Utilizing the Dimensions of Religion to Analyze Social Media Campaigns

The objective of the current chapter is to analyze one of the most recent and successful social media campaigns namely #NotInMyName from the viewpoint of the seven dimensions of religion utilized by Van Esch and others as the main pillar of social marketing and media campaigns. Further #NotInMyName Public Relations (PR) campaign is scrutinized for PR strategies and message strategies utilized in formulating the campaign messages. To achieve that end, a qualitative analysis was implemented on three levels relating to each video and vine of the study sample: first locating the Dimensions of Religion (DOR taxonomy(ies) used in this video or vine, then emanating on the PR campaign strategies implemented in the video or vine and finally searching for the message strategies utilized in the video or vine. The major conclusion of this study was that although campaigns launched via social media lack the scientific known steps utilized to plan and launch media campaigns traditionally, those campaigns derive from the social media platform exacerbating an unprecedented power to stir political and social movements especially, regarding controversial and stagnant matters. Posts, comments and shares on different social media platforms go viral, stir discussions, and trigger public opinion both virtually and in reality. Dimensions of Religion taxonomies proved reliability as a viable platform stemming from another discipline to plan messages and to analyze campaigns based on the different aspects the model would provide. Ranging from simple aspects to more complicated aspects, Dimensions of Religion model must be subjected to further research to determine its feasibility to be applied to different campaigning structures and objectives.

The Theoretical Foundations and Historical Development of Interdisciplinarity

The concept of interdisciplinarity has a long history but interpretations of this term and the importance of interdisciplinarity in research and education have varied over time. This chapter traces the theoretical understanding and historical development of interdisciplinarity to provide background and context for the book. First it examines the ways in which interdisciplinarity and similar phenomena have been conceptualized in the literature. A roughly chronological account of the main theoretical and empirical developments in interdisciplinarity is then set out, divided into three main periods dating from the early 20th century to the present day.

Economic Journalists' Qualifications in the Arab World

As regards the issue of journalists' qualifications and media professionals in general in the field of media work, evidently including economics, the countries of the world are divided into two main directions: the direction of general scholastic qualification, and the trend of specialized qualitative qualification that separates work fields and distinguishes between the skills and conditions to be provided by journalists working in a specialized field. In fact, working in the field of economic journalism requires a qualitative qualification that responds to the nature and special work conditions in this area. Furthermore, when some international universities offer quality qualification programs in the field of economic journalism, the majority of Arab world media qualification institutions continue to adopt the classical approach in qualifying economic journalists. Actually, academic institutions give professional institutions, where journalists are supposed to work after graduation, the task of compensating for their lack of information and skills in deferent areas of specialization. Hence, this study presents a proposal for the establishment of an academic program between the media and economics, called “Economic Journalism”, throughout which journalists specialized in economics, are trained through a university qualification program that combines journalism knowledge and its arts with the fundamentals and principles of economics. This program is suggested to be offered by Sultan Qaboos University, in the Sultanate of Oman and could be adopted by other Arab universities and could well benefit from international experiences in qualifying economic journalists so as to build an academic program model that would reflect the importance of an overlap across science disciplines. This will help in having qualified human cadres in the economic journalism. Eventually, the study is based on an analysis of the current global economic journalists' qualification trends through a close reading of the available university programs worldwide.

Effect of Accreditation on Quality of Teaching and Learning and Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration

Usually, so far, formal education mostly focuses on treating only strictly separated and specialized topic areas, called disciplines. However, as the need for cooperation between professionals oriented from different disciplines grows, the need for a multidisciplinary educational approach becomes more and more important. For a technical education to be completed, it is no longer enough to train scientists and engineers solely in technical areas. In development and implementation of technology-driven applications, multidisciplinary issues should be properly addressed in the academic sense. The College of Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has addressed this issue of multidisciplinary education by developing and offering interdisciplinary programs such as Mechatronics program, which is jointly offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE), and also transdisciplinary programs such as a specialization in biomedical signals and medical devices (approved, but not yet offered at the time of writing this book chapter, 2016) and a program in agricultural engineering. Also, to make engineering graduates capable of working effectively in multidisciplinary teams, final-year projects (FYP) of multidisciplinary nature has been defined and implemented by the students under the supervision of faculty members.

Benefits of Interdisciplinary Teaching at an Omani Public University

During the last two decades, the pros and cons of applying interdisciplinary approaches in teaching have been debated endlessly. Many scholars have pointed to the favorable impact of interdisciplinary teaching on the quality of education; others have expressed reservations. In the context of an undergraduate Western literature classroom in Oman, teachers are challenged to make literary texts comprehensible and appealing to Omani English majors who have no familiarity with the Western literary tradition when they enroll in literature courses. This chapter explores the possibility of applying interdisciplinary teaching approaches in the undergraduate American literature classroom at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). It discusses some innovative teaching methods which help create an effective teaching and learning environment. The study found, among other things, that the application of interdisciplinary methods can contribute to the development of higher order cognitive skills, broaden students' knowledge base, and heighten their sensitivity to global problems.

