This Spring 2011 (IX, 2) issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, entitled “Learning Transformations: Applied Sociological Imaginations from First Year Seminars and Beyond,” includes nine UMass Boston undergraduate student papers: seven from two sections of the first year seminar, Soc. 110G: “Insiders/Outsiders,” one from the course “Youth and Society” (Soc. 201), and another from the course “Elements of Sociological Theory” (Soc. 341), all taken during the 2010-2011 academic year at UMass Boston. The authors cultivate their sociological imaginations of the link between their personal troubles and broader public issues by exploring topics such as: difficulties with writing; struggles with overachievement; adolescent depression; pessimism; obsession with body self-image; pornography and love; drunken driving; feminine identity formation; and coping with personal traumas amid parental, sibling, and societal dysfunctions. The editor points to the significance of publishing undergraduate scholarships of learning and their sociological self-studies, highlighting the extent to which the origins of the present journal entitled “human architecture” can itself be traced to his own “student selves” and early undergraduate education in architecture at U.C. Berkeley, and specifically to a seminar he took with his undergraduate teacher and advisor, the late “professor of design” and renowned painter, Jesse Reichek. Contributors include: Thanh D. Pham, Iris M. Rivas, Melissa Mejia, Ryan J. Canillas, Michaela Volpe, Rose Bautista, Jennifer Cervantes, Ann Barnes, Melanie Maxham, and Mohammad H. Tamdgidi (also as journal editor-in-chief). Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge is a publication of OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science (Utopystics). For more information about OKCIR and other issues in its journal’s Edited Collection as well as Monograph and Translation series visit OKCIR’s homepage.

Contents:-Editor?s Note: Sociology of Self-Knowledge: Course Topic as well as a Pedagogical Strategy-Deborah D?Isabel: The ?Difference? A Red Face Makes: A Critical Sociology of Bullying in Capitalist Society-Claudia Contreras: The Tension of Opposites: Issues of Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in My Identity Formation-Katherine Heller: My Choice of a Lifetime: ?Finding True Love? in a Sociological Imagination-Rebecca Tink: Beyond Bifurcation: Femininity and Professional Success in a Changing World-Caitlin Farren: A Different Voice, A Different Autobiography: Letting My Authentic Voice Speak-Charles Chear: The Overdose of Shame: A Sociological and Historical Self-Exploration-Harold Muriaty: My Life So Far: A ?Work? in Progress-Rachel A. DeFilippis: Intersections of My Lesbian, Feminist, and Activist Identities: Problems and Strategies in Everyday Impression Management-Lee Kang Woon: Socialization of Transnationally Adopted Korean Americans: A Self Analysis-N.I.B.: ?Housing Project? In Comparative Perspective: Opportunity or Stigma?-Sharon Brown: Religion, Gender, and Patriarchy: Awakening to My Self-Conscious Resocialization-Jennifer Lambert: Beyond the ?Goods Life?: Mass Consumerism, Conflict, and the Latchkey-Kid-Anonymous: Hooped Dreams: Internal Growth, External Stagnation, and One Man?s Search for Work-Jorge Capetillo-Ponce: Contrasting Simmel?s and Marx?s Ideas on Alienation-Mohammad Tamdgidi: Working Outlines for the Sociology of Self-KnowledgeMacalester College Symposium:-Khaldoun Samman: Sociology of Self-Knowledge at Macalester College-Ellen Corrigan: The ?Out? Crowd: Resisting the Stereotypes of High School and Teen Culture-Jeremy Cover: My Performed Identity-Jesse Mortenson: Identity Resistance and Market-based Political Culture at a Small Liberal Arts School-Khaldoun Samman: Go West Young Turk: Personal Encounters with Kemalism-Jessica Sawyer: Confessions of a Maine-iac: The Family, Academia, and Modernity

