Think About It
Philosophy of Social Cognition
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jevgenija Sivoronova, Aleksejs Vorobjovs
Today’s interdisciplinary context is rich in approaches to social cognition. Social cognition focuses on how individuals cognize reality, which is inherently seen as social, with cognition primarily understood as communication and interaction. Scientific perspectives on social cognition offer different frameworks, such as social cognitive, informational processing, constructivist, and phenomenological approaches. This proposal discusses these approaches and their conceptual emphasis. Then, we argue for the holistic emergence approach or the cognition system to theorize about social cognition. This approach emphasizes the importance of having an ideal image of cognition when considering it. First, we acknowledge the need to consider ontological, epistemological and methodological foundations to understand cognition. Implementing these philosophical disciplines is crucial for developing a concept or theory of cognition having fundamental bases that describe the creation of abstract designs of processes, actions, interactions, agents, objects, and systems of knowledge that mediate cognition occurrences in various contexts and positions. Second, through this holistic approach, we propose to conceive, speculate, comprehend, and explore social cognition and its elements. Third, we also refer to theoretical-methodological modelling that provides a new perspective on social cognition phenomena. The model is not purely abstract; it can also take on a concrete form, making it a hypothetical perfect or optimal model. We emphasize the need to continually return to the idea of cognition, as thinking about it is a fundamental aspect of cognition itself. We hold this model as a mental backing that helps us think about any cognition-related matter.
Justice for Medical Harms? A Legal-Historical Analysis
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Blake Brown, Jennifer Llewellyn
Medical errors injure or kill thousands of patients in Canada each year. This paper provides a legal and historical analysis that explores the traditional challenges of responding to health care harm and shares recent developments in the potential for a restorative approach to patient safety. In the early twentieth century, physicians formed a mutual defense organization, the Canadian Medical Protective Association. The Association traditionally responded to allegations of malpractice by ferociously fighting against patients inside and outside the courtroom. These tactics led to complaints that the justice system failed to address the concerns of many patients and their families. In response to these significant concerns with adversarial justice processes, efforts are now underway to consider the potential for a restorative justice response to cases of health care harm. These efforts have confronted challenges related to the historical developments that have shaped malpractice, including the role of the Canadian Medical Protective Association and the structure of tort law and litigation. This study considers the potential for a restorative approach to health care harm and patient safety to contribute to the transformation of justice and health care. It draws on the current research and system innovation work of both presenters. Dr. Brown is currently undertaking a significant research project on the history of medical malpractice in Canada. Building on her previous work in the field, Professor Llewellyn is currently engaged in an initiative aimed at designing and implementing a restorative approach to health care harms and patient safety.
A Tale of Bahrain’s Two Medical Universities: Globalization and Localization in Medical Education - a Comparative Study of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland Medical University of Bahrain and and the Arabian Gulf University College of Medicine and Medical Sciences View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sakinah A. Ismael
How do branch-campus globalism and regionally mandated localism operate—sometimes ingeniously, sometimes belligerently—inside a single island nation? This paper examines medical education in the Kingdom of Bahrain through its two sole medical universities: the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland–Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) and the Arabian Gulf University (AGU). RCSI Bahrain, an Irish branch campus founded in 2004, delivers an English-medium, Irish-accredited program that attracts a 45-nationality cohort and channels large numbers of graduates into overseas residencies. AGU, chartered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1982, employs a bilingual, problem-based curriculum expressly linked to regional health priorities. This study combines unique auto-ethnography with documentary evidence, drawing on more than a decade of professional experience at both universities and triangulating institutional reports with global-education scholarship. It further analyses how global standards are translated, resisted, or hybridized and highlights the transfer of pedagogical models, quality frameworks, and research agendas into Bahrain, while noting the need to negotiate local values, healthcare needs, and government regulations. An interdisciplinary lens captures the economic, social, and political currents that drive these adaptations and the competitive positioning of each university in the global education market. Findings reveal a distinctive educational ecosystem where global best practices fuse with local expectations, creating both opportunities and challenges, including language barriers and ethical tensions around community relevance. Understanding these dynamics offers actionable insight into balancing global recognition with local responsibility, contributing to wider debates on the dynamics of globalization and the transformation of the local in higher education.
