The Kids Are All Right: Designing an Earthquake-Resilient Classroom Table

<p>In the seismically active region of New Zealand the threat of earthquakes is ever-present with potential implications for residents of all ages. As school children spend a large extent of their daily lives within the classroom, it is vital that they are provided with an effective means to protect and prepare themselves for natural disasters. Through the application of a qualitative, ethnographic, and ‘research through design‘ methodological approaches, this research has informed the design of a classroom table that effectively promotes safety and resilience around seismic events. Through consultation with school students and teaching staff, typologies of existing furniture and the specific needs of classroom tables in contemporary primary school environments have been evaluated within a contemporary New Zealand school context. While the development of the design aims to be appropriate for everyday use, the primary objective is to investigate the role that furniture can play in mitigating the physical threat of seismic events on children. The central research question asks: How might furniture effectively function to mitigate the physical threat of earthquakes and aid in facilitating education regarding earthquake preparedness within the context of New Zealand’s primary schools? The functions of the resultant product output - the ‘Earthquake-Resilient Classroom Table’ - are three-fold: the design aims to provide a robust structure that physically protects children during earthquakes; enable a system that alerts students when safety procedures should be implemented; and, facilitate the education of students in earthquake safety and preparedness procedures according to established practices employed in New Zealand schools. As a pervasive means of providing immediate safety and encouraging preparedness, the proposed design outcome is a prime example in the application of alternative functions and innovative technologies in the design of contemporary furniture. The focus on earthquake safety within school environments addresses a pertinent issue that has received minimal prior investigation or addressment through design, both in New Zealand and internationally. This research aims to foster discourse within the design discipline regarding new conceptualisations of design that meet the needs of contemporary school environments, and to inspire the development of furniture designs that meet the safety needs of children in natural disasters within New Zealand and beyond.</p>

The Kids Are All Right: Designing an Earthquake-Resilient Classroom Table

<p>In the seismically active region of New Zealand the threat of earthquakes is ever-present with potential implications for residents of all ages. As school children spend a large extent of their daily lives within the classroom, it is vital that they are provided with an effective means to protect and prepare themselves for natural disasters. Through the application of a qualitative, ethnographic, and ‘research through design‘ methodological approaches, this research has informed the design of a classroom table that effectively promotes safety and resilience around seismic events. Through consultation with school students and teaching staff, typologies of existing furniture and the specific needs of classroom tables in contemporary primary school environments have been evaluated within a contemporary New Zealand school context. While the development of the design aims to be appropriate for everyday use, the primary objective is to investigate the role that furniture can play in mitigating the physical threat of seismic events on children. The central research question asks: How might furniture effectively function to mitigate the physical threat of earthquakes and aid in facilitating education regarding earthquake preparedness within the context of New Zealand’s primary schools? The functions of the resultant product output - the ‘Earthquake-Resilient Classroom Table’ - are three-fold: the design aims to provide a robust structure that physically protects children during earthquakes; enable a system that alerts students when safety procedures should be implemented; and, facilitate the education of students in earthquake safety and preparedness procedures according to established practices employed in New Zealand schools. As a pervasive means of providing immediate safety and encouraging preparedness, the proposed design outcome is a prime example in the application of alternative functions and innovative technologies in the design of contemporary furniture. The focus on earthquake safety within school environments addresses a pertinent issue that has received minimal prior investigation or addressment through design, both in New Zealand and internationally. This research aims to foster discourse within the design discipline regarding new conceptualisations of design that meet the needs of contemporary school environments, and to inspire the development of furniture designs that meet the safety needs of children in natural disasters within New Zealand and beyond.</p>

Poetic Violence in the Book of Jeremiah

This chapter examines poetic images of violence in the book of Jeremiah from a literary perspective. In this analysis, Jeremiah’s images of poetic violence are rhetorically constructed and should not be viewed as descriptive of actual events. Although violent events may lie at the heart of these images, this chapter assumes they are designed primarily for their rhetorical impact and theological meaning, and not for their descriptive accuracy. After discussing broadly the meaning and purpose of poetic violence, the author considers three rhetorically effective images that appear frequently in Jeremiah—the wound, the maternal body, and the unburied corpse. These images share a common focus on the body and are intended to unsettle and to induce change in those who encounter them by communicating the physical threat to individuals within Israel, as well as to the community as a whole. Despite their power to unsettle, these images also convey hope by communicating alternative and positive realities, and by suggesting ways in which violence can be a creative force that transforms individuals and communities. If poetic violence is effective, transformation will occur and the wound, the maternal body, and the unburied corpse will make way for the healing, birth, and regeneration of Israel.

