scholarly journals Towards critical global education worker subjectivity: An exploration of narratives of American women engaged in education-related international volunteerism

Author(s):  
Lucy Mule

International volunteerism is increasingly associated with shaping global subjectivities of participants. Significant numbers of Global North volunteers – whether working through established volunteer organizations, corporations, nonprofits, academia, or personal networks and connections – engage in educationrelated activities while in the Global South. I emphasize in this paper that education-related international volunteering presents a rich context in which to explore global subjectivities due to the high likelihood of participants' engagement with mobility, difference, poverty, inequality, and development. In this paper, I explore six women's accounts of their transnational experiences and resulting understandings of their education-related work. Four related thematic categories derived from these accounts convey meanings of education-related work in terms of self-fulfilment, social responsibility, active engagement with host communities, and cross-cultural competence. I explore two overlapping subjectivities – participatory and critical – that emerge from an exploration of these themes, examine how they intersect with common discourses of international volunteering and development, and discuss the implications for the relationship between global citizenship and education-related international volunteering.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Dr. Syed Wahaj Mohsin ◽  
Ms. Shaista Taskeen

It will not be incorrect to refer to “Global South” as a blanket term rather than an umbrella term that has both an enormous and complex structure. Innumerable nations of this world have been tagged as the nations belonging to the Global South. This demarcation between the Global South and the Global North is an ever-deepening abyss that has serious consequences in terms of global citizenship and harmony. The binary opposition between the Global North and the Global South cannot be blurred unless the privileged populations of the economically sound nations begin to realize that a majority of the people living in the Global South are competent, modern, rational, urban and civilized. A clichéd image of the South as wild, uncivilized and inferior must be abandoned to obtain an authentic outlook.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 160-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Senokozlieva ◽  
Oliver Fischer ◽  
Gary Bente ◽  
Nicole Krämer

Abstract. TV news are essentially cultural phenomena. Previous research suggests that the often-overlooked formal and implicit characteristics of newscasts may be systematically related to culture-specific characteristics. Investigating these characteristics by means of a frame-by-frame content analysis is identified as a particularly promising methodological approach. To examine the relationship between culture and selected formal characteristics of newscasts, we present an explorative study that compares material from the USA, the Arab world, and Germany. Results indicate that there are many significant differences, some of which are in line with expectations derived from cultural specifics. Specifically, we argue that the number of persons presented as well as the context in which they are presented can be interpreted as indicators of Individualism/Collectivism. The conclusions underline the validity of the chosen methodological approach, but also demonstrate the need for more comprehensive and theory-driven category schemes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
Tzu-Hui Chen

This narrative aims to explore the meaning and lived experiences of marriage that a unique immigrant population—“foreign brides” in Taiwan—possesses. This convergence narrative illustrates the dynamics and complexity of mail-order marriage and women's perseverance in a cross-cultural context. The relationship between marriage, race, and migration is analyzed. This narrative is comprised of and intertwined by two story lines. One is the story of two “foreign brides” in Taiwan. The other is my story about my cross-cultural relationship. All the dialogues are generated by 25 interviews of “foreign brides” in Taiwan and my personal experience.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Siritzky ◽  
David M Condon ◽  
Sara J Weston

The current study utilizes the current COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the importance of accounting for the influence of external political and economic factors in personality public-health research. We investigated the extent to which systemic factors modify the relationship between personality and pandemic response. Results shed doubt on the cross-cultural generalizability of common big-five factor models. Individual differences only predicted government compliance in autocratic countries and in countries with income inequality. Personality was only predictive of mental health outcomes under conditions of state fragility and autocracy. Finally, there was little evidence that the big five traits were associated with preventive behaviors. Our ability to use individual differences to understand policy-relevant outcomes changes based on environmental factors and must be assessed on a trait-by-trait basis, thus supporting the inclusion of systemic political and economic factors in individual differences models.


Author(s):  
Yana Zemlyanskaya ◽  
Martina Valente ◽  
Elena V. Syurina

AbstractThis mixed-methods study explored the conversation around orthorexia nervosa (ON) on Instagram from a Russian-speaking perspective. Two quantitative data sources were implemented; a comparative content analysis of posts tagged with #opтopeкcия (n = 234) and #orthorexia (n = 243), and an online questionnaire completed by Russian-speakers (n = 96) sharing ON-related content on Instagram. Additionally, five questionnaire participants were interviewed, four of which identified with having (had) ON. Russian-speakers who share ON-related content on Instagram are primarily female, around their late-twenties, and prefer Instagram over other platforms. They describe people with ON as obsessed with correct eating, rather than healthy or clean eating. Instagram appears to have a dual effect; it has the potential to both trigger the onset of ON and encourage recovery. Positive content encourages a healthy relationship with food, promotes intuitive eating, and spread recovery advice. Harmful content, in turn, emphasizes specific diet and beauty ideals. Russian-speaking users mainly post pictures of food, followed by largely informative text that explains what ON is, and what recovery may look like. Their reasons for posting ON-related content are to share personal experiences, support others in recovery, and raise awareness about ON. Two main target audiences were people unaware of ON and people seeking recovery support. The relationship between ON and social media is not strictly limited to the global north. Thus, it may be valuable to further investigate non-English-speaking populations currently underrepresented in ON research.Level of evidence: Level V, descriptive study.


Author(s):  
Maite Soto-Sanfiel

Despite claims that “cinema is dead” or that it only interests nostalgic old-timers, statistics indicate a global increase in theater attendance. Not only is moviegoing still one of the favorite forms of entertainment, but it especially appeals to young people. Moreover, communication research seems to have neglected cinema, but the relationship between modern-day teenagers and the silver screen needs to be observed. This chapter reports the results of a cross-cultural study based on the uses and gratifications paradigm with youngsters from eight European countries. It presents their cinematographic uses and consumption, their motivations for going to the movies, and their preferences and conceptions regarding different movie traditions. The study also performs cross-cultural contrasts to reveal more about the impact of regional, national, and global forces on the psychological relationship between today’s teenagers and cinema.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaw Owusu-Agyeman

Purpose The current study examines the moderating effect of supportive campus environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in a university in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was designed and used to gather data from a sample of 2,026 registered undergraduate students. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software, the data gathered were analysed by way of hierarchical regression analysis. Findings Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that supportive campus environment and cross-cultural interaction serve as strong predictors of students’ sense of belonging. Furthermore, a simple slope analysis showed that supportive campus environment enhance: the positive relationship between cross-cultural interaction and students’ sense of belonging; and the positive relationship between students’ interaction with diverse peers and their sense of belonging. Originality/value This study addresses important knowledge and practical gaps in the relationship between supportive campus environment, cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in higher education. The results further highlight the significance of institutional structures, policies and practices that aim at enhancing students’ sense of belonging and reducing possible feeling of otherlings that arise due to a lack of supportive campus structures.


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