Journal of Academic Perspectives
Journal of Academic Perspectives

Volume 2015 No. 2

Affliction, Free Will, and Theodicy

John A. Pauley, Simpson College, US

 

Economic Empowerment of Women as a Development Strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Report from a Village in Rural Ghana

Linda Plunkett, Nonprofit Consultant, and Cynthia Cupit Swenson, Medical University of South Carolina, US

 

The Global Emergence of Comfort Women: Japanese Military Sex Slaves of WWII

Diana M Chen, Independent Researcher, Yonkers, NY, US

 

Building Primary Pre-Service Teachers' Confidence and Competence to Teach Science: The Influence of Planning, Teaching and Reflecting on an Integrated Science Unit

Premnadh M Kurup, Peter Cox, and Craig Deed, La Trobe University, Australia

 

Local Actors’ Ability to Reform the International Human Rights Regime: Analyzing how Local Women’s Groups in Argentina and Mexico were Able to Reform the International Human Rights Regime to Protect against Feminicide and Disappearances

Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Columbia University, US

 

Transformational Leadership and Contest Evasion: A Feminist Perspective on Leadership, Power, and Success

Chiquita D. Howard-Bostic, Sheperd University, US

 

Realistic Evaluation of What Programs Work, for Whom and in What Circumstances: Utilizing Whole School Data to Improve Student Outcomes

Mansoor A. F. Kazi, and Yeongbin Kim, University at Albany, State University of New York, US

Affliction, Free Will, and Theodicy

John A. Pauley, Simpson College, US

In the first half of this essay I describe the nature of affliction through a novel by Russell Banks entitled Affliction. I do not spend time doing precise analysis of the story but instead abstract elements of affliction- the “illness”- for the purpose of comprehending the nature of a certain sort of evil (nihilistic evil). I try to show that this evil that forms the center of affliction destroys agency and so leaves the theist without the resource of free-will or teleology in order to form a theodicy.
In the second half of the essay I argue that agency is a creation of the human community and not an inherent property of the individual. I argue further that this is a better world than a world where freedom is individual. I fold this discussion into what I call “the most serious worl
Pauley_J.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [355.7 KB]

Economic Empowerment of Women as a Development Strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Report from a Village in Rural Ghana

Linda Plunkett, Nonprofit Consultant, and Cynthia Cupit Swenson, Medical University of South Carolina, US

Financial independence and the resulting empowerment of individuals have been established as successful strategies to address poverty on the global level. Economic empowerment of women, in particular, has been identified as essential to the building of stronger and more stable societies. While almost all impoverished women in developing countries face challenges that impede their progress toward economic parity, women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face further complexities to their economic independence. These challenges include: (1) land and property ownership practices; (2) imbalance in the division of labor; (3) obstacles to markets and trade; (4) poor education and skills training; (5) limited access to credit and financial resources; and, (6) weak infrastructure to support entrepreneuri
Plunkett_Swenson.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [471.3 KB]

The Global Emergence of Comfort Women: Japanese Military Sex Slaves of WWII

Diana M Chen, Independent Researcher, Yonkers, NY, US

The issue of sexual enslavement of women in the Pacific theater during World War II has played a prominent role in postwar relations between Japan and its neighboring countries. In the immediate aftermath of the War, the existence of so-called “comfort women” was virtually unknown to the public throughout the world, existing primarily as a problem for the surviving victims living in silent shame.
This paper will examine when and how the comfort women issue entered public awareness, and the circumstances that led to its politicization in Korea, Japan and other affected countries. External factors such as the post-WWII occupation of Japan, the Cold War, international reactions and the role of the United States will be examined, as well as the impact of China’s rise and development into
Chen_D.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [428.0 KB]

Building Primary Pre-Service Teachers' Confidence and Competence to Teach Science: The Influence of Planning, Teaching and Reflecting on an Integrated Science Unit

Premnadh M Kurup, Peter Cox, and Craig Deed, La Trobe University, Australia

This study examined the influence of an integrated science unit, known as the Multidisciplinary Science and Technology Integrated Experience (MSTIE), on third year primary pre-service teachers’ confidence and competence in teaching science. Working in pairs, pre-service teachers planned an integrated unit of work consisting of 12 -15 lessons with collaboration from their mentor teacher. The unit is then team taught during their three-week practicum. The topics for the unit were selected based on an integrated theme from physical, chemical, biological, or earth and beyond strands of science based on the needs of the school. The university-based academic program provided a frame for their planning and preparation of the science integrated unit of work, based on the Australian Curriculum, w
Kurup_Cox_Deed.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [455.9 KB]

Local Actors’ Ability to Reform the International Human Rights Regime: Analyzing how Local Women’s Groups in Argentina and Mexico were Able to Reform the International Human Rights Regime to Protect against Feminicide and Disappearances

Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Columbia University, US

This paper seeks to understand how local actors, forming part of the human rights movement, expand the protections of the international human rights regime to newly identified patterns of violations? By looking at how local women’s groups in Argentina were able to expand protections against disappearances and how local women’s groups in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico did the same for feminicide, this paper will explore three strategies that, in combination, can do just that. The first strategy refers to the identification and documentation by local groups of a violation pattern previously not protected by the human rights regime. The goal of the second strategy is to call international attention to the pattern and, concomitantly, form international connections within the human rights regime an
Loson-Ceballos_A.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [570.0 KB]

Transformational Leadership and Contest Evasion: A Feminist Perspective on Leadership, Power, and Success

Chiquita D. Howard-Bostic, Sheperd University, US

Competition is a source of rivalry that can stifle women’s liberation, innovation, development, and potential. When success is driven by another person’s measures for quality attainment, competition is a mechanism of control that prohibits personal and political freedom. Women’s potential and agency are also restricted and controlled to a certain degree during competition. Women’s individuality and personal acceptance are deprived when others control their terms for interaction and prospective social networks. There has been a growing interest in the development of models of feminism, performance, and leadership. The contest evasion-transformational leadership model offers women an achievement motivation strategy that engenders effective self-management abilities and leadership ski
Howard-Bostic_C.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [591.2 KB]

Realistic Evaluation of What Programs Work, for Whom and in What Circumstances: Utilizing Whole School Data to Improve Student Outcomes

Mansoor A. F. Kazi, and Yeongbin Kim, University at Albany, State University of New York, US

Research objective: Research indicates that the reform of the system of care and the use of initiatives such as wraparound is effective in improving mental health and functioning in school (Kutash, 2006; Reback, 2010; Goldenson, 2011). However, most studies have focused on at-risk groups rather than the total school populations. The purpose of this study was to help the school district undertake a 100% evaluation of school-based services, utilizing data on the entire school populations in a longitudinal study.
Methodology: This evaluation support was part of a $9million SAMHSA grant to develop a System of Care in New York State's Chautauqua County, and at no cost to the school district and the participating human service agencies. Based on the realist paradigm, data was regularly collecte
Kazi_Kim.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [453.8 KB]
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