A taxonomy of podcasts and its application to higher education

In this paper we address the uses of podcasts in higher education and we propose a taxonomy for podcasts. We describe results obtained within a study that is being conducted at the University of Minho, in Portugal, focusing on the use of podcasts and their implications towards learning in higher education. The project involves 6 lecturers from different scientific domains – Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering and Biology. These lecturers created 84 podcasts in order to support their undergraduate and master courses during the 1st and 2nd semesters of 2007/ 2008 and the 1st semester of 2008/ 2009. A total of 479 students - 372 undergraduate and 107 master students - were enrolled in 20 courses. Some students were not only podcasts listeners but they also had the challenge and the opportunity to create their own podcasts (34 episodes). Podcasts were classified in different types (Informative, Feedback, Guidelines and Authentic materials), styles (formal or informal), length (short, moderate or long), purpose and medium (audio or video), according to a taxonomy proposed by the authors. The majority of podcasts was Informative (76), followed by podcasts with Feedback (30), Guidelines (9) and Authentic materials (3). Most podcasts were short (102), mainly in informal style and only 21 were vodcasts. Students´ reactions about podcasts implementation in higher education revealed their acceptance of this new tool and their receptiveness to podcasting in other courses. The majority of students found podcasts a positive resource in learning, although they did not explore one of the main advantages of this technology – portability. Lecturers also found podcasting a useful resource for learning and recognized its great potential as a pedagogical tool but stressed that it is too time consuming

The Archives of the Crown of Aragon, philological treasure for the juridical linguistic studies

Les Archives de la Couronne d’Aragon et ses fonds historiques constituent d’excellents corpus à des fins de recherche linguistique juridique. Nous justifierons cette affirmation en présentant, d’une part, la méthodologie à suivre pour dénicher des collections singulières et, d’autre part, en démontrant que lesdites archives constituent bel et bien une référence en matière de fonds historiques susceptibles d’une approche linguistique.The Aragon Crown Archives gather historical documentary resources that constitute excellent corpus for legal linguistics research. We will strengthen this statement by showing, on the one hand, the methodology to follow in order to unearth singular collections and, on the other hand, by demonstrating why these Archive’s historical documentary resources are a clear referent for linguistics approach

The Shifting Shades of Elegance on Display in 1930S Estoril: When Tourism Meets Fashion

In 1914 Fausto Figueiredo, the mastermind behind Estoril’s resort, wrote the town resembled a woman whose staggering beauty only lacked the artificial sense of fashion trends, in order to drive men wild. As his project developed across a valley by the sea, facilities and events created for tourist enjoyment and based on cosmopolitan aesthetic principles internationally conveyed the image the new resort sought for itself. In the 1930s Estoril’s shopping arcades sold the latest fashion items recently arrived from Paris, while stores in Lisbon advertised specific clothing pieces meant to be worn while playing golf or enjoying equestrian shows. The Modas & Bordados magazine also taught beauty tips to middle and upper-class women, besides publishing models to be worn at the Casino, at the Tamariz beach, and on posh racing events. On the other hand, the Casino’s advertisements often entitled its programmes (whether dinners, balls, theme parties, or teas) as elegant initiatives. The venue served also as the perfect set for hair styling competitions, conferences on cosmetics, and fashion shows later mocked at radio appearances and newspapers. A satirical play then performed at a folk theatre even revolved around the hedonism copied after Paris and the Riviera, and one of the scenes focused on an indescribable modern beverage: the Cocktail. The 1930s also set the tone for a new type of skin beauty: out with the pale and on with the tan. Movie stars were the role models to emulate, and in 1935 British actress Heather Thatcher’s funny episode in Estoril proved there was more to tanning than just lying under the sun. This empirical paper is based on the research the author has conducted for her Ph.D thesis entitled Tourism in the Estoril-Cascais Coastal Axis (1929–1939): Equipments, Events and Destination Promotion

The spiritual quest: Europe’s common sacred ground (an historic overview)

A procura espiritual da Humanidade permanece activa e as perspectivas académicas sobre o fenómeno são múltiplas. Na Europa a reverência a poderes supremos começou em grutas e seria depois exibida em estruturas exteriores. Mais tarde, os Gregos Antigos deslocar-se-iam a competições atléticas onde os deuses eram adorados, mas o Cristianismo apagaria as referências pagãs do Império Romano. Quanto à Península Ibérica do século XII, São Bernardo auxiliou a fundação de Portugal, enquanto crentes viajavam até Santiago de Compostela. Durante as Descobertas, o porto de Lisboa acolheu tesouros ultramarinos, mas também a Peste. Duas devoções surgiram para implorar a clemência de Deus: a peregrinação à Guia, em Cascais, e a procissão à Senhora da Saúde. No século XVIII, D. João V patrocinaria santuários marianos em Lamego, na Nazaré e no Cabo Espichel,mas só na ditadura de Salazar erguer-se-ia um santuário de dimensão global, em Fátima. Desde a década de 60 que a Europa testemunha o revivalismo pagão que transformou sítios arqueológicos da UNESCO em templos New Age. Hoje, o adorador virtual assiste a missas online em portáteis com placa wireless, prova de que a procura se mantém, sobrepondo-se aos meios empregues

