Gearing up for Catalan Intellectual History : JOCIH's Twist

This article can be read as an Editorial for the first issue of the Journal of Catalan Intellectual History (JOCIH) in its new stage at de Gruyter Open. It offers, first, a methodical review of the concept, roles, and trends of intellectual history in the 20th century. Next, it looks into the particular Catalan tradition, historiography, and cultural analysis to position the aim and the role of the Journal with regard to similar initiatives. It tries to give an answer to the crisis of intellectual history as a discipline, at the end of the past century. The third part of the article describes some of the available resources. The fourth section introduces the contents of the present issue, focussing on the construction of a collective identity and the literary engagement of Catalan writers between 1920 and 1980, either in their country or in exile. The Notes of the present issue highlight the importance of technology, natural language processing, and Semantic Web developments in carrying out contemporary research in this field

Cooperation and development for academic language skills in the university context

Abstract This paper analyses the learning process of students of a Master's course in Cooperation and Development (C&D) who attend classes in English for Academic Writing at the University of Calabria, and their awareness of competences achieved. The language objectives are to expand students' knowledge of the main elements of spoken and written discourse in English in academic contexts with focus on specialized language in the fields of C&D. The study evaluates the ability of students to improve their competences and assess their language development using the self-assessment grid of academic language competences included in the European Language Portfolio created at the Università della Calabria, Italy. Specifically, this version of the ELP focuses on academic language and contains descriptors aimed at evaluating learners' language competences in academic contexts. A group of 25 students participated in this didactic experience, in the second semester of the academic year 2018. Students' oral production, interaction and academic writing skills were monitored. For the written examination students were required to write a Research Proposal (RP) showing competence in text cohesion and content coherence, appropriate use of terminology and accurate use of language structures. Following on from the acceptance of the RP, students delivered an oral presentation on the topic presented, showing ability in answering questions and expressing opinions on issues presented by other students. The concepts of autonomous learning are crucial in order to monitor students' improvement and commitment. A contrastive analysis of data from students' first self-assessment to the final evaluation of competences achieved by the end of the academic year was conducted

Biblioteca digitale umanistica: quali problematiche e specificità?

Le tecnologie digitali ed il Web hanno rappresentato per le biblioteche la necessità di un veloce e radicale cambiamento dei servizi tradizionali. Da un focus essenzialmente concentrato sui cataloghi ed altri strumenti di recupero bibliografico, tutte le attività delle biblioteche si sono dovute concentrare nella creazione di una collezione digitale per l’accesso full text in rete e con servizi avanzati. Questo cambiamento rappresenta una sfida, ancora aperta, per la comunità bibliotecaria che, in certi casi non appare pronta e soprattutto preparata a cogliere le indubbie opportunità del digitale da una formazione adeguata

Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past

[EN] Thirteen years after the book “Virtual Archaeology” (Forte, 1996, 97) it is time to re-discuss the definition, the key concepts and some new trends and applications. The paper discusses the introduction of the term “cyber-archaeology” in relation with the simulation process deriving from the inter-connected and multivocal feedback between users/actors and virtual ecosystems. In this new context of cyber worlds, it is more appropriate to talk about simulation of the past rather than reconstruction of the past. The multivocality of the simulation opens new perspectives in the interpretation process, not imposing the final reconstruction, but suggesting, evocating, simulating multiple output, not “the past” but a potential past. New epistemological models of cyber archaeology have to be investigated: what happens in a immersive environment of virtual archaeology where every user is “embodied” in the cyber space? The ontology of archaeological information, or the cybernetics of archaeology, refers to all the interconnective relationships which the datum produces, the code of transmission, and its transmittability. Because it depends on interrelationships, by its very nature information cannot be neutral with respect to how it is processed and perceived. It follows that the process of knowledge and communication have to be unified and represented by a single vector. 3D information is regarded as the core of the knowledge process, because it creates feedback, then cybernetic difference, among the interactor, the scientist and the ecosystem. It is argued that Virtual Reality (both offline and online) represents a possible ecosystem, which is able to host top-down and bottom-up processes of knowledge and communication. In these terms, the past is generated and coded by “a simulation process”. Thus, from the first phases of data acquisition in the field, the technical methodologies and technologies that we use, influence in a decisive way all the subsequent phases of interpretation and communication. In the light of these considerations, what is the relationship between information and representation? How much information does a digital model contain? What sorts of and how many ontologies ought to be chosen to permit an acceptable transmittability? Indeed, our Archaeological communication ought to be understood as a process of validation of the entire cognitive process of understanding and not as a simple addendum to research, or as a dispensable compendium of data.[ES] Trece años después de la publicación del libro "Arqueología virtual" (Forte, 1996, 97) es el momento de volver a discutir sobre la definición, los conceptos clave y algunas nuevas tendencias y aplicaciones de la arqueología virtual. El presente documento analiza la introducción del término "cyber-arqueología" en relación con el proceso de simulación derivado de la interconexión y la retroalimentación multivocal y entre los usuarios / actores y ecosistemas virtuales. En este nuevo contexto de mundos cibernéticos, es más adecuado hablar de simulación del pasado que de reconstrucción del pasado. La multivocalidad de la simulación abre nuevas perspectivas en el proceso de interpretación, no imponiendo la última reconstrucción, sino sugiriendo, evocando, simulando múltiples resultados, y no "el pasado", sino un potencial pasado. Nuevos modelos epistemológicos de la arqueología cibernética deben ser investigados: Que ocurre en un entorno inmersivo de arqueología virtual cuando cada usuario es "materializado" en el espacio cibernético? La ontología de la información arqueológica, o la cibernética de la arqueología, se refiere a la interconectividad de todas las relaciones que produce el dato, el código de envío, y su transmisibilidad. Porque depende de las interrelaciones, por su propia naturaleza, la información no puede ser neutral con respecto a la forma en que se procesa y percibe. De ello se deduce que el proceso de conocimiento y la comunicación han de ser unificadas y representadas por un único vector. La información 3D se considera como el núcleo del proceso de conocimiento, porque propicia la retroalimentación, entre el usuario, el científico y el ecosistema. Se argumenta que la Realidad Virtual (tanto fuera de línea como en línea) representa un posible ecosistema, que es capaz de ser anfitrión de los procesos de conocimiento y comunicación tanto de arriba a abajo como de abajo a arriba. En estos términos, el pasado se genera y codifica por "un proceso de simulación". Así, desde las primeras fases de adquisición de datos sobre el terreno, las metodologías técnicas así como las tecnologías que usamos, influyen de manera decisiva en todas las fases de interpretación y comunicación. A la luz de estas consideraciones, ¿cuál es la relación entre la información y la representación? ¿Cuánta información quedará incluida en el modelo digital? ¿Qué clase y cuántas ontologías deberían ser elegidas para permitir una transmisibilidad aceptable? De hecho, la comunicación arqueológica debe ser entendida como una fase de validación de todo el proceso cognitivo de comprensión del conocimiento, y no como una simple adición a la investigación, o como un compendio de los datos prescindible.The Virtual Museum of the Ancient Via Flaminia was supported by Arcus spa and managed by CNR-ITABC (scientific direction) and National Roman Museum in RomeForte, M. (2011). Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past. Virtual Archaeology Review. 2(4):7-18. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2011.4543OJS71824ANTINUCCI, A., 2004, Comunicare il museo, Laterza, Roma, 2004.BAUDRILLARD J.. 1994, Simulacra and Simulation, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.BATESON, 1967, "Cybernetic explanation", in SEM, 410.BATESON, 1972, Steps to an Ecology of Mind , San Francisco, Chandler Press.BATESON G., 1979, Mind and Nature. A Necessary Unit, Dutton, New York.BIOCCA F. 1997, The cyborg's dilemma: Progressive embodiment in virtual environments, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 3, n. 2, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00070.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ct.1997.617676DELEUZE G., GUATTARI, F., 1987, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, University of Minnesota Press, 1987FORTE, M. 1997, (ed. by) Virtual Archaeology, (forward by Colin Renfrew) Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1997 (1st edition 1996, Milan).FORTE, M., 2000, About virtual archaeology: disorders, cognitive interactions and virtuality, in Barcelo J., Forte M., Sanders D., 2000 (eds.), Virtual reality in archaeology, Oxford, ArcheoPress (BAR International Series S 843), 247-263.FORTE M., 2003, Mindscape: ecological thinking, cyber-anthropology, and virtual archaeological landscapes, in "The reconstruction of Archaeological Landscapes through Digital Technologies" (eds. M.Forte, P.R.Williams), Proceedings of the 1st Italy-United States Workshop, Boston, Massachussets, USA, November 1-3, 2001, BAR International Series 1151, Oxford, 2002, 95-108.FORTE M., 2005, A Digital "Cyber" Protocol for the Reconstruction of the Archaeological Landscape: Virtual Reality and Mindscapes in Recording, Modeling and Visualization of Cultural Heritage (eds: E.Baltsavias, A.Gruen, L.Van Gool, M.Pateraki) Published by Taylor & Francis / Balkema ISBN 0 415 39208 X, 339-351, 2005.FORTE et alii, 2006; M.Forte, S.Pescarin, E.Pietroni, C.Rufa, 2006, Multiuser interaction in an archaeological landscape: the Flaminia Project, in (M.Forte, S.Campana, eds.by) From Space to Place, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology, Rome, December 4-7, 2006, BAR International Series 1568, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2006, 189-196.FORTE, M, Pescarin, S. Pietroni, E., 2006, Transparency, interaction, communication and open source in Virtual Archaeology, in (M.Forte, S.Campana, eds.by) From Space to Place, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology, Rome, December 4-7, 2006, BAR International Series 1568, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2006 535-540.FORTE, M., 2007, Ecological Cybernetics, Virtual Reality and Virtual Heritage, in "Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage. A Critical Discourse" (Edited by Fiona Cameron and Sarah Kenderdine), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 389-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262033534.003.0020FORTE M., 2008 (ed.), La Villa di Livia. Un percorso di ricerca di archeologia virtuale, L'Herma, Rome, 2008.GALLESE, V. 2005, Embodied simulation: From Neurons to Phenomenal Experience, "Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences", 4, 23-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11097-005-4737-zGIBSON, J. J., 1999. Un approccio ecologico alla percezione visiva (Il Mulino: Bologna).INGOLD, T., 2000, The perception of the Enviroment. Essays in livelihood, dwelling and skill, London and New York, Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025KORZYBSKI A., 1941, Science and Sanity, Science Press, New York, 1941.MATURANA, H, Varela, F., 1980, Autopoiesis and Cognition: the Realization of the Living, Boston Studies in the philosophy of science, Cohen, Robert S., And Marx W. Wartofsky (eds.), vol. 42, Dordecht (Holland): D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1980. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8947-4MATURANA, H, Varela, F., 1992, The Tree of Knowledge: the Biological Roots of Human Understanding, Boston: Shambhala, 1987, (Revised Edition: same publisher, 1992).MELLET-D'HUART D., 2006, A Model of (En)Action to approach Embodiment: A Cornerstone for the Design of Virtual Environments for Learning, in Win W. & Hedley N., Eds. Journal of Virtual reality, special issue on education. Springer London. 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Introducing a Research Program for Quantum Humanities: Theoretical Implications

