Latest Articles - Page 24

Enhancing College Students’ Intercultural Competence through International Electronic-Service-Learning

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623 views

I-Jane Janet Weng
Department of English, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan. ORCID: 0000-0003-4718-2000. Email: 89012@gap.wzu.edu.tw

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 1, April-May, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n1.01 
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Abstract

International Electronic-Service-Learning (eSL) is regarded as a pedagogical innovation, yet very few research studies focus on it. During COVID-19, seventeen Taiwanese student volunteers joined an international e-service-learning program, taking turns teaching English online for one semester to one year to primary school students in a remote village in Cambodia. This study employed a qualitative case study research design. It analyzed how an eSL program impacted Taiwanese students regarding intercultural communicative competence development. Research data included in-depth interviews, student reflection journals, bi-weekly meeting minutes, voice recordings of final presentations, and teacher’s field journals. Byram’s intercultural communicative competence framework was adopted to code the data and establish learning outcomes. Results found that the college student-volunteers enhanced their intercultural competence; this ranged from understanding real-life situations in Cambodia to empathizing with others, making cultural comparisons, and developing better interaction and communication. Most importantly, it showed that it had the potential to transform the student volunteers into intercultural citizens who began to question the taken-for-granted convention in their own life experiences critically. They became more willing to take responsibility for their own lives and those of the global community.

Keywords: international e-service-learning, intercultural competence, intercultural citizenship, service-learning, international volunteers

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Racial Prejudice and Gender Discrimination against Northeast Indians amidst COVID-19

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751 views

Debbie Lalrinawmi1 & Shuchi2
1Research Scholar, Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Mizoram. Email id: debbierinawmi91@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Mizoram. Email id: shuchi.hss@nitmz.ac.in

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.32
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Abstract

The outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been largely racialized. With its origin rooted in China, Asians across the globe experienced labelling to be responsible for the pandemic. Asians or mongoloid looking individuals suffered discrimination, and contempt worldwide. In India, the pandemic restored and re-established the social problem i.e. racialism against the Northeast Indians which has been tackled over the years. While most of the Indians have non-mongoloid looks, the Northeast Indians are mainly Asiatic race. As such, they have Asian looks though Indian in blood. The fight of the Northeast Indians has been double. They have to fight against the virus as everyone, and against the negative mindset of their fellow Indians against them. The Indian government, as such, promptly established a committee to look into the matter. But there has been no law against it which makes it hard to act accordingly. Besides the racial affliction, there existed gender discrimination which doubled the affliction of the women of northeast Indians.

Keywords: Racism; gender discrimination; Covid-19; Northeast Indian

Twinning the Pandemic and the Anthropocene: Crises, Challenge and Conciliation in the Anxious Witnessing of Nonhuman Agency

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624 views

Kaustabh Kashyap
PhD Scholar, Cotton University, Assam.ORCID: 0000-0001-8302-2296. Email: eng2091006_kaustabh@cottonuniversity.ac.in

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.31
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Abstract

This paper seeks to situate the anxieties engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of the Anthropocene to analyse the multi-faceted ramifications of human and nonhuman interaction. By connecting this ongoing global crisis of human health with the politics of climate change, it attempts to read the forgotten agency of the nonhuman microbe in the light of the rude disruption of the traditional understandings of biopolitics (where bare life has taken centre stage) and the difficulties it has brought in bridging the rift between abstract and concrete information, leading to the scapegoating of victims. It ends with the suggestion of preparation for greener futures by imagining human health within planetary health instead of an anxious wait for a return to pre-pandemic times.

Keywords: pandemic, Anthropocene, biopolitics, nonhuman, health.

Aspects and Dimensions in Collaborative Approach: To Improve Research Discovery in Digital Arts and Digital Humanities

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621 views

Mustari Bosra1, Sumarsih2, Somantri Manap3, and Wamaungo Juma Abdu4
1Department of History Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia. Email: mustalibosra@gmail.com. ORCID: 0000-0003-3802-8722
2Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Training and Teacher Education, Universitas Bengkulu, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0002-1709-1987
3Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Training and Teacher Education, Universitas Bengkulu, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0002-5636-2137
4EDURES Global Link, Majalengka, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0001-7354-9254

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.30
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ABSTRACT

Utilizing casual local area assessment and insight contraptions, as well as the improvement of the field of automated workmanship since 2013, this paper expects to look at the design, examples, and subjects of cross-public joint efforts in Digital Humanities research. This contains works from the Web of Science Core Collection as of December 2018 in the field of computerized humanities. The discoveries demonstrate the fact that there is a lot of global cooperation in the field of computerized humanities research; the conveyance among nations is lopsided. In this article, we explicitly audited the accounts and discoveries that have been made during the advancement of this specific field of examination, looking at how much they can or ought to be re-examined considering the post-computerized culture where we get ourselves as a part of post-humanistic thinking. This study utilized various informatics procedures and advances to distinguish the examples, subjects, and designs of the global joint effort in digital humanities research and digital art.

