Religion and the Law in modern pluralist states: Towards a more balanced judicial approach to manifestation of belief in secular societies

The work presented for the Phd by publication is located within the law and religion sub-discipline and is committed to enhancing religious freedom. It focuses on manifestation of belief and is dedicated to the legal protection of religious minorities. It highlights the difficulties of adjudicating conflicts related to religious symbols in modern liberal states and aims to deepen the understanding of manifestation of belief. It shows that religious symbols contribute to the making of contemporary individual and collective identities. The thesis advocates a more contextual approach to manifestation of belief which views religion as an element of identity rather than an elective characteristic of the individual. It therefore promotes collaborations with other disciplines within the social sciences such as history, sociology, and anthropology in order to enhance the legal approach and move the field in new directions

Manifestation of Belief and the “Liberal” Law of Religion: Why It Is Time to Rethink the Status-Quo?

Manifestation of belief is a key component of religious freedom, however in modern pluralist states there are inherent conflicts between practices of the more religious minorities and those of the secular majority. In attempting to mediate those conflicts judges have been faced with the sensitive task of determining the extent to which a particular symbol or practice is worthy of protection by the law. The case law arising from this process has produced some inconsistencies and has shown that not all symbols are equal before the law. As a matter of practice, the law of religion is based on liberal values which tend to favour faith based on orthodoxy over orthopraxy. This article argues that the time has come for a remodelling of the current approach to manifestation of religion and belief and puts forward a holistic approach which considers religion as an element of identity and as such ascribed rather than merely a life choice. It explores the possibility of a modification of current legal tests which would give way to this approach. The argument is considered from three different perspectives namely the emphasis on autonomy within the “liberal law of religion,” the religious vs. secular binary present within the courts’ approach and the difficulty of defining religion and belief

Comparative Analysis of Contemplative Pedagogy and its Possible Applications within Current International Education

While the variation of pedagogies has evolved over time in public school settings, there has also been a significant growth of alternative pedagogies over the mainstream circuit (Bodinet, 2016). One of lesser known pedagogical approaches within those, Contemplative Pedagogy, as well as its applications, have been explored in mostly-independent schools. The question arises: would it gain acceptance in mainstream education? The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible applications of Contemplative Pedagogy in an evidence-based international context, through the analysis of various Mindfulness training techniques and exercises aimed at heightening student awareness and self-knowledge within their larger societal context, and to analyze the impact of this approach within mainstream learning environments

Transcriptional regulation of the ABCC6 gene and the background of impaired function of missense disease-causing mutations.

The human ATP-binding cassette family C member 6 (ABCC6) gene encodes an ABC transporter protein expressed primarily in the liver and to a lesser extent in the kidneys and the intestines. We review here the mechanisms of this restricted tissue-specific expression and the role of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4alpha which is responsible for the expression pattern. Detailed analyses uncovered further regulators of the expression of the gene pointing to an intronic primate-specific regulator region, an activator of the expression of the gene by binding CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta, which interacts with other proteins acting in the proximal promoter. This regulatory network is affected by various environmental stimuli including oxidative stress and the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 pathway. We also review here the structural and functional consequences of disease-causing missense mutations of ABCC6. A significant clustering of the missense disease-causing mutations was found at the domain-domain interfaces. This clustering means that the domain contacts are much less permissive to amino acid replacements than the rest of the protein. We summarize the experimental methods resulting in the identification of mutants with preserved transport activity but failure in intracellular targeting. These mutants are candidates for functional rescue by chemical chaperons. The results of such research can provide the basis of future allele-specific therapy of ABCC6-mediated disorders like pseudoxanthoma elasticum or the generalized arterial calcification in infancy

Dourges – Extension de la plate-forme multimodale Delta 3 (secteur 10)

Dans le cadre de l’extension de la plate-forme multimodale Delta 3 à Dourges et à l’issue d’un vaste diagnostic de 100 ha, plusieurs secteurs ont fait l’objet d’une prescription pour une fouille archéologique. L’opération menée par Archéopole sur le lot 2 s’est déroulée du 15 juillet au 18 septembre 2015 sur une surface approximative de 1,20 ha. Au nord et à l’est, l’occupation est encadrée par un réseau de plusieurs fossés tandis qu’un puissant parcellaire ferme l’installation au sud. Une di..

Situating Norbert Elias’ power differential in a critical exploration of violence in Chilean education

Once hailed as a poster boy for neoliberalism, or what Milton Friedman called “The Miracle of Chile”, Chile has undergone a myriad of social and political changes that since 2011 have resulted in increased polarization and violent clashes between the opposing parties. The apex of this violence was reached in 2019, where civilians were blinded, public buses and subway stations burned and businesses vandalized in a series of violent acts that continued for weeks. Between October and November 2019, the country also experienced large peaceful demonstrations demanding greater equality towards women, sexual minorities and migrants (Chile has seen a surge in migration over the last 5 years, with 1.5 million people immigrating from Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia).  It is against this background that I began my research to investigate to what degree this direct, structural and cultural violence had spilled over into classrooms. My doctoral research, titled “Non-violence as a practice of equality: an exploration in Chilean higher education classrooms through participatory action research” sought to co-develop non-violent strategies to tackle violence in the way of exclusion, discrimination and any other manifestation within classroom settings. This paper will explore the application of Elias’ notion of power differentials in the perpetration of cultural violence and the experience of violence by Chilean minorities as documented in my own research. I am particularly inspired by Norbert Elias’ work “The established and the outsiders”. Discussions with my research participants, all trainee teachers at Chilean universities, revealed that at the core of the instances of violence found lies a power imbalance and a view of those “outsiders” (migrants, lower income students, LGBTQI+) as less worthy and valuable and therefore victims to a wide range of violent acts resulting in exclusion and discrimination

Can the dimensions of identity, investment and empowerment increase social inclusion for second-language learners? – Moving towards the creation of a conceptual framework.

Much of social research in language learning in the past twenty years has been devoted to explore issues of identity construction and its sociological implications in terms of mobility and inclusiveness. There are a large number of studies on the areas of culture and identity, and how they relate to the investment and empowerment of language learners (Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Norton, 1997, 2000, 2013, 2015; Norton & Davin, 2015; Ushioda, 2011). Some of these have been pivotal in the development of identity research for the past two decades and have laid the foundation upon which further research has been done: Norton (1995) proposed her Classroom-Based Social Research, in which learners become ethnographers of sorts under the encouragement of teachers; Brunton and Jeffrey (2014) examined some of the factors that might lead to empowerment with foreign students in New Zealand (2013), Diaz, Cochran, and Karlin (2016) conducted a study in American classrooms to investigate the impact of teachers’ behavior and communication strategies on students’ achievement and feeling of empowerment, and more recently Howard (2018) investigated the impact of teachers’ attitudes in the construction of socio-cultural identities in African-American students. Such research has provided a wealth of insight and suggested practices, but in this researcher’s opinion they have come short in providing any definite answers as to how to implement them or the outcomes they might yield. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on how the aforementioned dimensions of identity construction, empowerment and investment can result in greater social inclusion for second-language learners. The paper analyzes each dimension separately, provides a theoretical background that links them to language learning, and then discusses some possible implications for teachers and researchers on how to further recruit students’ investment and enhance their sense of empowerment and inclusion

Le chant des muets : mémoire, parole et mélodie dans Le Petit Köchel de Normand Chaurette, le Chant du dire-dire de Daniel Danis et Les mains bleues de Larry Tremblay ; suivi du texte dramatique Chanson de toile

Ce mémoire-création est né du désir d'interroger la spécificité de la parole théâtrale dans trois pièces québécoises contemporaines, en vue de la rédaction d'un texte dramatique. Les textes étudiés (Le chant du Dire-Dire de Daniel Danis, Le petit Köchel de Normand Chaurette et Les mains bleues de Larry Tremblay) ont été regroupés en vertu de ressemblances esthétiques, qui tiennent notamment au choix de ne « rien » représenter sur scène, et de faire entendre le récit d'un personnage rendant compte d'une action entièrement achevée. Il nous est apparu que ces pièces partageaient d'autres points communs thématiques, peu soulevés par la critique contemporaine. Ces trois textes, rangés le plus souvent dans la catégorie des textes \ud « intimistes », voués à la remémoration d'un souvenir douloureux, adoptent une structure rituelle qui emprunte sa forme à un modèle musical Au renouvellement du genre dramatique s'ajoute dès lors une dimension collective, en apparence délaissée par le théâtre québécois depuis la fin des années 70. Afin de mettre en évidence la conjonction de trois imaginaires artistiques pourtant très distincts, nous avons adopté une approche comparée, fondée sur la confrontation des trois textes autour de grands axes communs. Nous avons eu recours à l'approche méthodologique développée par Hermann Parret pour mettre au jour la présence du lien collectif dans trois textes travaillés par les thèmes du mutisme et de la mutilation. Dans la partie théorique de ce mémoire, nous postulons que ces pièces tentent de conjurer la souffrance et la douleur physique infligées par la langue maternelle, lors de performances théâtrales traversées par un même fantasme: celui de la sublimation du mutisme dans le chant. Dans le second volet de notre mémoire, nous présentons le texte Chanson de toile, une pièce dont la forme emprunte à celle des trois textes étudiés, mais qui rejoint le Corpus en ce qu'elle est également parcourue par le thème du dépassement du mutisme -cette fois dans une perspective féminine. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Dramaturgie québécoise des années 90, Mémoire, Parole, Mélodie, Chant, Mutisme