Datascapes: Diálogos entre Informação e Espaço

This article reflects on the use of information in the production of spatialities and is part of an ongoing research about Project Experiences in Contemporary Housing that analyzes the projects of the Dutch office MVRDV. The text presented here focuses on the mapping of information as design process, a methodology used by the office that positions its production between research and project investigation. Then, it presents the Silodam project, a case study to illustrate aspects of the analysis intended by the research.

O ciclo da comunicação científica na semiosfera

Este ensaio apresenta a construção de um objeto de pesquisa com base na teoria da semiótica da cultura. São feitas reflexões sobre os sistemas modelizantes envolvidos no ciclo da comunicação científica em grupo de pesquisa de universidade, desde a busca da informação até a publicação dos resultados dos estudos. As linguagens naturais (idiomas) e artificiais (linguagem de busca em computadores e vocabulários controlados) são identificadas. A partir disso, o objeto se delineia como o conjunto de textos da cultura e a própria semiosfera, representada pelos diálogos dos sujeitos da cultura e o processo de comunicação envolvido. Alguns desafios se apresentam, como: a necessidade de aprofundamento na teoria da semiótica da cultura, a participação do pesquisador também como sujeito da pesquisa e o trabalho com a interdisciplinaridade para estudar um objeto com as vertentes da ciência da informação, biomedicina, semiótica e outras disciplinas a elas relacionadas.

"Pásli ovce valasi": Proposta di adattamento in italiano di una serie televisiva slovacca per l'infanzia fra doppiaggio e sottotitolaggio

The main purpose of this thesis is to promote the Slovak culture in Italy through the adaptation of Pásli ovce valasi (The shepherd grazed the sheep), a TV series for children by director Ladislav Čapek. The series, which was released in Czechoslovakia in 1973, is divided into thirteen episodes and tells the story of Matko and Kubko, two shepherds who live in the mountains in central Slovakia. Pásli ovce valasi represented an interesting choice from the adaptation point of view, due to its deep cultural value and the peculiarities of the language used by the characters. The constraints of audiovisual translation were combined to the difficulty of rendering Slovak cultural-specific elements into Italian, together with the limits imposed by having children as a primary recipient. The importance of their role as a target has constrained not only our translation choices, but also the adaptation mode. For this reason, it was decided to realise subtitles in order to make the audiovisual product immediately available, together with an adaptation for dubbing, more suitable for a young audience. The opportunity to present two different forms of adaptation is closely linked to the specific characteristics of the cartoon language. The present study consists of four chapters. The first one provides a brief introduction to the series, its language and setting. The second chapter outlines the main characteristics of audiovisual translation, focusing on dubbing and subtitling in particular. It also presents an analysis of the role of children as a target and the consequent decision to realise an adaptation for dubbing. The two adaptation modes, together with the transcription of the original dialogues, are provided in the third chapter. The fourth and last chapter consists of a description and analysis of the translation process, focusing on morphosyntactic, lexical, rethorical, historical and cultural aspects. The last part of the chapter analyses the differences between the subtitles and the adaptation for dubbing.

Analisi del film L'appartamento spagnolo: multilinguismo e comunicazione interculturale

The present research study focuses on intercultural communication and how its dynamics are portrayed in the Italian version of the movie L’appartamento spagnolo (original title: L’auberge espagnol) by Cédric Klapisch. The first chapter introduces the movie in all its main features, such as plot, setting, characters, languages, main themes, and sequels. The second chapter focuses on the dynamics of intercultural communication through the analysis of the most representative scenes of the movie. It is worth noting that the notion of intercultural communication comprises a lot of different kinds of communication, meaning not only communication among people coming from different countries and speaking a different language, but also among different generations, people with different social backgrounds, with a different social status, etc. However, language is indeed crucial to mutual understanding and it plays a fundamental role in communication. For this reason, the third chapter focuses on the multilingual dimension of the movie, since the issue of intercultural communication is also conveyed through a variety of languages. The aim is to analyze the different strategies used in the Italian dubbed version in order to manage the presence of different languages and to examine how such strategies affect the overall consistency of the dialogues and the effect achieved on the audience.

