330 research outputs found

    Kremlin-Assad relations : history and propaganda 1970-2016

    Get PDF
    The relationship between Russia and Syria is a strategic partnership with the purpose of strengthening the Russian sphere of influence and power projection in the Near East, an area of vital Russian geopolitical interest. For Syria it is a relationship that furnishes military, economic and diplomatic support from a powerful ally. This analysis seeks to shed light on how history has shaped the relationship between Russia and Syria and how propaganda has been utilized as an apparatus in service of these two actors especially between the years of the Syrian Assad administration from 1970 and 2016.A relação entre a Rússia e a Síria é uma parceria estratégica com o fim de fortalecer a esfera de influência Rússia e a sua projecção de poder no Médio Oriente, uma área de interesse geo-estratégico vital para a Rússia. Relativamente à Síria, esta relação fornece-lhe apoio militar, económico, e diplomático de um poder de ordem superior. Esta análise procura compreender a amizade histórica entre a Rússia e a Síria e como a propaganda tem sido utilizada como um aparelho em serviço destes dois actores, especialmente durante anos da administração Assad na Síria entre 1970 e 2016

    The Montclarion, April 06, 2017

    Get PDF
    Student Newspaper of Montclair State Universityhttps://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/montclarion/2304/thumbnail.jp

    Categorizing women: gender and social media during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

    Get PDF
    From February 2011 to July 2012, formerly suppressed political parties struggled to fill the political void post-Hosni Mubarak. While debates about Egypt\u27s political future circulated, individuals as well as dissident factions employed various interpretations of women and their roles to symbolically represent their varying ideologies. Despite the significance and economic value women produce as citizens, many political actors regularly bracket their concerns as irrelevant to the affairs of the state. As a result, political actors have engaged with new strategic techniques to access the various politicized publics that marginalized subaltern groups. The most publicized approach during this time, involved individual\u27s employment of social media, where political actors could not only escape state media\u27s control over information, but also produce their own level of citizen authority. By ethnographically exploring social networking forums and engaging with Cairene political actors, this research argues that a dialectical relationship exists between social media and politicized publics where actors repurpose, and challenge concepts about women to alter the political atmosphere during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and discourse analysis, this research explores how the analytical category of women was contested in social media and to what extent these classifications were manifested in publics found on- and offline. In order to understand the shifting political spheres during the Egyptian revolution, this ethnographic study engages with the symbolic deployment of women as a category, and the relationship between the production of women and publics. Participants of this research were selected amongst a systematic random sampling framework via Twitter; using prevalent hash tags that engaged with discourses about Egyptian women, the 2011 Egyptian revolution, future governance, and cyber activism. Key events served as a methodological frame to constitute case studies. The events were derived from interviews in which, participants defined what they believed to be moments of significance. This research contributes to the literature regarding the effect new communication technologies have on social structures by investigating the implication that genders has online. This is important because the ways women are marked, categorized, and circulated, consequently contribute to shaping future governance and sociopolitical apparatuses

    The Present And Future Of Public Diplomacy: A European Perspective. The 2006 Madrid Conference on Public Diplomacy

    Get PDF
    The first Madrid Conference on Public Diplomacy was held on 10 October 2006 at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation’s Diplomatic School. Organised by the Elcano Royal Institute, it aimed to open a debate on the current state of –and prospects for– public diplomacy. Both experts and politicians from the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Germany, the EU and Spain made their contribution through documents compiled in this working paper

    An investigation of the social and academic experiences of Arabic international students in Australian tertiary education

    Get PDF
    This research project addresses the social and academic experiences that Arabic international students (AIS) have in transitioning to tertiary study in Australia. This study investigated (1) how these students experienced studying in the Australian tertiary education system, (2) to what extent they integrated academically and socially, and (3) how they can be supported when they choose to study in Australia. The conceptual framework was built on sociocultural, social identity and Hofstede’s (1980) four dimensions of culture (power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity) theories with the need for effective intercultural communication at the centre. A mixed methods design was used. Data were collected through a parallel survey of students (69) and teachers (32) across Australia and follow-up, in-depth interviews with sub-samples of six students and seven teachers. The statistical data analysis of the survey results compared students’ and teachers’ views about the challenges of studying in Australia. The qualitative data were analysed on the basis of emergent themes. The research findings highlighted the need for these students’ journey to be conceptualised as a transitional pathway that begins in their home country, so that the different challenges at each stage of their journey can be clarified and so better supported. In raising the importance of both students and teachers becoming interculturally literate, the research illuminates students’ English language difficulties in relation to cross-cultural communication, the nature of their culture shock, and the need to reconceptualise teaching and learning and the notion of being independent learners. The study makes a significant and original contribution to extending current theoretical knowledge with regards to the nature, scope and depth of intercultural literacy necessary to allow AIS to transit more smoothly into study in Western society. It highlights the significant social, cultural and pedagogical challenges they face, while trying to maintain their social identity and simultaneously acculturate into Australian society and the academic context. The study uncovers the complexity of the English language demands these students face, showing that in spite of meeting gate keeping test requirements they are challenged academically in the use of Standard Australian English, and the language and concepts required to learn through constructivist pedagogical approaches, including digital technologies as well as the Australian colloquial English to communicate locally. Major challenges for AIS were found to be the need to reconceptualise their beliefs about teaching and learning and make a cognitive shift from the teacher-centred environment they experience in their home country to the student-centred approach at the centre of constructivist pedagogy found in Australian tertiary education contexts that requires independence in learning, and living in Australia with a completely different culture and language. To help AIS more effectively in this shift, the study provides advice to enable review of current policy and practice, making recommendations in the form of support keys for each stage of their journey that apply to both students and Australian tertiary educators to make these students’ transitional pathways easier and more likely to enhance their academic success

    Kenya adaptation to climate change in the arid lands: anticipating, adapting to and coping with climate risks in Kenya - operational recommendations for KACCAL

    Get PDF
    Years of concerted activism to bring awareness of climate change and its consequences to the fore of global concerns are finally yielding dividends. Until recently, most climate change activity focused on medium- to long-term projections regarding the nature and trajectory of change processes. With the uncertainties inherent in long-term climate projections and the difficulty of building political and economic momentum from hypothetical future scenarios, progress was slow. The recent past has, however, resulted in a drastic increase in extreme climate events across the globe that has wreaked untold humanitarian and economic havoc. The costly present day manifestations of climate change have catapulted climate concerns to the forefront of the global arena. The recent high-level event convened by the Secretary General of the United Nations to address the leadership challenge of climate change and build momentum for climate change talks (Bali, Indonesia, December 2007) is a clear indication that the urgency of climate change has fostered the degree of serious commitment it requires from the global agenda. Whatever its impacts, it is widely acknowledged that poor communities, already vulnerable to a suite of existing risks and endowed with meagre resources, will be the most adversely affected as climate change is superimposed on their already tenuous situation. In recognition of the need to help vulnerable populations in developing countries adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in conjunction with its partners, funds programmes aimed at reducing the vulnerability of countries to the impacts of climate change and helps them build adaptive capacity. The Kenya Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arid Lands (KACCAL) project is one such initiative supported in conjunction with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). About 80% of Kenya is arid or semi-arid and the main livelihood activities in these areas are pastoral, agropastoral and subsistence agriculture. Currently, these populations are among the poorest in Kenya, suffer from a weak natural resource base, are negatively affected by socio-economic and demographic trends that see a growing population depending on diminishing rangelands, and are relatively marginalized from the growing economy. Add to this the impacts of climate change, of which the recent severe and extended droughts of 2001, 2004–06 and the widespread flooding in 2007 are an early signal, and the livelihood threats to the communities of Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) are clear and present

    The Value of Transcultural Nursing Education: Perceptions of Nursing Graduates

    Get PDF
    The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the value of transcultural nursing education as perceived by eight graduates from Minnesota State University Moorhead\u27s baccalaureate nursing program. Perceptions of nurses\u27 care provision and what influenced those care provision choices where obtained during first interviews when they reflected upon a culturally sensitive fictitious scenario. Second interviews were conducted with each interviewee in which they were given the opportunity to expand on their perceptions and verify conclusions being drawn. Reliability was established when half of the interview transcripts were analyzed by a nursing professor with experience in qualitative research. The study occurred during the spring, summer and fall semesters of 2002. The study focused on nursing graduates\u27 perceptions of care provisions that might be required considering the presenting condition of this baby and the culturally sensitive scenario. The participants\u27 perceptions of what factors influenced care delivery were also explored. After coding the interview data and establishing categories of responses, the following two themes emerged. (1) Participants perceived that caring for the physical needs of the baby were paramount, however, nursing care must have been provided within the context of the family. Care provision was holistic and culturally sensitive. (2) When providing care in a culturally sensitive situation, participants perceived that culturally competent nursing care was impacted directly by their Bachelor of Science in Nursing education (which included the transcultural nursing course), experience, personal characteristics of the nurse, and work settings. One might symbolize the results of this study as parts of a four-legged table. The four categories of education, experience, personal characteristics of the nurse, and work settings were the legs that held up the holistic, culturally sensitive care provision of the baby and the family. If one of these legs were pulled out, the table would collapse and quality care would not be provided. The participants perceived that all of these factors impacted the plan of care. Recommendations for the field of nursing, the nursing program at Minnesota State University Moorhead and suggestions for further research were made as a result of this study\u27s findings

