My greatest mistake

JANUARY 9 2025. Atlantic International University takes pride in celebrating the remarkable journey of one of its students, Ugwu Niger Martins. This success story is a testament to resilience, perseverance, and an commitment to personal and communal growth. From polygamous roots to political success, Martins has transformed every challenge into an opportunity. Born near the tumultuous Nigerian Civil War, as the sole surviving male child out of twenty-one, he overcame the loss of his father and a lack of value for education in his upbringing. Despite these hardships, he completed primary and secondary education through sheer determination. Today, as a student of AIU, Martins reflects on his path, stating, “AIU has given me the platform to shine and share my story with the world.”

Triumph amid adversity In 1997, Martins entered politics, leveraging his popularity as the first reggae music artist in his Aba clan. Defying the odds, he contested the 1998 transitional election under the banner of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), a party largely rejected in his region. With no campaign posters and only 11 days to prepare, Martins emerged victorious, becoming the first democratically elected Honourable Councilor from his clan. His political journey tenure was marked by transformative initiatives, including: • Fertilizer Distribution: Addressing food shortages by providing essential resources to farmers... Read full text:

Education and empowerment

JANUARY 15 2025. Ngan Joyciline Naah, a social entrepreneur and proud graduate of Atlantic International University, has dedicated her life to transforming marginalized communities by championing education and economic empowerment. Through her non-profit organization, Ngan has designed and implemented a range of innovative initiatives aimed at improving access to education and opportunities for underprivileged youth and women. From marginalization to leadership Growing up in a marginalized neighborhood, Ngan witnessed the challenges of limited access to education and resources. Fueled by her desire to make a positive impact, she pursued a degree in Community Development at AIU, where she developed the skills, knowledge, and confidence to tackle the societal issues close to her heart. Her educational journey was not just a personal achievement but a turning point that shaped her path to community leadership.

“Education changed my life,” said Ngan. “It gave me the tools I needed to make a difference, and I knew I had to pay it forward by helping others who faced the same struggles I did.” Founding a Non-profit After completing her education, Ngan founded a nonprofit organization focused on providing educational programs, mentorship, and economic empowerment for underprivileged groups. ... Read full text:


Graduated with Distinction

FEBRUARY 2025. These graduate students completed his program with a high cumulative grade point average, which reflects the quality of performance within their respective major. Congratulations!

DISTINCTION
Shannon Teeple-Landry
Doctor of Philosophy
Nutrition Science

DISTINCTION
Eirik Oern
Doctor of Strategy and Management
Strategy and Management

DISTINCTION
Laura Alejandra Villalba Benitez
Doctor of Legal Sciences
Comparative Electoral Studies

Appointed Rector

JANUARY 31 2025. Known for its academic excellence and its vital role in shaping the intellectual landscape of Guatemala, Mariano Gálvez University has chosen Dr. Carlos Federico Cárdenas Castellanos to lead the institution into a new era of educational innovation and growth.

Dr. Cárdenas, a distinguished alumnus of AIU, earned his Doctorate in Business Administration with high honors, showcasing a remarkable career of academic achievement and leadership. His dedication to the field of education and his strategic approach to organizational leadership have earned him widespread recognition, culminating in this prestigious appointment.

The university community looks forward to benefiting from Dr. Cárdenas’ wealth of knowledge, leadership skills, and forward-thinking vision. As Mariano Gálvez University ... Read full text:


Roots of hop

JANUARY 27 2025. In a world grappling with the challenges of climate change, Chance Kanoga, a notable graduate from AIU is making remarkable strides in environmental sustainability. Chance Kaonga, driven by an enduring passion for science and a commitment to positive change, has embarked on a mission of tree planting initiatives that is transforming his community and contributing to global efforts to combat climate change. Chance developed a bold plan to initiate transformative projects in his community. “Roots of Hope” focuses on tree planting, reforestation for sustainable development, fruit tree cultivation, giant bamboo growth, and waste management efforts within and around Dwasulu Community Day Secondary School. ... Read full text:

AIU community deeply mourns

JANUARY 28 2025. The global AIU community deeply mourns the recent passing of our esteemed AIU Alumni member, Dr. Carlos Garcia Mendez, who successfully completed the Doctor of Philosophy program in Education at AIU. Dr. Garcia Mendez served as the Rector of the University of Xalapa, Mexico, demonstrating exemplary leadership in the field of education. For several years, AIU and the University of Xalapa have maintained a fruitful collaboration agreement. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Garcia Mendez’s family, friends, and the entire University of Xalapa community during this difficult time.


10TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON Communication & Media Studies

Call for Papers This Conference will be hosted 11–12 September 2025 by Université Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne, Paris, France. We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/ interactive sessions, posters/ exhibits, colloquia, focused discussions, innovation showcases, virtual posters, or virtual lightning talks.

2025 Special Focus: “From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture”

Theme 1: Media Cultures.
Theme 2: Media Theory.
Theme 3: Media Technologies and Processes.
Theme 4: Media Business.
Theme 5: Media Literacies

Become a Presenter:
1. Submit a proposal
2. Review timeline
3. Register

Regular proposal deadline 11 June 2025
Regular registration deadline 11 August 2025
Visit the website: Visit the website:

Leveraging leadership

JANUARY 30 2025. Abah Emmanuel Akugwu, a dedicated student at AIU, is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. His educational journey is marked not only by academic achievement but also by a profound commitment to utilizing leadership and teamwork skills to effect positive change in his community. As one of the standout students at AIU, Abah’s experience in leadership and teamwork for community impact sheds light on how higher education can be a catalyst for societal transformation. At AIU, the emphasis on self-directed learning and flexibility has empowered Abah to take charge of his educational path. This unique approach allows students to tailor their learning experiences to fit their personal and professional goals. ... Read full text:

Transforming sanitation prac

FEBRUARY 3 2025. In every community, waste management and sanitation practices are vital to maintaining a clean and healthy environment. Antoinette Agbozo, an industrious student at AIU, has taken significant steps to address the littering and poor sanitation issues that have been prevalent in her school and local community. As the founder and coordinator of a sanitation club, Antoinette has created an impactful initiative that not only focuses on reducing waste but also encourages recycling and reusing materials to ensure a cleaner future. Under her leadership, this project has led to remarkable changes in both the school and the surrounding areas. The journey began when Antoinette recognized that littering was becoming a major problem, both within the school grounds and in the neighboring community. ... Visit the website:


18 TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Call for Papers This Conference will be hosted 11–13 June 2025 by University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus. We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/ interactive sessions, posters/ exhibits, colloquia, focused discussions, innovation showcases, virtual posters, or virtual lightning talks.

2025 Special Focus: “Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity: Navigating Intercultural Leadership”

Theme 1: Organizational Intangibles and Tangible Value.
Theme 2: Knowledge Economies as the Constant.
Theme 3: Organizations as Knowledge Makers.
Theme 4: The Value of Culture and the Demand of Change.

Become a Presenter:
1. Submit a proposal
2. Review timeline
3. Register

Late proposal deadline 11 May 2025
Late registration deadline 11 June 2025
Visit the website:


Compassion International

FEBRUARY 7 2025. Atlantic International University is proud to share the inspiring story of Ricles Thomas, a doctoral student who has successfully applied the knowledge gained through his studies to make a significant impact in his professional environment at Compassion International. In his role at Compassion International, Ricles is responsible for completing a Personal Development Plan (PDP) each fiscal year, outlining goals for growth. Going beyond the routine task, Ricles used his AIU education to drive deeper conversations on leadership within his team. Specifically, he introduced concepts of emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness, transforming not only his own leadership style but that of his colleagues. ... Read full text:




Onias Mpofu
Associate of Business Administration
Business Administration
Angola
Desrie Marisa Southwell
Doctor of Business Administration
Business Management
Antigua and Barbuda
Guaicaipuro José Jiménez Jiménez
Post Doctorate of Philosop hy
Philosophy
Aruba
Agbocou Jules Clotaire Kossi
Doctor of Science
Computer Science
Benin
Rafael Vladimir Pardo Elio
Bachelor of Science
Electrical Engineering
Bolivia
Norma Valeria Cecilia Moscoso Valda
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Bolivia
           
