Cambios en el predominio de los distintos valores monetarios en la circulación monetaria en la Hispania alto-imperial

En los últimos años hemos venido definiendo las grandes líneas de la circulación monetaria en Hispania durante el largo período imperial,! Trazos que por el momentó debemos dar como buenos a la espera de la aparición de estudios sobre nuevos materiales que cambien el panorama o confirmen lo expuesto hasta el momento. En espera de estos nuevos trabajos debemos comenzar a pensar en un estudio más profundo de la circulación, para poder completar estas líneas generales que parecen bastante claras, pero que nos dejan vislumbrar toda una serie de problemas cuya solución tan sólo podemos obtenerla mediante una especialización superior en los distintos trabajos a realizar.

Unnatural Mothers, Mothering Unnaturally: Technologies of Reproduction and the Politics of Maternity in Hiromi Goto's "Hopeful Monsters"

Through scientific discourse and reproductive technologies, the reproductive body and the maternal body continue to be constructed as ‘natural’. At the same time,these technologies have begun to blur the boundaries between what is consideredan acceptable reproductive body, and consequently an acceptable maternal body,and an unnatural or a socially undesireable one. As science purports to offerwomen greater control over how and when they choose to procreate, through methods which range between delaying or eliminating the possibility of contraception to those which extend the possibility of conception to postmenopausal or infertile women, these same procedures raise questions about thenature and ‘naturalness’ of reproduction. Added to these concerns are thesuitablility of the reproductive body as a maternal body. Consequently, and moreand more frequently, bodies which defy ideals about maternity and motherhoodemerge, and questions about what it means to mother are raised. Bodies whichcontest the construction of motherhood as natural are frequently represented asmonstrous or freakish, and the debate between science and nature is heightened.Hiromi Goto’s short story ‘Hopeful Monsters’ resists the construction of the‘natural’ maternal body by highlighting the way in which women’s bodies areshaped by scientific discourse. In turn, images of ‘monstrous’ mothers emerge andare challenged, suggesting the need to reimagine what it means to mother and whatit means to be a mother. Through reading a selection of the stories this paper willinterrogate possible alternatives to constructions of the ‘natural’ maternal body and motherhood, suggesting that the Goto’s ‘monsters’ are perhaps only monstrous as a result of scientific discourse which constructs them as such.

La construcción del recinto imperial de Tarraco (provincia Hispania Citerior)

Gracias a los estudios del Dr. Hauschild en la Parte Alta de Tarragona se ha identificado una estructura urbana en tres niveles que se conoce como Concilium Provinciae Hispaniae Citerioris. La investigación posterior ha permitido confirmar las hipótesis del Dr. Hauschild, y ampliar el conocimiento del conjunto. En este artículo se presentan los últimos estudios referentes al Recinto de Culto, gracias a los trabajos del Plan Director de la Catedral de Tarragona y al proyecto Planimetría Arqueológica de Tárraco.

The Social Politics of Fatherhood in Spain and France: a Comparative Analysis of Parental Leave and Shared Residence

The Social Politics of Fatherhood in Spain and France: A Comparative Analysis of Parental Leave and Shared Residence The article provides a comparative analysis of policy developments on leaves for fathers and joint custody in Spain and France in the last decade. These two types of measures have been selected because they are both widely recognised as main instruments to promote new fathering styles and consequently more gender equality in the European Union. While the rhetoric of choice has been developed in both countries in relation to maternal employment and childcare, with better results in France than in Spain, it remains to be seen to what extent choice will also be extended to fathers. Keywords: Fatherhood. Family. Comparative social policy. Parental leave. Joint custody.

Corruption in building the image of politics in television news broadcasts

This work analyses the political news of eight Spanish television channels in order to see what image is built of politics, and particularly how the news of corruption affects the image of politics in Spanish news broadcasts. Different cases of corruption such as Gürtel, Palma Arena and those associated with judge Baltasar Garzón in his final stage in office, occupy part of the study. A new methodology is therefore proposed that enables the quality of the political information emitted from inside and outside the political content of the news programmes to be observed. Particular attention is paid to the news broadcasts of Televisión Española and Cuatro as those which offer a more balanced view of politics, and channels such as La Sexta, which give priority to a narrative construction of politics in the news programmes around causes of corruption.