Remission in schizophrenia: validity, frequency, predictors, and patients' perspective 5 years later

In March 2005, the Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group (RSWG) proposed a consensus definition of symptomatic remission in schizophrenia and developed specific operational criteria for its assessment. They pointed out, however, that the validity and the relationship to other outcome dimensions required further examination. This article reviews studies on the validity, frequency, and predictors of symptomatic remission in schizophrenia and studies on patients' perspectives. These studies have demonstrated that the RSWG remission criteria appear achievable and sustainable for a significant proportion of patients, and are related to a better overall symptomatic status and functional outcome and, to a less clear extent, to a better quality of life and cognitive performance. However, achieving symptomatic remission is not automatically concurrent with an adequate status in other outcome dimensions. The results of the present review suggest that the RSWG remission criteria are valid and useful. As such, they should be consistently applied in clinical trials. However the lack of consensus definitions of functional remission and adequate quality of life hampers research on their predictive validity on these outcome dimensions. Future research should therefore search for criteria of these dimensions and test whether the RSWG remission criteria consistently predict a "good" outcome with respect to functioning and quality of life.

Plato and Frankfurt: Two Theories of the Relations Between Love and Living Well

This thesis provides a comparison of the ideas of caring and love as they appear in the works of Plato and Frankfurt. Frankfurt, a contemporary philosopher, maintains that an individual arrives at the most meaningful life through understanding what it is that heor she cares about the most. Interestingly, the instances of eros in Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus resonate with this idea. We see throughout these erotic dialogues similarities to Frankfurt's notions of care and love.Throughout his many works, Frankfurt provides us with several distinct features of care and love. This thesis offers an in depth discussion of each of these features andalso provides commentary from other contemporary philosophers who are familiar with Frankfurt's work. In addition, this thesis applies these features of care and love to Plato's erotic dialogues, and emphasizes areas in which Plato and Frankfurt agree and those inwhich they disagree. In essence, it becomes apparent that while there are many similarities between the ideas of these two prominent thinkers, Plato and Frankfurt do not agree about what constitutes the best human life. Plato maintains that the best life is onespent dedicated to philosophy and in pursuit of the 'good'. Frankfurt, on the other hand,imposes no such limitations on what we should consider the best life because people are likely to have different life experiences that lead them to care about and love different things. Instead he suggests that the best or most meaningful human life is one in which a person spends his or her life caring about the things he or she does, indeed, care aboutand loving those things he or she does, indeed, love.

Plato's Doctrine Of Forms: Modern Misunderstandings

Among the philosophical ideas of Plato, perhaps the most famous is his doctrine of forms. This doctrine has faced harsh criticism due, in large part, to the interpretations of this position by modern philosophers such as René Descartes, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant. For example, Plato has been interpreted as presenting a ¿two-worlds¿ approach to form and thing and as advancing a rationalist approach to epistemology. His forms have often been interpreted as ideas and as perfect copies of the things of the visible world. In this thesis, I argue that these, along with other interpretations of Plato presented by the moderns, are based on misunderstandings of Plato¿s overall philosophy. In so doing, I attempt to show that the doctrine of forms cannot be directly interpreted into the language of Cartesian, Lockean, and Kantian metaphysics and epistemology, and thus should not be prematurely dismissed because of these modern Platonic interpretations. By analyzing the Platonic dialogues beside the writings of the modern philosophers, I conclude that three of the most prominent modern philosophers, as representatives of their respective philosophical frameworks, have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of Plato¿s famous doctrine of forms. This could have significant implications for the future of metaphysics and epistemology by providing an interpretation of Plato which adds to, instead of contradicts, the developments of modern philosophy.

Synchronous Description of the Grammatical Structure of Modern Romani and Elaboration of Romani Textbook

The first outcome of this project was a synchronous description of the most widely spoken Romani dialect in the Czech and Slovak Republics, aimed at teachers and lecturers of the Romani language. This is intended to serve as a methodological guide for the demonstration of various grammatical phenomena, but may also assist people who want a basic knowledge of the linguistic structure of this neo-Indian language. The grammatical material is divided into 23 chapters, in a sequence which may be followed in teaching or studying. The book includes examples of the grammatical elements, but not exercises or articles. The second work produced was a textbook of Slovak Romani, which is the most detailed in the Czech or Slovak Republics to date. It is aimed at all those interested in active use of the Romani language: high school and university students, people working with the Roma, and Roma who speak little or nothing of the language of their forebears, The book includes 34 lessons, each containing relevant Romani tests (articles and dialogues), a short vocabulary list, grammatical explanations, exercises and examples of Romani written or oral expression. The textbook also contains a considerable amount of ethno-cultural information and notes on the life and traditions of the Roman, as well as pointing out some differences between different dialects. A brief Romani-Czech phrase book is included as an appendix.

