2,325 research outputs found

    Undergraduate Catalog of Studies, 2023-2024

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    Tracing cultural change in the reproduction of intolerance : 'secularism', 'Islamism' and others in Turkey’s experience of democratization

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    Defence date: 16 January 2020Examining Board: Ayhan Kaya, Istanbul Bilgi University; Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute – SPS Department; Élise Massicard, CERI, Sciences Po; Olivier Roy, European University Institute – SPS Department (Supervisor)How do cultural resources such as values and beliefs, and their functions in ideology-making, change? In the democratization literature, the value-based approach to culture seeks cultural change based on values. However, the combination of this approach with value-surveys fails to consider several ways in which change may unfold between cultural periods. Instead, this study will delve into a history of conversational texts, which are endogenously grounded within culture, capable of demonstrating culture in action and reflecting what is collective about culture as it operates through dialectical encounters. I focus on change in three landscapes of culture in Turkey, which have witnessed some of the most persistent stories of the unequal relationship between the self and the other

    Critical being: a philosophical approach to understanding and expanding the scope of critical thinking in UK higher education with attention to cross-cultural diversity

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    This thesis develops a philosophically informed understanding of critical thinking applicable at an expansive scope in UK universities, with particular attention to cross-cultural diversity. I begin from the assumptions, substantiated by existing literature, that 1) UK universities should (and ostensibly do) aim to teach and practice critical thinking at an expansive scope 2) this aim is often not being met, in part due to assumptions underpinning dominant understandings of critical thinking 3) the increasingly international nature of UK higher education creates additional challenges in the theory and practice of critical thinking. I argue that addressing these issues requires renewed attention to critical thinking theory and that philosophy can meaningfully contribute to this effort. I begin by justifying the above assumptions and clarifying the aims of this project. I provide a terminological and conceptual model for understanding the idea of critical scope. This includes building on the idea of critical being put forward by Barnett (1997) as a manifestation of criticality at an expansive scope. I then show how dominant conceptions of critical thinking unintentionally narrow critical scope in theory by relying on context-specific educational aims and/or assumedly universal substantive values as defining features of critical thinking. I argue these efforts constitute uncritical impositions on critical thinking that are particularly problematic in cross-cultural contexts. I use exploration of criticality in Chinese philosophical traditions to show how resources which are often excluded from critical thinking theory can support a more expansive and inclusive understanding. This includes attention to how non-critical modes of thinking and being – such as those of wonder and wu-wei – can help expand critical thinking towards critical being without need for the imposition of predetermined aims or assumedly universal values. This leads me to argue that the context-specific and necessarily determinant aims of education cannot define the entirety of critical thinking at an expansive scope, which is a context-reflexive and indeterminant process. I contend that whatever features ‘define’ critical thinking must themselves remain open to critique. This leads me to suggest pragmatic assumptions capable of animating critical thinking at an expansive scope within and between diverse contexts while avoiding dogmatism and relativism. I conclude by considering implications for practice, including attention to how this approach to critical thinking – exemplified by critical being – can help navigate perennial tensions within the purposes, aims, curricula, pedagogies, and environments of UK universities. Ultimately, this thesis aims to support universities in cultivating criticality that draws on diversity as a resource, helping people with divergent perspectives think and speak with (instead of past) each other in constructive critical endeavours

    A Critical Review Of Post-Secondary Education Writing During A 21st Century Education Revolution

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    Educational materials are effective instruments which provide information and report new discoveries uncovered by researchers in specific areas of academia. Higher education, like other education institutions, rely on instructional materials to inform its practice of educating adult learners. In post-secondary education, developmental English programs are tasked with meeting the needs of dynamic populations, thus there is a continuous need for research in this area to support its changing landscape. However, the majority of scholarly thought in this area centers on K-12 reading and writing. This paucity presents a phenomenon to the post-secondary community. This research study uses a qualitative content analysis to examine peer-reviewed journals from 2003-2017, developmental online websites, and a government issued document directed toward reforming post-secondary developmental education programs. These highly relevant sources aid educators in discovering informational support to apply best practices for student success. Developmental education serves the purpose of addressing literacy gaps for students transitioning to college-level work. The findings here illuminate the dearth of material offered to developmental educators. This study suggests the field of literacy research is fragmented and highlights an apparent blind spot in scholarly literature with regard to English writing instruction. This poses a quandary for post-secondary literacy researchers in the 21st century and establishes the necessity for the literacy research community to commit future scholarship toward equipping college educators teaching writing instruction to underprepared adult learners

    Investigating the learning potential of the Second Quantum Revolution: development of an approach for secondary school students

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    In recent years we have witnessed important changes: the Second Quantum Revolution is in the spotlight of many countries, and it is creating a new generation of technologies. To unlock the potential of the Second Quantum Revolution, several countries have launched strategic plans and research programs that finance and set the pace of research and development of these new technologies (like the Quantum Flagship, the National Quantum Initiative Act and so on). The increasing pace of technological changes is also challenging science education and institutional systems, requiring them to help to prepare new generations of experts. This work is placed within physics education research and contributes to the challenge by developing an approach and a course about the Second Quantum Revolution. The aims are to promote quantum literacy and, in particular, to value from a cultural and educational perspective the Second Revolution. The dissertation is articulated in two parts. In the first, we unpack the Second Quantum Revolution from a cultural perspective and shed light on the main revolutionary aspects that are elevated to the rank of principles implemented in the design of a course for secondary school students, prospective and in-service teachers. The design process and the educational reconstruction of the activities are presented as well as the results of a pilot study conducted to investigate the impact of the approach on students' understanding and to gather feedback to refine and improve the instructional materials. The second part consists of the exploration of the Second Quantum Revolution as a context to introduce some basic concepts of quantum physics. We present the results of an implementation with secondary school students to investigate if and to what extent external representations could play any role to promote students’ understanding and acceptance of quantum physics as a personal reliable description of the world

    Structuring perception : how structures of practice influence decision-making at the Court of Justice of the European Union

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    Defence date: 29 September 2023Examining board: Prof. Dr. Urška Šadl (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute); Prof. Dr. Fernanda G. Nicola (American University Washington College of Law); Ass. Prof. Dr. Salvatore Caserta (Københavns Universitet)This thesis studies the impact of working processes and working culture at the Court of Justice of the European Union on the stabilisation and destabilisation of its decision-making. The theoretical framework is a Bourdieu’s theory of practice. I argue that the simultaneous relative indeterminism and determinism of decision-making, i. e. the fact that it produces relatively consistent outcomes and despite lawyers’ persistent disagreement, can best be explained by seeing it as a struggle among judges who try to enshrine their own perception of the case. However, I consider this struggle as more than a game of politics. The Judges perceptions are based on deeply inculcated schemata of perception. On the national level, these are primarily created by shared legal education and professional socialisation. But Judges at the Court of Justice come from diverse sets of legal systems and professional backgrounds. Hence, the structural factors of the practice at the Court have to carry much of the burden. I identify ten specific factors, such as the assignment of Judge-Rapporteurs, the chamber system, the single voice approach or the Court’s approach to case-law. In two case-studies on gender equality and childcare-related leave cases, I study the impact of these factors. In this area, the Court’s caselaw has often been criticised as incoherent, which allows me to identify competing perceptions. I then examine which structural factors can help to understand periods of increase convergence around a dominant schema, and which are related to periods of more contest and divergence. I find that the impact of the factors varies depending on their mutual interaction with other factors and that, for example, the often-studied Judge-Rapporteur alone cannot explain periods of convergence. The thesis thus furthers our understanding of the judicial process at the Court of Justice by revealing the comprehensive interrelationships between these factors

    The Transformation and Transformational Potential of Religion: Modernity, Secularism, and Humanist Chaplaincy

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    The practice of clinical pastoral care, otherwise termed spiritual care or chaplaincy, in North American and European hospitals provides a case study to explore the historic and ongoing tension between religious worldviews and its others. The tension between religion and modernity, scientific rationalism, secularity, and humanism, among others, have all been presented in dichotomous and hierarchical either/or terms to justify a social imaginary that sees religion in decline. I will argue, firstly, that the very construction of ‘religion and …’ signifies a particular understanding of religion’s nature and role in the episteme of contemporary western societies; and secondly, that in this context, what we mean by religion is currently in flux, that is, ‘religion’ is currently undergoing a significant transformation. Ultimately, I will argue that the transformational potential of religion is not merely its ability to evolve along epistemic shifts but its ability to redescribe the relations between disparate domains. It is within this discursive space that a focus on clinical pastoral care/chaplaincy in modern healthcare contexts provides a particularly appropriate lens through which to reveal the fissures, transformations, and potential for redescription of religion in the 21st century and to begin to imagine its role in mapping the ecological networks between disparate domains. In modern healthcare settings, the role of clinical pastoral care is positioned at a nexus between the patient body, religious or spiritual needs, and a set of totalising secular, materialist, and scientistic discourses. A superficial consideration which assumes these narratives to be incompatible will be challenged by a more nuanced analysis showing the mutual imbrication and necessary tension between such worldviews. In this sense my proposed thesis is part of a broader phenomenological analysis of the current constructions of the nature and role of religion in secular society

    Control and Archaism

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    The presentation will delve into the relationship between control society and archaism. Deleuze’s conceptualization of control implies the reconfiguration of former spaces of discipline. While the Foucauldian model of discipline was characterized by enclosed spaces (such as prisons, armies, and churches), Deleuze’s notion of control highlights a continuous network where individuals are no longer molded but modulated. This prompts us to ponder the shift in the temporal structure that occurs during the transition from a disciplinary society to one governed by control. Specifically, this presentation aims to explore the disparities in our historical perspectives when viewed from disciplinary and control paradigms. In this context, I will explore Deleuze and Guattari's concept of ‘archaism’. According to Deleuze and Guattari, archaism is an inherent aspect of capitalism, its continual endeavor to reconstruct territoriality and replicate antiquated coding patterns. Capitalism necessitates archaism due to its lack of inherent belief structures. In essence, the system, which the duo name the ‘age of cynicism’, requires the revival of old codes to sustain its systems of subjugation and dominance. As my presentation will demonstrate, one can discern a transformation in the evolution of archaism as society shifts from discipline to control. By comparing the fascist archaism of the thirties in Germany and the archaism of contemporary alt-right movements, I will show that a disciplinary society presupposes a more centralized form of archaism, which is highly susceptible to state control and deeply ingrained in the institutional fabric of social life. Conversely, a control society implies a diversification and creativity in archaic attitudes, hinting at its potential for emancipation—a viewpoint emphasized by Deleuze and Guattari themselves in ’Anti-Oedipus’

    Caribbean cultural heritage and the nation:Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao in a regional context

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    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 “we” 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
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