abstract: Buddhism is thriving in US-America, attracting many converts with college and post-graduate degrees as well as selling all forms of popular culture. Yet little is known about the communication dynamics behind the diffusion of Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions into the United States. Religion is an underexplored area of intercultural communication studies (Nakayama & Halualani, 2010) and this study meets the lacuna in critical intercultural communication scholarship by investigating the communication practices of US-Americans adopting Asian Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions. Ethnographic observations were conducted at events where US-Americans gathered to learn about and practice Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions. In addition, interviews were conducted with US-Americans who were both learning and teaching Buddhism. The grounded theory method was used for data analysis. The findings of this study describe an emerging theory of the paracultural imaginary -- the space of imagining that one could be better than who one was today by taking on the cultural vestments of (an)Other. The embodied communication dynamics of intercultural exchange that take place when individuals adopt the rituals and philosophies of a foreign culture are described. In addition, a self-reflexive narrative of my struggle with the silence of witnessing the paracultural imaginary is weaved into the analysis. The findings from this study extend critical theorizing on cultural identity, performativity, and cultural appropriation in the diffusion of traditions between cultural groups. In addition, the study addresses the complexity of speaking out against the subtle prejudices in encountered in intercultural communication. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2013

Although blatant sexism persists in the workplace, there is a subtler type of sexism that is not often discussed. Some of the harmful outcomes that concern organization employees and leaders include decreased job satisfaction and morale, increased stress and turnover, damaged workplace relationships, barriers to career development for women, and decreased feelings of safety in law enforcement employees. Subtle sexism is often disguised as friendliness or chivalry, and therefore is difficult to detect, so it is often ignored or trivialized. The harms are cumulative and compound over time. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to gather data about how women experience subtle forms of sexism in the National Park Service (NPS) workplace. Semistructured telephone interviews assisted with the gathering of data from 12 women employed by the NPS. Feminist theory and critical theory guided the research process. Moustakas’s phenomenological method was used as an approach to data analysis. The findings that emerged included: (a) impacts on workplace culture, (b) harmful effects on individuals, (c) coping with subtle sexism, (d) organizational impacts, and (e) organizational change. The study promotes positive social change by providing a more nuanced understanding of how women experience and perceive subtle sexism. The results could help organizations to find more effective ways of dealing with this type of sexist behavior and decrease the negative outcomes.

The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) is a 10 scale indirect screening instrument used to detect substance use disorders. The current meta-analytic study described reliability reporting practices across 48 studies involving the SASSI. Reliability generalization methods were then employed to evaluate typical score reliability for the screening measure. Results showed approximately 73 of studies did not report reliability estimates. Analysis of data from the remaining studies revealed adequate reliability for the total scale (α .87) and face valid scales (FVA α .88 and FVOD α .92), but substantially lower reliability estimates for the indirect scales (range of α .23.65). The study's findings underscore the need for improved reliability reporting for the SASSI and suggest cautious use of the measure, especially its indirect scales, as an indicator of problematic substance use/abuse in clinical settings.

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The purpose of this study was to determine how higher education administrators, faculty, and staff are able to identify subtle sexism, and indicate how they perceive it in the higher education workplace. Past research has also shown micro-aggressions lead to hostility and uncertainty in the workplace (Swim et al., 1995, 1997; Tougas et al., 1995). The design of this study does not allow for casual inference but data from the pilot study indicate that contemporary sexism in the workplace impacts men, women, and the LGBTQ community.This was a mixed methods study that included a survey and one-on-one interviews. There were a total of 232 participants and 12 one-on-one interviews. The majority of participants were heterosexual, white women. Three new measures of sexism were identified during data analysis: attitudes and behaviors of sexism (Historic Sexism Scale and Contemporary Sexism Scale) and identifying cases of subtle sexism (“man to woman” cases across the five scenarios on the Gender Neutral Sexism Scenarios). Quantitative results indicated that women identified more instances of sexism than men. Overall, participants did not strongly identify instances of subtle sexism. Additional research is needed to determine the results. Interview participants indicated that trainings and professional development regarding appropriate behavior and language in the workplace are needed in order for employees to understand and recognize subtle sexism. / Educational Leadership

No / Although ads with subtle racist imagery can reinforce negative stereotypes, advertisers can eliminate this problem. After a brief overview of predominantly U.S.-based research on the racial mix of models/actors in ads, a theoretical framework for unmasking subtle racial bias is provided and dimensional qualitative research (DQR) is introduced as a method for identifying and rectifying such ad imagery. Results of a DQR-based study of 622 U.K. television ads with at least one Black actor indicate (1) subtle racially biased imagery now supersedes overt forms, and (2) the most popular ad appeals often mask negative stereotypes. Implications for public policy and advertisers, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.

