REWRITING THE UPSIDE DOWN WORLD: A Reflective Curriculum to Provoke Perspective Transformation And Personal Development among EcuaExplora Participants

Rewriting the Upside Down World is a reflective curriculum designed to foster perspective transformation and personal development among EcuaExplora participants. EcuaExplora (EcEx) is a volunteer, intern and study abroad organization that places participants in sustainable projects within its portfolio of health, environment and socio-economic development partners throughout Ecuador. EcEx recently expanded from its base in Guayaquil to include a broader network of Ecuadorian NGO partners in Quito and across the country. The widespread location of its project sites, often in remote areas of the jungle, Sierra and coastal regions, precludes one-on-one gatherings for reflection on participants´ experiences in the field. Rewriting the Upside Down World redresses the inability to foster face-to- face reflective dialogues by employing a student-driven Learner Partner Model. This non-hierarchical teaching methodology validates participants as partners in scholarship, situates learning in context, and virtually supports them through reflective exercises to develop their capacity for self-authorship, the definition of their own ideals, values and beliefs. Mindful transformative learning theory is also used to challenge participants´ preconceptions and perspectives through the use of provocative questioning, problem-solving, creative exploration, mindful observation, exploration of feelings, processing of personal experiences, and assertion of opinions. The curriculum is a holistic, conscious reformation of transformative learning theory´s prior focus exclusively on the cognitive domain. The ultimate goal is to breed compassionate, self-aware and culturally competent global citizens. The guided, written journal exercises that are the core of the curriculum aim to engage participants in an attentive ¨reading of the world¨ at their project sites. It also implores them to envision a more just and equitable reality and ‘rewrite the world’ based on their transformed perspectives. By putting its ideal of education for transformation into action, the curriculum distinguishes EcEx from competitors as a vision-driven organization. The context-based, distance-learning format makes the curriculum design replicable and relevant for any international education professionals remotely managing participants in the field

Minimally Invasive Expeditionary Surgical Care Using Human-Inspired Robots

This technical report serves as an updated collection of subject matter experts on surgical care using human-inspired robotics for human exploration. It is a summary of the Blue Sky Meeting, organized by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), Pensacola, Florida, and held on October 2-3, 2018. It contains an executive summary, the final report, all of the presentation materials, and an updated reference list

1995 BRAC Commission

Air Force Facilities - Site Presentations, April 1995. Documents and memos relating to Air Force facilities visits conducted in April 1995. Box 86, L-008

An Economic Analysis of the Transition of a Contingency Military Installation to an Enduring Status Using Monte Carlo Simulations

The construction of expeditionary bases is central to Department of Defense’s (DoD) responses to contingency operations. Usually expected to be transitory, expeditionary bases are constructed with temporary materials that can be erected quickly. The Global War on Terrorism is entering its fifteenth year and bases within Central Command that were expected to be temporary have provided an enduring presence. The decision to transition a base from temporary to semi-permanent or permanent is difficult, as it requires substantial capital investment for facility construction. This decision is further complicated by unknown mission durations. The DoD has attempted to reduce the decision’s complexity with a model that guides the development of a base with a set of construction standards with suggested time horizons. This study improves the model by evaluating its validity through an economic analysis with the assumption that mission durations are unknown. A life-cycle cost model is developed to evaluate investments in temporary and permanent construction designs to determine when or if permanent construction is fiscally advantageous. Despite limitations in the availability in cost data, the results show that semi-permanent construction is preferable for contingency operations lasting up to twelve years, while permanent construction is preferable after twelve years

Maritime preparedness systems in The Arctic : institutional arrangements and potential for collaboration : MARPART Project Report 3

This report provides a discussion on the preparedness systems in Norway, Russia, Iceland and Greenland (Denmark). It compares preparedness institutions across different countries of the High North, and reflects on similarities and differences between them

Red Perimeter Defeated: U.S. Naval Supremacy, Competitive Adaptation, and the Third Battle of the Atlantic, 1946-1981

This dissertation examines the long-term military competition between the U.S. and Soviet navies during 1946-81. It investigates the dynamics of naval posture change by integrating insights from military innovation theory with in-depth process tracing, thus providing a much-improved understanding of the Cold War at sea during the most decisive phases of the 'Third Battle of the Atlantic'

CHOICE IDEOLOGY AND THE PARAMETERS OF ITS PRACTICE: ALTERNATIVE ABORTION NARRATIVES IN NEW MEXICO

The ideology of choice, embedded in the pro-choice, anti-abortion debate in the United States, is founded on Enlightenment notions that take the autonomous individual with perfect knowledge and rationality as the unit of analysis. The basic premise is that each woman \u27chooses\u27 from a variety of equally accessible options. Hidden in the political language of choice are the constraints all women face as they attempt to negotiate reproduction, especially if they wish to end a pregnancy. \u27Choice\u27 does not exist as an abstract freedom, but is situated within the realities of power and agency. This paper examines the ability of \u27choice\u27 to serve as a framework for abortion decisions and the alternative narratives employed by women to express the complexity of an abortion experience