Introduction: : Independence, global entanglement and the co-production of sovereignty

This article introduces a special issue, exploring some of the themes that tie the articles together and relevant conceptual issuesPostprintPeer reviewe

Those who left/are left behind : Schrödinger's refugee and the ethics of complementarity

“Those left behind” was a recurring emphasis of media depictions of the emotions surrounding the departure of those who left Afghanistan. The relationship between “those who left” and “those left behind,” which is characteristic of any context of forced displacement, relates to potentials, compelled by life and death questions. A decision to leave or stay is on the surface a binary choice, defined by the physical impossibility of doing both. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the ethical questions change when placed in a framework of quantum complementarity, by which phenomena, defined by what they are not, are also, in important respects, that which they are not, that is, the polar opposite. The first section develops Schrödinger's thought experiment and problematizes his focus on life and death as physical states of the cat, and the separateness of the observer, as a misrepresentation of the Copenhagen School arguments from which the thought experiment arose, and complementarity in particular. The second section examines the relationship between “those who left,” “those left behind,” and external observers in terms of a duality of matter and consciousness, which is complementary and mutually constituted. The third section examines the liminality that arises from a series of nested “boxes” and the various positions from which the forcefully displaced are observed within a holographic world. The final section then unpacks the ethical implications of quantum complementarity and ungrieved grief as they relate to forced displacement.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

To 'see' is to break an entanglement : quantum measurement, trauma and security

This article seeks to explore the quantum notion that to ‘see’ an entanglement is to break it in the context of an ‘experiment’ regarding the ongoing impact of traumatic political memory on the present. The analysis is a product of collaboration over the past four years between the two authors, one a scholar of international relations, the other a therapeutic practitioner with training in medical physics. Our focus is the conceptual claim that ‘seeing’ breaks an entanglement rather than the experiment itself. The first section explores a broad contrast between classical and quantum measurement, asking what this might mean at the macroscopic level. The second section categorizes Wendt’s claim about language as a form of expressive measurement and explores the relationship to discourse analysis. The third section explores the broad contours of our experiment and the role of a somewhat different form of non-linear expressive measurement. In the final section, we elaborate the relationship between redemptive measurement and breaking an entanglement, which involves a form of ‘seeing’ that witnesses to unacknowledged past trauma.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Letter Writing Assignment for Leadership Development: Creating Stakeholder Connection for Policy Advocacy

The purpose of this article is to share with leadership educators a writing exercise designed to provide doctoral students enrolled in an Administrative and Policy Leadership course an opportunity to gain experience with building collective will for policy advocacy on a social justice issue. This article describes the use of a letter writing assignment including the background and justification for using letter writing rather than other forms of writing across the curriculum, instructions for students to complete the assignment, and examples and ideas for grading and providing constructive and instructive feedback to leadership students. The article concludes with recommendations and potential assignment modifications for leadership educators that choose to adopt this type of writing assignment within their leadership training curriculum

Composition, structure, and biomass of cottonwood-dominated gallery forests along a successional gradient, Willamette River, Oregon

Recognizing the importance of native black cottonwood-dominated riparian forests is especially important to preserve, protect, and manage for biodiversity in the Willamette River Valley. Species composition, structure, and biomass along a successional gradient from stand initiation to late succession of black cottonwood (Populus balsamfera L. subsp. trichocarpa (T. & G.) Brayshaw) dominated gallery forests was investigated along 145 km of the Willamette River, Oregon. These forests were found to generally follow disturbance-initiated successional stages; stand initiation, stem exclusion, early succession/understory re-initiation, mid succession, and late succession. Young stands were dominated by black cottonwood and opportunistic herbaceous species. Understory shrub and late-successional tree species established 12 - 15 years after stand initiation. Oregon ash (Fraxinus latfolia Benth.) was the dominant late-successional tree species. Biotic habitat variables, in contrast to abiotic environmental variables, appeared to be the most important determinants of herbaceous and understory species presence and abundance. Relative stand age, as represented by average black cottonwood diameter at breast height (dbh), was the most important measured environmental variable based on non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination using understory plant species composition and abundance in sites of all ages. Abundance of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) was also an important variable across stand ages. Based on NMS ordination of stands >20 cm average dbh, this variable was the most highly correlated environmental variable with plant species composition and abundance. High abundance of reed canarygrass resulted in lower values of understory species diversity and total species richness by inhibiting establishment of understory tree, shrub, and herbaceous species as well as late-successional tree species. Total above ground tree biomass was calculated for all stands and ranged from <1 to 549 Mg/ha in stand initiation and late succession stages respectively. Black cottonwood biomass was 36 - 100% of total above ground tree biomass (<1- 427 Mg/ha). Biomass in these forests exceeded all other published above-ground biomass estimates for deciduous riparian forests. As cottonwood trees senesced and pioneer tree species dominance decreased, biomass also decreased. Annual biomass accumulation was lowest during stand initiation (0.01 Mg/halyr), peaked when stands were between 7 and 12 years old (23.7 Mg/halyr), and decreased thereafter as stands aged (2.9 to 7.3 Mg/ha/yr in stands >65 years old, n = 6). Structural diversity increased during early succession as understory trees, shrubs, and herbs established along with late-successional tree species, and created multiple vegetative layers. This understory re-initiation occurred around 12 to 15 years after stand initiation, when the cottonwood canopy opened up. Total tree densities were highest in early successional stands, 20,800 to 96,200 trees/ha, and decreased in older forest stands 443 to 3710 trees/ha. Large tree (>10 cm diameter at 1.3 meters in height) densities ranged from 180 to 1350 trees/ha. Standing dead tree density decreased with stand age from a peak in a 4 year old stand of 9,600 snags/ha. Standing dead tree biomass and downed wood biomass increased through time as stands aged from 0 to 12.7 Mglha and 0 to 2.1 Mg, respectively. Abundance of invasive plant species appeared to negatively impact structural diversity by inhibiting establishment of understory and late-successional tree species. This study indicated that Willaniette River cottonwood-dominated gallery forests are structurally diverse with high carbon storage potential, but as late successional species come to dominate, diversity and biomass decreased. Relative stand age was important across stands relative to species composition and abundance. However, considering only older stands, reed canarygrass was the most strongly correlated variable with species composition and abundance. Without intervention to control establishment and survival of reed canarygrass, and perhaps some other invasive species, such as Himalaya blackberry (Rubus arm eniacus L.) and English ivy (Hedera helix L.), it is likely that these species will become more influential and that plant diversity in Willamette River riparian forests will be negatively impacted. In addition, stands are small in area, few remain, and pioneer forest regeneration appears to be limited to areas where they are subject to scour and excessive inundation during high winter flow events. As cottonwood dominance continues to decline, late successional tree species and non-native understory vegetation are expected to increase in dominance at the riverscape level, decreasing overall biodiversity in the Willamette River Valley

