Class 2023 • March



MARCH 23, 2023. This year’s in-person graduation ceremony was a great success with students traveling from over 65 countries around the world to celebrate their achievements. After the success of our virtual graduation ceremonies in 2021, we are excited to share all the wonderful moments captured by our students in this gallery. Even more students registered from many countries we couldn’t accommodate into the in-person ceremony.

We are proud to have been a part of this event and seeing all the images and videos shared by our students made us feel close to them and their loved ones. Find more images here:

FIND MORE NEWS FROM AIU FAMILY

13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON Food Studies



Call for Papers This Conference will be held 18–20 October, 2023 at University of Guadalajara (CUCEI), Guadalajara, México + Online.

We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/ interactive sessions, posters/ exhibits, colloquia, focused discussions, innovation showcases, virtual posters, or virtual lightning talks.

2024 Special Focus: “Technologies of Sustainable Food: Facing the Challenge of Climate Change” Theme 1: Food production and sustainability Theme 2: Food, Nutrition, and Health

Theme 3: Food Politics, policies, and cultures Become a Presenter:
1. Submit a proposal
2. Review timeline
3. Register

Early proposal deadline March 18, 2023 Regular registration deadline September 18, 2023 Visit the website:




Motlhalosi Tlotleng
Doctor of Business Administration
Business Administration and Finance
Botswana
Mmoloki Moreo
Master of Management and Leadership
Educational Management and Leadership
Botswana
Kamila De Oliveira Barros
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Brazil
Hugo Patricio Muñoz Aravena
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Chi
William Diaz Henao
Doctor of Business Administration
Business and Finance
Colombia
Burbano Rosero Adriana Rocio
Bachelor of Education
Preschool Education
Ecuador
           
Phineas Londiya Nhlanhla Magagula
Doctor of Philosop hy
Business Administration
Eswatini
Janice Firebrand Johnson
Master of Arts
Diplomacy and World Affairs
Ghana
Bernadette Touwendsida Nikiema
Master of Science
Psychology
Ghana
Lilian Beatriz Hernández Guerra
Doctor of Legal Studies
International Legal Studies
Guatemala
Rozana Chand
Bachelor of Science
Project Management
Guyana
Jose Abraham Alvarez Martinez
Bachelor of Business Administration
Business Administration
Honduras
           
Josué Daniel Crespo Elliot
Bachelor of Science
Industrial Engineering
Honduras
Navit Shahar Nirhod
Bachelor of Arts
Psychology
Israel
Yaman Jaad Msarwe
Bachelor of Education
Education
Israel
Terron Hewitt
Bachelor of Accounting
Accounting
Jamaica
Isabelle Jerop Kandagor
Doctor of Philosop hy
Sustainable Telecommunications
Kenya
Roxanny A. del Pilar Moulas Vargas
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Mexico
           
Jose Juan Ruiz Ruelas
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Mexico
Emmanuel Ucheoma Ojobah
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Nigeria
Nwonye Emmanuel Ifebuche
Doctor of Business and Economics
Project Management
Nigeria
Christopher Jeremiah Abimiku
Doctor of Philosop hy
Business Management
Nigeria
Edem Chigozie Eucharia
Doctor of Science
Social and Human Development
Nigeria
Usman Kolawole Aleshinloye
Doctor of Management
Project Management
Nigeria
           
Francis Ezike Okagu
Master of Business and Economics
Project Management
Nigeria
Farzin Shahrokhi
Doctor of Psychology
Psychology
Norway
Jesus Martin Pacheco Rivera
Bachelor of Science
Electromechanical Engineering
Panama
Arlito P. Cuvin
Bachelor of Science
Architecture
Philipp ines
Victoria Cupet
Doctor of Education
Education
Romania
Francio Frans Buys
Doctor of Science
Public Health
South Africa
           
Mohammed Ajak Abdalla Arke
Bachelor of Public Administration
International Relations
South Sudan
Mathokoza Mntambo
Bachelor of Science
Computer Science
Swaziland
Kerim Çolakoğlu
Bachelor of Science
Mechanical Engineering
Türkiye
Selim Çolakoğlu
Bachelor of Science
Mechanical Engineering
Türkiye
Agnes Kabanda K
Doctor of Project Management
Project Management
Uganda
Mauricio Adrian Kanigina Cap
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Uruguay
           
Jenipher Mhlanga
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
US A
Atriel Arias
Bachelor of Science
Psychology and Human Development
US A
Erminda Eli Pacheco Caseres
Bachelor of Business Administration
Business Administration
US A
Fahimeh Raoufi
Doctor of Science
Biology
US A
Michel Peña Del Rosario
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
US A
Duviel Rodriguez
Doctor of Philosop hy
Psychology
US A
           
Devan Lane Pope
Doctor of Arts
English Literature and Language
US A
Edson Rivera Román
Bachelor of Science
Architecture
US A
Rosemary N. Situmbeko Kabwe
Doctor of Philosop hy
Health Care Administration
Zambia
Rosemary N. Situmbeko Kabwe
Doctor of Philosop hy
Health Care Administration
Zambia
   
           

Find More Graduates

Gallery: aiu.edu/Graduation/grids/currentgallery.html
Interviews: www.aiu.edu/Graduation/grids/interviews.html
This month we have graduates from: Botswana · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Eswatini · Ghana · Guatemala · Guyana · Honduras · Israel · Jamaica · Kenya · Mexico · Nigeria · Norway · Panama · Philippines · Romania · South Africa · South Sudan · Swaziland · Türkiye · Uganda · Uruguay · USA · Zambia · Zimbabwe


TESTIMONIALS

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



Christopher Roger Williams
Doctor of Business Administration and Management
November 30, 2022

“Atlantic International University (AIU) connects to human desires. AIU focuses on the individual’s desire to accomplish his goals in life. Joining AIU relieved me of the painful process I endured searching for a university that would answer my call to go beyond my Master’s degree. I searched and applied to several universities but their curriculum did not cater to my needs. One would have to follow their trends and their philosophies and I never wanted to pursue studies in a field that did not connect to my passion and desire to make a meaningful social impact. Moreover, the cost of attending other universities warranted more than a leg and an arm. My financial status did not allow me to walk that path! However, AIU provided the assistance/scholarship and that act of kindness ended my search. I enrolled and embarked on the journey of hard work, research, presentations, conferences, assignments, essays and webinars. It was sleepless nights and drowsy days! The human elements of tutors and advisors served … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/christopher-roger- williams-doctor-of-business-administration-and-management/

