scholarly journals Agritourism Development in the USA: The Strategy of the State of Michigan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11360
Author(s):  
Xiaowen Jin ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Guangming He
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
The State ◽  
Comprehensive Strategy ◽  
Rural Economies ◽  
Development Experience ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
The Usa

Agritourism has been widely promoted by governments at many levels, especially in the developed regions of Europe and North America, as a tool to revitalize rural economies and as a sustainable path. Research on agritourism has mainly focused on defining and categorizing agritourism, farmers’ perceptions, tourists’ attitudes, tourism benefits, and marketing. However, little attention has been paid to characterizing the processes and strategies of agritourism development in a relatively large region, for instance, in a state or a province. This article uses the state of Michigan in the Midwest of the USA as a case study, systematically collecting academic publications from several literature databases on agritourism, the state’s regulation and policies on agritourism, the development of agritourism associations, the participation of universities in agritourism related to academic and outreach activities, identifying key and critical developmental events, and reconstructing the historical phases of the agritourism development process. It summarizes the significant characteristics of agritourism’s development in the state of Michigan, the state government’s comprehensive strategy and leadership, the universities’ strong intellectual support, and the consistent involvement of the industrial associations, as well as the interactions of these three parties at the different developmental stages of agritourism. The discussion is set in the wider context of agritourism’s development in the USA. We conclude by presenting the implications and recommendations derived from the agritourism development experience in the state of Michigan. We specifically discuss the relevance of the Michigan experience for agritourism stakeholders in other regions worldwide, especially those that are still in the early stages of agritourism development, such as China.

Legislative discrepancies: an analysis of Missouri’s current human trafficking laws and the need to improve its legal protection of victims

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
Rachel Kappler ◽  
Arduizur Carli Richie-Zavaleta
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Safe Harbor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

Purpose Human trafficking (HT) is a local, national and international problem with a range of human rights, public health and policy implications. Victims of HT face atrocious abuses that negatively impact their health outcomes. When a state lacks protective laws, such as Safe Harbor laws, victims of HT tend to be seen as criminals. This paper aims to highlight the legal present gaps within Missouri’s anti-trafficking legislation and delineates recommendations for the legal protection of victims of HT and betterment of services needed for their reintegration and healing. Design/methodology/approach This case-study is based on a policy analysis of current Missouri’s HT laws. This analysis was conducted through examining current rankings systems created by nationally and internationally recognized non-governmental organizations as well as governmental reports. Additionally, other state’s best practice and law passage of Safe Harbor legislations were examined. The recommendations were based on human rights and public health frameworks. Findings Missouri is a state that has yet to upgrade its laws lately to reflect Safe Harbor laws. Constant upgrades and evaluations of current efforts are necessary to protect and address HT at the state and local levels. Public health and human rights principles can assist in the upgrading of current laws as well as other states’ best-practice and integration of protective legislation and diversion programs to both youth and adult victims of HT. Research limitations/implications Laws are continually being updated at the state level; therefore, there might be some upgrades that have taken place after the analysis of this case study was conducted. Also, the findings and recommendations of this case study are limited to countries that are similar to the USA in terms of the state-level autonomy to pass laws independently from federal law. Practical implications If Safe Harbor laws are well designed, they have greater potential to protect, support and assist victims of HT in their process from victimization into survivorship as well as to paving the way for societal reintegration. The creation and enforcement of Safe Harbor laws is a way to ensure the decriminalization process. Additionally, this legal protection also ensures that the universal human rights of victims are protected. Consequently, these legal processes and updates could assist in creating healthier communities in the long run in the USA and around the world. Social implications From a public health and human rights perspectives, communities in the USA and around the world cannot provide complete protection to victims of HT until their anti-trafficking laws reflect Safe Harbor laws. Originality/value This case study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is a unique analysis that dismantles the discrepancies of Missouri’s current HT laws. This work is valuable to those who create policies at the state level and advocate for the protection of victims and anti-trafficking efforts.

scholarly journals Determining Textbook Cost, Formats, and Licensing with Google Books API: A Case Study from an Open Textbook Project

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamon Costello ◽  
Richard Bolger ◽  
Tiziana Soverino ◽  
Mark Brown
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
North America ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
The Public ◽  
College Course ◽  
Google Books ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Retail Prices ◽  
The Cost

The rising cost of textbooks for students has been highlighted as a major concern in higher education, particularly in the USA and Canada. Less has been reported, however, about the costs of textbooks outside of North America, including in Europe. We address this gap in the knowledge through a case study of one Irish higher education institution, focusing on the cost, accessibility, and licensing of textbooks. We report here on an investigation of textbooks prices drawing from an official college course catalog containing several thousand books. We detail how we sought to determine meta-data of these books including: the formats they are available in, whether they are in the public domain and the retail prices. We explain how we used methods to automatically determine textbook costs using Google Books API and make our code and dataset publicly available.

