Sociology Commons^™

Lengua, Conocimiento Y Continuidad Cultural: Contextos De La Educación Avanzada Del Maya Kaqchikel, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Resumen. La revitalización de las lenguas indígenas ha dejado de concebirse exclusivamente como una estrategia de preservación lingüística para convertirse en un campo de reflexión sobre la continuidad de los sistemas de conocimiento, las pedagogías comunitarias y la diversidad epistémica. En este contexto, el presente ensayo analiza Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela': An Advanced Kaqchikel Maya Language Textbook como una propuesta educativa que trasciende la enseñanza avanzada del idioma kaqchikel para constituirse en un modelo de producción comunitaria del conocimiento. A partir del diálogo con la literatura sobre epistemologías indígenas, antropología lingüística y revitalización lingüística, se sostiene que la organización temática …

Expanding The Cognitive Attentional Standards Platform Through Artificial Influence Assessment (Aia): Rationale, Development, And Measurement Design, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping how individuals access information, make decisions, and interact with digital environments. The Cognitive Attentional Standards Platform (C.A.S.) was developed to assess attention related harms, cognitive safety, digital autonomy, and platform influence across digital systems (Clark, 2026). However, the growth of generative AI, conversational agents, and algorithmic decision support technologies has introduced new forms of influence that may not be fully captured by existing assessment domains. This paper proposes the Artificial Influence Assessment (AIA) as an expansion of the C.A.S. framework designed to measure AI mediated influence on cognition, behavior, autonomy, and information processing. Drawing on …

Governing Algorithmic Attention: Attention Safeguard Models And The Cognitive Attentional Standard As System Level Interventions In Human Computer Interaction, Behavioral Economics, And Artificial Intelligence, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Algorithmic recommendation systems and interface designs shape attention by combining visually salient cues with uncertain reward timing and low friction interaction. These conditions can sustain anticipatory checking, extend time on task, and reduce natural disengagement points through patterns such as infinite scrolling and autoplay. This paper synthesizes research across neuroscience, human computer interaction, behavioral economics, and artificial intelligence to argue that attention capture is a predictable outcome of incentive driven design rather than an individual failure of self regulation. It advances the Attention Safeguard Models and the Cognitive Attentional Standard as system level interventions that regulate exposure conditions, pacing, and …

Character Education Across School Contexts: A Qualitative Study Of High- And Regular-Performing Schools In Indonesia, Heri Retnawati, Zurqoni Zurqoni, Mukhamad Ilyasin, Hasan Djidu, Kartianom Kartianom, Ezi Apino

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study explores how character education is understood, organized, and enacted across two types of junior high schools in Indonesia: High-Performing Schools (HPS) and Regular-Performing Schools (RPS). Using semi-structured interviews with school leaders, teachers, parents, students, and school committee members from nine schools across three provinces, we examined how institutional conditions and relational practices shape the implementation of character education. Analysis generated four themes: variation in program management approaches, differences in implementation structures and stakeholder involvement, school inputs shaping program capacity, and community perceptions of character education outcomes. Findings show that HPS tend to institutionalize character education through structured …

Thinking Silence Otherwise: Toward A “Research Other” In Qualitative Research, Rosa Vázquez Recio

The Qualitative Report

Why ask about silence when it comes to research? This paper explores and analyzes how silence, unlike words and verbal expression, has received little attention in the data production process. Despite its different manifestations and meanings in social interactions and knowledge production, silence tends to be overlooked, ignored, or silenced. We focus on analyzing how we relate silence to evidence-based research to describe the “non-places” of silence in qualitative research, addressing controversies and issues. We propose a “research other,” grounded in decolonial approaches and Southern and feminist epistemologies, to argue for the inclusion of silence in the research process. …

A Multi-Stakeholder Perception Model Of Study Tour Resources: A Grounded Theory Study, Zhao Junming, Diana Mohamad

The Qualitative Report

Understanding stakeholders’ perceptions of study tour resources is essential for improving resource planning, enhancing program quality, and fostering more sustainable tourism practices. In this study, "study tour resources" refers to the educational, cultural, natural, and service elements, among others, that support experiential learning during organized study tour activities. This study addresses the research question: What are the key dimensions of stakeholders’ perceptions of study tour resources, and how do these dimensions interact to form a coherent perception model? Our study endeavors to construct a comprehensive perception model of stakeholders regarding study tour resources. To achieve this end, guided by constructivist …

