The UJI advances knowledge on social segregation and the construction of the nation-state in Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean

The project carried out by the Comparative Social History Group is creating a database on the domestic slave trade in Brazil and has published three books

Universitat Jaume I

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The research group on Comparative Social History at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by full professor José Antonio Piqueras, is advancing the understanding of the roots of cultural and social segregation in Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean. The team has analysed the historical trajectory leading to racial differences in labour conditions and the consolidation of the concept of citizenship.

The research, funded under the 2021 National Research Plan, is coordinated by scholars from the Universitat Jaume I and includes experts from VIU, UNIR, the Brazilian universities Federal Fluminense, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo, as well as from the University of Puerto Rico, the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, and several academic institutions in Cuba.

Artículos: https://repositori.uji.es/search?query=PID2021-128935NB-I00

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Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellón

The research group on Comparative Social History at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by full professor José Antonio Piqueras, is advancing the understanding of the roots of cultural and social segregation in Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean. The team has analysed the historical trajectory leading to racial differences in labour conditions and the consolidation of the concept of citizenship.

The research, funded under the 2021 National Research Plan, is coordinated by scholars from the Universitat Jaume I and includes experts from VIU, UNIR, the Brazilian universities Federal Fluminense, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo, as well as from the University of Puerto Rico, the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, and several academic institutions in Cuba.

The project pursued three main objectives. The first was to deepen the study of economic processes, the natural environment, and their relationship with human factors. To that end, the team is developing an original database (which will be open and accessible online upon completion) on the domestic slave trade within the Brazilian Empire during the second half of the 19th century. This database may later be expanded to include data on the domestic slave trade in Cuba.

Within this line of work, the researchers have gathered information on livestock development to identify the impact of new technologies introduced during the Industrial Revolution. They have also examined contrasts between sugarcane workers in coastal areas and those in rural or inland regions, as well as described the socioeconomic evolution of free labourers in the sugar industry from the 19th to the mid-20th century.

The second line of research, focused on racial differences in the workplace, has uncovered the actions of British courts against the slave trade and deepened understanding of pro-slavery lobbying groups in Cuba and their efforts to undermine the effectiveness of anti–slave trade legislation.

In addition, the study has analysed how in Cuba, occupational roles were tied to racial hierarchies—how certain jobs became associated with certain groups—and how this racial influence in the labour market led to two major consequences: the emergence of the so-called “black work” and the construction of a nominally free labor market that, in practice, included forms of unfree, semi-free, or coerced labour maintained through control policies to subjugate workers.

The outcomes of the third line of research, focused on the governance of racialized societies, have been published in three works: Derecho antiguo y esclavitud moderna (Ancient Law and Modern Slavery), El antiesclavismo en España y sus adversarios (Antislavery in Spain and Its Adversaries), and the collective volume Travesía sin fin. De las esclavitudes ibéricas a las prácticas sociales en el Nuevo Mundo (Endless Journey: From Iberian Slaveries to Social Practices in the New World). The first explores the dichotomy between the history of slavery in Spanish America and its possible normative tradition; the second examines the unequal struggle between the natural right to freedom and the pursuit of economic profit; and the third addresses the continuous adaptations of European slavery until its establishment in the Americas.

The project has also fostered joint initiatives aimed at transferring research results to society, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in Slaveries and Afrodescendence at the Universitat Jaume I, directed by José Antonio Piqueras.

This research is part of the project PID2021-128935NB-I00, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER/UE, within the 2021–2023 National Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research, which seeks to promote strategic sectors for recovery such as health, ecological transition and digitalisation.

Articles: https://repositori.uji.es/search?query=PID2021-128935NB-I0

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DOI

10.70794/hs.117930 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

People

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D.E.I.

The avatar in a wheelchair

A call for more diversity in the Metaverse

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

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The avatar in a wheelchair 

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Credit: Copyright: Katrin Angerbauer, University of Stuttgart

Stuttgart – The step into virtual reality usually begins with the creation of one's own avatar. Should it look like a human being, or rather like a fantasy character from one's favorite anime? There are no limits to the design – or are there?

Around one tenth of the population in Germany lives with a disability; some visible, some invisible.

However, avatars with disabilities are virtually non-existent in the Metaverse. For a long time, developers and users believed that disabilities should not play a role here. Visible or invisible disabilities should remain hidden in order to avoid discrimination and protect people with disabilities. No discrimination! But is that really the case?

“My disability is part of who I am”

A group of scientists from the University of Stuttgart, the California State University at Fullerton, and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) conducted a study to investigate how people with disabilities feel when they appear as such in virtual reality, just as they do in real life. Most of the test subjects gave predominantly positive feedback when their own avatar depicted them the way they see themselves. Many expressed the sentiment: “My disability is part of who I am.”

The research was now published in the Journal of Strategic Information Systems. The study took several years to complete, as it was difficult to find participants with disabilities. Altogether, 81 people with disabilities participated in the study. Each participant was given a specially created avatar by the researchers at the University of Stuttgart. The avatars used a walking stick, rode in an (electric) wheelchair, or wore a sunflower on their clothing as a symbol of an invisible disability. With this digital twin, the participants spent several hours a day on the VRChat platform for two weeks. They visited a wide variety of virtual rooms, talked to others, interacted, watched a movie together, and much more. At the end of the two-week period, the participants reported on their experiences in interviews with the scientists.

