Cocoons as a space of their own: a case of Emirati women learners

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article focuses on ‘cocooning’ as a spatial practice of Emirati higher education women learners in a single-sex learning context, which emerged from exploring the intersectional and intertwined relationship of gender, place and culture with its unique cultural formation that informs women learners’ spatiality. To understand women’s spatiality and explore these intersecting relations, I conducted an ethnographic qualitative inquiry, applying multiple levels of data gathering and analysis. I also utilised social theories of space as a theoretical framework, specifically the social construction of space and Lefebvre’s triad of perceived, conceived and lived space. Cocooning, represented in these women learners’ unique spatial appropriation in their quest for a space of their own, emerged as a pervasive socially constructed spatial theme. As a spatial practice, it was largely influenced by the women learners’ cultural model, including socio-cultural status and gender roles, rooted in their national, historical colonial and traditional past as well as current economic, political, demographic, academic-institutional and global positions and demands. Furthermore, cocooning is a spatial representation of what also seems a universal longing among women, beyond context and culture, for a space of one’s own. Such a spatial need is manifested differently in the perceived space while shared in the conceived and lived

Lifestylopathy: Unlocking Potential by Embracing Duality and Homeostasis for Improved Healthcare

The article explores the integration of duality and homeostasis in healthcare to enhance health outcomes. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining balance and stability in both physical and non-physical aspects of the body for optimal well-being. The rationalization of the duality concept is discussed, drawing analogies from various natural systems and phenomena. The role of duality in homeostasis, including mental stability, metabolic processes, and energy forms, is explored. The article also highlights the significance of embracing duality in personal balance, lifestyle choices, and immune system activation. Furthermore, it discusses the implications of incorporating duality in disease prevention and treatment, emphasizing the integration of physical and non-physical aspects in personalized medicine. The synergy between medicine and lifestyle is highlighted in the context of lifestylopathy, emphasizing the need for compatibility and personalized approaches. Overall, the article concludes by highlighting the potential of embracing duality and homeostasis to revolutionize healthcare and improve patient outcomes

Halalopathy: Revival of Miraculous Cure and Creation of Favourable Circumstances for Cancer Therapy

Curing diseases and achieving complete recovery is challenging particularly with complex diseases such as cancer, where complete remission is most likely the preferred option that can be achieved. The hope for a complete recovery is inspired by cancer patients who have successfully beaten cancer and achieved a complete recovery. Despite physicians referring to these stories as “miraculous” recoveries, nevertheless, they reveal that victory over cancer can be achieved. According to Halalopathy, a key role in complete recovery is played by setting up the favourable circumstances for the cure, a process that can be achieved by involving the patient in the therapeutic process. Entropy and potential energy are inversely proportional, and both are key elements in the process of prevention and cure. The catabolic reaction is driven by entropy, while the anabolic reaction is driven by potential energy. The stimulation of potential energy and the reduction of entropy contribute greatly to the activation of the immune system and thereby create the necessary circumstances required for effective prevention and therapy

A perspective on women’s spatial experiences in higher education: between modernity and tradition

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper is concerned with the spatial experiences of Emirati higher education women students. It presents some of the unique ways they engaged with and appropriated their campus space. To understand and explore women’s spatial experiences as manifested through their spatial practices, appropriation and emerging spaces, I conducted an ethnographic qualitative inquiry with multiple levels of data gathering and analysis. I utilized social theories of space specifically the social construction of space and Lefebvre’s triad as a theoretical framework for this study. The emerging spatial practices of ‘togetherness’ and ‘sitting on the floor’ were highly informed by aspects of women students’ identity and socio-cultural formation, with an evident link to their traditional past that intersects with their specific nation’s modern demands and challenges. Although Emirati women learners’ spatiality might resonate with that of other women learners, their spatial practices are context and culture specific

