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Article
Publication date: 12 March 2018

Alexandra Velasco, Melanie Valencia, Samantha Morrow and Valeria Ochoa-Herrera

Universidad San Francisco de Quito, USFQ, completed an assessment study to understand its performance in sustainability in 2012. This study aims to recognize the limitations of…

Abstract

Purpose

Universidad San Francisco de Quito, USFQ, completed an assessment study to understand its performance in sustainability in 2012. This study aims to recognize the limitations of applying a North American rating system considering relevant criteria to a South American university and to emphasize the importance and lack of benchmarks available in the region.

Design/methodology/approach

Methodology used for this study is based on the Sustainability Tracking Assessment Rating System (STARS) by AASHE. In December 2013, USFQ joined the Pilot Program that included publicly documenting efforts, sharing feedback and making suggestions for system improvements.

Findings

Data collected by USFQ in 2012 and 2013 illustrate how the status of USFQ as a non-residential, teaching university in Ecuador in a developing country had several challenges while using an evaluation system established for universities within a North American system. The limits of assessing sustainability in South America are associated to its geographical location, the number of students and staff that commute to University and the lack of environmental services and certifications available in Ecuador. There are applicability issues with the use of STARS without performance reports from regional peers that can guide the development of relevant benchmarks for future comparability.

Originality/value

Little research has been conducted in the assessment and tracking of sustainability within universities in South America. This paper is one of the first to address the applicability of a North American self-reporting tool to a South American university.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2023

Stephen P. Walker

The paper aims to explore the relationship between accounting and racial violence through an investigation of sharecropping in the postbellum American South.

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the relationship between accounting and racial violence through an investigation of sharecropping in the postbellum American South.

Design/methodology/approach

A range of primary sources including peonage case files of the US Department of Justice and the archives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are utilised. Data are analysed by reference to Randall Collins' theory of violence. Consistent with this theory, a micro-sociological approach to examining violent encounters is employed.

Findings

It is demonstrated that the production of alternative or competing accounts, accounting manipulation and failure to account generated interactions where confrontational tension culminated in bluster, physical attacks and lynching. Such violence took place in the context of potent racial ideologies and institutions.

Originality/value

The paper is distinctive in its focus on the interface between accounting and “actual” (as opposed to symbolic) violence. It reveals how accounting processes and traces featured in the highly charged emotional fields from which physical violence could erupt. The study advances knowledge of the role of accounting in race relations from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, a largely unexplored period in the accounting history literature. It also seeks to extend the research agenda on accounting and slavery (which has hitherto emphasised chattel slavery) to encompass the practice of debt peonage.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 March 2023

Saheeh Shafi

This paper aims to interpret the multidimensional Asian American identity of immigrant Indians in terms of pan-ethnicity, gender and religion.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to interpret the multidimensional Asian American identity of immigrant Indians in terms of pan-ethnicity, gender and religion.

Design/methodology/approach

The social construction and experience of race in the US and the intersection of multiethnic Asian American identity with race, gender and religion will be used in critically commenting on the interview of primary ethnic identity of Indian Americans including the pan-ethnic identity of Indians in the US as Asian Americans, the Mar Thoma Church community, the second-generation Patel family's union formation in terms of gender identity.

Findings

The future directives include Asian American Movement (AAM) which is trying to incorporate Indians as pan-ethnic identity assimilation and the process of holding American identity as primary identification of Indians.

Practical implications

Policy recommendations are that the US Census Bureau should include Indian Americans as separate ethnic identity for Indian immigrants like the Chinese Americans. USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) should reform policies to include the wives of H-4 visa holders. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should provide secure living environment for Indian immigrants. The US Department of Labor should provide equal opportunities for women in their immigration policies.

Originality/value

This paper will critically analyze the interview results of primary ethnic identity and justify the hypotheses of Asian American identity of Indians, whether (1) they merge with the American identity as part of cultural assimilation or (2) retain their Asian identity beyond Americanized identity or (3) go beyond both American and Asian identity to restate their Indian ethnicity.

Details

Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2632-279X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 March 2023

Bharat Mehra, Laurie Bonnici and Steven L. MacCall

This chapter provides a glimpse of an ongoing journey of library and information science (LIS) educators and social justice advocates speaking up and speaking out of efforts to

Abstract

This chapter provides a glimpse of an ongoing journey of library and information science (LIS) educators and social justice advocates speaking up and speaking out of efforts to decenter white privilege and dismantle its socially ingrained underpinnings that all take for granted in a typical southern university. The narrative is creatively developed to include scenarios of real and/or imagined situations that correlate white privilege in an LIS program with entrenchment within the grips of an emerging American academy. Insights might resonate with incidents of white supremacy and spread of white oppressions experienced nationwide in the entirety of the LIS professions and beyond. The chapter also develops scenarios in the use of collegiality as a weapon that white administrators and LIS faculty (along with those from other disciplines) use to silence efforts that challenge their white privilege and decenter their unfair and unjust infrastructural components in the entrenched academic institution.

Details

Antiracist Library and Information Science: Racial Justice and Community
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-099-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2019

Jorge M. Gorostiaga and Óscar Espinoza

In this chapter, the authors analyze the academic field of comparative education in Spanish speaking Latin America as a contested construction both in epistemological and…

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors analyze the academic field of comparative education in Spanish speaking Latin America as a contested construction both in epistemological and political dimensions. First, the authors provide a brief historical account of the origin and development of comparative education in the region since the nineteenth century. Next, they focus on the current state of the field by addressing three aspects: (1) the institutional basis, specially the development of comparative education societies; (2) an account of the contributions of international organizations, both in terms of studies that have been recently conducted and of the development of data bases; and (3) an analysis of prevailing topics as well as theoretical and methodological approaches in a sample of articles published during the 2010-2017 period. The authors conclude by summarizing the main aspects of the current situation, and pointing to future epistemological and political challenges for the field in the region.

