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Amy Lynn Fletcher, PhD

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Explore a featured selection of my writing work below.

Improving communities by extending L&D benefits

Learning and development (L&D) is no longer simply about in-house training and productivity gains but also requires a commitment to continuous learning and employability. Extending L&D options to employees’ family members is an innovative way to build a culture of equitable learning and support meaningful advances in diversity & inclusion in both the workplace and the community. The workplace is changing at a rapid pace not seen since the late 19th century. The Covid-19 pandemic reset concepts s

What are the costs and benefits of upskilling?

The global workforce is experiencing significant disruption. The future of work involves ongoing automation of routine tasks, robotics throughout the organization, and meaningful commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the relationship between employees and employers; many workers now demand hybrid or remote opportunities and improved work-life balance.

Demographic Changes Continue to Roil the Employment Landscape Demographic changes continue to roil the e
Everand •

Exploring Appalachia In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - ROVA

In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee-located less than half an hour from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—a large, white cross sits serenely on a hillside, visible from multiple vantage points in the town. Designed by the Reverend James Potter, the structure is 110 feet high and weighs an estimated 60,000 pounds. I visit Pigeon Forge frequently, and the cross always makes me think of the contradictions embedded in this small town, where a lively mix of amusement parks, thrill rides, clubs, and CBD/
TB •

Playboy Magazine Was a Model of Reporting on HIV/AIDS in the 1980s

In an analog era, newspapers and magazines provided much of the essential HIV/AIDS reporting in the United States by disseminating updates on the evolving medical consensus that shaped an emergent pandemic politics.

Among the popular magazines of the 1980s, Playboy had a unique vantage point on the crisis. The AIDS epidemic―and the moral panic it engendered—threatened not only the magazine’s business model but its worldview. The magazine’s focus on sexual liberation, tolerance, and civil libert

Best strategies for vetting potential vendors for venture capital firms

Today’s business environment challenges vendors, entrepreneurs, and investors daily. The covid-19 pandemic, high inflation, geopolitical tensions, and the supply chain crisis have combined to create a perfect storm for C-suite executives, and everyone involved in the innovation ecosystem. In an era of deep economic uncertainty, identifying the optimal vendors for your business can generate return on investment (ROI), improve customer service, and build a secure platform for growth.

But how does

Never Say Die: The Techno-Politics of Radical Life Extension

The Last Exit: Science And Immortality

The anti-aging sector can be divided into four distinct subsectors: 1) established researchers who want to make the normal lifespan of approximately eighty-five years healthier; 2) the moderate life extensionists, who hope to push the average human lifespan to one hundred and twenty-five years; 3) the radical age extensionists, led by figures such as Aubrey de Grey, who envision future lifespans of at least three hundred years; and 4) the immortalists (Sta

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Lethal Autonomous Weapons and Future Warfare » NZIIA - New Zealand Institute of International Affairs

Christchurch NZIIA is delighted to welcome Amy Fletcher, PhD.

Amy Fletcher is a freelance writer and independent scholar based in the United States. Prior to returning to the USA, she achieved the rank of Associate Professor at The University of Canterbury in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. She is currently an Adjunct Research Fellow at UC and a co-investigator on a Marsden grant (RSNZ) awarded to evaluate the global debate regarding the ethics and use of lethal
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PubMed •

Field of genes: the politics of science and identity in the Estonian Genome Project

This case study of the Estonian Genome Project (EGP) analyses the Estonian policy decision to construct a national human gene bank. Drawing upon qualitative data from newspaper articles and public policy documents, it focuses on how proponents use discourse to link the EGP to the broader political goal of securing Estonia's position within the Western/European scientific and cultural space. This dominant narrative is then situated within the analytical notion of the "brand state", which raises p
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Journal of Futures Studies •

Milking Genes for All They're Worth： A Case Study of Biotechnology Foresight in New Zealand * Journal of Futures Studies

In 1999, following a Foresight Project, the New Zealand Government released an investment portfolio for research and development. Concurrently, the Green Party initiated a Royal Commission on Genetic Modification to consider the ethical, social and scientific issues associated with agricultural biotechnology. This study evaluates the discourse used by stakeholders to debate the use of genetic modification in food production.
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Make Up your Own Mind: The Politics of Cognitive Freedom | Emerald Insight

Purpose – To consider the issues of cognitive freedom and neuropolitics via a comparison of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) use in the 1960s and the emerging twenty-first century debate about nootropics.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon theoretical concepts from the study of biopolitics and on the tools of narrative policy analysis, this qualitative analysis uses multiple sources from scientific, mass media, regulatory, and the secondary literature.

Findings – LSD use in the 1950s
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Death Matters 2022 •

Death Matters 2020

In 2020 the second Death Matters Conference was held in Christchurch, New Zealand. As with the first, a wide variety of professionals, academics and specialists broadened our understanding of aging, dying and grief through a mix of presentations, workshops and Q&A sessions

Dr. Ann Charlotte Valentin is an N.M.D., author, evidential medium, psychic, spiritual educator, as well as a dynamic inspirational public speaker.



