Critical reckonings : Global art and art history after the West and Eurocentrism

Review of Paul Wood (2013), Western Art and the Wider World. Wiley-Blackwell : Chichester, United Kingdom.

My [Schoemann] family history 1811-1984

A 21 page typescript accompanied by copies of vital records and a family tree.

The biology and natural history of Tripogon loliiformis (Poaceae, Chloridoideae), an Australian resurrection grass

Tripogon loliiformis is a desiccation-tolerant grass that occurs throughout mainland Australia. There has been recent interest in this species as a model system for understanding desiccation tolerance in a native grass at the structural, molecular and physiological levels. However, not much is known about the biology and natural history of this species, despite its widespread geographic distribution and remarkable capability of withstanding prolonged drying. We provide an overview of the genus by consolidating information from a wide variety of sources. We report a variety of new and interesting observations on the general biology, ecology and desiccation response of T. loliiformis and conclude by highlighting areas for future research.

Verein Mekor Chajim Collection 1915-1918

The bulk of the collection consists of circular letters of the Jewish orthodox organization Mekor Chajim in Frankfurt/Main and of issues of ‘Feldbrief der Agudas Jisroel Jugendorganisation’, sent to Jewish soldiers during World War I; 1915-1918

From Leffingwell to Spoede : Highlights in the history of Temple Israel.

Brochure, describing the history of the Jewish community in St. Louis, founded mostly by immigrants from Germany.

Eva Stroh Family Collection 1860-2005 Bulk: 1912-1950

The Eva Stroh Family Collection provides material on the lives and family history of members of the Sondheimer and Stroh families. The collection consists of numerous photos and several photo albums, family trees, official documents, correspondence, published articles and clippings and some notes, a notebook documenting cultural activities and some daily calendars.

Vähemmistövaltiokirkon synty : Ortodoksisen kirkkokunnan ja valtion suhteiden muotoutuminen Suomessa 1917-1922

The Birth of the Minority State Church Development of the legal relationship between the state of Finland and the Finnish Orthodox Church 1917 1922 Mika Nokelainen, University of Helsinki, Finland. The present research seeks to explain how the legal relationship developed between the state of Finland and the Orthodox Church of Finland. The main focus is on three statutes: 1) the Statute of the Orthodox Church in Finland as stated by Prime Minister J. K. Paasikivi s cabinet in November 1918, 2) The Republican Constitution of July 1919 and 3) The Freedom of Religion Act of 1923. This study examines how different political goals influenced the three statutes mentioned above. Another important factor that is taken into account is the attitude of the Lutheran Church of Finland, the church of the national majority, towards the Orthodox minority and its judicial position in the country. Finland became independent in December 1917, in the aftermath of the November Revolution in Russia. The Orthodox Church already had hundreds of years of history in Finland. In the 19th century, several statutes by emperors of Russia had made the Orthodox Church an official state church of Finland. Due to the long history of the Orthodox Church in Finland, Prime Minister Paasikivi s cabinet made the decision to support the church in the spring of 1918. Furthermore, the cabinet s goal to occupy East Karelia increased its willingness to support the church. The Finnish-national Orthodox Church was needed to educate the East-Karelians. A new statute on the Orthodox Church in Finland came into force in November 1918, reorganising the administration, economy and legal relationship between the church and state in Finland. With this statue, the cabinet gained some authority over the church. Sections of this statute made possible, for example, the cabinet s interference in the internal affairs of the church. The Republican Constitution of 1919 included the principle of freedom of religion. The state, which previously had been Lutheran, now became non-denominational. However, the Republican Constitution explicitly mentioned the Lutheran as well as the Orthodox Church, which indirectly confirmed the position of the Orthodox Church as the second state church of Finland. This position was finally confirmed by the Freedom of Religion Act in 1923. In general, the Lutheran Church of Finland did not resist the judicial position of the Orthodox Church. However, some Lutherans regarded the Orthodox Church with suspicion because of its intimate connection with Russia.

Ihanteena vapaaehtoisuus : Diakoniatyö Porvoon hiippakunnan seurakunnissa, erityisesti Iitin ja Tampereen rovastikunnissa vuosina 1897-1923