Channthorn Mao
Doctor of Business and Economics
Business Management
Cambo dia
Shannon Teeple-Landry
Doctor of Philosop hy
Nutrition Science
Canada
Rosa Soledad Fernández Herrera
Doctor of Education
Education
Chile
Rawhoudine Said Charriffaini
Doctor of Mathematics
Mathematics Education
Comoros
Paul Kaposela Kapopo
Master of Science
Environmental Science
Congo
Bieme Mpikandutu Daddy
Master of Administration AEV Affairs
Developmental Rural
Congo
           
José Luis Stonestreet Quintero
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Costa Rica
Caridad Nolasco Alvarez
Doctor of Agronomy
Plant Protection
Dominican Republic
María Fernanda López Granja
Bachelor of Business Administration
Marketing
Ecuador
Wilson Elías Guanoquiza Cando
Doctor of Philosop hy
Mathematics
Ecu
Carlos Guillermo González Coloma
Bachelor of Spo rts Science
Sports Science
Ecuador
Segundo Justo Aviles
Bachelor of Science
Psychology
Ecuador
           
Lourdes Farfan
Bachelor of Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Ecuador
Yuleiki Del Carmen Duque Franco
Bachelor of Education
Early Childhood Pedagogy
Equatorial Guinea
Vishnu Naraine Panday
Doctor of Education
Educational Psychology
Guyana
Rigane Mascary
Master of Economics
Economics
Haiti
Lesby Daniela Ochoa Molina
Masters in Legal Studies
Legal Studies
Honduras
Marliz Elizabeth Vidal Salas
Bachelor of Philology Hispa nic
Education, Literature and Spanish Grammar
Hungary
           
Roy Yakov Ben Ishay (Amir)
Doctor of Science
Supply Chain Management
Israel
Claudia P. Barrientos Cambara de P.
Doctor of Philosop hy
Peace, Climate Change and Sust. Dev.
Italy
Raquel Ann-Monique Brown
Bachelor of Psychology
Education Psychology
Jamaica
Hilary Suzette Edmond Bassaragh
Master of Education
Education
Jamaica
Loai Ziad Hasan Al-Adim
Doctor of Science
Business Innov. in Elect. Power Engineering
Jord
Lisebo Ramakatsa
Doctor of Management
Human Resource Management
Lesotho
           
José Salvador Gutiérrez Peña
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Mexico
Mounir Bensalah
Doctor of Philosop hy
Human Rights
Morocco
Ademola Adedeji Odutola
Doctor of Science
Architecture
Nigeria
Joseph C. Awodeha
Doctor of Philosop hy
Human Resources Management
Niger
Morgan Ajoku
Doctor of Philosop hy
Supply Chain Management
Nigeria
Abdulrahman Kitilly Hudu
Master of Science
Public Health and Epidemiology
Nigeria
           
Ibanga Eyo Ekong
Doctor of Philosop hy
Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Nigeri
Sekoni Temiloluwa Odunayo
Bachelor of Science
Computer Science
Nigeri
Dr. Eirik Oern
Doctor of Strategy and Management
Strategy and Management
Norway
Pedro Eloy Yataco Tasayco
Bachelor of Agronomic Engineering
Agronomic Engineering
Peru
Elgeen Edmée Montilla Ortiz
Doctor of Business Administration
Marketing
Puerto Ri
Jody Eiser
Doctor of Science
Psychology
South Africa
           
Max Vladimir Martínez Portillo
Bachelor of Arts
Social Work
Spa in
Navin Riteshkumar Ruben Samoedj
Doctor of Business Management
Business Management
Suriname
Emmanuel Peter Kichere
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Tanza
Jose Manuel Maniqun
Doctor of Urba n Planning and Mgmt.
Urban Planning and Management
Timor Leste
Omijie Ailen Elijah
Doctor of Science
Information Systems
Togo
Parvin Mashoori
Doctor of Science
Agriculture (Herbal Therapy)
Türkiye
           
Roxanne Magdalene St. Clair
Doctor of Business Administration
Business Administration and Management
United Kingdom
Yaremi Ledesma Alvarez
Bachelor of Music
Music
USA
Gabriel Ochoa Rangel
Bachelor of International Relations
International Relations
USA
Bright Karikari Brako
Bachelor of Science
Information Technology
USA
Lázaro Daniel González Valdés
Master of Science
Psychology
USA
Gil Ramon Paiz Zeledon
Doctor of Science
Nutrition
USA
           
Laura Alejandra Villalba Benitez
Doctor of Legal Sciences
Comparative Electoral Studies
USA
Dominique Danielle De Lira
Bachelor of Science
Biochemistry Engineering
USA
Ronald Chandra
Master of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
USA
Maria Elena Zegarra Vasquez
Doctor of Philosop hy
Biotechnology
USA
Dr. Gil Ramon Paiz Zeledon
Doctor of Science
Nutrition
USA
Shatha A Ghanem
Bachelor of Arts
Arts
USA
           
Melvin Robert Harris
Doctor of Public Health
Public Health
USA
Luis .E. Bayter O.
Master of Business Administration
Global Business
USA
Gabriel Ochoa Rangel
Bachelor of International Relations
International Relations
USA
Freddy ChandaNg'uni
Doctor in Public Health
Public Health
Zambia
Vongai Madamombe Taruvingira
Master of Science
Public Health
Zimbabwe
 


This month we have graduates from: Angola · Antigua and Barbuda · Aruba · Benin · Bolivia · Cambodia · Canada · Chile · Comoros · Congo · Costa Rica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Equatorial Guinea · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hungary · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Jordania · Lesotho · Mexico · Morocco · Nigeria · Peru · Puerto Rico · South Africa · Spain · Suriname · Tanzania · Timor Leste · Togo · Türkiye · United Kingdom · USA · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Gallery: aiu.edu/Graduation/grids/currentgallery.html

Student Testimonials

Achulo Osara Florence
Doctor of Traumatology
December 3, 2024
“I would like to appreciate the university for accepting me and allowing me to be part of this University. I gained a lot of experience because I learned a lot that has made me what am now. i have become an authentic student who is able to relate and realise the talents in me that I fail to unitise. The students were very cooperative and the webinars that i attended were able to open my eyes because they were very educative and every presenter was able to explain to us how these webinars can change life. I became Student Ambassador. Coming to the university was the best way for me to get the qualifications and experience I needed to become a successful psychologist I understood that being a student was not just about getting a degree but becoming an effective student out side in the world. I want to say thank you so much for the scholarship that I got because it reduced on my funds and I was able to complete my studies. Other new things i learnt was new, making friends and understanding ...
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Annie Penda
Post Doctor of Education
December 6, 2024
“I am Dr Penda Annie a senior lecturer in the Department of Special Education, School of Education at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kabwe, Zambia. I enrolled for post-doctoral programme at AIU in the Academic Department of the school of Social and Human Studies. My experience at AIU, I honestly appreciate the work of Dr Edward Lambert and Dr Freddy Frejus for their academic examination and evaluation of my work on time which made me develop great interest in the AIU programme I was undertaking. I equally notice the work of Grace Olubayo and Tobi Rotimi Opoola for their work which was done with a lot of diligent, friendliness which made me to be part of AIU easily and quickly. My dream of furthering my studies have been realized through AIU programme and their offer of scholarship to me. I was happy in the way the programmes are arranged it is so flexible to meet all the needs in the academic world. I was happy to find that special education was also found at this university in a more advanced way. ...
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Conde Mamoudou
Doctor of Banking and Finance
December 10, 2024
“It can be said that my experience at AIU was very useful in opening up horizons previously not explored by me. The links and motivations of the 17 United Nations Development Goals are part of this by integrating almost all of them into the everyday reality of all humanity. It was also a pleasant experience because, unlike other times, I came back to university without leaving home. I saw those who teach me again without being in the country or in the same city as them. Under their guidance, I worked at my own pace which they implicitly approved. I quietly handled my homework, while my children did theirs. They were ultimately impressed by what Dad had achieved, so to speak, without fanfare or fanfare. Although I also knew that I had just opened a veritable Pandora’s box, as the possibilities for learning are endless in all branches. Hence a lesson in humility for all. Last but not least: my final evaluation (interview) by AIU. I was impressed by the universal vision of my evaluators on a local problem that I considered to be ...
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Agbocou Jules Kossi
Doctor of Computer Science
January 8, 2025
“C’est avec une profonde gratitude et une immense satisfaction que je souhaite partager mon expérience au sein de l’Université Internationale de l’Atlantique (AIU). Ce parcours a marqué un tournant décisif dans ma vie académique, professionnelle et personnelle. L’AIU m’a offert un environnement propice à la révélation de mon potentiel d’innovation. À travers des programmes adaptés, des ressources pédagogiques riches et un encadrement personnalisé, j’ai pu explorer des idées nouvelles et concrétiser des projets audacieux, autrefois perçus comme des rêves lointains. Grâce à la flexibilité et à l’efficacité de l’apprentissage à distance, j’ai réalisé des objectifs ambitieux dans un temps record, sans compromettre mes responsabilités professionnelles et familiales. Cette méthode d’enseignement m’a appris à conjuguer efficacement mes engagements divers tout en restant concentré sur l’excellence académique. Par ailleurs, ce programme m’a permis de repousser mes limites, d’élargir mes horizons intellectuels et de relever de ...
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FIND MORE TESTIMONIALS FROM AIU STUDENTS HERE:


Knowledge and Science

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


We are in a world that asks us: What is happening? Let’s look at the thought that has given us many benefits, many answers: Science. Science refers to knowledge. What is knowledge? When we talk about knowledge, we think of other concepts that are related to it, which means close, but don’t define it as such, these concepts are: Believe and Know. Within my bibliographic world I have a job that has always enriched me because few are interested in what they mean: Believe, Know and Know. The work I mention is by Luis Villoro published by Siglo Veinte y Uno- Siglo XXI. It also appears published in 2024, by the Philosophical magazine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico-UNAM.

At first glance it seems that these concepts mean the same thing. By studying them the result clarifies the definition and therefore with the difference we avoid many errors in their use. “If we take Believing in its most general sense, it simply means “to hold a statement to be true” or “to hold a fact to be existing”, to accept the truth and reality of something, without implying that my evidence is sufficient or not”. (Villoro, 2009, p. 15). The situation of belief is clear; I don’t have sufficient evidence for the thought I express. Villoro continues: “A belief is true only if the proposition in which it is expressed is true”. (Villoro, 2009, p. 16). Here Villoro goes to the foundation that Science has in the Logical Principles of the same worked by Aristotle. Stagira, Greece, 384 BC - 322 BC Chalcis, Greece.

Villoro also says that belief is “…an acquired dispositional state that causes a coherent set of responses and that is determined by an apprehended objective object or situation”. (Villoro, 2009, p. 71). What Villoro says is that what we call belief is what we perceive: it is what we independently and without a demonstration as such capture of something that we will call the object of that belief. Regarding Knowledge, Villoro tells us: “Because Wise is not the one who knows many general principles, nor the one who can explain everything through safe theories, but the one who can distinguish in each circumstance the essential behind the appearances, the one who can integrate into a concrete unit the apparent manifestations of an object; wise is also the one who, in each individual situation, can better distinguish what is truly important, and for this he has a more shrewd look than others”. (Villoro, 2009, p. 226).

From the above conceptualization we can effectively differentiate the qualities and attitudes that any human being must have to be called wise. From what is clear from the above definition, being wise doesn’t mean having all possible degrees; being wise is having the ability to see more than what others can determine by their ability to abstract what others can’t extract from the object, whether conceptual or concrete. Now let’s look at what Knowing is: “In short, knowledge in general is a dispositional state to act, acquired, determined by an apprehended objective object or situation, which is accompanied by a sure guarantee of success”. (Villoro. 2009, pp. 220-221). “Science consists of a set of knowledge that can be shared by a given epistemic community: theories, statements that relate them to a domain of objects, statements of observation that can be verified intersubjectively; all of this constitutes a body of propositions founded on objectively sufficient rea sons”. (Villoro, 2009, p. 222). Science is special in that it’s demonstrated and proven in its results.

In Science, other knowledge must also be taken into consideration; a proposal that is divergent from other knowledge can’t be given as part of science. In Science, we are conditioned to consider congruence with other knowledge as obligatory: there is always a relationship with the epistemic community. Clarifying the meaning of concepts that are often used interchangeably to refer to scientific knowledge because it’s said: he is wise because he knows a lot, identifying it with knowing about science, or he knows a lot but doesn’t refer to scientific knowledge that is referred to the epistemic community. We are in a new year, 2025, and we have had many elections of governments, some good and others called “populist”. The big question is: why are there so many reapopulist governments? The neediest are taken, those who have little knowledge of science because they didn’t have the opportunity to study. What is striking is that these governments have it or those who want the money are looking for it. A high percentage of their members even have studies. The surprise is that these studies have remained in a time of science that is already very far away.

Science, in which the Nobel Prizes have been awarded for the last 10 years, is unknown to these people and they want to stay in these paradigms to obtain money, even if they harm the planet, even if they end world peace with hate speech and disinformation. Disinformation goes hand in hand with hate speech because the other human being must be annulled so that no one believes in his or her. We are witnessing situations that don’t involve compliance with Human Rights. For the types of governments, especially the “populist” ones, Education is the tool to keep people subjugated. What is happening with UNESCO’s work for Sustainable Development? What is happening with Article 4 for Sustainable Development regarding Education? UNECO is doing the following: “By mobilizing its thousands of scientific partners around the world, its 194 Member States, its educational institutions and its networks of cultural and natural sites, UNESCO will support the development of initiatives to achieve the objectives of the Decade. All partners, including governments, research institutes, universities, industry, civil societies, the private sector and individuals are called to participate through the development of their own initiatives”. UNESCO launc hes the International Dec ade of Science for Sus tainable Deve lopmen t (2024-2033) 3 Decem ber 2024. https://www.unesco. org/en/articles/unesco-launches-theinternational- decade-of-science-forsustainable- development-2024-2033 It seems that nothing is happening with Education and governments that want their people to remain in the dark are silent about this work. There is also a monitoring of Education in the world, which was done a few months ago. “Based on the United Nations Pact for the Future, GEM 2024 marked a key moment for education, bringing together the international education community, including governmental and non-state actors, to agree on acceleration strategies for the rest of the 2030 Agenda, taking into account the vision of transforming education”.

(GEM Report) The Global Educ ation Monitoring Report. Global Educ ation Mee ting 2024 - 31 October - 1 Novem ber 2024 - Fortaleza, Brazil https://w”ww. unesco.org/sdg4education2030/ en/2024-global-education-meeting What was the objective of this follow-up? “…the Global Education Meeting 2024 convened by UNESCO aimed to foster multilateral, intersectoral and multi-stakeholder dialogue, recognizing education as a social equalizer and a driving force for sustainable development.” Global Educ ation Mee ting 2024. 31 October – 1 Novem ber 2024 – Fortaleza, Brazil. https:// www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/ en/2024-global-education-meeting What is clear is that the plan of populist governments is to keep the smallest possible population close to science. Given what UNESCO is doing, we are witnessing the work of universities and Scientific Research Centers: greater dissemination of science.

The dissemination of science is one of the objectives of every university. To counteract hate speech and misinformation, there must be greater dissemination of science; you must see what they are doing: • Cambridge and Oxford in England, • The Max Planck Research Institutes - 80 - most of them in Germany, • The University of Leuven in Belgium, • Yale University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, among others. You are doing your study program at Atlantic International University- AIU: when they offer you to do articles for scientific journals this is the reason. Here are the reasons why completing your program at AIU is the way to live in peace and not be used by anyone. Here is the way to be able to work without being offered to give you this or that which is never there; it is only lies. Nowadays, more is published about what research institutions and universities do. Those who want to keep science static and remain in power forever seem to be failing in their objective.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. UNAM. Diánoia- Revista Filosófica. Hurtado, G. (2024). Una relectura de Creer, saber, conocer. Diánoia, 68(93), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.22201/iifs.18704913e.2024.93.2064. https://dianoia.filosoficas.unam.mx/index.php/dianoia/article/ view/2064- noviembre 13-2024 | UNESCO. La UNESCO lanza el Decenio Internacional de la Ciencia para el Desarrollo Sostenible (2024-2033) 3 de diciembre 2024. https://www.unesco.org/es/articles/ la-unesco-lanza-el-decenio-internacional-de-la-ciencia-parael- desarrollo-sostenible-2024-2033 | UNESCO. Reunión Mundial sobre la Educación 2024, 31 de octubre – 1° de noviembre de 2024- Fortaleza, Brasil. https://www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/ es/2024-global-education-meeting | Villoro, Luis. (2009). Creer, saber y conocer. México. Siglo XXI.

