Diverse Bodies Research Articles

Dialogue, discernment, and creative tensions in Jesuit higher education

Like most higher education institutions, Catholic universities experience changes and pressures due to university rankings, education marketisation, and diverse student bodies. As part of the Catholic Church, these institutions must also be faithful to their unique religious identity and mission. In this paper focusing on Jesuit institutions, the concept of creative tension is explored as it operates in the student, faculty, and institutional levels. For students, Jesuit universities make efforts to balance both professional and holistic education; for faculty, the focus is on the balance of professional and institutional involvement; for institutions, the balance of teaching and research, and service for justice and faith. The paper discusses how these tensions are present in Jesuit schools, and how its creativity is the product of dialogue and discernment.

Introduction: Sociological Perspectives on International Tribunals

International tribunals are embedded in certain communities (e.g., regional, ideological, or professional groups), and they reflect and affect socio-cultural patterns prevailing in those communities. While the work of tribunals involves numerous socio-cultural issues, this Introduction only briefly addresses certain interactions between tribunals and social factors and processes, primarily those relating to social functions, power relations, meanings, rituals, and interactionist processes. International tribunals emerge from and operate in particular social environments, influenced by and influencing the distinctive socio-cultural features of these communities. Tribunals enjoy some “comparative advantages” and are often perceived as more neutral than the rival parties because, inter alia, adjudicators are commonly drawn from multiple state-societies and tribunals employ some powerful symbols. The interactions between tribunals and their “social habitats,” as well as with other societal actors functioning in these communities (such as the mass media or social movements), affect those tribunals’ normative influence and limits. Tribunals interact with a local community and are aware of the need to maintain their legitimacy in that community. If a tribunal’s ruling exceeds its legitimacy boundaries, its normative influence in the particular social group is likely to diminish (including its prospects for compliance). For example, tribunals’ judgments occasionally present historical narratives of past events, and some tribunals explicitly aim to influence collective memories. The influence of such judicial historical narratives is not guaranteed, and it also depends on interactions between the particular tribunal’s narrative and local communities. Such cases bring to the fore the complex social reality in which international tribunals operate and highlight that tribunals often interact with more than one social group. Enhancing the tribunal’s legitimacy in one community may entail diminishing its normative influence in another community. Tribunals operating in such a polarized social setting do not undertake pure rational choice calculation of their social costs and benefits in each community, and their considerations also relate to social issues, such as the collective identity of the particular tribunal or the social identity of the individual adjudicators. International tribunals do not directly encounter local communities, and their judicial rulings are mediated through existing cultural systems that include, for example, local values, social hierarchies, and symbols. Tribunals also interact with additional social agents in the relevant community, such as the mass media, social movements, and diverse governmental bodies. Consequently, a sociological analysis of international tribunals should explore these legal actors in the broader socio-cultural context in which tribunals operate and take into account a wide range of socio-cultural features characterizing the tribunals, the involved communities, and other social actors active in these communities.

“Escape within the Spiral”: Chromat’s Diverse Bodies as Utopian Performative

This case study examines promotional and performance content from the New York-based swimwear and sportswear brand Chromat, known for its diverse model casting and social activism, in terms of Jill Dolan’s concept of the utopian performative and José Esteban Muñoz’s notion of queer utopia. Referencing fashion shows’ consistent negotiations of representational and affective politics, I outline how the line’s 2018 swimwear campaign, WAVVY, manifests a vision at once backward and forward in an assertion of embodied acceptance, and provides a template for how fashion might use performance to resist traps of so-called “performative wokeness” within consumer culture in this politicized moment.

Why Human Difference is Critical to a Conception of Moral Standing

I argue that the claim that merely being born of two human beings in a condition that supports life is sufficient for full moral status. Not only ought we not to exclude any human being from full moral status because they lack the possession of what some have deemed to be morally relevant properties, we don’t have a full grasp of what is morally relevant unless we include the many different possible lives humans live in their diverse bodies and minds. Our understanding of how we ought to treat nonhuman beings is not of lesser importance, but it necessarily depends on how we understand what is morally significant in human lives.