Christelle Katumba Shimbi
Master of Economics
December 15, 2022

“I am currently enrolled to study an online Economics master program at Atlantic International University. I am also completing a parttime MBA program at the University of the People another distance learning university. I am busy building my small company El-Shddai Media and equipping myself with the skills required to create a strong brand for my company. Socially, I am constraint by the Corona Virus, which has put on hold all the community or social activities in my church. Acquiring the Economics Master Degree will equip with the appropriate skills required to work in the field of Economics as Economist Analyst and will give me the expertise and the confidence to try finding a solution to end hunger in my community and probably with God help ending hunger in Africa. After few years of working as Economists and acquiring enough fund, I will open a NGO in my community that will tackle the lack of school attendance that is on the rise in Congo due to higher unemployment. … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/ christelle-katumba-shimbi-master-of-economics/

Anu Joseph
Doctor of Project Management
December 29, 2022

“During my time in Atlantic International University (AIU) I had it really good moments, but my best moments that I’ve experienced are in phase I. I wanted to write autobiography and I was really enjoyed doing it. I never thought about something like that before. In fact, the autobiography assignment helped me to realized how strong I am. My life was not easy just like most of the people, but during my research study I experienced several distressful moments.I fought for many situations to move my life forward. The autobiography assignment made me to recall all those memories and helped think about my future. The autobiography assignment required to submit plans for future career and now I am on focusing on that. Something teachers or students can learn from my experience is that once we determined do not look backward even if the path if not smooth.The tutors and advisors at AIU were great. They responded promptly and helped me to clarify all my concerns. As a student I do have the power to choose the courses I wanted … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/ anu-joseph-doctor-of-project-management/

Fadi AbuAita
Post-Doctorate of Business Management
January 5, 2023

“My experience at Atlantic International University has made a dream come true. At my position and age, I thought it was impossible to proceed further with my education and after hearing from AIU I have decided to take the challenge with my higher education and studies, specially with the professional and excellent support from the University where I have discovered a new world of knowledge. I have now obtained a post-doctorate Degree, as I am very proud of this achievement in the field business management. I have enrolled at AIU since I had been involved in the world of business, where I had been in full time employment at a various international chains and at the moment serving as a Hotel GM. I enrolled at AIU because the University was offering an online program with a professional online library at my disposal and therefore I was able to pursue my education while continuing with current competitive job title. I was offered a convenient payment plan of school fees and there were some partial scholarships available. … READ TEXT: https://www.aiu.edu/testimonials/ fadi-abuaita-post-doctorate-of-business-management/

THE PRESENT OF Education, Science and Values

By Dr. Rosa Hilda Lora M. Advisor at AIU | rosa@aiu.edu


We observe every day the relationship and development of nations and ask ourselves: Where are we going as a society? The world we know is made up of our solar system in which our planet Earth is. In turn, our planet Earth is made up of flora, fauna and human beings; with all of us we build our social world. We live from what our planet produces and in our social world we create science. We develop science through formal education. What world are we in? What do we have to learn? Where is science going? Every day it seems that we have new answers. The answer to the first question, at first glance, seems to be simple. We are in a world where nature is not seen to be protected. Nature is the source of life for flora, fauna and the human species. We have created an unsustainable development: extraction of non-renewable products, dependence on fossil fuels, and little care for natural resources, such as water. It is maintained, as in the United Nations-UN, that global warming can’t rise more than 1.5 Celsius. This is the result of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change-Conference of the Parties (COP21), held in Paris on December 12, 2015, and whose agreement was signed by 196 countries on November 4, 2016. At this Conference, the countries committed to reviewing them every 5 years. At COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, the same agreements for climate change were also met, but the same: they aren’t complied with for one reason or another. In the Conference of the Parties of the UN-COP27, held in Egypt, in November 2022, it deals with the same theme of the Paris Agreement, where the countries sign, but the changes are offered by many, until 2050, because they say no to be able to switch energy from oil and coal as quickly as needed. Let’s see now what education is. Education has the two known aspects: informal education and formal education.

Informal education is the cultural values that we learn from coexistence. Formal education is what States organize based on what they want about human being will be: it is structured based on the needs of nations to develop culture, economy, and human values. There are Open and Closed Curricular Designs. At Atlantic International University (AIU), where you are studying, you have both modalities of Curricular Design. In an Open Curriculum Design, the student can choose the disciplines that are of interest. In a Closed Curricular Design, the institution offers the study plan to follow. In the Open Curricular Design, also in the Closed Curricular Design the institution chooses its Philosophy and its Policy. Philosophy is what the institution believes in: learning, society, social relations and ultimate goals of education. Policies are the rules by which the institution is guided in each of its departments. Formal education can be face-to-face, which means attendance at facilities with teachers who, through appropriate resources, show students the procedures to follow or review the activities developed by them. In formal education we have psychological and pedagogical methods that seek better student learning.

Nowadays there is a strong development of modalities to learn more every day: we are talking about virtual or online education. In any case, students: have to use virtual or online media even if they are in face-to-face education, to carry out all the activities. Students in face-to-face classes also have the use of virtual or online media as subjects. Regarding the third question of “Where is science going?” what we notice is that every human being, nowadays, thinks he or her knows everything. In addition, all the falsehoods that one can imagine are published through the Platforms. Those who are unaware of the existing problem regarding the dissemination of what is believed to be scientific repeat falsehood and a half. Science, nowadays, is more popular but you have to know where to look for reliable information. One of the functions of universities is the dissemination of science. It also joins this way of working with the truth, which must correspond to a theory already proven and accepted by the international scientific community. Nowadays society is very confused with what freedom is: everyone does and says what comes to mind, which is why we live in chaos. We say to be in chaos because: a While some enjoy extreme abundance, others die of hunger. b Some maintain scientifically that it is necessary to regulate the heat on the planet while others deny it. c Some want to continue producing energy from oil while others deny that it is a problem of survival. d Some want production to be based on green energy and others want fossil fuels such as coal. e Science is done with procedures, theories and laws agreed upon by the international scientific community it is not saying what you want. f There must be respect for the other while others are only concerned with their benefit regardless of what may happen to others.

g Some have the right to education while others barely reach basic studies. We ask ourselves: where are the values? Where the respect is for the other? The theories are still valid over time and present elements on which you can continue working. Speaking of chaos, here is the theory: Where does chaos come from and how situations are resolved in the face of it. Ilya Romanovich Prigogine, Moscow, January 25, 1917- Brussels, May 28, 2003. He was naturalized Belgian in 1949. He studied Chemistry at the Free University of Brussels, also at the same institution he studied Physics. He received the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the Theory of Dissipative Structures. Prigogine said: “Our world is a world of change, exchange and innovation. To understand it, a theory of processes, lifetimes beginnings and ends is necessary; we need a theory of qualitative diversity, of the appearance of the qualitatively new. (Prigogine 2009, pp . 70-71). This was said by Prigogine working at the beginning of this century. We know that it has cost a lot of effort in the field of research to introduce the qualitative. How is it possible to move from chaos to balance. According to Prigogine: “We have called the order generated by the state of nonequilibrium “order by fluctuations”.

