Examining the Relationship between Pre-Collegiate Educational Experiences and Religious Affiliation

This paper explores the relationship between the type of school students experienced before college and how that schooling affected the students’ religious affiliation. The specific types of schools examined are public and private schools with private schools being further divided into religious and non-religious private schools. I explore the differences in religious importance among several groups including students who attended Catholic schools and those who did not, students who attended religious schools for varying lengths of time (low, medium, high, and no involvement), and students who had a choice in the schools they attended and those who did not. I also explored the difference in religious service attendance between students who attended religious schools and those who did not. My hypothesis yielded mostly insignificant results, but I developed two regression models that can predict the odds of a student being religious based on the significant predictors in the model. The most important predictors of religious importance included: whether the student had a choice in attending religious services or not, gender, age 26-35, whether the student believed their previous schooling has affected their religiosity, whether the student attends religious services with family, whether the student is Catholic, whether the student is Protestant, and whether the student attends religious services or not

The Beginnings, the Development and the Current State of the Computer System in the Library of Łódź University

Dynamika systematycznego wzrostu, nowoczesna przestrzeń intelektu, labirynt znaków, magia zaangażowanych w swoją pracę ludzi z pasją – to tylko kilka haseł, które przychodzą na myśl, kiedy chcemy przywołać nazwę Biblioteki Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego i 70 lat jej historii. Łódź przed dwoma wiekami powstawała z tradycji niejednorodnych, i podobnie powstawał – jako mozaika różnych treści intelektualnych – Uniwersytet Łódzki.The article presents the history of the computer system in the Library of Łódź University. The expansion of computerization has changed the face of the Library, which has to be up to the requirements of the twenty-first/XXI century users, also in the range of offered information services. The evolution of the library information system covered technical infrastructure, reorganizations and the extension of functionality of the system. This allowed a growing range of activities within the Library, the information system of The University of Łódź, and beyond the local structures by implementing interlibrary cooperation mechanisms

Slaying Hybridity: The “Uncreated” Monstrous Doubles in the The Saga of the Volsungs, Nibelungenlied, and Kudrun

This paper examines anxieties about gender and gender in a thirteenth-century Old Norse text, The Saga of the Volsungs, and two Middle High German texts, the Nibelungenlied and Kudrun. All three exhibit a similar uneasiness about gender performance. In these epics, fears about gender fluidity are founded on the slaying of hybrid mythological creatures (dragons and griffons) and are perpetuated by various media: blood, tears, clothing, promises, and lies. These monsters threaten the established order within the text, a patriarchal order defined by feudal society. Once the hero defeats the monster—whose very essence is simultaneously an embodiment of the perceived order and stability of the patriarchy and the chaos and disorder of the matriarchy—the threat temporarily subsides only to reemerge in a new form due to the intimate relationship between the hero and the monster. The monster becomes a part of the hero’s new identity, a part that cannot be separated from the hero. And it is this bond that eventually displaces the hero and other characters within the text, leaving questions, doubts, and ambiguities surrounding their hybrid identities. Without a stable position within society (and within the text), these new, roaming hybrid characters must die, literally or metaphorically, for order to attempt to be restored. Within the The Saga of the Volsungs and Nibelungenlied, two texts which have a similar narrative, the authors, or perhaps the scribes, both recognize and acknowledge the beauty of this outward expression of hybridity, particularly that of gender fluidity. And yet, they simultaneously express their fears and reservations, showcasing the potential chaotic and destructive power of these “unstable,” or rather “uncreated,” identities. In contrast to these two texts, the third text Kudrun condemns all forms of hybridity, for they pose a direct threat to the patriarchy. Only characters with stable identities (and by stable identities I mean identities that are created and accepted by the feudal society) are rewarded. These characters not only survive but are able to access alternative forms of power through their stability without negative repercussions. Kudrun, who embraces her role as a female, is able to amass and wield masculine power successfully despite her biological sex, even if only for a short time. Therefore, based on the final outcome of the Nibelungenlied, The Saga of the Volsungs, and Kudrun, the fear of these characters extends beyond just their physical hybridity within the text; it lies more so in the public performance of the hybridity, the performance of multiple gender roles simultaneously that destabilize the created order. These “monsters” challenge and disassociate biological sex and gender performance, leaving society to question, and potentially reevaluate, their gendered categories while exposing them to the possibility and beauty of an “uncreated” identity: an identity unaffected by societal influences