Pedagogical and decolonial affordances of group portfolio assessments for learning in South African universities

Our paper discusses our recent experiences with designing effective assessments for challenging local contexts by using group work portfolio projects. South African universities are experiencing ever-increasing student numbers, diverse student bodies which have different language and literacy skill levels, and limited resources. Simultaneously, the need to decolonise university curricula and teaching and learning practices is being actively investigated across South Africa. In this paper, we discuss preliminary steps we have taken towards achieving this broader transformative agenda in the context of the massification of education, namely designing effective and decolonial assessments that support epistemological access and academic success, while at the same time challenging what counts as ‘powerful knowledge’ (Young and Muller, 2013) in the classroom. We argue that effective decolonial knowledge practices and deep critical engagement can be achieved by using group work portfolio tasks that align with assessment for learning principles (Carless, 2015). Using a design- based research approach, we describe three courses across two universities which have implemented portfolio-type group assessments. The preliminary findings suggest that group projects can yield rich and productive assessment for learning outcomes in large classes. In addition, portfolio projects that purposely interrogate diverse perspectives, knowledges and experiences can harness the diversity of groups to work towards decolonising the classroom.

Enrich Festival

Reviewed by: Enrich Festival Winter Phong ENRICH FESTIVAL. Herts Inclusive Theatre, Watford, UK. Online, September 5–6, 2020. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, theatre companies sought ways to engage persons with learning and cognitive disabilities. Companies have mainly focused on audience initiatives relying upon relaxed performances to create space in theatre for more diversity. While efforts to include patrons with disabilities remains paramount, there are markedly fewer performance and training opportunities for artists with the same disabilities. Enrich Festival takes on the challenge of creating opportunities for both artists and audiences. Challenging itself to reimagine community arts performance, the festival seeks to overcome socially constructed ideas around disability and overtake the dominant narrative of disability, supplanting it with one defined and performed by artists with disabilities. The Enrich Festival was created and first produced as a live event in 2019 amid increasing social expectations to improve representation through diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Through funding by Arts Council England and Hertfordshire County Council, the festival was designed to provide a venue to showcase visual and performing arts companies working with professional and amateur artists. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 festival forged ahead, taking on the challenge of fostering opportunities for artists and audiences while practicing safe social distancing. Featuring online programming, the festival utilized interactive workshops combined with previously recorded and newly imagined performances. From the onset of the festival, Teatr Bomba Bomba and DanceSyndrome set an early tone for inclusiveness through their company-hosted workshops. Day 1 opened with an interactive physical workshop hosted by Polish theatre company Teatr Bomba Bomba. Led by Janusz Janiszewski through modeled action with more than a half-dozen company members and an English translator, Janiszewski utilized a combination of physical directives and vocal commands reminiscent of Jerzy Grotowski. Participants were encouraged to turn on their camera and curate a personal narrative as part of a digital collective, forming a theatre using gallery view at home on Zoom. Physical storytelling in this environment helped to overcome speech and movement limitations that some participants were likely to experience while defining a character suited to their ability. Click for larger view View full resolution Xandri Selwyn in My Hands and Feet Are Wiggling. (Photo: Access All Areas.) The follow-up workshop was hosted by Dance-Syndrome, a contemporary dance company started and helmed by Jen Blackwell, a dancer diagnosed with Down syndrome. In their workshop led by three company members, participants experienced what inclusiveness and diversity might look like within performing arts. Physically identified by pregnancy, Down syndrome, and wheelchair reliance, the workshop leaders showcased inclusion of bodies frequently excluded in performing arts. DanceSyndrome subverts the common expectation of body type and ability through the simple act of including and showcasing dancers outside expected conventions. DanceSyndrome’s creation of space for broader body types allows aspiring performers to see themselves reflected within the art form. This is not to say that only those marked [End Page 242] with disability can find benefit in such workshops; instead, space created with artists with disabilities allows performing arts professionals and companies to move beyond conventional notions of ability and identify new modes of performance. While these workshops were a form of performance, they were not strictly defined as such. Through curated, forty-five-minute workshops, participants, scholars, and engaged community members were exposed to inclusive training hosted by diverse artist bodies. Click for larger view View full resolution Cast in Zara. (Photo: Andrew Youngson.) The Enrich Festival goes beyond mere inclusion for artists and audiences. Productions in 2020 by Access All Areas, Mind the Gap, and DIY Theatre provided what disability theatre activist and workshop host Jenny Sealy described as protest theatre. Sealy suggested that all actions taken in art by those defined as fringe members of society are protest. In this protest, we find the challenge of equity. While the workshops and training offered by these companies attempts to overcome this inequity, the simple act of performing stories showcasing their life experiences addresses major concerns for these artists and their identified social groups. In the talkback/workshop, Here’s Me, Access All Areas artist Xandri Selwyn and artistic director Nick Llewellyn discussed the process used...

