Audiovisual Storytelling and Ideological Horizons : Audiences, Cultural Contexts and Extra-textual Meaning Making

Abstract: Audiovisual Storytelling and Ideological Horizons: Audiences, Cultural Contexts and Extra-textual Meaning Making In a society characterized by mediatization people are to an increasing degree dependent on mediated narratives as a primary means by which we make sense of our experience through time and our place in society (Hoover 2006, Lynch 2007, Hjarvard 2008, Hjarvard & Lövheim 2012). American media scholar Stewart Hoover points to symbols and scripts available in the media environment, what he call the “symbolic inventory” out of which individuals make religious or spiritual meaning (Hoover 2006: 55). Vernacular meaning-making embedded in everyday life among viewers’ dealing with fiction narratives in films and tv-series highlight a need for a more nuanced understanding of complex audiovisual storytelling. Moving images provide individuals with stories by which reality is maintained and by which humans construct ordered micro-universes for themselves using film as a resource for moral assessment and ideological judgments about life (Plantinga 2009, Johnston 2010, Axelson 2015). Important in this theoretical context are perspectives on viewers’ moral frameworks (Zillman 2005, Andersson & Andersson 2005, Frampton 2006, Avila 2007).This paper presentation will focus on ideological contested meaning making where audiences of different cultural background engage emotionally with filmic narratives, possibly eliciting ideological and spiritual meaning-making related to viewers’ personal world views. Through the example of the Homeland tv-series I want to discuss how spectators’ cultural, religious, political and ideological identities could be understood playing a role in the interpretative process of decoding content. Is it possible to trace patterns of different receptions of the multilayered and ambiguous story depicted in Homeland by religiously engaged Christians and Moslems as well as non-believers, in America, Europe and Middle East? How is the fiction narrative dealt with by spectators in the audience in different cultural contexts and how is it interpreted through the process of extra-text evaluation and real world2understanding in a global era preoccupied with war on terror? The presentation will also discuss methodological considerations about how to reach out to audiences anchored in different cultural context.

Movies and the Enchanted Mind : Emotional Comprehension and Spiritual Meaning Making Among Young Adults in Contemporary Sweden

The outcome of an empirical audience study in Sweden including questionnaires, focus groups and ten in-depth individual interviews discussing favorite films supports claims about viewers as active and playful (cf. Frampton 2006, Hoover 2006, Plantinga 2009). The soft side of mediatization processes is illustrated showing young adults experiencing enchantment through films (Jerslev 2006, Partridge 2008, Klinger 2008, Oliver & Hartmann 2010). The outcome is in line with a growing number of empirical case studies which support conclusions that both thinking and behavior are affected by film watching (Marsh 2007, Suckfüll 2010, Oliver & Hartmann 2010, Axelson 2014). The results of the interviews exploring specific scenes of idiosyncratic relevance support theories about fiction films as important sources for moral and spiritual reflection (Partridge 2004, Zillman 2005, Lynch 2007, Plantinga 2009).  The concept thick viewing is proposed for capturing these moments of film experience when profound and enchanted emotional interpretations take place.

Exploring the Justificational Status of Assertions Made About Nursing’s Collective Beliefs

Nursing publications frequently reference groups (e.g. the group nurses). The nature and capabilities of group agents or collective subjects, and the relationship between nursing as a group and nurses as individuals is, however, rarely made explicit in these publications. Following Alvin Goldman, questions pertaining to groups can be classified as metaphysical or epistemic. Metaphysical questions take two forms. First, we might ask about the ontological status of group agents. For example, to what extent, if at all, do group agents exist and act independently of their constituent members? Second, we can ask whether group agents have psychological states or properties that can, for example, be formulated as propositional attitudes and, if they can, in what ways are group attitudes correlated with or tied to those of individual group members? In this presentation, having recognised the potential reality of group ontological and psychological being, I examine an under researched element of social epistemology. Specifically, the potential of non-individualist reliabilism (social process reliabilism) to justify doxastic group beliefs (i.e. statements such as “nurses believe that”) are considered. It is suggested that this issue has concrete implications for how we think about nursing.

