Embodied Self-reflexivity

Drawing on G. H. Mead and Merleau-Ponty, this paper aims to extend our understanding of self-reflexivity beyond the notion of a discursive, abstract, and symbolic process. It offers a framework for embodied self-reflexivity, which anchors the self in the reflexive capacity of bodily sensations. The data consist of two years of ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews of vipassana meditation practitioners in Israel and the United States. The findings illustrate how bodily sensations are used as indexes to psychological states, emotions, and past experiences, while constant awareness of embodied responses is used as a tool for self-monitoring. The paper follows the interaction between discursive and embodied modes of reflexivity and the attempt to shift from one mode to the other. I suggest that currently popular practices of embodied awareness, from meditation to yoga, are based on embodied self-reflexivity and are part of the postindustrial culture of self-awareness.

Download Full-text

Academic Librarians Perceive Duration and Social Interaction as Important Elements for Professional Development

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice ◽

10.18438/eblip29419 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 94-96

Author(s):

Hilary Bussell

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Electronic Mail ◽

Phenomenological Approach ◽

The United States ◽

Academic Librarians ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Hermeneutic Phenomenological ◽

Depth Interviews

A Review of: Attebury, R. I. (2017). Professional development: A qualitative study of high impact characteristics affecting meaningful and transformational learning. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(3), 232-241. http://dx.doi.org//10.1016/j.acalib.2017.02.015 Abstract Objective – To understand the characteristics of meaningful and transformational professional development experiences of academic librarians. Design – Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Setting – Public and private colleges and universities in the United States of America. Subjects – 10 academic librarians. Methods – The researcher selected 10 participants using an initial survey distributed through national library electronic mail lists. Two rounds of semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted over Skype during fall 2014 and spring 2015. The first round of interviews began with background questions about participants’ careers, then moved on to questions about professional development experiences that were meaningful and/or transformational. The responses from this first round of interviews were used to develop questions for a second round of interviews with the same participants. After completing the interviews, the researcher sent follow-up emails to participants in order to gather feedback on summaries and interpretations of interviews. The transcribed interviews were used to create an initial set of codes and then imported into NVivo for analysis using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Main Results – All participants reported on professional development experiences that they found to be meaningful. Half of the participants discussed professional development experiences that were transformational for their perceptions and practice of librarianship. The themes of duration and interaction were identified in every participant’s discussions of meaningful or transformational professional development. Reflection, discomfort, and self-awareness were also identified as prominent themes. Conclusion – The study found that two of the most important ingredients for meaningful and transformational professional development are activities that are sustained over time and that include social interaction. The participants perceived long-term, interactive professional development activities as opportunities to identify and address gaps in their professional knowledge, which benefits themselves and their organizations. On-the-job learning, single-theme workshops or institutes, and professional committee work were particularly promising forms of meaningful professional development. The author recommends that academic librarians who are interested in meaningful or transformational professional development look for activities that are sustained and interactive, that promote reflection, and that provide opportunities to increase self-awareness of gaps in knowledge. Facilitators of professional development activities should include interactive components and ensure that participants have a chance to stay in contact after the event in order to encourage long-term interaction and reflection.

Download Full-text

‘All at the tap of a button’: Mapping the food app landscape

European Journal of Cultural Studies ◽

10.1177/13675494211055732 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136754942110557

Author(s):

Deborah Lupton

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

The Body ◽

New Materialism ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Android Apps ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Meal Planning ◽

Embodied Self ◽

Google Play

Mobile applications (commonly known as ‘apps’) are highly popular forms of software, with hundreds of billions of downloads globally each year. The ways in which the affordances of apps are portrayed on the app store platforms are crucial in sparking consumers’ initial interest. This article presents findings from the ‘Mapping the Food App Landscape’ study. The following two sources of online material were used in this study: (1) descriptions of food-related apps available in the Google Play store; and (2) the lists of the top-most installed free Android apps presented in the App Annie app analytics platform for Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analytical approach is distinctive in bringing together the key feminist new materialism concepts of affective forces, relational connections and agential capacities with that of the promissory narrative. The study’s findings show that inapp publishers’ efforts to entice users, the Google Play app descriptions presented food apps as solutions to or escapes from the stresses and difficulties of everyday life. These app descriptions promised to generate excitement, fun and pleasure (games apps); configure and support convenient food supply and preparation arrangements (food ordering and delivery, meal planning and recipe apps); offer reassurance and better control over the body and encourage greater embodied self-awareness, health and wellbeing (food-tracking and nutrition apps); and contribute to creative and novel experiments in cooking (recipe apps). These findings map the landscape of food apps and the sociocultural contexts in which they are being created, published and adopted.

Download Full-text

A View from the Inside: An In-Depth Look at a Female University Student's Experience with a Feel-Based Intervention to Enhance Self-Confidence and Self-Talk

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2010.1330 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Eva Guérin ◽

Isabelle Arcand ◽

Natalie Durand-Bush

Keyword(s):

Academic Experiences ◽

Self Control ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Self Monitoring ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Self Talk ◽

Depth Interviews

The primary goal of this investigation was to document, using the participatory paradigm, a female university student's experience with a feel-based intervention intended to enhance the quality of her academic experiences including her self-confidence and self-talk. In this unique qualitative case study, the student participated in a 15-week intervention that included multiple in-depth interviews and regular journaling, both of which prompted regular self-monitoring and self-reflection. A narrative account illustrates how the student learned to regulate the way she felt through the intervention, leading to increased self-awareness and self-control, as well as enhanced self-talk and self-confidence.

Download Full-text

SUMBER-SUMBER RESILIENSI PADA REMAJA AKHIR YANG MENGALAMI KEKERASAN DARI ORANGTUA PADA MASA KANAK-KANAK

Psibernetika ◽

10.30813/psibernetika.v11i1.1161 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Devina Calista ◽

Garvin Garvin

Keyword(s):

Late Adolescents ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Short Term ◽

Parental Affection ◽

Resilience Factors ◽

Childhood Violence ◽

Past Experiences ◽

The Impact ◽

Depth Interviews

Child abuse by parents is common in households. The impact of violence on children will bring short-term effects and long-term effects that can be attributed to their various emotional, behavioral and social problems in the future; especially in late adolescence that will enter adulthood. Resilience factors increase the likelihood that adolescents who are victims of childhood violence recover from their past experiences, become more powerful individuals and have a better life. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of resilience in late adolescents who experienced violence from parents in their childhood. This research uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews as a method of data collection. The result shows that the three research participants have the aspects of "I Have", "I Am", and "I Can"; a participant has "I Can" aspects as a source of resilience, and one other subject has no source of resilience. The study concluded that parental affection and acceptance of the past experience have role to the three sources of resilience (I Have, I Am, and I Can) Keyword : Resilience, adolescence, violence, parents

Download Full-text

Mobilized by Injustice

10.1093/oso/9780190940645.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hannah L. Walker

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Criminal Justice ◽

Civil Rights ◽

Political Action ◽

Negative Impact ◽

The United States ◽

Personal Contact ◽

Racial Boundaries ◽

Material Resources ◽

Depth Interviews

Springing from decades of abuse by law enforcement and an excessive criminal justice system, members of over-policed communities lead the current movement for civil rights in the United States. Activated by injustice, individuals protested police brutality in Ferguson, campaigned to end stop-and-frisk in New York City, and advocated for restorative justice in Washington, D.C. Yet, scholars focused on the negative impact of punitive policy on material resources, and trust in government did not predict these pockets of resistance, arguing instead that marginalizing and demeaning policy teaches individuals to acquiesce and withdraw. Mobilized by Injustice excavates conditions under which, despite otherwise negative outcomes, negative criminal justice experiences catalyze political action. This book argues that when understood as resulting from a system that targets people based on race, class, or other group identifiers, contact can politically mobilize. Negative experiences with democratic institutions predicated on equality under the law, when connected to a larger, group-based struggle, can provoke action from anger. Evidence from several surveys and in-depth interviews reveals that mobilization as result of negative criminal justice experiences is broad, crosses racial boundaries, and extends to the loved ones of custodial citizens. When over half of Blacks and Latinos and a plurality of Whites know someone with personal contact, the mobilizing effect of a sense of injustice promises to have important consequences for American politics.

Download Full-text

Collective Identity Supporting Sustainability Transformations in Ecovillage Communities

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158148 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8148

Author(s):

Ciska Ulug ◽

Lummina Horlings ◽

Elen-Maarja Trell

Keyword(s):

Interpersonal Relationships ◽

Collective Identity ◽

The United States ◽

Community Life ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Ethnographic Data ◽

Mainstream Society ◽

Sustainability Principles ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Scholarly Attention