Bakgrund: Testmaterialet Bedömning av Subtila Språkstörningar (BeSS) togs fram för att bedöma subtila språkliga svårigheter hos bland annat personer med neurodegenerativa sjukdomar. Testet har sedan använts bland annat i dyslexiutredningar då subtila språkliga svårigheter kan förekomma även vid dyslexi.  BeSS saknar dock referensmaterial för flera åldersgrupper vilket behövs för att logopeder ska kunna göra tillförlitliga bedömningar med materialet.   Mål: Att låta gymnasieungdomar genomgå BeSS och sammanställa ett referensmaterial. Att se om det föreligger några prestationsskillnader mellan deltesten och könsskillnader.   Metod: I studien deltog 28 gymnasieungdomar, 16 flickor och 12 pojkar, vilka testades enskilt med BeSS. Deltagarna fick inte ha några kända språkliga svårigheter eller läs-/skrivsvårigheter. Övriga krav var att deltagarna gått i svensk skolklass och fått svensk undervisning på svenska under minst 8 år.   Resultat: Det totala medelvärdet för testgruppen (alla deltesten sammanräknade) var 172 poäng av 210 möjliga med standardavvikelsen 14,5. I studien presenteras även medelvärde och standardavvikelse för var och ett av deltesten: Repetition av långa meningar M=20,8 (SD 4,6), Meningskonstruktion M=27,3 (SD 2,3), Inferens M=25,5 (SD 3,5), Förståelse av logikogrammatiska meningar M=25,2 (SD 3,4), Tvetydigheter M=22,1 (SD 5,0), Förståelse av metaforer M=25,5 (SD 3,9) och Definitioner av ord M=25,6 (SD 3,2). Det förelåg inga könsskillnader.   Slutsats: Denna studie har resultat för 28 gymnasieungdomar vilket är början till ett referensmaterial som behövs för att BeSS fortsatt ska kunna användas kliniskt i logopedisk verksamhet. Deltesten Repetition av långa meningar och Meningskonstruktion blev de deltest där gymnasieungdomarna presterade lägst respektive högst poäng. Det förelåg inga signifikanta könsskillnader. / Background: The test material BeSS was developed to assess subtle language difficulties in people with neurodegenerative diseases. The test has also been used in dyslexia evaluations since subtle language difficulties also can occur with dyslexia. The material lacks reference material for several age groups which is needed to give safer assessments with the material.   Aim: To collect reference material for the BeSS test for high school students. To see if there is differences in performance between the test sections and if there is a gender difference.   Method: The study had 28 participants, 16 girls and 12 boys, who were tested individually with BeSS. The participants did not have any known language difficulties or reading/writing problems and they were required to have attended a Swedish class with Swedish education in Swedish for at least 8 years.   Results: For each of the test sections means and standard deviations are presented. For the individual test sections the students performed as follows: Repetition of long sentences mean 20.8 (SD 4.6), Sentence construction 27.3 (SD 2.3), Inference 25.5 (SD 3.5), Understanding of grammatically logical sentences 25.2 (SD 3.4), Ambiguities 22.1 (SD 5.0), Understanding of metaphors 25.5 (SD 3.9) and Definitions of words 25.6 (SD 3.2). There was not a significant gender difference.   Conclusions: This study presents results for 28 students which is the beginning of a reference material that is needed for the continued use of the test in clinical speech and language pathology work. In the test sections Repetition of long sentences and Sentence construction the students performed the lowest and the highest scores. There was not a significant gender difference.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:11:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leila Reinert.pdf: 34455582 bytes, checksum: c8994218a7d9588a3a387563c0100c3a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-30 / The cognizance of the last fifty years mental processes, via the sciences of the mind, has vastly expanded the understanding of the brain s mechanisms that produce, control and manage human subjectivity. People s sensibility, affections and feelings, hitherto kept in separate, distinct areas, now belong to the ordinary everyday world. This dissertation seeks to understand how the communication of the sensitive, of the subtle thoughts, circulates in contemporary times. Taking into account consciousness studies, a sense of self and the unconscious