Adventures in Libraries

This essay recounts lessons learned over a career studying medieval manuscripts and the stories of those who made, used, and collected them. Medieval books long outlast their intended or original audiences and have fascinating cultural interactions that extend to the present. What this most pressingly throws up for me is ways of knowing things, and the epistemological value of memory. One needs to store away the little anomalies that one encounters — and be prepared for them to surface without bidding in some new context where they might prove generative. If humility might be a first perquisite of scholarly work, certainly memory would be a second. The essay originated as a lecture, delivered remotely in March 2021 for the Renaissance Studies Center at the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL.

Interactive Narrative Simulation as a Method for Preceptor Development

(1) Background: This proof-of-concept study assessed an interactive web-based tool simulating three challenging non-academic learning situations—student professionalism, cross-cultural interactions, and student well-being—as a means of preceptor development. (2) Methods: Three scripts focused on professionalism, cross-cultural interactions, and student well-being were developed and implemented using a commercial narrative tool with branching dialog. Delivered online, this tool presented each challenge to participants. Participants had up to four response options at each turn of the conversation; the choice of response influenced the subsequent conversation, including coaching provided at the resolution of the situation. Participants were invited to complete pre-activity, immediate post-activity, and one-month follow-up questionnaires to assess satisfaction, self-efficacy, engagement, and knowledge change with the tool. Knowledge was assessed through situational judgment tests (SJTs). (3) Results: Thirty-two pharmacist preceptors participated. The frequency of participants reflecting on challenging learning situations increased significantly one-month post-simulation. Participants affirmatively responded that the tool was time-efficient, represented similar challenges they encountered in precepting, was easily navigable, and resulted in learning. Self-efficacy with skills in managing challenging learning situations increased significantly immediately post-simulation and at a one-month follow-up. Knowledge as measured through SJTs was not significantly changed. (4) Conclusions: Preceptors found an interactive narrative simulation a relevant, time-efficient approach for preceptor development for challenging non-academic learning situations. Post-simulation, preceptors more frequently reflected on challenging learning situations, implying behavior change. Self-efficacy and self-report of knowledge increased. Future research is needed regarding knowledge assessments.

Spaces of cross-cultural encounter

<p>The landscape of cultural relations in Aotearoa is complex and entangled. While academics and policy makers imagine Aotearoa as a multicultural society, there is a lack of understanding of how cultural diversity is lived every day in Aotearoa. There is an emerging literature on the geographies of encounter. This encourages us to address the historical predicament of how we are to live together in increasingly super diverse communities by considering the existing everyday negotiations of difference. This thesis contributes to that literature by undertaking a case study of Newtown, Wellington, in order to: 1) understand where Newtown residents and employees experience cross-cultural social interactions; and 2) what type of places help encourage positive cross-cultural interactions. Through this I explore how cross-cultural encounters and exchanges might be encouraged. Q-methodology was used to investigate locations of cross-cultural social interactions, I conducted and analysed 23 Q-sorts with Newtown, Wellington residents and local employees. I argue that places of cross-cultural encounter take many forms. The identification of these places is closely linked to participants’ characteristics, such as socioeconomic position, and age. The participants in this study represent diverse Newtown. They have diverse socialising practices and identify a wide range of positive places for cross-cultural interactions. In conjunction with this people understand and experience encounters with cultural diversity differently. I argue that an encounter across cultural difference is not limited to an explicit interaction but can also be through the sharing of space and engagement in similar activities. I also argue for the importance of space in cross-cultural encounters; certain spatial and material qualities of spaces appear to animate cross-cultural social interaction. This research argues that: engagement in cross-cultural interactions is often mediated by other identifiers, that everyday multiculturalism is demographically complex, and that the materiality and spatially of spaces is effectual in animating these interactions.</p>

Spaces of cross-cultural encounter

<p>The landscape of cultural relations in Aotearoa is complex and entangled. While academics and policy makers imagine Aotearoa as a multicultural society, there is a lack of understanding of how cultural diversity is lived every day in Aotearoa. There is an emerging literature on the geographies of encounter. This encourages us to address the historical predicament of how we are to live together in increasingly super diverse communities by considering the existing everyday negotiations of difference. This thesis contributes to that literature by undertaking a case study of Newtown, Wellington, in order to: 1) understand where Newtown residents and employees experience cross-cultural social interactions; and 2) what type of places help encourage positive cross-cultural interactions. Through this I explore how cross-cultural encounters and exchanges might be encouraged. Q-methodology was used to investigate locations of cross-cultural social interactions, I conducted and analysed 23 Q-sorts with Newtown, Wellington residents and local employees. I argue that places of cross-cultural encounter take many forms. The identification of these places is closely linked to participants’ characteristics, such as socioeconomic position, and age. The participants in this study represent diverse Newtown. They have diverse socialising practices and identify a wide range of positive places for cross-cultural interactions. In conjunction with this people understand and experience encounters with cultural diversity differently. I argue that an encounter across cultural difference is not limited to an explicit interaction but can also be through the sharing of space and engagement in similar activities. I also argue for the importance of space in cross-cultural encounters; certain spatial and material qualities of spaces appear to animate cross-cultural social interaction. This research argues that: engagement in cross-cultural interactions is often mediated by other identifiers, that everyday multiculturalism is demographically complex, and that the materiality and spatially of spaces is effectual in animating these interactions.</p>

Social Cultural Interaction in Harmony Between Religious People in Central Sulawesi

Social and cultural interactions in social activities, cooperation, consensus decision-making, caring for others, and the environment can maintain religious harmony in the people of South Lore and West Lore Districts, Poso Regency. The social and cultural interactions can form a collective consciousness of the community to understand, respect, and appreciate religious diversity. Not surprisingly, if the social and cultural interactions are firmly in three activities in the community: traditional activities where social interaction occurs because the community respects local customs; humanity where through respect for humanity between communities, this social and cultural interaction occurs; and religion that regulates religious relations between communities that respect each other and respect the activities that the community carries out. From these three activities, the social and cultural interaction between community members in South Lore and West Lore Districts, Poso Regency can eliminate the potential for religious conflict and maintain harmony and harmony among various religious believers ot adherents.

Developing Intercultural Competence Through Design Thinking

Cultural competence, as the ability to interact effectively with the culturally diverse others, is a key component to your success in the globalized world. Developing cultural competence gives us an insight how to benefit from the diversity within intercultural interactions. Everyone may misinterpret the cultural differences due to the low level of cultural competence. That can influence further cooperation with different cultures. Therefore, it is very important to foster students’ intercultural skills, in particular by using different learning techniques and implementing new ideas into the traditional teaching methods. One of them is design thinking as a practice that encourages collaboration and can help students to manage intercultural challenges. Hence, the research problem for this study is to reveal the correlation between the development of students’ intercultural competence and design thinking method application. The purpose of the study is to summarize and synthesize the research on cross-cultural interactions and design thinking to build a framework that shows how the implementation of the design thinking method into the learning process facilitates the development of students’ intercultural competence. The tasks of the research are:a) to review the main contributions to the field of design thinking by analysing multidisciplinary studies on how design thinking fosters development of variety competences including intercultural competence;b) to design the framework to reveal the correlation between the components of intercultural competence and the stages of design thinking process;c) to observe the changes in the students’ intercultural competence level by analysing learners’ responses to the case of intercultural misunderstanding at the beginning of studying the cross-cultural communication classes and after finishing the course.d) The study uses mixed approaches such as quantitative and qualitative methods, scientific literature studies, intercultural competence assessment, grouping, comparative analysis, synthesis, inductive and deductive methods.The key results are presented in the framework that demonstrates the ways how design thinking method supports the development of intercultural competence. This framework can be used by educators to teach intercultural competence and everyone involved in cross-cultural interactions, and who would like to benefit from the diversity.