Voices from the margins: ‘Black’ Caribbean and Mexican heritage women educators in the rural south

This paper explores the ways in which immigrant and migrant women educators in the rural South understand and construct narratives of their lives. The ‘Black’ Caribbean and Mexican heritage women educators in this study experience and interpret events in their lives, as women, minorities, postcolonial ‘subjects,’ and outsiders in the rural South, a region traditionally dominated by white patriarchal norms and prejudices. We assert that from this position of multiple marginality they construct important insights into the nature of education in the rural South. As so-called “Third-World women” living in the “First World” of the United States, the interpretations that this group of immigrant and migrant women make of their lives illuminate the ‘real,’ yet fluid (Moya & Hames-Garcia, 2000), nature of identity and representation in this nation and in the “New” South. The experiences of these women clearly reveal that identity categories provide useful theoretical and practical understandings of often problematic constructs such as race, gender, social class and ethnicity and highlight the fact that experiences and interpretations vary within and across these identity categories. Thus, how these women respond to the South demonstrates the impact of significant continuities and discontinuities as these educators negotiate their identities in unfamiliar spaces

The challenge of cultural gerontology

Over the last decade, Cultural Gerontology has emerged as one of the most vibrant elements of writing about age (Twigg, J., & Martin, W. (Eds.) (2015). The Routledge handbook of cultural gerontology. London: Routledge). Reflecting the wider Cultural Turn, it has expanded the field of gerontology beyond all recognition. No longer confined to frailty, or the dominance of medical and social welfare perspectives, cultural gerontology addresses the nature and experience of later years in the widest sense. In this review, we will explore how the Cultural Turn, which occurred across the social sciences and humanities in the late 20th century, came to influence age studies. We will analyze the impulses that led to the emergence of the field and the forces that have inhibited or delayed its development. We will explore how cultural gerontology has recast aging studies, widening its theoretical and substantive scope, taking it into new territory intellectually and politically, presenting this in terms of 4 broad themes that characterize the work: subjectivity and identity; the body and embodiment; representation and the visual; and time and space. Finally, we will briefly address whether there are problems in the approach

Contradictory transformations: observations on the intellectual dynamics of South African universities

What sort of expectations of transformation of higher education have been aroused by liberation movements? Has the new South Africa fulfilled such expectations? This paper explores the promises and processes that have enveloped South African universities in recent decades. It focuses on the underlying assumptions shaping academic disciplines in the humanities, the debates contesting them and the social-political-economic movements encompassing them. It traces the impact of marxism, africanism, postmodernism and neoliberalism on the production of knowledge. It concludes that South African universities are caught up in a complex field forces where they are subject to conflicting pressures. The result is a state of contradictory transformations – one stemming from the politics of liberation and the other from the demands of the global market

The integration of postmodern values and rhetorical analysis: A case study

Both traditional preaching theory and the listening context of the hearers have undergone radical changes within the last thirty years. Contemporary preachers no longer can assume the authority inherent in their position or preaching methods, and postmodern listeners exhibit the desire for increased diversity and points of view in sermons. This thesis will address these challenges by advancing the notion that attention to rhetorical criticism in the exegesis of biblical texts sheds new light on the nature of preaching in terms of form and function. The resulting multi-vocal and non-hierarchical leadership orientation has application for postmodern audiences. The methodological structure of theological interpretation undergirding this thesis involves four tasks of the hermeneutical cycle adapted from Richard Osmer’s approach. This approach engages in the task of contextual interpretation that connects with both Christian tradition and Scripture, and furthermore leads to the construction of a pragmatic plan for future homiletics. Chapter 1 introduces the problem facing contemporary homileticians: the changed context of preacher and hearer. The chapter advocates that one way forward for preaching involves the use of rhetorical criticism as the exegetical basis for a values-based homiletic, and then finishes with an overview of the thesis chapters. Chapter 2 demonstrates the fourfold task of the hermeneutical cycle by establishing the provenance of the method, critiquing it and grounding the approach of the thesis in the contemporary postmodern setting. Chapter 3 engages in a contextual interpretation of historic shifts in the fields of rhetoric, biblical studies and homiletics, analyzing and evaluating these trends. The chapter concludes by constructing a pragmatic plan for future biblical studies, a rhetorical-critical-narratological methodology that will be applied to the text of Ezekiel. Chapter 4 demonstrates that a contextual interpretation, evaluation and analysis of the New Homiletic results in the formation of a values-based approach to preaching and leadership orientation that is appropriate to postmodernity. Chapter 5 builds upon a contextual interpretation of synchronic and diachronic methodologies and advances a complementary approach to exegesis. The chapter then applies the rhetorical-critical-narratological approach developed in Chapter 3 to the discourse of Ezekiel to establish its contextual and rhetorical situation. The chapter then engages in a close rhetorical-critical-narratological reading of the literary unit of Ezekiel 15. Chapter 6 engages in a contextual interpretation and evaluation of three Ezekiel commentaries and sermons from Ezekiel 15, locating them along the pendulum-like series of shifts identified within Chapter 3. Chapter 7 demonstrates the integration of biblical studies and homiletics with the production of a sample multiple point-of-view sermon based upon the exegesis of Ezekiel conducted in Chapter 5. The chapter critiques the sermon and provides an example of the rhetorical-critical method applied to a discursive genre from 1 Corinthians 4.18-5.13. Chapter 8 concludes the thesis by reviewing the contributions made by the study, proceeds to interpret contextually the challenge of postmodern homiletics, and finishes with recommendations for areas of future studies outside the scope of the thesis

Post-modernization Paradigm on the Modern Cultural Communication Research: A Literature Review

The aim of this research study was to examine the patterns of cultural communication in the modern era and analyze its impact from a post-modernization paradigm. A rapid review approach employing the keywords “communication” AND “culture” AND “modern” was used to identify relevant articles published between 2019 and 2023. The reveiw which followed the PRISMA guidelines selected 35 articles that were grouped by type, function and purpose of communication (communication, identity, perception, education and entertainment) using the NVivo 12 Pro program. Most articles (n=13) were published in 2022 by predominantly authors from Russia. Modernization gives rise to cultural evolution and changes in ethnic and symbolic identities which drive post-modernists to advocate for the return of cultural identity that relies on various forms of communication. Modernization in cultural communication must be balanced with the post-modernization paradigm so that limitations in the generalization of communication design are in alignment with the subjective needs of each individual. The current study also acknowledged its methodological limitaons and potential biases for transparency and scientific rigor

From traditional essay to 'Ready Steady Cook' presentation: Reasons for innovative changes in assignments

The prose essay, case study and laboratory report, composed by individual students in isolation from their peers, used to be the mainstay of undergraduate writing. However, in recent years an array of alternative assignment types such as blogs, letters and e-posters have widened the repertoire of texts expected. This article attempts to describe the reasoning behind changes in assignment types at undergraduate and master’s level at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Data from 58 semi-structured interviews with lecturers in three UK universities is used together with course handbooks and some clarifications with lecturers via email. Suggested reasons for new assignment types are grouped into three categories: external, lecturer-driven and student-driven. The article surmises that, because of these pressures, students are now expected to produce a wide variety of text types, and greater attention should be paid to guidance in new assignments for both native and non-native speaker students