The emotions least relevant to politics? Queering autonomous activism

Studies of emotion and activism have often attempted to uncover ‘the emotions most relevant to politics’ (Goodwin et al., 2001). This suggests that only certain feelings are productive for activism, while other emotions have less relevance for activist theory and practice. In this paper I ask if the notion of politically ‘relevant’ emotions helps perpetuate a distinction between what is considered political and what is not. This paper builds upon a case study in which I interviewed self-identified queer-activists about their experiences of autonomous activism. These interviews reveal how the everyday emotions surrounding the ‘personal’ politics of sexuality/intimacy are often seen as either less important, a distraction from, or entirely irrelevant to ‘real’ political issues. Ultimately, I want to challenge attempts to neatly separate our intimate lives from the public sphere of activism. I argue that it can never just be a matter of politics and emotion, but also the politics of emotion (Ahmed, 2004). Therefore we should not just assume that emotions matter for resistance - without first realizing the importance of resisting these hierarchies of emotion.     

A Narrative Inquiry into a Female Athlete’s Experiences with Protracted Concussion Symptoms

This article explores a female university volleyball student-athlete’s experience with protracted concussion symptoms. Through the methodology of narrative inquiry, four salient themes became apparent related to Daphnée’s experiences: (a) “I felt so alone,” (b) “I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life,” (c) “I feel like I’m in prison,” and (d) “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel.” Overall, this study offers a rare look into the impact of concussion on an individual’s athletic and academic identities, career progression, and in turn, her imagined stories of who she was and who she was becoming.     

Morphological and morphometric changes in the faces of female-to-male (FtM) transsexual people

Facial changes associated with the administration of exogenous testosterone and bilateral oophorectomy in female-to-male (FtM) transsexual people (trans men; trans males) has not been previously documented. This study aimed to describe the qualitative and quantitative transformation from a female to a male facial appearance and to identify predictable patterns of change. Twenty-five trans men were studied using morphological and morphometrical analysis of pre-transition 2-D images and post-transition 3-D scan models. The mean subject age was 39 years and all subjects had been taking testosterone for at least 3 years, with a mean duration of therapy of 8.6 years. While 32% of subjects were classified by a majority of observers as male appearing in pre-transition photographs, this rose to 95.5% in post-transition images. Eighty-six percent of subjects demonstrated an increase in male classification after transition. Morphometrically, 44% of subjects became wider in the face overall and 100% of subjects measured demonstrated a narrower nose after transition. Testosterone virilizes adult female faces and will cause widening of the face. The most consistent facial change was the production of a narrower nasal width at the alae, which may be a result of fat re-deposition not related to ageing effects or body mass index (BMI).     

Correction to: Distinguishing volumetric content from perceptual presence within a predictive processing framework

The original version of this article unfortunately has missing statement in the Acknowledgments section.     

Exclusion Learning and Emergent Symbolic Category Formation in Individuals With Severe Language Impairments and Intellectual Disabilities

The Psychological Record - We evaluated formation of simple symbolic categories from initial learning of specific dictated word-picture relations through emergence of untaught or derived relations....     

Distinguishing volumetric content from perceptual presence within a predictive processing framework

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - I argue for an overlooked distinction between perceptual presence and volumetric content, and flesh it out in terms of predictive processing. Within the...     

Barriers to Computerized Career Interventions in Community Outreach Centers

This study used a survey design to investigate if computer experience and computer attitudes influence whether economically marginalized individuals desire access to computerized career services in community outreach centers. The majority (84%) of the sample reported a desire for access to computerized career services at community outreach centers. A multiple regression analysis indicated computer attitudes as most predictive of intention to use computerized career services (β = .29, p < .01). Results support extending access to computerized career services in community outreach centers to meet the needs of economically marginalized individuals.