Keywords: Digital humanities, Digital art, Collaboration, Visual resource, Post digital society, Research topic

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Call for Reviewers and Copy-editors

Reviewers We invite applications from established scholars to act as Reviewers for the Rupkatha Journal (www.rupkatha.com). Reviewers  familiar with OJS

Religious Heritage: Reconciliation between Spirituality and Cultural Concerns

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Óscar Fernández-Álvarez1, Miguel González-González2, Sara Ouali-Fernández3
1Department of Social Anthropology, University of León (Spain). ORCID: 0000-0002-5254-6908. Email: oscar.fernandez@unileon.es
2Department of Social Anthropology, University of León (Spain). ORCID: 0000-0003-2577-5753. Email: migog@unileon.es
3Department of Social Anthropology, University of León (Spain). ORCID: 0000-0002-4184-0298. Email: sara_o_f@hotmail.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.29
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Abstract

Religious heritage has a dual cultural and religious meaning and importance in society. It has a cultural value because it symbolises the history and art of a community, and a religious value because it represents a spiritual hub and home for a community of believers. This article analyses the challenges posed by this association between religious heritage —as both an economic and tourism resource— and cultural heritage. Methodologically, an observation, reflection and analysis of the challenges that are faced are proposed. The results reveal various initiatives for development, protection and enhancement. The discussion revolves around the importance of community involvement and the benefits this brings to various sectors, including economic activity, from the perspective of religious tourism as an aspect of tourism per se, in which a faith and its believers are elements that merit heritage conservation.

Keywords: Anthropology, Heritage, Religion, Religious tourism

Plague, Nature, Planetary Future: A Posthumanist Reading of The Scarlet Plague

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680 views

Xinshuo Zhou1 & Quan Wang2
1English Department, Beihang University. Email: 1014261746@qq.com
2Professor of English and Comparative Literature, English Department, Beihang University. ORCID: 0000-0001-5848-4368. Email: wangquanheming@126.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.28
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Abstract

This article proposes a posthumanist reading of Jack London’s The Scarlet Plague, and argues that to secure a sustainable planetary future, human beings should understand the posthumanist nature of the world, and learn to respect nature. This article investigates two kinds of worlds, showing a preference for the posthumanist one after the plague over the anthropocentric one before the plague. In the anthropocentric world, the life of human beings is heavily industrialized and isolated from nature, and this causes disaster. However, in the posthumanist world, everything follows natural laws. Human beings are no longer dominators of the world, but share the planet with the nonhuman. In this way, both the human and the nonhuman survive and prosper. Thus, posthumanist thinking provides human beings with a way to make sustainable developments and to build a bright future.

Keywords: posthumanism, anthropocentrism, plague, nature

Gender Equality in the Posters Designed for Covid 19 Prevention

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674 views

Ani Atsharyan1, Tatevik Paytyan2, Artashes Melikyan3 & Ashot Baghdasaryan4
1Associate Professor, National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia, Yerevan, ORCID: 0000-0002-1450-6331. Email: ani-acharyan@mail.ru.
2Associate Professor, National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia, Yerevan, ORCID: 0000-0001-7805-3880. Email: paytyantatevik@gmail.com.
3Professor, National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia, Yerevan, ORCID: 0000-0001-8961-5447. Email: artashesmelikyan@rambler.ru.
4Professor, National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia, Yerevan, ORCID: 0000-0002-5475-9659. Email: armdesignunion@yahoo.com.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.27
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Abstract

Since the Covid-19 eruption in 2020 designers from all over the world started to concentrate their efforts to increase the awareness of the population through visual methods and prevent the spread of the disease. As the germ itself is invisible to the naked eye, graphic designers created an iconic visual identity 3D image of a particle, which became the widespread inspiration for future propaganda and informational posters. Furthermore, the visualization of the virus particle was not enough to influence the wide scope of people; thus, the new problem for designers became to make such posters that could reveal virus vs human “relations”, taking into account gender characteristics as well. The article consists of analytical research on gender-based graphic design’s role in the prevention of viruses throughout history. The main problem is how graphic design projects influence the decrease of the virus spread and how gender equality-cantered design contributes to it. First time in the article are presented the basic principles of poster design considered for all genders to present the serious message of the urgent prevention of the virus. In the article, the works of designers are analysed and reviewed as well. The significance of the article is emphasizing the importance of gender equality in design visualization to increase the influence of them on people’s behaviour.

Keywords: Covid-19, gender equality, pandemic, design, visual communication, poster design, signs.

