Lessons Learned on Gender Equality

The purpose of this evaluation study is twofold: Firstly, to compile lessons learned from Danida evaluations, evaluation studies and other evaluation publications, and secondly, to distil a set of recommendations relevant to the roll-out of The Right to a Better Life (2012), more particularly the planned update of Danida's strategy, Gender Equality in Danish Development Cooperation (2004). The evaluation study was carried out between June and September 2013. The methodology is based on a desk review of Danida evaluation publications carried out between 2004 and 2013, and comprises three interconnected phases:1. Screening of a long list of 104 evaluation publications2. Analysis of 26 shortlisted evaluations3. Reporting findings and recommendatio

On the motivations for Merleau-Ponty’s ontological research

This paper attempts to clarify Merleau-Ponty’s later work by tracing a hitherto overlooked set of concerns that were of key consequence for the formulation of his ontological research. I argue that his ontology can be understood as a response to a set of problems originating in reflections on the intersubjective use of language in dialogue, undertaken in the early 1950s. His study of dialogue disclosed a structure of meaning-formation and pointed towards a theory of truth (both recurring ontological topics) that post-Phenomenology premises could not account for. A study of dialogue shows that speakers’ positions are interchangeable, that speaking subjects are active and passive in varying degrees, and that the intentional roles of subjects and objects are liable to shift or ‘transgress’ themselves. These observations anticipate the concepts of ‘reversibility’ and ‘narcissism’, his later view of activity and passivity, and his later view of intentionality, and sharpened the need to adopt an intersubjective focus in ontological research

Shifting to critical empathy: Exploring the ideological becoming of secondary teachers during critical, dialogic professional development

The limited research concerning empathy within secondary education continues to focus on student empathy, rather than shifting the gaze to teacher empathy. Moreover, while teacher empathy is generally conceptualized as an innately positive quality, skill, or disposition, the research (while limited) suggests that empathy without deep understanding of social and structural inequity has demonstrated risk. Teachers who, for example, develop and express empathy across lines of difference without knowledge of systemic inequality (particularly about how inequity shows up in schools) have the potential to oversimplify or overidentify with an “other’s” experience (Boler, 1999). This can lead to the false confirmation of biased ideas or regressions to color-blind ideologies, which reproduce harmful hegemonic beliefs and dominant ideas. For white teachers especially (who make up ~85% of the teaching population), many of whom have grown up, been educated, and gone on to work in predominately white spaces, the development of a more critical form of empathy is necessary. This dissertation theorizes a new vision of empathy, which the author refers to as critical empathy. It then explores the experience of twelve, white secondary educators as they participate in a researcher-facilitated critical, dialogic professional development series, which was conducted over the course of one academic year. Data from these PD sessions were analyzed using a mix of constructivist grounded theory and critical discourse analysis, and results are discussed in the form of two, separate articles. Findings suggest that when the PD environment is structured as a third space and facilitated through the lens of intergroup dialogue, teachers are able to develop greater degrees of critical empathy. This indicates the need for more research concerning the ways in which white secondary teachers are exposed to and have access to PD that provides the space, time, and training needed to develop their critical consciousness, and thus move towards more culturally responsive pedagogies

Strong Purifying Selection at Synonymous Sites in D. melanogaster

Synonymous sites are generally assumed to be subject to weak selective constraint. For this reason, they are often neglected as a possible source of important functional variation. We use site frequency spectra from deep population sequencing data to show that, contrary to this expectation, 22% of four-fold synonymous (4D) sites in D. melanogaster evolve under very strong selective constraint while few, if any, appear to be under weak constraint. Linking polymorphism with divergence data, we further find that the fraction of synonymous sites exposed to strong purifying selection is higher for those positions that show slower evolution on the Drosophila phylogeny. The function underlying the inferred strong constraint appears to be separate from splicing enhancers, nucleosome positioning, and the translational optimization generating canonical codon bias. The fraction of synonymous sites under strong constraint within a gene correlates well with gene expression, particularly in the mid-late embryo, pupae, and adult developmental stages. Genes enriched in strongly constrained synonymous sites tend to be particularly functionally important and are often involved in key developmental pathways. Given that the observed widespread constraint acting on synonymous sites is likely not limited to Drosophila, the role of synonymous sites in genetic disease and adaptation should be reevaluated

How Does the European Union Talk about Migrant Women and Religion? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Agenda on Migration of the European Union and the Case Study of Nigerian Women

Women with different identity and migration origins represent one of the most significant groups in the migration flows of the Mediterranean in recent years and the intersection of their religious identity and gender has been often neglected in migration policies. The paper applies the method of Critical Frame Analysis (CFA) to analyze the ways in which European policy documents address the intersection between gender and religious diversity. Through the CFA, the article examines the European Agenda on Migration and the priorities identified in the text. The analysis of the document is based on recent case studies of trafficked Nigerian women, which provide examples of the dangerous invisibility of ethnic and religious women in the priorities highlighted in the policy document of the European Commission. The CFA results show that the European Agenda on Migration, in responding to the increased number of arriving migrants from Africa and in designing a new approach towards mixed migration flows, lacks any reference to the gender perspective of migration and gender mainstreaming is missing from the text. The neutrality of the document and the securitization frame applied does not take into perspective the importance of recognizing a gender and intersectional dimension of migration flows, which impacts primarily women coming from African countries beholding strong religious beliefs