Architecture and Isomorphism: The Conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building

Elvira Mumy Arielle Celina | Doctorate in Architecture | Part 2/2


The principle of isomorphism in architecture and its basic property

The principle of isomorphism in Architecture refers to a great analogy, similarities, and correspondence, the extension of relations between two or many domains, structures, spaces, ecological units, environmental sets or systems. It could be divided into many sets of aspects: the unity of environment, the relations, and the priority of the original ecological unit in creating spaces or in solving architectural problems. Many principles could be identified as aspects of the principle of isomorphism. The principal ones are the principle of correspondence (of structure, relations, operations…), the principle of extension/ continuity, the principle of reciprocal influence, the principle of the strength of the original ecological unit, the principle of constancy, the principle of similarity / similitude.

Understanding the principle of isomorphism in architecture From which aspects of the principle of isomorphism in architecture, appropriate explanation and changes could be stated and realized in order to improve the situation of some created spaces? The main aspects of the principle of isomorphism to be considered when explaining or solving the problems related to created spaces could be divided into categories. Category 1: The relationship between spaces (i) The principle of correspondence; this principle stipulates that when creating spaces or improving the quality of spaces already created (house, building, green space, town…), every pertinent element of the space to be created or to be transformed should have its correspondent in the original space to which the building or created space is related.

(ii) The principle of environmental continuity stipulates that the space to be created is to some extent the continuity of its surrounding space, environment or set of its surrounding spaces; every space is reflecting its surrounding environment. (iii) The principle of reciprocal influence of spaces stipulates that when two or many spaces are near, each of them influences another or the other —and this influence may have a negative or a positive effect on the other (Mum y, 2016). (iv) The principle of similarity / similitude which implies the principle of correspondence, states that, without being identical, the created spaces (house, building, green space, town…) and the original space to which the created space is related have a resemblance, when considering their pertinent characteristics, functions, … (v) The principle of constancy; specifies the importance of maintaining the spaces and the relations inside each of them and the relation between the created spaces (house, building, green space, town…) and the original space in harmony; that principle is materialized through actions and behavior aiming at permanently maintaining created spaces (houses, buildings, green spaces…) and at frequently protecting the environment.

Category 2: the priority of original space in solving and preventing architectural problems (vi) The principle of the strength of original ecological or environmental units: This principle stipulates that when creating spaces or improving the quality of spaces already created, well understanding and taking into consideration the original space and relation would probably be more efficient. The principle of the strength of original ecological or environmental units implies also relationship between spaces; however, it has purposely been classified in another category. Explaining the problems related to the Conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building, from conflicts interspaces in connection with the principle of isomorphism in architecture Two types of spaces are concerned when studying building from the principle of isomorphism in architecture: the initial or original space and the target space that is created or the transformed one. After the definition of each of these spaces and the relationship between the spaces, it might be possible to come out with two possibilities: (i) a congruence situation hypothesis which is a situation of harmony between spaces; (ii) a conflictual situation hypothesis which is a situation of disharmony. In this last hypothesis, the conflictual situation will be a hypothesis stated to explain the problems of buildings and spaces. In this perspective, in order to explain the problems of a specific building from the principle of isomorphism in architecture, we will firstly state the problem to be solved based on the initial data collected; secondly, analyze the situation characterizing the type of relation that exists between spaces; thirdly, state the problem to be solved from the conflict interspaces in connection with the principle of isomorphism in architecture. Defining the problem to be solved from initial data collected From data collected through the first interview with the client, we came out with a set of problems. These problems are grouped in many categories. 1. Climatic characteristics: The problems identified are related to (i) thermal comfort; heat storage; humidity; the residential building is not one that meets up with ventilation requirements; this problem involves also air movement and thermal comfort of the building; (ii) Insufficiency of day lighting.

2. Building Materials used: The problem identified is related to humidity that affects walls and other objects. This problem involves also the durability of building materials. 3. Energy efficiency and water comfort: The problems identified are related to (i) Insufficiency of electrical energy; (ii) Insufficiency of water supply. 4. Relief characteristics of the site: The problem identified is related to structural stability that affects walls and other parts of the building. These data and identified problems of the building were just considered as hypotheses of the situation to be analyzed. Analysis and diagnostic of the situation From the interview with the occupants and the observation of the building, we came out with some data related to the situation to be analyzed. The analysis and diagnostic of the situation consisted of defining the main spaces (the original and target spaces), the different pertinent relations and of identifying the conflict situation to be solved.

Definition of spaces The original space: Defining the original space and its characteristics consists of stating the different pertinent elements of the original space and surroundings. They could involve the relief characteristics of the site, the climatic conditions, building materials, natural sources of energy, resources in terms of water supply and other. The target space: Defining the target space and its characteristics consists of stating the different pertinent elements of the building and its surroundings. They involve the relief characteristics of the site, the climatic characteristics, the building materials used, the sources of energy used and the resources used in terms of water supply. Table 2 present the environmental characteristics of the original space and of the target one. (See Table 2) The different spaces are made up of elements belonging to four subsets corresponding to the four aspects of the environmental characteristics. After the definition of the main spaces, the different pertinent relations are below stated with the intention to identify the conflicting situation to be solved.

Definition of the relationships: different conflicting situations between spaces What relationship exit between elements of original space and of elements of target space? This section is focused on the determination of the relationship between spaces, specifying the original and the reverse relations and identifying from the principle of correspondence or bijective relation, the different conflictual situations within the whole set of relationships between spaces (original space and target space).

1. The relief characteristics of the original space and the relief characteristics of the building Relief characteristics of the site in the original space are mainly made up of hilly landscape and the relief characteristics related to the building is the one of a house on hilly relief. When we considered the original relation; from original space to target space, and the reverse relation: from the target space to the original one, it is easy to observe that there is no conflictual situation. This situation is unlikely to generate a problem related to the structural stability of the building.

2. Climatic characteristics of the original space and Climatic characteristics of the building Climatic characteristics of the original space are mainly made up of heat, humidity; a lot of precipitations and the climatic characteristics related to the building are the one of a house in hot temperate. Even free air movement is very light. Concerning wind access, the building of the project is south west-oriented. From the orientation above stated, it is manifest that the building wind access represents at least 11% of the time. The building has a good orientation. Consequently, the environmental characteristics harmonize with the building characteristics. There is no conflictual situation. The principle of correspondence is taken into consideration. This situation is not likely to induce heat and humidity in the building. 3. Building Materials in the original space and Building Materials in the building The Building Materials in the original space are mainly made up of (clay bricks, stone and cement). The Building Materials used to construct the building is made up of cement blocks, clay bricks, wood) whose quality was quite good. In terms of building materials used the situation of the building is suitable to the environmental characteristics of the original space. This situation that positively affect the comfort the building occupants is not a conflictual situation between the environmental characteristics and the building characteristics. This situation is unlikely to induce heat in the building and problems related to its structural stability. 4. Sources of energy in the original space and sources of energy used in the building The sources of energy available in the original space are made up of solar energy. Electrical energy is very insufficient. The source of energy used in the building is electrical energy. Also, from time to time, solar energy is used. When we considered the original relation (from original space to target space) and the reverse relation (from the target space to the original one), it is easy to observe that there is no conflictual situation. This situation is unlikely to induce problems related to insufficient lighting and energy efficiency in the building.