Spatializing higher education: Emirati women learners’ hot and cold spaces

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article is concerned with the types of lived spaces that emerged from exploring Emirati women learners’ spatial experiences in higher education. By conducting an ethnographic qualitative inquiry and by utilizing Lefebvre’s triad of the perceived, conceived and lived space and rhythmanalysis as a theoretical framework, two distinctive categories of the lived space emerged: ‘Hot’ and ‘Cold’ spaces, with their sub-categorizations. These emergent spaces reveal and reflect Emirati women learners’ spatial needs and experiences as manifested through their spatial appropriation and unique rhythms on campus. The findings also extend our understanding and utilization of Lefebvre’s abstract triad, specifically the lived space, and confirm how space is neither abstract nor static, but socially constructed, dynamic as well as culturally and contextually bound. The spatial focus of this study offers a novel way of thinking about women’s experiences and needs in higher education, thus extending the scholarly work on spatializing education

Occupational Choices Among Arab Americans In The U.s.: An Examination Of The Effects Of Gender, Educational Attainment, Generational Status, Country Of Origin, And Motivation

Migrating to the United States of American holds both great promises and challenges for prospective immigrants. This is true for Arab Americans who migrated to the United States in increasing numbers over the last several decades. One of the most important, yet simultaneously under-examined areas of research interest is that of Arab Americans’ occupational choices and occupational motivations. Occupational choices and motivations are correlated to social status, income earning potential, familial stability, and even health outcomes. This is true for the U.S. population as a whole and even more so for immigrant groups such as Arab Americans. The present study employs quantitative methodology and a survey design to examine two key questions related to Arab Americans (1) Are there differences in occupational choices by gender, educational level, country of origin, and generational status among Arab American workers in Dearborn, MI?, and (2) What explains the occupational motivations among Arab Americans in Dearborn, and is there a mismatch between Arab Americans’ motivations and occupations? To answer these questions, 254 Arab American workers were sampled from eight different locations across Dearborn, Michigan using a convenience sample design. All participants completed a face-to-face survey that included questions about their current and last occupation, occupational motivations, and relevant demographic and cultural characteristics. The researcher asked survey questions orally of participants and recorded their responses. The study found that gender, generational status and country of origin were significantly associated with the occupational choices of the individual. The study also determined that male respondents were three times more likely to have a job in education than the health care industry. Certain ethnic groups were also more likely to have occupations in business and finance sectors or healthcare sectors. In addition, different types of motivations (intrinsic, extrinsic, personal) produced differential effects on occupational choices. For instance, internal motivations significantly predicted non-participation in the transportation section whereas familial motivation significantly predicted non-participation in the education sector. These and other findings suggest that the manner within which Arab American culture influences occupational choice and motivation is complex and differentiated, requiring further articulation. Additionally, the nature of the gender skew within the Arab American community may provide incentives for future gender research. Further research is also needed to reveal additional variables that may successfully predict participation in a wider swath of occupations. Future researchers would also benefit from the employment of qualitative methodology, which provides greater depth of understanding

Beyond a Black Sea of Sheilas and Abayas: Do Emirati Women Students Have a Space of their Own?

This paper is concerned with Emirati women students’ spaces of inclusion and exclusion with specific focus on both their physical bodies and the places they occupy, and the mental space of their creative work where they forge a space for themselves. The paper employs ethnographic research at a women’s federal university campus in the UAE using several levels of data gathering and interviews while utilizing thematic and contextual analysis of the data sets. The work is backed up by the theoretical framework of feminist theory and Lefebvre’s perceived and conceived space. Lefebvre’s perceived space is represented through the physical presence of the female body, and its pure material representation, while the conceived space represents the mental abstract spaces constructed in these women’s writing that come to form a textual space of their own making. The findings emphasize these women’s lack of space, their exclusion, and their agency in utilizing their bodies as a space of their own while constructing other mental arenas beyond the material world to assert themselves. The resulting spaces are often seen as a rebellious and dissident medium against what social and cultural norms allow. Such actions, practices and representations of space are culturally and socially driven while being closely intertwined with their unique identity as Emirati women