The “Iranian ART Revolution”: infertility, assisted reproductive technology, and third-party donation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Infertility is a social onus for women in Iran, who are expected to produce children early within marriage. With its estimated 1.5 million infertile couples, Iran is the only Muslim country in which assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) using donor gametes and embryos have been legitimized by religious authorities and passed into law. Th is has placed Iran, a Shia-dominant country, in a unique position vis-à-vis the Sunni Islamic world, where all forms of gamete donation are strictly prohibited. In this article, we first examine the “Iranian ART revolution” that has allowed donor technologies to be admitted as a form of assisted reproduction. Then we examine the response of Iranian women to their infertility and the profound social pressures they face. We argue that the experience of infertility and its treatment are mediated by women’s socioeconomic position within Iranian society. Many women lack economic access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) technologies and fear the moral consequences of gamete donation. Thus, the benefits of the Iranian ART revolution are mixed: although many Iranian women have been able to overcome their infertility through ARTs, not all women’s lives are improved by these technologies.

Islamisation of Bosnia : early Islamic influence on Bosnian society

This Masters thesis examines the process of the Islamisation of Bosnia from the eighth century to the end of the fifteenth century. This era of early Islamic influence has not previously been systematically studied, and remains an area little understood by many medievalists. The major foci of the analysis are the pre-Ottoman era and early Ottoman periods. This thesis raises the following research questions: When and how did the first Islamisation of the Balkan Slavs (including Bosnians) occur? How did Islam influence Bosnian society and culture, and where were the Bosnian Muslim settlements established? This thesis includes a detailed historical investigation that makes use of a range of bibliographic materials. These consist of fragmentary works, archival and administrative documents and other relevant factography collected from a research field trip to Bosnia between June 27 and July 24, 2003. The main findings reveal the complexity of this culturo-religious process in terms of both the early Islamic influence and contemporary cultural diversity. While different theoretical approaches to cultural representation and social space assist in exploring the hybrid nature of Bosniak identity, the primary and secondary data analyses highlight the significance of the phenomenon of the early Islamisation of Bosnia

The Legacy of Iraq: from the 2003 War to the ‘Islamic State’

In March 2003, a US-led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ launched a pre-emptive intervention against Iraq. The nine long years of military occupation that followed saw an ambitious project to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism and constituted by a citizen body free to live in peace and prosperity. However, the Iraq war did not go to plan and the coalition were forced to withdraw all combat troops at the end of 2011, having failed to deliver on their promise of a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Iraq. The Legacy of Iraq: From the 2003 War to the ‘Islamic State’ seeks to not only reflect on this abject failure but to put forth the argument that key decisions and errors of judgment on the part of the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set in train a sequence of events that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, for the region and for the world. Today, as the nation faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the wake of the devastating advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and another US-led coalition undertakes renewed military action in Iraq, understanding the complex and difficult legacies of the 2003 war could not be more urgent. To ignore the legacies of the Iraq war and to deny their connection to contemporary events means that vital lessons will be ignored and the same mistakes will be made.

The social teachings of the prophets and Jesus /

Includes index.

Supporting pre-tender construction planning with virtual prototyping

Purpose – Virtual prototyping technologies linked to building information models are commonplace within the aeronautical and automotive industries. Their use within the construction industry is now emerging. The purpose of this paper is to show how these technologies have been adopted on the pre-tender planning for a typical construction project. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology taken was an “action research” approach where the researchers and developers were actively involved in the production of the virtual prototypes on behalf of the contractor thereby gaining consistent access to the decisions of the planning staff. The experiences from the case study were considered together with similar research on other construction projects. Findings – The findings from the case studies identify the role of virtual prototyping in components modelling, site modelling, construction equipment modelling, temporary works modelling, construction method visualization and method verification processes. Originality/value – The paper presents a state-of-the-art review and discusses the implications for the tendering process as these technologies are adopted. The adoption of the technologies will lead to new protocols and changes in the procurement of buildings and infrastructure.

The place of writing in first grade Kuwaiti english education : a sociological case study

A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.