The Ideal of Volunteerism. An institutional approach to social welfare work in the parishes of the Diocese of Porvoo especially in the deaneries of Iitti and Tampere, Finland, in the years 1897-1923 Social welfare work (also known as diakonia) has achieved a high status in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Since 1944, provisions of the Finnish Church Act have obliged each parish to employ at least one deacon or deaconess. This study sets out to examine the background and development of social welfare work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland from the 1890s to the 1920s, by which time social welfare work had become an established practice in the Church. The study investigates the development of social welfare work on the level of parishes. The main source material was collected from sixteen parishes in the Diocese of Porvoo especially in the deaneries of Iitti and Tampere. In the 1890s, two approaches were used in church social work in Finland. The dioceses of Kuopio, Savonlinna and Turku pursued a congregational approach to social work, while the Diocese of Porvoo employed an institutional approach, mainly because of the influence of Bishop Herman Råbergh. This study charts the formation of church social work in Finnish parishes, which took place during a period of tension between the two approaches. The institutional approach to church social work adopted by the Diocese of Porvoo was based on the German system of Asisters= houses@, in which deaconess institutes sent parish sisters to serve congregations. The parish or, in many cases, a separate association dedicated to church social work paid an annual fee to the deaconess institute, which took care of the parish sisters in old age. In the institutional approach, volunteers were recruited to carry out church social work. It was considered as inappropriate to use tax revenue or other public funding for church social work, which was supposed to be based on Christian love for one=s fellow humans and the needy, and for which only voluntary financial contributions were supposed to be used. In the congregational approach, church social work was directly based on the efforts of the parish. The approach relied on the administrative bodies of parishes and the Church, and tax revenue collected by the parishes, as well as other forms of public funding, could be used to carry out the social welfare work. The parishes employed deacons and deaconesses and paid their salaries. The approaches described above were not pursued in their ideal forms; instead, many variations existed. However, in principle, the social welfare work undertaken by the parishes of the Diocese of Porvoo was based on the institutional approach, while the congregational approach was largely employed elsewhere in Finland. Both of the approaches were viable. Parishes began to employ deacons and deaconesses as of the 1890s. The number of parishes which had hired a deacon or deaconess increased particularly in the 1910s, by which time 60% of parishes had employed one. This level was maintained until 1944 when each parish in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland was obliged to employ a deacon or deaconess. Deaconesses usually worked as travelling nurses. The autonomous status of Finland as part of the Russian Empire did not give Finns the right to develop legislation on social affairs and health care. Consequently, the legislation process did not begin until Finland gained its independence in 1917. The social welfare work carried out by parishes and a number of voluntary organisations satisfied the emerging need for medical treatment in Finnish society. Neither the government nor the municipalities had sufficient resources to provide this treatment. Based on the ideal of volunteerism, the institutional social work practiced in the Diocese of Porvoo ran into serious difficulties at the end of the First World War. Because of severe inflation, prices began to rise as of 1915 and tripled in 1917-1918. During the same period, Finnish society went through a deep crisis which escalated into Civil War in spring 1918. This period of economic and social turmoil marked a turning-point which led to a weakening of the status of institutional social work in parishes. Voluntary efforts were no longer sufficient to maintain the practice. In contrast, congregational social work, which was based on public funding, was able to cope with the changes and survived the crisis. The approach to social work adopted by the Diocese of Porvoo turned out to be no more than a brief detour in the history of social work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. At the start of the 1920s, the two approaches were integrated into a common vision for establishing church social work as a statutory practice in parishes.

Lecture by Jacques Judah Lyons on the history of the Jews, given before the Hebrew Religious and Literary Library Association

Digital image

Climate forcing on avian life history

In the 21st century, human-induced global climate change has been highlighted as one of the most serious threats to ecosystems worldwide. According to global climate scenarios, the mean temperature in Finland is expected to increase by 1.8 4.0°C by the end of the century. The regional and seasonal change in temperature has predicted to be spatially and temporally asymmetric, where the High-Arctic and Antarctic areas and winter and spring seasons have been projected to face the highest temperature increase. To understand how species respond to the ongoing climate change, we need to study how climate affects species in different phases of their life cycle. The impact of climate on breeding and migration of eight large-sized bird species was studied in this thesis, taking food availability into account. The findings show that climatic variables have considerable impact on the life-history traits of large-sized birds in northern Europe. The magnitude of climatic effects on migration and breeding was comparable with that of food supply, conventionally regarded as the main factor affecting these life-history traits. Based on the results of this thesis and the current climate scenarios, the following not mutually exclusive responses are possible in the near future. Firstly, asymmetric climate change may result in a mistiming of breeding because mild winters and early spring may lead to earlier breeding, whereas offspring are hatching into colder conditions which elevate mortality. Secondly, climate induced responses can differ between species with different breeding tactics (income vs. capital breeding), so that especially capital breeders can gain advantage on global warming as they can sustain higher energy resources. Thirdly, increasing precipitation has the potential to reduce the breeding success of many species by exposing nestlings to more severe post-hatching conditions and hampering the hunting conditions of parents. Fourthly, decreasing ice cover and earlier ice-break in the Baltic Sea will allow earlier spring migration in waterfowl. In eiders, this can potentially lead to more productive breeding. Fifthly, warming temperatures can favour parents preparing for breeding and increase nestling survival. Lastly, the climate-induced phenological changes in life history events will likely continue. Furthermore, interactions between climate and food resources can be complex and interact with each other. Eiders provide an illustrative example of this complexity, being caught in the crossfire between more benign ice conditions and lower salinity negatively affecting their prime food resource. The general conclusion is that climate is controlling not only the phenology of the species but also their reproductive output, thus affecting the entire population dynamics.

Reconstituting identity and history in post-war Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

This paper by Carl Grodach demonstrates the careful unravelling of complexity, diversity, contestation and contradictions involved in the reconstruction of symbolic urban spaces after violent conflict, and the allied processes of cultural reinterpretation, political reconfiguration and material revaluation which accompany it. The paper analyses the reconstruction and redevelopment of the 16th-century historic centre of Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, following the Bosnian Wars of 1992–1995. Reconstruction efforts centre around Stari Most, the 16th-century Ottoman bridge destroyed by Bosnian Croat military in 1993. In Mostar, both international and local organizations are in the process of reinterpreting Bosnia’s legacy of Ottoman city spaces. This research and analysis illuminates how such spaces can be central to contemporary projects to redefine group identities and conceptions of place. It provides insight into the ways various groups are attempting to reshape outside perceptions of the city—and Bosnia’s ethnic conflict—to articulate a new definition of local identity and ethnic relations and to remake a stable tourist economy through Mostar’s urban spaces.