Personal Journey Research Articles

SC23 Program Features Personal Journeys for its "I am HPC" Theme

The tagline for SC23 is "I am HPC," which according to SC23 General Chair Dorian Arnold (Emory U.) "reflects our vision to celebrate and promote all things HPC, the field, and the people!" A number of program elements---including the keynote, plenary, and invited talks---echo this theme.

Navigating gender dynamics: a male researcher's experiences on conducting feminist HCI research

In this perspective article, I invite readers to accompany me on a personal journey of self-discovery and transformation as a male researcher within the field of feminist Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). I will delve into the specific topic of gender-opposite research in socio-technical environments and reflect on my experiences, especially the associated challenges and opportunities. My journey exposed me to critical literature and engaged me in long-term fieldwork simultaneously, expanding my understanding of the dynamics that shape our society. My perspectives, sensitization, and awareness of gender-related issues evolved significantly over the course of more than 3 years of being dedicated to a feminist research project. By sharing this narrative, I hope to promote critical discussions about the significance of both, personal growth, and transformation as well as the need for reflexivity in the pursuit of feminist research (with a focus on the specific context of gender-opposite research in socio-technical environments). I will dive into the complexities that I encountered in the settings and compromises I felt obliged to make which were influenced by the embodied nature of my research. As I will furthermore show, there had been an impact on my research practices in terms of planning, observation, analysis, and writing.

Transforming Research Assessment for an Equitable Scientific Culture

Watch VIDEO. Science plays a pivotal role in the advancement of democratic societies, and there is a growing consensus advocating for its recognition as both a common good and a fundamental human right. To effectively fulfil this role, science necessitates the trust of society, the support of policy makers, and robust international collaboration, enabling the mobility of researchers and the free flow of knowledge. To encourage this, our responsibilities as researchers extend beyond the realm of academic publishing. They encompass science outreach, education, diplomacy, policy advocacy, entrepreneurship, and collaborations aimed at addressing global challenges or progress towards more equitable societies. However, this is hampered by current research assessment practices and the academic reward system, which perpetuate a 'publish or perish' research culture that confines the scope of science to academic publishing, fosters privilege-based biases, and prioritises quantity over quality, as well as prestige over integrity. During this talk, I will share my personal journey as an early career researcher from the Global South, now affiliated with one of the most innovative research labs worldwide. My research journey, which was enabled by securing highly competitive funding since early stages of my career, provided me with first-hand insight into the biases and repercussions of current research assessment practices on the trajectories of researchers. Further validating this perspective is a ground-breaking study I co-led with colleagues from the Global Young Academy, exploring research assessment for career advancement on a global scale. This study shows that research institutions worldwide heavily rely on bibliometrics to evaluate career progression, irrespective of the academic discipline. However, while more established institutions appear to be walking away from these practices, these are becoming more popular in emerging research institutions from low-middle income countries. These findings highlight the need for transformational global (inclusive) initiatives. I am privileged to be part of one such initiative – The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). CoARA brings together a community of researchers and research enablers dedicated to reforming this perilous research culture. CoARA’s guiding principles centre on acknowledging the diversity of contributions and careers in science, shifting research evaluation towards qualitative aspects where research ethics and integrity are at the core, and recognizing that excellence is context-dependent, varying for each candidate, role, and projects. A standout feature of CoARA is its unwavering commitment to early career researchers, placing them at the heart of its principles, governance, structures, and interventions. Thus, ensuring that future generation of scientific leaders is well-equipped to navigate and transform the landscape of research assessment and scientific culture.

Gesturing in plain sight: dialogical enactments of sustainable futures as being and doing in the world

Addressing the critical question posed by Gudrun Jonsdottir and Anne Kristine Byhring who are asking what place for a common future in the science classroom, this paper focuses on and expands on the construct of dialogical space. Not simply as an abstract concept to describe the presence of divergent ideas or the exchange of idioms, but a space filled with metaphors and material artefacts that exist in the world. On this basis, science education takes seriously the affordances of sensorial perception in space, as physical and material doings, arising from and deeply concerned with the lived experiences of people. By making visible the material relations that give life to human experience, and by giving life to different imaginations, science education can thus become profoundly dialogical: turning away from the expectation of sameness, it houses in itself the invitation of taking authorship and to give form, that being a narrative, a personal journey, or a different way of looking at the world. This is what I call gesturing in plain sight, a science education that critically engages with material artefacts and their relations; one that inhabits the realm of the symbolic and the experiential, and one that speaks to sustainable futures in general, repurposing and reconceiving the work of science education in particular.

