Curiosity and its role in cross-cultural knowledge creation

This paper explores the role of curiosity in promoting cross-cultural knowledge creation and competence development. It is based on a study with four international higher educational institutions, all of which offer management and business education for local and international students. The reality of multicultural and intercultural relationships is researched using constructivist grounded theory method, with data collected through indepth interviews, long-term observation and participation, and discussion of the social reality as it was experienced by the participants. The study applies the concepts of cultural knowledge development, cross-cultural competence and cultural distance. Based on the comparative analysis, curiosity emerged as a personal condition conducive to the cultural knowledge development process. The paper presents a cross-cultural competence development process model, which takes into account the cultural curiosity of the learners. The paper also provides tentative recommendations for the steps that knowledge-creating multicultural organizations can take to develop cross-cultural exchange, cultural knowledge creation and cross-cultural competence development.peer-reviewe

The soils of polar wastes and the role of B. N. Gorodkov in their study

Chemical and biochemical reactions of soil formation, and classification of Arctic soil

Control And Inverse Problems For One Dimensional Systems

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009The thesis is devoted to control and inverse problems (dynamical and spectral) for systems on graphs and on the half line. In the first part we study the boundary control problems for the wave, heat, and Schrodinger equations on a finite graph. We suppose that the graph is a tree (i.e., it does not contain cycles), and on each edge an equation is defined. The control is acting through the Dirichlet condition applied to all or all but one boundary vertices. The exact controllability in L2-classes of controls is proved and sharp estimates of the time of controllability are obtained for the wave equation. The null controllability for the heat equation and exact controllability for the Schrodinger equation in arbitrary time interval are obtained. In the second part we consider the in-plane motion of elastic strings on a tree-like network, observed from the 'leaves.' We investigate the inverse problem of recovering not only the physical properties, i.e. the 'optical lengths' of each string, but also the topology of the tree which is represented by the edge degrees and the angles between branching edges. It is shown that under generic assumptions the inverse problem can be solved by applying measurements at all leaves, the root of the tree being fixed. In the third part of the thesis we consider Inverse dynamical and spectral problems for the Schrodinger operator on the half line. Using the connection between dynamical (Boundary Control method) and spectral approaches (due to Krein, Gelfand-Levitan, Simon and Remling), we improved the result on the representation of so-called A---amplitude and derive the "local" version of the classical Gelfand-Levitan equations

Coastal agglomerations and the transformation of national innovation spaces

In this article, I discuss the role of coastal agglomerations in the territorial heterogeneity of the world economy and the global innovation space. I pay particular attention to how prox­imity to the sea and ocean coasts influences the dynamics of innovation processes. I analyse coastalisation (the movement of economic activity and population to coastal zones) by con­sidering the effects and inland diffusion of the exceptionally high innovative potential of coastal agglomerations. I put forward the hypothesis that coastal agglomerations are the most important transformational elements of a national innovation system. Further, I outline and systematise findings dealing with the specifics of innovative processes taking place in coastal agglomerations under the influence of the agglomerative and coastal factors. The result of this study is a comparison and assessment of the mutual influence of the two effects of spatial development that translate into the unique identity of coastal zone cities: urbanisa­tion and coastalisation

New school ties: Social capital and cultural knowledge creation in multicultural learning environments

siirretty Doriast

European Parliament elections and EU governance

The decision to establish direct elections to the European Parliament was intended by many to establish a direct link between the individual citizen and decision making at the European level. Elections were meant to help to establish a common identity among the peoples of Europe, to legitimise policy through the normal electoral processes and provide a public space within which Europeans could exert a more direct control over their collective future. Critics disagreed, arguing that direct elections to the European Parliament would further undermine the sovereignty of member states, and may not deliver on the promise that so many were making on behalf of that process. In particular, some wondered whether elections alone could mobilise European publics to take a much greater interest in European matters, with the possibility of European elections being contested simply on national matters. Evaluating these divergent views, the subject of this article is to review the literature on direct elections to the European Parliament in the context of the role these elections play in governance of the European Union. The seminal work by Reif and Schmitt serves as the starting point of our review. These authors were the frst to discuss elections to the European Parliament as second-order national elections. Results of second-order elections are infuenced not only by second-order factors, but also by the situation in the frst-order arena at the time of the second-order election. In the 30 years and six more sets of European Parliament elections since the publication of their work, the concept has become the dominant one in any academic discussion of European elections. In this article we review that work in order to assess the continuing value of the second-order national election concept today, and to consider some of the more fruitful areas for research which might build on the advance made by Reif and Schmitt. While the concept has proven useful in studies of a range of elections beyond just those for the European Parliament, including those for regional and local assemblies as well as referendums, this review will concentrate solely on EP elections. Concluding that Reif and Schmitt's characterisation remains broadly valid today, the article allows that while this does not mean there is necessarily a democratic defcit within the EU, there may be changes that could be made to encourage a more efective electoral process