bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Politics and Headhunting among the Formosan Sejiq: Ethnohistorical Perspectives
Authors: Simon Scott 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTMemories of headhunting, and ritual re‐enactments of those former violent practices, are still politically meaningful in contemporary Oceania and Southeast Asia. The case of the Sejiq of Taiwan illustrates how such practices were transformed and eventually terminated as a result of colonialism and the incorporation of formerly stateless peoples into new political institutions. Headhunting was once an expression of the sacred law of Gaya, as both a reinforcement of territorial boundaries and a way of settling legal disputes within communities. It expressed tensions in a ‘reverse dominance hierarchy’ by which some men tried to consolidate political power, but were usually deterred by a strong egalitarian ethos. During the period of Japanese administration (1895–1945), new technologies made headhunting more efficient, but it became more difficult for this formerly egalitarian people to avoid the political coercion of would‐be leaders. Contradictions between headhunting as the implementation of Gaya and headhunting as a consolidation of political power — itself viewed as a violation of that Law — eventually led to the abandonment of headhunting. Local leaders found new ways to seek political power, including in the ritual re‐enactment of the very same practices used by their ancestors, but continue to be resisted by ordinary people with an egalitarian ethos.
The Process of Kinship in the Paternal/Fraternal House of the Austronesian‐speaking Amis of Taiwan
Authors: Yeh Shu‐Ling 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTIn this essay, I will describe the traditional social organisation of the Amis peoples of Taiwan which previous ethnographers have portrayed as consisting of a matrilineal clan‐based system conjoined with a residential‐based male age‐set/grade system. Following David Schneider's critique of ‘kinship’ cross‐culturally and the ‘new kinship studies' which his work inspired, I will attempt a reinterpretation of overall Amis social organisation as instead a total kinship‐based system comprised of a paternal/fraternal system which integrates and encompasses the multiplicity of maternal‐focused houses constitutive of village communities. Rather than being a system composed of kinship and non‐kinship parts, I argue that Amis social organisation is comprehensively kinship‐based. Moreover, I shall describe how through paternal/fraternal relations generated by rites of male initiation and rebirth this overall integration of diverse matrifocal units is achieved. In the first section, I will describe the structure of the paternal/fraternal initiatory system. In the following section, I will draw upon the major anthropological theories of initiation including rites of passage and the literature on sacrifice to describe numerous aspects of initiation activities, showing how the classificatory father‐son and elder‐younger‐brother relations between and within the initiation sets are explicitly represented by the concepts and practices of the Amis.
Experimental Publics: Activist Culture and Political Intelligibility of Climate Change Action in the Hunter Valley, Southeast Australia
Authors: Connor Linda H. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTThe ethnographic study of Western environmental activism opens up the prospect of studying subjectivities formed in opposition to dominant Western ideas and values, and yet encapsulated within Western societies and democratic polities. One of the directions in which it points the anthropologist, which is pursued in this article, is towards the study of the political lifeworlds of activists, their self‐identity as citizens and their embeddedness in the wider society. Environmental politics can be an emergent activity in citizens' lives, as expressed in John Dewey's concept of ‘the public’ as citizens who organise themselves to address the adverse consequences of situations that they experience in common (Dewey 1991[1927]). This paper focuses on a middle ground of social action between habitual daily practice, and the domain of institutional politics: groups of people in small voluntary organisations in the heavily coal‐mined Hunter Valley, Southeast Australia, who are moved to collective action to address the threatening aspects of anthropogenic climate change. Action group members variously articulate their reflexive understandings of the structural contradictions of environmentalism in corporate capitalist societies where values of consumerism and processes of individualization corrode collective concerns of citizenship‐based politics. These understandings inform activists' personal motivations, values and ideals for a ‘climate movement’, diverse modes of political action and striving for wider political intelligibility.