Ksenia Keplinger heads the Organizational Leadership and Diversity research group at MPI-IS and is the corresponding author of the publication: "We asked ourselves what would happen if avatars reflected a person’s real-life disability. Our results show that participants felt predominantly comfortable with their inclusive avatars when interacting in this virtual world. The more a participant identified with their disability, i.e., the more the disability was an essential characteristic of the person, the more positive the feedback was. Many non-disabled avatars reacted to the inclusive avatar in a wheelchair or with a walking stick with interest and openness, sought conversation, and experienced the encounter as a learning moment that promoted understanding and empathy. Although using an inclusive avatar can be challenging, the positive effects outweigh the challenges, as authentic representation creates visibility and strengthens the dialogue about inclusion in the digital space."

However, some participants did not want their avatar to confront them with their disability or remind them of real-life challenges. For them, the virtual space was an opportunity to escape their disability. According to the study's findings, most of the participants said that they preferred to be represented in virtual reality as they are in real life.

A call for more courage in embracing diversity in the Metaverse

The researchers are particularly focused on employers. Companies are increasingly offering hybrid online workspaces and even fully virtual offices. The study concludes that the Metaverse opens up the opportunity to expand their workforce by tapping into the world's largest underemployed group: people with disabilities. Those already employed often feel more at ease when they can express their disability as part of their identity in virtual workplaces as well.

The study could therefore encourage company executives to rethink their approach. After all, the Metaverse is a virtual reality in which more and more people are pursuing their careers. According to the study, the Metaverse should not be seen merely as a technical platform, but rather as an emotion-driven social environment in which people strive for authentic self-expression.

"We hope that the results of the study will provide the impetus to actively involve people with disabilities in the development and design of virtual reality technology, and to work together to break down structures of discrimination in virtual space. A disability should not be something that needs to be hidden, but something that can be lived openly in virtual space as well. People with disabilities belong in both the real and digital world," says Katrin Angerbauer, who is a doctoral student at the Visualization Institute of the University of Stuttgart (VISUS) and lead author of the study. Angerbauer herself uses a walker in both the real and virtual world. "We call for more courage when it comes to diversity in the Metaverse. This will allow the full potential of a highly qualified group within the workforce to be recognized and supported."

Will virtual offices where people work with inclusive avatars and participate in meetings in wheelchairs or with sunflowers pinned to their lapels soon become the norm? Ksenia Keplinger, Katrin Angerbauer, Phoenix Van Wagoner, and their co-authors hope so. A first step toward greater inclusion has already been taken.

 

Reference:

Angerbauer, K., Van Wagoner, H. P., Keplinger, K., Halach, T., Vogelsang, J., Hube, N., Smith, A., & Sedlmair, M. (2025). Inclusive avatars in the Metaverse: Learning from the lived experiences of people with disabilities. Journal of Strategic Information Systems. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2025.101935

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Journal

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

DOI

10.1016/j.jsis.2025.101935 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Inclusive avatars in the Metaverse: Learning from the lived experiences of people with disabilities.

Article Publication Date

25-Nov-2025

 

European consortium together transforming future of COPD care

A European consortium of researchers has developed a new decision making framework for health professionals which they hope will transform the care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

University of Leicester

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A European consortium of researchers has developed a new decision making framework for health professionals which they hope will transform the care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

 

The new framework, which classifies the severity of exacerbations of COPD based on three key factors was developed by the Collaboration In COPD Exacerbations (CICERO) funded by the European Respiratory Society. It has just been published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine and presented at the British Thoracic Society Winter Conference.

 

Associate Professor Dr Neil Greening from the University of Leicester’s Department of Respiratory Sciences and Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust explains: “Exacerbations of COPD remain a major driver of hospital admissions and mortality worldwide.

 

“Every time a patient has an acute episode it can set off a cascade of recurrent exacerbations, accelerated lung function decline, and heightened risk of death.

 

“While this cycle is well documented, the variability in what we observe in these patients has long challenged our ability to predict outcomes and tailor their treatment.

 

“Traditionally, the severity of an acute exacerbation of COPD has been defined by healthcare use, such as hospital admission or medication use.

 

“However, this approach overlooks the complex interplay of factors that influence patient deterioration - including baseline health status, event intensity, and any underlying triggers.”

 

To address this gap, Dr Greening and Dr Hnin Aung, also from the University, together with CICERO colleagues from around Europe developed a novel multidimensional framework, the BAt model, designed to predict exacerbation severity and prognostic risk.

 

The model incorporates three domains: Baseline functional status (B), Acuity of the event (A), and the Trigger (t) driving the episode. By integrating these elements using routinely collected clinical data, the BAt classification offers a structured approach to characterising exacerbations beyond traditional metrics.

Dr Greening continued: “Health professionals could use BAt to guide site-of-care decisions, predict long term outcomes, and tailor treatment strategies to individual patients.

 

“This may also improve consistency across diverse clinical settings, from primary care to specialist centres.

 

“As COPD continues to impose a significant burden on patients and health systems, we believe the BAt model represents a promising step toward precision medicine.”

 

Dr Hnin Aung, Clinical Lecturer at the University of Leicester, and other researchers in London and Belgium are now working to refine and validate the framework, with the hope that it will soon become an integral tool in managing one of the world’s most challenging chronic diseases.

 

Dr Neil Greening receives funding from the NIHR Leicester BRC - part of the NIHR and hosted by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in partnership with the University of Leicester, Loughborough University and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group.

 

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Journal

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Multidimensional prognostic risk stratification of COPD exacerbations: the baseline, acuity, and trigger (BAt) model

Article Publication Date

25-Nov-2025