This study challenges the assumption that abstract "globalization" forces are driving transformations in the relationships between states and markets. Employing three cases of policy debate regarding the regulation of agricultural biotechnology (ag-biotech), we examine the role of discourse in the formation of neoliberal regulatory schemes. We…

The ISA, based on system theory, is the best way to organize knowledge and exchange it. It depends on defining every system through its boundary, main processes within this boundary, and exchange with the environment through this boundary. It relies upon thermodynamics and information theory and is, therefore, applicable to all kinds of systems,…

Autonomy is a social product. Although some might view autonomy as the absence of social interference in individual action, it is in fact produced through social institutions. It enables social actors to act; it is the justification for the allocation of enormous public resources into institutions classified as "public" or "nonprofit;" it can lead…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching/learning strategy through which students learn course content by solving real-world problems associated with the course material. Although the benefits of PBL have been amply demonstrated in the medical field and other selected subject areas, few studies have examined PBL's potential contributions in…

This completely computer-based module's purpose is to introduce students to bioinformatics resources. We present an easy-to-adopt module that weaves together several important bioinformatic tools so students can grasp how these tools are used in answering research questions. Students integrate information gathered from websites dealing with…

Biodiversity has economic value to humans and many suggest that of all groups who should be most interested in the preservation of biodiversity, it should be industries leading the way, as biodiversity has provided, and will continue to provide, many raw materials used by industries around the world. This is especially the case for the…

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies the engagement work at the forefront of Australia's efforts to move its universities into a central role in addressing the global economy. QUT not only has devoted much discussion to how a university might stimulate the creative economy (or, as they call it, "creative industry"), but…

Scientists are not sure of how corn was created. There were two competing genetic theories about how corn came to be. One theory maintains that corn had been teased out of a wheatlike grass called teosinte (genus Zea), and the other contends that one now-extinct ancestor of corn had crossed with another grass, "Tripsacum," several millennia ago.…

The aim of this study is to measure the differences of university geography students about biotechnology. Therefore an awareness scale was developed by the researcher. 102 students from six different universities and their academic levels were included in the survey. The findings of the survey were evaluated both descriptively and statistically.…

Were elected state FFA officers' attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology significantly different from elected Texas legislators' attitudes about the same topic? The purpose of this study was to determine if differences existed in agricultural biotechnology perceptions or information source preferences when compared by leadership status:…

Universities are uniquely positioned to lead society toward sustainability and their collaborations with community organizations are essential to this transition. The Biodiesel Program at Loyola University at Chicago Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy provides a case study of course-based service learning projects facilitating…

When President Obama first signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), he took much criticism for spending more money--$787 billion more--when the nation was reeling from decades-old debt, a more than 9 percent unemployment rate and a mortgage crisis. But this measure has allowed public school district leaders to invest in…

Given today's pressing environmental issues, environmental adult educators can help us learn to live more sustainably. One of the models for more sustainable ways of life is organic agriculture, based in a knowledge system that works with nature, not against it. In order to understand this knowledge, we need to frame it in a way that captures all…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the study of supply chain design from the perspective of complex dynamic systems. Unlike extant studies that use formal simulation modelling and associated methodologies rooted in the physical sciences, it adopts a framework rooted in the social sciences, strategic niche management, which…

Fundamental differences between current and past knowledge in the field of biotechnology mean that we now have at our disposal the means to irreversibly change what is meant by "human nature". This paper explores some of the ethical issues that accompany the (as yet tentative) attempt to increase scientific control over the human genetic code in…