Educating...for what?: Effective Practice

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 09/27/2011 event featuring John Makransky and Alan Lightman titled "Effective Priactice" Event Description: At Clark, we have chosen to focus on the concept of effective practice as we rethink our curriculum. What is the nature of practice? What makes something a practice? Does practice serve our intentions, or open unexpected pathways? What does it mean if we also ask it to be effective? And what forms of practice do the humanities cultivate? Our guests for a conversation about practice are John Makransky, Professor of Buddhism and comparative theology at Boston College and a teacher in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and Alan Lightman, physicist, writer and activist, and adjunct faculty member at MIT. They both have lives profoundly rooted in questions of practice.

Educating...for what?: Meaning and Purpose

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 10/5/2011 event featuring Diana Chapman Walsh and Arthur Zajonc titled "Meaning and Purpose" Event Description: As Kronman tells us, questions of meaning and purpose are often suspect in colleges and universities. If an understanding that to be educated relies on the integration of all of our higher faculties (mind, heart and spirit ) once existed, it was eclipsed long ago by a focus on the rational mind as the locus of reliable behavior. This reduced scope of teaching and learning within the academy has deprived both faculty and students of more substantive and meaningful experiences. How might we re-orient the academy to these deeper purposes—to the heart of higher education? Our guests for a conversation on questions of meaning and purpose are Diana Chapman Walsh, former President of Wellesley College, and Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College. In their work and their writing, they both inspire and ignite conversations around the issue of integrative education.

Educating...for what?: Livelihood and Vocation

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 10/18/2011 event featuring Lynn Pasquerella and David Angel titled "Livlihood and Vocation" Event Description: Some of the most vocal challenges to higher education imply that a liberal education does not have direct vocational application. What good is it? the critics ask. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg didn’t finish college. What is the responsibility of a college or university in ensuring that students have membership in an economy? And what actually best prepares them to do so? How do we define economy? Is the best preparation for a career the same or different than preparation for a discerning and meaningful life? In what ways do the humanities contribute to all these kinds of development? How can we better assist our students in joining their work with their ideals? Our guests for a conversation on livelihood are Lynn Pasquerella, President of Mount Holyoke College, and David Angel, President of Clark University.

Educating...for what?: Engagement and Citizenry

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 11/3/2011 event featuring Tom Hayden and Bob Ross "Engagement and Citizenry" Event Description: During their undergraduate years, students participate in a community that is a microcosm of society, and have the opportunity to learn about what it means to be a member of a society—a citizen—while they live it. How do we as educators (and humanists) best support and model this process? Where in our pedagogy can we enhance and develop the qualities of skillful empathy, effective analysis and motivated responsibility that good citizenship demands? Our guest for a conversation on engagement and citizenry is long-time activist Tom Hayden, who was the primary author of the Port Huron Statement of Students for a Democratic Society, which became known for its advocacy of “participatory democracy”. He is joined in conversation by Professor Bob Ross of Clark University, who participated with Hayden in the founding of SDS.

Educating...for what?: Creativity and Resilience

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 12/1/2011 event featuring Katja Esson, Li- Young Lee and Alison Granucci titled "Creativity and Resilience" Event Description: To be creative is one of life’s most engaging and satisfying experiences. Can we insure that students trust those capacities and processes in themselves, and develop reliable paths toward them? Can we encourage the cultivation of the imagination in our students, as well as the resilience to weather discouragement, whether in their creative search or other aspects of life? Our guests for a conversation on creativity and resilience are filmmaker Katja Esson, poet Li-Young Lee, and co-producer Alison Granucci. They are collaborators on the new film Poetry of Resilience.

Educating...for what?: Inquiry and Reflection

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 11/16/2011 event featuring Cynthia Enloe and Frederick Luis Aldama titled "Inquiry and Reflection" Event Description: Freedom of inquiry (and the possibilities for discovery, insight and expanding knowledge that can flow from it) is fundamental to the experience of learning. Yet rarely do we pause to ask about inquiry itself, and to consider its practices. How do we best encourage authentic inquiry, in ourselves and in our students? To what do we give our attention, and why? What promotes the possibility of new discoveries and insights? Our guests for a conversation on inquiry are Frederick Luis Aldama of Ohio State University, a prolific scholar of wide-ranging interests, and Cynthia Enloe, research professor at Clark University, whose work is characterized by her subtle and provocative curiosity, and the asking of good questions.