The Natural Contract: From Lévi‐Strauss to the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court
Authors: Fitz‐Henry Erin 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTIn 2008, the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly became the first juridical body in the world to legalize what Michel Serres might have called a ‘natural contract.’ With the assistance of the U.S.‐based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, representatives at the Assembly in July of 2008 re‐wrote their 1998 constitution to include a landmark series of articles delineating the rights of nature — a notion long familiar to Indigenous communities in the Andean region, actively propagated by anthropologists like Claude Lévi‐Strauss at the French National Assembly as early as the 1970s, and often mocked by mainstream Western jurists for its conceptual confusion about the sorts of entities that can properly be said to have rights. Drawing on the experiences of activists currently engaged in the first national‐level lawsuit to make use of these rights as well as a range of both activists and non‐activists involved in alternative implementations of them, the article explores the possibilities, limitations, and paradoxes of this extension of rights‐based discourse. At a time when the natural world is increasingly being talked about at the United Nations and elsewhere not as a ‘rights‐holder,’ but as an ‘ecosystem services provider,’ I suggest that while the discourse of ‘rights' signals promising shifts in how Andean governments are conceptualizing agency and responsibility in ways that productively break with the trend toward marketization, it also runs the risk of providing the administration with symbolic cover for its intensifying commitment to what Eduardo Gudynas has called, a ‘new extractivism.'
The Symbolic Politics of Belonging and Community in Peri‐urban Environmental Disputes: the Traveston Crossing Dam in Queensland, Australia
Authors: de Rijke Kim 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTThis paper examines a recent dispute generated by the Queensland State Government proposal to build the Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River in southeast Queensland, Australia. It is particularly concerned with the ways in which interrelated issues of belonging, community identity, and social diversity were negotiated during the anti‐dam campaign. As an unusual alliance of farmers, environmentalists, urban retirees, some Aboriginal people and others, it takes a view of the anti‐Traveston Crossing Dam campaign as a fluid network of people and approaches the notion of community identity as the symbolic construction of similarity. Locally specific, the paper describes pertinent aspects of community politics in the context of rural socioeconomic change, and the mobilisation of heritage. With regard to local senses of belonging, it also discusses the involvement of Aboriginal people during the campaign. More broadly then, this paper attempts to make an ethnographic contribution to the study of environmental disputes and the politics of alliance in peri‐urban areas of settler‐descendant societies such as Australia.
Developing an Environmentally Friendly Engineering Ethic: A Course for Undergraduate Engineering Students
Authors: Catalano George D. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAn undergraduate course designed to develop a new, environmentally‐friendly, engineering ethic is described. The various components of the course are: individual and societal values clarification, the current state of the environment, critical and creative thinking skills development and conflict resolution. For each component, the rationale is given along with activities and evaluation of the unit.
Profile of a Nurturing College Professor
Authors: Haddock Jorge 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThis paper describes a college professor who believes that being a good role model involves more than being professionally competent. It is argued that professors can improve the quality of teaching by becoming more sensitive to the students' needs and by understanding and appreciating their individuality. The paper discusses the role of the professor in creating an environment where the students feel comfortable being themselves and enjoy the whole experience of learning. In this environment students can feel that they are important, that their needs are important, and that other people experience joy in helping them get their needs met. It is also argued that when the teacher is able to focus on assisting the students in meeting their needs, the teacher's needs get met. To conclude, the author presents a personal reflection on his own experiences as an engineering student and professor.
Undergraduate Astronautics Initiatives at San Jose State University
Authors: Hunter Jeanine M. , Desautel Dick D. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA balance betwen topics in aeronautics and astronautics was sought as an Aerospace Engineering Department was established at San Jose State University in 1987. This goal has resulted in a uniquely‐composed curriculum and laboratory development initiatives. Discussed in this article are the essential elements of the astronautics curriculum: the senior‐level Spacecraft Design course, an unusual aerospace sensor laboratory, as well as astronautics hardware experiment stations under development. Also discussed is the departments working relationship with local industry in terms of student employment; guest lecturers and consultants; and grants and equipment donations.
Use of the Kolb Learning Cycle and the 4MAT System in Engineering Education
Authors: Harb John N. , Durrant S. Olani , Terry Ronald E. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to examine a method for the application of learning style theory to engineering education. Research has shown that students learn in a variety of different ways, and that each student has a preferred style of learning. Teaching effectiveness may be enhanced by teaching to each of the preferred styles at least a portion of the time. The application of learning style theory in this paper is based on the work of Kolb who identified four principal learning styles or types. The process of teaching to each of the four learning styles is referred to as “teaching through the cycle.” The learning cycle consists of four quadrants, each of which is associated with a particular learning style or preference. This paper defines specific objectives for each of the four learning quadrants. In addition, activities which can be used to accomplish these objectives are presented and discussed. Sample lesson plans have also been included in order to illustrate application of the learning cycle to the teaching of specific engineering topics.