Danger or Dislike: Distinguishing Threat from Negative Valence as Sources of Automatic Anti-Black Bias

The Dual Implicit Process Model (March et al., 2018a) distinguishes the implicit processing of physical threat (i.e., “can it hurt or kill me?”) from valence (i.e., “do I dislike/like it?”). Five studies tested whether automatic anti-Black bias is due to White Americans associating Black men with threat, negative valence, or both. Studies 1 and 2 assessed how quickly White participants decided whether positive, negative, and threatening images were good versus bad when primed by Black versus White male-faces. Studies 3 and 4 assessed how early in the decision process White participants began deciding whether Black and White (and, in Study 3, Asian) male-faces displaying anger, sadness, happiness, or no emotion were, in Study 3, dangerous, depressed, cheerful, or calm or, in Study 4, dangerous, negative, or positive. Study 5 assessed how quickly White participants decided whether negative and threatening words were negative versus dangerous when primed by Black versus White male-names. All studies indicated that White Americans automatically associate Black men with physical threat. Study 3 indicated the association is unique to Black men and did not extend to Asian men as a general intergroup effect. Studies 3, 4, and 5, which simultaneously paired threat against negativity, indicated that the Black-threat association is stronger than a Black-negative association.

Measuring Perceived Realistic Physical Threat Imposed by Migrants

Individuals differ in the extent to which they perceive threat imposed by out-groups like migrants. An established distinction in intergroup threat research is between symbolic and realistic threat. While symbolic threats concern a perceived menace against societal values, realistic threats jeopardize in-group members’ well-being more directly. Typically applied realistic threat conceptions explicitly include the aspect of physical integrity, but most empirical research captures only realistic economic threats, arguably also due to a lack of appropriate measures. Therefore, we have developed the Perceived Realistic Physical Threat scale (PRPT) with samples from Germany and the UK (total N = 1,391). Moreover, we conducted follow-up analyses with data from a subsample ( N = 473) of the initial UK sample. Factor analyses indicated an 8-item one-factorial solution for the PRPT scale. We further identified measurement invariance across samples and over time and stability across 21 months. We found convincing evidence for its convergent and divergent validity and for its predictive and, importantly, incremental validity, above and beyond the prediction of relevant criteria by other threat types. The PRPT scale appears to be a distinct, comprehensive, and psychometrically sound measure of perceived realistic physical threat, complementing the existing body of available measures.

A nurse academic's lived experience with COVID-19: a reflective narrative

COVID-19 is incomparable in terms of its impact and reach across the globe. Every corner of the world has been affected by this virus in one way or another. The impact of COVID-19 poses an existential and physical threat to us all. This reflective narrative discusses my own experience having caught the virus and examines the impact that living with the disease has had and continues to have on my life. Battling distressing symptoms, and having had to face this life-threatening illness, evoked fear and panic within me, despite my usual level-headed, calm and easy-going personality. I ruminated whether I would be among the statistics of those who eventually recover from the disease or those who sadly do not. Therein was my mental anguish and self-torment; and I very much doubt if I am alone in this.

Religion, Social Connectedness, and Xenophobic Responses to Ebola

This study examined the role of religion in xenophobic responses to the threat of Ebola. Religious communities often offer members strong social ties and social support, which may help members cope with psychological and physical threat, including global threats like Ebola. Our analysis of a nationally representative sample in the U.S. (N = 1,000) found that overall, the more vulnerable to Ebola people felt, the more they exhibited xenophobic responses, but this relationship was moderated by importance of religion. Those who perceived religion as more important in their lives exhibited weaker xenophobic reactions than those who perceived religion as less important. Furthermore, social connectedness measured by collectivism explained the moderating role of religion, suggesting that higher collectivism associated with religion served as a psychological buffer. Religious people showed attenuated threat responses because they had a stronger social system that may offer resources for its members to cope with psychological and physical threats. The current research highlights that different cultural groups react to increased threats in divergent ways.

Civic identity and acculturation expectations of Muscovites and Tallinn residents: the role of perceived threat. 2021

Currently, Russia ranks fourth in terms of the influx of migrants (officially, their number in the country is 12 million), with most of them concentrated in Moscow. In Estonia, the influx of migrants is significantly lower, however, after the collapse of the USSR, quite a lot of Russians ended up in the status of an ethnic minority. At the moment they make up almost a quarter of the population of Estonia (the total number is more than 300 thousand people). This study examines the role of perceived threat as a moderator of the link between civic identity and acculturation expectations in two different ethnic groups in two different countries. The aim of the study is to provide the answers to the questions: What role does perceived threat play in the relationship between civic identity and the acculturation expectations of the host population? Is the perceived threat a moderator? What are the differences in the role of the perceived threat in different contexts: from Muscovites (ethnic Russians) to migrants and from Tallinn residents (ethnic Estonians) to Russians who are an ethnic minority? This study was conducted using an online socio-psychological survey. The responses of the survey participants determined the level of civic identity, perceived threat and acculturation expectations. The sample consisted of 214 ethnic Russians living in Moscow and 288 ethnic Estonians living in Tallinn. The results of the study showed that the perceived threat is a moderator of the connection between civic identity and integration among Muscovites. It is significant that here the cultural and economic threat became the moderator, and the physical threat turned out to be significant only at the level of tendencies. For Tallinn residents, the perceived economic threat turned out to be a moderator of the link between civicl identity and the "melting pot", and the physical threat - a moderator of civic identity and "segregation." Thus, the cultural threat did not show any influence among Tallinn residents. It should be noted that the moderation effect worked differently in each group. For Muscovites, the perceived threat was associated with integration attitudes. In Tallinn, it has shown links with two strategies that imply a complete lack of integration.