The responsibility for college success has historically rested with the student, but since the 1980s, educators have taken increasing ownership of this, designing structures that increase the likelihood of learning, success, and retention. These efforts have included a variety of initiatives--first year seminars, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, common intellectual experiences, service-learning, undergraduate research, and senior capstones among others--that have come to be known as high-impact practices. Although first year seminars have been widely accepted as a high impact educational practice leading to improved academic performance, increased retention and acquisition of critical 21st Century outcomes, first-year seminars tend to be loosely defined in the literature. National explorations of course structure and administration demonstrate the diversity of the curricular initiatives across various campuses. In order to determine the attributes that all of these varied courses share in common that contribute to their effectiveness, the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina invited contributions for a book exploring effective educational practices within the first-year seminar. This collection of case studies represents a wide variety of institutional and seminar types. The authors describe the structure, pedagogy, and assessment strategies that lead to high quality seminars and they offer abundant models for ensuring the delivery of a high-quality educational experience to all entering students. The table of contents includes the following: (1) Structural Supports for Effective Educational Practices in the First-Year Seminar (Tracy L. Skipper); (2) The American University of Rome (Jenny Petrucci); (3) Cabrini University (Richard Gebauer, Michelle Filling-Brown, and Amy Perischetti); (4) Clark University (Jessica Bane Robert); (5) Coastal Carolina University (Michele C. Everett); (6) Durham Technical Community College (Kerry F. Cantwell and Gabby McCutchen); (7) Florida South Western State College (Eileen DeLuca, Kathy Clark, Myra Walters, and Martin Tawil); (8) Indiana University--Purdue University Indianapolis (Heather Bowman, Amy Powell, and Cathy Buyarski); (9) Ithaca College (Elizabeth Bleicher); (10) LaGuardia Community College, CUNY (Tameka Battle, Linda Chandler, Bret Eynon, Andrea Francis, Preethi Radhakrishnan, and Ellen Quish); (11) Loyola University Maryland (Mary Ellen Wade); (12) Malone University (Marcia K. Everett, Jay R. Case, and Jacci Welling); (13) Montana State University (Margaret Konkel and Deborah Blanchard); (14) Northern Arizona University (Rebecca Campbell and Kaitlin Hublitz); (15) Southern Methodist University (Caitlin Anderson, Takeshi Fujii, and Donna Gober); (16) Southwestern Michigan College (Christi Young, Jeffrey Dennis, and Donald Ludman); (17) St. Cloud State University (Christine Metzo); (18) Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi (Rita A. Sperry, Andrew M. Garcia, Chelsie Hawkinson, and Michelle Major); (19) The University of Arizona (Marla Franco, Jessica Hill, and Tina Wesanen-Neil); (20) University of Kansas (Alison Olcott Marshall and Sarah Crawford-Parker); (21) University of Maryland Baltimore County (Lisa Carter Beall); (22) University of New Hampshire (Neil Niman, Tamara Rury, and Sean Stewart); (23) University of North Carolina Wilmington (Zachary W. Underwood); (24) University of Northern Iowa (Deirdre Heistad, April Chatham-Carpenter, Kristin Moser, and Kristin Woods); (25) University of Texas at Austin (Ashley N. Stone and Tracie Lowe); (26) University of Texas at San Antonio (Kathleen Fugate Laborde and Tammy Jordan Wyatt); (27) University of Wisconsin-Madison (Susan Brantly and Sorabh Singhal); (28) Virginia Commonwealth University (Melissa C. Johnson and Bety Kreydatus); and (29) Conclusion: What Does It Mean to Be High Impact? (Tracy L. Skipper). (Individual chapters contain references.).

Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU sheds light on the important and yet crucially under-explored interactions between entrepreneurship, institutions and support mechanisms within the EU.

This book takes readers through a series of guided writing exercises that help them explore their feelings about difficult experiences. Each chapter begins with an introduction that explains how to proceed with journal exercises and what they are structured to help accomplish. The exercises leave readers with a strong sense of their value in the world.

The Spring 2010 (VIII, 1) issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge includes faculty and student papers and contributions from the 2010 Annual Conference of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching at UMass Boston on topics: "Constructing the Innocence of the First Textual Encounter," "Examining a First Amendment Court Case to Teach Argument Analysis to Freshman Writers at an Art College," "The Absent Professor: Rethinking Collaboration in Tutorial Sessions," "Visual Literacy for the Enhancement of Inclusive Teaching," "When Literature Is Evangelical: Pedagogies of Passion," "Creating Networking Communities Beyond the Classroom," "Framing Cultural Diversity Courses Post U.S. 2008 Presidential Elections," "The Difference Between You and Me: Faculty Identities at Play in the Classroom," "Toward a Non-Eurocentric Social Psychology: The Contribution of the Yogacara," "Service-Learning and Authenticity Achievement," "Academic Achievement of Turkish and American Students," "The Miseducation of Ms. M," "Culturelessness and Culture Shock: An American-Asian Experience," "From Construction to Social Work: Finding Value in Helping Others," "My Work Utopia: Pursuing A Satisfactory Work Life Amid an Alienating World," and "The Loss of a Culture with an Accent: A Sociological Reflection on My Assimilation into the American Culture." Contributors: Alex Mueller, Cheryl Nixon, Rajini Srikanth, Angelika Festa, Arianne Baker, Kristi Girdharry, Meghan Hancock, Rebecca Katz, Meesh McCarthy, Jesse Priest, Megan Turilli, Mary Ball Howkins, J. Ken Stuckey, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Marjorie Jones, Suzanne M. Buglione, James William Coleman, John W. Murphy, Dana Rasch, Eyyup Esen, Melanie Robinson, Tara Cianfrocca, Albert Marks, Irene Hartford, Dora Joseph, Anna Beckwith (also as journal issue guest editor), Vivian Zamel (also as journal issue guest editor), and Mohammad H. Tamdgidi (also as journal editor-in-chief). Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge is a publication of OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science (Utopystics). For more information about OKCIR and other issues in its journal's Edited Collection as well as Monograph and Translation series visit OKCIR's homepage.