Daisaku Ikeda and the Soka movement for global citizenship

ABSTRACT

This article examines contributions to the ethic and practice of cosmopolitanism by Japanese educators Makiguchi Tsunesaburo, Toda Josei and, most significantly, Ikeda Daisaku. Collectively, they are “the philosophers of the Soka movement” that Rizvi and Choo refer to in their call for a special issue on “Asian cosmopolitanism.” The article advances understanding about the Soka movement for cosmopolitanism in two ways. First, it traces the genealogy and thought informing the Soka movement and then examines the substance of each progenitor’s contributions to cosmopolitanism from historical and linguistic perspectives. The author pays particular attention to the inclusion of courage and faith in Ikeda’s framework and also addresses important translational insights invisible to those not fluent in Japanese. Second, the author analyzes today’s Soka movement for cosmopolitanism in education and in the Soka Gakkai International. This section draws on Sato Masaru’s views of the Soka movement and presents concrete examples of how Ikeda’s perspective of global citizenship is understood and actualized curricularly in the U.S. context.     

Parody Humor's Process of Influence: The Roles of Sympathy and Enjoyment in Shaping Political Perceptions

This exploratory research examines processes pertaining to how parody humor can influence perceptions of political figures in terms of credibility and, more broadly, general political trust. An online experiment was conducted in which select participants were exposed to a parody of former New York governor David Paterson. The results demonstrate that, in tandem with parody-induced sympathy, humor enjoyment can influence perceptions of a parody target's credibility and general political trust. In addition, a sympathetic predisposition is shown to positively predict responses of sympathy to a parody message. Furthermore, serial mediation analyses highlight how a sympathetic predisposition can indirectly influence various perceptions of a parody target, as sequentially mediated by responses of sympathy and enjoyment. In sum, this research is valuable for illuminating how individual differences and affective responses to political parody representations can affect various political perceptions.     

The attitudes of health care staff to information technology: a comprehensive review of the research literature

Objectives: What does the publicly available literature tell us about the attitudes of health care staff to the development of information technology in practice, including the factors which influence them and the factors which may be used to change these attitudes? Methods: Twelve databases were searched for literature published between 2000 and 2005 that identified research related to information technology (IT), health professionals and attitude. English language studies were included which described primary research relating to the attitudes of one or more health care staff groups towards IT. Letters, personal viewpoints, reflections and opinion pieces were not included. Results: Complex factors contribute to the formation of attitudes towards IT. Many of the issues identified were around the flexibility of the systems and whether they were ‘fit for purpose’, along with the confidence and experience of the IT users. The literature suggests that attitudes of practitioners are a significant factor in the acceptance and efficiency of use of IT in practice. The literature also suggested that education and training was a factor for encouraging the use of IT systems. Conclusions: A range of key issues, such as the need for flexibility and usability, appropriate education and training and the need for the software to be ‘fit for purpose’, showed that organizations need to plan carefully when proposing the introduction of IT‐based systems into work practices. The studies reviewed did suggest that attitudes of health care professionals can be a significant factor in the acceptance and efficiency of use of IT in practice. Further qualitative and quantitative research is needed into the approaches that have most effect on the attitudes of health care staff towards IT.     

Collaborate and Innovate: The Impact of Academic Librarians on the Commercialization of University Technology

The University of Arizona Library, in collaboration with the campus commercialization unit, created a partnership that contributes to the early development of inventions in the commercialization pipeline. The library-commercialization business-intelligence workgroup was incorporated into the overall campus commercialization business-development workflow in 2014 and is comprised of librarians and commercialization professionals working together to provide insight and decision support for development of commercialization strategies for inventions emerging from university research that aligns with market drivers. These efforts are recognized by university leadership as critical to the strategic plan of the university. This article discusses the impact of the workgroup and how the group of librarians contributed to the development of new companies, new licenses, and financial impact of economic development at a large land-grant university and larger community.     

Influential Players in Twitter Networks of Libraries at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

This study presents an analysis of Twitter networks from academic libraries housed in medium-sized, primarily undergraduate universities. Previous investigations on this topic have used networks of followers, i.e. attention, to show that accounts associated with a library's home institution are the prime influencers in library Twitter networks. That is, they are in key positions to disseminate library-related information. The library itself was found to be positioned to contribute to the institution-wide conversation as well. Networks of followers, however, are susceptible to unwanted influence from inactive users. The present study utilizes networks constructed from tweeting behavior to identify influencers. These networks are, thus, insensitive to inactive followers. The results are compared to those of the previously published follower networks. The behavior networks are significantly smaller and contain far fewer interactions than the follower networks; however, institutional accounts are found to be the principal influencers in these networks as well. Additionally, the social network analysis allows for the quantification of relationship strengths. The closest relationships are between library/institutional and library/student accounts. The former demonstrates that the libraries are active participants in the university-wide exchanges on Twitter and the institutional accounts often include the libraries in their messages.     

All the Polling (Data) That’s Fit to Print? An Analysis of Online News Coverage of 2016 Primary Polls

As U.S. news outlets grapple with the challenges of delivering news in a digital era, journalists cover elections with tighter deadlines and fewer resources. Consequently, we are seeing an explosion in coverage of polls, which require little original reporting and attract readers through their “horse race” appeal. As the number of polls increases, news professionals are culling data from a wider spectrum of sources that vary in methodology and credibility. What remains unclear is how effective the news media are in providing polling context in their online coverage that is less limited by the space and time constraints of more traditional mediums. Utilizing the 2016 U.S. primaries, this exploratory study examines online news articles focused on polls to evaluate the quality of digital coverage across national news outlets.

Keywords: Campaigns and Elections; Content Analysis; Journalism; News Media; Political Communication     

Trends and transitions in the institutional environment for public and private science

The last quarter-century bore witness to a sea change in academic involvement with commerce. Widespread university-based efforts to identify, manage, and market intellectual property (IP) have accompanied broad shifts in the relationship between academic and proprietary approaches to the dissemination and use of science and engineering research. Such transformations are indicators of institutional changes at work in the environment faced by universities. This paper draws upon a fifteen-year panel (1981–1995) of university-level data for 87 research-intensive US campuses in order to document trends and transitions in relationships among multiple indicators of academic and commercial engagement. The institutional environment for public and private science is volatile, shifting in fits and starts from a situation conducive to organizational learning through high volume patenting to a more challenging arrangement that links indiscriminate pursuit of IP with declines in both the volume and impact of academic science. The pattern and timing of these transitions may support an enduring system of stratification that offers increasing returns to first-movers while limiting the opportunities available to universities that are later entrants to the commercial realm. Unpacking the systematic effects of university research commercialization requires focused attention on the sources and trajectories of profound institutional change.     

Money, sex, and drugs: a case study to teach the genetics of antibiotic resistance

The goal of the work reported here was to help students expand their understanding of antibiotic resistance, the Central Dogma, and evolution. We developed a unit entitled "Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae," which was constructed according to the principles of scientific teaching by a team of graduate students, science faculty, and instructors. A variety of activities and assessments were used, including a case study, short lectures, and group problem-solving. Implementation of "Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae" in a college freshman seminar suggests these materials are useful in increasing understanding of complex biological topics and improving problem-solving abilities.