processes that relate to the conscious thought, there is an indication of the non-conscience problem the border that separates and overlap conscious and unconscious. To analyze this threshold phenomenon, it is necessary to review the perceptual processes highly regarded by philosophy, used by art and charted by the sciences of the mind. There is also an appropriation of the sensitive by the so-called Cognitive capitalism , that indicates the need to circulate in a clearer fashion between the unconscious sensations and the conscious perceptions, and of a greater subjective flexibility. This dissertation intends to point out the importance of awareness of the non conscious processes in the visual communication of subtle thoughts when working with memory, perception, the learning process and language in cerebral and the mind s cognitive processes. It is through Design that research explores the concrete examples of this delicate communication. The affection, the sensibility, the emotions contained within the production and reception of the information circulating nowadays and that, above all, condition behavior, are key to the understanding of life in the contemporary / O conhecimento dos processos mentais dos últimos cinqüenta anos, via as ciências da mente, ampliou muito o entendimento dos mecanismos cerebrais que produzem, controlam, gerenciam a subjetividade humana. A sensibilidade, os afetos, os sentimentos das pessoas, antes mantidos em áreas restritas, agora pertencem ao mundo ordinário do dia-a-dia. O presente trabalho busca compreender como a comunicação do sensível, dos pensamentos sutis, circula no contemporâneo. A partir de estudos sobre a consciência, um sentido de self, e dos processos inconscientes, que se relacionam com o pensamento consciente, apontase para o problema da não-consciência a fronteira que separa e sobrepõe consciente e inconsciente. Para pensar esse fenômeno de limiar, é preciso rever os processos perceptivos conceituados pela filosofia, trabalhados pela arte, e mapeados pelas ciências da mente. Há também uma apropriação do sensível pelo chamado capitalismo cognitivo , o que indica a necessidade de transitar de modo mais claro entre as sensações inconscientes e o percebido na consciência, e de uma maior flexibilidade subjetiva. Este trabalho pretende apontar a importância da consciência dos processos não-conscientes na comunicação visual de pensamentos sutis trabalhando com a memória, a percepção, o aprendizado e a linguagem nos processos cognitivos cerebrais e mentais. É através do Design que a pesquisa explora os exemplos concretos dessa delicada comunicação. O afeto, a sensibilidade, as emoções contidas na produção e recepção das informações que circulam na atualidade, e que, sobretudo, condicionam comportamentos, são fundamentais para a compreensão da vida no contemporâneo

The study investigated the feasibility of including DPOAEs in the annual medical surveillance test battery for the identification of NIHL in a group of employees in a manufacturing industry in KwaZulu-Natal. Feasibility was investigated by exploring the sensitivity, specificity and predictive efficiency of DPOAEs, the ability of DPOAEs to detect subtle noise-induced cochlea changes, the test-retest reliability of DPOAEs and lastly, the duration of time taken to conduct the DPOAE test bilaterally. A cross-sectional and repeated measures within-in participant design was utilized in the study. A purposive convenience sampling technique was used, as well as a stratified sampling approach in order to realize objective two of the study. The study consisted of 60 participants, which were further stratified into four test groups, i.e. Group A: 0-3 years, Group B: 3.1-6 years and Group C: 6.1-9 years and Group D: 9.1-13 years of working within the beverage manufacturing industry. A high sensitivity and negative predictive value was reported in the current study, suggesting that DPOAEs may be able to identify those who present with subtle cochlea changes as a result of exposure to occupational noise. The sensitivity of DPOAEs was 100% at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8kHz in the right ear and at 4 and 6kHz in the left ear. The specificity of DPOAEs in the current study ranged between 55%-97% across the frequency range in the right ear and 49%-88% in the left ear. A negative predictive