Coming Home/Coming Out

Abstract

This article is a theological reflection on one Queer Asian American woman’s experience of caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease. Using Coming Out/Coming Home as a frame and metaphor, the author explores the complexity of “home” for many Koreans/Korean-Americans whose very lives intersect with and are disrupted by major events in Korean and world history. For them, the act of coming home is complex, textured, and layered with experiences of loss, trauma, dislocation, resilience and hope. Through dis-ordered memories of a mother with Alzheimer’s, this article attempts to re-order what it means to come home. Grace Cho’s “ghostly haunting” provides a methodology. Layering theory with personal narratives, stories and a dream, ot is an experiment in performance—phantomogenic words that become “staged words.” In three parts, “coming home”, “ghostly hauntings”, and “tug-of-war”, this article performs coming home/coming out of one queer family’s experience of caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s.     

Varieties of openness in Tehran and Qom: psychological and religious parallels of faith and intellect-oriented Islamic religious reflection

This study examined whether faith and intellect-oriented religious reflection would be polarised in Iranian Muslins as they appear to be in American Christians. Iranian students at a university in Tehran and at an Islamic seminary in Qom responded to Faith and Intellect-Oriented Islamic Religious Reflection measures along with scales recording various forms of religious commitment and psychological openness. Both types of religious reflection and the Intrinsic Religious Orientation predicted greater Integrative Self-Knowledge, Openness to Experience, and Need for Cognition and also interacted in ways suggesting complexity in Muslim thought. Comparisons between Tehran and Qom students supported the same conclusion. The Quest Religious Orientation had limited relevance for understanding Muslim commitments. The Extrinsic Personal Religious Orientation predicted greater and the Extrinsic Social Religious Orientation predicted lower psychological openness. These data contrasted with previous evidence of polarisation in the religious reflection of American Christians. They also argued against any simple equation of Muslim commitments with cognitive and religious rigidity.     

Death and gratitude: Death reflection enhances gratitude

Although gratitude is important to the good life, little is known about factors that enhance gratitude. Some have suggested that traumatic events such as near-death experiences and life-threatening illnesses might enhance gratitude. If reflecting on death causes one to appreciate life as a limited resource, this might enhance gratitude. This study investigated this theory. Participants were randomly assigned to a death reflection condition, a traditional mortality salience condition, or to a control condition. Participants in the death reflection and the mortality salience conditions showed enhanced gratitude compared to individuals in the control condition, supporting the theory that becoming aware of one's mortal limitations enhances gratitude for the life that what one has.     

Evaluating New York City’s Smoke-Free Parks and Beaches Law: A Critical Multiplist Approach to Assessing Behavioral Impact

This article describes the evaluation of the law banning smoking in New York City’s parks and beaches that went into effect in 2011. We discuss the practical and methodological challenges that emerged in evaluating this law, and describe how we applied the principles of critical multiplism to address these issues. The evaluation uses data from three complementary studies, each with a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that can provide converging evidence for the effectiveness of the law. Results from a litter audit and an observational study suggest the ban reduced smoking in parks and beaches. The purpose, methodology and baseline results from an ongoing survey that measures how frequently adults in NYC and across New York State notice people smoking in parks and on beaches are presented and discussed. Limitations are considered and suggestions are offered for future evaluations of similar policies.     

Promoting reflection in pre-service teachers through problem-based learning: an example from Canada

This article discusses the process, benefits, challenges and recommendations associated with the adoption of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to promote reflection for pre-service teachers. Drawing upon Schön’s concept of reflection, this article explains how a pre-service course in Canada aims to promote the participants’ ‘reflection in action’ of assessment content knowledge and professional competence through PBL. The article points out that PBL enables the pre-service teachers to critically reflect on assessment issues and make meaningful connections between their reflections and real-life teaching. The key challenges are the facilitators’ inadequate understanding of using PBL to promote reflection, as well as the pre-service teachers’ struggle with time constraint and juggling between their need for teacher guidance, group collaboration and self-directed study. To address these challenges, the article recommends formal professional development sessions for the PBL instructors, and the achievement of a balance between learner autonomy and teacher guidance.     

Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy

Philosophy can be divided into two systems, i.e. the vertical and the horizontal. Characterized with the creation of spirit and the logical evolution of concepts, the vertical system expresses historical reflections on the achievements of human culture. Meanwhile, the horizontal system focuses on the analysis of cognitive activities to explore the nature of subject and object, the elements of knowledge, and the basis of its certainty. Chinese philosophers, such as Hu Shih, Fung Yulan, Zhang Dainian, Mou Zongsan and Zhang Shiying, have previously explored the various definitions of philosophy. Their explorations manifest the internationalization of Chinese philosophy during different eras. This paper defines philosophy as human beings’ awareness of their environment and systematical reflections on their activities and ensuing consequences. As part of world philosophy, Chinese philosophy encapsulates the essence of Chinese culture, as the thinking method of Chinese people, and as a set of thought systems possessing a unique style.     

中国叙事医学实践的反思

首先,以叙事学、人类学、叙事医学三个学科领域的界定与分析来厘清叙事概念。其次,在此基础上指出叙事医学发展进程中存在的问题,包括医学教育与临床实践适应性不同、平行病历工具的运用不宜脱离临床情境、对反思性写作进行反思、对叙事走进医学的质疑与反思等。最后,提出中国叙事医学高质量发展的可能路径：叙事病历研究构成临床实践落地的重要起点、构建中国主体的叙事医学教育框架、跨学科多向度的综合实践意义重大等。

     

医疗技术评估与决策中风险−获益分析方法的伦理反思

将经济学领域常用的风险−获益分析方法应用在医疗技术领域,为医疗技术评估与决策提供借鉴和指导。然而,从伦理学角度对这一方法进行审视,会发现存在诸多难以定义和应对的困境。按照其属性划分,这些困境大致可以划分为风险−获益分析本身的伦理问题和根据风险−获益分析作出决策所产生的伦理问题两条脉络。对于风险−获益分析中伦理问题的探讨并不是为了束缚医疗技术的应用,而是着眼于技术长期发展与更好地服务人类的目的,尊重人之为人的价值和人与人的平等。

     

死亡意识的恐惧管理和悲伤管理

基于悲伤情绪的功能及效应,提出死亡意识的“悲伤管理假设”。实验1采用电生理、微表情、主观报告等方法探索死亡意识伴随的情绪变化;实验2和实验3对比死亡意识的“悲伤管理”和“恐惧管理”,并探索情绪的中介作用。结果发现：死亡意识诱发悲伤和恐惧(尤其是悲伤),且死亡反思诱发更多的悲伤;恐惧在死亡意识与外在人生目标间起中介作用;悲伤(而非恐惧)背景音乐下,死亡意识使个体更重视内在人生目标。上述结果为死亡意识的“悲伤管理”提供了实证依据,表明在悲伤的情绪中加工死亡意识可能促进个体的内在成长,这对疫情等社会灾难时期的心理救援具有启示意义。     

《加利福尼亚批判性思维倾向问卷》中文版的初步修订

《加利福尼亚批判性思维倾向问卷》(CCTDI)是测评批判性人格特质的有效工具之一.论文对CCTDI作了中文版的修订.修订工作包括翻译、试测、修订、重测等.试测和重测对象为大专1至3年级和本科1至4年级的学生.试测对象为173人,重测对象为382人.对CCTDI作的统计分析表明,该问卷的中文修订版有较好的信度和效度,适合于团体测验之用.