Fostering Innovation and Creativity Through Systemic Design

Based on empirical studies carrying a common thread of design creativity as well as systemic analysis, interdisciplinarity's fostering of innovation is exemplified. The studies illustrate contexts for systems perspectives in design. A lot of transformation in socio-economic systems is taking place, individuals have a choice to either react to it as it happens or attempt to take the lead on change and position themselves in the frontline or ahead of the fundamental changes that are bound to occur. Designers are well versed in the knowledge and skills necessary to lead this transformational process, requiring forward looking, focusing on problems, working across disciplines, participating in teams and leading by example and inspiration, while adopting a systems perspective and focusing on people. Systemic analysis triggers design work, through the development of solutions, as illustrated in the two cases. One concerns sustainable solutions for water management in a community. The other focuses on the production system for a Portuguese semi-artisanal certified cheese.

Interdisciplinary Solutions for Tertiary Education Institutions and a Stagnating Labor Market in Jordan

In the late 1980s, the Jordanian economy suffered a depression; consequently, public higher education institutions started receiving less government funding. To contain the economic crisis, Jordan underwent an economic reform which changed labor market needs. In response to these developments, Yarmouk University (YU) established global partnerships in an attempt to face the new challenges. An exceptionally successful example was the first joint program between the University of Arkansas (UA) and YU which was initiated in 1996-1999. The cooperation resulted in the establishment of the Department of Conservation and the Management of Cultural Resources which was an interdisciplinary program, faculty exchange, training programs, and collaboration on interdisciplinary research and grant proposals. This innovative endeavor helped Yarmouk University keep abreast of global changes while providing a demanding and continually changing marketplace with the best possibly trained specialists and professionals. The study explores how such a model can solve problems with stagnant specialties.

Cultural and Communication Barriers to Interdisciplinary Research

This chapter examines the cultural and communicative challenges of interdisciplinary research. The author argues that to understand the nature and scope of cultural and communicative barriers to interdisciplinary research, we must focus on the link between the philosophy of science and research philosophy which shape how scholars frame empirical inquiries, determine interesting research questions, and define the choice of research methodologies and methods. The chapter examined the cultural and communicative challenges of interdisciplinary research through the philosophical perspectives of philosophy of science and research philosophy. It distinguished between main research choices: deductive and inductive and their relevance to the cultural and communicative challenges of interdisciplinary research. It also explains the epistemological, ontological and axiological positions of research and its role in understanding the cultural and communicative challenges of interdisciplinary research. It discusses how scholars are socialized into a scholarly tradition, and how scholarly tradition is perpetuated. It outlined the assumptions of contending scientific methods and how they hinder interdisciplinary research with implications for global health information and communication programs. The chapter demonstrates why it is important for global health information and communication scholars to examine and contrast the opposing scientific research paradigms with associated competing knowledge claims since each offered a different way of understanding how research should be done.

Is Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Academia an Elusive Dream?

A description of how interdisciplinary collaboration can take place is presented to frame this chapter on the risks and barriers to interdisciplinary collaboration. Beginning with a working definition of interdisciplinary collaboration, defined as jointly co-authoring a paper, academic project, or grant with somebody from another discipline or jointly creating a program that contains courses from the joint collaborators' disciplines, this chapter reviews recommendations for creating and supporting successful interdisciplinary collaborations. Included are ten simple rules for successful cross-disciplinary collaborations put together by a group of researchers in the sciences, who more often participate in interdisciplinary collaborations than do their counterparts in the humanities and social sciences. The chapter closes with the case of issues with interdisciplinary collaboration in library and information science, an area that is truly interdisciplinary, yet often becomes the object of turf battles with other academic areas. This case provides a true-life look at just how attempts at interdisciplinary collaboration that should work, can easily backfire.

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

Since introducing the concept integrated marketing communications (IMC) in the communication field, researchers and practitioners admitted to the interdisciplinary nature of the nascent concept. The current chapter tries to further explore the interdisciplinary concept of IMC, through subjecting IMC into in-depth analysis of its origin disciplines (Communication, Marketing and Branding). Furthermore, the paper resides to synthesize IMC empirical research in a meta-analytic framework to assert on the interdisciplinary field research trends emerging from utilizing the concept as a dependent or independent variable in different research disciplines. Finally, a case study tackling the status of Egyptian tourism after the recent political turmoil post the uprisings was assessed had the designated authorities turned to executing Integrated Marketing Communications instead of relying on temporary unfeasible solutions. A conceptual framework was proposed as a permanent solution of this matter. Employing a theoretical method and a Meta analytical method of 135 research papers, findings proved IMC to be an interdisciplinary concept. IMC research trends could be traced to three development phases with the third phase being crucially related to interdisciplinary frameworks. Thus, IMC is proved to be a viable framework to study topics related to branding, education, services and tourism.