5. Resources in terms of water in the original space and Resources used in terms of water used in the building The resources in terms of water, available in the original space are mainly made up of water from wells. There is no direct access to water from the national company. The resources in terms of water in the building are made up of rainfall water during rainy seasons, water from pipe-borne water during dry seasons and of water from well from time to time. When we considered the set of relations between the original space and the target space, the situation of the building in terms of water supply is quite in harmony with the environmental characteristics of the original space. This situation of the building that doesn’t conflict with the environmental characteristics is unlikely to cause problems related to insufficient clean water in the building. Referring to the determination of the relationship between spaces and taking into consideration the principle of correspondence or bijective relation to identify the different conflictual situations within the whole set of relationships between spaces (original space and target space), there is no conflictual situation, especially when taking into account the relation between the environmental characteristics and the building characteristics. In order to finally state the problem to be solved, the first step of the analysis must be added to another step that involves the relation between the building occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics. The table written below presents the main problems from conflict situations to be solved and taking into consideration the Initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics as well as the conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristic, stated from data related to the interview with the occupants of the building. The main problems of the house to be solved are related to (i) structural stability (ii) lighting (iii) heat storage and ventilation (iv) humidity in the building (v) energy efficiency (vi) clean water (vii) acoustics problems. (See Table 3)

Comment 1. Initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics i. Structural stability: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics ii. Lighting: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics iii. Heat storage and ventilation: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics iv. Humidity in the building: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics v. Energy efficiency: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics vi. Clean water: inexistent initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics vii. Acoustics problems: Light Initial conflict between environmental characteristics and building characteristics 2. Conflict between the building occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics i. Structural stability: High Conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics (Very often human behavior and activities consisting of destroying herbs and discharging wastewater have negative influence on the Structural stability of the house); ii. Lighting: High Conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics (even on day times, all the openings are closed.) iii. Heat storage and ventilation: High Conflict between occupants’ behavior and environmental characteristics (even on day times, most of the openings are closed); iv. Humidity in the building: High Conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics (even on day times, most of the openings are closed; sometimes people pour water on some walls); v. Energy efficiency: High Conflict between the occupants ‘behavior and the environmental characteristics (they have given energy to occupants of another residential building, probably increasing energy inefficiency of the building); vi. Clean water: High Conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics (waste of clean water); vii. Acoustics problems: High Conflict between the occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics (very often some occupants of the building and near-by buildings are noisy and don’t often consider the rights of others).

To sum up, concerning the initial relation between the environmental characteristics and the building characteristics, the conflict is either light or quite inexistent. In contrary, there is a high conflict between occupants’ behavior and environmental characteristics. From the analysis of these data, the final statement of the problem to be solved could be formulated. Defining the final problem to be solved The main conflictual situations are related to aspects such as the durability of materials used for construction, the suitability of building materials and equipment to the climate and to the environment (wood, soil, wind, water, solar energy…), Recycling of resources, Conservation of resources, Day lighting, Openings, air movement, heat storage, structural stability, location of the house and acoustics problems. All these problems result from the conflict interspaces. In other words, the conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building negatively impact on the building and the comfort of his occupants. Solving these conflictual situations corresponds to solving the problems related to the Conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building from conflicts interspaces in connection with the principle of isomorphism in architecture and in the context of environmental design (Elvira Mum y, 2016).

Conclusion This study was realized in a global context of increasingly rapid human need of reducing the gap between human activities and the environment. From the increasing human need of improving the way of resolving the housing problem in the world, the study aimed at explaining and solving the problems related to the Conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building, from conflicts interspaces in connection with the principle of isomorphism in architecture and in the context of environmental design. Based on a theoretical framework focused on the concept of isomorphism in architecture, ecological design, the principles of physics and people’s behavior in a building, as well as on the theory of linear spaces in relation to architecture, we came out with a set of pertinent results. After the analysis of the architectural problem situation to be solved, and referring to the principle of correspondence that mainly characterized the principle or isomorphism in architecture, the different conflict situations within the whole set of relations between spaces (original space and target space) in general and specifically between occupants’ behavior and environmental characteristics were stated. The main problems of the specific building to be solved were related to Structural stability, Lighting, Heat storage and ventilation, Humidity in the building, Energy efficiency, clean water and Acoustics problems. These problems were due to conflict situations between spaces. To conclude, the study revealed that in the context of ecological design, “conflicts between spaces” in connection with the principle of isomorphism in architecture, could be used to explain as well as to prevent problems of buildings. To specify this final statement, the conflict between occupants’ behavior and the environmental characteristics of the building negatively impacts on the building and the comfort of his occupants. THE END

REFERENCES. Agoshkov, V.I., Dubovsky, P.B., Shutiaye, V.P. (2006). Methods for solving Mathematical Physics Problems, Cambridge International Science Pub. | Akadiri P. O., Chinyio E. A. and Olomolaiye P. O. (2012). Design of a Sustainable Building: A Conceptual Framework for Implementing Sustainability in the Building Sector. In Buildings 2012, 2, 126-152; Retrieved from: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/2/2/126 | Aposporos, D. (2012). Constructive Move. Old House Journal, 16-18. Balocco, C., Grazzini, G. (2010). Cool Power: Natural Ventilation Systems in Historic Building In Energy Science, Engineering and Technology Senes, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. | Bokalders, V., Block, M. (2010).The Whole Building Handbook: How to design Healthy, Efficient and sustainable Buildings. London: Rout ledge. | Crawford, R. (2011). Life cycle Assessment in the Built Environment. London: Rout ledge. | Dovilė Šorytė & Vilmantė Pakalniškienė (2019). Why it is important to protect the environment: reasons given by children. In International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, DOI: 10.1080/10382046.2019.1582771. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate. net/publication/331632993_Why_it_is_important_to_protect_the_environment_ reasons_given_by_children | Elvira Mumy, A. (2016). Architecture centered on the principle of isomorphism in the context of environmental design and human dwelling. Renewing a building from the principle of isomorphism. A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture. Atlantic International University. Honolulu, Hawaii. Summer, 2016. | Pankov, M. (2010). Grassmannians of classical Buildings. In algebra and Discreet. Mathematics. Singapore: world Scientific. | Piotrowich, L. & Osgood, S. (2009). Building Science 101. Save money, energy and resources by getting a better understanding of how your building works. American Libraries. 40, issue 4, 56-58. | Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/isomorphism | Roth ( 2017). Building In Harmony With Nature. From https://www.roth.com.au/ blog/ building-in-harmony-with-nature/ | Santamouris, M. (2006). Environmental design of Urban Buildings: an Integrated Approach, Earthscan. | Sayigh, A; (2014).Sustainability, Energy and Architecture: Case studies in Realizing Green Buildings. Oxford, UK: Academic Press. | Sendzimir, J., Bradley, G.G (2002). Construction Ecology: Nature as the Basis for the Green Buildings. New York: Spon Press 2002. | Tabb, P., Devine, A. S (2013). The Greening of Architecture. Burlington IT: Ash gate. | Timmermans, B. (2012). Prehistory of the concept of Mathematical Structure: Isomorphism between Group Theory, Crystallography, and Philosophy. In Mathematical Intelligencer. Springer science & Business Media. LLC, Volume 34, number 3, 2012. P41-54. | Yellamraju, V. (2011). LEED–new Construction Project Management. In McGraw-Hills Green source series. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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Learning

LA students

...yearn to get back to school after the fires.

Augusta Robbins and her family have been hopping between temporary housing for the last three weeks or so. When the smell of smoke crept into their family home on January 7th, the second grader was playing laser tag. Now, not only has Augusta lost her home, but most of her school is gone, too. “I really miss my friends, my teachers and playing soccer,” she says. That soccer field is now covered with toxins and ash. Thinking about all that loss makes Augusta anxious. “And then I just go off and draw because it makes me feel better when I do that,” she says. She pulls out a drawing she had just completed. “I've been drawing houses lately a lot. I always draw a new house every day.” Augusta’s mother, Jennifer O’Kaine, says her children’s school, Odyssey Charter School-South, has been the center of her children’s universe. She says while losing their home was unimaginable, it was when she realized some schools had burned that she began to grasp the scale of the destruction. “Then, I realized, anything could go. Like, if you let a school go, I mean, that is the heart of the community.” The family had rented in Altadena for several years, and finally bought a home there in 2023. “It’s a really special school,” she says, “and a part of our moving to that house was we were like three minutes from the school.” O’Kaine has been heavily involved with the Odyssey-South —she’s vice president of its parent association. ... Read full text:

Surrogate grandparents

They will restore your faith in humanity.

