Critical Dialogue Research Articles

Focus on the less exposed: a virtual photovoice study with LGQ educators

ABSTRACT Within the classroom, many educators strive to cultivate a climate of inclusivity. However, little is known about how LGBTQ+ educators negotiate their identities and feelings of inclusion within the confines of their institutional practices. This study employed a virtual photovoice inquiry rooted in Freire’s educational approach to examine perceptions of inclusion for lesbian, gay, and queer-identifying (LGQ) educators. Four LGQ educators and staff members documented their lived experiences through photography and engaged in critical dialogue about their artwork. In this paper, the author shares two themes from the qualitative data: resiliency in the face of adversity and the pivotal role of self-identity and its development. The findings shed light on the nuanced experiences of LGQ educators while offering pathways to promote inclusivity and enhance LGBTQ±positive awareness in educational settings. In the landscape of LGBTQ+ educational research, a significant void persists, particularly in understanding the perceptions of LGBTQ+ educators and staff, which carries substantial implications for developing inclusive educational policies and practices. By providing a deeper understanding of the experiences of LGQ individuals within academia, this research catalyses the advancement of social justice and provides directions for future research within educational contexts.

IMPROVING LITERACY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: UNLEASHING CRITICAL THINKING POTENTIAL

The study also found that literacy education in schools and families plays an important role in shaping individuals' critical thinking skills. Learning that involves relevant digital media and content tailored to individual needs, as well as approaches that encourage critical reflection and dialogue, can improve literacy in the digital age and critical thinking skills. Theoretical foundations that support the relationship between literacy in the digital age and critical thinking skills are explored to provide a deeper understanding of the role of literacy in the digital age. The research method used is a qualitative approach involving two groups of research subjects, namely high school students and university students. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews and surveys to obtain their views and perceptions related to literacy and critical thinking in the digital era. The results showed that increasing literacy in the digital era significantly contributed to the development of critical thinking potential in individuals. Research subjects who have higher literacy levels tend to be better able to critically analyze information, identify fake news, and critically evaluate information sources. They also have a higher awareness of the dangers of misleading information and are better able to sort out relevant information.

What's in It for Me? Contextualizing the Potential Clinical Impacts of Lecanemab, Donanemab, and Other Anti-β-amyloid Monoclonal Antibodies in Early Alzheimer's Disease.

A new era of disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD) arrived in 2021 following the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to grant accelerated approval for aducanumab, an anti-β-amyloid (Aβ) monoclonal antibody designed to target Aβ aggregates, a biological component of AD. More recently, trial outcomes for lecanemab and donanemab, two additional antibodies of this drug class, have shown favorable and significant slowing of metrics for cognitive and functional decline. Lecanemab and donanemab have since received similar FDA approval to aducanumab in January 2023 and July 2024, respectively. Given that these therapies are a clearly emerging tool in the repertoire of clinicians treating AD and related dementias, a critical dialogue has been ongoing regarding the potential impacts and place for these therapies. Here, we seek to contextualize this debate by first considering factors involved in theoretically extrapolating current randomized control trial outcomes to estimate meaningful clinical impacts. In the process of this exercise, we outline a generally useful concept termed Summative Treatment-Associated Benefit measuring Long-term Efficacy/Effectiveness Area as a metric of summative benefits of treatment over the life course of an individual. Second, we consider current real-world factors, such as conditions of FDA approval and other points involved in clinical decision-making that will influence and/or temper the actual impacts of this drug class.

Imagining ecopolis: Visions of ecofeminist political theology and ecocriticism in Latin America

Although often overlooked by mainstream accounts of political theology and ecocriticism in the Global North, powerful visions of an ecopolis have been emerging in Latin America. In this article, we review the status of mainstream approaches to notions such as subject, citizen, and personal dignity and put them in a critical dialogue with Latin American Ecofeminist Political Theologies (LAEPT). We argue that those notions, often conceived from a Western and anthropocentric perspective, show their limits when interrogated from the perspective of LAEPT. Accordingly, we suggest that their main contribution lies not only in their critique of the Western paradigm but also in advancing alternative conceptions of an ecologically conscious political community that considers the Earth as sacred, and nature as a reflection of the divine. We conclude that such conceptions can also be seen at work in the rights of nature enshrined in the so-called new Latin American Constitutionalism.

A Filmmaking Research Continuum

Exploring aspects of the development of filmmaking research within the Academy over past decades, this article focuses on creative practice-based methods and the establishment of filmmaking as a legitimate research endeavour. It delves into the nuances of filmmaking research methodologies, specifically the rearticulation and repositioning of research practices to encompass both the work of filmmaking production and further filmmaking engagement with its reception. The importance of research statements in elucidating scholarly contributions made by films and other screen works, like scripts and video essays, is emphasised, alongside discussions of peer-review processes and the role of creative practice research journals in fostering critical dialogue within the filmmaking research community. Despite ongoing tensions between academic and industry requirements, the article argues for the progress of filmmaking research as a distinctive discipline with distinct methodologies, highlighting the need for continual refinement in quality assessment metrics to reflect the evolving nature of the field.

Becoming Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Educators: Teacher Candidates’ Perspective Shifts in an Introductory Linguistics Course

ABSTRACT Many teacher education programs aim to address the acute need for culturally and linguistically responsive educators by fostering linguistic consciousness and awareness of language learner populations. This mixed-methods study explores how elementary education teacher candidates’ perspectives shift through critical reflection and dialogue about English learners’ education and equitable classroom practices. Using a transformative learning framework, our findings illustrate that collaborative learning tasks as well as peers’ and multilingual graduate teaching assistants’ experiences play a disorienting role in challenging monolingual and bilingual teacher candidates’ beliefs about language acquisition, bilingualism, and English learners’ education. We discuss implications for teacher language awareness and instructional practices in ESL endorsement courses.

Moving from Second Sight to Critical Consciousness Building: Using Social Justice Youth Development and Youth Participatory Action Research to Promote Praxis in Out-of-School Time

Abstract Youth development programs offer flexible environments for healing and positive identity development for youth facing discrimination and oppression. Programs often occur in out-of-school time (OST), a context that is clearly positioned in tandem with the education system to create complex relationships that lead to challenges in OST spaces. Youth development programs occurring in OST settings have the potential for resisting or replicating oppressive practices toward youth occurring in the education system. This article highlights a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project within an OST program using photovoice, field trips, and arts-based strategies. Eleven youth participated in the project over the course of nine months. Thematic content analysis of weekly photovoice and critical consciousness resulted in a primary theme of peeling back the layers. This theme encompassed the evolution of youth understanding the interconnectedness between their individual-level experiences of racism and broader community and systems-level inputs. This article describes critical consciousness development of OST youth participants through intentional engagement in critical dialogue, experiential field trips, and reflective art making.

Mitzi J. Smith, Chloe and Her People: A Womanist Critical Dialogue with First Corinthians

Mitzi J. Smith, Chloe and Her People: A Womanist Critical Dialogue with First Corinthians

Afterword

In this Afterword, I use the observations from the special issue 'Music, Affect and Politics' to discuss what I see are recurring questions in the studies of music and affect: (1) the tension between new materialism and historical materialism and its implications for theorizing the interrelations between music, sound, politics, and affect; and (2) the affective politics of music and sound as a field of ideological struggles. In doing that, I push further the reflection on affective politics of music in relation to the capitalist mode of production. Employing a Marxist analysis of affect’s circulation, affordances, and dispositions, I reflect on the ways authors in this issue consider the material realities of capitalist consumer society, class-based habitus, and commodified forms of life. I take a historically-informed, process-oriented approach to affect and put into dialogue the theory production and the sociopolitical condition of global capitalism that shape our epistemological approaches. This perspective, I argue, can led us to critical approach to affective politics of music in the interrelation between the micro- and macro-political and the much-needed critical dialogue between historical materialist and new materialist approaches.

THE CRISIS OF SOCIABILITY AND LAUGHTER IN THOMAS MANN'S DER ZAUBERBERG

ABSTRACTThe article explores the significance of laughter in Thomas Mann's Der Zauberberg. While laughter is a prominent feature in the novel, it has not received sufficient critical consideration either in Mann scholarship or, more generally, in studies of modernism. Through close examination of selected episodes of laughter, this study establishes the importance of laughter in the novel, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysis examines the extent to which the representation of laughter in the novel conforms to or deviates from recent characterisations of laughter in modernist texts. While certain interpretations of modernist laughter as disruptive and/or pathological can be applied to this text, this is not entirely true of its use in Der Zauberberg. Rather, the significance of laughter shifts constantly throughout the novel, culminating in a crisis of laughter that is part of a larger crisis of sociability and ‘Bildung’. The novel suggests that laughter formerly played a critical role in fostering communication, sociability, self‐awareness, and civility. In contrast, the crisis of laughter towards the end of the novel invites reflection on the loss of these social and humane functions. The crisis of laughter in Der Zauberberg, I argue, is of particular relevance to the interpretation of laughter in other modernist novels which engage in critical dialogue with the ‘Bildungsroman’ tradition.

Collaborating for co-researching: A multi-stakeholder case narrative of student nurses co-researching technology-supported care

AimEvaluate the impact of LS@H project participation on stakeholders. BackgroundAs populations age and workforces decline, care technology in nursing is becoming increasingly commonplace. Collaboration between nurse academia, education and practice can result in practice-based research and meaningful learning for nursing students and staff. However, little is known about the factors influencing effective collaboration. Based on the knowledge that narratives can be an effective vehicle for healthcare practice change, a Dutch school of nursing and its practice partners collaborated on the Living Longer and Safe at Home! (LS@H) project. This project aimed to explore a more person-centred approach to the use of technology in nursing care. Having gathered data from multiple sources to construct case narratives on the use of technology in older persons care, students nurses were able to contribute to practice development as their narratives were fed back to local and regional teams. DesignTo evaluate the impact of the LS@H project, we employed the same methodology used in the project: mixed data gathering methods to construct a case narrative. LS@H project students, supervisors, mentors and higher management shared their experiences and the research team constructed the case narrative. MethodsQualitative data were gathered via individual, duo and group interviews and supplemented with a survey among students. Transcription and thematic analysis followed, with multiple rounds of critical peer review before the thematic framework was agreed, survey results integrated and the case narrative constructed. ResultsAccording to stakeholder participants, the LS@H project led to an unfreezing of the status quo in both education and practice. The approach was new and guidelines with community support was needed to allay fears. The project design enabled a sense of shared ownership, across individuals and organisations for improving practice. Perspectives on the use of technology and older persons nursing were transformed. Critically dialoguing case narratives encouraged purposeful action to improve practice and fostered reflective practice among students and teams. ConclusionsCollaborative practice-based research can be a valuable learning experience for student nurses, positively influencing their view of nursing practice as well as enabling them to actively contribute to practice development. Adequate preparation, supervision and practice mentorship is vital, alongside practice (leader) commitment to ensure continued student assignments with subsequent critical dialogue of the multi-stakeholder case narratives produced. Registration numberAt point of submission put this on title page

A model of collaborative immigration advocacy to prevent policy-based trauma and harm.

Research suggests that antiimmigrant policies enacted in the United States, magnified during the 2016-2020 period, propagate widespread trauma across communities of immigrants (von Werthern et al., 2018). While these policies harm all groups of immigrants, structural conditions (e.g., lack of documentation status, race, ethnicity, country of origin, and other social and legal determinants) shape how they are experienced. To address the widespread traumatic harm inflicted by racist and xenophobic policies, a group of leaders from eight Divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA) launched an Interdivisional Immigration Project (IIP). The IIP served to develop a model for collaborative advocacy, bringing together mental health providers (i.e., psychologists, social workers), allied professionals, and immigration activists from community organizations across the country. This model was developed over the course of 1 year, coinciding with the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the amplified movement for racial justice. This article describes the key components of the IIP collaborative advocacy model: (a) structuring leadership in a democratic and egalitarian manner, (b) centering and uplifting immigrant voices, (c) forming teams across five U.S. regions, (d) facilitating critical dialogues grounded in liberatory practices, (e) centering trauma and empowerment, and (f) developing advocacy strategies. The IIP collaborative advocacy model is informing advocacy to protect immigrants from harm. This model may be used as the basis for ongoing humane immigration policy activism that centers the voices of community activists, and that pushes psychologists and allied professionals to use their positionality to support community-based efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pancasila in National Curriculum: Political Education or Doctrination?

This article examines the operation of Pancasila, the Indonesian state ideology, in school courses in an Indonesian school in the Netherlands, “Sekolah Indonesia Den Haag” (SIDH). It aims to examine the way Pancasila is taught at SIDH, whether it functions as political education or political indoctrination. The study was conducted using qualitative data analysis, with data from interviews and field observations. The findings show that the way Pancasila is taught at SIDH is a dynamic process consisting of both cultural value and critical engagement to help students understand Indonesia's cultural heritage and instill national identity. The findings also indicate that Pancasila is taught as political education, predominantly relying on rote memorisation and prescribed textbooks, within the context of Dutch liberal cultural values. This leads to identity conflicts among the students. The findings in this study can inform policymaking in education and the formulation of curriculum. For example, to promote a more holistic understanding among students, we can foster critical thinking and open dialogue and encourage interdisciplinary exploration. Investing in teacher professional development may also facilitate meaningful teaching beyond nationalistic symbolism.

Hashtag feminism: identity politics and the politicization of social change in Iran

ABSTRACT Hashtag feminism has launched a critical dialogue about women’s identity politics, domestic and social power structures, and the intersectional nature of discriminatory gender policies. Despite the fact that Twitter is officially blocked in Iran, hashtag activism has remained a vital venue for fourth-wave feminists to participate in networks and become more politically active. This study focused on the most popular hashtags, posted by 10 well-known feminist accounts (2021–2022) along with 1200 disseminated re-tweets. With the employment of reflexive thematic analysis, it explored the activists’ transformative social demands and their tactics of political coalition-building. Four extracted themes, along with nine subthemes, suggested that digital activists gave precedence to recognition and respect for their identity exempt from gender roles and feminine socialization constraints. The quest for moral plurality and tolerance for women’s modern liberties and rights stood out over the sampled tweets. Holding Islam in contempt for allegedly “discriminatory” laws and practices as well as petitioning the Islamic Republic to obtain legislative power and equal positions was an indication of their incentives for political re-structuring. Using various techniques of civil disobedience and resistance, Iranian fourth wavers took the leadership of a civil movement for the western agenda of “regime change.”

Critical dialogue method of ethics consultation: making clinical ethics facilitation visible and accessible

In clinical ethics consultations, clinical ethicists bring moral reasoning to bear on concrete and complex clinical ethical problems by undertaking ethical deliberation in collaboration with others. The reasoning process involves...

Proverbial teachings on sustainability: critical dialogues on traditional proverbs and zine-making in higher education

ABSTRACT What ethical and political considerations does zine-making raise in teaching and learning across knowledge systems and artful expression? This question guides the critical dialogue about a research project on teaching sustainability through traditional proverbs from Malaysia and Kazakhstan within a zine-making workshop in a UK university. Merging our reflections with that of students and their zine artworks alongside traditional proverbs, we dialogue across two tensions associated with the challenges of proverbial learning as decolonial connections or appropriation, and the politics and pedagogy of zine-making. Through these tensions which reveal the messy, ambivalent, and unsettled practices within the neoliberal university, we offer some reflections for researchers and teachers engaging in decolonial and arts-based praxis.

Freedom dreaming from the university‐community nexus: Relational praxis as counterspace

AbstractIn this article we draw on storytelling and bricolage to reflect on critical accompaniment as relational praxis with cultural workers from the African diaspora inside/outside/in‐between the university‐community nexus in Australia. We write together weaving our voices as we re‐member our journey and our coming together fuelled by our shared desire, to tell our own stories on our terms; to contest virulent racisms and misrecognition of the African diaspora in media, academic, and political discourse; and to create spaces, settings, and narratives for identity, community and belonging. In reflecting on this journey we distil some insights on our efforts to enact just methods, our routes and roots of creating praxis inside/outside and with the university. We suggest that our relationships, forged through critical dialogue and examination of racism in settings that we intentionally create, is central to developing communality. Drawing from the rich history of African and diasporic archives, we also advocate for expanding ecologies of knowledge and practice and modalities for endarkened counter storytelling.

Interelasi Argumen-Argumen dan Kritik Tentang Eksistensi Tuhan dengan Religiositas Manusia

Humans as Homo religiosus, driven by their intellectual instincts, often revisit questions about the existence of God. The presence of religious doctrines that encourage humans to contemplate more about God’s creation rather than His essence raises the question of whether there is still an interrelation between discussions on divinity and human religiosity when that is pursued. This study investigates the arguments for God’s existence, the critiques of these arguments, and their interrelation with human religiosity. The aim is to clarify the understanding of human religiosity while creating a space for critical and in-depth dialogue. This research employs a library research method, gathering data from books, journal articles, and other relevant literature. A philosophical approach and qualitative analysis techniques are used. The findings of this article, include: First, the arguments for God’s existence, whether apriori or aposteriori, each face unavoidable criticisms. These arguments are efforts to justify faith within religiosity. Second, the critiques, in the context of Homo religiosus, provide opportunities to reflect and reassess understanding of God and related beliefs. Third, the inconsistencies or incompleteness in arguments for God’s existence reflect the nature of knowledge and reality that can be understood as consistent and complete at the same time if only at a higher level of infinity. The limitations within each available argument can be understood as something that drives self-awareness toward a more inclusive and profound level of religiosity.

Neoliberal feeling rules and political subjectivities in post-Soviet Latvia: narratives of emigrants and those who remain

This study integrates the literature on neoliberal subjectivities with the sociology of emotions, and particularly the notion of feeling rules, to understand the political subjectivity expressions in Latvia where the post-Soviet neoliberal development brought high income and wealth inequality. We specifically ask what the relationship between collective emotions and neoliberal political subjectivity in post-Soviet space is. Based on our empirical data, we construct three ideal types of political subjectivities wherein each holds a different narrative about the neoliberal state. We show the first two dominated among our respondents in Latvia while the third was prevalent among emigrant Latvians. We find that respondents’ narratives dominant at home were framed by neoliberal feeling rules which fostered optimistic thinking (narrative of resilience) and feelings of individual responsibility (narrative of legitimating) silencing the emotion of anger necessary to form a critical democratic dialogue with the state. Meanwhile, emigrant Latvians voiced a more socially and politically aware critique towards the Latvian state, austerity politics and social injustice (narrative of anger). We provide implications for this theory of post-Soviet political subjectivities at the end.

Stripping Away the Masks of Identity: Adorno and Fanon's Negative Dialectics

Abstract: This article stages a critical dialogue between Theodor Adorno and Frantz Fanon, arguing that their writings on negative dialectics and (non)identity thinking reveal the political non-identity of negative dialectics itself. First, we contend that Adorno and Fanon's negotiations of the violence inherent in identity thinking is paramount to their respective oeuvres. Second, we address criticisms of Adorno and Fanon's political response to the violence of identity thinking: that Adorno is an elitist conservative and Fanon an identitarian lover of violence. Finally, we interrogate how both exhibited their radically democratic commitment to the people's self-creation through their work on radio.