Allyship and Social Support Networks: Examining Feelings of Safety and Confidence Among LGBTQ+ Sports Officials

For LGBTQ+ employees, research has indicated they feel othered, isolated, and unwelcome within their work communities. In other settings, social networks have been shown to provide stability and a sense of belonging that increases factors associated with mental health, such as self-care, stress moderation, and increased coping behaviors. Because of this, we examined the social networks of self-identified LGBTQ+ sports officials utilizing egocentric network analysis to better understand the influence of LGBTQ+ officials’ social networks on their feelings of safety and confidence and decisions to continue officiating. Participants responded to questions about people (alters) they considered to be allies in their role as a sports official. These responses yielded an egocentric network for each LGBTQ+ sports official. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine alter (Level 1) and ego (Level 2) attributes that explained variance in feelings of safety and confidence. Initial results indicate feelings of safety and confidence are explained by factors at both the alter (i.e., ally) and ego (i.e., individual) levels, highlighting the value of multilevel analyses to study sports officials’ experiences. Implications for helping sports administrators better understand the variables and impact allies can have on factors associated with the mental health and retention of LGBTQ+ sports officials are discussed

Exploring shared experiences as citizen sport diplomats: a collaborative self-ethnography

Research purpose: This study was a critical analysis of the lived experiences of three American university professors who served as volunteer citizen diplomats in a bi-lateral U.S. State Department sport exchange program with North Macedonian volleyball coaches. Research methods: With the aim of capturing the experience of serving as citizen sport diplomats and making sense of it to inform future practice, this research utilized a collaborative self-ethnography approach. This reflexive approach brings together: (a) analytic autoethnography as individuals themselves are engaged in the ethnography and study, and (b) collective ethnography as a team collects and makes sense of shared data regarding the same context and phenomena. Results and Findings: During the outbound exchange, we each created journal entries about our experiences, followed by daily discussion of entries, and highlighting possible emerging themes. This process was repeated nine times. The discussions were recorded and transcribed and we used a reflexive thematic approach to uncover the first three teams of Odyssey, Border Straddling, and Throwing Seeds/Planting Rows. Representative quotes for Brush Sets, the fourth theme, were identified using a deductive thematic analysis approach. Implications: Our findings revealed the need for future research to understand how planning, preparation, and resource allocation impacts the long-term success and sustainability of sport diplomacy exchanges. From a practical standpoint, each theme provides a framework for the required mental and physical resources of a sport diplomatic exchange and highlights that deep levels of transformational learning can occur during these programs

Choosing China: Unpacking the Motivations of International Students through a Case Study in Shanghai

The internationalization of higher education continues to accelerate with globalization, making China one of the top host nations for international students. This qualitative case study took place at a university in Shanghai, with 76 international students from 20 countries enrolled in the same English-taught engineering program. This research explored the motivations of international undergraduate students pursuing degree programs and their overall experience in China. The research reveals four main factors that shape students’ decision-making: academic reputation, social network influence, affordability, and safety. Additionally, many students identified academic difficulties even as they acknowledged the benefits of studying in China. This study recommends that Chinese universities improve their recruitment tactics, including expanding communication channels, increasing school visits, and strengthening alumni networks to attract more qualified and well-suited students and enhance their reputation

Artificial Fiction Imagining Literary Possibility Beyond the Human

Artificial Fiction: Imagining Literary Possibility Beyond the Human dreams boldly about literary possibility in this moment of AI’s technological and social immaturity. Through the wishful image of artificial fiction, this book explores the potential of new realisms, new modernisms and new genres that present new epistemologies, new ontologies and new pleasures and experiences for readers. While helping us to recognise and reimagine human-centredness in literary theory and practice, this book also \u27looks back\u27 at human fiction as a genre to consider what is distinctive and valuable about it, demonstrating that human fiction and artificial fiction have roles to play in imagining and learning to respect lives and experiences of every variety.https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/mono/1200/thumbnail.jp

Emerging Trends and Challenges in International Student Research: A Content Analysis of Recent Dissertations (2022–2024)

This study presents a content analysis of 470 doctoral dissertations published between 2022 and 2024, examining emerging trends, theoretical frameworks, and research approaches related to international students. Using a qualitative content analysis approach and descriptive statistics, the study systematically analyzed the dissertations to identify recurring themes and issues. The key themes identified include teaching and learning; academic practices; acculturation and intercultural competence; career development and leadership; experiences and challenges; mobility and policy contexts; social diversity and inclusion; institutional support; and well-being. The findings show a predominant use of qualitative methods, a concentration on U.S.-based contexts, and a strong disciplinary focus on higher education. Gaps include insufficient attention to digital and online education, underrepresentation of non-Western regions, and insufficient theoretical grounding. The study underscores the need for more inclusive, interdisciplinary, and methodologically diverse research to inform policies and practices that support international students’ academic success, well-being, and global mobility

Gentes y maneras de hablar en el río Apaporis (Colombia): el caso de YAUNA, TANIMUCA y LETUAMA