Details

Comparative and International Education: Survey of an Infinite Field
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-392-2

Keywords

Content available
196

Abstract

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. 20 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

Lisa R. Norberg, Kim Vassiliadis, Jean Ferguson and Natasha Smith

To demonstrate the value in conducting a usability study and following an iterative design process to create a more user‐centered and sustainable digital library.

1772

Abstract

Purpose

To demonstrate the value in conducting a usability study and following an iterative design process to create a more user‐centered and sustainable digital library.

Design/methodology/approach

After identifying three key user groups, a series of usability tests and focus groups were conducted to assess how users interact with the site's interface. An iterative design process followed involving the development and testing of prototypes by representative users and stakeholders.

Findings

Users' interaction with a digital library is task‐oriented and context dependent. Serving the needs of multiple audiences is an iterative process and requires an ongoing dialog with users.

Research limitations/implications

Like most usability studies, the results are not generalizable.

Practical implications

It offers an example of how an informal usability study and iterative design process can be conducted to create a more user‐centered digital library.

Originality/value

This paper provides new insights into the information needs and behaviors of users of cultural heritage digital libraries and builds on the literature on usability and iterative design.

Details

OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-075X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Staci M. Zavattaro

This paper aims to understand how place brand managers in the US Deep South understand the brand images associated with their states and cities. The US South has its own unique…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand how place brand managers in the US Deep South understand the brand images associated with their states and cities. The US South has its own unique identity – and the Deep South has its own differences from the rest of the country. Typically, the Deep South is seen as backwards, uneducated and the “buckle of the Bible Belt”. Given potentially negative brand associations, this research explores how destination marketing organization (DMO) managers in three Deep South states (Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama) think their places are perceived.

Design/methodology/approach

Miles et al.’s (2014) guidelines for qualitative content analysis are used to understand responses to open-ended questions regarding place brand associations. Surveys were sent to 104 DMO managers in each state, and 53 questionnaires were returned with usable responses. Deductive and inductive analyses were used to understand place brand associations, as well as how managers in the three states are promoting positive associations or correcting negative ones.

Findings

Managers reported both positive and negative brand associations but also detailed problems when promoting either: financial and political constraints, information sharing, and asset capitalization. Managers, then, face issues when trying to promote their cities and states, thus negatively influencing the economic and social returns on tourism investment into the region.

Originality/value

Not many studies examine this region of the USA when it comes to tourism-related brand associations. Usually studies focus more broadly on a Southern identity rather than specific associations DMO managers understand the state to maintain. The study also fills a gap regarding asking DMO managers how and why they do what they do. Finally, the study puts into action Gertner and Kotler’s (2004) framework for assessing corrective measures for a negative brand image.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2017

Gustavo J. Nagy, Carolina Cabrera, Genaro Coronel, Marilyn Aparicio-Effen, Ivar Arana, Rafael Lairet and Alicia Villamizar

Climate change and variability are both a developmental and an environmental issue. Adaptation to climate change and variability has gained a prominent place on global and local…

1559

Abstract

Purpose

Climate change and variability are both a developmental and an environmental issue. Adaptation to climate change and variability has gained a prominent place on global and local policy agendas, evolving from mainly climate risks impacts and vulnerability assessments to mainly adaptation action, imposing new defies to higher education (HE). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation (VIA) Network (CliVIA-Net), a South American university-based coalition aimed at achieving a science for/of adaptation.

Design/methodology/approach

CliVIA-Net is a collaborative effort by academic groups from across the spectrum of the natural, social and health sciences focused on improving climate VIA on education, research and practice. In consonance with international literature and practices, the network shifted from a discipline-oriented approach to an interdisciplinary and Earth System Science (ESS)-oriented one. It seeks to advance fundamental understanding and participatory practice-oriented research and to develop a problem orientation question/solving answering methodology. A set of cases studies illustrates how CliVIA-Net faces adaptation and sustainability challenges in the twenty-first century.

Findings

Focusing on interdisciplinary graduate education, practice-oriented research and problem orientation practice on climate threats which are already threatening the environment, population’s well-being and sustainability, allows for the co-production of knowledge and solutions, as well stakeholders’ buy-in and commitment.

Originality/value

CliVIA-Net draws upon the results of evolving interdisciplinary approaches on global change and VIA education, the research partnership with stakeholders and decision-makers to develop environmental and health outcomes, e.g. vulnerability indicators and scenario planning.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1996

Ann Power, Leigh Caskey and Jason Clabaugh

Describes a project at the University of Alabama conceived by the bibliographer for the College of Communication as a virtual center for Southern media in which scholars from…

Abstract

Describes a project at the University of Alabama conceived by the bibliographer for the College of Communication as a virtual center for Southern media in which scholars from various disciplines can engage in research in communication scholarship. Details the evolution of the idea from a grant idea for a physical facility to a cyber site for regional studies. Reports on the process a School of Library and Information Studies teaching assistant used in evaluating and compiling links in relation to a detailed outline of the communication field supplied by the bibliographer. Offers insights into online collection development (principles which guide selection and implications for Internet sources used to expand library horizons) as well as major considerations for design and construction of a useful Webpage for researchers. Theory and practice are combined in a new way of collection building which allows the extension of services across local, regional, national and transnational boundaries.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

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