Net Neutrality and other challenges for the future of the Internet. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Internet, Law & Politics. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, 11-12 July, 2011

Peer-reviewed

The Arcuated Lintel and the "Serlian Motif". Imperial Identity, Architectural and Symbolic Interactions in Ancient Rome

Essay on the origin, use and development of the arcuated lintel in ancient Rome and the configuration of the so– called ‘Serlian motif’. These architectural elements will be related to the architecture of prestige on its technical, functional, visual and symbolic sphere. Its depictions, in addition to buildings, can offer a rich repertory of images that speak about the relations between visual culture, religion and power. Furthermore, the analyzed motifs will become important elements of the Western cultural legacy for centuries. The analysis of these events will contribute to the comprehension of the role played by some resources of ancient Rome architecture of prestige and its success

The marmora used in the imperial cult area of Tarraco (Hispania Citerior)

The imperial cult area of Tarraco was built in the 1st century AD in the highest part of the city and presided over the seat of the Concilium Prouinciae Hispaniae Citerioris. It was a temenos with a similar layout to that of the Forum Pacis and architectural decoration imitating that of the Forum Augustum in Rome, where the use of marble was a fundamental part of the architectural and sculptural decorative programme. An extensive assemblage of marble was recovered during the excavations carried out under the Tarragona Cathedral Master Plan. It reflects the use of imperial quarries in the decorative programme and has been analyzed at the Unitat d’Estudis Arqueomètrics (ICAC) facilities. This assemblage reflects the wide panorama of marmora imported and used in the decoration of the temenos. Local varieties of marmora have been identified in Tarraco, plus a series of foreign marmora from quarries all over the Roman Empire (Greece, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa). All this shows the involvement of the imperial power in the monumental architecture of the capital of the prouincia Hispania Citerior.

The octagon, the hendecagon and the approximation of pi: the geometric design of the clypeus in the enclosure of Imperial cult in Tarraco

The ancient temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus on the hilltop of Tarraco (today’s Tarragona), was the main element of the sacred precinct of the Imperial cult. It was a two hectare square, bordered by a portico with an attic decorated with a sequence of clypeus (i.e. monumental shields) made with marble plates from the Luni-Carrara’s quarries. This contribution presents the results of the analysis of a three-dimensional photogrammetric survey of one of these clipeus, partially restored and exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona. The perimeter ring was bounded by a sequence of meanders inscribed in a polygon of 11 sides, a hendecagon. Moreover, a closer geometric analysis suggests that the relationship between the outer meander rim and the oval pearl ring that delimited the divinity of Jupiter Ammon can be accurately determined by the diagonals of an octagon inscribed in the perimeter of the clypeus. This double evidence suggests a combined layout, in the same design, of an octagon and a hendecagon. Hypothetically, this could be achieved by combining the octagon with the approximation to Pi used in antiquity: 22/7 of the circle’s diameter. This method allows the drawing of a hendecagon with a clearly higher precision than with other ancient methods. Even the modelling of the motifs that separate the different decorative stripes corroborates the geometric scheme that we propose.

Serlianas durante el Renacimiento italiano y español: del triunfo de la religión católica al lenguaje imperial

This article presents a panoramic view of the development of the so-called serliana or Serlian motif throughout the Italian Renaissance, focusing on the most relevant examples in the architecture of that period. The use of this motif during the Early Renaissance was pioneered by Filippo Brunelleschi in religious buildings. As its employment become widespread in a range of different settings, architects frequently incorporated local building traditions. It was only during the last twenty years of the Quattrocento that Giuliano da Sangallo and Leonardo da Vinci adopted the Serlian arch in residential architecture designed for the ruling elites. Thanks to Bramante and other artists such as Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Giulio Romano, the motif was extraordinarily popular during the High Renaissance period. Ever-increasingly complex and monumental compositions eased the adaptation of the serliana to both exterior and interior spaces, and in works such as the design by Galeazzo Alessi in Genoa, the imperial connotation of the motif is clear. This process illustrates the progressive transfer from the religious to the courtly sphere, and, at the same time, the permeability between the sacred and the profane. During the sixteenth century, Spain too was at the European avant-garde, due to its contacts with Italy and the latest fashions, such as the employment of the serliana in residential architecture, were followed in the fortified palace at La Calahorra, the Vich palace in Valencia, or the palace of Charles V in Granada, as part of a complex iconography of power. Throughout the sixteenth century, the serliana featured in that specifically-Spanish typology, the monumental altarpiece or retablo, as well as in monumental tombs. Italy was certainly the leading force in the process and had an indisputable influence on Spanish art, but the latter would develop its own original solutions in the sixteenth century, which matched the innovative character of Italian creations.