1930s Sunny Coast & the Spanish Market: A blast from the past

This empirical study is based on the author’s PhD thesis. It aims at rescuing from the Sands of Time the spirit of the destination under analysis, basing itself on the data collected from 1930s newspapers, besides contemporary approaches to that decade in the fields of Political History, War, Tourism, and Leisure. In 1910 the Figueiredos were led to Estoris due to the microclimate, and by 1914 the entrepreneur invested on a local project meant to erect Portugal’s 1st international resort built from scratch. The plan was accomplished even after the Republican regime made way for the military and civilian dictatorships, for as Hall defends authoritarian regimes do not repel tourists. Estoril was then propelled by the Gambling Law and, as Gibbons wrote in 1936, it soon attracted the mighty and the fallen, mainly of British and Spanish origins. This recollection begins with a summary of the delicate Iberian context between 1910 and 1939, and then refers the Sunny Coast as the unofficial stage of the Spanish Civil War, for since 1931 characters like General Sanjurjo settled as refugees. These visitors were pampered thanks to a Vice-Consulate (Cascais), a hotel managed by Galician partners (Monte Estoril), a multitude of leisure delights (Estoril), and Parede’s Radio Club. The Sunny Coast’s support to Franco soon led to rumours that drove tourists away, hence the reference to the strategies applied to overcome them. One shall finish by mentioning the current reality of equipments and the weak historic memory, whose proper recovery might allow to create a new cultural offer linked to the contemporary ‘Cascais’ destination for this neighbouring niche market

21st century Cascais:how the waves of time forged a cultural heritage also enjoyed by tourists

The romans were the first seafaring visitors to reach Cascais, a place where men already lived off harvesting the ocean.Throughout the centuries his proximidity to Lisbon turned it into a focal point for the military defence of the capital, and the warning of seafarers against costal perils. As a strategic landmark, Cascais was one of the first towns in Portugal to have a permanent lighthouse, and the town chosen by King Luís as the country's first costal resort. Currently, many are the cultural resources available to tourists that reflect the reformulation of facilities and heritage for the sake of tourism. A lighthouse was recently converted into first museum of its kind, and the Sea Museum displays archaeological and ethnographic items, while Tourism and services have replaced fishing as important activities of the town. the sea is also represented on artistic pavements, while formeraristocratic residences have been converted into hotels, and a conventinto a cultural centre. Folk devotion still honours Our Lady´s protection to fishermen with outdoor events, while its citadel has lost its military purpose, in order to host several "genres" of open-air initiatives. In gastronomic terms, along withfish dishes, the "Areias de Cascais" are butter cookies spinkled with sugar that also recall the town´s sandy beaches

Charles II: A Man Caught Between Tradition and Science

Charles II was a man torn between cultural tradition and scientific progress. The son of England’s only absolutist King went down in History as the nation’s “Merry Monarch”, while his support to Science and progress tends to be overlooked by the country’s historians. Although he was brought up believing in the divine right of ruling, reality soon took its toll on his life as he suffered with Charles I’s beheading and his own exile in mainland Europe. Later on, invited to return and appease England’s political turmoil, Charles II would hold on to the roots of ancestry by reviving religious rites like Maundy Thursday, the King’s Touch, and the Coronation trail. Charles II also recovered his parents’ sponsorship over the Arts and Sciences, taking the latter into another level of achievements and acknowledgement. Indeed, not only did he found the Royal Society, as he did attend meetings, yearning to learn more about the latest breakthroughs. Thus, in spite of the Stuarts’ defeat at the Glorious Revolution, time proved its kindness towards Charles II and though restrained in his actions by Parliament’s opposition, Charles II’s reign granted London Flamsteed’s Greenwich Observatory, Hooke’s “The Monument”, and Wren’s Cathedral, securing the way to a greater understanding of Nature and building the foundations to a Scientific Revolution

A Journey Through Time and the European Visual Arts Based on the Novel Orlando, A Biography (A Perspective)

The goal of this analysis is to establish a parallel between Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando, A Biography, the 1992 film directed by Sally Potter, and a few examples of European canvases that may have inspired both artists. Woolf broke the shackles that still dominated British literature in the 1920s by writing a storyline that encompasses four centuries of a nation’s life and of mixed emotions for the novel’s leading character: Orlando was/is his/her name. Both the book published in 1928 and the film directed in 1992 start by presenting Orlando as an Elizabethan nobleman. As the plot unfolds, much like a caterpillar Orlando will evolve from a shy teenage boy into a confident adult woman. However, Woolf and Potter’s distinctive timelines and perceptions of the world explain the different paths offered by each author to Orlando in the last stages of their works. Focusing on this text’s purpose, its writer shall start by reflecting over some recurrent elements of the book written in 1928 as a means to praise the outstanding cultural background of Virginia Woolf at the time of its production. The following step will be to present canvases produced by painters like George Gower, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt or even Marcel Duchamp that can be associated both to some excerpts of the novel and/or to scenes from the movie