The Minimalist Universe of Things. Living with Less in German Speaking Households

In an era of affluence and overflow, minimalism presents a way to live with mindfulness and care. Minimalists research and evaluate their surroundings and adapt them to a way of living with less. This article describes how the day-to-day life of minimalist persons changes as the relationship to the clothes that they keep is deepened through practices of care and alternative forms of consumption. Two ethnographers conducted research on forty-five minimalist wardrobes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, attending minimalist meet ups and a convention. We found that becoming a minimalist is a process often described as a personal journey. As media attention is focused on sorting out and discarding possessions, we chose to explore the kind of practices and revaluations that characterize this minimalist process.

Editorial

Editorial

Leadership Development through Personal Branding: A Case Study on Jackie Chan

This paper will analyze how Jackie Chan, a famous and successful performing artist, director, and producer of martial arts comedy films, has been developing his leadership in his field through his personal branding strategy. This paper examined Jackie Chan’s personal branding journey from his early stage of career development till his transformation from an action movie star to a celebrity. By means of qualitative research methodology, such as primary material from Jacky’s autobiography, secondary data mined from the extant literature, and interview records, Jackie Chan was found to display and promote his leadership through building and using his personal brand both on and off the screen. The primary objective of this paper is to provide a road map and practical strategies for that leaders-to-be who wish to exemplify their leadership for attracting and keeping their followers.

Coming back from the dead: Finding justice for Joxi – An interview with Pilar Zabala Antano

‘Coming back from the dead: Finding justice for Joxi’ is an in-depth interview with Pilar Zabala Artano, a sibling of Joxi Zabala who was brutally tortured and murdered by the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL) in 1983. The conversation focuses on her brother as she addresses human rights abuses and the use of torture by the Spanish state. Pilar Zabala also discusses her own personal journey of recovery through restorative justice practices, her human rights advocacy, and her vision of making historical memory a centerpiece of democracy for Basque and Spanish societies.

‘Going digital’ – Its place in research into the history of modern accounting

This article presents the case for accounting historians to ‘go digital’, reflecting on a personal journey towards becoming a digital accounting historian, the motivations, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and outcomes. Above all, it describes benefits attainable by any accounting historian who allows ‘the digital’ to become how it should be, not the constraining master, but the flexible servant; and it sets a digital agenda for research into modern accounting history for now and for the future.

Lingering in Leggoian Light

My PhD supervisor and mentor, Carl Leggo, died of cancer on March 7th, 2019. In this essay, I trace the personal, poetic, intellectual, and spiritual journey of his momentous mentorship. In the absence of his physical being, there is still a profound presence, and what I have come to know as pedagogical light. On his passing, another lyrical lesson began for me on how what a teacher leaves behind can stay in the mind, heart, and soul for a lifetime. I have emerged knowing what it means to live poetically, as Carl was writing and teaching us all along. His mentorship is enduring and continues to shape the art of my own being into fullness as a poet, (re)searcher, and teacher. Here, through prose and poetry, I reflect on Carl’s wisdom and how he saw the breadth of my pedagogical being—the whole of the moon.

Autoethnography as a research method in happiness studies

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal that has been studied by philosophers, theologians, and scientists for centuries. Despite its universal importance, the definition and means of achieving happiness vary greatly across cultures and individual experiences (Uchida, Norasakkunkit and Kitayama, 2004). Cultures have different beliefs, values, and customs that shape their understanding of happiness. For example, some cultures may place a higher value on material wealth and success, while others may prioritize spiritual fulfilment or strong relationships (Joshanloo and Weijers, 2014). In this autoethnographic paper, I reflect on my own personal journey towards happiness during a one-year travel across 22 countries within southern Africa, southeast Asia, and south America, focusing on the first part of the trip – southern Africa. Autoethnography is a qualitative research method that involves the researcher reflecting on their personal experiences and cultural positionality in order to understand and analyse cultural phenomena (Bunyan, 2021). It combines elements of autobiography and ethnography, as the researcher uses their own experiences as a way to explore and understand the cultural context in which they participate (Hamilton, Smith and Worthington, 2008). Through the use of personal narrative and cultural analysis, I delve into the ways in which my own cultural background and societal expectations shaped my understanding of happiness. I also explore the ways in which immersing myself in a new culture and community impacted my pursuit of happiness and well-being. By reflecting on my own experiences and observations, I aim to shed light on the complexities of the pursuit of happiness and the potential for personal and cultural growth that can result from stepping outside of one's comfort zone. Through this autoethnographic lens, we hope to offer a unique and personal perspective on the pursuit of happiness, and to encourage readers to consider the cultural and individual factors that influence their own pursuit of this universal goal. We also reflect on how innovation and technology, essential to business, may not be as important to achieve happiness in certain contexts. This essay is a call for reflection on what truly matters in life.