Byt i nicość w myśli Mistrza Eckharta. Początki niemieckiej filozofii woli

Artykuł poświęcony jest Mistrza Eckharta wykładni ontologicznych struktur rzeczywistości, w której to wykładni ważną rolę odgrywają pojęcia bytu, nicości, istnienia i Boskości. W artykule rozważone zostają kolejno: 1. Wykładnia bytu i nicości w prologu do łacińskiego Opus tripartitum; 2. Wykładnia istnienia i Boskości w dziełach niemieckich; 3. umiejscowienie tych rozważań w kontekście Eckhartiańskiej koncepcji abgescheidenheit. Podstawową tezą artykułu jest to, że w swojej refleksji ontologicznej Mistrz Eckhart zbliża się do myślenia o istocie rzeczywistości jako Woli, co jest wyraźną antycypacją ważnego nurtu niemieckiej filozofii

Slaying Hybridity: The “Uncreated” Monstrous Doubles in the The Saga of the Volsungs, Nibelungenlied, and Kudrun

This paper examines anxieties about gender and gender in a thirteenth-century Old Norse text, The Saga of the Volsungs, and two Middle High German texts, the Nibelungenlied and Kudrun. All three exhibit a similar uneasiness about gender performance. In these epics, fears about gender fluidity are founded on the slaying of hybrid mythological creatures (dragons and griffons) and are perpetuated by various media: blood, tears, clothing, promises, and lies. These monsters threaten the established order within the text, a patriarchal order defined by feudal society. Once the hero defeats the monster—whose very essence is simultaneously an embodiment of the perceived order and stability of the patriarchy and the chaos and disorder of the matriarchy—the threat temporarily subsides only to reemerge in a new form due to the intimate relationship between the hero and the monster. The monster becomes a part of the hero’s new identity, a part that cannot be separated from the hero. And it is this bond that eventually displaces the hero and other characters within the text, leaving questions, doubts, and ambiguities surrounding their hybrid identities. Without a stable position within society (and within the text), these new, roaming hybrid characters must die, literally or metaphorically, for order to attempt to be restored. Within the The Saga of the Volsungs and Nibelungenlied, two texts which have a similar narrative, the authors, or perhaps the scribes, both recognize and acknowledge the beauty of this outward expression of hybridity, particularly that of gender fluidity. And yet, they simultaneously express their fears and reservations, showcasing the potential chaotic and destructive power of these “unstable,” or rather “uncreated,” identities. In contrast to these two texts, the third text Kudrun condemns all forms of hybridity, for they pose a direct threat to the patriarchy. Only characters with stable identities (and by stable identities I mean identities that are created and accepted by the feudal society) are rewarded. These characters not only survive but are able to access alternative forms of power through their stability without negative repercussions. Kudrun, who embraces her role as a female, is able to amass and wield masculine power successfully despite her biological sex, even if only for a short time. Therefore, based on the final outcome of the Nibelungenlied, The Saga of the Volsungs, and Kudrun, the fear of these characters extends beyond just their physical hybridity within the text; it lies more so in the public performance of the hybridity, the performance of multiple gender roles simultaneously that destabilize the created order. These “monsters” challenge and disassociate biological sex and gender performance, leaving society to question, and potentially reevaluate, their gendered categories while exposing them to the possibility and beauty of an “uncreated” identity: an identity unaffected by societal influences

A Response to Martin Faber’s Polemic with the Review of His Book Sarmatismus. Die Politische Ideologie des Polnischen Adels im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Wiesbaden, 2018, Harrassowitz Verlag

Letter

In-situ early detection of metal corrosion via turn-on fluorescence in smart epoxy coatings

Organic coatings (e.g., epoxy coatings) have been widely used to protect metal and metal alloys against corrosion. However protective coating fails with time, leading to corrosion of the metal substrate. When localized corrosion occurs, without being detected, it can result in disastrous failure of the metal structure. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a smart epoxy coating system that detects early stages of metal corrosion via indicators molecules embedded in the coating that fluoresce when triggered by ions liberated from corrosion. This fluorescence can be easily and non-destructively detected and thus further material damage can be prevented by providing necessary maintenance. In this thesis a spirolactam, [1H-isoindole- 1,91\u27-[9H]xanthen]-3(2H)-one, 3\u276\u27-bis(diethylamino)- 2-[(1 methylethylidene) amino] (FD1), was successfully used to sense early stages of metal corrosion, when embedded in the epoxy coating, via turn-on fluorescence. Despite that we unambiguously confirmed that FD1 forms a fluorescent complex with Fe3+ in a nonaqueous solution by using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), the predominant mechanism that FD1 is capable of detecting early metal corrosion is due to its acid-catalyzed hydrolysis to fluorescent protonated Rhodamine B hydrazide, as the consequence of the local pH decrease at the anodic sites of both steel and aluminum corrosion (water is always present). The turn-on FD1 fluorescence was easily, non-destructively detected under UV light before any visible sign of corrosion appeared. In addition, only a low FD1 concentration (0.5 wt%) in the coating was needed for effective corrosion detection. FM did not prematurely interact with the coating formulation components and was able to report early corrosion even when embedded in the filled epoxy coating in the presence of pigments