1,665 research outputs found
Early Christian Widows: A Study in Their Social-economic Situation, Support, and Contribution to the Church
This research focuses on the subject of early Christian widows mainly in the first two centuries (up to Tertullian) and seeks to explore the questions regarding their social-economic situation, means of support, and their contributions (if any) to the church. Through literary analyses of three different genres of early Christian texts â narrative, instruction, and apologetic texts â which exhibit similar patterns concerning the above questions, some tentative historical conclusions can be drawn, especially in light of the situation of widows in the Roman world and ancient Judaism (which provided a historical and cultural background to Christianity). In terms of the social-economic situation of early Christian widows, this study suggests that the majority of them were poor and vulnerable economically, socially and legally, although there were also well-to-do widows. As for their support, there were mainly three means of support for them â family support from children or other relatives; individual support from friends, benefactors, or patrons; and collective support from the church. The collective support additionally indicates the existence of centralised church funds through pooling of resources from the whole Christian community. Despite their poverty and vulnerability, widows in the early church should not be stereotyped as merely passive recipients of support. They played an active role in church ministry and contributed to the Christian community in various ways, such as prayer and intercession, hospitality, charity, patronage, nursing children (i.e., orphans), looking after the sick, and visiting the imprisoned. In addition, their purity and celibacy represented the peak of Christian commitment, as indicated by peopleâs reference to them as the âaltarâ of God. And the establishment of the âorderâ of widows further highlights their particular status in the early church
Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law
This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (âAIâ) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics â and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the CatĂłlica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The Mogadishu Effect: America\u27s Failure-Driven Foreign Policy
The October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, commonly referred to as âBlack Hawk Down,â transformed American foreign policy in its wake. One of the largest special operations missions in recent history, the failures in Somalia left not only the United States government and military in shock, but also the American people. After the nationâs most elite fighting forces suffered a nearly 50 percent casualty rate at the hands of Somali warlords during what many Americans thought was a humanitarian operation, Congress and the American people erupted in anger. Although the United States has continued to be seen as an overbearing global peacekeeping force in the thirty years since Somalia, the Battle of Mogadishu served as the turning point for a generational foreign policy shift that significantly limited future global intervention because of the overt publicization of battleâs aftermath in the media, domestic and international reactions, and a fear of repeating the same mistakes elsewhere. The first major American loss of life after the Cold War, the battle and the reaction that followed, known as the âMogadishu effect,â forced President Clinton to rethink the United Statesâ role internationally. Clinton and his administration struggled to convince the American people that involvement overseas, especially global peacekeeping, was vital to international order after becoming the worldâs sole superpower. Congressional hearings, presidential correspondence, government documents, poll results, and numerous media releases across Clintonâs presidency mark the distinct shift in American foreign policy that took place after Mogadishu. Although he inherited involvement in the United Nations mission in Somalia from George H.W. Bush, the failures in Somalia transformed Clintonâs humanitarian involvement in Haiti, Bosnia, and Rwanda, tarnishing the remainder of his presidency and shifting expectations of significant American involvement in international peacekeeping after the Cold War
Kempsey, New South Wales : How social and political divisions in Kempseyâs early history impacted the townâs economic and environmental development to 1865, and its ongoing susceptibility to disaster
This study addresses the question: how did social and political divisions influence the
economic and environmental development of Kempsey during the colonial period up
to 1865? Primary documents including personal letters, journals, memoirs, political
and governmental papers, along with a range of colonial newspapers have been
studied and interpreted to form a social historical solution to the question. Due to the
range of sources available for this investigation, a variation of methodologies has been
employed, with particular emphasis on an empirical qualitative analysis. In addition to
considering existing non-scholarly thematic histories of the Macleay Valley, this
thesis draws existing scholarly investigations together and builds upon them, looking
into the interdependence between society and environment, politics and geographical
developments, culture and social movements to piece together the story of Kempsey
and uncover the key events which have led to long lasting impacts on the town. No
other scholarly study of this kind has been undertaken to bring the entire complex and
multifaceted story of Kempseyâs early years into one scholarly investigation.
Implications for this study highlight the important factor that powerful social and
political divisions in a community have when important decisions about town
planning, environmental protection, and issues of social justice need to be addressed.
These divisions can lead to catastrophic outcomes that could impact generations to
follow, as shown in the tumultuous history of Kempsey, New South Wales
Caribbean cultural heritage and the nation:Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao in a regional context
Centuries of intense migrations have deeply impacted expressions of cultural heritage on the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. This volume queries how cultural heritage on these Dutch Caribbean islands relates to the work of nation building and nation-branding. How does the imagining of a shared political âweâ relates to images deliberately produced to market these islands to a world of capital? The contributing authors in this volume address this leading question in their essays that describe and analyze the expressions of the ABC islands. In doing so they compare and contrast nation building and branding on the ABC islands to those taking place in the wider Caribbean. The expressions of cultural heritage discussed range from the importance of sports, music, literature and visual arts to those related to the political economy of tourism, the work of museums, the activism surrounding the question of reparations, and the politics and policies affecting the Caribbean Diasporas in the North Atlantic. This volume adds to the understanding of the dynamics of nation, culture and economy in the Caribbean
Exploring the Influence of School Location on School Resource Officersâ Perceptions of Their Roles and Priorities
Despite the widespread presence of school resource officers (SROs) in public schools for decades, their proper roles and priorities have remained unsettled because those roles are often varied, complex, conflicting, and ambiguous. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how SROs perceive their roles and priorities and whether school location influences those perceptions. Qualitative research methods provided opportunities for one-to-one interviews with SROs and their supervisors. Two elements embedded in the design consisted of a descriptive questionnaire provided to the SROs before their interviews, and a qualitative interview question designed to elicit a percentage estimate response from SROs. Eleven SROs and two supervisors from two law enforcement agencies were interviewed. All participants served the same school district in one county in Virginia and operated under one Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the school district. The SROs agreed that location made a difference in their roles and provided anecdotal information to corroborate that statement. The school designations of rural and suburban did not adequately define or describe the student population. Most of the rural schools draw students from rural locations and nearby suburban communities. Some differences in role perceptions were noted between the rural and suburban SROs but urbanicity was not attributed as a major influence of those differences. Location stability, defined as being assigned to the same school and the same administrator for five or more years, was believed to have some influence on expanded roles. The trust partnership between the SRO and the school administrator may result in expanded roles by the SRO and open opportunities for developing trust relationships with the students. The SROs believed it was important for them to interact with the parents in non-crisis situations. Expectations have a substantial influence on roles. Recruitment and retention of SROs is an important issue that should be addressed
Europe Across Boundaries
The present issue of the European History Yearbook showcases research initially presented at the annual Mainz-Oxford graduate workshop "European History Across Boundaries from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century". The essays shed the straightjacket of national history and cross boundaries and borders. They do so by discussing the transcultural, transnational, and transimperial scopes of their research
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