‘I knew I was dying. The first thing I noticed was that I was still aliv
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Taylor & Francis •

Clearing the air: the contribution of frame analysis to understanding climate policy in the United States

Frame analysis illuminates the politics of climate change and generates ideas about discursive strategies that can assist national governments to take effective action on climate change. The nature of frame analysis and its links to discourse theory and social constructivist epistemology are discussed, and this framework used to show how climate change politics in the USA under the second Bush Presidency (2001–2008) have been viewed through at least three contrasting frames: scientific scepticis
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Silicon Valley and the pursuit of immortality | Scoop News

Silicon Valley and the pursuit of immortality


UC Connect public talk: Never Say Die – Silicon Valley and the pursuit of immortality

Death is a big business, which is one reason why Silicon Valley billionaires such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Sergey Brin hope to disrupt the aging process and unlock the secrets of immortality. In an upcoming UC Connect | Tauhere public talk, Never Say Die: Silicon Valley and the Pursuit of Immortality, Associate ProfessorAmy Fletcher will discuss the use of

Bring ‘Em back alive: Taming the Tasmanian tiger cloning project

In September 1999, the Australian Museum in Sydney launched a high-profile research project to use ancient DNA in an attempt to clone the extinct thylacine (colloquially known as the Tasmanian tiger). A carnivorous marsupial indigenous to Australia, the last documented thylacine died in Beaumaris Private Zoo, Hobart, Tasmania, in 1936. The Australian colonial government of the late 19th century accelerated its demise by offering a bounty of 1 pound per dead thylacine in order to cull what landow

Using L&D to Make Career Advancement Equitable I Edflex

Most organizations want to encourage and reward high-performing employees. Yet, as Rebecca Taylor, HR exec and co-founder of Go Coach argues, the “process of promoting an employee or designating them ‘high potential’ is often rooted in bias practices.” Systemic bias does not necessarily mean that managers intend to discriminate, but it is often one factor that helps to explain why organizations become more homogeneous as employees move up the ranks from entry-level to upper management. To realiz

What are the costs and benefits of upskilling?

The global workforce is experiencing significant disruption. The future of work involves ongoing automation of routine tasks, robotics throughout the organization, and meaningful commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the relationship between employees and employers; many workers now demand hybrid or remote opportunities and improved work-life balance.

Demographic Changes Continue to Roil the Employment Landscape Demographic changes continue to roil the e

EdFlex's Impact on the Bottom Line

This is also the first time in history that five different generations of employees may work alongside each other. Older workers are reshaping traditional retirement planning, with many of them extending their careers beyond age 65 or seeking hybrid retirement options. Amid a global talent shortage from Kornferry, retaining and upskilling these employees through targeted corporate training opportunities is essential. Younger workers are also bringing innovative ideas and expectations to the post

Developing an Equitable Learning Culture Through L&D

Research from the Harvard Kennedy School indicates that U.S. companies do not achieve results commensurate with the approximately $8 billion a year that is spent on DEI training (Data-Driven Diversity (hbr.org)). This mismatch between aspirations and outcomes often results from the company either treating DEI as a luxury item or adopting a defensive and legalistic posture that disincentivizes employees from active participation. Learning and development can be instrumental to creating a culture
rootsmusicmagazine •

City of Gold: Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway

Molly Tuttle, born in Santa Clara, California, in January 1993, proves that a gifted musician can be steeped in tradition but of her own era. Tuttle recorded her first cd (The Old Apple Tree) with her father Jack Tuttle—a renowned bluegrass performer and expert—at the age of 13. She joined the all-female Goodbye Girls while at the Berklee College of music and has since won the International Bluegrass Association’s Best Guitarist of the Year award twice, in 2017 and 2018.

She is a multi-instrume
Edflex •

Why L&D Should Be a Standard Benefit for Your Employees

As the world continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and now faces an economic dip and rising inflation, businesses grapple with rapid disruption and uncertainty. Advances in AI and robotics, generational shifts, rumblings of a recession, and worker demands for greater flexibility and work-life balance are reshaping the workplace of the 21st century. McKinsey refers to this era as the Great Renegotiation. The lack of career advancement and development opportunities is second only to compe

Understanding Venture Capital and Vendor Management

Apple TV’s WeCrashed dramatizes the real-life story of the spectacular rise and fall of WeWork, a company that promised to disrupt the co-op office industry and whose momentum depended primarily upon charismatic founder, Adam Neumann, and his gnomic pronouncements about people following “their superpowers.” WeWork burned through billions of dollars of venture capital and orchestrated a disastrous initial public offering in 2021. The streaming series lets the viewer in on the reasons why the desi
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