Girls Speak: A New Voice in Global Development

Presents adolescent girls' views on the value of education and its impact on their lives, their aspirations, and barriers to long-term change as guidance for targeting interventions to improve self-determination and health, social, and economic outcomes

Constructions of diaspora-oriented Jewish identities: a comparative case study of individuals in New York city and London

Although historical sources acknowledge the diversity of Jewish identities, recent research tends to focus heavily on religious and Zionist bases for Jewish identities. To explore the research question, “How do Jews outside the mainstream of religion and Zionism construct and maintain alternative Jewish identities?” a case study was crafted to focus on a small sample of individuals from two left-wing, Diaspora-oriented Jewish groups in New York City and London in 1999 – 2000. The project used participant observation, discourse analysis, and in-depth interviews to research members of these groups at this unique historical moment—a time of higher levels of optimism and security as the Holocaust was further in the past and the second intifada in Israel and 9/11 attacks in the US had yet to occur. Semi-structured interviews allowed for detailed personal histories of alternative Jewish identity formation and expression. Significant findings include the fact that non-mainstream Jews find Jewish meaning in culture, history, tradition, politics, and minority status. Furthermore, alternative Jewish identities are constructed and maintained from the margins, in community, through learning, by action, and through redefining rituals. There remain many obstacles but also opportunities for those seeking non-mainstream Jewish identities in the Diaspora, including the inherent fluidity of identity, marginalisation, lack of knowledge, need for rituals, ambivalence and internalised anti-Semitism, potential burnout for activists, and Zionism and Israel/Palestine debates. This study contributes to the fields of Jewish sociology and identity research in applying qualitative methods and more recent identity theories to Jewish identities typically marginalised by both scholars and mainstream Jewish institutions

WORKSHOP — You Don\u27t Know Beans... \u27til You Ask Someone: Oral History & Community

Oral history is a method used to document the past—and present—by drawing on the knowledge of individuals and communities. Through recorded interviews, oral histories often create the first tangible record--where none existed except in memory--of people, places, everyday life, historical events, customs, and traditions. This workshop will offer tips on carrying out a successful oral history project, as well as K-12 classroom applications. Case studies from New Bedford\u27s seafood industry and foodways traditions in Lowell offer programming ideas for all ages to show how food has helped to shape Massachusetts\u27 identity and sense of place over time. Moderator: Carolyn Goldstein, Public History and Community Archives Program Manager, University of Massachusetts Boston Presenters: Laura Orleans, Executive Director, New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Millie Rahn, Folkloris

How the coronavirus pandemic affected the lives of people with ALS and their spouses in the UK from spouses’ perspectives: A qualitative study

Objective:This study set out to investigate using qualitative methodology the experiences of spouses of people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) during the coronavirus pandemic, with particular focus on spouse distress and cognitive and behavioural change in people with ALS (pwALS). Methods:Qualitative semi-structured interviews of nine spouses of pwALS living in England were conducted between 11/09/2020 and 20/04/2021, focusing on spouses’ perspectives of how their lives and the lives of pwALS were affected by the pandemic and related lockdowns. Interviews were subject to thematic analysis.Results: Four superordinate themes were identified from the spouses’ interviews: i) pandemic behaviours, which encompassed accounts of cautious behaviour, relaxation of cautious behaviour, and other people’s attitudes to shielding the person with ALS; ii) changes to daily life caused by the pandemic and progression of ALS; iii) distress in spouses, which included anxiety, depression, and burden; and iv) ALS-related behavioural impairment. Spouses also provided mixed accounts of telehealth care, pointing out its convenience but some felt that face-to-face appointments were preferable.Conclusions:While many reactions to the pandemic reported by spouses of pwALS may have been similar to those of the general population or other vulnerable groups, interviews indicated the potential for the pandemic to have made more apparent certain aspects of behavioural change in pwALS with which carers may require support. Clinicians need to acknowledge spouses’ concerns about the potential limitations of remote clinical consultations, enquire about cognitive and behavioural change, and consider how input should be best provided in such limiting circumstances. <br/

Interaction of Seed Dispersal and Environmental Filtering Affects Woody Encroachment Patterns in Coastal Grassland

Encroachment of woody plants into grasslands has occurred worldwide and includes coastal ecosystems. This conversion process is mediated by seed dispersal patterns, environmental filtering, and biotic interactions. As spatiotemporally heterogeneous, harsh environments, barrier islands present a unique set of challenges for dispersal and establishment. Environmental conditions act as filters on dispersed seeds, thereby influencing encroachment and distribution patterns. Seldom have patterns of propagule dispersal been considered in the context of woody encroachment. We quantified dispersal and post‐dispersal processes of an encroaching woody population of Morella cerifera relative to directional rate of encroachment and observed distribution patterns on an Atlantic coastal barrier island with strong environmental filtering. We analyzed historic foredune elevation as a proxy for reduced interior environmental stress. The dispersal kernel was leptokurtic, a common characteristic of expanding populations, but rate of encroachment has slowed since 2005. Expansion pattern was related to foredune elevation, which limits encroachment below a threshold elevation. This difference between dispersal kernel behavior and encroachment rate is due to limited availability of suitable habitat for Morella and temporal variability in chlorides during the time of germination. Our results demonstrate that processes mediating seeds and seedling success must be accounted for to better understand establishment patterns of encroaching woody plants

Emotional processing and Social Cognition in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Building on evidence for cognitive-behavioural change in people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the current study uses a range of neuropsychological measures to delineate the nature and scope of reported deficits in emotional processing and social cognition in people with ALS. Compared to the healthy control group, the ALS group was impaired on composite scores indexing executive function and performance on the emotional processing and social cognition tasks. Single-case analyses revealed that ALS patients showed heterogeneous performance across the cognitive tasks

A Family\u27s Perception of Occupation-Based Activity Sessions During their Transition to Permanent Housing

This study aimed to evaluate families\u27 perceptions of occupation-based activity sessions during their transition from homelessness to permanent housing. A phenomenological design was selected to identify families\u27 perceptions. Results identified potential benefits of providing occupation-based activity sessions to families in transition and indicated the importance of empowering families to enact their own sense of agency to successfully resolve their transition to permanent housing