Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture

Edited by Laura M. Pipe, University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Jennifer T. Stephens, Elon University

Social justice frameworks and pedagogical practice have become popular concepts within educational settings. However, these approaches stop short of the direct action required for true social change and often overlook the impacts and importance of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Through an exploration of justice-forward approaches that call for a blend of equity and culturally-responsive pedagogies with experiential approaches to learning, this edited book will examine the process of unlinking colonizing structures from teaching and learning through honoring the context of space, place, and culture in the learning process. Framed by the Toward a Liberated Learning Spirit (TALLS) Model for Developing Critical Consciousness, this book will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers in higher education as well as critical and cultural studies, apart from program administrators and educators. 'Ignite: a Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture' will carry the reader through a learning process beginning with academic detachment and moving through a process of unlearning toward embodied liberation.

Effective Corporate Governance: Theory and Best Practices

Kirimi Barine and David Minja

Corporate governance has attracted considerable attention worldwide, especially in light of the widely publicized, high-profile global corporate failures and scandals. Since Corporate Governance contributes to the success of any institution, it must therefore be prioritized. In this very practical book, 'Effective Corporate Governance' explores the theories and models of corporate governance as well as the regulatory framework in which corporate governance operates. The authors have also talked about the pillars and best practices for good governance, including what a good board looks like and, at the same time, giving practical ideas on how to measure corporate governance health and what to do to get back on track. In addition, it includes case studies from the African context where the authors have extensively consulted with both for profit, not for profit and government institutions. This book will keep you relevant and ahead of the game whether you are a leader or student of leadership in the public or private sector, a religious institution or even a small and medium enterprise.

Plasti(e)cological Thinking: Working out an (Infra)structural Geoerotics

Abhisek Ghosal, BGR Campus, Bengaluru, India

This monograph, 'Plasti(e)cological Thinking: Working out an (Infra)structural Geoerotics,' seeks to put forward ‘plasti(e)cological thinking’ as an advanced and ‘new’ epistemic framework which can facilitate readers to think beyond the stratified planetarity that ends up breaking the earth down into territories and strata, blocs and codes, fragments and pieces, ‘sides’ and ‘besides.’ ‘Plasti(e)cological thinking’ is at once grounded in the logics of ‘deterritorialization’ and ‘rhizomatics’ thereby calling the structured and well-thought-out ways of looking into planetary phenomena into question and at times contingent upon the pervasive trajectories of ‘zoe-politics’ which enables it to cut across varied segmentarities on the ‘Plane of Consistency’. Divided into three chapters, this book draws on critical theory, continental thinking, and certain Indian eco-texts to put a spotlight on the nuanced operation of ‘plasti(e)cological thinking’. In a nutshell, this book stands wedded to the production of the ‘new’ and is a contribution to the domain of planetary thinking.

TASTE: Why You Like What You Like

A Cultural Studies Analysis

Arthur Asa Berger, San Francisco State University

Taste is an enigmatic topic. We recognize that taste plays an important role in our life in that everything we buy and many things we do are governed by our sense of taste. But what exactly is taste? How do we get our sense of taste and how does it affect our everyday lives? Does it evolve as we grow older or is it a constant in our lives? Is it affected by all the “influencers” to whom we are exposed as we watch TikTok and commercials, or do influencers merely spark some kind of inner sense of taste that was with us all the time? Is our taste based on our social and economic status or something else? What role do income and cost have in determining what we choose to buy? What role do the qualities of what we buy and the choices we make shape our decisions? Is taste based on logical thinking about things we wish to do or buy upon emotions we have generated by things like identification, status, or cultural imperatives? Taste always involves some element of choice, because if there is no choice, taste is irrelevant or moot. But what are the determinants when we compare things to buy or get or do when we have choices to make? This book takes its point of departure from the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose book 'Distinction' is considered a classic work of sociological analysis. The topics dealt with are shown in the table of contents below. The book is distinctive in that it offers discussions of four methodologies/theories used in discussing taste: semiotics, psychoanalytic theory, sociological theory and Marxist theory and then applies these theories in the second part of the book to a variety of topics involving taste, such as yogurt, dogs, the singer Celine Dion, ocean cruises, brands, smartphones, men’s facial hair, and so on. Readers of the book will learn four methodologies they can use in analyzing taste and see how these methodologies were applied.

The COVID-19 Crisis: Key Social and Psychological Issues

Eric Miller, Kent State University

Given the far-reaching effects that the pandemic has had on both individuals and society at large, this book was written to be approachable for academics, students, and laypersons alike. To further amplify this point, readers will find that an eclectic mix of both (largely online-based) news articles and analyses, along with select academic papers and concepts are featured in this concise book; the inclusion of select news reports from the first two years of the pandemic helps to document how the pandemic was publicly presented—which, given the relatively ephemeral nature of the Internet, it can be especially helpful to document such sources. Some of the critical social and psychological issues regarding key developments and events (largely, though not exclusively, focused on America) and predominantly related to the first two years of the pandemic include both mental health and personal and interpersonal problems, as well as many social/societal, economic, and political consequences. Drawing from a host of varied and interdisciplinary sources, this book would be a helpful resource for (current and future) academics, scholars, clinicians, students, and anyone seeking a critical yet concise overview and analysis of some of the most pressing psychological/social scientific themes and issues pertaining to the pandemic.