K4) Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage Inscription: End Of The Road Or A New Beginning?, Michał Duda, Bogdan Włodarczyk, Marzena Makowska-Iskierka

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

The aim of paper is to examine the changes triggered by the inscription of religious traditions on intangible cultural heritage lists - the national level and at the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Such inscriptions generate transformations observable at heritage sites, among communities safeguarding these traditions, and in the behaviours of visitors - phenomena referred to as the “UNESCO effect.” These changes often extend beyond individual sites, inspiring other communities and heritage bearers to seek heritage recognition.

The paper focuses on religious cultural heritage associated with the tradition of creating floral carpets for the Feast of Corpus Christi in Spycimierz, …

K1) Negotiating The Sacred: Religious Sensitivities Within Contemporary Tourism Practices, Polyxeni G. Moira Dr

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This study critically analyses ways of managing religious sensitivities in the contemporary tourism environment, focusing on the dynamic intersections between religious-cultural heritage, spirituality, and the visitor experience. Recognizing the diversity of tourist motivations—which range from traditional pilgrimage to purely cultural, historical, or educational pursuits—the study argues for the need for flexible models of governance. These models must strike a delicate balance between the accessibility of sacred sites and the necessary respect for their sanctity.

Through a thorough review of the interventions of international organizations (such as UNESCO, UNWTO, and ICCROM) and the analysis of good practice studies from various continents, …

L3) Drawing, Religious Experience And The Pilgrim’S Mind, Stephen F. Haller

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

While some tourism activities can be a positive obstacle to awareness and connection, other tourism activities, like drawing, can lead to inner development, wonder, and a heightened experience. A traveller’s activity of sketching and drawing is a meditative exercise in concentration and focus that can transform one’s experience and enhance their perception. It often facilitates the experience of connection to the place being drawn; to nature; and to a community. If developed as a frequent habit, drawing can be a character-building activity with virtues that continue even after the act of drawing is over. It is a method of altering …

L2) More Than Faith: Self-Fulfilment As A Key Driver Of Memorable Religious Tourism, Sau Ying Pamela Ho, Jing (Bill) Xu

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

While traditional perspectives on religious tourism often emphasize faith as the primary motivator, this study challenges that assumption, revealing that the pursuit of self-fulfilment is a more powerful and significant driver of memorable visitor experiences. This research delves into the psychological underpinnings of pilgrimage, seeking to understand what transforms a simple visit into a profoundly impactful journey that enhances a visitor’s sense of self-worth.

To investigate these dynamics, the study adopted the ABC Model of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT). This framework posits that an Activating event (visiting a religious attraction) triggers an individual’s internal Belief system (religiosity and self-fulfilment), …

L1) Religious Tourism In Islam: Between Spiritual Purpose And Sincere Intention, Tariq Elhadary, Razaq Raj

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This study explores religious tourism in Islam through the interrelated concepts of spiritual purpose and sincere intention. It argues that the Islamic understanding of religious experience extends beyond physical travel or the visitation of sacred sites, grounding its value in the inner dimension of faith. Islam prioritizes the essence of actions over their outward form, establishing conviction of the heart before verbal affirmation and physical practice. Accordingly, intention serves as the primary criterion for assessing the validity, acceptance, and spiritual completeness of deeds. Religious journeys such as Hajj, Umrah, and visits to holy sites therefore attain their authentic significance when …

K3) From Sacred Landscape To Pilgrimage Environment: The Case Of Monte San Giorgio And Mendrisio, Lorenzo Cantoni, Adine Gavazzi

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Across Europe, numerous historic pilgrimage landscapes no longer function as dominant religious destinations, yet devotional practices persist in fragmented, latent, or reinterpreted forms. Pilgrimage however appears to be undergoing a process of transformation within postsecular communities, where spiritual meaning coexists with heritage tourism, community identity, and cultural landscape management. Building on religious tourism studies, pilgrimage is understood as mobility toward sacred sites as well as a ritual process embedded in tradition, motivation, and lived experience (Griffin & Raj 2017). Contemporary scholarship emphasises that pilgrimage preserve the experiential and relational practice linking people, landscape and belief systems, while fighting the tourist …