Re-envisioning the Philosophy Classroom through Metaphors

What is a philosophy class like? What roles do teachers and students play? Questions like these have been answered time and again by philosophers using images and metaphors. As philosophers continue to develop pedagogical approaches in a more conscious way, it is worth evaluating traditional metaphors used to understand and structure philosophy classes. In this article, we examine two common metaphors—the sage on the stage, and philosophy as combat—and show why they fail pedagogically. Then we propose five metaphors—teaching philosophy as world-traveling, wondering, conducting an orchestra, storytelling, and coaching—that can better respond to the needs of increasingly diverse student bodies. Further, these metaphors find their ground in long-standing beliefs about what philosophy is, how it is done, and what it can do for those willing to engage in it. While no single one of them is comprehensive, we think that these models can help us enliven our own thinking about our teaching and the roles we and our students play in our classrooms.

Assessing Affirmative Action's Diversity Rationale

Ever since Justice Lewis Powell’s concurring opinion in Bakke made diversity in higher education a constitutionally acceptable rationale for affirmative action programs in 1978, the diversity rationale has received vehement criticism from across the ideological spectrum. Critics on the right have argued that efforts to attain diversity will necessarily lead to lower quality results, as “less meritorious” applicants are selected in place of people with ostensibly stronger qualifications. Critics on the left have charged that diversity is a “subterfuge” and an empty formulation. On the diversity rationale’s legitimacy, then, it would seem that there is precious little diversity of thought. In particular, prominent scholars and jurists have frequently cast doubt on the diversity rationale’s empirical foundations, claiming that it is a mere hypothesis, and an implausible, unsupported one at that. This critique has made its way into the pages of the United States Reports, and it threatens the foundations upon which affirmative action rests. To assess the diversity rationale, we conduct an empirical study of student-run law reviews. Over the past several decades, many leading law reviews have implemented diversity policies for selecting editors. We investigate whether the citations to articles that a given law review publishes change after the adoption of a diversity policy. Using a dataset of the citations to the nearly 13,000 articles published by leading law reviews in over a 60-year period, we find that law reviews that adopt diversity policies see the median citations to their volumes increase by roughly 23 percent in the five years after adoption. In addition to exploring the effect of diversity policies on median citations, we also explore the effect of diversity policies on mean citations. When doing so, our estimates are consistently positive, but they are largely not statistically significant at conventional levels. These findings have implications well beyond the law review setting. If diverse groups of student editors perform better than non-diverse groups, it lends credibility to the idea that diverse student bodies, diverse faculties, diverse teams of attorneys, and diverse teams of employees generally would all perform better. We thus view these results as empirically supporting the much-derided diversity rationale—support that could prove critical as the continued viability of affirmative action today confronts numerous threats.