    “... I am no longer sitting down and waiting for others to come and develop my instructional skills ...”: The Nature of Self-directed Professional Development by EFL Teachers in Saudi Universities

    Get PDF
    This thesis explores the nature of Self-Directed Professional Development (SDPD) pursued by university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Saudi Arabia with a special emphasis on investigating the impact of one model of SDPD ‘Virtual Community of Practice’ (VCoP) through WhatsApp on teaching practice. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, an interpretive epistemological stance was adopted informing two designs in two stages. In the first stage, a sequential mixed-methods design with two phases was implemented, starting with a quantitative phase employing online questionnaires, followed by a qualitative phase using semi-structured interviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of SDPD at the macro-level of the EFL context in public universities, in terms of its models, type of activities and reasons behind pursuing this form, as well as the challenges that inhibit teachers form practising it. A total of 260 participants from 13 Saudi universities completed the questionnaire and 14 of them participated in interviews. Quantitative data were analysed through SPSS to get descriptive data, and qualitative data were analysed thematically. In the second stage, a holistic case-study design was adopted to gain deep insights into the micro-level of SDPD through investigating the nature and impact of one model of SDPD, ‘a self-directed VCoP’, via WhatsApp on EFL university teachers’ teaching practice in one Saudi university. Participant online observation was carried out for six months followed by semi- structured interviews with nine participants. Qualitative data from both methods were analysed thematically. The findings of the mixed-methods stage revealed that although EFL university teachers employed both individual and collaborative SDPD, they tended to favour individual rather than collaborative activities. The findings also showed that SDPD enhances teachers’ autonomy, self-empowerment, motivation, confidence and professional identity. Moreover, key reasons (e.g. personal, academic, administrative) for pursuing SDPD were identified, as well as the challenges and limitations of both types of offline and online SDPD. The findings of the case study showed that self-directed VCoP via WhatsApp positively impacted on teachers’ practice, themselves and their students. Most importantly, using an informal medium of communication e.g. the first language of teachers, ‘Arabic’, demonstrated a significant impact on EFL teachers’ learning and communication. Revealing the effectiveness of SDPD as an alternative approach to teacher’s PD, the thesis concludes by indicating a need to devote equal attention to SDPD (as both a term and a concept) as an aspect of the formally acknowledged form of in-service PD. It also makes a number of significant recommendations, and highlights implications, to improve the policy and practice of SDPD for policymakers, teachers and researchers

    Implicit theories as a moderator between religious commitment and forgiveness among Muslims experiencing a religious identity offense.

    Get PDF
    A recurrent finding in the literature on the relationship between religion and forgiveness is that religious people tend to describe themselves as forgiving while reporting less forgiveness in response to actual offenses (Davis, Worthington, Hook, & Hill, 2013; McCullough & Worthington, 1999). Scholars have suggested moderating factors may explain this discrepancy (Worthington et al., 2010), though the existing literature has been criticized as limited because much of the research is based on Christian samples (Carlisle & Tsang, 2013; Davis et al., 2013). Implicit theories, which have previously been found to be associated with forgiveness and theorized to be related to religion, were examined as a possible moderating variable in the relationship between forgiveness and religious commitment among a sample of Muslims who experienced a religious identity offense. An ethnically diverse sample of Muslims residing in the United States participated in an online survey that included measures of implicit theories, religious commitment, and forgiveness. Results showed that although religious commitment and implicit theories were associated with forgiveness, implicit theories did not moderate the relationship between religious commitment and forgiveness. Additionally, results from an exploratory factor analysis conducted on correlations of scores from the measure of forgiveness suggested the nature of the construct as operationalized by the measure may not be clear as the factor structure differed from that identified in the measure’s validation study

    Key Topics on End-of-Life Care for African Americans

    Get PDF
    Racial classifications of human populations are politically and socially determined. There is no biological or genetic basis for these racial classifications. Health behaviors may be influenced by culture and poverty. Disparities in health outcomes, sometimes resulting in higher mortality rates for African-Americans appear to influence end of life decision-making attitudes and behaviors. To improve the quality of end of life care in African-American communities, health care professionals must better understand and work to eliminate disparities in health care, increase their own skills, knowledge and confidence in palliative and hospice care, and improve awareness of the benefits and values of hospice and palliative care in their patients and families
    corecore