Indeed, when, instead of disappearing, a fluctuation increases within a system, beyond the critical threshold of stability, the system undergoes a profound transformation, it adopts a completely different mode of operation, structured in time and space, functionally organized. What then emerges is a process of self-organization, what we have called “dissipative structure”. (Prigogine, 2009, p. 89). We go from chaos, which is the non-equilibrium of a system, to the search by the same system for its equilibrium. Nowadays society, which is in chaos, where any thought is true, where it doesn’t matter what happens with the way nature is used, where values don’t matter, where respect for others are not necessary: you will find your own balance. We don’t know how long it will be necessary for the system which is the current world with education, science and the values that the human being has to find the balance which will be peace to build a world and to build in them a better human being where life is for growth instead of the destruction we live. Take advantage of your time to build. Take advantage of your study time at AIU to be and make a better world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. ONU-Acuerdo de París COP21. París 2015 Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/es/climatechange/paris-agreement | ONU COP21. París 2015 | Retrieved from: https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/es/politica- exterior/clima-y-medio-ambiente/la-lucha-contra-el-cambio-climatico/ conferencia-de-paris-o-cop21/ | Prigogine, I. 2009. ¿Tan solo una ilusion? Barcelona: Tusquets Editores.

The emotional and behavioral impact of music

Zoltan Szigeti | Master of Music Performance | Part 1/2


1. Introduction Why are some sounds regarded as ‘noise’ while others are experienced as music? When we perform or listen to music, what occurs at the level of the sound wave, the ear, and the brain? How do musical abilities emerge, develop, and refine as one gains experience with music? What gives the music such a strong emotional impact and the ability to influence social behavior in so many different cultural contexts? These are a several of the frequent questions that define the field of “Music Psychology”. In this essay, I’d want to present a comprehensive overview of classic and contemporary studies in music psychology, as well as critical critiques of existing research. I want to explore sound and music on an acoustic level, describing auditory phenomena in terms of ear and brain function. I’d want to focus on melody, rhythm, and formal structure perception and cognition, as well as the origin and development of musical talents, before moving on to the most practical components of music psychology: gender in music, customers behavior, the emotional power of music. I sincerely believe that my work may contribute to a broader discussion of music’s meaning in terms of its social, emotional, philosophical, and cultural relevance.

2. The subject of Music Psychology People have always chosen specific sound patterns for special attention all around the world and for which we have records. Some of these patterns are what we refer to as ‘music.’ What distinguishes the sound patterns that we identify as music? What is it about these sound patterns that has such a profound meaning for humans? All audible noises begin with energy propagation into the environment. It may be a gentle breeze rustling a thousand fluttering leaves, the plucking of harp strings, or the thud of a bass drum. What makes some air molecule dances ‘musical,’ whereas other air molecule disturbances appear to produce only sounds? Or is it the noise? A symphonic orchestra concert is a music. Music festivals are music as well. Advertising jingles are musical creations. Many people consider church bells, which ring out a basic tune, to be music. Not every sound, however, is music. Could we come up with a comparable list of noises that everyone agrees aren’t music? A sound pattern that is indicative of non-music may be the roar of a road drill or the sound of a tractor. The bubbling of a dishwasher or the screech of a vacuum cleaner may strike us as apparent examples of nonmusic. What about the sound of the waves crashing on the shore? Is that a wolf howl? Or perhaps a bird’s song? While the extremes appear to be well defined, there is no obvious distinction between music and noises that are not music. Though we can fairly clearly distinguish between prototypical situations of music and non-music, there are many sound patterns that are difficult to categorize as one or the other. Music definitions that are all-encompassing may be difficult to come by. Despite the hazy borders of the realm of music, it appears that there are auditory occurrences that we can all agree constitute music, and that have been agreed upon in various cultures and historical periods. Humans are the ones who create and perceive music. Performers must master the abilities required to produce organized sounds in meaningful patterns. Listeners must learn to perceive such qualities of organized sound patterns as music through experience or education. A comprehensive examination of all of these talents, as different as they are, is certainly needed. The fusion of psychology and music pave the way for such investigations and opens up options for research into a wide range of themes. Newcomers are sometimes taken aback by the breadth and depth of this vast discipline. The psychology of music in the twenty-first century is preoccupied with several issues. It is concerned, along with other things, with how people perceive, respond to, and produce music, also, how they incorporate it into their lives. These themes include everything from how the ear determines a tone’s pitch to how music is used to express or change moods. Though cognitive psychology is heavily used in this discipline, it also draws on many other schools of psychology, sensation and perception, neuropsychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, and practical subjects such as classroom management are all examples of psychology. Not only psychologists and musicians are drawn to music psychology, but also scientists and researchers from a variety of fields. Perspectives from acoustics, neurology, musicology, education, philosophy, and ethnomusicology are also included in this collection. Musical performance necessitates the development of a complex set of abilities and a developing body of knowledge that allows for sensitive musical interpretation. A composition must first be created before it can be performed. This, too, necessitates a complex set of abilities. Then there’s improvisation as a creative endeavor; Western jazz and Indian classical movement performances are famous examples. Innovative music education techniques presume that all children are musical and immerse young children in creative and sensitive musical interaction with the goal of building the foundations for a lifetime of musicality. Moreover, because music is divided into many diverse musical cultures across the world, an anthropological approach that emphasizes the study of different human civilizations and their music is also helpful in understanding the psychology of music. Finding out what is universal across all musical cultures and what appears to be distinctive to each one sheds a lot of insight on psychological issues. These investigations aid in distinguishing between cultural sources of musical repertoire characteristics and those that may arise from the biological underpinnings of musical perception.

3. Music and gender The widespread categorization of instruments and performance genres as male or female- appropriate has been recorded by anthropologists and historians. Koskoff (1995), for example, demonstrates that while gender stereotyping in music took different forms in different societies at different eras, its consequences are pervasive. Ideas concerning gender-appropriate instrument choice and manner of performance have been particularly prominent on occasions for courting and ritual. The Ga people of Ghana have funeral rites that require specific types of songs to be sung solely by women. Only women (and children) in Afghanistan play a popular instrument known as the ‘chang’ (a mouth harp). Steblin (1995, p. 144), in a historical study of musical stereotyping in Western Europe, alludes to the middle-class tradition of perceiving the virginal and piano as the most acceptable instruments for ‘young girls’ because they could be performed to small groups of friends and family within the home. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, it was considered impolite for women to perform in public, and most orchestras refused to recruit women (O’Neill, 1997). By the time youngsters take their first music lessons, gender prejudices about music have already emerged. Music is typically stereotyped as a more ‘feminine’ topic, with significantly more girls than males taking music classes and participating in musical events during their school years. Furthermore, children’s instrument selections are limited by what they consider to be gender appropriate. Many studies have consistently shown that Western schoolage children consider flutes, violins, and clarinets to be appropriate instruments for girls to play, while drums, trumpets, and guitars are considered to be appropriate instruments for boys (e.g., O’Neill & Boulton, 1996, who studied 9- to 11-year-old English children, tho similar conclusions were shown in young kids). Some studies have found that by providing instances of gender and instrument mismatches that conform to popular expectations, children’s opinions shift —however, the impacts are minor and not necessarily in the desired direction. For example, Harrison and O’Neill (2000) showed live counter-gender-stereotyped figures to youngsters and found at least a modest shift in indicated preferences for gender-specific instrument assignments among both girls and boys. This strategy, on the other hand, appears to lower preference for instruments considered to be gender- appropriate in the past (For example, after viewing a male pianist, females expressed a lower preference for the piano, while boys expressed a lower choice for the guitar after watching a female guitarist). Another Australian study that employed video presentations and counter- stereotypical drawings discovered that girls were more likely than boys to experiment with non- traditional player and instrument combinations (Pickering and Repacholi, 2001). The number of female musicians in professional bands and orchestras is growing, and the instruments they play are diverse. However, this may be more true of classical music ensembles, whereas gender equality in other genres, such as jazz, has a long way to go. McKeage (2004), for example, revealed that in a study of over 600 students, substantially fewer girls than men are active in performing jazz in high school or college. In addition, despite the fact that 62% of guys who played jazz in high school continued to play in college, just 26% of females who played jazz in high school did so. Female jazz musicians, in particular, lacked confidence in their ability to improvise. Wehr-Flowers (2006) discovered that girls in jazz ensembles were significantly less confident, nervous and had a poorer feeling of selfefficacy in jazz improvisation than men, using a scale that assesses attitudes toward mathematics. Wehr-Flowers says that while most studies have not identified substantial differences in male and female jazz improvisation talents, “we must therefore seek to alternate causes for the gender imbalance in the jazz sector”. Females may not be socialized to feel as comfortable as males in participating in jazz rituals such as showing off one’s chops,’ and there is an insufficient social framework to support females because the networks through which one obtains informal jazz technique training and advances one’s career are predominantly male (McKeage, 2004). Music composition is one area of music where women are noticeably underrepresented. According to research using the ‘Goldberg paradigm,’ social perception may have a part in the tiny proportion of females deemed to be prominent composers in various genres of music (Colley, North, & Hargreaves, 2003). This strategy was first used in a famous 1968 research by Goldberg, which found that journal publications credited to John McKay were rated more positively than those ascribed to Joan McKay in diverse domains of competence. Contemporary music compositions were played to 64 undergrads who rated them on a set of rating scales in Colley’s study in 2005, which extended the approach to the musical realm. Participants tended to offer higher evaluations on measures relating to musical skill when the composers were identified as Klaus Behne and Simon Healy, compared to Helena Behne and Sarah Healy, even though the effects were only marginally significant. Higher ratings were provided on various scales for music claimed to female composers under another scenario, in which a brief biography was added (that was the same for all fake artists). ‘Where no information other than social category is supplied, there is more pro-male bias,’ the scientists noted. If, on the other hand, excellent biographies are provided, readers may conclude that the ladies are especially committed and have achieved a high degree of success against the odds. One hundred fifty-three late-adolescent participants were asked to evaluate six works from the classical, jazz, and new-age genres in a second study by the same group of researchers (North, Colley, & Hargreaves, 2003). In this study, (fictitious) composers’ names and short biographical excerpts regarding their history and accomplishments were supplied in all cases. The findings diverged slightly from those of the Colley et al. research, with the jazz extracts providing the most remarkable findings. For starters, participants definitely saw jazz composing as a masculine occupation, although reactions to classical and new age music were somewhat skewed the other way. Second, female participants’ assessments for jazz compositions exhibited strong evidence of ‘pro-female prejudice,’ while male participants’ ratings revealed less striking evidence of ‘anti- female bias.’ Furthermore, when ascribed to a male composer, the identical jazz tunes were evaluated as ‘softer’ and ‘warm,’ but when assigned to a female composer, they were perceived as more ‘forceful,’ mirroring preconceptions about male and female composers. As with many other characteristics of musicality discussed in this section, societal influences, rather than sheer aptitude, may account for discrepancies in a degree of success and prominence between male and female composers.

4. Consumer behavior in relation to music as a social force Kurt Lewin, a pioneering social psychologist, stated years ago that one’s social circumstances have a significant effect on directing conduct. Though, as previously said, this viewpoint has shifted in recent years, there are compelling claims that music has such a function. These ideas may be traced all the way back to Plato, who claimed that different musical modes might cause different forms of conduct. Empirical evidence suggests that music may have a significant influence on conduct and that, unlike more explicit types of persuasion such as verbal messaging, it can happen without people being aware that music is driving their behavior. This remark was stated in research by North and colleagues in the field of consumer behavior (North, Hargreaves, & McKendrick, 1997). Music those evoked connections with either France (e.g., a soulful accordion piece) or Germany (e.g., a soulful accordion piece) played in the background while shoppers meandered around a grocery store (e.g., brassladen Bierkeller music). The researchers monitored customers as they passed through a wine aisle. Despite the fact that most buyers were unaware of the music, shoppers’ wine tastes went toward the nation represented by the music! As a result, music’s influence on behavior can be significant and even subconscious. A number of additional studies have indicated that music has a significant impact on people’s mood and behavior in a variety of commercial and industrial environments. In a university cafeteria, for example, North and Hargreaves (1998) played pop music, classical music, easy listening music, or no sound. Customers described the cafeteria as ‘fun’ and ‘upbeat’ when there was pop music playing, ‘sophisticated’ and ‘upmarket’ when there was classical music playing, and ‘cheap’ and ‘down market’ when there was easy listening music playing. Customers were also willing to spend more money for a list of 14 goods sold in the cafeteria while popular music was playing than when no music or easy listening music was playing, and they were willing to spend the greatest money on the same things when classical music was playing. Another experiment conducted at a university cafeteria found that music can influence consumers’ activity rates. To be continued

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

Learning

Physical punishment

The government in England ignores the harm it does.

Most of us have been there: out with friends and their kids, you catch yourself thinking “I wouldn’t shout at her that way”. The rule in this situation is to bite your tongue: unless you see someone doing something cruel to a child. ... Last week, ministers again rejected calls to prohibit physical punishment for children in England. A year ago, Nadhim Zahawi —then education minister— said that the state shouldn’t be “nannying people about how they bring up their children”. Zahawi is right that we should be cautious about the state mandating particular ways to parent. But banning physical punishment is about giving children equal protection in the law. There is no legal defence to hitting another adult, but in English law parents can rely on a defence of “reasonable punishment” after striking a child. There is no justification for this beyond the idea that it’s a parent’s right to use physical discipline if they deem it necessary. There is now incontrovertible evidence that smacking children is harmful: a review of 69 longitudinal studies in the Lancet found that physically punishing a child is associated with worsening emotional problems and behaviour. ... Physical punishment is not associated with any positive outcomes and within a family it is a predictor of involvement with child welfare services. This is why Scotland and Wales have joined more than 60 countries in banning it altogether. ... Read full text:

ChatGPT

...and bots like it, can spread malware.

The AI landscape has started to move very, very fast: consumer-facing tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT are now able to produce incredible image and text results in seconds based on natural language prompts, and we’re seeing them get deployed everywhere from web search to children’s books. However, these AI applications are being turned to more nefarious uses, including spreading malware. ... Think about it: A lot of phishing attacks and other security threats rely on social engineering, duping users into revealing passwords, financial information, or other sensitive data. The persuasive, authentic-sounding text required for these scams can now be pumped out quite easily, with no human effort required, and endlessly tweaked and refined for specific audiences. In the case of ChatGPT, it’s important to note that developer OpenAI has built safeguards into it. ... However, these protections aren’t too difficult to get around: ChatGPT can certainly code, and it can certainly compose emails. ... There are already signs that cybercriminals are working to get around the safety measures that have been put in place. We’re not particularly picking on ChatGPT here, but pointing out what’s possible once large language models (LLMs) like it are used for more sinister purposes. Indeed, it’s not too difficult to imagine criminal organizations developing their own LLMs and similar tools. ... And it’s not just text either: Audio and video are more difficult to fake, but it’s happening as well. ... Read full text:


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Mind-body nexus

Scientists identify it in human brain.

The relationship between the human mind and body has been a subject that has challenged great thinkers for millennia, including the philosophers Aristotle and Descartes. The answer, however, appears to reside in the very structure of the brain. Researchers said [April 19th] they have discovered that parts of the brain region called the motor cortex that govern body movement are connected with a network involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs, as well as functions such as blood pressure and heart rate. They identified a previously unknown system within the motor cortex manifested in multiple nodes that are located in between areas of the brain already known to be responsible for movement of specific body parts — hands, feet and face— and are engaged when many different body movements are performed together. The researchers called this system the somato-cognitive action network, or SCAN, and documented its connections to brain regions known to help set goals and plan actions. This network also was found to correspond with brain regions that, as shown in studies involving monkeys, are connected to internal organs including the stomach and adrenal glands, allowing these organs to change activity levels in anticipation of ...
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Dementia

Linked to brain abnormalities from high blood pressure.

More than a billion adults around the world live with elevated blood pressure, a condition that puts individuals at risk of damaging a variety of organs, including the nervous system. Though previous studies have linked high blood pressure (hypertension) with an increased risk of cognitive impairment, the mechanisms behind the decline in mental health has never been known. Now an international team of researchers has discovered which areas of the brain are most likely to suffer damage as the cardiovascular system is put under strain. “Our study has, for the first time, identified specific places in the brain that are potentially causally associated with high blood pressure and cognitive impairment,” says Jagiellonian University Medical College medical biologist Mateusz Siedlinski. Siedlinski and colleagues used a combination of genetic and imaging data and observational analyses from 33,000 individual records in the UK Biobank to find the damage caused by high blood pressure that contributes to dementia. This combined approach allowed the researchers to identify where in the brain long-term hypertension can cause the structural changes that lead to declines in cognitive function, and what those changes look like in brain scan images. “We thought these areas might be where high blood pressure affects cognitive function, such as memory loss, thinking skills ... Read full text


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Arcana Strum

Accessibility-focused instrument

Boaz Rienshrieber advertised his music classes with flyers stating that “anyone can play.” Six years ago, he was approached by a prospective student who wanted to play guitar, but her cerebral palsy severely inhibited her ability to even hold the instrument. He wanted to give her access to something more expressive than the shakers and peripheral percussion instruments that students with cerebral palsy are often relegated to. After doing some searching, Rienshrieber put together a development team to construct an instrument perfectly tailored to her physical abilities —and that’s how the accessibility-focused instrument Arcana Strum was born. The Arcana Strum’s design is based on the controls of a motorized wheelchair. In its simplest form, the instrument is intended to be placed on a table or the musician’s lap, and is played by a combination of large, color-coded buttons and a lever used to strum. ... Read full text:

Las Tejedoras

Productive development center supporting women

Natura Futura and architect Juan Carlos Bamba design ‘Las Tejedoras’, a Community Productive Development Center, utilizing architecture as a tool for the insertion, linkage, and support of women weavers. The project seeks to be a space for the intermediation of productive development processes, linking unemployed women through active participation, the potentiation of local artisan techniques, and the revitalization of learning as an empowerment tool. ‘Las Tejedoras’ is located on the outskirts of the urban community of Chongón, Ecuador, with a population of approximately 4,900 people, where the majority are women who are not part of the economically active groups, with little possibility of entering a labor niche. Since 2009, the Young Living Foundation, dedicated to generating programs that promote the potential of communities through education and entrepreneurship, opened the Young Living Academy where around 150 lowincome children study, whose mothers are part of the local productive workshops, thus forming the Organization of Bromelias Artisan Women, focused on development through handmade fabrics with natural fibers. ... Read full text

Work-play stations

by TMC Furniture

At the Henrico County Public Library, where Barbara F. Weedman is the director, she saw parents and caregivers would struggle to use the computers while balancing a baby on their lap or keeping track of a busy toddler. In 2017, when the library started building a new location, Weedman had an idea for work-play stations that would give parents computer access and a safe place to contain their baby or child. She worked with the community and a design group to bring the idea to life, and when the Fairfield Area Library opened in 2019, the Computer Work and Play Stations were ready. The Fairfield Area Library serves a predominantly Black neighborhood with many intergenerational homes. These caregivers may not have internet access at home, or they may just need a quiet place away from home to get a little work done,” Weedman says. ... Read full text

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Psychobiotic drugs

Could be the future of mental health.

How microbes in the gut influence the brain —and vice versa— is still being unpicked. Studies have revealed possible routes of communication that include the immune system, branches of the vagus nerve that run from the gut to the brain, and interaction with the nerves and synapses that control the function of the gastrointestinal tract. If the links could be understood, and harnessed, experts say the impact could be profound. Scientists hope that by shifting the composition of microbes in the gut, either by administering particular microbes or helping beneficial microbes to thrive, they may be able to help treat disorders such as anxiety and depression —an approach known as psychobiotics. ... Early small studies, some industry funded, found that consumption of probiotics —good bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli— might reduce psychological distress and even affect brain activity in regions involved in controlling the processing of emotion and sensation. One study found that taking a probiotic was associated with a reduction in negative mood. Another found that administering Bifidobacterium longum to patients with irritable bowel syndrome reduced depression ... Certainly the science suggests that manipulating the gut microbiome involves more than simply swallowing a dose of good bacteria. “The diversity of your diet leads the diversity of your gut ... Read full text:

Music

How it hijacks our perception of time.

The human brain, we have learned, adjusts and recalibrates temporal perception. Our ability to encode and decode sequential information, to integrate and segregate simultaneous signals, is fundamental to human survival. It allows us to find our place in, and navigate, our physical world. But music also demonstrates that time perception is inherently subjective —and an integral part of our lives. “For the time element in music is single,” wrote Thomas Mann in his novel, The Magic Mountain. “Into a section of mortal time music pours itself, thereby inexpressibly enhancing and ennobling what it fills.” We conceive of time as a continuum, but we perceive it in discretized units —or as discretized units. It has long been held that, just as objective time is dictated by clocks, subjective time (barring external influences) aligns to physiological metronomes. Music creates discrete temporal units but ones that do not typically align with the discrete temporal units in which we measure time. Rather, music embodies (or, rather, is embodied within) a separate, quasi-independent concept of time, able to distort or negate “clock-time.” This other time creates a parallel temporal world in which we are prone to lose ourselves, or at least to lose all semblance of objective time. In recent years, numerous studies have shown how music hijacks our relationship with everyday time. For instance, more drinks are sold in bars when with slow-tempo music, which seems ... Read full text:


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Sea level rise

Why is it worse in some places?

There is a misconception that the ocean behaves like a bathtub. There are two major reasons why sea levels are rising. One is that the ocean is warming, and it needs more space and expands. The other one is that ice sheets and glaciers are melting, and they put more mass into the ocean. But if we look locally, there are a lot of factors that lead to regionally varying sea level rise. We have changes in ocean circulation. In the simplest form, winds over the ocean push water masses from one side to the other. That can lead to changes in sea level over several years to decades. The same is true for ocean currents. If we put water into the ocean by ice sheets or glaciers that are melting, their gravitational field is also changed. Here, there are three things that happen: You put mass into the ocean, so sea levels rise globally on average. But then, the ice sheet is a heavy body of mass, and due to its mass, it attracts the water of the surrounding ocean, like the moon generates tides. So as that ice sheet melts you reduce that gravitational attraction, and the water migrates away from the ice sheet. And then at the same time, the weight of the ice sheet also becomes less, and it leads to uplift of the ground below. So it leads to sea level fall near the ice sheets but sea level rise in what we call far-field —like here in Louisiana, for instance. Then, lastly, in particular here in Louisiana, it’s not only the ocean that is rising, but it’s also the land that is sinking. ...
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Protect wildlife

...by protecting Indigenous rights.

The COP15 agreement and its pledge to preserve 30% of the world’s biodiversity by 2030 (30×30) may have sounded like a resounding success for conservation around the world. However, according to the Rainforest Foundation, this could potentially impact up to 300 million people across the world. Protecting our planet’s wildlife is a crucial defense against the biodiversity crisis. Depending on the context, restricting access to vulnerable ecosystems is crucial for preserving endangered species. However, if our means of doing so is by rehashing conservation methods that ignore Indigenous knowledge and needs, then COP15’s 30×30 push could produce far more harm than good. Today, we need to fuse international, modern ecological understanding with local knowledge and the traditional conservation methods that come with it. That’s why it is crucial for local representatives to be given both a voice and representation at international conservation conferences, and at the private conservation funding meetings where conservation land demarcation is decided. Research shows that while the world’s 370 million Indigenous peoples make up less than 5% of the world’s total human population, they manage over 25% of the world’s land surface, and support 80% of the world’s biodiversity. ... Read full text:

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Man with schizophrenia

...was left naked in jail cell for weeks before death.

New surveillance video from inside an Indiana jail shows how a 29-year-old man who died in the summer of 2021 from dehydration and malnutrition was left naked in solitary confinement for three weeks with no medical attention. The footage was released on Wednesday [April 12th] by the family of Joshua McLemore as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against Jackson county, Indiana. The suit accuses the local sheriff, jail commander and medical staff of causing McLemore’s death through deliberate indifference, neglect and unconstitutional jail conditions while he was in a state of psychosis. Disturbing videos, some of which were reviewed by the Guardian, show McLemore as he was left in a small, windowless cell for 20 days straight in Jackson county jail in July and August of 2021. The cell had no bed or bathroom and had fluorescent lights on at all hours. In the footage, McLemore, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, appears detached from reality, speaking gibberish, rolling in filth and his own waste and becoming clearly emaciated. He received daily meals through a small slot in his jail door, but appears to have rarely eaten them. He had extended human interactions on only four occasions —when guards used intense force and restraint devices to drag him out to clean the cell or give him a shower. McLemore ultimately lost 45lbs during his stay, but never saw a doctor or mental health professional ...
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Windrush Generation

UK is failing them —again.

