Toward Integrated and Inclusive Education for Sustainability with School–University Cooperation

Sustainable development has been a topic in the Finnish core curriculum for several years, but integrating this cross-cutting theme into a subject-based curriculum is perceived to be difficult. Hence, the city of Lappeenranta has developed its own educational model to support the development of pupils’ ecosocial attitudes and abilities. This study evaluates the implemented educational model by empirically examining the pupils’ perceptions of sustainability as well as studying differences between different groups of pupils. Analysis methods consisted of a combination of factor analysis, linear regression, and statistical tests for group differences. Young people were discovered to hold three different kinds of orientations to environmental issues and ecological sustainability. These were coupled with different perceptions of science, technology, and business in a way that indicates three different types of perceptions of a more holistic conception of sustainability. The significant differences in the sustainability-related perceptions between girls and boys as well as between pupils with different educational aspirations suggest that in the future, special attention needs to be paid to develop the educational model for better equity and inclusivity.

Metaphysics

A discussion of the inevitability of metaphysics centered on the question, how are the appearances related to reality? The universe as we encounter it in our everyday and scientific pursuits, what Wilfrid Sellars called the ‘manifest image’, presents itself as strikingly at odds with the ‘scientific image’, the universe as revealed by physics. Every reflective agent must eventually confront the problem of how the manifest and scientific images are related, how the appearances stand to reality. Three responses to the problem are discussed, and a fourth is introduced. A holistic conception of metaphysics—a ‘package deal’—is endorsed, two competing worldviews, ‘Aristotelianism’ and ‘Humeanism’ are set out, followed by brief chapter-by-chapter summaries of the book’s contents.

Structural Semantics in the Romance Languages

Structural semantics is a primarily European structural linguistic approach to the content level of language which basically derives from two historical sources. The main inspiration stems from Ferdinand de Saussure’s Cours de linguistique générale (1916), where the Genevan linguist also formulates the fundamental principles of semantic analysis: the twofold character of the linguistic sign, the inner determination of its content by the—allegedly autonomous—linguistic system, the consequent exclusion of the extralinguistic reality, the notion of opposition inside the system, and the concept of “associative relations” in the domain of semantics. This tradition was later refined by Hjelmslev and Coseriu, who introduced theoretical and methodological strength and rigor, suggesting systematic analyses in terms of semantic features linked by (binary) opposition. The second source of inspiration was the more holistic concept elaborated by Wilhelm von Humboldt, who saw language as a means of structuring the world. In the second half of the 20th century, structural semantics was mainstream semantics (to the extent that semantic analysis was accepted at all). A long series of authors deepened these historical traditions in theoretical and empirical studies, some of them suggesting secondary and/or partial models. Finally, prototype semantics and cognitive semantics strove to downgrade structural semantics by turning back to a more holistic conception of meaning including the speakers’ knowledge of the world, although not without introducing the alternative structural notion of “network.”

Empathy in patient care: from ‘Clinical Empathy’ to ‘Empathic Concern’

As empathy gains importance within academia, we propose this review as an attempt to bring clarity upon the diverse and widely debated definitions and conceptions of empathy within the medical field. In this paper, we first evaluate the limits of the Western mainstream medical culture and discuss the origins of phenomena such as dehumanization and detached concern as well as their impacts on patient care. We then pass on to a structured overview of the debate surrounding the notion of clinical empathy and its taxonomy in the medical setting. In particular, we present the dichotomous conception of clinical empathy that is articulated in the debate around cognitive empathy and affective empathy. We thus consider the negative impacts that this categorization brings about. Finally, we advocate for a more encompassing, holistic conception of clinical empathy; one that gives value to a genuine interest in welcoming, acknowledging and responding to the emotions of those suffering. Following this line of reasoning, we advance the notion of ‘empathic concern’, a re-conceptualization of clinical empathy that finds its source in Halpern in Med Health Care Philos (2014) 17:301–311 engaged curiosity. We ultimately advance Narrative Medicine as an approach to introduce, teach and promote such an attitude among medical trainees and practitioners.

Cultural and Creative Cities and Regional Economic Efficiency: Context Conditions as Catalyzers of Cultural Vibrancy and Creative Economy

Following the hype that has been given to culture and creativity as triggers and enhancers of local economic performance in the last 20 years, this work originally contributes to the literature with the objective of assessing the impact of cultural and creative cities (CCCs) on the economic output of their regions. In this sense, the cultural and creative character of cities is considered a strategic strength and opportunity that can spillover, favoring the economic system of the entire regions in which the cities are located. Through an innovative methodology that exploits a regional production function estimated by a panel fixed effects model, the effect of cities’ cultural vibrancy and creative economy on the output of their regions is econometrically explored. The data source is the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (CCCM) provided by the JRC, which also allows the investigation of the possible role played by the enabling environment in catalyzing the action of cultural vibrancy and creative economy. The results are thoroughly examined: especially through cultural vibrancy, CCCs strategically support the output of their region. This is particularly the case when local context conditions—such as human capital and education, openness, tolerance and trust, and quality of governance—catalyze their effect. Overall, CCCs contribute to feeding a long-term self-supporting system, interpreted according to a holistic conception that includes economic, social, cultural, and environmental domains.