Documenting student engagement using an intention/reflection exercise during an advanced pharmacy practice experience

The article shares the outcomes of a practice called Intention/Reflection (I/R) when applied to a group of ten students in a five-week course involving an international advanced pharmacy practice experience. Developed by the authors and founded on a combination of theoretical principles, this practice is unique because of the blend of formative and summative activities. I/R activities account for learning goals established by the instructor but also promote the mindful creation of a student’s own personal set of learning outcomes. In this practice, prior to any learning experience (which could be as long as a semester or as short as a single class session), students respond to questions that help them identify their individual learning goals and how this knowledge gain will help them. A similar set of questions at the end of the experience is meant to help the student understand the effect of the experience, and connect the students’ intention with their learning outcomes. The results show two benefits from the learning process. First the students are able to monitor their own learning and track what they want to learn as well as how they learned it. Second, the practice appears to help students identify new distinct personal learning outcomes and a way to achieve them

Utilizing a Multi-Step Consensus-Building Process to Create a Shared Departmental Definition of Community Engagement

A multidisciplinary department at a College of Pharmacy utilized a multi-step consensus-building process to create a shared departmental definition of community engagement that was consistent with the department’s mission and vision. Throughout the consensus building and engaged department process, faculty and staff were given opportunities to participate in community-engaged work and departmental activities, including updates in regular scheduled department meetings. This allowed faculty to have a reference and common understanding of the concept of community engagement when striving towards outlined promotion objectives. A shared understanding of what constitutes community engagement was necessary to ensure that all members of the interdisciplinary department are working toward a common goal and shared vision. &nbsp; Article Type: Original Researc

Case Study: Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a One-Day Leadership Conference to Foster Women’s Leadership in Healthcare

Despite women increasingly entering the healthcare field, they still face barriers to advancing in leadership ranks within healthcare. To address the need for leadership development among women in healthcare, the Center for Leading Healthcare Change (CLHC) at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy piloted a one-day conference in November 2012 entitled “Women Impacting Healthcare: Decide to Make a Difference.” This conference utilized an interactive agenda: each speaker’s presentation was followed by hands-on leadership activities during which attendees developed their own personal leadership visions. Specific leadership activities were designed to build upon one another and help design a leadership pathway. All activities were consistent as they included personal reflection and interaction with others. Attendees were asked to complete two evaluations, one immediately at the conclusion of the conference, and another two-weeks post. The conference committee achieved the goal of delivering the conference objectives. As the Women Impacting Healthcare committee continues to look for ways to develop leaders in healthcare, the focus of future conferences will also evolve to include the needs of women currently in leadership roles, as well as ways women can grow into leadership roles

Language, entanglement and the new Silk Roads

Observers have tended to place the Silk Road proposals in the context of ‘China’s rise’, and its increasing influence and interests in Central, South and South-East Asia. From a realist perspective, China, like any expanding state, poses a potential threat. From a liberal angle, it is expanding the space for cooperation. Both models rely on an individualist ontology that highlights the interests of individual states. The potential of the Silk Roads looks somewhat different if approached from the perspective of a more relational ontology and a concept of entanglement. We draw on a few claims from Alexander Wendt’s (2015) recent book as a framework for examining the emerging reality of the new ‘Silk Roads’. What are the implications of this ontological shift for thinking about the Chinese ‘Silk Road’ proposal? We develop three specific claims as part of a reflection on this context: first, language use is a form of measurement that shapes and transforms reality; second, language use is an expression of entanglement; and third, leaders have a large role in ‘collapsing wave functions’ around specific potentials. While some of the themes that arise in this discussion are compatible with other arguments about the role of language, the quantum angle provides a more explicit point of departure for discussing the ‘physical’ dimensions of language use, the multiple layers of meaning within which the OBOR is embedded and its relational ontology.PostprintPeer reviewe

Reclaiming the political : emancipation and critique in security studies

The critical security studies literature has been marked by a shared commitment towards the politicization of security – that is, the analysis of its assumptions, implications and the practices through which it is (re)produced. In recent years, however, politicization has been accompanied by a tendency to conceive security as connected with a logic of exclusion, totalization and even violence. This has resulted in an imbalanced politicization that weakens critique. Seeking to tackle this situation, the present article engages with contributions that have advanced emancipatory versions of security. Starting with, but going beyond, the so-called Aberystwyth School of security studies, the argument reconsiders the meaning of security as emancipation by making the case for a systematic engagement with the notions of reality and power. This revised version of security as emancipation strengthens critique by addressing political dimensions that have been underplayed in the critical security literature