Ania Zimnoch, a photographer living in the San Francisco Bay Area with her 9-year-old daughter, Ella, found herself weathering a rough patch several years ago. Her husband of 16 years had left, and Zimnoch’s mother, who lived all the way on the other side of the country, was also ill. “I was lonely and going through a difficult period in my life,” Zimnoch told HuffPost. Zimnoch’s loneliness led her to search online for some sort of solution. While browsing one night, she discovered a Facebook group for “surrogate grandparents”: families with children looking for the kind of care and support that biological grandparents often provide —and older individuals seeking that kind of a caring relationship— write posts introducing themselves and then wait to see if anyone else in the group is a potential match. Figuring she didn’t have anything to lose, Zimnoch said she wrote a post revealing “the truth” about her current situation. She also wrote that she had “a daughter who’s very spunky and creative, and we’re looking for connections.” Because the Facebook group is national, there’s no guarantee of finding a match in your geographical area. At first, Zimnoch said, most of the people who responded to her post were “outof- state well-wishers.” While she “felt disappointed,” she had forgotten about the whole thing until months later, when a woman named Christine sent her a message on Facebook. ... Read full text:


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KM3NeT

This instrument helped detect a very high energy neutrino.

Information has been released on a neutrino estimated to have an energy of 220 peta electron volts (PeV). The previous record-holder was 6.05 PeV, and while there is a wide error bar on the latest discovery, even at the lower end of estimates it’s an order of magnitude above anything we’ve seen before. The source is yet to be identified, but implies an event of terrific power. Last year, attendees at a conference on neutrino research were teased with hints of the most powerful example of this subatomic particle ever detected. Only those involved in the research, however, knew just how far off the charts the discovery was. A paper now published on the event reports its energy as 120 PeV (with wide margins) but Professor Miroslav Filipovic of the University of Western Sydney told IFLScience: “There are two ways to measure the energy of particles like this.” The other measure, which gives a result of 220 PeV, is more relevant according to Filipovic, completely outshining anything seen before. It’s a little like if someone ran the hundred meters in a third of a second. By comparison, Filipovic noted, the photons from your lamp have an energy of around 4 eV, so this discovery is around half a million billion times as powerful. No particle accelerator on Earth can produce neutrinos with a thousandth this energy. ...
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New implant

...stimulating the spinal cord helped 3 people walk better.

Three people with a muscle-destroying disease destined to worsen got a little stronger —able to stand and walk more easily— when an implanted device zapped their spinal cord. On Wednesday [Feb. 5], researchers reported what they called the first evidence that a spinestimulating implant already being tested for paralysis might also aid neurodegenerative diseases like spinal muscle atrophy —by restoring some muscle function, at least temporarily. “These people were definitely not expecting an improvement,” said Marco Capogrosso, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh who led the research. Yet over the month-long pilot study, “they were getting better and better.” Spinal muscle atrophy or SMA is a genetic disease that gradually destroys motor neurons, nerve cells in the spinal cord that control muscles. That leads muscles to waste away, especially in the legs, hips and shoulders and sometimes those involved with breathing and swallowing. There is no cure. A gene therapy can save the lives of very young children with a severe form of the disease, and there are some medicines to slow worsening in older patients. Stimulating the spinal cord with low levels of electricity has long been used to treat chronic pain but Capogrosso’s team also has tested it to help people paralyzed from strokes or spinal cord injury move their limbs unaided. While turned on, it zaps circuits of dormant nerves downstream of the ... Read full text


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Britta Marakatt-Labba

Embroidered resistance art

The needle powerfully penetrates the white cloth, almost like a skier moving across untouched, white snow where poles and skis sink into the newly fallen snow to slowly create a pattern. The skier —or the needle— slowly embroiders Sámi history. Huts and snowmobiles, shamans and deforested land, reindeer and humans, the mundane and the mythical, good and evil. Everything finds its place in Britta Marakatt-Labba’s embroidery. Britta started with her art in the 1970s, she first finished a program at a residential college for adult education in Sunderbyn, Luleå, then moved on to HDK-Valand, Academy of Art Design, at the University of Gothenburg. Embroidery wasn’t exactly trendy then. Everything is about images, images that exist inside Britta’s head, slowly travelling down the white fabric of her embroidery. She treasures her images. She worries they will disappear. 1981, once Britta had finished her education in Gothenburg, she joined the protest against the power plant expansion by the Alta River in Norway. She ended up in prison, as did many of the others who protested. ... Read full text

Oxilio

Wheelchair + exoskeleton

This innovation could change the lives of millions of people in wheelchairs. The French company Lifebloom has developed a new therapy to allow wheelchair users to stand and walk with more autonomy. Lifebloom One therapy is available to people with reduced mobility due to: Accidents (stroke, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries), illnesses (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Guillain-Barré s.), or deconditioning (frail elderly people) who retain partial lower limb mobility. It starts with Oxilio, a medical device that combines an exoskeleton and a wheelchair. This device provides up to 80% anti-gravity assistance, lower limb oscillation assistance, balance support, and the reproduction of a natural gait. More compact and agile than a traditional wheelchair, this device can be used both in healthcare facilities and at home. ... Read full text

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Nonopioid drug

...for acute pain wins FDA approval.

A long-awaited nonopioid pain drug won approval yesterday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat moderate to severe short-term pain. Suzetrigine, an oral drug marketed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals as Journavx, is the first to reach the market in a new class of pain treatments that avoid risks such as slowed breathing and the potential for addiction that come with opioid drugs such as oxycodone. Rather than dulling pain by targeting the brain’s opioid receptors, suzetrigine works by blocking a sodium channel called Nav1.8 on pain-sensing nerves. Its development grew out of the discovery that people with genetic mutations that increase the channel’s activity suffered nerve pain even in the absence of injury. Vertex announced last year that suzetrigine outperformed a placebo in its two pivotal trials, which involved people with pain after surgeries to remove bunions and excess abdominal fat. FDA has cleared the drug specifically for use in acute pain conditions, such as those after tissue injury from surgery or trauma. Many in the field hope suzetrigine will also prove effective against harder to manage chronic pain conditions. But results Vertex announced last month from a phase 2 study, in people with the painful nerve condition lumbosacral radiculopathy, left some doubt. ... Read full text

Eating behavior

...associated with pelvic floor disorder symptoms.

According to a recent study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, eating behavior is associated with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders in middle-aged women. For example, higher consumption of highly processed ready-made foods and fast food increased the risk for experiencing symptoms of stress and urgency urinary incontinence. Higher consumption of fruits and an overall higher quality diet decreased the risk for stress urinary incontinence. The prevalence of pelvic floor disorders increases as women approach their menopausal years. Estrogen deprivation during menopause, natural aging, reproductive history, and factors increasing intra-abdominal pressure may lead to structural and functional failure in the pelvic floor. In addition, lifestyle choices such as quality of nutrition and eating behavior may have a significant effect on the mechanisms of pelvic floor disorders. Disordered eating includes overeating, restrictive eating as well as alternating between the two behaviors. ... The disorders studied were stress urinary incontinence, urgency urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and constipation and defecation difficulties. ... As a preventive measure, the eating behavior of women at risk for these symptoms should be assessed, and guidance towards healthy eating patterns should be provided. ... Read full text:


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Welcome to the Pyrocene

Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning.

In recent years, fires have blasted through cities in California, Colorado, the southern Appalachians and the island of Maui, along with Canada, Australia, Portugal and Greece. What wasn’t burned was smoked in. Is this another case of a future not only dire but strange, without a narrative to join past to present or an analog for what is to come? I’m a historian of fire, and my reply is that we have both a narrative and an analog. The narrative is the unbroken saga of humanity and fire, a companionship that extends through all our existence as a species. The analog is that humanity’s fire practices have become so vast, especially in recent centuries, that we are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age. Humanity and fire have been reforging the Earth since the end of the last glaciation, about 11,500 years ago. Generally, these changes have made landscapes more fire-receptive. The scale is significant. Recent studies speculate that massive depopulation, especially in the Americas, which removed the torch and allowed forests to reclaim land and so sequester atmospheric carbon, may have even helped nudge the planet into the Little Ice Age from the mid-16th to mid-19th centuries. Still, there were limits. Fire and life had coevolved across 420 million years, and ecological checks and balances limited how far humans could push and pull fire within the constraints of terrestrial landscapes. ... Read full text:

Wildlife movement

USA-Mexico border wall impedes it.

