Culture of fear and terrorism in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy

Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam trilogy depicts a civilization devastated by a lethal virus developed in a laboratory. The portrayal of isolated and marginalized individuals who perpetrate the construction of the virus, as well as the state of crisis and fear immanent to the apocalyptic narrative, lead to the analysis of the trilogy in reference to the social conditions following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The New historical conception of literature as an equal participant of the process of circulation of the historical and cultural practices provides grounds for the interpretation of the novels within the field of a public imaginary which stems from the equalization of the terrorist threat with undefeatable contagious diseases. However, the trilogy's cooperation with the system it attempts to uncover will hinder its subversive property and a critical distance. Despite its employment of parody in order to unveil the system, the trilogy (re)enforces the space where fear and apocalyptic thought dwell, therefore obstructing its separation and corroborating the culture of fear and terror it originated from.

Psychological implications of Fuko's panopticon in today society

The author of the paper explains Foucault's basic ideas related to the use of panopticon in public institutions and society, with the aim to control and impose identity, in order to accomplish the interests of centres of power. The aim of this paper is to explain the ways in which panopticon operate in today's society, through procedures of supervision and punishment. The author tries to apply Foucault's initial ideas to today's reality and explain the way in which the panopticon functions by forcing certain points of view in science which validity has not been empirically confirmed, forming a consumer society through imposed identities. The application of panopticon is based on the fear of people that they will be excluded from society and lose their positions, if they do not follow the roles imposed on them. They very easily give up their own identity for the sake of existential security and social status. The task of those scientists, psychologists and psychiatrists who have decided not to serve the interests of the centres of power is to be as clear and effective as possible, pointing out all the factors that lead to the formation of an unhealthy consumer society, as well as the mechanisms of their action.

Musical discourse in the theory of musical semiotics

Music is an abstract language that is constantly evolving, and in this connection, one of the possible approaches to the interpretation of music as a discourse concerns the issues of the relatedness of music and speech, that is, the language of music and language of speech. In this way, the relationship between musical discourse and the musical thought of the composer and speech as a product arising from the opinions of the speaker is established. In this paper, through the examination of discourses on music as a product of human activity, which are recognized in different cultures in different ways, one considers the way in which individual works, the phenomenon of music and the forms of human behaviour caused by music can be interpreted. The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of a generative approach to the understanding of tonality through a critical consideration of the semiological approach for understanding the language of music, and to provide an insight into the similarities between music and language.

The Mill on the Floss: The critique of the concept of education in Victorian Great Britain

George Eliot was not only a significant Victorian writer, but primarily an intellectual. She thought that literature had an important role in the reform of society, the moral and educational function. Eliot interwove her views on the direction in which the society should move in her works, so that the analysis of her opus cannot be separated from the social circumstances in Victorian Great Britain. The aim of this work is to imply at the fact that by means of The Mill on the Floss George Eliot indirectly criticized the official concept of education of the Victorian era. The starting point of our research is an overview of the state of society, followed up by George Eliot's attitudes towards the question of education, which can be found in her essays and letters. The Mill on the Floss is a picturesque illustration of George Eliot's beliefs that education should be reformed, as well as of the need of a different approach to this extremely important question. The implication of this novel is that education needs to be appropriate to the requisites and competences of the student, but also that education mustn't be reduced to a commodity, so that we should raise the awareness that education has a much more important and wider role than mere acquisition of a degree and means that will faciliate easier employment.

The influence of project teaching on creativity and achievements of students in studying social contents within the subject Nature and Society

Creativity represents the point in which all contradictions of contemporary social development are summed up, refracted and reflected. Therefore, the question arises: "Is school a place that does (not) encourage creativity?" Creativity, as a psychological, social and pedagogical phenomenon, has a markedly positive impact on the overall development of a child or, in case of school, a student. The project teaching method calls for the school to be open and to be more closely connected with its environment, in order to enhance the students' independence and creativity, self-initiative, responsibility, cooperativeness, ability to apply information and communication technologies as well as digital teaching tools as sources of knowledge. This article presents the project method as an element of stimulating students' creativity in teaching the subject Nature and Society, planned for the third grade of elementary school. By reviewing the relevant literature as well as by experimental research on a convenience sample of students, we have identified acceptable options and some effects of applying this method. At the same time, we have also raised a number of issues that should be addressed later in order to further stimulate the development of creativity through teaching.

Family circumstances and relationships as a factor of children crime behavior

Statistics show that crime rates are rising globally. Not a single period of the development of human society was spared from the pathological phenomena and deviant behavior, nor even the modern era, where an explosion of various forms of deviant behavior can actually be noticed. What are the conditions and causes that have led to such global trends? In this paper, family circumstances and relationships will be analyzed as a crime factor. We will see what the universal and unchanged characteristics of the family are, how it affects the socialization, cultivation and individualization of children. In one systematic way, we will try to respond to the universal issues of family influence on its members. What are the interactive relationships between family members? How the functional and dysfunctional families affect their members? If and how can a family create a favorable climate for deviant behavior and how to avoid the multiplication of pathological phenomena in dysfunctional families? How youth and juvenile delinquency can be connected? All these are questions that we will try to give an answer to, although this answer is unlikely to be one-dimensional, since the family is a complex social group, with a complex mechanism of action.

Contribution to art history: Ornament and its regulations

The ornament is a part of every visual culture in the world. Its history goes back to early ages of human race. It is one of the most important fine art categories. The ornament was less important fine art category for a long time. The subject of this paper are various types of ornament altogether with personal experience in creating ornaments. The main aim was to reveal basis of ornament, its features and also to put in focus the importance of our attention in art process. Ornament has four categories determined by its appereance. Its complex forms, mathematical approach and lots of details are features I found similar in my art practice (paintings or drawings with various themes). The conclusions derived from comparison of this two various types of ornaments are contribution to examinations of its history through the eye of the artist.

Negative effects of digital media on the psychophysical development of preschool-aged children

The main goal of this research was to determine how familiar preschool-aged children are with certain digital media (internet, social media, mobile phones and computers), how much they use them, what they think about the negative effects of their influences and how much protection from these negative effects their parents and preschool teachers offer. The main method was non-experimental - a survey research on a sample, and the research sample consisted of 110 preschool-aged children. The sample was purposeful and convenient, which suited the exploratory nature of this research. The instrument used is a modified and shortened version of the questionnaire constructed for a broader research project. The results obtained show that the majority of preschool-aged children know what digital media are, that they use them and that they have not had negative experiences when facing them, as well as that they sometimes talk to their parents and kindergarten teachers about the dangers and risks of using digital media. Parents do control the using of digital media, but they more often decide to ban them than to talk to their children about their negative effects, even though it is indicative that prevention, in terms of educating the children, i.e. talking to them and properly informing them on the negative influences of digital media is a better option than strict control and banning their use.

Physiotherapy in contemporary higher vocational education

In the last fifty years there has been a dramatic development and changes in all segments of the biomedical sciences which contributed to the development of expertise in the field of physiotherapy. While the aim of the first higher education cycle is training for basic skills required for independent practice, second education cycle should provide training in planning processes, projects, decision making, development of leadership skills, with the assessment process, as well as special physiotherapy knowledge and skills in selected areas and technologies. The formation and organization of joint master study programs related to the physiotherapy can be very interesting organizational model. This can be achieved by a greater degree of flexibility and adaptability of programs that stimulates the horizontal mobility of students within the European higher education area. The development of the physiotherapy profession was marked by a significant increase in the volume of knowledge and skills, so the World Confederation for Physical Therapy and its European region, developed a strategy according to which are necessary all three cycles of higher education.