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(INTER)FACING EMPATHY:: INTERROGATING OUR TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR WITH SCREENS
Get PDFScreen technologies, ranging from the cinema to the smartphone, are taken for granted in the contemporary screen landscape. This landscape has been referred to as the “screen-sphere” (Sobchack 2014) owing to the fundamental ways screens affect how people understand and relate to the world around them. It is particularly their structural and operative functioning as interfaces that influence not so much how we use screens, but, more importantly, how they affect our communication with and feelings towards others. In so doing, the screen as an interface profoundly transforms people’s capacity for empathy. This article exposes the intersection of the screen and the face of the celebrity persona in an artwork by Candice Breitz titled Love Story (2016). Since the installation focuses attention on the faces of its subjects, it utilises the enormous power of the face in generating empathic responses. More specifically, the face of the celebrity persona cultivates both fascination and empathy in this work. Through a close analysis of this installation, I aim to show how empathy can be controlled and manipulated just as much as it can be compromised due to our screen-based day-to-day practices and our interactions with the faces of others. This article also demonstrates the crucial role that an artwork can play in raising awareness about the consequences of screens on our empathic resonance with others
REFLECTING ON ANALOGUE FACES AND DIGITAL MASKS THROUGH MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996-2023)
Get PDFThis article uses the idea and practice of the mask and masking technology in the popular Mission: Impossible film franchise to critically consider the tensions between digital and analogue. In the Mission: Impossible films, the masks are a core component of the films’ intrigue, and they serve the plot dynamics of each franchise entry while also revealing ever-sophisticated diegetic film technologies that make these silicone-based masks increasingly hyper-realistic in spy-craft and anti-surveillance deception. This article demonstrates how the mask is an identity technology that qualifies the persona as potentially deceptive and duplicitous as it relies on a convincing presentation of a character’s self that does not accurately reflect the interiority of this character, and on a betrayal of trust of the affective investment of a particular micro-publics. As such, the viewer reflects on facial representation not only in terms of verisimilitude, but also veracity. Within a context of techno est ubique, the mask has evident transformative capacities as a temporary interface with the world and as a remediation technology. However, the mask is also a precarious technology because it is highly visible and needs monitoring for proper presentation and error. It is a seamless technology, which evokes further reflections on photorealism and deepfakes. Additionally, digital comes to denote ‘dead’, and the digital mask of especially the later Mission: Impossible films – identifiable by its skeuomorphic qualities – challenges the continued existence of the analogue (organic face) as mask and related appearance replication technologies come to replace human faces and bodies entirely
FACIAL ANIMATION AND EMPATHY IN THE LAST OF US PARTS I AND II
Get PDFFor more than a decade the videogame studio Naughty Dog has deployed increasingly sophisticated facial animations, greatly expanding its characters’ abilities to convey realistic and compelling emotion. In a parallel effort, the studio has remediated cinematic forms like the closeup, integrating them with the unique affordances of videoludic media. Naughty Dog’s 2020 The Last of Us Part II takes this a step further, making characters’ faces a vital aspect of the game’s interface: the dynamically changing emotional expression of 25 in-game characters offers fine-grained feedback regarding player choices and actions, and it also encourages players to engage with the characters less like tools or targets and more like autonomous human beings. Through a close study of a single game character, Ellie Williams, my article illuminates the narrative and gameplay impact of this merger of face and interface. Ellie began The Last of Us Part I (2013) as a non-player character (NPC) and, in some ways, an archetypal “damsel in distress,” but she evolved to become a fan favourite as well as the sequel’s protagonist and principal player-character (PC). Along the way, Ellie also became something of a feminist icon: she is a queer young woman who wears practical clothing, a character very different than the stereotypical heroes that dominated previous videogame generations. The success of the games and their central character, I argue, turns on their ability to encourage emotional connections, sometimes called empathy, inviting players to engage with videogame characters in ways that parallel their responses to characters in older media forms
Repenser les récits autour du système de l’aide humanitaire : le bien-fondé d’un leadership collaboratif
Get PDFDisasters—whether so called ‘natural’ disasters or conflict related crises—are a growing challenge. Their impacts have a profound impact on development outcomes since disasters at best mitigate against development gains, and more commonly lead to development losses, particularly for people living in poverty. Yet while disasters are often treated as exceptional events, they in fact highlight failures in our development pathways—and expose the humanitarian and development system as unfit to respond adequately to these challenges. This paper reflects on the ways of thinking and incentives that shape the behaviour that leads to the perpetuation of this siloed and reactionary system and argues that there is a need to re-frame disasters as contextual factors rather than exceptional events within the development framework. Additionally, there is a need to support leaders who collaborate, instead of working to achieve individual success for their department or institution, and to strengthen accountability to make the development and humanitarian system more effective in supporting disaster affected and at-risk communities.Les catastrophes – qu’il s’agisse de catastrophes dites « naturelles » ou de crises liées à des conflits – constituent un défi grandissant. Leurs conséquences ont un impact profond sur les résultats du développement. En effet, dans le meilleur des cas, elles atténuent les gains acquis dans le secteur, mais elles entraînent malheureusement le plus souvent d’importantes détériorations, en particulier pour les personnes les plus précaires. Alors que les catastrophes sont souvent perçues et traitées comme des événements exceptionnels, elles mettent en fait en évidence les failles du développement et exposent l’inadaptabilité du secteur de l’aide humanitaire et du développement à répondre adéquatement à ces défis. Cette recherche questionne les modes de pensée et les incitations qui façonnent les comportements qui participent à la perpétuation de ce système cloisonné et réactionnaire. Dans le cadre du développement, nous soutenons qu'il est nécessaire de recadrer les catastrophes comme des facteurs contextuels plutôt que comme des événements exceptionnels. En outre, il est nécessaire de soutenir les qui promeuvent la collaboration, au lieu de travailler à la réussite individuelle de leur département ou de leur institution, et de renforcer la responsabilité afin de rendre le système de développement et d’aide humanitaire plus efficace dans le soutien apporté aux communautés touchées par les catastrophes et les communautés à risque
The Protagonist Witch in Two YA Fantasy Novels: Finding Social Agency Through the Natural
No full textThe teen witches in young adult fantasy often possess magical abilities related to nature. In Rachel Griffin’s The Nature of Witches (2021), witch student Clara must learn to control her power over the weather as the last hope in the face of devastating climate change. In This Poison Heart (2021) by Kalynn Bayron, budding botanist Briseis can grow a seedling into a tree in moments and withstand the world’s most poisonous plants. Both Clara and Briseis use their abilities for community benefit, manipulating nature for medicine and protection. As teenagers their social power is volatile. As witches they are invaluable to their societies. Roberta Seelinger Trites identifies young adult literature as a place of power imbalance that allows young adult readers to explore their own social power within the safety of the text. Through an ecofeminist lens, this article explores the disconnect between Clara and Briseis’s status as adolescents and the social power gained through witchcraft. It considers how the protagonist witches employ their powers over nature to make a place for themselves (and the natural) within a community. I argue that the renegotiation of western ideological binaries in these texts is impeded by didactic socialisation within the young adult genre
Science students develop multiple employability literacies from large, early-year courses without employability modules
Get PDFConcerns have been raised about the employability of Science graduates, however undergraduate Science curricula rarely focus on building employability. Our goal is to harness existing Science-focused curricula to improve Science graduate employability. In this study we asked whether students could identify learning of employability literacies from their experiences in undergraduate Science courses that do not explicitly teach employability literacies. To address these questions, we employed a short reflective activity in three large first year courses; these courses focused on scientific content and processes, and did not include employability modules. We asked students to choose an employability literacy from a menu and describe how components of the course prompted them to develop this literacy. Students chose a wide variety of literacies and linked their development to multiple aspects of their course experience. They also consistently indicated they had achieved multiple literacies from their course. Course coordinators highlighted the strength-based quality of the reflections, which differed from the usual course evaluation comments given by students. Coordinators who used the reflection activity in the first year were eager to continue in subsequent semesters and years. This mechanism gives students and staff the opportunity to understand the wide and varied opportunities for employability skill development that already exist in undergraduate Science courses. The approach does not require course teaching amendments or student skill-building instruction. This study shows that students can achieve multiple employability literacies from early-year courses, and raises new possibilities around how we can boost students’ understanding and development of their employability
External aspects that stand out in the self-perceived employability of engineering students and recent graduates