Geopolitical boundaries can present challenges to wildlife conservation because of varying environmental regulations, and increasingly, the existence of border barriers. As of 2024, approximately 1,023 km of border walls and 169 km of vehicle barriers exist along the USA-Mexico border. Some small wildlife passages (21.5 x 27.8 cm) were installed in border walls but few other accommodations for wildlife connectivity exist. As such, ecological consequences of border barriers may be severe and documenting the ability of wildlife to traverse these barriers will be essential to conservation efforts. We placed 36 wildlife cameras across 163.5 km of the USA-Mexico border in Arizona, USA and Sonora, MX to evaluate crossing rates through border barriers for 20 terrestrial species. We observed 9,240 wildlife events, including 1,920 successful crossing events. All focal species crossed through vehicle barriers, whereas white-tailed deer, mule deer, American black bear, American badger, wild turkey, and mountain lion appeared unable to cross through interstitial spaces in border walls. Small wildlife passages improved crossing rates for several species, including American badger, collared peccary, coyote, and mountain lion. Yet, small wildlife passages were scarce with only 13 along >130 km of continuous border wall and failed to allow American black bear, deer, and wild turkey to cross. Additional research ... Read full text:

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Joanna Moncrieff

...talks about her profession’s most damaging falsehood.

When it comes to falsehoods declared by the psychiatry establishment and their Big Pharma partners, it would be difficult to find one that has created more damage than the chemical imbalance theory of depression —harming not only individual patients but society. This is the subject of psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff’s recently published Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth. Moncrieff is a consultant psychiatrist for the National Health Services (NHS) in England, Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London, and co-chairperson of the Critical Psychiatry Network. In 2022, Moncrieff was the lead author of a landmark review of research studies that showed that there is no evidence that depression is caused by a serotonin imbalance. This systematic analysis of the research became one of the most widely read and influential papers in recent times. While Moncrieff’s conclusion was no surprise to those in the scientific community familiar with some of these studies, it was a shock to much of the public, which for decades had repeatedly heard the opposite message —that serotonin deficiency caused depression— from establishment psychiatry and antidepressant commercials. ... Moncrieff and her co-researchers were not the first to bring to light studies showing that depression was unrelated to a serotonin deficiency ... Read full text:

Women raped

...and burned to death after Goma prison set on fire.

Hundreds of women were raped and burned alive during the chaos after a Rwandan-backed rebel group entered the Congolese city of Goma. The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official. The deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force based in Goma, Vivian van de Perre, said that while several thousand men managed to escape from the prison, the area reserved for women was set on fire. Images taken shortly after Rwandan- backed M23 rebels reached the centre of Goma reveal vast plumes of black smoke rising from the prison on the morning of 27 January. Although details of the incident are scarce, the atrocity appears to be the worst of the recent M23-led conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. UN peacekeepers, however, have been unable to visit the prison to investigate further because of restrictions imposed by the M23 rebels, meaning the identity of the perpetrators remains unclear. Later, it emerged that about 2,000 bodies were still awaiting burial in Goma after M23 fighters seized Goma, capital of DRC’s North Kivu province, on 27 January. Van de Perre, who is now based in Goma with thousands of UN peacekeeping troops deployed to protect citizens, said: “There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners. ...
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Part of the pack

Debunking the lone wolf myth.

Whether as folkloric villains, wise teachers, or emblems of what’s wild in us, wolves play a prominent part in countless cultural mythologies. Among these associations exists a key contradiction. On the one hand, when we think of wolves, we often imagine them in packs—calling to one another on a full moon, sets of eyes in the dark, encircling a wayward traveler. On the other hand, we have the idea of the lone wolf, one who prefers to go it alone. Wolves have come to represent a dire dichotomy that’s deeply embedded in our world today: individualism vs. collectivism. Gray wolves typically live in packs of between six and 10. Even within these packs, a prevailing idea in the public imagination is that individual wolves compete for the dominant title of “alpha wolf.” In an interview with The Scientific American, leading wolf expert David Mech noted that the idea of the alpha wolf is outdated and misleading, and he discourages the use of the phrase. It turns out that these alpha wolves are really no more than parents. Wolves mate for life; together with their offspring, they form packs that get larger with more pups born. In other words, what we assumed to be groups driven by inward competition and aggression are actually families. So, what are the advantages of living in a pack? For starters, it allows wolves to hunt in ways they never could alone. ...
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Ecuadorian forest

It thrived after being granted legal rights.

A cloud forest in northern Ecuador is protected from deforestation and mining after being recognised as an entity possessing legal personhood. For more than 30 years, José DeCoux woke each morning to a deafening noise. In his home in Ecuador’s Los Cedros forest, monkeys squeal, squirrels scuffle, and 400 species of bird flit and squawk. A mist hangs in the trees, and ferns and mosses in countless shades of green cover every rock and tree trunk. DeCoux moved to the Los Cedros reserve in northern Ecuador from the US in the 1980s. He was “sort of heeding the call to save the rainforest, or something”, he told BBC Future Planet with a smile in April [2024]. ... Life continues to thrive in Los Cedros, but its survival wasn’t always certain —and it is largely thanks to a powerful, and increasingly influential, global legal movement that the forest is still standing. In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to change its constitution to state that nature has the same rights as people. The change was led by Ecuador’s Indigenous movement, and marked one of the first major steps in what has become known as the ‘rights of nature’ movement —a movement centred on a legal framework that recognises the inherent right of the natural world to the same protections as people and corporations. ... To date, initiatives to recognise the rights of nature have been pursued in 44 countries, from Bolivia to Brazil and Uganda to the US. ...
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Campus

The new phase in cultural conflict

15 OBSERVATIONS

By Ted Gioia
Back in 2014, I sketched out a widely-read outline of an alternative interpretation of cultural conflict. Curiously enough, the conceptual tools I used came from a 1929 book from philosopher José Ortega y Gasset entitled The Revolt of the Masses —a work that offers surprisingly timely insights into our current situation. That article stirred up a lot of debate at the time, but the whole situation has intensified further since 2014. Everything I’ve seen in those eight years has made painfully clear how insightful Ortega had been. The time has come to revisit that framework, summarizing its key insights and offering predictions for what might happen in the future. Here’s part of what I wrote back in 2014: First, let me tell you what you won’t find in this book. Despite a title that promises political analysis, The Revolt of the Masses has almost nothing to say about conventional party ideologies and alignments. Ortega shows little interest in fascism or capitalism or Marxism, and this troubled me when I first read the book. (Although, in retrospect, the philosopher’s passing comments on these matters proved remarkably prescient —for example his smug dismissal of Russian communism as destined to failure in the West, and his prediction of the rise of a European union.) Above all, he hardly acknowledges the existence of ‘left’ and ‘right’ in political debates. Ortega’s brilliant insight came in understanding that the battle between ‘up’ and ‘down’ could be as important in spurring social and cultural change as the conflict between ‘left’ and ‘right’. This is not an economic distinction in Ortega’s mind. The new conflict, he insists, is not between “hierarchically superior and inferior classes... upper classes or lower classes.” A millionaire could be a member of the masses, according to Ortega’s surprising schema. And a pauper might represent the elite.

The key driver of change, as Ortega sees it, comes from a shocking attitude characteristic of the modern age —or, at least, Ortega was shocked. Put simply, the masses hate experts. If forced to choose between the advice of the learned and the vague impressions of other people just like themselves, the masses invariably turn to the latter. The upper elites still try to pronounce judgments and lead, but fewer and fewer of those down below pay attention. This dynamic is now far more significant than it was eight years ago. So I want to share 15 observations on the emerging vertical dimension of cultural conflict —these both define the rupture and try to predict how it will play out.

(1) Analysis of cultural conflict is still obsessed with left-versus-right strategizing, but the actual battle lines are increasingly down-versus-up. A lot of work goes into hiding this, because both left and right want to present an image of unity, but both spheres are splintering into intensely hostile up-and-down factions.