Choosing the Ph.D. Path: A Multi‐Criteria Model for Career Decisions
Authors: Mills Nancy L. , McCright Paul R. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA interactive, multi‐criteria decision model was developed using Criterium software to help students assess alternative career paths: undertaking graduate study leading to an engineering doctoral degree and an academic career versus pursuing a career as an engineer in industry. The use of the model enables consideration of multiple factors, which may represent conflicting objectives and which have different measures of value (quantitative and qualitative) and different levels of importance to the decision. The model should assist its users in more carefully and thoroughly evaluating the criteria that affect career choices. We hope that its use may also help reduce the impending shortage of engineering faculty by encouraging more students to consider careers as engineering professors.
Personal and Professional Enrichment: Humanities in the Engineering Curriculum
Authors: Arms Valarie Meliotes 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe Drexel E4 approach to engineering education has evolved from emphases on teamwork and course integration to include an emphasis on faculty development through the Personal and Professional Enrichment component. One of the four components of the curriculum which are described elsewhere, the Personal and Professional Enrichment Program, encompasses a short orientation course and the year long Humanities sequence. The orientation course, taught by all the team members, provides a forum for faculty as well as students to discuss personal and educational goals. It also provides faculty with a social arena which has become important in developing and maintaining the strong sense of community the team shares. The faculty have profited from talking about themselves as individuals, as much as the students who have discovered professionals as role models—concerned citizens and parents, and lifelong learners. Students are introduced to engineering as a profession that requires not only technological skills but also an awareness of ethics, of the need for lifelong learning, and of the importance of Humanities. It is important to note that the technical faculty teach the introductory course and thus themselves attest to the value of humanistic concerns throughout the entire program. Continuing the integration of goals as well as subjects, the Humanities curriculum includes the traditional sequence in reading, writing, and research skills with an emphasis on technical writing, visuals and oral presentation skills. Meritorious texts are chosen to highlight humanistic concerns about the impact of technology so that students recognize the engineers' obligation to the world we all share. By enhancing communication skills, developing an awareness of audience and expanding their imagination, students gain confidence in expressing creative and responsible attempts at solving engineering problems.
Performance Prediction and Enhancement in an Introductory Physics Course for Engineers
Authors: Thomas Edward W. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractPerformance in an introductory physics course for engineers is examined. Class performance is compared with the results of a diagnostic test taken at the start of a course and with performance in preceding classes. The best predictor of performance is found to be prior achievement; the diagnostic tests of basic skills is a poor predictor. It was demonstrated that repeated execution of a particular physics word problem leads to enhanced success and decreased failure; failure decreases by approximately 50% at each exposure. But the improved success on a particular word problem does not translate to a generally improved performance on all problems of its type. An intervention strategy based on repeated performance of “skills” problems does however translate into improved class performance and results in a 30 % decrease in the number of students who achieve unacceptable grades.
The Entry‐Level Engineer: Problems in Transition from Student to Professional
Authors: Katz Susan M. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWhen students enter the workforce, they must make a transition from an academic to a professional role. This study, based on interviews with professional engineers in supervisory roles, suggests that many basic skills required in the workplace, including the ability to work on a team and to communicate with one's peers and supervisors, are missing or insufficiently developed in recent college graduates. Many employers have programs to overcome these deficiencies, but we should also consider what we as educators can do to better prepare students for their future roles, and what students themselves can do to ease the transition.
Introducing Breadth and Depth in the Humanities and Social Sciences into an Engineering Student's General Education Curriculum
Authors: Blewett Peter 
Published: January 2013

AbstractEngineering curricula can include the breadth and depth in the humanities and social sciences that both ABET and sound educational theory require if the general education program is organized into lower and upper divisions distributed over four years. Then during the last two years, small clusters of upper level courses built around agreed‐upon themes and requirements can offer students some elective choice while providing coherence among the courses. Thus an institution can develop an alternative to both restrictive, required CORES and loose area‐distribution curricula. Furthermore, by involving them in the planning, construction, implementation and governance of the clusters, faculty from outside engineering disciplines, will be engaged in the curriculum instead of being only employed in it.
Humanities for Undergraduate Engineers: A Rich Paradox
Authors: Andrews John K. , McBride Guy T. , Sloan E. Dendy 
Published: January 2013

AbstractWe present a freshman seminar entitled “Paradoxes of the Human Condition,” aimed at the integration of humanistic concerns into the daily lives of engineers and scientists. The philosophy, pedagogical basis, and preliminary evaluation are given for this course, which examines four paradoxes: the heroic paradox, the paradox of freedom and necessity, the paradox of absolute and relative, and the paradox of life and death. The course is discussed in the context of an interdisciplinary program, the Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers.
