Ludic literacies at the intersections of cultures: an interview with James Paul Gee

Professor James Gee addresses issues of linguistics, literacies and cultures. Gee emphasises the importance of Discourses, and argues that the future of literacy studies lies in the interrogation of new media and the globalisation of culture

The 1995 Attempted Derailing of the French TGV (High-Speed Train) and a Quantitative Analysis of 181 Rail Sabotage Attempts, MTI Report 09-12

On August 26, 1995, the Saturday of the final and busiest weekend of France’s summer holiday season, terrorists attempted to derail the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) between Lyon and Paris by planting a bomb. Fortunately, their crude triggering mechanism failed to detonate the bomb, and subsequent analysis indicates that even had the bomb gone off, the explosion would not have derailed the train. The TGV episode, one of a continuing series of case studies by the Mineta Transportation Institute, points to a continuing problem: Since 1995, terrorists have attempted to derail trains on at least 144 occasions. Because of the expansion of high-speed rail systems in Europe, Asia, and North America, where 15 high-speed rail projects are in preparation or under way in the United States alone, this case study has been expanded to include a chronology and statistical analysis of attempted derailments worldwide. This analysis examines the geographic distribution of the attempts, the methods used by the saboteurs, and the outcomes. Although based on a small universe of events, it underscores both the attractiveness to terrorists of attacking transportation systems—a successful attack can result in high body counts, significant disruption, dramatic images, and enormous publicity, all things sought by terrorists—and the difficulties of achieving success

Shaping educational attitudes and aspirations: the influence of parents, place and poverty: stage 1 report

An interim report of a study which aims to better understand the relationship between children’s aspirations in relation to education and employment, and the context in which they are formed. In particular, the study seeks to explore how parental circumstances and attitudes, the school as an institution, and the opportunity structures of the neighbourhood come together to shape aspirations in deprived urban areas. This report examines: • The assumptions of current policy that aspirations are a key ingredient of educational and labour market outcomes; • What aspirations are and how they can be understood; • What young people’s aspirations are for further and higher education and for future occupations in three secondary schools; • The main influences on those aspirations, including the roles of parents, schools and the neighbourhood context • Messages for the second stage of the research and emerging lessons for policy. The report provides some evidence to question the assumption among policy makers that there is a ‘poverty of aspirations’ among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods

The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis.

Preclinical and clinical studies have shown bidirectional interactions within the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Gut microbes communicate to the central nervous system through at least 3 parallel and interacting channels involving nervous, endocrine, and immune signaling mechanisms. The brain can affect the community structure and function of the gut microbiota through the autonomic nervous system, by modulating regional gut motility, intestinal transit and secretion, and gut permeability, and potentially through the luminal secretion of hormones that directly modulate microbial gene expression. A systems biological model is proposed that posits circular communication loops amid the brain, gut, and gut microbiome, and in which perturbation at any level can propagate dysregulation throughout the circuit. A series of largely preclinical observations implicates alterations in brain-gut-microbiome communication in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, and several psychiatric and neurologic disorders. Continued research holds the promise of identifying novel therapeutic targets and developing treatment strategies to address some of the most debilitating, costly, and poorly understood diseases

An Exploration of Transportation Terrorist Stabbing Attacks

In his August 22, 2018 message to supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and [greater] Syria (ISIS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi implored ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq as well as those on various jihadist fronts in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia not to be dismayed by military setbacks suffered by the Islamic State, but to continue fighting, confident that Allah would ultimately reward those who remained steadfast with victory. In the same message, he exhorted homegrown jihadists abroad— “the fierce lions in the lands of the Cross—Canada, Europe, and elsewhere” to carry out simple attacks within their limited capabilities that would nonetheless have great psychological impact because they would strike in the enemy’s homeland.Previous reports by the Mineta Transportation Institute have addressed bombings (see Suicide Bombings Against Trains and Buses Are Lethal but Few in Number and Explosives and Incendiaries Used in Terrorist Attacks on Public Surface Transportation: A Preliminary Empirical Analysis ). Car ramming attacks or what are sometimes called vehicular rammings have been the subject of more recent reporting. This report looks first at terrorist stabbing attacks against the public as a general phenomenon, and then examines stabbing attacks in public surface transportation venues

Interwoven Curriculum Design for First Year Learning

The diverse range of pre-existing skills and knowledge that students bring to the first year of an architecture program is a challenge to pedagogical design. The traditional model for first year teaching at the University of Queensland was a series of short, stimulating projects and assignments offering an introductory smorgasbord of concepts, skills and techniques across a broad range of architectural issues. In 2004 a more integrated curriculum model was trialled that retained a breadth of skills and concepts, but sought to encourage a deeper engagement with the integrative design act by weaving project-work through developmental iterations across three different courses. The curriculum model sought to create conceptual linkages between design, theory, technology and communication courses in a manner that facilitated genuinely rich and reflective learning. The model adopted was not a singular, monolithically integrated project, but the sequenced weaving of students earlier design projects through successive modes of enquiry in three discrete courses, encouraging conceptual connection between the different sub-disciplinary paradigms. The inter-related curriculum required careful sequencing of project work across the year and clearly differentiated assessment criteria. Peter Skinner devised and taught the interrelated courses in 2004, and Clair Hughes evaluated the student experience through survey and focus group analysis in 2005. The evaluation probed five key learning objectives of the interwoven curriculum: - acquisition of broad and diverse skills, knowledge and understanding; - authentic engagement with, and ownership of, the processes of design; - participation in genuinely deep, rich and reflective modes of thinking and learning; - identification with the processes and values of the architectural profession; and - satisfaction from authentic accomplishment within the first year experience. Positive student response encourages the consideration of further development of this strategy of interwoven curricula in architectural education