An open chat with… Sandro Sonnino.

Sandro Sonnino is one of the founding members of the Editorial Board of FEBS Open Bio, having joined in 2011. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of FEBS Letters and is the Editor-in-Chief of Glycoconjugate Journal. He is full professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine at the University of Milan, where he was also formerly coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Advanced Technology (LITA) and Director of the Department of Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology. His research is focused on the metabolism and biochemical properties of gangliosides and glycosphingolipids, and their role in cell signaling and the nervous system. He is a guest editor of this special "In the Limelight" issue on glycosphingolipids in disease, which features multiple Reviews and an original research article related to this field. In this interview, Sandro Sonnino discusses the ongoing importance of research on glycosphingolipids and his personal career journey.

The Value of Critical Self-Reflection in the Development of Cultural Competency

The Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning program at the Community College of Baltimore County collects reflections from workshop participants for each training module. The purpose of these reflections is twofold: firstly, for participants to examine their personal connection to the theories we present and secondly, for participants to examine how they can utilize the theories and activities in their classrooms and institutions. In this article we describe the results from analyzing reflections from participants across 3 different educational institutions since 2020. The overall results showed that participants were at different points in their personal cultural competency journeys, and that they gained practical tools to help students along their own cultural competency journeys.

‘Gogol’s uneasy truth:’ The end of the journey

The article is written in memory of Yury Mann and follows the life and work of the prominent scholar, whose books not only constitute a landmark phenomenon of Russian literary studies but also offer a new perspective on a number of episodes in the history of literature. Mann’s scholarly career was shaped in the years after WWII. In his book of memoirs, written towards the end of his life, Mann attempts an analysis of his philological pursuits and how, trying to keep up with contemporary trends, he would still occasionally find himself to be an outsider. The article sets out to explain how Mann’s personal and scholarly journey eventually resulted in his remarkable achievements.The author pays special attention to a lesser-known sphere of Mann’s interests: his analytical studies of modern literature (among fellow philologists, he is mostly known as an expert on Gogol and Russian romanticism), his thoughts on conventionality in art, and compelling evidence that Mann’s works follow traditions of Russian formalism.

Identity Awoken in Second-Generation British Poles in the UK—Personal Journeys

We examine the identity of British Poles born in the UK, whose parents arrived as allied servicemen and their families, seeking asylum following WW2. The two authors are from this community, and here examine their British-Polish identity along with other second-generation Poles in the UK. These individuals grew up in distinct communities exposed to the Polish language and culture but with restricted contact with communist Poland. The themes of response to parents’ trauma experience, Polish identity in childhood and in midlife, Polish language, and visiting family in Poland were explored. Many described parents as secretive about the horrors of war but keen to retain and propagate their Polish identity. Some felt they were not fully Polish, but their identity increased with access to modern Poland as adults. The Polish language was important to identity but linked to feeling inadequacy when not fluent. Visiting family in Poland enhanced identity, was valued, and provided information on family history. European identity was adopted by some to cover both their British and Polish identity. Genealogy and family history are popular and linked to community, and British Poles have a distinct contribution and a voice in showing how identity can emerge out of family trauma.