K2) (Over) Tourism And Tolkien’S Doors Of Durin: Challenges And Opportunities For St Edward’S Local Parish Church, Ruth Dowson, Karen Wellman

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper considers the impacts of overtourism on the local parish church in the English Cotswolds that allegedly inspired Tolkien’s Doors of Durin (Lord of the Rings), and which was also the location of the ending of the English Civil War in the 17th Century. As a convenient stopping place for coaches, the picturesque village of Stow-on-the-Wolds has numerous tea shops; its unique historical and literary connections have made St Edwards Parish Church into a destination for approximately 200,000 visitors a year (the equivalent of ten coaches every day). This research project assesses the visitors’ footprint: demographics; where they come …

J1) Reorienting The Pilgrim-Tourist Dichotomy, Daniel H. Olsen

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Over the past decade, the pilgrim–tourist dichotomy, originally articulated by Smith (1992), has come under sustained scrutiny, particularly in light of postmodern critiques that problematize rigid dualisms and emphasize the fluidity of personal identity. Scholars have long debated the usefulness of this binary framework. On one hand, some have sought to refine the dichotomy by inserting additional categories along a spectrum, attempting to capture the nuances between pilgrims and tourists. On the other hand, many critics have dismissed the model’s analytical utility entirely, often without offering a concrete alternative to understand the distinctions between these two types of travelers.

This …

J2) Whose Sacredness? A Systematized Review Of Theoretical Grounding And Social Representation In Tourism Studies, Ana Maria Candell Saldarreaga, Silvia Aulet

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper presents a critical and systematized literature review of how sacred spaces and sites are conceptualized within tourism studies. Although research increasingly engages with religious, spiritual, heritage, and secular sites, the concept of 'sacredness' is frequently employed without explicit definition or consistent theoretical grounding, often leading to an analytical ambiguity between traditional devotion and contemporary heritage consumption. Consequently, the central question this study addresses is: In what ways is tourism scholarship conceptualizing sacrality, and what is being overlooked in the process. To address this, the study examines dominant disciplinary perspectives, the types of spaces analysed, and the positioning of …

I3) The Apparitions Of Notre Dame Du Lac (Our Lady Of The Lake) In Togo: Or The Roman Church's Strategy In Africa, Pierre Fournié, Henri Dou

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

"Our Lady of the Lake. Mother of Mercy”, reads the inscription on the statue of Virgin Mary. Overlooking Lake Togo, visible from many points within the Marian shrine, it symbolizes the devotion that illuminates the site since its inauguration in November 1973. The weakest, the poorest, those who suffer come here seeking the care and protection. Since the Virgin was seen by villagers above the waters in 1971, and the visit of Pope John Paul II consecrating the place in 1985, the sanctuary welcomes every year on the shores of Lake Togo, thousands of believers, faithful, curious people, but also …

J3) The Autopoiesis Of Pilgrimage Tourism: How Cruise Passengers Self-Organise Transformational Meaning In Mass Tourism, Taja Macek, Tadeja Jere Jakulin

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Modern cruise tourism presents a theoretical paradox for the Mediterranean basin. Every year, millions of passengers sail along maritime routes that follow ancient pilgrimage routes. They head towards Rome, the Holy Land, and the coastal approaches to Lourdes, Santiago, and Montserrat. All this takes place within one of the most operationally regulated and commercially standardised forms of mass tourism. Even within this structural rigidity, travellers regularly report profound personal transformation, spiritual encounters, and meaning-making that are strikingly reminiscent of traditional pilgrimage narratives (Collins-Kreiner, 2010; Olsen & Timothy, 2006). This discrepancy between the system's design and the individual's experience poses a …

I1) Ancient Pilgrimage Routes As Tools For Durable Territorial Development: Insights From The Camino De Santiago And The Via Francigena, Maria Laura Gasparini