Increasing Pedagogical Training for Online Faculty: The Importance of Developing Culturally Responsive Practices

Universities are increasingly moving more classes to online environments compelling programs to rethink how content traditionally taught face-to-face could be moved to an online environment. This trend is particularly challenging, for both novice and experienced faculty, as diverse student bodies make it necessary for faculty to engage in more meaningful, culturally responsive ways. Thus, as universities increase their online courses, faculty and instructors will be confronted with the challenge of providing this cultural responsiveness in an online environment. Using faculty interviews, this research examined the need for increased focus on professional development for online faculty, and highlight the need for strengthening the development of pedagogical strategies around cultural responsiveness for faculty teaching in and transitioning courses to online environments.

Screening Potential of Electrogenic Algae for Bio Power Production from Aquatic Habitats of Tamil Nadu

This paper illustrates the potential ofmicroalgae in electricity production.The present study focuses on searching for, indigenous microalgal strains from various aquatic sources exhibiting electrogenic activity. Sixteen microalgal strains were obtained from the diverse water bodies and assessed for electron transfer ability between cell and electrode. Six algal strains were screened out of eighteen for potential electrogenicity, based on cyclic voltammetry assay. In contrast to other algal strains, the cyclic voltammograms of Hindakia sp. isolated from paddy fields displayed an oxidation peak under anaerobic conditions in the potential range of +100 to +200 mV, while no distinct peaks were observed in other strains. This research broadened the exoelectrogen and identified model microalgae for investigating the extracellular electron transport process.

The Biological Study of Lifeless Worlds and Environments

Astrobiology is focused on the study of life in the universe. However, lifeless planetary environments yield biological information on the variety of ways in which physical and chemical conditions in the universe preclude the possibility of the origin or persistence of life, and in turn this will help explain the distribution and abundance of life, or lack of it, in the universe. Furthermore, many places that humans wish to explore and settle in space are lifeless, and studying the fate of life in these environments will aid our own success in thriving in them. In this synthetic review, I have three objectives, as follows: (1) To discuss the biological value and use of lifeless environments, (2) To explore the diverse planetary bodies and environments that can be lifeless and to categorize them, and (3) To propose sets of biological experiments that can be undertaken in different categories of lifeless worlds and environments and suggest concepts for mission ideas to realize these goals. They include origin of life and microbial inoculation experiments in lifeless but habitable environments. I suggest that the biological study of lifelessness is an underappreciated area in planetary sciences.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A strategic priority for the American Pediatric Surgical Association

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A strategic priority for the American Pediatric Surgical Association

Visual Analytic Tools and Techniques in Population Health and Health Services Research: Scoping Review

BackgroundVisual analytics (VA) promotes the understanding of data with visual, interactive techniques, using analytic and visual engines. The analytic engine includes automated techniques, whereas common visual outputs include flow maps and spatiotemporal hot spots.ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to address a gap in the literature, with the specific objective to synthesize literature on the use of VA tools, techniques, and frameworks in interrelated health care areas of population health and health services research (HSR).MethodsUsing the 2018 PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, the review focuses on peer-reviewed journal articles and full conference papers from 2005 to March 2019. Two researchers were involved at each step, and another researcher arbitrated disagreements. A comprehensive abstraction platform captured data from diverse bodies of the literature, primarily from the computer and health sciences.ResultsAfter screening 11,310 articles, findings from 55 articles were synthesized under the major headings of visual and analytic engines, visual presentation characteristics, tools used and their capabilities, application to health care areas, data types and sources, VA frameworks, frameworks used for VA applications, availability and innovation, and co-design initiatives. We found extensive application of VA methods used in areas of epidemiology, surveillance and modeling, health services access, use, and cost analyses. All articles included a distinct analytic and visualization engine, with varying levels of detail provided. Most tools were prototypes, with 5 in use at the time of publication. Seven articles presented methodological frameworks. Toward consistent reporting, we present a checklist, with an expanded definition for VA applications in health care, to assist researchers in sharing research for greater replicability. We summarized the results in a Tableau dashboard.ConclusionsWith the increasing availability and generation of big health care data, VA is a fast-growing method applied to complex health care data. What makes VA innovative is its capability to process multiple, varied data sources to demonstrate trends and patterns for exploratory analysis, leading to knowledge generation and decision support. This is the first review to bridge a critical gap in the literature on VA methods applied to the areas of population health and HSR, which further indicates possible avenues for the adoption of these methods in the future. This review is especially important in the wake of COVID-19 surveillance and response initiatives, where many VA products have taken center stage.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/14019