Gap Funding in the USA and Canada

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 387-392
Author(s):  
Steven C. Price ◽  
Philip Z. Sobocinski
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Prototype Development ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
University Setting

Successful technology transfer of innovations arising from university research is often hindered by the lack of development funds to add value to these nascent discoveries. Within a university context, ‘gap funding’ is, for example, grant research funding that supports the demonstration of technical feasibility, prototype development, and/or assists with broadening patent claims and strengthening licensing opportunities. It is this early development stage that constitutes the bottleneck in which the transfer of promising technologies in academia can often languish or come to a halt from the lack of even a modest amount of such funding. This paper reports on measured outcomes of two such gap funding programmes at the authors' institution, presented as case studies that demonstrate the importance of this type of funding, and provides several recommendations for grants administration. In addition, results of a survey conducted on the status of gap funding programmes at other academic institutions in North America are presented. Surprisingly few such programmes exist in North America and very few have reported outcomes. The case study results support the conclusion that gap funding programmes are critical to technology development and transfer within a university setting and can provide valuable returns on the investment. These returns include enhancing patenting and licensing efforts as well as various collateral benefits such as the number of publications created; students trained; spin-offs formed; and the leveraging induced as measured by the amount of follow-on federal and industrial sponsored research dollars.

scholarly journals Statecraft and study abroad: Imagining, narrating and reproducing the state

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jade Lansing ◽  
Rebecca L. Farnum
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
North America ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
The State ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Global Citizens ◽  
Overseas Study ◽  
Field School ◽  
International Boundaries

Study abroad in higher education is on the rise, marketed as an effective way to produce global citizens and undermine international boundaries. In practice, however, programmes frequently reify rather than challenge states: participants 'study Morocco' rather than 'exploring Marrakech'. This framing reproduces real and imagined realities of the nation-state, presented as externally distinct and internally homogeneous. This article considers how study abroad discourses and practices in North America and Europe 'sell' developing states as abstract 'goods' embodying an authentic 'other'. A case study from Dar Si Hmad's Ethnographic Field School in southwest Morocco considers how various stakeholders reinforce and challenge this approach. The paper concludes by calling for a more nuanced conversation about the utility and impact of states as the predominant lens of overseas study.

Migrant Diplomacies: Rethinking Diplomacy Beyond State-Centric Perspectives. A Civic Bi-Nationality Experience from North America

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Alejo
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Interdisciplinary Dialogue ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Migrant Activism ◽  
Point Of Departure

There is a pressing need to extend our thinking about diplomacy beyond state-centric perspectives, as in the name of sovereignty and national interests, people on move are confronting virtual, symbolic and/or material walls and frames of policies inhibiting their free movement. My point of departure is to explore migrant activism and global politics through the transformation of diplomacy in a globalised world. Developing an interdisciplinary dialogue between new diplomacy and sociology, I evidence the emergence of global sociopolitical formations created through civic bi-nationality organisations. Focusing on the agent in interaction with structures, I present a theoretical framework and strategy for analysing the practices of migrant diplomacies as an expression of contemporary politics. A case study from North America regarding returned families in Mexico City provides evidence of how these alternative diplomacies are operating.

Varied Responses to Human-Induced Seismicity in the City of Azle, Texas

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sarmistha R. Majumdar
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Prior History ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
The Status

Fracking has helped to usher in an era of energy abundance in the United States. This advanced drilling procedure has helped the nation to attain the status of the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world, but some of its negative externalities, such as human-induced seismicity, can no longer be ignored. The occurrence of earthquakes in communities located at proximity to disposal wells with no prior history of seismicity has shocked residents and have caused damages to properties. It has evoked individuals’ resentment against the practice of injection of fracking’s wastewater under pressure into underground disposal wells. Though the oil and gas companies have denied the existence of a link between such a practice and earthquakes and the local and state governments have delayed their responses to the unforeseen seismic events, the issue has gained in prominence among researchers, affected community residents, and the media. This case study has offered a glimpse into the varied responses of stakeholders to human-induced seismicity in a small city in the state of Texas. It is evident from this case study that although individuals’ complaints and protests from a small community may not be successful in bringing about statewide changes in regulatory policies on disposal of fracking’s wastewater, they can add to the public pressure on the state government to do something to address the problem in a state that supports fracking.

Islamic and Jewish Religious Feminists Tackle Islamic and Jewish Oral Law: Maintenance and Rebellion of Wives

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-63
Author(s):  
Ruth Roded
Keyword(s):  
State Policy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Parallel Case ◽  
First Time

Beginning in the early 1970s, Jewish and Muslim feminists, tackled “oral law”—Mishna and Talmud, in Judaism, and the parallel Hadith and Fiqh in Islam, and several analogous methodologies were devised. A parallel case study of maintenance and rebellion of wives —mezonoteha, moredet al ba?ala; nafaqa al-mar?a and nush?z—in classical Jewish and Islamic oral law demonstrates similarities in content and discourse. Differences between the two, however, were found in the application of oral law to daily life, as reflected in “responsa”—piskei halacha and fatwas. In modern times, as the state became more involved in regulating maintenance and disobedience, and Jewish law was backed for the first time in history by a state, state policy and implementation were influenced by the political system and socioeconomic circumstances of the country. Despite their similar origin in oral law, maintenance and rebellion have divergent relevance to modern Jews and Muslims.

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