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Pilgrimage is a practice common to all major religions, involving a journey undertaken for spiritual or religious purposes towards a sacred site (Smith, 1992). Considered a forerunner of modern tourism (Di Giovine & Elsner, 2016; pilgrimage today is experiencing a notable phase of rejuvenation (Collins-Kreiner, 2016), increasingly marked by personal quests for meaning and spirituality (Trono, 2015). Beyond its religious and spiritual dimension, pilgrimage has been revitalised globally as a form of outdoor and slow tourism. The growing development of both historical and contemporary routes has captured the attention of policymakers, who increasingly recognise their potential for fostering local development, …

I2) Unlocking The Potential Of Pilgrimage Tourism For Post War Tourism Recovery: Evidence From Tigray, Ethiopia, Asefash Dejine Asefash Ayallew, Silvia Aulet

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This study examines the role of pilgrimage tourism for supporting post conflict tourism recovery in Tigray, Ethiopia, with particular focus on the pilgrimage site of Saint Mary Axum Zion in the historic city of Axum. The region possesses rich religious and cultural heritage that has historically attracted large number of pilgrims and visitors.

The need for this study arises from the devastating Tigray war (2020–2023), which resulted the destruction of religious sites, looting of artifacts, collapse of tourism services and loss of livelihoods connected to the sector. However, despite these challenges several pilgrimage destinations have continued as important point of …

From Interpretation To Experience: Narrative As A Space Of Encounter With The Sacred In Religious Tourism, Tomasz Duda

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

No abstract provided.

H3) "Between Paths And Beliefs: Religious Tourism As A Tool For Cultural Understanding And Social Transformation", Maria Angelica Alvarez Orozco, Silvia Aulet

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

From the beginning of humanity, walking has been the way humankind has regained its equilibrium, creating a natural connection towards the path and what it represents. Pilgrimage was the first form of tourism to emerge thousands of years ago; in fact, the development of tourism cannot be understood without understanding the practice of pilgrimage since ancient times.

Therefore, this ongoing research, entitled "Between Paths and Beliefs: Religious tourism as a tool for cultural understanding and social transformation," aims to delve into the understanding of pilgrimage as a religious tourism itinerary that contributes to the transformation of individuals through travel. Through …

G4) Polish Pilgrimages In The Holy Year (Jubilee 2025): Structure, Scales And Directions, Elżbieta Bilska-Wodecka, Mohammed Jabar Yaqub

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Jubilee 2025 created a framework for intensified religious mobility in Europe and beyond. According to Vatican sources, more than 33 million pilgrims participated in Jubilee-related events. Official statistics are not yet available for all Jubilee celebrations. However, data from the Jubilee of Youth indicate that between 12,000 (official registrations) and approximately 20,000 (ecclesial estimates) participants came from Poland, placing Polish pilgrims among the most numerous foreign national groups present in Rome during this event.

Focusing on the Polish case, this paper analyses pilgrimage mobility during Jubilee 2025 through a multiscalar lens. While Rome represented the most symbolic global destination, Polish …

G2) Pilgrimage As Biographical Resource: A Process-Based Typology Of Camino De Santiago Pilgrims, Andreas Braun

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Research on the Camino de Santiago has predominantly classified pilgrims along single dimensions: by motivation before departure, by the type of experience encountered on the road, or by the meaning derived from the journey (Cohen, 1979; Brumec et al., 2023a). What has rarely been attempted is a typological approach that treats the full biographical trajectory from departure through experience and change to return as an integrated unit of analysis.

This article develops such a process-based typology. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of 588 open-ended written responses from German-speaking Camino pilgrims, it reconstructs six ideal-typical biographical configurations following the method of …

G3) Does A More Physically Demanding Pilgrimage Bring More Spirituality And Closeness To Faith, Jaffer Idris, Mohammed Jabar Yaqub

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

Pilgrimage is frequently associated with bodily hardship, often interpreted as a pathway to deeper spiritual transformation. This abstract examines whether physically challenging pilgrimages generate greater spiritual benefit than less demanding journeys, drawing on scholarship from religious studies, sociology, and pilgrimage tourism research. Historically, many traditions frame pilgrimage as an embodied practice involving endurance, sacrifice, and discipline. Within this framework, physical exertion can function as ritualized effort that encourages humility, reflection, and detachment from everyday routines. Scholars drawing on theories of liminality argue that demanding journeys intensify pilgrims’ awareness of vulnerability and transition, thereby supporting experiences of meaning, renewal, and transcendence …