Applied Aerodynamics Experience for Secondary Science Teachers and Students
Authors: Abbitt John D. , Carroll Bruce F. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics & Engineering Science at the University of Florida in conjunction with the School Board of Alachua County, Florida has embarked on a four‐year project of university‐secondary school collaboration designed to enhance mathematics and science instruction in secondary school classrooms. The goals are to provide teachers with a fundamental knowledge of flight sciences as well as stimulate interest among students, particularly women and minorities, toward careers in engineering, mathematics, and science. In the first year, all thirteen of the county's eighth grade physical science teachers and their 1200 students participated. The activities included a three‐day college level seminar for the teachers, several weeks of classroom instruction for all the students, and an airport field trip for a subgroup of about 400 students that included an orientation flight in a Cessna 172 aircraft. The project brought together large numbers of middle school students, teachers, undergraduate and graduate engineering students, school administrators, and university engineering faculty. In Year 2, we are expanding our coverage and improving our minority outreach by offering the program to additional counties and the Florida Comprehensive State Center for Minorities. We are also introducing a program to recruit undergraduate minority engineering students for teaching careers by teaming these students with middle school teacher “mentors”, and having them work with teachers in the classroom.
Drexel's E4 Program: A Different Professional Experience for Engineering Students and Faculty
Authors: Quinn Robert G. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractIn 1988, Drexel began a project which involves a comprehensive restructuring of the lower division engineering curriculum. The program provides an early introduction to the central body of knowledge forming the fabric of engineering, the unifying rather than parochial aspects of engineering, experimental methods, the computer as a flexible, powerful professional and intellectual tool, the importance of personal communications skills, and the imperative for continuous, vigorous, life‐long learning. The subject matter is organized in four major components replacing and/or integrating material in thirty‐seven existing courses in the traditional curriculum. The theme of all activities is a central focus on the students as emerging professional engineers and the faculty as their mentors from the very beginning of their education.To date, 500 students and 50 faculty have participated in the project. Preliminary results of evaluations are encouraging. Retention rates and achievement levels are high. Performance tests indicate that most students develop excellent levels of computer and laboratory skills. Their written and oral presentations demonstrate achievement of superior levels of communication skills. Personal interviews and evaluations indicate that student response is quite positive and they place a high value on faculty participation in a team effort. Both faculty and students indicate that this different experience has given them an insight into the importance and scope of the engineering profession and a sense that its practice can be exciting, rewarding and enjoyable.
A Case Study in Creative Problem Solving in Engineering Design
Authors: Conwell James C. , Catalano George D. , Beard John E. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe senior design sequence at Louisiana State University is a two semester, design, build and test experience. Groups of two, three or four students work together in a team setting to produce a functioning prototype which meets predetermined design goals. One particular project, which had as its goal the requirement to extend the reach of an occupant confined to a standard sized wheelchair, was used as a mechanism to integrate the development of critical and creative thinking skills necessary to solve technical problems into the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum. Special attention was paid to the nature of creativity and exercises were introduced in order to facilitate this historically neglected aspect of engineering education. The result of this effort was a unique wheelchair, which provides the occupant access to shelves located over their head or objects on the floor via an adjustable height seat.
The Synthesis of Computers, Communication and Engineering Education
Authors: Arden Bruce W. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractThe use of computers for simulation and modeling is already being added to science, analysis, and experimentation as a fourth basic component of engineering education. This inclusion is driven by engineering practice where computer use is pervasive for many purposes, including the use of complex design programs which have been created by specialists. The fact that such designers can support a large clientele by means of computer produced designs raises the question of how the larger number of future engineers, the users of such programs, should be educated. The educational challenge is to broadly educate these engineers in several aspects of engineering and computing without sacrificing the development of physical intuition and design judgment, which are the essence of engineering.
European Engineers: Unity of Diversity
Authors: Hernaut K. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractOne of the most important steps on Europe's way into the next century is the realization of the European Single Market. In order to become successful, companies will increasingly need mobile, flexible, responsible engineers, who are excellent in their fields, who think on a European scale and who can operate in a different Member State. Due to the differences in educational and professional systems in Europe the mobility of university graduates from one European country to another is rather low. In order to achieve a non‐restrictive labour market for Engineers throughout Europe a system of minimum standards for mutual recognition of university diplomas has been established. The European dimension in engineering education must be given increased attention.