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Afghan Women and the Taliban: Tracing Questions of Legal Rights, Insecurity and Uncertainty in Select Texts vis-à-vis the Current Crisis

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Anupama B.N.1 & Payel Dutta Chowdhury2
1Associate Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.ORCID: 0000-0003-3540-6396, Email: anupama.bn@manipal.edu
2Professor & Director, School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, India.ORCID: 0000-0002-2999-0533, Email: payeldutta.c@gmail.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.26
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Abstract:

The status of Afghan women has been a subject of academic interest primarily because of the strict patriarchal hegemony that they have been subjected to. Afghanistan has seen enormous changes in the last four decades due to multiple invasions, wars, and terrorism. 15th August 2021 marks a significant transition in the Afghan socio-political scenario with the Afghan government collapsing as Taliban took over Kabul. The Taliban’s initial public statements after seizing power included assurances on allowing women their rights within the framework of Shari’a Law. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the actual status of Afghan women’s legal rights and security concerns at present after the completion of one year of the Taliban take-over. The study delves into an exploration of the changing dynamics of women’s status in real-life vis-à-vis such portrayals in select literary texts by Khaled Hosseini and Atiq Rahimi to understand how their narrative spaces mirror the socio-political conflicts in Afghanistan. Drawing upon Gender Studies and discourses concerning masculinity and femininity, particularly studies conducted on women and violence, and the UN Women’s reports on gender alert published in December 2021 and August 2022, this paper aims to explore the fictional space in relation to the real-life scenario in Afghanistan.

Keywords: Afghan women, Taliban, Legal Rights, Security, UN Women’s reports

“Fluid” temporality: the conflict of gender and age in the postmodern socio-cultural context

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602 views

Tetiana Vlasova1, Eleonora Skyba2, Olha Vlasova3, Iryna Liashenko4
1Professor of Philosophy, Associate Professor of English Philology, Head of Translation and Philology Department, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Dnipro, Ukraine.ORCID: 0000-0001-5040-5733. E-mail: vasovat2@gmail.com.
2Doctor of Sciences in Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Humanities and Police Psychology, Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Dnipro, Ukraine.
ORCID: 0000-0002-6364-5207. E-mail: eleonora.skiba@gmail.com.
3Associate Professor at Philosophy and Sociology Department and Director of Women’s Studies, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Dnipro, Ukraine.
ORCID: 0000-0003-1755-0853. E-mail: 358358olga@gmail.com.
4PhD, Associate Professor of Department of Philosophy and Ukrainian Studies, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Dnipro, Ukraine.ORCID: 0000-0002-7816-2339. E-mail: nakashydze@gmail.com.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.25
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Abstract

Temporality, being an intrinsic property of the subject/object relations in the multiplicity of the socio-cultural and gender narratives, presents one of the most complicated ideas of postmodernity. The project of temporality embraces ambivalent scripts in their “momentous transition”, revealing the attempts at generalizing ages of men and women in the certain “unified” narratives. The latter is expressed in the triad paradigm of “past-present-future” with “present” as the dominating member. While conceptualizing binary oppositions, namely, the dualism “man/woman”, it is evident that nowadays the biological “intrinsic value” of the human being’s identity has become less relevant. The man/woman’s identity is not fixed anymore by anatomy, at present it is “fluid” with the time and age “shifts” of femininity and masculinity. The decentering “situation”, having transformed the temporal aspects of man/woman’s value in the social practices and corresponding narratives, nowadays demands their valorizing by means of the conceptual impact on the transformations of the “liquid temporality”.

Keywords: postparadigmatic shifts, temporality concepts, corporal mutations, gender identification.

Social Media and COVID -19 Pandemic: Accelerating the Learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

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715 views

Tawhida Akhter
Assistant Professor, Department of English Literature, College of Sciences and Literature in Sajir, Shaqra University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ORCID: 0000-0003-4149-4855. Email: tawhida@su.edu.sa

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.24
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Abstract

COVID-19 began in China (2019) and spread to other nations and become a world pandemic (2020). The news media and social media platforms have played an important role in information dissemination about the Coronavirus throughout the world. During COVID-19 Pandemic, social media has become a key tool for enhancing social networking and information sharing via the web. As more people turn to the internet for health information, social media platforms are helping to spread life-saving precautions that individuals, families, and communities may take to reduce their chance of contracting the virus. Language learners are linked to interactive social media platforms in Social Media Language Learning. The goal of this study was to look at the role of social media during COVID in foreign language acquisition. The participants in this study were Saudi Arabian college students. The study’s sample comprised 200 (n=200) college students, and the social media platforms investigated included Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat and other platforms. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. The results indicated that the students used various social media platforms in order to get the appropriate information about the virus which indirectly helped and motivated them to learn a new language. These learners lack the self-motivation needed to use social media to develop their English language abilities. The study discovered that adopting online social media during a pandemic for English language learning had a significant impact on interactions with peers and teachers.

Keywords: Social Media, COVID-19 Pandemic, popularity, information, Youtube, Twitter, Fecebook, Instragram. EFL Learning.

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