H2) Governance At Religious/Cultural Tourism Destination Sites, Dino Bozonelos

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

A series of global factors have led scholars to renewed research into tourism governance, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, overtourism, quality of life issues, sustainability of tourism destination sites (WEF Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024; Vargas-Sánchez, 2023). In addition, there has been a gradual shift in approach to tourism policy literature from the notion of government to that of governance (Hall, 2012; Bramwell and Lane, 2012; Jamal and Camargo, 2018; Piva, et al, 2019; Bozonelos, 2023). Thus, governance is a central issue in tourism. Governance is described as the “act of governing”, or a focus on the …

G1) Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage In A Global Future World, Darius Liutikas

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper examines the evolving intersection between societal development and sacred mobility, focusing on how emerging technologies, as well as cultural and environmental changes, are reshaping religious and spiritual travel in the 21st century. As societal transformations become increasingly embedded in cultural, religious, and touristic practices, it is essential to understand how these changes are transforming the ways individuals plan, experience, and interpret pilgrimages and other forms of religious mobility. The paper begins with foundational concepts of religious travel and valuistic journeys, situating contemporary developments within broader theoretical frameworks of faith, mobility, and meaning-making.

Building on this foundation, the paper …

H1) The Communicative Dimension Of The Religious Event In The Event Management Of Contemporary Culture, Leticia Arráez

International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conferences

This paper addresses the renewed resurgence of religious spirituality in contemporary culture and its implications for the management and communication of institutional religious events. As Hoover (2025) observes, “individuals today construct identity and meaning through practices of cultural consumption”, prompting a reappraisal of the religious event as a transformative experience. Drawing on scholarship in religious communication and event management, alongside documents of the Catholic Church’s Magisterium, the study conceptualizes the religious event as a process that offers transcendence attuned to contemporary cultural codes. Within this framework, events in public spaces or along pilgrimage routes emerge as polyhedral realities where the …

Online Rights Defense Among Chinese Americans Against Racial Aggression In The U.S. During The Covid-19, Fangzhu Lu, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

This study investigates how Chinese American communities responded to heightened racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing social media platforms to safeguard their civil rights, articulate collective concerns, and mobilize resistance against racial aggression.

Methodology

Through qualitative case study analysis, the research examines the social media activities of six advocacy organizations, including three X accounts (WashTheHate, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Asian Americans Advancing Justice) and three Instagram accounts (Stop AAPI Hate, Stop Asian Hate, Advancing Justice: AAJC). The analysis focuses on the content strategies and communication mechanisms employed to counteract racial hostility.

Findings

The selected organizations used social …

From Maps To Meadows: Ecologically Literate Zoning And The Regeneration Of Wildlife Habitats, Jonathan Rosenbloom

Cleveland State Law Review

For more than a century, zoning has shaped the American landscape, often at the expense of wildlife and ecosystems. Rooted in legal doctrines that treated animals as property and nature as a raw material, zoning codes have fragmented habitats, erased migration corridors, and accelerated biodiversity loss. At the same time, federal protections are narrowing, leaving critical gaps in environmental governance. This Article argues that local governments possess both the authority and the obligation to respond. By embedding ecological principles into zoning—through conservation districts, wildlife corridor protections, wetland buffers, pollinator protections, dark skies, wildlife fencing, habitat restoration, and others—municipalities can transform …

Older Recent Widows’ Physical Activity Before And After Spouses’ Deaths A Qualitative Investigation Of The Impact Of Duration And Intensity Of Care Work And Social Support, Mary Theresa Pagan

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract This study investigates and expands understanding of how care work, widowhood, social support, and physical activity intersect in the lives of older recent widows. The study addresses three primary research questions examining the duration and intensity of care work, pre- and post-death social support, and factors that influenced widows’ physical activity before and after the death of their spouses. Thirty semi-structured, face-to-face interviews conducted with heterosexual widows aged 60 and older residing in Upstate New York who were widowed within 6–24 months prior to interview. Interviews explored care work experiences, social support, widowhood transitions, and both structured and non-structured …