Let’s start from the beginning. After 1948, thousands of people from Caribbean islands moved to the UK — named the “Windrush generation” because many arrived on the ship HMT Empire Windrush. They travelled to the UK with the legal right to permanently live and work there, but failure one: the UK government never issued them documentation so they could later prove their lawful status in the UK. In 2010, failure two: the UK government destroyed the Windrush landing cards that might have been used to prove their lawful status. That year is key to the story for another reason. It’s when a new set of proposals emerged —what the UK government eventually called its “hostile environment policy.” It established a set of requirements designed to prevent access to services for anyone unable to prove their immigration status. Its stated aim was to make the requirements so difficult they would push people to leave the country. Thus, failure three: thousands of longterm, lawful residents of the UK —mostly Black Britons— suddenly found themselves targets of an ill-conceived antiimmigrant policy. ... The impacts were devastating. People lost jobs, homes, health care, pensions, and benefits. In many cases, they were detained, deported, and separated from their families. Eventually, in 2018, the government apologized for the scandal, and in the following year, they opened the Windrush Compensation Scheme. ... Which brings us to today and failure four: the compensation scheme itself is failing ...
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Loon in danger

Loons were falling out of the sky in northern Wisconsin.

Organizations in Wisconsin are asking for the public’s help after a weather phenomenon is causing loons to fall out of the sky. According to the Raptor Education Group, Inc., there have been multiple calls [April 21st] about loons on land and small ponds. The group says it appears there is a loon fallout happening. A loon fallout happens when atmospheric conditions cause migrating loons to develop ice on their body as they fly at high altitudes. This then causes the loons to crash land because they are not able to fly due to the weight of ice on their body. The ice also can interfere with the loon’s flight ability. Experts say that the current ice/rain and unstable air currents are a perfect set-up for this phenomenon to happen. Loons are not able to walk, which is why groups are asking for residents to help. Anyone who comes across a loon on land is asked to call REGI, Loon Rescue or their local wildlife center for advice. Officials pleaded to not take loons to small ponds for release, they reportedly need a quarter mile or more of open water to run across and get airborne. Loons also have sharp beaks and use said beaks for defense. Officials said you can cover them with a blanket to contain them. When it comes to transporting, officials say you can use a Rubbermaid container with air holes in the top. Towels should be placed at the bottom of the container or box to help prevent injury. ...
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The voice of plants

Plants make identifiable sounds when under stress.

For the first time in the world, researchers at Tel Aviv University recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants. The clicklike sounds, similar to the popping of popcorn, are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at high frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear. The researchers: “We found that plants usually emit sounds when they are under stress, and that each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound. While imperceptible to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects.” The study was led by Prof. Lilach Hadany, together with Prof. Yossi Yovel, and research students Itzhak Khait and Ohad Lewin-Epstein, in collaboration with other researchers at Tel Aviv University. The paper was published in the scientific journal Cell. At the first stage of the study the researchers placed plants in an acoustic box in a quiet, isolated basement with no background noise. Ultrasonic microphones recording sounds at frequencies of 20-250 kilohertz (the maximum frequency detected by a human adult is about 16 kilohertz) were set up at a distance of about 10cm from each plant. The study focused mainly on tomato and tobacco plants, but wheat, corn, cactus and henbit were also recorded. ...
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Campus

My girlfriend is asexual and I’m not

I’ve been in a relationship with Erica now for over two years, 6 of those months long-distance.

I matched with her on Tinder a few weeks after a rough breakup. I had been feeling very cynical and apathetic about dating again at that time. I’d match with someone, send the same lame pickup line to mixed results, have an awkwardly forced intro conversation and then move on. Erica was different though. When I saw her profile, it was a pin-drop moment and I was immediately smitten. She looked amazing in her photos and her caption was based on a show I was really into at the time as well. I contemplated using the very forward and intimidating super-like, but decided against it. To my surprise, we actually matched, and the conversation immediately hit off. Every day, all day, we’d talk about everything while getting to know each other. She would send me songs she had written and showed me animation she had done, and my mind was blown by how she could be so talented at everything. It took me a month to muster up the courage to actually ask her out for a first date. I had as the kids would call, “negative rizz”. The date was not so sweet, however. It was, quite frankly, the worst I’ve been on. Unlike in our calls beforehand, she was now cold and distant throughout the entire date. Almost as though she was deliberately trying to alienate me somehow. I spent the two-hour-long train ride home absolutely bewildered at what just happened. How could someone that I had been talking to for a whole month prior to that be so different? We lost contact for a while afterwards, occasionally responding to each other’s Instagram stories every now and then.

It was only during the pandemic that we reconnected through a photography club at University. She explained that she was anxious about the date and the idea of commitment at that time. The date was long behind us at that point though, and we were able to spend months building a connection without the pressure of “a tinder match” behind it. Erica’s asexual identity was something that took me a while to understand. I hadn’t noticed her asexuality being a barrier against intimacy or affection in our relationship, even when we were long-distance. At the start of our relationship, Erica started working as a tattoo artist and has since fostered an incredible LGBTQA+ following. She finds tattooing a great opportunity to discuss relationships, sex and culture with her clients. In these discussions with her clients and with her community online, she confirmed that there were still countless stigmas against asexuality. Arguments that it’s along the lines of celibacy, unresolved trauma, a mental condition, or other arguments used to discredit them and their identity. Many asexual individuals have experienced poor luck in relationships due to partners not being able to understand their sexuality, or worse, not respecting it. For Erica and I, much like any other relationship, communication about boundaries, consent, our affection for each other and sex all exist within our relationship. The key difference, however, is that my girlfriend isn’t sexually attracted to me. On some level, I know that could potentially make me insecure, as how can I know if I’m attractive if my own girlfriend isn’t sexually attracted to me? It sounds like a Rodney Dangerfield joke setup.

In an attempt to get to understand Erica better, we sat down and had a long talk about what asexuality means to her and how we can communicate better in our relationship within the context of asexuality. It’s important to note, this is an account of Erica’s experience with identifying as asexual, and everyone else may experience or identify asexuality differently.

What is attraction to you? “It’s weird, to be honest. I only realised at maybe 15-16 years old that my version of ‘hot’ wasn’t everyone else’s version of hot. I only really experience aesthetic attraction, like how a shoe looks really nice but I don’t get the urge to fuck the shoe. I understand theoretically what a hot person looks like, and I can put people into those boxes, while not feeling sexually attracted to them. I’m intimidated by a hot person like how you may be intimidated by someone who’s better than you in your career. I definitely feel romantic attraction though, but sexual attraction isn’t packaged up with it. I’ve never really fantasised about anyone either, and I 100% forget that other people do.”

