,” conflicts are much longer and negotiations are more likely to break down. The rate of success of international efforts to resolve multi-party civil wars is much lower than when there is only one rebel group fighting the government. This article discusses implications for peacemakers designing responses to conflicts with multiple veto players. Negotiations in these conflicts are most likely to lead to a peace agreement that successfully ends the war if they include …

Deceptive Results: Why Mediation Appears To Fail But Actually Succeeds, Scott Sigmund Gartner

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

International disputes receiving third-party mediation are less likely to result in peace treaties than those negotiated bilaterally between the disputants. When belligerents do settle, mediated agreements are more likely to fail. Is mediation detrimental to conflict resolution? No. Third-party mediation represents a highly effective, but costly, means of peacemaking. Disputants recognize its costs and only employ mediation when they are unable to resolve a conflict between themselves, creating a “selection effect.” As a result, mediators are selected for the toughest cases – those least likely to end peacefully and mostly likely to result in fragile agreements. When the difficulty of …

Research On Bias In Mediation: Policy Implications, Isak Svensson

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

One of the most important and disputed questions within the field of international mediation concerns the issue of bias. The question of bias cuts to the core of what mediation is and the ways in which mediators can help the parties reach peace. Focusing on research on the role of neutrality and bias in international peace diplomacy in civil wars, this article draws out the policy implications of my own empirically-based work on the role of bias in the mediation of internal armed conflicts. This article suggests that neutrality should not be part of the definition of mediators, …

The Lack Of Coordination In Diplomatic Peacemaking, Birger Heldt

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

The increased number of peacemaking actors during the past twenty years is accompanied by an increased amount of peacemaking, but also a low success rate. This article focuses on recent emerging conflicts. It finds that peacemaking is prevalent, but is often not coordinated with regard to choice of tools (mediation, arbitration, etc.), or the agenda or the issues of the talks. This lack of coordination has for many years been recognized as detrimental and may partly explain the low success rate. The article suggests that policymakers need to have a long-term strategy to address the coordination problem, part of which …

Foreword, I. William Zartman

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Translating Scholarship Into Policy, Scott Sigmund Gartner, Amy C. Gaudion

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

There is an ever widening gap between conflict resolution policy makers and scholars—a tragedy given practitioners’ dire need for new ideas to help resolve deadly conflicts and the growing knowledge researchers have to share. Research tends to swing like a pendulum between analytic and rigorous methods and accessible and relevant approaches. We reject this tradeoff. We believe that research can be simultaneously rigorous and relevant, and analytic and accessible. Given the devastating loss of life associated with armed conflict, the need for translating research results into policy prescriptions is especially strong in peacemaking. The goal of this issue of the …

Lagos Poster, Ricardo Lagos

Symposium on Peacebuilding and Justice

Poster promoting the Lagos lecture

Future Tense: Technology Trends Affecting Libraries, Jay Jordan

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

No abstract provided.

Hubs And Centers As Transitional Change Strategy For Library Collaboration, Julie Speer, Brian Mathews, Tyler Walters

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Libraries of science and technology universities worldwide are adapting to a changing environment where cyberinfrastructure, eResearch, and new technology-intensive approaches to teaching and learning are transforming the very nature of universities. While many have adopted new technologies and the resources and expertise to manage them, this is only an initial step. Libraries are experimenting with organizational models that will transform their work capacity and expertise. The goal of these libraries is being an entity that feeds and produces collaborative synergies between faculty, students, information professionals, and technologists. Virginia Tech, among the top research universities in the United States, and its …

Meeting The Users’ Needs In The Access To Information: Effective Collaboration For Developing And Delivering New User-Centered Information Services, Ilona Trtíková, Lenka Němečková, Marta Machytková

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

University library needs to learn how to work with new models of scholarly communication and react on new challenges in the global knowledge environment within and outside the university community. This paper introduces electronic tools and services based upon a close cooperation and intensive feedback from the researchers and teachers, which have been introduced by the library for the enhancement of the electronic information resources use and for building a digital space for communicating information.

Based on the idea of alerting services and using simple and generally easy-to-setup RSS technology, the Central Library of the Czech Technical University in Prague …

Transliteracy At A Technical University – An Institution-Wide Collaboration In Practice, Caroline Leiss

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Information literacy has been strongly challenged by fundamental and continuing changes in the digital age and in the way students and researchers learn and work. New media types, collective data storage and information sharing made it necessary to extend information literacy from the capability to search and obtain information to producing, storing, and sharing it – involving fundamental technical skills and an understanding of the digital world.