Quantum computing is a new form of computing that is based on the principles of quantum mechanics. It has the potential to revolutionize many fields, including the humanities and social sciences. The idea behind quantum humanities is to explore the potential of quantum computing to answer new questions in these fields, as well as to consider the potential societal impacts of this technology. This paper proposes a research program for quantum humanities, which includes the application of quantum algorithms to humanities and social science research, the reflection on the methods and techniques of quantum computing, and the evaluation of its potential societal implications. This research program aims to define the field of quantum humanities and to establish it as a meaningful part of the humanities and social sciences.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure

Archives by Any Other name: Archiving Memory During Times of Conflict through Non-Traditional Methods--A Case Study on Digital Humanities Projects Manar al-Athar and Project Syria

Over the last century, conflicts across the world have resulted in an unprecedented number of cultural heritage sites being purposefully targeted for destruction. While there have been several historical attempts to combat this destruction, the emerging field of digital humanities is now using new digital technologies to also document and preserve cultural heritage demolishment. This article conducts case studies of two such projects: Project Syria, a virtual reality experience documenting the Syrian Civil War, and Manar al-Athar, a digital photo archive that collects pictures of cultural heritage sites in the Middle East. This exploratory study seeks to compare past methods of preservation and documentation of cultural heritage during times of conflict to current methods of preservation and documentation through digital humanities projects, and to determine what digital humanities projects can accomplish that more traditional methods of preservation cannot.Master of Science in Library Scienc

Simple Integration of Three-phase Shunt Active Power Filter and Photovoltaic Generation System with Fibonacci-Search-Based MPPT

This paper proposes a three-phase four wire current-controlled Voltage Source Inverter (CC-VSI) for both harmonic mitigation and PV energy extraction. For harmonic mitigation, the CC-VSI works as a grid current controlling shunt active power filter. Then, the PV array is coupled to the DC bus of the CC-VSI. The MPPT controller employs the Fibonacci search method. The output of MPPT controller is a DC voltage that determines the DC-bus voltage according to the PV maximum power. From computer simulation, the CC-VSI can effectively compensate for harmonics as well as deliver PV power to the grid

A Corpus-based Approach to Language Learning

The use of corpus linguistics (CL) tools and methods has been shown to be of great help in fostering language learning. As argued by Aston (2000), language pedagogy has started to plan and create corpora to fit its own principles and address its own needs. Most studies focus on classroom activities based on concordances and lexical/grammatical analyses carried out on corpora (McEnery et al. 2006). To date, CL has often been combined with teaching specific topics to carry out text and discourse analyses, and data-driven learning (Friginal 2018). Therefore, it is important to further investigate the use of corpora as a valuable resource for language education. This work is testimony to the usefulness of corpus linguistics and corpus-based analyses for pedagogical purposes, while encouraging students to explore language autonomously and draw their own conclusions and considerations. Indeed, this paper outlines how CL can help learners, with different levels of language proficiency, approach English for Specific Purposes using authentic and concrete examples, and simultaneously lead them to develop new skills which may be integrated within their field of study. The case study occurred in a distance learning context with first-year students majoring in Data Science and Business Analytics at the University of Calabria. The main objective was to enhance students’ motivation while improving their English competences using statistical analyses and corpus tools to investigate data retrieved from the social network Instagram and related to the topic of climate change. In particular, hands-on activities allowed students to create their own corpora, analyze language use through the corpus analysis toolkit AntConc (3.5.8), and carry out topic framing. Students’ final projects were then discussed at the oral exam