Exploring xenophobic and homophobic attitudes in Malta : linking the perception of social practice with textual analysis

Reporting on research undertaken under the auspices of the C.O.N.T.A.C.T. project, the present paper investigates the roots of xenophobic and homophobic attitudes in Malta and the extent to which these can be pinpointed in the lexical choices made in discriminatory comments posted online in reaction to local news stories pertaining to migrants and members of the LGBTIQ community. Adopting Fairclough’s threedimensional framework (1995), we start off by presenting the values that underlie local discriminatory attitudes as social practice, as these were identified by the participants of four focus group interviews that were conducted at the University of Malta. In this respect, while xenophobia seems to be a far more pressing issue in Malta, homophobia, which is still also present, is taken to be predominantly triggered by deep-rooted religious beliefs and allegiance to heteronormative values. Then, when it comes to xenophobia, the main relevant trigger seems to be the perceived threat that the different collective background of a particular subset of migrants in Malta poses to the local culture. In an attempt to show that these values can also be discerned by examining even the most basic textual characteristics of a dataset comprising xenophobic and homophobic talk in the local context, we turn to identify them by looking at quantitative measures pertaining to lexical choice and metaphorical extension in the relevant parts of our corpus. In this way, we provide evidence for the fundamental – for Critical Discourse Analysis – claim that the textual analysis of a relevant dataset can indeed reveal the axiological framework that underlies the negative stance that the general population may have in relation to particular minorities, showcasing the relevance of discourse analytic methods for the broader understanding of discrimination and hate speech.Rights, Equality & Citizenship Programme of the European Commission Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (JUST/2014/RRAC/AG/HATE/6706)peer-reviewe

Demographischer Wandel in Freizeit und Arbeit : eine Analyse mit Expertengesprächen und Szenarien für das Jahr 2020

von Matthias MuskatPaderborn, Univ., Diss., 200

Being Disruptive: How Open Growth is Delivering Effective Social Change at a Fast Pace

Both innovators and funders need tools that map the entire constellation of solutions in a sector. Innovators, often labeled and isolated as system disruptors, need to be linked with their global peers offering and seeking each others proven strategies to accelerate positive change. The impact investing space needs a simple, open, and transparent way to find, convene, support, and track the progress of innovators. This article describes how the Ashoka Changemakers.com online community creates a space for: investors to find and support multiple innovations; social innovators to find each other, work together, and source funds; and disruptive innovations to grow over time where disruptive change is needed, fast. Crowd-sourcing, transparency, and open growth are keys to accelerating large-scale change and creating a world of changemakers

A systematic review of quality of student experience in higher education

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize major streams of research on quality of student experience in higher education, in order to present an agenda for future research. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of high quality journals published during the period 2000 to 2014 in the areas of quality of student experience and higher education was performed. Findings: Findings highlight current research trends on the quality of student experience in higher education. Results show five prevailing research streams: 1) exploration of learning experience; 2) exploration of student experience; 3) gender differences in assessment of higher education experience; 4) improvement in quality of student experience, 5) student satisfaction with higher education experience. Research limitations/implications: The identification of the five research streams presented in the findings of this paper provide the basis for a synthesis of key issues identified within each research stream. These discussions, along with the identification of the purposes and limitations of existential research allow existential issues concerning research on quality of student experience in higher education to be addressed. Practical implications: Literature currently portrays the quality of student experience as a student-centric idea. Together with the purposes and limitations identified in existing research, the paper proposes an agenda for future research that increases the variety of research streams that is essential to provide a deeper understanding of the student experience to enhance the delivery of quality in higher education. Originality/value: The findings contribute to the research scene by providing important insights in terms of the current trends and focus of existing research in the area of quality of student experience in higher education

Nonextensive diffusion as nonlinear response

The porous media equation has been proposed as a phenomenological ``non-extensive'' generalization of classical diffusion. Here, we show that a very similar equation can be derived, in a systematic manner, for a classical fluid by assuming nonlinear response, i.e. that the diffusive flux depends on gradients of a power of the concentration. The present equation distinguishes from the porous media equation in that it describes \emph{% generalized classical} diffusion, i.e. with $r/\sqrt Dt$ scaling, but with a generalized Einstein relation, and with power-law probability distributions typical of nonextensive statistical mechanics

Moving boundary approximation for curved streamer ionization fronts: Solvability analysis

The minimal density model for negative streamer ionization fronts is investigated. An earlier moving boundary approximation for this model consisted of a "kinetic undercooling" type boundary condition in a Laplacian growth problem of Hele-Shaw type. Here we derive a curvature correction to the moving boundary approximation that resembles surface tension. The calculation is based on solvability analysis with unconventional features, namely, there are three relevant zero modes of the adjoint operator, one of them diverging; furthermore, the inner/outer matching ahead of the front has to be performed on a line rather than on an extended region; and the whole calculation can be performed analytically. The analysis reveals a relation between the fields ahead and behind a slowly evolving curved front, the curvature and the generated conductivity. This relation forces us to give up the ideal conductivity approximation, and we suggest to replace it by a constant conductivity approximation. This implies that the electric potential in the streamer interior is no longer constant but solves a Laplace equation; this leads to a Muskat-type problem.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure