AOSH 2023 winner



APRIL 28, 2023. One of our graduates, Hamis Samike, is a winner of the Awards of Occupational Safety And Health Authority —AOSH 2023, during the commemoration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The theme of the year was ‘A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work’. Hamis received the correspondant trophy from Professor Joyce Ndalichako, Minister of State (Policy, Parliament, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled) in the Office of the Prime Minister of Tanzania. Hamis Samike has completed a program in Occupational Health and Safety Management at AIU.

3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON Neurology and Neurological Disorders



Call for Papers This Conference will be held 16–18 October, 2023 in Paris, France. We warmly welcome all delegates, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and other participants from around the world. The conference has been carefully curated to meet the outstanding standards of our attendees. It thus provides an excellent platform for interactive congregations of knowledge and wisdom about pathbreaking research on Neurology and treatment worldwide. Main theme: “An arousing look at the latest detection and therapy of neurological disorders” Session 1: Advancements in neurology • Session 2: Neuromodulation • Session 3: Clinical neurology • Session 4: Cerebrovascular diseases • Session 5: Stem Cell Therapies • Session 6: Dementia • Session 7: Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease • Session 8: Neuromuscular diseases. Abstract Submission Date September 30, 2023 Visit the website: https://neurologyconference. pulsusconference.com/

Honors



MAY, 2023. This graduate student completed the majority of the requirements to obtain honors, which included a 4.0 GPA, published works, recommendation from their respective advisors, patent a product, etc. Congratulations!

DISTINCTION
Cosimo Di Maggio
Bachelor of Architecture / Bioclimatic Sustainable Architecture FIND MORE NEWS FROM AIU FAMILY

Distinction



MAY, 2023. This graduate student completed their program with a high cumulative grade point average, which reflects the quality of performance within their major. Congratulations!

DISTINCTION
Mounir Joudeh
Doctor of Philosop hy / Auditing Visit the website:




Paulo Mavungo Buassa
Bachelor of Science
Mechanical Engineering
Angola
Dante Mauricio Fontana Laplagne
Bachelor of Science
System Engineering
Argentina
Joaquín Antonio Llera Giménez
Master of Science
Applied Statistics
Argentina
Motsumi Phillip Modise
Bachelor of Occupa tional Hygiene
Occupational Hygiene
Botswana
Wilson Roberto Vicente Míccoli
Post Doctorate of Management
Project Management
Brazil
Balasingham Arasabalan
Doctor of Philosop hy
Clinical Psychology
Canada
           
Joakem Tazanu Fossung
Doctor of Science
Public Health and Medical Informatics
Canada
Dixsiana del Pilar Ordóñez Osorio
Bachelor of Science
Physiotherapy and Kinesiology
Chile
Ari Enrique Fajardo Forero
Doctor of Education
Education
Colombia
Nelson Miguel Mejías Alvarez
Doctor of Science
Public Health
Colombia
Mubawa Bake Jonas
Doctor of Economics and Business
Project Management
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Edgar Antonio Cuevas Santana
Bachelor of Engineering
Electromechanical Engineering
Dominican Republic
           
Ana Cecilia Silverio Ramos
Doctor of Science
Nutrition
Dominican Republic
Omar Antonelly Sosa Marte
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Dominican Republic
António Febu da Silva
Bachelor of Communications
Communications
East Timor
Rosa Mercedes Velastegui Larcos
Bachelor of Linguistics
Linguistics
Ecuador
Alemania María Macías Silva
Bachelor of Psychology
Educational Psychology
Ecuador
Awa Keita
Bachelor of Business Administration
Business Management
Gambia
           
Winfred Asare-Nyarko
Doctor of Business Administration
Business Administration
Ghana
Esther Ama Hagan
Bachelor of Education
Education
Ghana
Ever Rene Caballero Zuniga
Doctor of Finance
Finance
Honduras
Raashid Ashraf Khan
Doctor of Business Management
Business Management
India
Omer Nirhod
Doctor of Philosop hy
International Legal Studies
Israel
Navit Shahar Nirhod
Master of Science
Forensic Psychology
Israel
           
Jermaine Kwesi Elliott
Bachelor of Science
Business Management
Jamaica
Dwayne McKay
Doctor of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Jamaica
Percival Stewart
Doctor of Science
Waste Water Management
Jamaica
Ibrahim Michel Ibrahim
Doctor of Philosop hy
Environmental Engineering
Leba non
Dembélé, Founéfing
Master of Business Administration
Project Management
Mali
Florentino Fernández Guzmán
Doctor of Strategic Planning and Mgmt.
Strategic Planning and Management
Mexico
           
Roda Sansão Nuvunga Luís
Doctor of Science
Food Science
Mozambique
Christine M. Baez-Banks
Master of Business Administration
Business Management
Nepa l
Edwin Chiejine Ogwu
Doctor of Philosop hy
Human Resources Management
Nigeria
Attoh, Uchechukwukah
Doctor of Philosop hy
Organizational Leadership
Nigeria
Aguleke Andy
Bachelor of Science
Project Management
Nigeria
Maria Teresa Reátegui Arosemena
Bachelor of Education
Early Childhood Education
Panama
           
Shane Farray
Master of Science
Mechanical Engineering
Saint Lucia
André Van Dyk
Bachelor of Business and Economics
Banking and Finance
South Africa
Francisco X. Muñoz Díaz-Castroverde
Bachelor of International Business
International Business
Spa in
Qinisizwe A. Nxumalo
Bachelor of Science
Information Technology
Swaziland
Philbert Boniphas Nyangwe
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Tanzania
Cosimo Di Maggio
Bachelor of Architecture
Bioclimatic Sustainable Architecture
Trinidad and Toba go
           
Jennifer Elizabeth Cudjoe-Brathwaite
Doctor of Philosop hy
Management
Trinidad and Toba go
Yunus Emre Battal
Bachelor of Business Management
Management
Türkiye
Allen Uhiriwe
Doctor of Gender and Dev. Studies
Gender and Development Studies
Uganda
Musinguzi Richard
Bachelor of Business and Economics
Leadership and Management
Uganda
Ajayi Abayomi Patrick
Master of Science
Business Management
United Kingdom
Justin Bisimwa Mudekereza
Doctor of Project Management
Project Management
USA
           
Nene Nakotey Hervie
Doctor of Arts
English Language
USA
Professor Mounir Joudeh
Doctor of Philosop hy
Auditing
USA
Isis Mairobel Pena Espinal
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
USA
Jane Kaboko
Bachelor of Management
Purchasing and Supply Management
Zambia
Jokwiro Juliet
Doctor of Science
Public Health and Epidemiology
Zimbabwe
 

Find More Graduates

Gallery: aiu.edu/Graduation/grids/currentgallery.html
Interviews: www.aiu.edu/Graduation/grids/interviews.html
This month we have graduates from: Angola · Argentina · Botswana · Brazil · Canada · Chile · Colombia · DRC · Dominican Republic · East Timor · Ecuador · Gambia · Ghana · Honduras · India · Israel · Jamaica · Lebanon · Mali · Mexico · Mozambique · Nepal · Nigeria · Panama · Saint Lucia · South Africa · Spain · Swaziland · Tanzania · Trinidad and Tobago · Türkiye · Uganda · United Kingdom · USA · Zambia · Zimbabwe


TESTIMONIALS

FIND MORE TESTIMONIALS FROM A I U STUDENTS HERE: www.aiu.edu/Testimonials.aspx



Paul Osayimwense Omoruyi
Master of Business Administration
January 17, 2023

“I wish to say that my experience at the AIU during this online program was fantastic and very stress-free. In Phase one, I learned about communication and investigation, experiential learning and organizational theory. During the course, I got to understood myself better as it took me memory lane to write about growing up and my educational background. It was a nice experience.In Phase two, students are giving the freedom to design a curriculum for their courses. I was made to choose my courses myself and this was an interesting part of my study. My choice of courses in the curriculum I designed includes Business communication, Business ethics, Business opening, International studies, Introduction to business, lesson learned from business mistakes, project management among others. Also I did some UN SDGs courses which I found very intriguing and of great help to my self-development as a community development worker. Phase three was basically on my project proposal, I carried out a thesis research on consumer Behavior. … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/ paul-osayimwense-omoruyi-master-of-business-administration/

Shameena Haniff-Najab
Master of Shameena Haniff-Najab
January 24, 2023

“My experience with Atlantic International University was a good one. The persons there are very patient and helpful and I studied at my own pace.It was a wonderful experience in doing my masters at AIU and am very grateful for a partial scholarship even to do my Doctorate in Public Administration. I did recommend quite a few persons to study at AIU of which they did and the experience was also great. I would like to take this opportunity in wishing you all the very best and continue to excel in the educational field of which it is very much needed.

Ibrahim Aderemi Adebayo
Doctor of Telecommunications Engineering
January 30, 2023

“I am a seasoned ICT professional with more than 16 years of experience and doctorate candidate in Telecommunications Engineering with Atlantic International University. My experience in the school is a unique and awesome one. Every student is treated uniquely as well with respect. This snowballs into unrepeated experience and learning that is limitless. The School e-library was helpful in research work and the academic and non-academic staff are equally excellent. Below are the bullet points of the experience gotten aside the soft skills, not limited to the school: Oversee RF Optimization (2G/3G/4G) of over 2,600 BTS/EnodeB/ sites in 10 states of Nigeria as well as 5G deployment / Test Launch. Extensive Managed Services Skills, Remote Delivery, Demand Management, Projects Management, Team Management, Performance Management and Optimization experience in a fast-paced mobile telecommunications environment. Strong client facing experience with complete contractual KPI fulfillment responsibility. Endto- End performance management solution with focus on Radio Access Network.Extensive experience with leading mobile vendors (Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Nortel & Alcatel). Motivating and supporting team player with excellent interpersonal communication skills. Excellent SQL skills to query databaseGood R Programming Skill. Excellent use of TableauGoogle Data Analyst Professional. Several IT skill, experience, and certifications … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/ibrahim-aderemi- adebayo-doctor-of-telecommunications-engineering/

Matthew Lowe
Doctor of Educational Leadership
February 7, 2023

“During my time pursuing my Doctorate in Education majoring in Educational Leadership at Atlantic International University, I have enjoyed learning at my own pace, devising my own curriculum, and exploring topics that pertain to my interests and future career goals. I have learned a lot about management, leadership styles, psychology, and administration, which will allow me to open a school in the future focusing on serving students with mental health challenges, which was the goal when starting this degree program. I appreciate the help of the faculty and staff, the advisors, and my tutor along the way, who helped guide me through the program.

Artificial Intelligence

By Dr. Rosa Hilda Lora M. Advisor at AIU | [email protected]


We listen and listen to talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI), that if it’s good, that if we will be left without a job. First of all, we have to know: what it’s and what is in it? Artificial Intelligence is a component of Computer Science that emerged in 1956 in the practices of four American researchers: John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester and Claude Shannon, at Dartmouth College, in the United States. What does Artificial Intelligence do: The objective of Artificial Intelligence is the simulation with machines of the faculties of animal, human, social, plant and phylogenetic intelligence. UNESCO. Artificial Intelligence , Promises an d threa ts. 2018. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ ark:/48223/pf0000265211_spa At the beginning of the appearance of AI, concepts were said that went beyond what it is.In the 1970’s, research began on the role of knowledge, reasoning, comprehension mechanisms, and the psychology of memory, which led to the development of expert systems, so called because they reproduce the reasoning of experts.

With the improvement of techniques, machine learning algorithms arise. These algorithms gave rise to industrial applications such as voice recognition and fingerprint recognition. AI joined robotics since the late 1990’s to create intelligent agents that suggest the presence of emotions and affects. Many AI applications perform functions in banking, industry, healthcare, insurance, and defense. Many tasks will be automated, some jobs disappearing, but others will emerge. For those who say that AI will bring problems to humanity, it’s not true because the machines have no moral exercise. When we talk about moral, we refer to the choice to do good or evil and the application and use of AI processes are decided by human beings. Also love and friendship are beyond ai processes, they are symbolic processes of human beings. UNESCO. Artificial Intelligence , Promises an d threa ts. 2018. https:// unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/ pf0000265211_spa Those who say that machines will think are wrong because even the brain does not think. We are living what we know didn’t happen; that the development of trade would generate progress and well-being for all.

The concept of progress has been replaced by innovation. “It should be recognized that AI technologies do not necessarily guarantee, by themselves, the prosperity of humans or of the environment and ecosystems”. UNESCO. Reco mmen dation on the ethics of artificial intelligence . Paris, 2022, p. 20 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ ark:/48223/pf0000381137_spa From the above it follows that human beings are the ones who have the autonomy of the use and application of AI. AI can be learned in the programs for this purpose that appear on the Internet. There are many countries, such as Canada, that invest heavily in AI education. We have, to make the poorest countries benefit from AI. In Africa there are universities with programs in this area of knowledge; summer courses are also offered. It’s feared for what this Fourth Industrial Revolution could do because rules must be established to protect data and private life. Through AI, poor countries can get out of their situation of poverty because the economy will be based on data: Data Economy. Regarding the relationship of AI with science, UNESCO says: “…science, in the broadest sense, encompassing all academic domains from the exact and natural sciences and medical sciences to the social and human sciences, as AI technologies bring new capabilities and research approaches, influence in our conception of scientific understanding and explanation and create a new basis for decision-making; …” UNESCO. Reco mmen dation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence . 2021, p. 5 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ ark:/48223/pf0000380455_spa Regarding AI and Education, UNESCO held a Consensus in Beijing from May 16 to 18, 2019. The Consensus made the following recommendations on AI in education:

1. AI for the management and implementation of education 2. AI for the empowerment of teachers 3. AI for learning and evaluation 4. AI for the development of values and skills for life and work 5. The AI to provide learning throughout life.

UNESCO seeks that AI be used to achieve sustainable development goals, especially proposal 4 that mentions Quality Education. In this quality education, UNESCO proposes ethical principles. We can mention: “…AI systems raise new types of ethical questions including, but not limited to, their impact on decision-making, employment and work, social interaction, health care, education, the media, access to information, the digital divide, consumer and personal data protection, the environment, democracy, the rule of law, security and maintenance of order, dual use and human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, privacy and nondiscrimination”. UNESCO. Reco mmen dation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence . 2021, p. 5 https:// unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/ pf0000380455_spa Artificial Intelligence: 1. Model and represent knowledge

2. Exploit the data 3. Calculate correlations. It has different methods like: 1. Machine learning 2. Automatic reasoning We are living important moments in history; what we do throughout life depends on each of us. You can learn throughout life and always benefit from being part of the society in which we live, receiving its benefits. There are all the possibilities to learn, it depends on us that we do it. It translates into a pleasant life learning always avoiding being part of the society in which we find leaders who use, for their purposes, those who have less knowledge. We would also avoid the kind of leaders we see in many countries: profoundly lacking in knowledge. We can’t say that we are victims of the situation if we remain as if we didn’t see what is happening. You are studying at Atlantic International University (AIU) and you have the privilege that it’s an online education, so AI will be of great benefit to you. You can learn the forms of AI that you want and apply them in your work being in the society that UNESCO wants and desires in its Sustainable Development proposal, in section 4, Quality Education. You will also feel useful and satisfied throughout your life. Also, your life will become satisfying by being able to teach those around you the use of AI. The life we want to have depends on each one of us.

You can use AI in the learning process from experts and do quality work. Don’t copy texts, rather learn to take advantage of the ways of obtaining reasoning because you will have knowledge for a lifetime. Knowledge gives us quality of life and if you want to work also better job opportunities. Companies can’t afford, as in the past, to have employees who contribute little to their growth. We are witnessing the many employees being laid off. If you become a productive member in your organization, you will always have work and activities that allow you to be useful and therefore happy in this society. A considerable number of human beings think that they only have, to see what happens in the world: with the study, with the rulers and with democracy. If we study, if we learn something every day, the world we live in would be different. Let’s get to work study, develop your program learning as much as possible so that your life is a blessing for you and those around you: in your environment, in your country and internationally.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. UNESCO. Inteligencia Artificial, Promesas y amenazas. 2018. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/ pf0000265211_spa | UNESCO. La Inteligencia Artificial en la Educación. Retrieved from: https://es.unesco.org/themes/tic-educacion/inteligenciaartificial | UNESCO. Recomendación sobre la ética de la Inteligencia Artificial. 2021. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/ pf0000380455_spa | UNESCO. Recomendación sobre la ética de la Inteligencia Artificial. París, 2022. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco. org/ark:/48223/pf0000381137_spa

The emotional and behavioral impact of music

Zoltan Szigeti | Master of Music Performance | Part 2/2


When there was no music playing, diners took 3.23 bites per minute, 3.83 bites per minute when slow music was playing, and 4.4 bites per minute when rapid music was playing (Roballey et al., 1985). Music’s position as a social force might be portrayed in a negative light by research like the ones mentioned above. In this regard, it’s important to note that people appear to utilize music in this manner of their own volition. The so-called ‘experience sampling approach’ was used to track the uses and functions of music in everyday life in large research conducted in the United Kingdom (see Sloboda & O’Neill, 2001 for a summary). People would be required to carry an electronic pager with them throughout the day.

Participants would be instructed to note down if the music was playing, what sort of music was playing, why it was playing, and other details when the pager sounded (which would happen at random intervals). The results of this experiment, on the whole, support the assumption that music is employed in a similar way in everyday life as it is in a film soundtrack (see chapter 14 for a discussion of the role of music in film). That is, individuals utilize music throughout the day to alter their emotions and behavior —a conclusion that has been supported in interviews with people on their usage of music (e.g., DeNora, 2001). Music soothes us when we are unhappy, energizes us when we need to be active, and distracts us from tedious jobs, among other things. For the most part, music is a societal force that we freely embrace. 5. The emotional power of music in films In movies, music has always played a vital part. Even ‘silent’ pictures were hardly quiet; before sound films, live musicians’ music covered the sound of loud projectors and agitated spectators and generally underlined the general atmosphere and movements depicted on screen. The soundtrack has been more significant in adding to the immersive quality of movies since the debut of sound films in the 1920s. Film sound, like film pictures, is not contained in a flat, two-dimensional screen of a predetermined size (Chion , 1994). As a result, sound adds a “third dimension” to the cinema experience by immersing the viewer in a “sonority envelope.” The audience looks at a rectangular screen to which they devote the most of their attention; they are still surrounded by sound on every sides. As spectators, we hear menacing heavy breathing and accelerated footsteps following directly behind us, as the noise of rain showers envelop us on all sides while witnessing a figure retreat from imminent harm amid a severe rainstorm. As a result, rather of being a spectator, sound positions the viewer at the center of the experience.

Various soundtracks may lead to different assumptions about more nuanced features within this working narrative, such as a character’s objectives or the nature of a character’s connection (e.g., Boltz, 2001; Bullerjahn & Gülden ring, 1994). Participants in Boltz’s (2001) study were more likely to describe the interaction between two characters in a scenario as harmonious or romantic when the scene was accompanied by music expressing a ‘positive’ mood. Participants who saw the identical scenario with music that conveyed a ‘negative’ tone were more inclined to believe that one actor would injure the other. When the scene was accompanied by positive music, more positive personality descriptions were ascribed to the male character (e.g., kind, loving, protective), whereas when the scene was accompanied by negative music, more negative personality descriptions were ascribed to the male character (e.g., deranged, evil, manipulative). Studies on the influence of diverse musical soundtracks on the interpretation of animal behavior (Bolivar et al., 1994, described previously) and even the qualities of geometric forms (Marshall & Cohen , 1998) in short videos have given similar results.

While several studies have demonstrated that adjusting the soundtrack may change how people perceive onscreen pictures, more modest soundtrack modifications can also have unexpected results. Tan, Spackman, and Wakefield (2008), for example, looked at the differences between dietetically and non-dietetically presenting the identical piece of music. ‘All that belongs... to the world postulated or presented by the film’s narrative,’ says the diegesis (Sou riau , quo ted in Gorbman , 1987). Rapid music soundtrack for a vehicle pursuit would be nondiegetic, but a jukebox playing in the background during a bar fight would be diegetic because it is meant to exist within the imaginary universe inhabited by the characters. In certain circumstances, music can transmit emotional content that isn’t visible on the screen. Past and future occurrences, for example, can be conveyed in cinema through the use of leitmotifs, a term adopted from Wagner’s operas that refers to a recurrent theme that comes to symbolize a character, idea, or event throughout a work by association. John Williams’ original soundtrack for Star Wars (Lucas, 1977), a picture that has been properly described as an epic space opera, exemplifies the skilled usage of leitmotifs. Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, and Obi- Wan Kenobi, among others, have their own leitmotifs that are introduced and skillfully interwoven into the rich orchestral soundtrack, frequently at emotional high points.

Young Luke, for example, sees the double sunset of Tatooine in one scene. In the words of composer John Williams, “the subject of emotional transmission is a major concern for those interested in cross-cultural distinctions linked to music.” If music is claimed to have “meaning,” part of that meaning is the communication of emotion, as previously noted. One of the authors (PQP) recalls seeing Kaige Chen’s film Farewell My Concubine as one of his earliest exposures to Chinese opera (1993). This video concentrates on a certain moment that is replayed numerous times (from an opera of the same name). During the initial presentation, it sounded peculiar to the author —entertaining but without transmitting any distinct emotional message. However, towards the conclusion of the movie, the music had grown more recognizable. The emotional outlines of the sequence grew clearer as a result of this familiarity, and the sad message of the sequence emerged. It’s reasonable to believe that regular exposure is required to comprehend emotional communication from any ‘foreign’ culture.

Is that the case? In fact, research reveals that even after the first exposure, listeners can recognize the emotion being expressed in music from a foreign culture, even if they are not as moved inwardly by that song as a listener who is more familiar with that music. Balkwill and Thompson (1999) discovered that listeners from North America could identify the intended emotions in Hindustani rags based mostly on features of musical structure that are not peculiar to that cultural system, such as pace and pitch range, discovered that if recordings featured a certain timbral cue, Western listeners perceived the emotional purpose of Russian laments as more mournful and internally cohesive. The timbral cue in this example was a ‘gasping’ sound made when the lamenter inhaled deeply (an exaggerated and sustained bout of inspiration). Long falling phrases describe laments, in which the vocalist communicates her intense sadness.

Although the manner of musical representation differs widely between cultures (for example, tonal structure and rhythmic rhythms), there appears to be a common set of emotional archetypes to examine. Daniel Levitin’s latest book, The World in Six Songs, makes a compelling case for this viewpoint (2008). All civilizations, according to Levitin, have generated songs that reflect key shared feelings such as friendship, joy, comfort, wisdom, religion, and love. Music is fascinating in part because it is culturally distinct while still being universal. The meaning of music is both confined by and extended across civilizations. A linguistic contrast is instructive. Linguists often think that the world’s languages are various specialized representations of a shared core of more basic principles, similar to how musicologists believe. Music, on the other hand, differs from language in that the meaning of a foreign language is largely opaque to non-native speakers. Research suggests, on the other hand, that music can transmit its intent to the unschooled listener. At the same time, the purpose of music isn’t set in stone. Finally, it’s possible that music unites people more effectively than language while also serving as a medium for cultural variation in the same way that language does.

6. Conclusions
What conclusions can we draw from the existing studies? Clearly, it is far too early to say whether musical sound importance is a result of culturally taught standards or universally shared brain and cognitive processes. Music is almost certainly the outcome of interactions between culturally unique and universal components. Exploring the manifestation of universal traits in diverse cultures is the most exciting study path to take. Although generalizations from present research may be premature, several fascinating possibilities for future study might be generated. First, it appears that cultures contain similar ‘core’ characteristics but that these fundamental characteristics are embellished in ways that appeal to diverse audiences. As a result, musical complexity is the greatest place to look for cultural distinctiveness. Second, according to some of the studies described above, the temporal domain of music has more ‘universal’ qualities than the pitch domain. Finally, it appears that there are cultural disparities between ‘art’ music and ‘folk’ (or ‘popular’) music when it comes to performance.

Furthermore, cross-cultural comparisons should be careful not to mix the terms “culture” and “musical style” (e.g., classical versus popular). These concepts are, of course, speculative and illustrative rather than definitive. As we said earlier, cross-cultural attention is a ‘growing’ field in music psychology, and while it is progressing quickly, we still have a long way to go. We have purposefully utilized this chapter on culture and music as the book’s last debate. In our perspective, music psychology encompasses the full range of musical experience, from the physical vibrations of sound to the sort of profound meaning that drives people to dedicate so much time, money, and emotional energy to music and music-making. Furthermore, the universality of music throughout civilizations — despite their similarities and variations— demonstrates the basic relevance of music to human life.

As a result, we’ll end with a musing about music’s overall relevance. It might be argued that music serves as a mirror of human experience, in the vein of Levitin’s (2008) recent suggestion (and reflecting previous Socratic thought). The essence of this mirroring was mentioned before, in that music might be structurally ‘isomorphic’ to interior emotional experiences (Lan ger, 1942). Furthermore, certain parts of music might be claimed to be global to the extent that emotions are universal. Cultural differences can be compared to linguistic differences in this sense, as both are used to transmit universal concepts and sentiments. Music communicates comparable concepts through diverse tonal and rhythmic frameworks, much as languages express the same ideas with different vocabulary and grammar. The profound significance of music and the tremendous delight it has brought people throughout history is very definitely due to music’s ability to convey the complexities and depths of human life. The End

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Boltz, M. G. (2004). The cognitive processing of film and musical soundtracks. Memory & Cognition. | Bullerjahn, C., & Güldenring, M. (1994). An empirical investigation of effects of film music using qualitative content analysis. Psychomusicology. | Cohen, A. J. (2001). Music as a source of emotion in film. In P. N. Juslin & J. A. Sloboda (Eds.), Music and emotion: Theory and research (pp. 249–272). Oxford: Oxford University Press. | Cohen, A. J. (2001). Music as a source of emotion in film. In P. N. Juslin & J. A. Sloboda (Eds.), Music and emotion: Theory and research Oxford: Oxford University Press. | Langer, S. K. (1953). Feeling and form. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. | Levitin, D. J., & Menon, V. (2003). Musical structure is processed in ‘language’ areas of the brain: A possible role for Brodmann Area 47 in temporal coherence. NeuroImage. | McKeage, K. M. (2004). Gender and participation in high school and college instrumental jazz ensembles. Journal of Research in Music Education. | North, A. C., Colley, A. M., & Hargreaves, D. J. (2003). Adolescents’ perceptions of the music of male and female composers. Psychology of Music. | Siu-Lan Tan, Peter Pfordresher and Rom Harré (2010). The psychology of music, Psychology Press. | Wehr-Flowers, E. (2006). Differences between male and female students’ confidence, anxiety, and attitude toward learning jazz improvisation. Journal of Research in Music Education.

Publications by students: https://www.aiu.edu/student-publications/

Learning

Rewards

Why incentives do more harm than good.

The use of rewards in the classroom has been a topic of debate for decades. While some argue they can be effective in promoting positive behavior and academic achievement, others believe they can be detrimental to a student’s intrinsic motivation and overall well-being. In today’s world, rewards are often used as a means of motivating students to complete tasks or behave in certain ways. However, research suggests that rewards may actually have a negative impact on intrinsic motivation and mental health. Some of the unintended consequences of rewarding students are Rewards decrease intrinsic motivation, increase anxiety and shame, create a feeling of being controlled, increase a fixed mindset, decrease generosity and caring nature, promote masking, treat the symptoms, not the root causes, devalue the actual task, increase dependence on external validation, and decrease self-esteem. Alfie Kohn, author & educational expert emphasizes that it is not how motivated students are, but rather how they are motivated that matters. Psychologists distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, where intrinsic motivation is seen as meaningful, while extrinsic motivation sees the action or value as just a means to an end. More than a hundred studies have shown that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are inversely related. ... Read full text:

Su!c!de

Are tiktok algorithms changing how people talk about it?

Kayla Williams has never said the word “suicide” on TikTok, even though she uses the platform to discuss mental health issues with her 80,000 followers. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the 26-year-old student from Berkshire, England, has posted multiple videos about suicidal ideation and her stay in a psychiatric ward. Some of these clips are lighthearted, others far more serious. Yet Williams does not utter the word “suicide” to her front-facing camera, or type it in her captions, for fear the TikTok algorithm will censor or remove her content. Instead, she uses the word “unalive.” The hashtag #unalivemeplease has 9.2 million views on TikTok; #unaliving has 6.6 million; #unaliveawareness has an additional 2.2 million. Though #suicideprevention is a frequently used tag on the app, the hashtags #suicide and #suicideawareness do not exist—if you search for them, TikTok pulls up the number for a local crisis helpline. It’s a well-intentioned policy, initiated in September 2021, a year after a graphic video of a suicide spread across the app. ... While the word “unalive” first became popular in 2013 (when it was used in an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man), Google searches for the term have spiked dramatically in 2022. ... Williams also swaps out other mental health terminology so her videos aren’t automatically flagged for review —“eating disorder” becomes “ED,” “self-harm” is “SH,” “depression” is “d3pression.” ... Read full text:


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Black Hole eating

...a Neutron Star —gravitational waves suspected detection.

A likely detection has been made of gravitational waves from a longsought event: a black hole consuming a neutron star, and telescopes worldwide are hoping to confirm it. The signal was picked up by LIGO during an engineering run, and the circular alerting astronomers acknowledges uncertainty remains. Nevertheless, there is a better than even chance one of the rarest and most dramatic events in the universe has finally been caught in the act. The world has spent decades and a great deal of money establishing detectors capable of confirming the existence of gravitational waves, a crucial prediction of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Having succeeded in that goal, the quest shifted to catching waves from three main types of cataclysmic events: the merger of two black holes; collisions between two neutron stars; and a black hole swallowing a neutron star. Continuous gravitational waves, caused not by a single event but an ongoing process such as the spinning of a not-quite-spherical neutron star, represent a separate and even harder to find category. The first black hole merger detection was arguably the physics highlight of 2016, followed by the discovery of neutron stars colliding to trigger what is now called a kilonova in 2017. ... The race is on to try to change that this time. ...
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Blue Origin

NASA picks it to make a second human-crewed lunar lander.

NASA has picked Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to make a lunar lander for an upcoming Artemis mission to the Moon, the agency announced. As part of the $3.4 billion contract, there will be one uncrewed “demonstration mission” ahead of a human-crewed demo that’s set to take place in 2029 for the Artemis V mission, according to a press release. Currently, the plan for the Artemis V mission is for four astronauts to first fly to the Gateway space station on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. Then, two astronauts will go to the Moon on Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander for “about a weeklong trip to the Moon’s South Pole region,” NASA said. “Adding another human landing system partner to NASA’s Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, support a regular cadence of lunar landings, further invest in the lunar economy, and help NASA achieve its goals on and around the Moon in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars,” NASA said. Blue Origin is the second company to land a contract with NASA for a lunar lander for Artemis. SpaceX was the first, winning the sole contract in 2021, and Blue Origin lost a lawsuit against NASA over the decision later that year. However, NASA announced in 2022 that it would develop a second human lunar lander, inviting space companies to make proposals. ... Read full text


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Racism is not a design motif

Stephen Burks

traveled to the Milan Furniture Fair, but there my attention was gripped by the controversy of a racist exhibition called The Collector, by Italian architect Massimo Adario. Within Campo Base, curated by Federica Sala, The Collector displayed glass figurines produced in the 1920s, part of Adario’s own collection. Intended to be “ironic,” these decorative objects depicted non-European peoples in grotesque, racially charged caricatures. Shocked, Anna Carnick, Jenny Nguyen, and I returned to the U.S. and released a joint statement on Instagram, alerting the design community to the harmful message The Collector exhibition was spreading. ... Designers from across the industry demanded an apology, which Adario and Sala finally gave. ... I arrived to the salone in Milan believing that progress in the design industry had been made, but I was reminded how quickly the pendulum swings from the “democratic” left, where “all men” are supposedly created equal, to the far right, where fascism and racism seem to exist and thrive undeterred. ... Read full text:

Sou Fujimoto

Tokyo toilet incorporates elongated communal sink.

Replacing a toilet block near the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel in downtown Tokyo, the Fujimoto-designed structure is the 17th toilet built in the city as part of the Tokyo Toilet project. It includes toilets designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winners Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando, Fumihiko Maki and Shigeru Ban. Fujimoto’s toilet block was designed to resemble a large sink and incorporates a communal hand-washing area. “One could say that public toilets are a watering place in the middle of a city, a spring that supplies the town ... They are available to various people who will use it for different reasons in addition to using the toilet, and I wanted to propose a space for washing hands as a public watering place” said the Japanese architect. An open-air corridor separates the all-white toilet block from the elliptical basin that has four taps set at different heights. “It is one vessel that is for everyone,” explained Fujimoto. "The shape, with a large depression in the middle, includes places for people of various heights to wash their hands, so that everyone from children to older people can wash their hands within this vessel, creating a small community of people refreshing themselves and conversing," he added. ... Read full text

iWALK

Knee crutches.

Unlike crutches and knee scooters, the iWALK3.0 is a hands-free mobility device. This means daily living activities, such as shopping, working, cooking and child care, are possible with the iWALK3.0. There’s many reasons many patients prefer the iWALK. But being able to live a life without putting it all on hold is the biggest factor in keeping upbeat, staving off depression and maintaining wellbeing during recovery. Exercise has a huge bearing on wellbeing, and it’s simply not possible with crutches. Of course, you’ll have to postpone that marathon, but maintaining an active lifestyle is still very much possible, as many iWALK users have demonstrated. Working out at the gym, golfing, bowling, even hiking. Also, iWALK 3.0 is a game changing temporary lower leg prosthetic that many below-knee amputees use daily. ... Read full text

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Hot flashes

FDA approves drug to treat them.

While not quite as effective as the standard treatment —estrogen or estrogen coupled with progestin— the new prescription drug, fezolinetant, will be welcomed by those who struggle with vasomotor symptoms —episodes of intense heat along with sweating and flushing— and won’t or can’t take hormonal therapy, such as breast cancer survivors. The pills will be marketed as Veozah to treat moderate to severe hot flashes, the most common symptom caused by menopause which can last for several years or as long as a decade or more. “I’m so excited about this FDA ruling,” said Dr. Mary Rosser, an assistant professor of women’s health at the Columbia University ... “We’re talking about something that is going to be powerful.” Rosser said the drug will be a “game-changer” for women who don’t want to take hormone replacement therapy or who have been treated for hormone-sensitive cancers. That includes patients like Diane Hoard, whose hot flashes came on strong shortly after she hit menopause. Hoard remembers a day when the temperature was hovering around 32 degrees. “I had sweat running down my forehead. I was miserable” she told NBC News. A prescription for hormone therapy quieted the hot flashes. But a year after she started taking the medication, Hoard was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer and told she couldn’t take hormones anymore. ... Read full text:

Faulty memory

A feature, not a bug.

In 1985, the Estonian-Canadian psychologist Endel Tulving, with the help of his American student Daniel Schacter, reported a case study of an amnesiac patient named N.N., who had a severe memory impairment. What interested Tulving about the patient was that while some aspects of the man’s memory were impaired, other aspects seemed to work just like anyone else’s. N.N. was perfectly able to memorize a series of random digits, what cognitive psychologists call semantic memory — the ability to recall facts, dates, names, numbers, and other abstract information. The problem was N.N.’s episodic memory. He was unable to bring to mind personal experiences from his life. ... The case of N.N. suggested to Tulving that there was potentially a neural connection between memory and imagination —that our ability to think retrospectively about the past was in a fundamental way connected to our ability to think prospectively about the future. Poet T.S. Eliot’s famous line, “Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future,” had entered the neurological age. Misremembering and forgetting allow for the cognitive flexibility required by imagination. Taking this idea a step further, Addis [a New Zealand neuroscientist] and others suggested that memory supports a “simulation” system in the brain. Memory allows us to imagine not just the future, but to take alternative perspectives on the present. ... Read full text:


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Deep sea mining

Despite warnings, Norway proposes opening an area.

Norway is moving forward with plans to mine its continental shelf to procure minerals critical for renewable energy technologies. However, some scientists, members of civil society and even industry leaders have raised concerns about Norway’s proposal, arguing that deep-sea mining in this part of the ocean could cause widespread environmental harm. The nation’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has proposed opening up a 329,000-square-kilometer (127,000-square-mile) portion of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining, an area nearly the size of Germany. The region overlaps with many marine areas previously flagged by Norwegian research institutes and government agencies as vulnerable or valuable. ... According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), today’s mineral supply will fall short of what’s needed to transform the energy sector, resulting in a delayed and more expensive transition to renewable technologies. A recent study in Nature Communications suggested that demand will escalate as countries work to replace gas-combustion vehicles with electric ones. For instance, it suggested that if nations aim to make all vehicles electric by 2050, the global demand will increase by 7,513% for lithium, 5,426% for nickel, 2,838% for manganese and 2,684% for cobalt. The study also pointed out that most of these critical minerals were available only in ...
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Clothes

Can they ever be fully recycled?

The Swedish pulp producer Renewcell has just opened the world’s first commercial-scale, textile-totextile chemical recycling pulp mill, after spending 10 years developing the technology. While mechanical textiles-to-textiles recycling, which involves the manual shredding of clothes and pulling them apart into their fibres, has existed for centuries, Renewcell is the first commercial mill to use chemical recycling, allowing it to increase quality and scale production. With ambitions to recycle the equivalent of more than 1.4 billion T-shirts every year by 2030, the new plant marks the beginning of a significant shift in the fashion industry’s ability to recycle used clothing at scale. “The linear model of fashion consumption is not sustainable,” says Patrik Lundström. “We can't deplete Earth’s natural resources by pumping oil to make polyester, cut down trees to make viscose or grow cotton, and then use these fibres just once in a linear value chain ending in oceans, landfills or incinerators. We need to make fashion circular.” ... Each year, more than 100 billion items of clothing are produced globally, with 65% of these ending up in landfill within 12 months. Landfill sites release equal parts carbon dioxide and methane ... The fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions, according to the UN. ... Just 1% of recycled clothes are turned back into new garments. ... Read full text:

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Displaced people

Conflict and climate disasters create record rise.

The number of people around the world who were forced to flee their homes leapt by a fifth last year, as a “perfect storm” of Russia’s assault on Ukraine and climate disasters brought displacement on an unprecedented scale. By the end of 2022 the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) —those forced from their homes but remaining within their country of residence— reached 71 million, according to figures published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), up from 59.1 million in 2021. The number of movements made by people as they went in search of safety and shelter was also unprecedented, with the figure of 60.9m marking an increase of 60% on the previous year. About 17m of those movements were triggered by the war in Ukraine, where an estimated 5.9 million people are thought to have fled their homes, many having to move repeatedly in an effort to find resources or a place to stay, or just a refuge from fighting. The report warns that ... even those numbers “should be considered conservative”. The “monsoon on steroids” that hit Pakistan last summer was also a leading driver of displacement, with the flooding that devastated much of the country triggering more than 8m movements. The report does not include the early months of 2023 but indicates a dramatic rise in displacement after the latest outbreak of fighting in Sudan. ...
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Touchscreens

Causing huge accessibility problems for blind people.

Nadia Mattiazzo remembers going to her regular café, back in 2016, and trying to buy a cup of coffee. There was no way she could pay for it. Mattiazzo, who is blind, said the café had installed a new eftpos machine [electronic funds transfer at point of sale] which had a touchscreen. With no fixed buttons to help her orientate the location of the digits, she could not enter her PIN. Mattiazzo teamed up with former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes to sue the Commonwealth Bank, taking their landmark case to the Federal Court. In January 2019, the bank agreed to settle the case and improve their eftpos touchscreen terminals to enhance accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision. But now, the rapid proliferation of touchscreens means the problem is worse than ever, according to disability advocates. “They’re everywhere. You go to the supermarket and the self-service checkouts are touchscreen. Where are the buttons? ... With fewer and fewer checkouts at supermarkets manned by staff, it is becoming a more stressful experience. I use online shopping a lot, but if I go to the shops I just have to hope somebody is available to go through the items with me and put them through the checkout,” Mattiazzo said. ... Then there are other items with touchscreens, like vending machines and lifts. Last week, Mario Bonds shared a video to TikTok of himself being stuck in a lift for 10 minutes at ...
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Lynx

Hundreds to be hunted in Sweden.

Sweden has issued licences to hunters to kill a total of 201 lynx, weeks after dozens of wolves were killed in the country’s biggest wolf cull in modern times. The number of licences to kill lynx throughout March, issued by Sweden’s country administrations, is more than double the number in recent years. The planned cull is out of all proportion to any danger to livestock or people, say wildlife conservationists and activists, who are asking the EU to take action against Sweden for breaching environmental law. “This is a trophy hunt, just like going to Africa to hunt lions,” said Magnus Orrebrant, the head of Svenska Rovdjursföreningen, an animal rights advocacy group that has started a petition calling for the trophy hunting of lynx to be stopped. “Hundreds of foreign hunters come to Sweden for lynx hunting because they think it is exciting.” Conservationists warned last month that the lynx population in Europe could collapse unless immediate efforts are made to protect the animals. Tests on the remaining cats in France show that their genetic diversity is so low they will become locally extinct within the next 30 years without intervention. There are around 1,450 lynx spread across Sweden, about 300 fewer than 10 years ago. Naturvårdsverket, the Swedish environmental protection agency, argues that the country needs only 870 animals to maintain a healthy population. ...
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Taxonomy

In the depths, it represents a great challenge.

On Feb. 27, 2016, the Deep Discoverer, an undersea exploration vehicle operated remotely by researchers, found something new: a pale octopus at the bottom of the ocean off the Hawaiian archipelago, more than two and a half miles below the ocean surface. ... “It didn’t match the descriptions of anything that I was familiar with,” says Michael Vecchione, a zoologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who was watching the live video feed that day. ... The animal’s ghost like appearance gave rise to a charming if obvious nickname: “Casper octopus.” But seven years later the species still doesn’t have a formal scientific name. Describing a new species has traditionally required a physical specimen, known as a holotype, that can be preserved in a museum and referenced in perpetuity ... But no specimen of the Casper octopus has yet been collected, a fairly common circumstance for deepsea creatures glimpsed on research video feeds. ... “There’s a whole range of animals I can tell you that we’ve seen once,” says Alan Jamieson, a marine biologist. When they encounter a solitary, neverseen- before organism there, they don’t know how old or rare it might be, and are therefore hesitant to collect it. “I don’t see the point in doing something irresponsible just for the sake of doing it by the rules,” says Jamieson. “The rules have been written for other environments.” ...
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Campus

CREATING AUTISTIC SUFFERING:

In the beginning there was trauma

TRIGGER WARNING: Some of the research quoted in this article contains person-first language or references to aspergers. While the authors do not agree with the use of such language, we must access the research and statistics available to us. We are also aware that some of the research cites Simon Baron-Cohen, unfortunately it is almost impossible to avoid him when writing this kind of article. There are also detailed discussions of various traumatic experiences including mentions of suicide, addiction, and mental health issues.

This website [emergentdivergence. com] houses extensive writing on the topic of Autistic people and addiction, poor mental health, and suicidality, but we are yet to answer one very important question; how do autistic people end up suffering? The truth is that it requires falling dominoes of extensive systemic failure and trauma. In this series of articles, we hope to explore some of the reasons behind the development of poor outcomes in the Autistic population. The reasons listed in this article are non-exhaustive, and we would like to highlight that Autistic people are failed repeatedly throughout their lives. This is alarmingly evident in the suicide rate for Autistic people. In a large-scale clinical study of newly diagnosed adults, 66% self-reported, reported that they had experienced suicidal ideation. This is significantly higher than suicide rates among the general population of the UK (17%) and those experiencing psychosis (59%); 35% of those involved in the study had planned or attempted suicide (Cass idy, S. et al; 2014).

Trauma Trauma is a significant predictor of poor outcomes in all people, regardless of neurotype. Since the 1900’s research has indicated that there is a strong link between psychological stress in childhood and adult behaviour (Zarse , E. M. et al; 2019). What we can infer from this, is that childhood trauma plays a role in the development of poor mental health and addiction in adults. The question that arises from that statement is; what constitutes trauma for an Autistic person? There is an consistent theme in the Autistic community that there is no such thing as an untraumatised Autistic. Kieran Rose (2021) has discussed previously how the diagnostic criteria is based on trauma behaviours, rather than Autistic experience. David Gray-Hammond (2020) has also discussed how current diagnostic criteria is based on Autistic people in distress, and as we move towards a world where Autistic people are better supported and accommodated, the criteria will need to change.

There are strong well evidenced links between autism and PTSD, and links between PTSD and addiction, yet for some reason no one seems to connect the dots. There is also significant evidence of a connection between autism and poor mental health and wellbeing, and connections between poor mental health and addiction. Again, no one seems interested in exploring that intersection. So, what constitutes trauma in Autistic people? First, we need to consider sensory trauma. Autistic people are subject to sensory trauma on a daily basis, it is not something that can be avoided in todays society, rather we are literally traumatised by living in a neurotypical world (Fulton, R. et al; 2020). Bearing in mind our sensory differences, this is something that is happening to us from birth. We are experiencing trauma from birth. Some argue that this could possibly be from prior to birth. We also experience significant sensory invalidation. Think about the number of times a child has said something is too loud, too hot, too busy; the amount of times that has been met with “don’t be silly”, “there’s nothing to be scared of”. “Society invalidates the Autistic state of being, daily, hourly, minute by minute —every time one of those scenarios, plus a million more occur.”

Rose, K. (2018) Autistic people are also at risk of ‘Mate Crime’. Mate crime is a partcular subset of hate crime where vulnerable individuals are targeted by people posing as friends in order to take advantage of and abuse the individual (Pea rson , A. an d Forster, S.; 2019). Dr. Chloe Farahar and David Gray-Hammond (2021) had a livestream discussion about Autistic people and crime that included discussion of mate crime, the recording can be found here https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=DkcEP9CDwFM “In a 2015 survey, 80% of autistic people reported that they had been taken advantage of by someone they considered to be a friend. This was a colossal leap from the already significant 48% which had been previously recorded and it illustrated a problematic truth: Autistic people make easy targets.” Sinclair, J. (2020) Unfortunately, mate crime is not just an experience of Autistic adults (Parry, H.; 2015). A significant concern for Autistic people is bullying. Bullying can happen to anyone, but it is well known that it happens to Autistic people at a much higher rate. “I really didn’t understand why kids chased me on the playground. All I know is that when they saw me, and they saw me talking to myself and rubbing my hands together and stimming, that I was all of a sudden ‘marked.’” Wise, M. (2019) Physical violence and hateful slurs from peers is a common experience for Autistic people of all ages. Society itself does not cope well with the existence of diversity. It starts young, but only increases in frequency and severity as we grow up, it can turn into things such as financial and sexual exploitation.

Of course, we can not discuss Autistic trauma without reference to behaviourism. For decades, “therapies” such as ABA and PBS have traumatised Autistic people. In fact, in the UK, SEND support is designed around making an Autistic person behave in a neurotypical manner. Considering this, is it any surprise that Autistic people walk away from these experiences with a great deal of trauma (Adkin, T.; 2021). We are literally being taught that who we are is wrong, and that our needs and wants don’t matter. Often Autistic communication is invalidated because we do not communicate in the same way as nonautistic people. Many of us are non-speaking, communicating through AAC and similar. Many of us also have co-occurring conditions that make spoken communication a challenge. Autistic people communicate differently, we know this because it’s medically defined as a social communication “disorder”. What constitutes a disorder is defined by the medical model of disability and autism research. Difference is always assumed to be less, this is reflected in the systemic ableism and the insistence that different communication is some how less valid. Many people have thought that they knew me, but see me in light of my mute mouth and wrongly understood that I think and feel nothing. People are too blind to see the person that I am behind my happy smile. I feel that I am loving and kind and also know that I am empathetic and thoughtful, with feelings that can overwhelm my mind and then they cause me to act like an utter fool.

Hernandez, P. (2021) We may not know how to communicate what is happening to us, we may have tried to communicate but it is misunderstood by the people around us, we may have experienced so much communication invalidation that we just stop trying. This can be particularly true of people who do not communicate using mouth words, especially because society has perpetuated a myth that non-speaking means non-thinking. What ever way you look at it, Autistic communication is considered less valid. Often, being Autistic can be used as a reason to cast us out. All of this means that many Autistic people will isolate themselves from the world, and that isolation starts from a young age. Mazurek, M. O. (2014) stated that greater quantity and quality of friendships were associated with decreased loneliness in Autistic adults. Here’s the problem, Autistic people are in the minority. We do not have access to community as children, especially if we are pushed through a mainstream institution. Even if there are other Autistic people in that class, we do not know what it means to be Autistic. The double empathy problem tells us that we have better interactions and quality of relationships with other Autistic people as opposed to neurotypicals. Autistic and non-autistic people exist in two different social contexts (Milton , D.; 2012). “…double empathy problem’ refers to a breach in the ‘natural attitude’ (Garfinkel 1967) that occurs between people of different dispositional outlooks and personal conceptual understandings when attempts are made to communicate meaning” Milton, D. (2012) This disjuncture between Autistic and non-autistic communication can be traumatic for the Autistic person (Milton , D.; 2012).

Finally, we need to talk about restraint and seclusion. There are many different forms of restraint and seclusion, but each one of them teaches us from a young age that we do not have autonomy. It teaches us that our communication is not valid, that when we react to situations that we find overwhelming or distressing, we get punished. An ABA practitioner physically holding our hands still, is a form of restraint. But restraint has a darker side. As an example, we might look at the case of Max Benson, a 13 year old Autistic child who died as a result of being restrained for over two hours (Vance , T.; 2019). This isn’t just a problem in the USA though, it is happening in the UK also. A 12 year old Autistic child was restrained and handcuffed by police on his first day of secondary school, he was 5ft tall, and multiple police officers and staff used force to restrain him (Halle, M. an d Cardy, P.; 2021). I think it is clear why this is traumatic for Autistic people.

Every school in the UK has a restraint policy. Sold as being for “everyone’s safety” while in fact it remains state sanctioned abuse. We have toddlers being restrained into preschool, into environments that cause them sensory trauma. Parents are told “they’re fine once they’re in” by people who have no understanding of masking. If you’re too big to be physically restrained, they use chemical restraint. David Gray-Hammond (2020) writes of his experience as an undiagnosed Autistic person in a psychiatric ward. He discusses how, due to being a large man, staff chose to chemically restrain him with a heavy regime of antipsychotics and sedatives, rather than address the issues that were causing him distress. It’s not just adults that are victims of chemical restraint, children under the age of 10 years old have been prescribed antipsychotic medications because it is cheaper and more convenient than meeting their needs. Seclusion is a problem because it uses isolation as a form of coercion. Children and adults who do not conform to societies neuronormative ideals are secluded for long periods in isolation, seemingly as a punishment for not being “normal”. It’s inordinately unethical, and yet ethics don’t seem to apply when the victim is neurodivergent.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS David Gray-Hammond. He is an Autistic consultant and trainer, educating on the topics of Autistic experience, mental health, and drug and alcohol use. He is the author of The New Normal and A Treatise on Chaos that consider how we might evolve and grow as a society and individuals. Consultancy services: http://www.dghneurodivergentconsultancy.co.uk Tanya Adkin. As a late identified Autistic/ADHD adult, a parent to two children with multiple neurodivergence, and a professional working within the voluntary sector from a young age, I have unique insight from all perspectives. ... I have worked within the voluntary sector, starting within the disabled children’s service, progressing on to mental health, healthcare funding, youth services, domestic abuse, and much more. ... I am dedicating to educating in neurodivergent experience in order to help families thrive by providing insight, reframing, and perspective in an accessible and personable way.

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Standing desk balance board.

Designed to provide a challenge and engage your entire body with just the right amount of motion to keep you active. As you get better at balancing, add more air to the nubby rubber cushion (no pump required). www.uncommongoods.com

Outfeet.

An innovative prosthetic leg, designed for amputee women —not only a medical device but a fashion accessory. After the Outfeet prosthetic is fitted by the prosthetist, Outfeet online store will be the place to buy covers suiting the woman’s own personal style. www.aviyaserfaty.com

Cube portable charcoal grill.

Economically designed, the Cube features integrated storage and a heat protection shield on the bottom, so you can place it on most surfaces, such as a wooden picnic table. store.moma.org

Kathleen Dean Moore. (1947–).

“We must live according to the principle of a land ethic. The alternative is that we shall not live at all.”

Kathleen Dean Moore. (1947–). Philosopher, writer, and environmental activist from Oregon State University, USA. Image

Say what?

“You know you’ve reached middle age when you’re cautioned to slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police.”
—Joan Rivers


BACHELOR’S DEGREE in Project Management

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

The Bachelor of Project Management (BA) program objective is to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and critical appreciation of innovation and project management needed to achieve a successful career in projectbased organizations. The Bachelor of Project Management program is offered online via distance learning. After evaluating both academic record and life experience, AIU staff working in conjunction with Faculty and Academic Advisors will assist students in setting up a custom-made program, designed on an individual basis. This flexibility to meet student needs is seldom found in other distance learning programs. Our online program does not require all students to take the same subjects/ courses, use the same books, or learning materials. Instead, the online Bachelor of Project Management curriculum is designed individually by the student and academic advisor. It specifically addresses strengths and weaknesses with respect to market opportunities in the student’s major and intended field of work. Understanding that industry and geographic factors should influence the content of the curriculum instead of a standardized one-fits-all design is the hallmark of AIU’s unique approach to adult education. This philosophy addresses the dynamic and constantly changing environment of working professionals by helping adult students in reaching their professional and personal goals within the scope of the degree program..

Important:

Below is an example of the topics or areas you may develop and work on during your studies. By no means is it a complete or required list as AIU programs do not follow a standardized curriculum. It is meant solely as a reference point and example. Want to learn more about the curriculum design at AIU? Go ahead and visit our website, especially the Course and Curriculum section: http://aiu.edu/course-curriculum.html

Orientation Courses:

Communication & Investigation (Comprehensive Resume)
Organization Theory (Portfolio)
Experiential Learning (Autobiography)
Academic Evaluation (Questionnaire)
Fundament of Knowledge (Integration Chart)
Fundamental Principles I (Philosophy of Education)
Professional Evaluation (Self Evaluation Matrix)
Development of Graduate Study (Guarantee of an Academic Degree)

Core Courses and Topics

Scope Planning
Time Planning
Resource Planning
Cost Planning
Strategic Planning and Direction
Fundamentals of the Strategy
Strategic Objectives
The Strategic Process
Strategy formulation
Strategic Analysis (in the Dynamics
of Business Management)
Strategy Development
Strategy Training and Implementation
The Balanced Scorecard (CMI)
Work Teams: Contextual Aspects
Empowerment: Get the Best of your Team and Collaborators
Financing and Financing Sources
Types of Financing

Research Project

Bachelor Thesis Project
MBM300 Thesis Proposal
MBM302 Bachelor Thesis
(5,000 words)

Publication

Each graduate is encouraged to publish their research papers either online in the public domain or through professional journals and periodicals worldwide.

Contact us to get started

Each graduate is encouraged to publish their research papers either online in the public domain or through professional journals and periodicals worldwide

aiu.edu/apply-online.html

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About Us

Accreditation

Atlantic International University offers distance learning degree programs for adult learners at bachelors, masters, and doctoral level. With self paced program taken online, AIU lifts the obstacles that keep professional adults from completing their educational goals. Programs are available throughout a wide range of majors and areas of study. All of this with a philosophically holistic approach towards education fitting within the balance of your life and acknowledging the key role each individual can play in their community, country, and the world. Atlantic International University is accredited by the Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges and Universities (ASIC). ASIC Accreditation is an internationally renowned quality standard for colleges and universities. Visit ASIC’s Directory of Accredited Colleges and Universities. ASIC is a member of CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG) in the USA, an approved accreditation body by the Ministerial Department of the Home Office in the UK, and is listed in the International Directory of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The University is based in the United States and was established by corporate charter in 1998.

Our founding principles are based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; per article 26, AIU believes that Higher Education is a Human Right. The University has implemented a paradigm shifting educational model for its academic programs that have allowed it to move closer to this goal through the self-empowerment of its students, decentralization of the learning process, personalized open curriculum design, a sustainable learning model, developing 11 core elements of the Human Condition within MYAIU, and utilizing the quasi-infinite knowledge through the use of information technology combined with our own capacity to find solutions to all types of global issues, dynamic problems, and those of individuals and multidisciplinary teams. Due to these differentiations and the university’s mission, only a reputable accrediting agency with the vision and plasticity to integrate and adapt its processes around AIU’s proven and successful innovative programs could be selected. Unfortunately, the vast majority of accrediting agencies adhere to and follow obsolete processes and requirements that have outlived their usefulness and are in direct conflict with the university’s mission of offering a unique, dynamic, affordable, quality higher education to the nontraditional student (one who must work, study what he really needs for professional advancement, attend family issues, etc.). We believe that adopting outdated requirements and processes would impose increased financial burdens on students while severely limiting their opportunities to earn their degree and advance in all aspects. Thus, in selecting the ASIC as its accrediting agency, AIU ensured that its unique programs would not be transformed into a copy or clone of those offered by the 10,000+ colleges and universities around the world. Since ASIC is an international accrediting agency based outside the United States, we are required by statute HRS446E to place the following disclaimer: ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IS NOT ACCREDITED BY AN ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF EDUCATION. Note: In the United States and abroad, many licensing authorities require accredited degrees as the basis for eligibility for licensing.

In some cases, accredited colleges may not accept for transfer courses and degrees completed at unaccredited colleges, and some employers may require an accredited degree as a basis for eligibility for employment. Potential students should consider how the above may affect their interests, AIU respects the unique rules and regulations of each country and does not seek to influence the respective authorities. In the event that a prospective student wishes to carry out any government review or process in regards to his university degree, we recommend that the requirements of such are explored in detail with the relevant authorities by the prospective student as the university does not intervene in such processes. AIU students can be found in over 180 countries, they actively participate and volunteer in their communities as part of their academic program and have allocated thousands of service hours to diverse causes and initiatives. AIU programs follow the standards commonly used by colleges and universities in the United States with regards to the following: academic program structure, degree issued, transcript, and other graduation documents. AIU graduation documents can include an apostille and authentication from the US Department of State to facilitate their use internationally.

The AIU Difference

It is acknowledged that the act of learning is endogenous, (from within), rather than exogenous.

This fact is the underlying rationale for “Distance Learning”, in all of the programs offered by AIU. The combination of the underlying principles of student “self instruction”, (with guidance), collaborative development of curriculum unique to each student, and flexibility of time and place of study, provides the ideal learning environment to satisfy individual needs.

AIU is an institution of experiential learning and nontraditional education at a distance. There are no classrooms and attendance is not required.

Mission & Vision

MISSION:

To be a higher learning institution concerned about generating cultural development alternatives likely to be sustained in order to lead to a more efficient administration of the world village and its environment; exerting human and community rights through diversity with the ultimate goal of the satisfaction and evolution of the world.

VISION:

The empowerment of the individual towards the convergence of the world through a sustainable educational design based on andragogy and omniology.

Organizational Structure

Dr. Franklin Valcin
Presi den t/Academic Dean
Dr. José Mercado
Chief Executive Officer
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Ricardo González, PhD
Provost
     
Dr. Ricardo Gonzalez
Chief Operation Officer
and MKT Director
Linda Collazo
Logistics Coordinator

AIU Tutors Coordinators:

Deborah Rodriguez
Amiakhor Ejaeta
Amanda Gutierrez
William Mora
Miriam James



Admissions Coordinators:
Amalia Aldrett
Sandra Garcia
Junko Shimizu
Veronica Amuz
Alba Ochoa
Jenis Garcia
Judith Brown
Chris Soto
René Cordón
Dr. Anderas Rissler



Academic Coordinators:
Dr. Adesida Oluwafemi
Dr. Emmanuel Gbagu
Dr. Lucia Gorea
Dr. Edgar Colon
Dr. Mario Rios
Freddy Frejus
Dr. Nilani Ljunggren
De Silva
Dr. Scott Wilson
Dr. Mohammad Shaidul Islam
   
Dr. Miriam Garibaldi
Vice provost for Research
Carolina Valdes
Human Resource Coordinator
   
Dr. Ofelia Miller
Director of AIU
Carlos Aponte
Teleco mmunications Coordinator
   
Clara Margalef
Director of Special Projects
of AIU
David Jung
Corporate/Legal Counsel
   
Juan Pablo Moreno
Director of Operations
Bruce Kim
Advisor/Consultant
   
Paula Viera
Director of Intelligence Systems
Thomas Kim
Corporate/
Accounting Counsel
   
Felipe Gomez
Design Director / IT Supervisor
Maricela Esparza
Administrative Coordinator
   
Kevin Moll
Web Designer
Chris Benjamin
IT and Hosting Support
   
Daritza Ysla
IT Coordinator
Maria Pastrana
Accounting Coordinator
   
Daritza Ysla
IT Coordinator
Roberto Aldrett
Communications Coordinator
   
Nadeem Awan
Chief Programming Officer
Giovanni Castillo
IT Support
   
Dr. Edward Lambert
Academic Director
Antonella Fonseca
Quality Control & Data Analysis
   
Dr. Ariadna Romero
Advisor Coordinator
Adrián Varela
Graphic Design
   
Jhanzaib Awan
Senior Programmer
Vanesa D’Angelo
Content Writer
   
Leonardo Salas
Human Resource Manager
Jaime Rotlewicz
Dean of Admissions
   
Benjamin Joseph
IT and Technology Support
Michael Phillips
Registrar’s Office
   
Rosie Perez
Finance Coordinator
 
     

FACULTY AND STAFF PAGE: www.aiu.edu/FacultyStaff.html


School of Business and Economics

The School of Business and Economics allows aspiring and practicing professionals, managers, and entrepreneurs in the private and public sectors to complete a self paced distance learning degree program of the highest academic standard. The ultimate goal is to empower learners and help them take advantage of the enormous array of resources from the world environment in order to eliminate the current continuum of poverty and limitations. Degree programs are designed for those students whose professional experience has been in business, marketing, administration, economics, finance and management.

Areas of Study:

Accounting, Advertising, Banking, Business Administration, Communications, Ecommerce, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Home Economics, Human Resources, International Business, International Finance, Investing, Globalization, Marketing, Management, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Public Administrations, Sustainable Development, Public Relations, Telecommunications, Tourism, Trade.

School of Social and Human Studies

The School of Social and Human Studies is focused on to the development of studies which instill a core commitment to building a society based on social and economic justice and enhancing opportunities for human well being. The founding principles lie on the basic right of education as outlined in the Declaration of Human Rights. We instill in our students a sense of confidence and self reliance in their ability to access the vast opportunities available through information channels, the world wide web, private, public, nonprofit, and nongovernmental organizations in an ever expanding global community. Degree programs are aimed towards those whose professional life has been related to social and human behavior, with the arts, or with cultural studies.

Areas of Study:

Psychology, International Affairs, Sociology, Political Sciences, Architecture, Legal Studies, Public Administration, Literature and languages, Art History, Ministry, African Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies, European Studies, Islamic Studies, Religious Studies.

School of Science and Engineering

The School of Science and Engineering seeks to provide dynamic, integrated, and challenging degree programs designed for those whose experience is in industrial research, scientific production, engineering and the general sciences. Our system for research and education will keep us apace with the twenty-first century reach scientific advance in an environmentally and ecologically responsible manner to allow for the sustainability of the human population. We will foster among our students a demand for ethical behavior, an appreciation for diversity, an understanding of scientific investigation, knowledge of design innovation, a critical appreciation for the importance of technology and technological change for the advancement of humanity.

Areas of Study:

Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Communications, Petroleum Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Nutrition Science, Agricultural Science, Computer Science, Sports Science, Renewable Energy, Geology, Urban Planning.

Online Library Resources

With access to a global catalog created and maintained collectively by more than 9,000 participating institutions, AIU students have secured excellent research tools for their study programs.

The AIU online library contains over 2 billion records and over 300 million bibliographic records that are increasing day by day. The sources spanning thousands of years and virtually all forms of human expression. There are files of all kinds, from antique inscribed stones to e-books, form wax engravings to MP3s, DVDs and websites. In addition to the archives, the library AIU Online offers electronic access to more than 149,000 e-books, dozens of databases and more than 13 million full-text articles with pictures included. Being able to access 60 databases and 2393 periodicals with more than 18 million items, guarantees the information required to perform the assigned research project. Users will find that many files are enriched with artistic creations on the covers, indexes, reviews, summaries and other information.

The records usually have information attached from important libraries. The user can quickly assess the relevance of the information and decide if it is the right source.

Education on the 21st century

AIU is striving to regain the significance of the concept of education, which is rooted into the Latin “educare”, meaning “to pull out”, breaking loose from the paradigm of most 21st century universities with their focus on “digging and placing information” into students’ heads rather than teaching them to think. For AIU, the generation of “clones” that some traditional universities are spreading throughout the real world is one of the most salient reasons for today’s ills. In fact, students trained at those educational institutions never feel a desire to “change the world” or the current status quo; instead, they adjust to the environment, believe everything is fine, and are proud of it all.

IN A WORLD where knowledge and mostly information expire just like milk, we must reinvent university as a whole in which each student, as the key player, is UNIQUE within an intertwined environment. This century’s university must generate new knowledge bits although this may entail its separation from both the administrative bureaucracy and the faculty that evolve there as well. AIU thinks that a university should be increasingly integrated into the “real world”, society, the economy, and the holistic human being. As such, it should concentrate on its ultimate goal, which is the student, and get him/her deeply immersed into a daily praxis of paradigm shifts, along with the Internet and research, all these being presently accessible only to a small minority of the world community. AIU students must accomplish their self-learning mission while conceptualizing it as the core of daily life values through the type of experiences that lead to a human being’s progress when information is converted into education. The entire AIU family must think of the university as a setting that values diversity and talent in a way that trains mankind not only for the present but above all for a future that calls everyday for professionals who empower themselves in academic and professional areas highly in demand in our modern society. We shall not forget that, at AIU, students are responsible for discovering their own talents and potential, which they must auto-develop in such a way that the whole finish product opens up as a flower that blossoms every year more openly.

THE AIU STANCE is against the idea of the campus as a getaway from day-to-day pressure since we believe reality is the best potential-enhancer ever; one truly learns through thinking, brainstorming ideas, which leads to new solutions, and ultimately the rebirth of a human being fully integrated in a sustainable world environment. Self-learning is actualized more from within than a top-down vantage point, that is to say, to influence instead of requesting, ideas more than power. We need to create a society where solidarity, culture, life, not political or economic rationalism and more than techno structures, are prioritized. In short, the characteristics of AIU students and alumni remain independence, creativity, self-confidence, and ability to take risk towards new endeavors. This is about people’s worth based not on what they know but on what they do with what they know.

Read more at: www.aiu.edu

AIU Service

AIU offers educational opportunities in the USA to adults from around the world so that they can use their own potential to manage their personal, global cultural development. The foundational axis of our philosophy lies upon self-actualized knowledge and information, with no room for obsoleteness, which is embedded into a DISTANCE LEARNING SYSTEM based on ANDRAGOGY and OMNIOLOGY. The ultimate goal of this paradigm is to empower learners and help them take advantage of the enormous array of resources from the world environment in order to eliminate the current continuum of poverty and limitations.

This will become a crude reality with respect for, and practice of, human and community rights through experiences, investigations, practicum work, and/ or examinations. Everything takes place in a setting that fosters diversity; with advisors and consultants with doctorate degrees and specializations in Human Development monitor learning processes, in addition to a worldwide web of colleagues and associations, so that they can reach the satisfaction and the progress of humanity with peace and harmony.

Contact us to get started

Now, it’s possible to earn your degree in the comfort of your own home. For additional information or to see if you qualify for admissions please contact us.

Pioneer Plaza / 900 Fort Street Mall 410 Honolulu, HI 96813
800-993-0066 (Toll Free in US) [email protected]
808-924-9567 (Internationally) www.aiu.edu

Online application:

https://www.aiu.edu/apply3_phone.aspx