The conference will be held in Guangzhou, China during June 29-30, 2014. The aim objective of ichss2014 is to present the latest research and results of scientists related to Humanity and Social Science topics. This conference provides opportunities for the different areas delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. We hope that the conference results constituted significant contribution to the knowledge in these up to date scientific field. ichss2014 is supposed to be the largest technical event on Humanity and Social Science in Guangzhou in 2014. The focus of the conference is to establish an effective platform for institutions and industries to share ideas and to present the works of scientists, engineers, educators and students from all over the world. The organizing committee of conference is pleased to invite prospective authors to submit their original manuscripts to ichss2014. As preparation for ICSS2014, hundreds of contributions were received and reviewed. Most of these contributions have brought us a new possible solution to our problems; some of them can even be called as a breakthrough. All these researches have been included in this book. I believe it will be of great value to your future study.
The path for doctoral students is laden with obstacles and challenges that can cause students to stumble if they are not prepared for what their future holds. In order to avoid the uncertainty, anxiety, and stress that can consume doctoral students, a comprehensive guide is needed that provides the best practices and strategies to support them in their professional journeys. The Research Anthology on Doctoral Student Professional Development considers the difficulties associated with being a doctoral student such as mental health issues and provides different avenues for success such as mentorship and group study. The text seeks to provide a thorough investigation into what it means to be a doctoral student in order to best prepare potential and current students for what to expect. Moreover, it discusses best practices for developing dissertations. Covering a range of topics such as anxiety, research methods, and dissertations, this major reference work is ideal for researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.
The fourth volume of the collected papers of the ICLA congress “The Many Languages of Comparative Literature” includes articles that study thematic and formal elements of literary texts. Although the question of prioritizing either the level of content or that of form has often provoked controversies, most contributions here treat them as internally connected. While theoretical considerations inform many of the readings, the main interest of most articles can be described as rhetorical (in the widest sense) – given that the ancient discipline of rhetoric did not only include the study of rhetorical figures and tropes such as metaphor, irony, or satire, but also that of topoi, which were originally viewed as the ‘places’ where certain arguments could be found, but later came to represent the arguments or intellectual themes themselves. Another feature shared by most of the articles is the tendency of ‘undeclared thematology’, which not only reflects the persistence of the charge of positivism, but also shows that most scholars prefer to locate themselves within more specific, often interdisciplinary fields of literary study. In this sense, this volume does not only prove the ongoing relevance of traditional fields such as rhetoric and thematology, but provides contributions to currently flourishing research areas, among them literary multilingualism, literature and emotions, and ecocriticism.
Environmental Interests in Investment Arbitration Challenges and Directions Flavia Marisi Economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection stand at the core of sustainable development, which aims to deliver long-term growth for current and future generations. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can play a key role in sustainable development. Host states’ benefits descending from FDI inflows include tax revenues, technology transfer, specialised training of local human resources, network with satellite activities, better availability of quality products and customer-centric services. These downstream effects jointly stimulate economic growth and social inclusion. This thoroughly researched book explores the relationship between environmental protection – the third component of sustainable development – and FDI. In practice, the intersection between environmental protection and foreign investment not only has generated remarkable success stories such as cross-sectoral green investment but has also in some instances led to severe cases of environmental degradation. Certain foreign investments resulted in open-pit mines leaking harmful substances into the soil, excessive deforestation, improper treatment of water, pollution of groundwater and contamination of mud pits following oil exploitation, leaving the host state with significant environmental damage. Some other cases have witnessed the host state withdrawing or infringing its own environmental policies, which could, in principle, lead to a decrease in the value of the foreign investment as a result of natural resources deterioration. In recent years, an increasing number of investment arbitration cases have seen a clash between the states’ commitments towards their citizens, which include the duty to protect the environment, their health and well-being, and the commitment towards foreign investors to protect their investments. In this book, the author focuses on investor-state cases in which environmental protection measures have been contested and discusses substantive mechanisms in treaty drafting, rules of Customary International Law, and interpretation doctrines, which are aimed at taking environmental concerns into consideration. The topics covered include the following: statistical analysis of investor-state cases where environmental protection measures have been contested; the role of environmental principles in investor-state arbitration; treaty mechanisms addressing environmental concerns; legal tools available under Customary International Law to address environmental interests; the application of the doctrines of proportionality, police powers, and margin of appreciation; and environmental counterclaims as an instrument to claim compensation for environmental damage. The author provides a detailed framework on the normative architecture, offers an extensive analysis of the relevant case law, and proposes concrete solutions to the identified clashes, aimed at refining the balance between environmental and investment protection. With its in-depth analysis and careful documentation, this book aptly captures the inherent fragmentation of international law and undoubtedly represents an invaluable resource for both international law practitioners and scholars. The solution-oriented approach adopted in the book will be welcomed by legal counsel, law firms, investment treaty negotiators, and decision makers at the different stages of investment lawmaking and practice, as well as by international institutions and academics.
Originally published in 1972, this book examines the scope and possibilities for small states in the conduct of their foreign policies. In the introduction the editor discusses the problem of defining the term 'small state' and outlines the restraints they face and the type of international roles they play. The subsequent chapters analyse the foreign policies of Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Zambia, Israel, Cyprus, Cuba, Singapore and New Zealand. In each study the author examines the factors which shape that country's foreign policy objectives, the organizational structures employed to formulate and implement foreign policy, the type and level of international involvement and the methods used to deal with the political, economic and security issues which make up and stem from the external policies. The book will be of interest to specialists and students of government, foreign policy analysis and other branches of international relations
This book focuses on cultural tourism as it develops into the second decade of the new millennium. It presents recent hospitality and tourism research findings from various sources, including academic researchers and scholars, industry professionals, government and quasi-government officials, and other key industry practitioners. It discusses the latest tourism industry trends and identifies gaps in the research from a pragmatic and applied perspective. It includes specific chapters on innovation in tourism, the virtual visitor, cross-cultural visions of digital collections, heritage and museum management in the digital era, cultural and digital tourism policy, marketing and governance, social media, emerging technologies and e-tourism and many other topics of contemporary significance in global hospitality and tourism. The book is edited in collaboration with the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (IACuDiT) and includes the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Cultural and Digital Tourism.
“McGonigal is a clear, methodical writer, and her ideas are well argued. Assertions are backed by countless psychological studies.” —The Boston Globe “Powerful and provocative . . . McGonigal makes a persuasive case that games have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.” —San Jose Mercury News “Jane McGonigal's insights have the elegant, compact, deadly simplicity of plutonium, and the same explosive force.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother A visionary game designer reveals how we can harness the power of games to boost global happiness. With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Jane McGonigal asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking book, she shows how we can leverage the power of games to fix what is wrong with the real world-from social problems like depression and obesity to global issues like poverty and climate change-and introduces us to cutting-edge games that are already changing the business, education, and nonprofit worlds. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality Is Broken shows that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Jane McGonigal is also the author of SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient.
This book gathers the proceedings of the 7th International Conference, with the theme “Culture and Tourism in a Smart, Globalized and Sustainable World,” held on Hydra Island, Greece, on June 17–19, 2020, published with the support of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism. Highlighting the contributions made by numerous writers to the advancement of tourism research, this book presents a critical academic discourse on sustainable practices in the smart tourism context, improving readers’ understanding of, and stimulating future debates in, this critical area. In addition to the knowledge economy and the concept of smart destinations, the book addresses new modes of tourism management and development, as well as emerging technologies, including location-based services, the Internet of things, smart cities, mobile services, gamification, digital collections and the virtual visitor, social media, social networking, and augmented reality.