El artículo ofrece una perspectiva histórica y lingüística sobre las relaciones entre las lenguas y pueblos conocidos como Yauna, Tanimuca y Letuama, enfocándose en el origen y significado de estos glosónimos y etnónimos. Hacemos un recorrido por el conocimiento académico sobre ellos y lo enriquecemos con el relato indígena de su historia sociolingüística, sus autodenominaciones y las denominaciones externas. Así, el artículo contribuye al desarrollo de una aproximación históricamente informada sobre los marcos de interpretación y categorización que se han consolidado para la comprensión académica del área cultural y lingüística del Noroeste Amazónico (o Gran Vaupés). Del mismo modo, ofrecemos un panorama de cambios sociales, políticos y sociolingüísticos en los siglos XX y XXI en el río Apaporis (Amazonas-Vaupés, Colombia) y su relación con las prácticas investigativas en antropología y lingüística en la región. Con este texto esperamos aportar, en especial, al conocimiento de la familia lingüística Tucano oriental, al igual que al lugar del pueblo Yauna y su lengua en el complejo cultural del Noroeste Amazónico

The Rise Of Artificial Intelligence AndThe Importance Of Media Literacy: Decoding AI-Generated News

With the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence, people around the world are growing concerned about the quality of the content they receive -- especially the information they read in the news. Artificial Intelligence, “the development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as speech recognition, problem- solving, and pattern detection” (Climavision, 2024), are at the heart of these concerns. There are many forms of artificial intelligence. However, the study focuses explicitly on generative AI models, also referred to as Large Language Models (LLMs). A 2023 study surveying newsrooms nationwide reveals that Artificial Intelligence is used in 32% of content creation (Watson, 2024). As Artificial Intelligence becomes more and more prevalent in the journalistic sphere, it is imperative that people can correctly detect AI-generated text in order to better monitor the quality of the overall article. To test whether the average person can accurately and consistently distinguish between human and AI-generated news, this study asks participants to select from among articles authored by both humans and AI and identify their confidence level in this selection. The study also analyzes whether external factors such as education, socioeconomic status, and age impact their ability to distinguish between human and AI-authored news articles

Sociedade sob risco: monetarização, beleza e a economia íntima do dom entre os Rikbaktsa da Amazônia brasileira

Na virada do século XXI, salários, programas e políticas previdenciárias com aporte renda, voltados ao bem-estar social, começam a atingir povos indígenas brasileiros. Os poucos estudos etnográficos acerca da monetarização concordam sobre possíveis efeitos (deletérios) do dinheiro nas economias alimentares indígenas e relações entre parentes, sem enfatizá-los analiticamente, discussão central neste artigo. Minha análise parte do ano de 2000, quando o dinheiro timidamente adentrava a vida dos Rikbaktsa (Marco-Jê) do sudoeste amazônico, chegando à circulação contemporânea de quantias consideráveis no cotidiano de suas aldeias. A metodologia etnográfica se soma a um survey para estimar a dispersão do dinheiro, em contraste com uma compreensão nativa sobre critérios de cálculo e as magnitudes transacionadas entre os indígenas e sua conceitualização acerca dessas operações. Como analiso, o dinheiro, mercadorias e suas “comidas de verdade” (mydisahawy babata) são impelidos a circular em uma práxis orientada pelas noções de beleza e de risco, como denominadores paradigmáticos da calculabilidade das formas de valor transacionadas entre parentes e além. Em operações concebidas como ajudas, a comida dos brancos e o dinheiro são associados a uma ética relacional que envolve diferentes seres e domínios do cosmos e estimula, de maneira talvez inédita, a produção, o compartilhamento e a redistribuição de recursos vários. Acontecendo no intervalo entre a beleza e o risco e de maneira não prevista na epistemologia de programas centrados no dinheiro, essa intensa circulação e redistribuição de recursos vem impactando o balanço das relações e, em um exercício especulativo, da própria sociedade Rikbaktsa

A Deep Dive Into Integrals: From Riemann, Stieltjes, Lebesgue to Henstock–Kurzweil

Integration theory is broadly concerned with the existence of solutions to definite integrals over closed subintervals of the real line, and its power lies in the various techniques of integration, which enable integration of successively broader classes of functions. In this work, we establish a self–contained theory of integration in the sense of Riemann, Riemann–Stieltjes, Lebesgue, and Henstock–Kurzweil. Notably, our work utilizes the theory of Lebesgue integration developed by P. J. Daniell, which does not rely on measure theory and thus remains accessible at the undergraduate level. Our incentive for such an approach is to improve equitable access to advanced integration theory in undergraduate learning environments. This work remains grounded in the applications of integration theory, which span the disciplines of probability theory, complex analysis, quaternionic theory, and even quantum mechanics. Finally, we present the Vitali set indicator function and a novel proof that this function is not integrable in the sense of any of the integration techniques surveyed, thus crystallizing the limits of integration theory as it exists today.