Missed Fit

This article examines how the technical fit of a garment can affect an individual’s ability to fit in. It challenges the tool box used by practitioners working with anthropometric data (the surface measurements of the human body) and has produced new methods that are less reliant on published averages. Some of the article’s questions are: how does anthropometric data and the study of human anatomy influence notions of an ideal body? In what ways do anthropometric data and patternmaking principles include or exclude diverse body types? And what tools can be developed to assist designing for diverse bodies? The article takes a multi-method and multi-theory approach to the research and investigates concepts of fit through phenomenology, semiotics and anatomy. By exploring experimental methods in cut, it challenges the meaning of a key example of conservatism and uniformity in tailoring, the grey flannel suit, and reflects on the question, what is good fit?

“The Trump Effect”: How Does it Impact International Student Enrollment in U.S. Colleges?

Since Donald Trump took the office of President of the United States in 2017, international student enrollments have declined at U.S. colleges due to the “Trump Effect.” Anti-immigration rhetoric, personal safety threats, legal stress, and shifting requirements for both students and colleges means potential losses of billions of dollars in revenue and fewer degrees awarded by U.S. colleges. The loss of revenue aside, less diverse student bodies, fewer visiting scholars, and less international travel caused ripple effects throughout the global higher education landscape. This literature review explores the Trump effect, alternative explanations to the Trump effect, and suggests future research directions.

The Distance Between the "Self" and the "Other" in Children's Digital Books.

This conceptual paper contributes toward our understanding of the underlying mechanisms in children’s understanding of self and the other with media. We synthesize diverse bodies of literature, concerned with children’s reading with digital and traditional (print) books, to explicate the parameters that may, in part, explain positive learning outcomes and further illuminate the patterns across various measures. We propose the “Distance Model,” which suggests that a child’s interest in a reading activity depends on its proximity to the child’s funds of identity (Esteban-Guitart and Moll, 2014). The closer the proximity, the more salient the impact on the child’s cognitive understanding and sense of belonging. The familiarity of the reading content and the relevance of the reading medium for a child’s personal life can be evoked through a number of reading strategies and design techniques, which we discuss in relation to children’s literature and the contemporary design of children’s interactive e-books. We conclude with some suggestions regarding future applications of the Distance Model in children’s media research.

Biological anthropology's critical engagement with genomics, evolution, race/racism, and ourselves: Opportunities and challenges to making a difference in the academy and the world.

Biological anthropology can, and should, matter in the Anthropocene. Biological anthropologists are interested in human biology and the human experience in a broader ecological, evolutionary, and phylogenetic context. We are interested in the material of the body, the history of the body, and interactions of diverse bodies, communities, ecologies, and evolutionary processes. However, the cultural realities of bodies, histories, communities, livelihoods, perceptions, and experiences are as central to the endeavor and inquiry of biological anthropology as are their material aspects. Biological anthropology is a constant dialectic between the cultural and the biological. In this essay, I argue that Biological Anthropology has much to offer, a history to contend with, and a future that matters. To illustrate this, I highlight theoretical and methodological issues in genomics, evolutionary theory and connect them to the study of Race and Racism to emphasize specific arenas where Biological Anthropology has a great capacity, and a strong obligation, to play a central role. However, Biological Anthropology also has substantive internal issues that hinder our ability to do the best possible science. If we are to live up to our potential and make a difference in the 21st century we need to ameliorate our structural shortcomings and expand our voice, and impact, in academic and public discourse. The goal of this perspective is to offer suggestions for moving us toward this goal.

