Our Lady of Guadalupe : contemporary explorations of personal and cultural identity

Since it first appeared, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has remained relatively unchanged. In the last thirty-five years, however, this has been changing. Artists are creating new variations of the icon to represent and express their reinterpretations. In some of these more contemporary images, the figure of Guadalupe has changed dramatically, but still retains enough traditional elements to be easily recognizable. Some of these images have been received with mixed results and have even sparked major controversy. These new, and sometimes controversial depictions of Guadalupe, specifically those created by Ester Hernández, Yolanda M. López and Alma López, will be explored here. Although each artist has her own individual motivations and intentions, all of the images presented here explore personal and cultural identity, as well as seek in some way to honor ordinary, human women through the sacred iconography of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Role of Education and Government in Shaping Muslim Women's Rights: Three Contemporary Case Studies

The rise in Muslim terrorist activities has encouraged the West to reevaluate its understanding of Islam, prompting concern for Muslim women's rights. In search of education-based solutions, this project explores three case studies of Muslims living under different government types: a secular state with a primarily Muslim population (Turkey); a secular state with a significant Muslim minority population (France); and a Muslim state with a powerful religious influence (Afghanistan). The type of government plays a significant role in Muslim women's rights, and solutions must be based on individual aspects of each unique place where Muslims live today. The results show that education is a universal solution when accepted at all levels: governmental, communal, and the individual.

Food, nutrition and public health in contemporary Spain, 1900-1936

Within the context of the health reforms introduced in Spain in the early 20th century and the influence of international health organisations on their development, this article analyses the growing interest that surrounded nourishment and food-related problems at that time in relation to healthcare, the diagnosis provided by hygienists of such problems, and the public health measures applied to resolve them. The issue of hygienic diet and the collective aspect of nutritional problems became priorities in the field of healthcare. Two of the most prominent initiatives involved setting up a Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene and Bromatological Technique during the early years of the Second Republic, as part of the National School of Health, as well as a Food Hygiene Service. Spanish hygienists underlined the importance of education and the dissemination of information about food hygiene, health and nutrition, in order to overcome the qualitative and quantitative deficiencies observed in the average diet of the Spanish population.

Overexploitation, malnutrition and stigma in a woman's illness: chlorosis in contemporary Spanish medicine (1877-1936)

The work was financed by the Project: 'Antecedentes históricos de la nutrición comunitaria en España: los primeros intentos de institucionalización, 1923-1947' (HUM2005-04961-C03-01).

‘La familia ya no es lo que era’: intercultural lesbian relationships in contemporary Spanish cinema

Este artículo considera el papel variable de las mujeres con respecto a la institución del matrimonio y al entorno familiar a través de la representación cinematográfica de relaciones interculturales y de lesbianas. Sostiene que ese tipo de relación constituye un ejemplo de la visibilidad emergente de formas familiares alternativas al modelo heteronormativo. Tomando en cuenta las dimensiones lingüísticas, temporales, y espaciales de estas relaciones, analiza tres películas: Costa Brava: Family Album, A mi madre le gustan las mujeres y Room in Rome. En resumen, el artículo cuestiona la posición del deseo intercultural lésbico dentro de las representaciones cinematográficas de la familia contemporánea en España.

Japanese virtual communication survey : a brief analysis of contemporary graphic designers from Japan

To research graphic design in a globalized context it is primordial to consider cultural, social, historical and even anthropological studies to fully understand the aesthetics’ choices made by the designer’s. Being the “Japanese graphic design” a topic still to be better understand in the West, it is mandatory to gather information from primary sources. These data will be analyzed with support of secondary sources of information about Japanese visual communication, social and cultural studies. This paper presents comments about the result of a survey applied to 105 Japanese graphic designers. The survey was designed with 44 questions. The original survey, to better follow this report can be found in www.studiohobo.com/CONVERGENCIAS/Flavio_Hobo_Survey.pdf

"And he was beautiful" : contemporary Athapaskan material culture in the collections of Field Museum of Natural History / William E. Simeone, James W. VanStone.

n.s. no.10(1986)

The Presence of the Past: Perceptions of Authoritarianism and Democratic Transition in Contemporary Portugal. [Special Issue]

Revista / Org.

World War A: contemporary anarchists and extreme left perpetrators

While there are currently very few lone actor terrorists among modern anarchists and within the contemporary extreme left, the present lack of extreme left wing lone actor terrorists does not signify a lack of interest in violent solutions within this particular milieu. As the author will show, twenty-flrst century anarchism has considerable potential for lone actor terrorism. It would be imprudent to conclude that this once important ideological source of lone actor terrorism will not reappear again.

A summary of the politico-economic changes taking place during Vladimir Putin's first term in office; Chechnya and Russia: The significance of the Chechen problem for contemporary Russia. OSW Study 11/2003

Putin's first term in office: The most significant achievement of Vladimir Putin's team over the three years of his term of office is the realisation of legislative changes, which may constitute a base for further - more detailed - political and economic reforms. This is, to a certain degree, a return to the economic tasks set out by a team of reformists in the early 1990s, which were impossible to realise at the time due to conflicts between the Kremlin and legislative powers. Chechnya and Russia: The purpose of this analysis is to examine the significance of the Chechen issue for contemporary Russia. Part I discusses the history of the conflict from 1991 to date and the impact of developments in the republic on Russia as a whole. Part II is an attempt to indicate the areas of Russian reality that are most deeply affected by the Chechen problem.

The Catholic Question in Contemporary Portuguese Civil Society: A Case of Muted Vibrancy? CES Papers - Open Forum #14, 2012

The ‘Catholic question’ in contemporary Portugal obliges us to consider whether Catholicism will remain a force in Portuguese associational life in the next century, or whether it faces a future of slow and steady decline. On the one hand, an overall statistical drop of church membership, and the lack of religious practice by almost half of self-identified Roman Catholics, suggests that the future of the Catholic Church in Portugal will probably be very different than the past. On the other hand, the church’s support for democratic processes, the important social services it provides, and its educational establishment, have certainly been a positive factor in Portuguese associational life, and helped the larger process of democratic-regime consolidation since the Carnation Revolution of 1974. This paper suggests that social scientists need to move beyond the lens normally applied to the question of Catholicism in contemporary Europe (i.e. it is a dying, anti-modern, anti-rational, conservative institution), and instead consider the complex interplay of its demographic challenges combined with the popular sources of its theological and spiritual strength, as well as its vital societal contributions, to assess whether or not it will remain a force in Portuguese associational life in the future.