Empire In-the-Round: The Tiered Stages of Naqsh-i Jahan Square in Isfahan

Naqsh-i Jahan Square lies at the heart of the Safavid Empire's capital city of Isfahan, and it is a remarkable unified artistic statement that renders legible Shah 'Abbas' imperial ideology in the urban landscape. It is also a complex made up of many different buildings with theater iconography: the caravanserai, coffeehouse, maydan, and palace. Though there is much existing scholarship analyzing these buildings separately, this paper proposes a new holistic conception of these stage spaces as linked and hierarchal. The stages embody the Shah's goal of centralization by facilitating ease of movement to promote urban consolidation and they invite the Safavid subject to become an actor in the imperial project through their in-the-round design, while containing dissent through the visual supremacy and exclusivity of the palace stage. Taken as a whole, the square's translated name, 'Image of the World' holds true, and this paper demonstrates how Shah 'Abbas' tiered theater spaces cast Naqsh-i Jahan Square as both a microcosm and a macrocosm of the Safavid Empire.

The Montessori's pedagogy in holistic terms

There are already a lot of publications on Montessori’s pedagogy, both abroad and in Poland. The authors of those scientific articles and monographs usually focused on one or more selected issues and discussed them or developed in context of their own research. The great number of those publications isn’t something negative, because it enables getting to know this pedagogical conception in depth. However this great number of studies and the variety of raised issues cause that the constitutive elements of this pedagogy blur in details of this numerous publications and also cause that the originality of this pedagogy becomes difficult to catch. This situation was the reason for attempting to define this pedagogy, that is, to define its constitutive components, to subject them to analyses and then to combine them into a holistic conception of pedagogy called Montessori’s pedagogy.

أثر الإحالة في تماسك النص

يعد التماسك النصي من أهم المفاهيم التي أفرزها الحقل اللساني، وهو يتجاوز حدود الربط بين أجزاء الجملة المفردة إلى تصور كلي للنص، يشتغل على بنياته اللغوية الصغرى التي تكشف عن علاقات النص المتداخلة، وصولًا إلى الانسجام بين حقوله المختلفة: معجمية، وتركيبية، ودلالية. ولا يتم هذا الاتساق والانسجام إلا من خلال مجموعة من العلائق اللفظية، وتعد الإحالة إحدى هذه العلائق التي تتحقق على المستوى السطحي للنص: رأسيًا وأفقيًا؛ ولذلك كانت هذ المقاربة (أثر الإحالة في تماسك النص-مقاربة لسانية نصية في قصيدة عمر أبو ريشة (بنات شاعر). وقد قدمت الدراسة مفهوم الإحالة وأنواعها وآلياتها، ثم طبقت هذه الآليات على النص المختار. وانتهت الدراسة إلى تميز نص (بنات شاعر) بحشد كبير لأدوات الإحالة، مما كان له أكبر الأثر في تحقيق تماسكه النصي، وظهر بجلاء قدرة أبي ريشة على تسخير الإحالة بمختلف أنواعها بفنية عالية، فكان لها وظيفتها الجمالية على مستوى الشكل، وظيفتها المعنوية على مستوى الدلالة. أما منهج البحث فهو المنهج اللساني النصي الذي يعدِّ النص مرجعًا مكتفيًا بذاته في إنتاج الدلالة، والانتقال من سلطة الخارج إلى سلطة الداخل، أي إلى سلطة البنية النصية، كما استعان البحث بالمنهج الإحصائي لإحصاء آليات الإحالة، وإبراز أكثرها تأثيرًا. الكلمات المفتاحية: بنات شاعر-التماسك النصي –الإحالة-النص-الترابط. Summary Textual cohesion is one of the most important concepts produced by the linguistic field. It transcends the boundaries of connecting between the individual parts of a sentence to a holistic conception of the text, which concentrates on its minor linguistic structures that reveal overlapping text relationships towards the harmony of its various fields: lexical, syntactic, and semantic. This consistency and harmony can only be achieved through a set of verbal relations. Reference is one of these relations that is achieved in the text superficially: vertically and horizontally. Therefore, this approach (the impact of reference in the cohesion of the text - a linguistic textual approach to the poem of Omar Abu Risha (bnat shaer). The study introduced the concept of reference, its types and mechanisms, and then it applied these mechanisms to the selected text. The study concluded that the text (bnat shaer) was distinguished by a large number of reference tools, which had the greatest impact in achieving its textual cohesion, and it clearly demonstrated Abu Risha`s ability to harness the various types of reference with high skill. Thus, it had its aesthetic function at the level of form, and its moral function at the level of significance. As for the research methodology, it is the linguistic textual approach, which considers the text as a self-sufficient reference in the production of indications and transiting from the outer authority to the interior. That is to transit to the authority of the textual structure. The research also used the statistical method to count the mechanisms of reference and highlighting the most influential ones. Keywords: bnat shaer - Textual cohesion - reference - text -coherence.

Francisc Iosif Rainer. Biography of a lifetime project (1874-1944). Oscar Print Press, Bucharest, 2017. Adrian Majuru

The book, written by Adrian Majuru, is devoted to the life and work of Francisc Iosif Rainer (1874-1944), a professor of anatomy in Interwar Bucharest and Jassy who initiated a modern school of anthropology in Romania. Rainer would impose an holistic conception of anthropology, underlying the 'close relationship between biology, social environment and culture'. Francisc Rainer contributed to the establishment of the Institute of Physical Education and organized the teaching of artistic anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest.