From Gospel to Gates: Modal Blending in African-American Musical Discourse before the Signifyin(g) Monkey

Despite its origins in the literary realm, Henry Louis Gates The Signfiyin(g) Monkey: A Theory of African-American literary criticism has become a standard methodological text for the study of African-American music. Those who embrace the theory accept as the foundation of their argument an apparent link between African-American linguistic and musical realms. This short paper locates the origin of this type of modal blending in research into the rhetorical practices of Gospel services in the United States during the early 1970s. It posits that this body of work established a consensus in the field of Cultural Studies over the affinity of linguistic/musical practices in African-American culture and demonstrates that this understanding was used to justify the application of Gates theory to musical analysis in the 1990s. The ubiquity of Gates theory in the study of African-American music today is therefore shown to be the result of interdisciplinary collaboration rather than the legacy of any one particular individual

Extra-curricular Undergraduate Research Training: Notes on the Pedagogical Practices Behind the Sydney Undergraduate Journal of Musicology

Although there is a clear body of evidence supporting the idea that undergraduate students benefit from participation in original research projects, many units of study – particularly in the creative arts and humanities – have been slow to embrace curriculum renewal along these lines. In this paper, we detail a pragmatic approach to meeting this curriculum challenge in a music faculty through an extra-curricular initiative that embraces, rather than challenges organisational structures already in place. The writing workshop associated with the Sydney Undergraduate Journal of Musicology provides a pathway for students looking to develop papers they have written for class assignments into original research projects. The design of the workshop uses the Madeline Hunter Direct Instruction Model as a vehicle for introducing students to the central tenets of the Willison and O’Regan Research Skills Development Framework – an increasingly popular tool for the development of original research skills. The effect of the workshop on students’ engagement with the requirements of original research and their eagerness to engage in original research projects is then explored through the presentation of data derived from a focus group comprised of workshop participants that took place one year later

Remote Opportunities: A Rethinking and Retooling

Abstract Introducing technology as a sustainable means of creating, connecting, and collaborating reveals the need to carefully consider subtle aspects of deployment strategies and support in remote regions. In order to comprehensively address both cultural and technical issues for educational infrastructure, we consider two elements to be key: (1) a staged deployment approach, involving both educators and community members, coupled with (2) uniquely designed collaborative Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to aid constructivism. This paper presents our current experience with these elements in the context of a pilot project for aboriginal communities on the west coast of British Columbia. Currently, these local communities have been working alongside our group for a staged deployment of programs throughout southern Vancouver Island. In our next phase we will be extending this to more remote regions in the north island and coastal regions. By building on a philosophy of CommunityDriven Initiatives for Technology (C-DIT), we hope to secure community involvement in the development and testing of necessary tool support. These tools specifically target IDEs for the development of programming skills, and support our long term goal to help secondary and postsecondary level students appreciate both the process and the art of programming

A lack of empirical evidence on sport officials’ mental health: a scoping review

Sport officials—who are essential to organized sport—are tasked with applying competition rules, maintaining fair competitions, and ensuring athlete safety. However, sport officials experience stress, burnout, and non-accidental violence, with incidence of these events increasing worldwide. This has led to rising attrition rates and recruitment issues among sport officials, with many sport organizations concerned for their operational capacity. Possibly, the effects of stress, burnout, and non-accidental violence contribute to sport officials’ negative mental health outcomes. To develop a clear understanding of how sport officials’ mental health is affected by their occupation, it is necessary to identify the mental health outcomes they experience, and to what extent. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and examine the empirical research surrounding sport officials’ mental health. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework, 1206 articles were identified across three databases: PubMed, Web of Science, SportDiscus, PsycINFO. Following screening, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria for exploring sport officials’ mental health. Participants (N = 7941) in the included studies were mainly European male soccer and basketball referees. Most studies utilized quantitative inquiry (n = 15) rather than qualitative methods (n = 2) or framework development (n = 1). The research demonstrates that sport officials frequently experience negative mental health outcomes including anxiety, depression, burnout, lower mental health literacy, and high levels of stigmatization. These outcomes are influenced by gender, age, and experience. Researchers should continue examining how this profession impacts sport officials’ mental health and implement effective management strategies

“What if There's Something Wrong with Her?”‐How Biomedical Technologies Contribute to Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare

While there is a steadily growing literature on epistemic injustice in healthcare, there are few discussions of the role that biomedical technologies play in harming patients in their capacity as knowers. Through an analysis of newborn and pediatric genetic and genomic sequencing technologies (GSTs), I argue that biomedical technologies can lead to epistemic injustice through two primary pathways: epistemic capture and value partitioning. I close by discussing the larger ethical and political context of critical analyses of GSTs and their broader implications for just and equitable healthcare delivery

Researching the use of force: The background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in eight countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology