Dinamiche della bellezza: sguardo e narrazione nel ritratto

Through the commentary on portraits (Lotto, Giorgione, Vermeer, L. Freud, Rembrandt, Tiziano, Bacon…), my contribution will develop two topics. In fact, the portrait calls to reflect both on the reversible dynamics of the gaze (between painter, subject and spectator, between presence and absence) and on the time of the individual as an experience and as a transformative process that tells a story.

Thanks for the Memories: The Athenian Agora as a Lieu de Mémoire

<p>The relationship between memory and place can often be expressed through association. When one thinks of the birthplace of democracy, it does not tax the imagination for Athens and the Athenian Agora to spring to mind. The fact that the connection between the agora and democracy is so embedded in the collective consciousness even today is no coincidence. Rather, it is evidence of a naturally occurring space at the foot of the Athenian Akropolis undergoing several millennia of transformative experiences, shaping and being shaped by the identities of its inhabitants, in order to become the place now recognised as the Athenian Agora: the heart of Athens, the birthplace of democracy, and truly, a lieu de mémoire. A transformative process, which I argue, began at the end of 6th century Athens with the collapse of the Peisistratid tyranny and was only strengthened by the advent of oligarchy in the final decade of the 5th century.</p>

Thanks for the Memories: The Athenian Agora as a Lieu de Mémoire

<p>The relationship between memory and place can often be expressed through association. When one thinks of the birthplace of democracy, it does not tax the imagination for Athens and the Athenian Agora to spring to mind. The fact that the connection between the agora and democracy is so embedded in the collective consciousness even today is no coincidence. Rather, it is evidence of a naturally occurring space at the foot of the Athenian Akropolis undergoing several millennia of transformative experiences, shaping and being shaped by the identities of its inhabitants, in order to become the place now recognised as the Athenian Agora: the heart of Athens, the birthplace of democracy, and truly, a lieu de mémoire. A transformative process, which I argue, began at the end of 6th century Athens with the collapse of the Peisistratid tyranny and was only strengthened by the advent of oligarchy in the final decade of the 5th century.</p>

Computer Games as Social Sculptures

By drawing on Joseph Beuys's notion of "social sculpture" and bringing together the discussions on participation from participatory art, participatory design, and game design, this paper seeks to expand the notion of participation in digital play. The expansive definition of participation allows us to better grasp computer games as a critical platform for dialogue and action, and computer gameplay as a transformative process of sculpting social fabric. By analyzing existing games in light of the concept of social sculpture, this paper explores how Beuys's central tenet-the discourse of participation-can "politicize" the practice of digital gaming and game design. Furthermore, the paper proposes a participation-centered game design approach that is politically responsible and engaging, attempting to arrive at new knowledge that will help to make games that can function as a platform for participation and social commentary.

Respawn, Reload, Relate

Games have the potential to not only entertain and immerse people, but can be used as vehicles for meaning-making. Given these qualities, games are approached as inspiration for caring technologies, especially for mental health. This transformative process often prioritises learning from games as systems, but not necessarily from the experiences of people with mental distress who play games for self-care. In this paper, we report on a participatory workshop series that sets out to further illuminate the connection between games, self-care and mental health from a humanistic, person-centred perspective. Over four workshops, we engaged 16 people with experiences of mental distress in speculative making activities and discussions of how self-care technology inspired by games could be re-envisioned. By thematically analysing our discussions and collective sense-making, we showcase how participants actively "re-frame" games for self-care. Finally, we sketch out how game developers and makers of gameful self-care technologies could build on our findings.

“Not the Paradise We Imagined”: The Discursive Politics of the “True Self” in Queer Middle Eastern Refugee Migrations

The use of “true self” in western media coverage of queer Middle Eastern refugees is a contradictory, unattainable identity for queer Middle Eastern refugees. This “true self” suggests that queer Middle Eastern refugees are only able to live out their essential queer selves after receiving asylum and moving to the west. This narrative of true selfhood ignores the rupturing, transformative process of refugeehood, as well as the geographical-historical conceptions of identity, and relational, place-based making of self in which refugees become refugees. True selfhood, disguised as western freedom, serves as merely another normative script in which queers in the west must present their identities as legitimate to a heteronormative, cisnormative society that does not conceptualize of other formations of self. Here, the contradiction between true selfhood and queer Middle Eastern refugeehood becomes a site where the logic of political asylum regimes breaks down, and where other understandings of queer Middle Eastern refugee selfhood may start to emerge.

Knowledge production and learning effects using the example of living labs in Halle (Saale) and Mannheim

Rising average temperatures and the increased occurrence of heat islands increase the vulnerability of urban society in Halle (Saale) and Mannheim as well. Dealing with the associated challenges requires not only locally adapted strategies, but in particular an interdepartmental approach and the participatory involvement of those affected. Real laboratories in both cities open up the possibility of testing this in a transformative process. The aim here is, among other things, to learn with and from each other and to generate new knowledge to address the urgent issues. This article discusses the opportunities and challenges that real laboratories are confronted with in terms of knowledge already in the discovery phase and what needs to be taken into account to support this process in the best possible way.

Oscillatory Components of Psychedelic Experience

As humanity has been utilizing psychedelic substances for millennia, much knowledge has already been accumulated about the exploratory potential and therapeutic power of the psychedelic-induced nonordinary states of consciousness (NSC). However, we still have only a limited understanding of the process that unfolds in mind and the brain. Only recently have systematic investigations become possible, as the myths about psychedelics are abating and the legal strictures gradually loosening. With the availability of brain imaging techniques, exciting findings have been made about the associated dynamic brain processes. Our prospective observations of spontaneously generated NSC, major mood disorders, have been elucidating another dynamic aspect, the oscillatory brain processes. The findings indicate that the NSC’s propensity is markedly increased at the peaks of the oscillatory brain activity and that the NSC entirely unfolds when the oscillations exceed their normal range. The observation that neurobiological correlates of experientially opposite NSC, melancholy and mania, appear qualitatively the same is compatible with the concept that the experiential content is emerging from nonlocal consciousness. Psychedelic experiences are triggered by the administration of the psychedelic drug. However, they are influenced by nondrug factors and molded, in particular, by the individual’s mental set and the setting of the session. The transformative process can be utilized psychotherapeutically for healing and profound inner restructuring.

Feeling global belonging: Sensorial experiences in global education

Global citizenship education (GCE) seeks to develop critical thinking and self-reflexivity and, crucially, to create feelings of belonging to a common humanity. Although the subjectivity of belonging has been widely recognized, gaps remain around the micro-level experiences and practices that foster global identities. This article addresses these questions through the analysis of the individual’s lived experience on an international GCE programme. It will be argued that global belonging is a transformative process of self-identity, shaped primarily through shared sensorial experience where the unfamiliar becomes familiar. The senses here help to create new personal and shared norms building trust, bonds and belonging between individuals from different backgrounds. Thus, in order to understand the journey towards feelings of global belonging, we must look to the senses as key sites of transformation.

See me, hear me, talk to me, exploring the transformative potential of participatory video with street involved youth

Very few interdisciplinary participatory video research projects have critically assessed how an individual first engages and then continues Freire's "conscientization" or the transformative process toward civic agency, and the role participatory video plays in this process. See Me. Hear Me. Talk To Me. is a participatory video research project that aimed to break new ground in professional participatory video practice by focusing on the individual transformative processes of a small group of at-risk, street involved youth engaged in a participatory action research (PAR) video project. This participatory video research project aimed to gain a small, but specific insight into the transformative processes of at-risk, street involved youth by exploring their experiences and personal perspectives before, during and after the project. In doing so, it intended to add to the current, but very limited research in participatory video projects with street involved youth in order to encourage further interdisciplinary study, as well as the development of some preliminary reference tools to help governments, non-profits and other interested organizations critically engage street involved youth today. -- Page 8