594 research outputs found
Nostalgia: content, triggers, functions
No full textSeven methodologically diverse studies addressed 3 fundamental questions about nostalgia. Studies 1 and 2 examined the content of nostalgic experiences. Descriptions of nostalgic experiences typically featured the self as a protagonist in interactions with close others (e.g., friends) or in momentous events (e.g., weddings). Also, the descriptions contained more expressions of positive than negative affect and often depicted the redemption of negative life scenes by subsequent triumphs. Studies 3 and 4 examined triggers of nostalgia and revealed that nostalgia occurs in response to negative mood and the discrete affective state of loneliness. Studies 5, 6, and 7 investigated the functional utility of nostalgia and established that nostalgia bolsters social bonds, increases positive self-regard, and generates positive affect. These findings demarcate key landmarks in the hitherto uncharted research domain of nostalgi
The Between Story : Physical and Psychic Trauma in the Poetry of Sonia Sanchez and Lucille Clifton
No full textRhetorical choices used by Black women poets makes their work a militant force in the theoretical war against racist and sexist oppression. Research on trauma and testimony supports a breakdown of the person’s or character’s sudden brush with death –a moment that will never be fully realized, however it is at the center of explicating the rhetorical signs of trauma. Through a reading of Sonia Sanchez’s poems “Wounded in the House of a Friend” (Sanchez, 1995: 5), “Poem for Some Women” (Sanchez, 1995: 72), “Eyewitness: Case No. 3456” (Sanchez, 1995: 70), and “Poem at Thirty” (Sanchez, 1985: 4), with Lucille Clifton’s “My Friends” (Clifton, 1987: 147), “Shapeshifter Poems” (Clifton, 2000: 52), and “Song at Midnight” (Clifton, 1993: 24), my analysis will trace how traumatic wounding constitutes a psychic wound. It then applies the racialized and gendered reading of the subjects in the poem (insidious trauma), and how time and space relates to the subjects, space, and silences (traumatic realism). With the use trauma theory, I will illustrate how Sanchez and Clifton’s aesthetic forms adapted the militancy of the Black Arts Movement to address the silenced voices. In particular, the silenced voices of subjects continually subsumed beneath the phallocentric undertones challenged by Black feminist discourse, art, and poetry will be addressed.Las opciones retóricas utilizadas por las poetas negras hacen de su trabajo una herramienta militante en la batalla teórica contra la opresión racista y sexista. Investigar sobre el trauma y el testimonio conlleva una crisis de la persona o el carácter, repentinamente teñidos con la muerte –un momento nunca por entero realizado–, que sin embargo está en el centro de la explicación de los signos retóricos del trauma. Mediante la lectura de los poemas de Sonia Sánchez “Wounded in the House of a Friend” (Sanchez, 1995: 5), “Poem for Some Women” (Sanchez, 1995: 72), “Eyewitness: Case No. 3456” (Sanchez, 1995: 70) y “Poem at Thirty” (Sanchez, 1985: 4), así como “My Friends” (Clifton, 1987: 147), “Shapeshifter Poems” (Clifton, 2000: 52) y “Song at Midnight” (Clifton, 1993: 24) de Lucille Clifton, muestra mi análisis cómo la herida traumática conforma una herida psíquica. Además aplica enfoques de raza y de género a la lectura de los sujetos del poema (el trauma insidioso), y a cómo el tiempo y el espacio se relacionan con individuos, lugar y silencios (realismo traumático). Utilizando la teoría del trauma, quiero así ilustrar cómo las formas estéticas de S. Sánchez y L. Clifton adaptaron la militancia del Black Arts Movement al tratamiento de voces silenciadas. Abordaré en particular las voces silenciadas de sujetos permanentemente sometidos a connotaciones falocéntricas, esas que son desafiadas por el discurso, el arte y la poesía del feminismo negro
Rural-to-urban migrants: Possibilities for new churches in China’s cities
No full textOver the last 30 years, the world has watched as China has developed into an urban nation. Early scholarship on the missiological importance of urban centers framed cities as “the new frontier.” Over time, missiological inquiry continued ranging from new strategies for urban work to developing a theology of urban missions. The continued growth of cities around the world has kept the increasingly diverse environments of the city at the fore of missiological conversations. China’s aggressive urbanization development has meant large populations of rural-to-urban migrants have flooded into the cities in this period. There lacks, however, a robust discussion about the need for more rural-to-urban migrant churches in China. In this article I explore the possibilities for migrant churches in cities. To understand China’s urban context, I begin with a brief overview of rapid urbanization development. I then discuss the growth of the Christian population in China’s cities which is due, in part, to rural-to-urban migration. Following, I discuss some barriers of belonging that many rural-to-urban migrants experience, including barriers in urban churches. I end the article by suggesting possibilities of an establishment of migrant churches in China’s urban center
Resonant Spaces: Electroacoustic Music and Ritual: A commentary on my recent music.
No full textThe following portfolio and commentary concerns music and performance works created between 2008 and 2012, and an exposition of the research, ideas, aesthetics and techniques that connect
these works. I will discuss in detail the role that archaeoacoustics has played in my composition of fixed and mixed media works and how it has influenced me aesthetically in my approach to live performance. I will also explain in each instance any actual data used from various research sources, and my metaphorical interpretation of various archaeological sites and acoustic phenomena. Similarly, I will discuss the concepts of shamanism, ritual and transcendence that have influenced me, and how these concepts are expressed in my instrumental works, fixed media and live performance pieces
Spectra
No full textIn this paper I analyze the emergence of Chinese Mongolians as displaced persons within Inner Mongolia due to planned urbanization by the Chinese government throughout the region. I explore how Mongolians are displaced from their traditional cultural space, the grasslands, to new urban centers and how that displacement creates “cultural colonization.” I also analyze how Mongolians now living in urban centers where Mandarin is widely spoken further undergo “cultural colonization” through the decrease use of the Mongolian language. I address the power dynamics between the (Han) Chinese government and ethnic Mongolians with the works of Foucault, Schmitt, and Agamben. I also draw from Said and Malkki's work on refugees and subalternity and Gladney's scholarship on minorities in China as subalterns to frame the Mongolians as subaltern subjects within the Chinese state.Published versio
Shifting Signals in the ‘Two’ Chinas
No full textThe 55 essays in this volume illuminate deeper political trends and both give and signal the alarm that social change is necessary if self-governance in the United States and beyond is to be preserved. Taken together, these articles speak truth to power and highlight forcefully the need for dramatic change. It has been our privilege to compile them for a broader readership.
Ch. 1
Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad: intergroup contact, personality, and weight bias
No full textBackground: Higher body weight individuals are frequently the targets of negative weight-based attitudes, at times resulting in discrimination. Workplace discrimination harms the well-being of larger individuals by increasing their stress levels and reducing their chances of being hired or promoted. Thus, understanding why people hold these negative attitudes is important. Further, little is known about the role personality characteristics (e.g., essentialist thinking) play in the formation of these attitudes. The aim of this study then was to examine how body weight affects competence-based judgements of female employees, and furthermore, to determine whether an individual’s personality features influence these judgements.
Methods: College students (N = 161) from a northeastern university were recruited to participate in this study, and the study took place entirely online. Participants were mostly female (60.9%), the average age was 20.64 years (SD = 3.29), and the average BMI was 25.40 (SD = 5.06). Our sample was ethnically diverse, with participants identifying as White (45.3%), Black (29.8%), Hispanic (18.0%), Asian (9.3%), and other (3.7%). Participants responded to twelve images of three identically dressed women of varying body sizes. Participants were asked to rate each image on a 6-item global competence measure (Howelett et al., 2015), completed personality and bias measures, and were asked what they believed the study was about.
Results: Most participants (82%) reported believing the study was about weight/physical appearance and how that influenced judgments of work ability or competence. Regardless of their understanding of the purpose of the study, participants still assigned significantly lower competence ratings when the target female was ‘obese’ (M = 4.30, SD = 1.15) than ‘overweight’ (M = 4.81, SD = 0.96) or ‘normal weight’ (M = 4.90, SD = 1.00; F(2, 159) = 26.53, p < .001, η2 = .14). Using Repeated Measures ANCOVAs, we found that Essentialist Entitativity beliefs had a small but not significant effect on competence ratings (F(2, 159) = 2.26, p = .108, η2 = .02), and Need for Cognitive Closure had a small significant effect (F(2,159) = 3.88, p = .022, η2 = .02).