(2) The frequency with which you hear the “lesser of two evils” argument is an indicator of how powerful this up-and-down rupture has become. This is the argument used by Ups to retain the loyalty of the Downs. You have to stick with us, even if we are tainted elites, or else we both lose. (3) When commentators give any attention to down-versus-up, they usually reduce the conflict to income disparities, but that is misleading. Down-versusup is more attitudinal than economic. Sometimes the tension manifests itself along traditional class and wealth lines, with disputes focused primarily on money, but that’s only a small part of the conflict. Down-versus-up is multidimensional and adapts rapidly to current events. Adding to the complexity, rich people frequently act like Down members, while people with tiny incomes can be fiercely loyal to the Up worldview. (4) The essence of downversus- up is that a numerically large group of dissenters focus their anger on a small number of elites whom they view as antagonists, perhaps even evil villains. These Down movements cut across left-versus-right political ideologies, and thus encompass seemingly incompatible groups such as Occupy Wall Street, the truck convoys, Black Lives Matter, the Tea Party, ANTIFA, cryptocurrency fanatics, and a host of other cohort groups in the news. In every instance, these groups have proven capable of mobilizing intense energy among members —much greater energy than the Ups can ever hope to match. Participants seem to appear out of nowhere, leaping almost instantaneously into action. (5) There will be more groups like this next year [2025] —and every year from now on. As strange as it sounds, an organization that doesn’t even exist today is likely to transform the entire sociocultural landscape in the near future. I’m not sure what it will look like, but one thing is certain —it won’t arise from any legacy institution. (6) The targets are people at the top of the heap, but that can include a dizzying array of individuals —including wealthy CEOs, DC politicians, celebrity TV newscasters, law enforcement authorities, experts of all stripes, Ivy League academics, hedge fund managers, tech titans at huge Silicon Valley companies, movie stars, etc. A key element of the narrative is not simply that these people have different agendas than those at the bottom, but even more to the point, these elites are depicted as inherently untrustworthy —they don’t play fairly, they have sold their souls to the Dark Side. Hence the Down opposition feels the need to take extreme measures. The critiques brandished by the Downs are often reduced to the banal, mind-numbing explanation that people on the Dark Side do bad things and must be stopped. The very banality of the message makes it all the more viral.

(7) The members of the Up group want to rebrand themselves as Down adherents. They work tirelessly to do this. Hence you see billionaires proclaiming their alignment with all of the leading Down agendas. Politicians see that Down constituencies are the most energized voters and curry their favor —proclaiming at every opportunity that I’m just like you. Even the most established DC insiders with the most elite backgrounds must act as if they aren’t really members of the Up cohort. Media personalities, in particular, take every opportunity to act as Down as possible, realizing that this is the only genuine street cred worth having in the current moment.

(8) When well known political figures move from right to left, or vice versa, many onlookers are surprised. But in almost every instance, the Up maintain their Up allegiance, and the Down retain their Down status. It’s much easier to make the psychological shift from one party to another than to abandon your emotional attachment to the Down or Up worldview. (9) All of the cultural energy right now is on the bottom. And that energy has been intensifying. The attempts to distort this conflict into conventional left-versus-right battle lines has prevented opinion leaders from grasping the actual dynamic at play. Any ambitious agenda that doesn’t take into account down-versus-up is doomed to failure. (10) This is not just a political shift but also impacts arts and entertainment. Reality TV, for example, is a manifestation of legacy institutions trying to capture the vitality of the Down lifestyles in faux narratives that emulate non-elites in everyday situations. Music genres each have their own up-versus-down positioning —just consider your mental images of the audience for rap, classical, country, jazz, etc. (But genres can move: jazz was once Down, but it has become Up.) Art forms that seem to be in crisis —sculpture, the novel, the symphony— are always aligned with the Up cohort. Nobody ever claims that Down genres are in crisis. (11) The emerging counterculture today is almost entirely affiliated with Down agendas.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that we lack a genuine counterculture, but the more precise way of putting it is that the legacy institutions are forced to operate as if this counterculture doesn’t exist, and this creates a general impression of stagnancy and solidity, which is misleading but nonetheless pervasive. (12) For all these reasons, the two major political parties in the US (and other places with binary conflict traditions) are incapable of resolving their internal down-or-up dilemmas, despite constant calls to unity. This will not change any time soon. If new parties emerge, they will reflect the vertical structure of cultural conflict. (13) Media platforms associated with Ups are losing energy. This is why award shows, to cite one example, have such a small and dwindling audience (down by 70-80% over the last decade).

The very concept of an award show is tainted by its image of elites giving prizes to other elites. To maintain relevance, the award shows must take on a veneer of Down —which they work assiduously to cultivate (e.g., the People’s Choice awards)— but few in the audience are convinced. No award show will ever genuinely placate the Down constituencies. (14) The media platforms associated with Down agendas are messy, and often seem amateurish. But these are the focal points of cultural energy right now, and if you aren’t aligned with their worldviews you probably should fear them. They include TikTok, YouTube channels, social media, live feeds, grassroots podcasting, Web3 communities, gaming platforms, Bandcamp, Substack, etc. Even when these platforms are owned by huge global corporations, they convey the ambiance of a bottoms-up insurgency. And the simple truth is that the corporations behind the platforms may be incapable of controlling them —and if they somehow do manage to impose order, they will see their platforms lose energy and impact.

(15) No one has successfully integrated all of the Down splinter factions into a single constituency. That might not even be possible, but it hardly matters. These groups have the potential to form ad hoc coalitions —perhaps bizarre ones, at times, especially for those who continue to view the world on a left-versusright spectrum— just so long as the overlapping interests provide a stronger bond than their differences. In other words, the enemies of your enemy may not really be your friends, but you still might join them in a street uprising. So if the old motto was watch out below, the new one ought to be: Watch out above!

Read text by Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker:

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Mirror monstera.

Each of the leaves and the pot hold your bathroom items. It is mounted to the mirror which gives the illusion of a full plant, but in reality it is only half! thangs.com (a free online community for sharing, searching, and collaborating on 3D models)

Birdybox sound machine.

It has a built-in motion detector that lets you refresh yourself with two minutes of a calming soundscape whenever you walk past it. The sound is a recording of a blackbird in Germany’s Black Forest at 7am. store.moma.org

ChompSaw.

A kid-safe power tool for fun, learning, and creativity. This saw makes cutting cardboard a breeze while keeping fingers, hair, and clothes safe. chompshop.com

Beau Taplin. Australian poet.

“She was unstoppable. Not because she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continued on despite them.”

Beau Taplin. Australian poet.

Dish and bowl cover (set of 3).

All covers fit varying sizes and shapes and are excellent in the fridge, on the table, or in the car. • Takes the shape of your dish (oval, square and rectangular). • Breathable, plasticfree, non-disposable, long-lasting. • 100% Certified organic cotton. Microwave safe, not oven-proof. Handmade in South Africa. www.fairtradewinds.net

Say what?

“I finally found a machine at the gym that I like: the vending machine.” Source: 100 Funny sayings that are definitely worth memorizing. www.rd.com


BACHELOR’S DEGREE in Art History

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND HUMAN STUDIES

The Bachelor of Art History (BA) program objective is to help students develop an understanding of contemporary trends in the fine arts, including painting, video, film, sculpture and digital art. The Bachelor of Art History program is offered online via distance learning. After evaluating both academic record and life experience, AIU staff working in conjunction with Faculty and Academic Advisors will assist students in setting up a custom-made program, designed on an individual basis. This flexibility to meet student needs is seldom found in other distance learning programs. Our online program does not require all students to take the same subjects/ courses, use the same books, or learning materials. Instead, the online Bachelor of Art History 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: https://www.aiu.edu/ academic-freedom-and-open-curriculum/

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

Medieval Art
Ancient Art
Italian Renaissance Art
Renaissance Art in Northern Europe
Baroque Art
18th and 19th Century Art in Europe
Late 19th and Early 20th Century
Art in Europe
Primitive Art: The Americas
Primitive Art: Africa and Oceania
Women in Art
History of Photography
Modern Architecture & Design
20th Century Painting and Sculpture
American Art
Modern and Contemporary Art
Research in Art History
Art in Asia and Africa

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

Submit your Online Application, paste your resume and any additional comments/ questions in the area provided.

aiu.edu/apply-online.html

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Honolulu, HI 96813
800-993-0066 (Toll Free in US)
808-924-9567 (Internationally)


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