Making Representations Matter: Understanding Practitioner Experience in Participatory Sensemaking

Appropriating new technologies in order to foster collaboration and participatory engagement is a focus for many fields, but there is relatively little research on the experience of practitioners who do so. The role of technology-use mediators is to help make such technologies amenable and of value to the people who interact with them and each other. When the nature of the technology is to provide textual and visual representations of ideas and discussions, issues of form and shaping arise, along with questions of professional ethics. This thesis examines such participatory representational practice, specifically how practitioners make participatory visual representations (pictures, diagrams, knowledge maps) coherent, engaging and useful for groups tackling complex societal and organizational challenges. This thesis develops and applies a method to analyze, characterize, and compare instances of participatory representational practice in such a way as to highlight experiential aspects such as aesthetics, narrative, improvisation, sensemaking, and ethics. It extends taxonomies of such practices found in related research, and contributes to a critique of functionalist or techno-rationalist approaches to studying professional practice. It studies how fourteen practitioners using a visual hypermedia tool engaged participants with the hypermedia representations, and the ways they made the representations matter to the participants. It focuses on the sensemaking challenges that the practitioners encountered in their sessions, and on the ways that the form they gave the visual representations (aesthetics) related to the service they were trying to provide to their participants. Qualitative research methods such as grounded theory are employed to analyze video recordings of the participatory representational sessions. Analytical tools were developed to provide a multi-perspective view on each session. Conceptual and normative frameworks for understanding the practitioner experience in participatory representational practice in context, especially in terms of aesthetics, ethics, narrative, sensemaking, and improvisation, are proposed. The thesis places these concerns in context of other kinds of facilitative and mediation practices as well as research on reflective practice, aesthetic experience, critical HCI, and participatory design

Quantitative Analysis of the Speech of the Teachers and Students in High School English Classroom—Based on Information Technology-based Interaction Analysis System

Through the matrix quantitative analysis of the talk of the teachers and students in high school English classrooms, in indicates that in current English classroom teaching, the amount of the teachers’ talk is still higher than that of the students in English classroom teaching, the ratio of indirect impact is higher than that of the direct ones, the ratio of pupil initiation is low and so on. In order to change the situation, it is suggested that English teachers should constantly update teaching ideology, highlight the subjectivity of the students in the classroom learning, constantly improve the classroom interaction, activate students’ active thinking, increase the use of indirect impacts, develop the harmonious relationship between the teachers and students, stimulate the motivation of the students, ensure the smooth transition between the teaching procedures, and improve the efficiency of the English classroom teaching

Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison Under Different Forms of Workplace Representation

This article considers the role of individual employee voice in regulating the 'zone of acceptance' within the employment relationship, and examines the extent to which different models of collective voice inhibit or foster the operation of individual voice. It focuses especially on the role of representatives who deal with job-level grievances who operate within contrasted frameworks of collective voice. In one, representation is negotiated with the employer, and in the other, it is based on rights established in employment law. The former is commonly associated with shop stewards and unions, and the latter with employee delegates and works councils. It is argued that whereas in the negotiated model individual and collective voice are substitutes, in the rights-based one they are complements. The article also considers how this may alter under dual-channel representation based on both unions and councils, which is very common in European workplaces. Britain provides an example of the negotiated model, and France of both the rights-based and dual-channel models. These ideas are tested using data from the 2004 British and French workplace employment relations surveys, and confirmed using data from the 1998 surveys.Labor-management relations, industrial jurisprudence, individual and collective voice, works councils

Combining analytic perspectives in Toru Takemitsu's Rain Tree Sketch II

Utilizing multiple methodologies for analyzing music contributes to an informed performance. I have termed this approach collaborative music theory and believe it can be used for analysis in a wide variety of music. To illustrate the effectiveness of collaborative music theory, I have chosen a work composed by Toru Takemitsu, one of his later pieces for solo piano titled Rain Tree Sketch II, which was informed by multiple theories of composition. Takemitsu claimed that two books about music theory influenced his life and were among the best books of the twentieth century: The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization by jazz artist George Russell, and The Technique of My Musical Language by composer Olivier Messiaen. Additionally, Takemitsu wrote many essays on music, the majority of which are in the book Confronting Silence and focus on philosophical aspects of art, music, and theatre. In this thesis, I take these works by Russell, Messiaen, and Takemitsu, as well as other scholarship into consideration while analyzing Rain Tree Sketch II. By drawing on Russell's, Messiaen's, and Takemitsu's perspectives, I provide a nuanced analysis of the piece and demonstrate how it can influence performance.Includes bibliographical references

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationWhile often hailed as the world's oldest profession, prostitution is most commonly considered an illegal activity. As such, prostitution operates as a hidden organization relying on covert organizing processes in order to function. However, this reality begs the question of how hidden organizations operate and (re)produce. Through feminist poststructuralism and communication as constitutive to organizing, the research questions in this study ask how discourse(s) communicatively constitute prostitution and with what unintended consequences. Using local prostitution policies and in-depth interviews, data analysis revealed that policy-as-written and policy-as-practice are disparate in the communicative construction of organizing prostitution. Moreover, discourse is examined through both talk and silence. As a result systematic and pervasive silence(s) organized networks of prostitution in new ways. In the end, prostitution is highlighted as an organized network or rather an (un)organization