A number of previous studies have documented the link between media literacy and civic or political participation, and some researchers argue that the advancement of media literacy may encourage citizens to take part in addressing various issues of societal concern. However, the previous studies tend to include relatively few civic or political activities in the measurements and do not demonstrate in detail how different dimensions of media literacy are related to particular forms of participation. This study addresses these issues using (...) survey data from Latvia (N = 871). The results show that a link between media literacy and civic participation exists, but media literacy explains a relatively small variance in civic participation activities. We advocate caution when considering whether media literacy itself promotes civic participation, because other phenomena, which further studies should explore, could contribute to both media literacy and civic participation. While acknowledging the general importance of media literacy, this paper argues that individuals with these skills do not necessarily use them for civic participation, and that increased levels of media literacy may not offset the structural reasons for low civic activity in a society. (shrink)

Increasing evidence indicates that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is associated with adverse psychological effects, including heightened levels of anxiety. This study examined whether COVID-19-related anxiety levels during the early stage of the pandemic predicted demanding working memory updating performance. Altogether, 201 healthy adults mostly from North America and the British Isles were recruited to this study via the crowdsourcing site www.prolific.co. The results showed that higher levels of COVID-19-related anxiety during the first weeks of the pandemic outbreak were associated (...) with poorer WM performance as measured by the n-back paradigm. Critically, the unique role of COVID-19-related anxiety on WM could not be explained by demographic factors, or other psychological factors such as state and trait anxiety or fluid intelligence. Moreover, across three assessment points spanning 5–6 weeks, COVID-19-related anxiety levels tended to decrease over time. This pattern of results may reflect an initial psychological “shock wave” of the pandemic, the cognitive effects of which may linger for some time, albeit the initial anxiety associated with the pandemic would change with habituation and increasing information. Our results contribute to the understanding of cognitive–affective reactions to a major disaster. (shrink)

This book introduces the first sustained analysis of the idea that the Holocaust constitutes a tension between moral complexity and moral enormity. The author examines those tensions and suggests novel ways for how we may come to understand the moral landscape of the Holocaust.

This study aims to characterise Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) members’ perceptions on five main themes associated with ethics reviews, namely, the nature of research, ethical/moral issues, assent, participants’ risk and HREC prerogatives issues. Three hundred and sixteen HREC members from over 200 HRECs throughout Australia responded to an online questionnaire survey. The results show that in general, HREC members’ beliefs are reasoned and align with sound principles of ethical reviews. There seems to be a disposition for living up to (...) ethical/moral values, avoiding the issue of consent waivers and respecting participants’ welfare, as well as a sense of ambiguity about HREC prerogatives. Problematic areas were a tendency towards over-valuing quantitative research methods for their perceived validity and a neutral view on issuing consent waivers to participants with intellectual disability and, finally, the belief that research that limits disclosure, plans deception or actively conceals is morally unjustifiable. Implications for professional development and policy-making are discussed. (shrink)

These essays by Old Dominion University students deal with two questions: What impact do their own race, class, gender, and ethnic identities have upon them as students? How do their culture and the university culture interact to affect their ability to learn? The focus of these essays is on the overlap between the students’ identities as students and their identities based on gender, race, class, and ethnic origin. The project began as an assignment in a women’s studies class at Old (...) Dominion University in 1993, when students in a mixed graduate and undergraduate course were asked to write a brief analysis of themselves as students, accounting for the impact of gender, race, and social class on what they studied, what they heard in class, how they were treated in the classroom, how they treated others there, and what their level of comfort in the university was. Invited to add other variables, such as religion, nationality, age, sexual orientation, or disability— if they considered these significant to their identities as students—the students were urged to consider not only the disadvantages these various identities gave them but also the privileges and advantages. The resulting essays stimulated great interest in what students had to say and led to the formation of The Broad Minds Collective—made up of four students from the class as well as its instructor—which set about the task of soliciting and collecting additional essays. Although most essays contain overlapping themes, the editors detected four motifs that encompass virtually every essay included in the book. In the section "Cultural Perceptions and Assumptions," students show their awareness of how culturally defined categories affect education. Essays in "Belonging and Alienation in the Classroom" discuss the students’ level of comfort in the classroom and the degree to which they feel they belong at the university. The essays in "Making Sense of Our Lives Through Education" reveal the students’ use of education to learn more about the forces that shape them. "In Search of an Education" highlights students’ efforts to wrest what they feel they need from a college education. Rather than presenting a "multicultural educational theory" or conducting a sterile sociological study, The Broad Minds Collective has allowed students to speak for themselves.ion is replaced by stories of personal conflict, struggle, and victory. __. (shrink)