Transliteracy – along with other terms such as digital literacy, 21century skills, and media literacy – aims at conceptualizing these new trends. At the same time transliteracy even in its most elaborate sense …

Creation Of A Digital African Archive Through Collaboration, Pierre Malan

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Sabinet facilitates collaboration between various role players in the African region in an effort to create the most comprehensive collection of African research content in the world. By collaborating with publishers, libraries and faculty at institutions, Sabinet is bringing together full-text content published in journals and institutional repositories, on a single and easily accessible platform.

The initiative was started in 1998 with a project to collect and make available African journal content online. The aim was, for the first time, to create a central full-text collection of journal content containing important African research across a number of fields, including medical, …

Library-Faculty-Vendor Partnership To Create Stem Digital Learning Activities, Dianna Magnoni, Jackie Laplaca Ricords

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Olin College of Engineering’s Library staff set a 2013 academic year goal to transform their instructional program. Grounded in ACRL standards and ABET accreditation criteria, the program would become workshop-based, combining classroom experiences with digital exercises and tools.

Library Director Magnoni began work with a materials science faculty member to design a research rubric for the digital exercise. Following a brainstorming session, a broad outline was created. Magnoni turned the outline into a diagram, and then created the initial exercise as well as a set of research tips for use with the course subject guide. Both the faculty member and …

Collaborating To Develop Research Data Management Services And Collections, Martin Borchert, Stephanie Bradbury, Philippa Broadley

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Library, like many other academic and research institution libraries in Australia, has been collaborating with a range of academic and service provider partners to develop a range of research data management services and collections. Three main strategies are being employed and an overview of process, infrastructure, usage and benefits is provided of each of these service aspects.

The development of processes and infrastructure to facilitate the strategic identification and management of QUT developed datasets has been a major focus. A number of Australian National Data Service (ANDS) sponsored projects - including Seeding the Commons; …

Bagan Mural Project – Building A Robust Digital Library On Wordpress, Chia Yew Boon, Ng Kiak Peng

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

With the advent of powerful computing devices, ubiquitous connectivity and affordable gadgets, a large amount of research data is produced every day. In the Bagan Mural project, a history professor had taken many photographs of the mural paintings in the temples of Bagan in the course of her field trips. These photographs are simply stored in her computer folders and are therefore not easily searchable or shareable. Ideally, these photographs should be made available online and come with descriptions to provide users with a perspective on the meaning behind the murals. Over one year, NTU librarians collaborated with the professor …

The Santa Clara, 2013-04-18, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Oral History Interview With Annie Koh: Growing Smu, Annie Koh

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, risks of joining a new university, roles and responsibilities, financial markets and institutions course, executive and professional education, collaboration, Wharton School, business cases, International Trading Institute, commodities trading, Masters in Wealth Management, Office of Business Development and External Relations.

Biography: Vice President for Business Development and External Relations, SMU, 2000–present

Annie Koh is Vice President for Business Development and External Relations at the Singapore Management University (SMU). An Associate Professor of Finance, Annie also holds the position Academic Director of The Financial Training Institute (FTI), Center for Professional Studies (CPS), International Trading Institute …

Spartan Daily April 18, 2013, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily (School of Journalism and Mass Communications)

Volume 140, Issue 40

Fearless: V Rosenberger And Tori Reynolds, Veronica B. Rosenberger, Victoria J. Reynolds

SURGE

“Getting Out,” the compelling prison drama by Marsha Norman, is opening tonight at 7:30pm on Kline Theater at Gettysburg, and bringing this play to life are two very fearless women. [excerpt]

Educational Uses For The Ipad, Philip G. Swan Jr.

Publications and Research

These are bullet points of a talk regarding iPad apps suitable for use in higher education.

Authoritarianism And Immigration Attitudes, Jessica Biggs, Dr. Christopher Karpowitz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to study whether exposing survey participants to information about immigration change will affect participants with high levels of authoritarianism. This project focused on whether individuals with high levels of authoritarianism will have higher levels of cognitive dissonance when presented with information about change and increasing immigrant populations.

The Remittance Intentions Of Second-Generation Ghanaian-Americans, Kirstie Kwarteng

Capstone Collection

Remittances have become an integral part of economies all over the Global South and Ghana is no exception. Official accounts estimate that remittances to Ghana have been as high as US $1 billion a year, although the true number is likely to be much higher as funds are also remitted through informal channels. This is a significant inflow of foreign currency, sent almost completely by first generation Ghanaian immigrants abroad. To maintain this level of inflows over the long run, however, would require that second-generation Ghanaian immigrants continue to remit at the same level as their parents. This study examines …

Artists In Residence (Fa 609), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 609. Project conducted in Bourbon, Boyd, Breckenridge, Caldwell, Christian, McCreary and Union counties to identify and utilize local folk artists within school programs. Materials include project reports, artist rosters and helps for using folklore within the classroom. This collection, while making reference to the larger program, only includes specific programming information for Caldwell and Christian counties.

Welfare To Votes: Does Tanf Depress Political Participation?, Taylor Bambas Rosecrans, Dr. Christopher Karpowittz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my study is to find a link between government welfare programs and the political participation of recipients. This kind of study is called a policy feedback analysis. It examines a public policy to see what effect it had on human behavior. There is basis for this sort of research in political science. One highly respected work that was one of the first policy feedback studies was Suzanne Mettler’s book “Soldiers to Citizens” (2005). Mettler found that after WWII, the G.I. bill helped former soldiers to feel like highly valued citizens, funding their education and inspiring them to …

Plasticity In Glutamate Neurotransmission To Midbrain Gaba Neurons By Ethanol, Jennifer Mabey, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The aim of my ORCA grant was to better under the addictive pathway of ethanol (EtOH) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain. The VTA contains several neuron types that release different neurotransmitters, but the type I experimented with was γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. GABA neurons regulate dopamine (DA) neurons in the VTA by inhibiting DA release but when the GABA neurons are inhibited, DA neurons are hyperexcitable and therefore have an increased DA release in the VTA. I originally sought out to see if nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) present …

Emotion-Related Conflict Adaptation In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Daniel Bjornn, Dr. Michael Larson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Conflict adaptation is a neurological process that reflects the adjustment of performance on tasks when conflict is detected on previous trials. Conflict in this instance refers to the simultaneous activation of multiple response options. When conflict is detected, such as on an incongruent trial on Stroop task where the word “red” is written in green ink, there is an increase in the recruitment of cognitive resources to overcome the conflict and make the correct answer. Such increased recruitment of cognitive resources allows for improved performance on incongruent trials that follow other incongruent trials (Gratton, Coles, & Donchin, 1992). The behavioral …

Gender And The Hindsight Bias: An Economic Experiment, Jacqueline Andros, Dr. Joseph Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Hindsight bias, or the psychological tendency to think that we “knew it all along,” has been studied for over fifty years but no study has yet thoroughly documented the specific role that gender plays in an individual’s susceptibility to this effect. This is somewhat surprising, since the existing literature on gender differences in other potentially related respects, such as competitiveness and overconfidence, is extensive. I conducted a questionnaire-based behavioral experiment to test two hypotheses: first, that male subjects are more prone to hindsight bias than female subjects; and second, that male subjects are better at correcting for their personal level …

An Exploration Of Men's Attitudes Regarding Depression And Help-Seeking, Brian Paul Cole

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Despite significantly higher risk of suicide and co-morbid substance abuse, college age men are far less likely than college age women to seek help when depressed (ACHA, 2010). This “gender gap” has led researchers to suggest that college men are experiencing a mental health crisis (Davies, Shen-Miller, & Isacco, 2010). Several theories have been suggested for this gender gap including: (a) barriers caused by male gender socialization, (b) inaccurate diagnostic criteria, and (c) men experience different symptoms when depressed (Cochran, 2005; Levin & Sanacora, 2007). Additionally, the current researcher hypotheses that fear of femininity is a core aspect of the …

Sex Ratios And Gender Role Perceptions, Elizabeth A. Boger

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research investigated whether altering perceived sex ratios, defined as the number of men per 100 women, influenced gender role perceptions among college students. The specific area of interest within sex ratios was the effect of high versus low sex ratios. Existing work on the topic of sex ratios focused on demographic data.

The focus of these studies was the impact of changing sex ratios on the individual, specifically participants’ perceptions of romance, dating and women’s gender roles. I hypothesized that for high sex ratios, participants would endorse statements of traditional dating and romance schemes, traditional women’s roles, and socially …

The Effects Of Parallax Scrolling On User Experience And Preference In Web Design, Dede M. Frederick

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

Parallax scrolling is becoming an increasingly popular strategy in web design. In addition to its ability to engage users with a website, advocates of the technique argue that it also improves the overall user experience. This study was therefore conducted to investigate whether parallax scrolling can support these claims.

Researchers have attributed a pleasurable user experience to the fulfillment of the following variables: usability, satisfaction, enjoyment, fun and visual appeal. The goal of this study was to establish whether or not parallax scrolling can influence these variables and subsequently the user experience.

Eighty six individuals were randomly selected and assigned …