Développement d'un modèle de partenariat pour l'éducation de base des adultes en Estrie

Notre environnement subit des modifications considérables. Comme l'avaient anticipé Alvin Toffler (1970, 1980, 1990) et Marilyn Ferguson (1981), l'évolution humaine est en train de nous entraîner dans une civilisation nouvelle qui étend sa présence à l'échelle de la planète. Cette nouvelle civilisation se démarque radicalement de celles qui l'ont précédée. Elle sous-tend une restructuration massive des rapports entre les individus et les organisations existantes. Nous sommes entrés dans une ère de réorganisation politique et économique à l'échelle de la planète. Les changements qui ont cours sous nos yeux sont d'une très grande magnitude et les éléments de changement les plus fréquemment évoqués (Archier et Serieyx, 1984, 1986; Courville, 1994; Drucker, 1993; Salvet, 1993) sont habituellement les suivants : l'effondrement des pays communistes, le développement accéléré des savoirs et la diffusion massive des applications techniques qui en découlent, la mondialisation de l'économie, la concurrence internationale, la compétitivité entre les pays, l'amélioration de la productivité, la lutte au déficit et les contraintes budgétaires. Cet univers de réalités, qui constitue désormais l'environnement mondial, interpelle à son tour chacune des sociétés industrialisées, leur système d'éducation, leur mode de gestion de même que les rapports que chacun entretient avec les autres individus et les organisations qui les entourent. [...]

Interview with Charles W. Peck

Interview in five sessions, October-November 2003, with Charles W. Peck, professor of physics (now emeritus) in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy. He recalls his early life in South Texas and his interest in radio; first year of college at Texas Arts & Industries; three more years at New Mexico College of Agriculture & Mechanical Arts. Recalls graduate studies at Caltech with Murray Gell-Mann, H. P. Robertson, Robert Walker, Richard A. Dean, W. R. Smythe. Works on increasing intensity and stability of the Caltech synchrotron, with Walker, Matt Sands, and Alvin Tollestrup; 1964 thesis on K-lambda photoproduction. Joins the faculty as an assistant professor in 1965. Discusses his various teaching assignments, including an embarrassing moment when Richard Feynman attended one of his freshman physics lectures. Discusses his research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Lawrence Radiation Laboratory’s Bevatron. Collaboration with UC Berkeley and SLAC on “crystal ball” detector for SLAC’s SPEAR storage ring. Taking the crystal ball to DESY, in Hamburg. Works with Barry Barish at Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, on MACRO; search for magnetic monopoles. He also discusses his administration work at Caltech, as executive officer for physics (1983-1986) and as PMA division chair from 1993 to 1998, when he immediately had to deal with the troubles plaguing LIGO [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory]. Detailed discussion of the LIGO contretemps and how it was settled, and of turning Big Bear Solar Observatory over to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Advent of David Baltimore as Caltech president; attempt to recruit Ed Witten.

A nova abordagem à liderança nas organizações da sociedade do conhecimento

As profundas mudanças económicas, sociais e culturais verificadas nos países mais desenvolvidos, em particular nas últimas décadas, têm grandes consequências para a liderança nas organizações. Este artigo tem em vista identificar o sentido dessas mudanças, em particular para Portugal. Face à caracterização que é feita do processo de transição da sociedade industrial, de manufactura, para a sociedade pós-capitalista (Peter Drucker, 1993) ou da mentefactura (Alvin Toffler, 1995), o cenário daí decorrente conduz a que a liderança, antes predominantemente disciplinadora e autocrata, baseada na desconfiança, evolua para uma liderança baseada na confiança em que o líder é um facilitador que procura criar as melhores condições para o êxito da equipa.

Is the lack of clear definition for the CMO role a necessary evil?

The CMO job description has been described as ambiguous. Is this good or bad? This article explores this issue.