Ecovillages are collective projects that attempt to integrate sustainability principles into daily community life, while also striving to be demonstration projects for mainstream society. As spaces of experimentation, they can provide valuable insights into sustainability transformations. Through shared values and interpersonal connections, ecovillages possess collective identities, which provide a platform for enacting their ideals. However, many ecovillage residents question how to best enhance their role as models, resource centers, and pieces of a greater movement toward sustainability transformations, while simultaneously preserving their unique community and identity. In relation to the above, this paper addresses the questions: What can collective identity in ecovillage communities teach us about the objective and subjective dimensions of sustainability transformations? Furthermore, how can the perspective of collective identity highlight challenges for ecovillages for initiating sustainability transformations? Sustainability transformations encompass objective (behaviors) and subjective (values) dimensions; however, the interactions between these spheres deserve more scholarly attention. Using ethnographic data and in-depth interviews from three ecovillages in the United States, this paper reveals the value in collective identity for underscoring belonging and interpersonal relationships in sustainability transformations. Furthermore, the collective identity perspective exposes paradoxes and frictions between ecovillages and the societal structures and systems they are embedded within.

Download Full-text

Facing the Journey Together: Using Digital Media to Support Dementia Care Among Asian Americans

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1762 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 542-542

Author(s):

Angelica Yeh ◽

Marie Mayen-Cho

Keyword(s):

Los Angeles ◽

Digital Media ◽

The United States ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Pacific Islanders ◽

Japanese American ◽

Culturally Appropriate ◽

Care Partners ◽

Care Information ◽

Depth Interviews

Abstract Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in the United States have limited access to dementia care information that is linguistically and culturally appropriate. Alzheimer’s Los Angeles created “Faces of Caregiving”, a video project available with English/Japanese subtitles, documenting in-depth interviews with 7 Japanese/Japanese-American familial care partners of individuals living with dementia. It touched on the personal yet universal aspects of each journey embedded in a particular family context. The 5 video profiles were subsequently shown at 3 community sites to attendees comprised of mostly older-adult APIs. Among 85 attendee responses, approximately 90% stated they were more likely to seek out information on and support for Alzheimer’s disease, felt more open to talking about the disease, and were more likely to advocate and raise awareness for the disease. This program could be replicated for other API communities, allowing individuals to learn more effectively from a peer-to-peer experience in a culturally familiar setting. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Aging Among Asians Interest Group.

Download Full-text

Recent Findings on Cell-Based Therapies for COVID19-Related Pulmonary Fibrosis

Cell Transplantation ◽

10.1177/0963689721996217 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 096368972199621

Author(s):

Hong-Meng Chuang ◽

Li-Ing Ho ◽

Horng-Jyh Harn ◽

Ching-Ann Liu

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Pulmonary Fibrosis ◽

Tissue Repair ◽

Immune Modulation ◽

Distress Syndrome ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

The United States ◽

Past Experiences ◽

Respiratory Tract Inflammation

COVID-19 has spread worldwide, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy, along with its site of origin in China, since 2020. The virus was first found in the Wuhan seafood market at the end of 2019, with a controversial source. The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and respiratory tract inflammation, with some severe patients developing an acute and chronic lung injury, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary fibrosis (PF). It has already claimed approximately 300 thousand human lives and the number is still on the rise; the only way to prevent the infection is to be safe till vaccines and reliable treatments develop. In previous studies, the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in clinical trials had been proven to be effective in immune modulation and tissue repair promotion; however, their efficacy in treating COVID-19 remains underestimated. Here, we report the findings from past experiences of SARS and MSCs, and how SARS could also induce PF. Such studies may help to understand the rationale for the recent cell-based therapies for COVID-19.

Download Full-text

Concurrent Engineering Assessment: A Proposed Framework

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part B Journal of Engineering Manufacture ◽

10.1243/pime_proc_1996_210_124_02 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 210 (4) ◽

pp. 321-328 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

J Poolton ◽

I Barclay

Keyword(s):

Product Development ◽

New Product Development ◽

Concurrent Engineering ◽

Research Study ◽

New Product ◽

Using Data ◽

Past Experiences ◽

Depth Interviews

There are few studies that have found an adequate means of assessing firms based on their specific needs for a concurrent engineering (CE) approach. Managers interested in introducing CE have little choice but to rely on their past experiences of introducing change. Using data gleaned from a nine month case study, a British-wide survey and a series of in-depth interviews, this paper summarizes the findings of a research study that examines how firms orientate themselves towards change and how they go about introducing CE to their operations. The data show that there are many benefits to introducing CE and that firms differ with respect to their needs for the CE approach. A tentative means to assess CE ‘needs’ is proposed which is based on the level of complexity of goods produced by firms. The method is currently being developed and extended to provide an applications-based framework to assist firms to improve their new product development performance.

Download Full-text