The personal curriculum: conceptions, intentions and enactments of learning across working life

ABSTRACT The concept of curriculum as a personal journey is now timely, yet timeless and pertinent as an explanatory basis for understanding learning and development across the lifespan. It addresses a current need to explain adults’ learning across working life when achieving individual, occupational, community, and societal goals. Advancing this explanation necessitate elaborating how that learning is realised and can be supported educatively. This conceptual paper presents and discusses the concept of personal curriculum to illuminate and explain pathways of adults’ learning and developmental experiences across working lives. It offers a perspective of curriculum as a personal, rather than an institutional phenomenon. It also extends the concept of ‘experienced curriculum’ beyond periodic episodes of engagement in educational programmes to capture the continuity of educative experiences across the adult life course. Importantly, this concept liberates curriculum from the constraints of something intended, enacted and appraised within specific social settings (e.g. educational and work settings) to be more inclusive of the totality of learners’ experiences. The case is made for its conceptual, theoretical and practical salience beyond a focus on institutional imperatives. Drawing upon empirical work on how working age adults sustain their employability across working lives, this conception extends discussions about what constitutes curriculum, to encapsulate the learning pathways individuals take across working life.

Bringing Nitric Oxide to the Molybdenum World-A Personal Perspective.

Molybdenum-containing enzymes of the xanthine oxidase (XO) family are well known to catalyse oxygen atom transfer reactions, with the great majority of the characterised enzymes catalysing the insertion of an oxygen atom into the substrate. Although some family members are known to catalyse the "reverse" reaction, the capability to abstract an oxygen atom from the substrate molecule is not generally recognised for these enzymes. Hence, it was with surprise and scepticism that the "molybdenum community" noticed the reports on the mammalian XO capability to catalyse the oxygen atom abstraction of nitrite to form nitric oxide (NO). The lack of precedent for a molybdenum- (or tungsten) containing nitrite reductase on the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle contributed also to the scepticism. It took several kinetic, spectroscopic and mechanistic studies on enzymes of the XO family and also of sulfite oxidase and DMSO reductase families to finally have wide recognition of the molybdoenzymes' ability to form NO from nitrite. Herein, integrated in a collection of "personal views" edited by Professor Ralf Mendel, is an overview of my personal journey on the XO and aldehyde oxidase-catalysed nitrite reduction to NO. The main research findings and the path followed to establish XO and AO as competent nitrite reductases are reviewed. The evidence suggesting that these enzymes are probable players of the mammalian NO metabolism is also discussed.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP: EXPERIENCES OF DEVELOPING AND FACILITATING THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MODULE IN NEPAL

In this article, we present the development of a module for Emotional Intelligence to foster organizational leadership in Nepal through the use of Collaborative Autoethnography (CA), a qualitative research method. The authors use their personal experiences related to the development of the module, its facilitation, and its impact when implemented in one of the organizations in Nepal to share their personal journey and the lessons learned. The reflections illustrate how participation in an EI module helped the organization gain insights into its leadership approach. The article also demonstrates how reflecting on the experiences helps both the facilitators and the participants draw tangible lessons associated with the content, to further improve their practice.

Thanatophobia: Overcoming the Fear Through Fashion Design Concepts

The documentary film Knowing Death examines thanatophobia, or the fear of passing away. The main challenge in addressing Thanatophobia (Knowing Death) lies in its abstract nature. Furthermore, identifying death anxiety concretely and expressing it in a visual medium is a major challenge. Instead of literal representations of the subject, we’ve overcame this problem by utilizing designed images and sound metaphorically to elicit particular emotional reactions in the audience. While the topic of death anxiety is discussed through interviews, the emotional reactions reflect our own personal journey through it. This study utilized phenomenological approach combining interviews with analysis of artifacts and workshops in two phases. The study further sheds light on how clothing can address and cater to their unique requirements. In the modern world, branding and fashion have grown to be significant forces. The research adopted the Consumer Needs Model for Functional Expressive Aesthetics (FEA) as a framework for creating clothing that appeals to thanatophobic women. The study employed a sequential method, starting with an initial interview phase, followed by the creation of prototype garments, and concluding with a prototype evaluation survey administered to the research participants. phenomenological approach, combining interviews with analysis of artifacts and workshops, has been adopted.

About-face transformation: Learning to embrace honor, shame, and face

Recent theology, biblical studies, and missiology have increasingly focused discussions on issues involving honor, face, and shame. These studies often highlight how traditional western perspectives on the self, social honor, and emotions of self-assessment (i.e., pride, guilt, shame) differ from those in the Majority World. A critical piece of effective engagement with such issues involves a change in orientation regarding these common attitudes and understandings. This article outlines some of the significant issues involved in a personal journey of such an about-face transformation and provides key suggestions that can enable willing participants to undergo a similar type of change.