Special sauce in sesame seed buns: legal strategy and public policy in the fast-food industry

Lewis Bertly, a top lawyer with leading London law firm LL&B, is retained to defend a case with the potential to change the laws that affect fast-food marketing. Through its Department of Health, the Government of Australia seeks legislation for warning labels on fast-food packaging. To prepare a potential defense against this legal action for McDonald's Bertly is reviewing the history of legal action against the industry in fast-food labeling, nutrition and health. This history is important because the industry's actions through the decades in food nutrition and marketing are likely to be raised as evidence. He also hopes this will help him find a framework to map the way social expectations, a company's innovation, the legal system, and legislation combine to shape an industry. What he learns from this history and especially about the market leader, McDonald's, will inform how the defense approaches this case.

Egregiousness and boycott intensity: evidence from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Consumer boycotts are triggered by egregious events, but the literature has not distinguished the level of egregiousness from consumers’ preferences or disutility associated with a given level of egregiousness, nor has the literature studied how these two components of egregiousness affect boycott intensity. We provide a model of market-level boycotts that distinguishes the two egregiousness components. Consistent with the predictions of our model, the market-level intensity of consumer boycotting of BP-branded gasoline, which was triggered by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, increased with the spill’s egregiousness level, approximated by the officially reported daily amount of oil leaked into the ocean and by other measures (i.e., the duration of the spill and the intensity of media coverage), and with consumers’ disutility from egregiousness, approximated by an area’s environmentalism and its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

BM: Factores de éxito de la pequeña y mediana industria del sector del calzado ubicada en Santafé de Bogotá en momentos de apertura económica Estudio de casos

La siguiente investigación tiene por objeto determinar los factores de éxito de dos pequeñas y medianas industrias del sector del calzado, ubicadas en Santafé de Bogotá en momentos de Apertura Económica, ya que como lo han demostrado varios estudios, la incidencia de este tipo de empresas en la economía nacional es de gran importancia, por su participación en la generación de desarrollo industrial, por el fortalecimiento de la fabricación de productos no tradicionales para la exportación, por la generación de empleo y por ser la clase empresarial de mayor estabilidad en momentos de recesión económica. Pero desde la aplicación del modelo aperturista, la PYME se ha visto afectada por una serie de variables que le han exigido evaluar, al interior de la organización todas las variables o aspectos relacionados con la competitividad de su negocio, ya que las variables como calidad, precio, innovación son características propias de un producto en un mercado de libre comercio, como el actual. Si relacionamos este hecho, con la situación actual de la PYME en Colombia, como es el de una agremiación empresarial sin unas políticas definidas tanto en el aspecto financiero, en lo tecnológico y en lo gremial, la situación nos demuestra que cualquier logro o avance con características de PYME, obedece a un esfuerzo propio y a una sinergia originada en el pensamiento estratégico de su gerente o propietario. En este sentido la presente investigación analiza el específicamente dos empresas del sector del calzado, ya que a nivel de la grande y pequeña industria durante los últimos tres años se presenta un decrecimiento en su producción, un aumento significativo en los costos para el productor y una baja productividad con respecto a otros sectores industriales. De ahí la importancia de estudiar y analizar los factores de éxito de la compañía Verona Sport, la cual, además de cumplir con los parámetros de clasificación de una pequeña y mediana empresa, y de estar ubicada dentro del sector del calzado, ha demostrado unos crecimientos importantes a partir de 1.989, y ha tenido un desarrollo que le ha permitido fortalecerse en el mercado y desarrollar una serie de estrategias que la hacen competitiva en un mercado tan difícil, como el del calzado. El análisis de los factores de éxito se realiza de acuerdo con un marco teórico, el cual define las características de una empresa con éxito en un mercado abierto. Este marco se relaciona con los estudios más importantes que se han realizado de la PYME en Colombia, los cuales evalúan el comportamiento de esta clase empresarial en un esquema de libre comercio como el actual.