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between the self-perceived employability of engineering students and graduates and their employment situation. Methodology: A total of 505 individuals participated in this study, including recent graduates and senior students from five engineering programs at a public higher education institution in Colombia. This research adopted a quantitative methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional design and a correlational scope. The data were analysed using inferential statistics. Findings: Based on the results, perceived employability considerably depends on four factors: the level of job performance, the number of promotions, work experience, and the education–job relationship. Originality: In the current labour context, employability is an important tool for graduates who are entering the labour market and must face a variety of challenges, such as the decline in work opportunities, the rapid development of technology, and the need for lifelong learning. According to the literature in the field, employability is significantly influenced by these kinds of external factors
The graduate employability cycle of learning: Preparation, practice, and presentation
Get PDFChange in the workplace is inevitable, intensified by the rapid development of global markets and demand for highly skilled and adaptable employees. One response to this demand is for higher degree students to immerse in workplace experiences aligned to their course discipline to build their employability. In consideration of higher education and industry practices in Australia, our paper examined the phases of student learning and development before, during and after workplace experiences that contribute to graduate employability and signalling capability. Three progressive methodological approaches were adopted: a job advertisement audit, semi-structured interviews, and an online employability survey. Deductive and inductive coding was applied to organise themes from interview transcripts and survey data, using non-parametric statistics to analyse data. Findings revealed a three-phased Graduate Employability Cycle of Learning. The Pre-Condition Phase 1 encourages student exploration of the industry discipline and self against defined awareness factors to prepare for practical experiences. Phase 2 comprises the Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1984) to validate the process of learning through practical experience. The Observed Signals Phase 3 identifies the experiential learning gained from practical experience and subsequent conversion into transferable graduate employability signals. Combined, the three-phased cycle guides theoretical knowledge and practical application of the employability signals, to assist job recruitment and selection, where employers can observe and recognise employable graduates who demonstrate their point of difference in the job market
Implementing employability strategy: Inspiring change through significant conversations
Get PDFHigher education plays a key role in cultivating graduate employability, which is essential to meeting multiple individual, community, social and labour market needs. Universities prioritise employability through strategic goals and initiatives designed to foster work-ready graduates equipped with the skills, aptitudes, and knowledge needed to navigate self-determined career pathways. One core approach to delivering on the employability agenda is through work-integrated learning (WIL). Despite institution’s efforts to set targets to increase access to WIL for all students, there is little evidence on how these strategies are implemented, reported, and revised, particularly in resource-depleted environments. This paper illuminates how institutional directives can be enacted when transformative learning is centralised through relational, collegial conversations. It builds on Dean et al.’s (2020) paper to unpack how the WIL Curriculum Classification (WILCC) Framework has been executed through employability champions across the institution, who advocate for meaningful, contextually appropriate change that is co-designed with colleagues. These ‘significant conversations’ are the impetus for transforming students’ learning experiences and career readiness. The paper offers four vignettes to showcase how the WILCC Framework has been implemented and disseminated across local, institutional, cross-campus and international contexts through transformative engagement in relational dialogue. It outlines key recommendations for holding significant conversations to influence change and champion the employability movement
Creating group work-integrated learning experiences for non-clinical health degrees: A practitioner reflection
Get PDFWork-Integrated Learning (WIL) experiences, integral for equipping students with the skills and knowledge crucial for employment and success in their chosen careers, have traditionally been associated with accreditation requirements in professional programs. More recently, acknowledging the importance of WIL experiences in non-professional programs has grown. In this reflective paper, the experiences of the practitioner tasked with developing a new WIL capstone course for students in Health and Biomedical Science degrees are described. Grounded in social exchange theory, where interactions are viewed as exchanges aimed at maximising rewards while minimising costs, the intent was for student groups to engage with a range of authentic project experiences offered by industry, community, and academic staff (the WIL partners). Critical elements were the active involvement of a diverse array of partners and the importance of relationship building for the long-term sustainability of the project experiences. I discuss and reflect on the specific strategies employed to engage the WIL partners, inspiring them to collaborate and develop meaningful projects suitable for students pursuing various career paths. Additionally, I reflect on the invaluable experiences and feedback provided by our partners