What is asexuality to you? “I guess it’s how I perceive the world. It’s so ingrained in me and my personality and the way that I love. I am a panromantic asexual but the definitions and specificities can get very long and change as I realise more about myself, so sometimes I just say I’m queer instead. I don’t think I view sex as a taboo subject as much as sexual people do, so I’m very comfortable talking about it in casual, broaddaylight conversation. I see it as entertainment, with the same weight as baking a cake or singing, it’s like a hobby I enjoy but not a carnal need. I choose my sexual partners based purely on convenience and an imagined checklist. When I was on Tinder my maximum distance was set to 0.5 km and I based dates on whether or not I found them interesting, regardless of how they looked.”

How do you view sex in a relationship? “I see sex as a means to an end. The means being sex and the end being whatever I want at that time. I use it more as a tool to meet an end. These ends may be either selfish or selfless. Sometimes I want to make my partner feel good or show him that I like him, but other times I like the attention. It definitely falls under more of the ‘entertainment’ category rather than in the ‘romance’ category though. If I’m not in a relationship I do fuck around quite a bit, but it’s not because I want sex but rather I want attention and the feeling of being validated.”

How do you express your love for me? “Like how most other couples show love I guess! I cook for you a lot and make you lunchboxes that you forget to bring to work. I also try to listen and empathise and understand when you bring up any issues. I send you cursed TikToks that I find funny and try to get excited and play the games you introduce to me.”

What makes you attracted to me? “It was definitely a slow burn and something I didn’t see coming. I gush about you at work so much and it’s weird having to write it out. I think all the way at the start I thought you were so funny and witty and had a very nice voice. I also thought you were really smart and were so quick-witted. But also at the same time the kindest and gentlest soul ever. I thought it was so interesting how you were a natural therapist and had such a thick shield that no one really thought to get through too. I liked how conscientious you were with others feelings, something I struggle with, how good you were at giving advice and how patient you are. I also really liked your music, and the playlists you made, even before you made them for me, and liked how theoretical you got with it, and with everything else you get into. It’s really cool how much research you do, and how you edit and re-edit everything because it’s definitely not something I’m good at. You’re also pretty cute too and you’re super nice to hug.”

What have previous romantic relationships been like? “This is actually my first serious romantic relationship! In the past, I’ve been scared of commitment or wanted to commit to people who didn’t. I’ve always been attracted to people who seemed interesting, charming and charismatic with different experiences to mine. Unfortunately, these people also happened to be flighty and non-committal and came with baggage I didn’t really understand and wasn’t really capable of supporting. I still keep in touch with some of them though! Even though we didn’t work out romantically I still respect them and think they’re cool people.”

Have you seen asexuality be recognised more or be met with less scepticism in recent years? “Definitely. I think within the past couple of years because of positive representation in media a lot more people understand what asexuality is. I definitely get fewer questions about asexuality in general, but I still get some occasionally. Mostly scepticism about my specific brand of asexuality.”

Are you part of a community with other asexual people? “I don’t think it’s so much of a community but more of I end up having a lot of asexual friends just cause we at the same sense and brand of humour. Some of my closest friends identify on the asexual Spectrum and I noticed that we have the sort of nonchalant sexual humour that I personally enjoy. It is definitely also nice to have a bunch of people that understand and share my experience and understanding of worldview and I don’t have to keep explaining why I am like this. And why I talk like this. I think asexual people are funnier than normal people.”

How do you think I respect your asexuality? “You do! I know you may not fully understand it, but you try to ask good questions about it. You respect my boundaries too and ask for consent a lot. You’re the only one in a long line of people that have even tried to understand which means a lot.”

What are common barriers you face being asexual? “Having to explain it to partners and people. I feel invalid constantly, people are so confused that I’m asexual but have sex. But sex and attraction are different. I’m constantly met with scepticism. I’m pretty sure it’s my truth, but people will often try and convince me that it’s invalid and that I can’t be asexual. I didn’t expect that I was ace, I thought everyone thought like this, however when in school, whenever people would talk about their crushes over K-pop stars I didn’t understand it.”

Do you feel like you have to make compromises in our relationship? “Sometimes. I used to fake orgasms a lot in previous relationships because I didn’t feel comfortable having to explain that I’m just not in the mood to continue. Sex is honestly just a switch for me. I’m not attracted to the person in the first place, so I’m just going through the motions or putting on a show. I play the part until I’m done with it.”

What are the biggest misconceptions about asexuality that you’ve noticed? “That I shouldn’t like sex. Or that I shouldn’t want romance. ‘You’re just not attracted to that guy’. I feel like I keep getting pressured by people into swaying my perception of how I am attracted to others into lining up with their perception of how I should be attracted to other people. I feel frustration more than anything. It’s a bit of a non-issue at the end of the day. People will think I’m lying when I tell them or think I’m stupid, but I know my truth and my sexuality is only for me.”



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RPT-02 SOL.

Adidas Solar Headphones are constantly recharging themselves with any and all available light, whether natural or artificial. From the app (available for iOS and Android), you can view detailed charging data. www.adidasheadphones.com

General purpose Mini Aid.

Medical conditions can affect children’s grip or hand function, from Cerebral Palsy to Guillain- Barré syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy to Spina Bifida, but with our Mini aids none of these need be a bar to having fun! www.activehands.com

Wander table lamp.

Echoing the design of a rice-paper lantern from Asia, this lamp’s powder-coated steel handle sweeps over a globe-shaped shade made from white opal glass, combining a playful silhouette with handy functionality. Dimmable, powered by standard plug-in with a 73”-long cord. store.moma.org

Leo Tolstoy. (1828–1910).

“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking.”

Leo Tolstoy. (1828–1910). Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.

Say what?

“There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” —Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?


BACHELOR’S DEGREE in Biology

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Biological sciences, the study of living organisms and their relationship to the environment, provide a foundation for a variety of careers. Some scientists conduct basic research to increase the knowledge of living organisms, while those in applied research use this knowledge to develop new medicines, increase crop yields and improve the environment. The Bachelor of Biology 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 Associate of Biology 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

Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Microbiology
Embryology
Applied Microbiology
Pharmacology
Immunology
Gross Anatomy
Anatomic Pathology
Neuroscience
Histology
Evolution
Animal Behavior
Ecology
Botany
Invertebrate Zoology
Public and Preventive Health

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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Honolulu, HI 96813
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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) info@aiu.edu
808-924-9567 (Internationally) www.aiu.edu

Online application:

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