Y aquí estoy yo, rescatando a las viñetas originales de La Feria de Arreola de 1963, incluyendo a las de su portada: Las veinte adulteraciones presentes en la edición de 1971 de Joaquín Mortiz, más una en la versión del FCE, también llamada “Obras” de Arreola, de 1995, al ser comparadas con las de los 60s de Joaquín Mortiz. Es decir, que las veintiún adulteraciones a las viñetas de La Feria de Arreola, dibujadas originalmente por Vicente Rojo, expresan quince cambios (...) con respecto a los iconos originales más cinco inversiones de los mismos y una clara alteración en la numeración visible en una de ellas: la última, alteración del FCE, es la del dominó en 2 – 1 que es cambiada a 1 – 1, apareciendo estos errores en las ediciones subsiguientes, hasta llegar al reemplazo de todas las viñetas mediante siete nuevos dibujos no relacionados, por parte de la “Editorial Planeta Mexicana” ; mi petición es que La Feria pueda ser restaurada a sus viñetas originales, incluyendo aquellas cinco que aparecieron en la portada de las ediciones y reimpresiones iniciales de los sesentas publicadas por Joaquín Mortiz. (shrink)

El artículo propone un ejercicio de reflexión en torno de la cuestión de la diferencia en los contextos escolares. ¿Hay maneras de “escuchar” o “ver” la diferencia de otro modo, de interrumpir ese discurso de la diversidad que la encapsula como el núcleo duro de la pobreza y la desigualdad, dejando a la escuela y sus actores el papel de espectadores de una realidad inmodificable? A partir de una viñeta de Francesco Tonucci se exploran las categorías de respeto y solidaridad (...) para ensayar caminos que permitan pensar de otro modo las relaciones que se construyen en la práctica educativa. (shrink)

This pamphlet contains essays by Will Herberg, C. Herman Pritchett, David Fellman, Valerie Earle and Sidney Hook on the principle of academic freedom, its implications, and its recognition by the courts. Will Herberg in the opening essay argues that the greatest threat to academic freedom is the politicization of the university, the pressure to convert the university into an agency of social and political action. Unless the university is thoroughly depoliticized and rededicated exclusively to the cause of learning and (...) scholarship, warns Herberg, it will be destroyed. C. H. Pritchett provides a useful summary of nearly all the Supreme Court's decisions bearing in some way on the academic freedom of teachers. Sidney Hook maintains that the Supreme Court has failed to make certain basic distinctions in its opinions, i.e., between the obligations of public employees and employees in private institutions; between those in professions of public trust and those who are not; and between membership in highly disciplined organizations with purposes antithetical to democratic values and membership in others which are broad in purpose and loosely bound together. From an analysis of the opinions of the Supreme Court and the nature and defense of academic freedom, Hook concludes that the court is a very uncertain protector and guide. In matters of professional ethics, it is the faculties themselves which must uphold and enforce standards of professional integrity. Their failure to do so has led to unnecessary and unwise legislative intervention. Recent events on many college and university campuses, and in particular the increasing resort to civil courts to adjudicate what are basically professional disputes, have emphasized the need for the type of discussion contained in this brief volume.--J. P. D. (shrink)