value of 100% was obtained bilaterally across the frequency range, except at 8kHz in the left ear. Visual inspection of the DPgram in the current study revealed a bilateral reduction in DPOAE amplitudes for all test groups in the high frequency region of the DP-Gram, namely, 5477Hz and 7303Hz, in the absence of a statistically significant difference (p>0.05). A greater frequency range appears to be affected in this group of workers, indicating that the type of noise, namely, impulse noise, may result in cochlea changes. Corresponding changes on the pure tone audiogram were not observed, however, noise notch configurations were observed for the groups with a longer history of noise exposure. This was not seen bilaterally as is typically expected with NIHL. Good test-retest reliability across the frequency range obtained in the current study further indicates the feasibility of including DPOAEs in the annual medical surveillance test battery. Additionally, the current study calculated an average of 86 seconds (1 minute 26 seconds) to conduct the DPOAE test bilaterally, confirming that DPOAEs are a quick test to administer. The findings of this study suggest that DPOAEs may be used to monitor early subtle noise-induced cochlea changes for workers exposed to noise in the beverage manufacturing industry as part of the annual medical surveillance test battery. / Thesis (M.Comm.Path.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2013.

La recherche part de l’investigation poétique sur le processus de création d’un Lieu Inventé qui se produit entre l’objectualité des choses et la subtile matérialité du dessin et de la parole. On revisite des notions et concepts de matérialité associés aux processus de création et de fabrication d’objets, en comprenant que le champ de l’art est aussi responsable d’une partie de la pensée sur la matérialité du monde, parce que nous agissons aussi comme des producteurs de formes dans des processus de création d’objets de pensé, qui constituent eux aussi des inventions et des propositions de modes de vie. Pour cela, à travers le Lieu Inventé, on développe dans cette recherche le concept et la méthodologie de la (Re)fabrique, sous la compréhension de l’Art et de la Littérature comme des champs qui travaillent directement liés au quotidien du monde, en s’appropriant la matérialié et la signification des choses, en les utilisant, en les transformant et donc en agissant sur elles. Ce concept est également un dispositif de fiction où les travaux apparaîtront à travers trois personnages : La Constructrice de Ponts, L’Objetotécaire et L’Observateur. Plus que des caractères, ils sont des sujets inventés par les objets. À travers eux, on présente les trois motes théoriques-pratiques : la construction d’objets-lieux ; les inventaires et classifications de lieux et objets en écritures et dessins ; et les observations des lieux comme des objets. L’approche se fait par trois récits de journaux intimes, dans une situation de monde qu’on appelle Nulle Part. On le fait en posant un dialogue indirect entre des personnages qui problématisent des questions théoriques et présentent la production artistique développée au cours du doctorat. La thèse présente une collection de productions artistiques qui s’utilisent de l’appropriation d’objets et aussi de celles qui les perçoivent comme un objet fabriqué qui interfère sur le moyen et les formes de vie. En outre, on cherche dans la littérature des auteurs dont les productions sont imprégnées d’un intérêt cinglant par les objets quotidiens. Dans ce transit entre objets, dessins et mots, l’invention d’un lieu par des objets devient possible, en saisissant les implications poétiques, esthétiques et politiques. De cette manière l’investigation s’élargit vers une discussion importante de l’actualité par rapport à la consommation, l’obsolescence programmée et la Néguentropie, en proposant une nouvelle discussion sur les modes de vie et le temps des choses. / A pesquisa parte da investigação poética sobre o processo de criação de um Lugar Inventado, que ocorre entre a objetualidade das coisas e a sutil materialidade do desenho e da palavra. Revisita noções e conceitos de materialidade associados a processos de criação e fabricação de objetos, entendendo que o campo da arte é também responsável por parte do pensamento sobre a materialidade do mundo, pois