Discussion: These findings are consistent with past research revealing a link between ratings of competence and body size. Specifically, individuals with larger body sizes were deemed to be less competent than individuals with smaller body sizes.This poster was presented at the first annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity while the author was an undergraduate student at Rutgers University-Camden
Physiological demands of off-road vehicle riding
No full textIntroduction: Methods: Results: Conclusions: The purpose of this study was to characterize the physiological demands of recreational off-road vehicle riding under typical riding conditions using habitual recreational off-road vehicle riders (n = 128).Comparisons of the physical demands of off-road vehicle riding were made between vehicle types (all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and off-road motorcycle (ORM)) to the demands of common recreational activities. Habitual riders (ATV = 56, ORM = 72) performed strength assessments before and after a representative trail ride (48 +/- 24.2 min), and ambulatory oxygen consumption was measured during one lap (24.2 +/- 11.8 min) of the ride.The mean VO2 requirement (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) while riding an off-road vehicle was 12.1 +/- 4.9 for ATV and 21.3 +/- 7.1 for ORM (P = 0.002), which is comparable to the VO2 required of many common recreational activities. Temporal analysis of activity intensity revealed approximately 14% of an ATV ride and 38% of an ORM ride are within the intensity range (940% VO2 reserve) required to achieve changes in aerobic fitness. Riding on a representative course also led to muscular fatigue, particularly in the upper body.On the basis of the measured metabolic demands, evidence of muscular strength requirements, and the associated caloric expenditures with off-road vehicle riding, this alternative form of activity conforms to the recommended physical activity guidelines and can be effective for achieving beneficial changes in health and fitness
Weight bias in the workplace: does personality matter?
No full textHigher body-weight individuals are frequently stigmatized and face prejudice and discrimination.Additionally, experiences of weight stigmatization are associated with several negative consequences. However, less is known about effective means for reducing weight bias. One strategy that has shown success in other areas of prejudice reduction, yet is less tested for weight bias reduction, is intergroup contact. Other research has emphasized the importance of person-based factors (Social Dominance Orientation (SDO); Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA); etc.) in the development of prejudice. Less is known, however, about the role these variables play in the formation of negative attitudes toward higher body weight individuals, or how these variables might influence attitude change in the contact context. Participants (N = 639) were recruited from a northeastern university, and the study was completed online. The sample was a majority female (75.1%) and the average age was 20.80 (sd = 4.81). As expected, SDO and RWA were both significantly positively correlated with weight bias (rs = 0.13-0.45). Additionally, positive contact was significantly negatively correlated with weight bias (rs = -0.32- -0.37) and negative contact was significantly positively correlated with weight bias (rs = 0.36-0.40). Also as expected, positive contact was more frequent (M = 4.73, sd = 1.31) than negative contact (M = 2.33, sd = 1.15). Finally, in a simultaneous regression predicting weight bias (R2 = .21, F (2, 637) = 85.88, p <.001), negative contact (β = 0.33, t(635) = 9.36, p < .001) was found to have a stronger effect than positive contact (β = 0.29, t(635) = -8.20, p < .001). Personality effects were mixed and minimal. This study adds to the literature by examining the effects of positive and negative contact on weight bias. Consistent with previous studies, we found that although positive contact with higher body weight individuals in more common than negative contact, negative contact has a stronger influence on negative weight-based attitudes.This poster was presented at the first annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity while the author was an undergraduate student at Rutgers University-Camden
Combining social and nutritional perspectives: from adolescence to adulthood (the ASH30 study)
No full textPurpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus specifically on the benefits of using mixed methods to investigate dietary change from adolescence to adulthood exemplified using the findings from the ASH30 longitudinal study. The ASH30 study is a longitudinal dietary survey which provided quantitative evidence of dietary change and investigated factors influencing dietary change from adolescence to adulthood.
Design/methodology/approach
Two three-day food diaries were collected both in 1980 (aged 11-12 years) and 2000 (aged 31-32 years) from the same 198 respondents in North East England. In 2,000 questionnaires were used to collect perceptions of, and attributions for, dietary change and open-ended responses were analysed using content analysis.
Findings
The use of mixed methods brings added breadth and depth to the research which cannot be achieved by a single discipline or method. Determining what has influenced change in dietary behaviour from adolescence to adulthood is a complex and multifaceted task. Eating habits are influenced by multiple factors throughout the life course. Change in food intake between adolescence and adulthood related to life-course events and trajectories. The qualitative findings highlighted relevant contextual information such as themes of moral panics, the concept of “convenience” and “fresh” foods.
Practical implications
Adopting mixed method approaches to exploring dietary change should offer a rich perspective from which to base realistic interventions.
Originality/value
Longitudinal dietary surveys present an opportunity to understand the complex process of dietary change throughout the life course in terms both of how diets have changed but also of why they have changed
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