HABITAT PREFERENCES, DISTRIBUTION AND ANATOMY OF THE CLASPING-LEAVED PONDWEEDS OF TURKEY

Clasping-leaved Potamogeton L. species growing in Turkey are P. praelongus Wulfen and P. perfoliatus L. There exists no detailed study about distribution, habitat requirements, and anatomical properties of the Turkish populations of the two species. Potamogeton perfoliatus is widespread throughout the country but P. praelongus was recorded only from a single locality. Therefore, P. praelongus is rare and endangered in Turkey. In this study, we recorded presence of P. perfoliatus in 54 wetlands based on examination of 86 herbarium specimens. Physical and chemical parameters of the water bodies where the two species occur were measured from 24 sites for P. perfoliatus and from one site for P. praelongus. According to our findings, P. praelongus grows in an alpine lake with oligotrophic, calcareous and alkaline water. Potamogeton perfoliatus occupies diverse habitats but prefers deep lentic water bodies with high pH and low salinity levels. Stem anatomy of the species were studied based on three individuals for P. praelongus and 35 individuals for P. perfoliatus. Morphological features of the species were also investigated and descriptions based on Turkish material were prepared. We provided the distinguishing anatomical and morphological characters between the species. Our anatomical findings showed that P. praelongus specimens have eight vascular bundles in contrast to previous reports on the species. Our results can be used for future monitoring of the two submerged Potamogeton species as we provide detailed information about their current distribution pattern and habitat features.

Staying with the Social Project: A Review of Feminist Criminology

Review of the Field In this issue, Social & Legal Studies is pleased to publish the third of an occasional feature: Review of the Field. Our ambition in this series is to publish articles which reflect upon fields of study and which offer a critical appraisal of the key literature and concepts. The aim is to provide not only a valuable map of the scholarly terrain but, equally, we hope that the format will give authors the opportunity to set a direction of travel for their discipline. Thus, we anticipate that reviews will ask new research questions, identify gaps in the scholarship and explore connections and discontinuities between diverse bodies of knowledge. Suggestions for future reviews are welcome and should be addressed to members of the Editorial Board. We are pleased to publish this Review of Feminist Criminology by Katharine Dunbar Winsor of Concordia University. We hope that our readers agree with us that the article provides an important addition to the literature and provides an invaluable template for contributors of future reviews. Editorial Board Social & Legal Studies The emergence of the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s became a primary influence of the field of feminist criminology. Feminist criminology has evolved over the past several decades and has remained impacted by and in dialogue with feminist thought and perspectives. Within the field, researchers have focused on producing and circulating women-centred knowledge. Despite this, tensions within the field highlight diverging approaches to what and who is studied. In Canada, the maturation of feminist criminology as a field has coincided with significant changes to women’s penology. In this essay, the development and changes to feminist criminology are mapped through an examination of key events and changes in Canada’s penal strategies for women. What emerges is the argument that feminist criminology must understand itself beyond narrow and discrete terms and instead must work with the tensions and debates of the field to keep women’s voices centred and the feminist social project alive.

“서로의 용기”로서의 몸들: 2010년대의 페미니스트 라틴 팝

This study deals with Latin American feminist pop music from the 2010s. Global pop music has been increasingly reflecting the strong feminist trend of recent years. However, Latin American pop has developed its own feminist aspects and features, within the particular social and political conditions of the continent. Latin American gender problems are different from those of the United States or Europeans on an important side: the former include higher statics of physical violence and femicide. Therefore, feminist Latin pop also comes to represent its reality, always with the will to overcome gender violence and protect each other in solidarity. Seven songs have been chosen to analyze with their official music videos, all of which show such common aspects within the individualities of their creators. In each musical and performative creation, the images of diverse female bodies that deviate from the ideal that is usually required in the media play an important role. Those bodies, too ordinary or simply queer, proudly display themselves as free subjects and face with courage heterosexual objectifying stares.