atuamos também como produtores de formas em processos de criação de objetos de pensamento, que também se constituem em invenções e proposições de modos de vida. Para isso, através do Lugar Inventado, são desenvolvidos no interior da pesquisa o conceito e a metodologia de (Re)fábrica, entendendo a Arte e a Literatura como campos que trabalham diretamente ligados ao cotidiano do mundo, apropriando-se da materialidade e significado das coisas, operando-as, transformando-as e, por isso, atuando sobre elas. Esse conceito é também um dispositivo ficcional por onde os trabalhos aparecerão abordados através de três personagens: A Construtora de Pontes, O Objetotecário e O Observador, mais que personagens, são sujeitos inventados pelos objetos. Por eles são apresentados os três motes teórico-práticos: as construções de objetos-lugares; os inventários e classificações de lugares e objetos em escrita e desenhos; e as observações tanto dos lugares quanto dos objetos. A forma de abordagem se dá através de três narrativas de diários, numa situação de mundo chamada Lugar Nenhum. Para isso suscita um diálogo indireto entre personagens que problematizam questões teóricas e apresentam a produção artística desenvolvida ao longo do doutorado. A tese apresenta um levantamento de algumas produções artísticas que fazem uso da apropriação de objetos e também daquelas que percebem estes como um objeto fabricado que interfere sobre o meio e as formas de vida. Além disso, busca na literatura autores cujas produções são permeadas pelo interesse contundente sobre objetos cotidianos. Nesse trânsito entre objetos, desenhos e palavras, a possibilidade de invenção de um lugar através dos objetos se torna possível, percebendo as implicações poéticas, estéticas e políticas. Desta forma a investigação se amplia para uma discussão importante para a atualidade em relação ao consumo, à obsolescência planejada e àNeguentropia, propondo uma nova discussão sobre as formas de vida e o tempo das coisas. / The study starts from the poetic investigation into the process of creating an Invented Place, which occurs between objectuality of things and the subtle materiality of drawings and words. It revisits notions and concepts of materiality associated with the processes of creation and manufacture of objects, understanding that the field of art is also responsible for part of the thoughts on the materiality of the world, as we also act as producers of forms in the process of creating objects of thought, which also constitute inventions and proposals for ways of living. For that, through the "Invented Place", we have developed within the research the concept and methodology of (Re) manufacturing, understanding art and literature as fields that work directly linked to the everyday world, appropriating the materiality and meaning of things, operating them, transforming them, and therefore acting on them. This concept is also a fictional device by which the work will appear addressed through three characters: The Constructor of Bridges, The Object-keeper and The Observer, which, more than characters, are subjects invented by objects. Through them, the three theoretical and practical mottos are presented: the construction of object-places; the inventories and classification of places and objects in writing and drawings; and observations of both places and objects. The approach chosen happens through three journal narratives, in a situation of world called Nowhere. For this, it raises an indirect dialogue between characters that problematize theoretical issues and present the artistic production developed over the doctorate. The thesis presents a survey of some artistic productions that make use of the appropriation of objects and also of those who perceive them as a manufactured object that interferes with the means and ways of living. Furthermore, the research seeks authors in literature whose productions are permeated by forceful interest in everyday objects. In this transit between objects, drawings and words, the possibility of inventing a place through objects becomes possible, realizing the poetic, aesthetic and political implications. Thus, the investigation is extended to an important discussion for nowadaysregardingrelationswith consumption, planned obsolescence and Negentropy, proposing a new discussion about ways of living and the time of things.