Jeely Beely: Rolling into the Russian Fairy Tale

When I was a child, I used to think that fairy tales always ended happily, and that winning a prince\u27s affection was life\u27s grand goal. I thought so because I was exposed to Disney versions: tales of a handsome prince rescuing an isolated stepchild from boring housework as in Cinderella (1950) and tales of a kiss literally saving at least two girls\u27 lives as in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and in Sleeping Beauty (1959). While I recollect my father reading to my brother and me from an encyclopedia-sized collection of Aesop \u27s Fables, I do not recall him reading Brothers Grimms\u27 and Charles Perrault\u27s fairy tales to us, unfortunately (or fortunately, since their tales employ violence that would have deprived six-year-old me of sleep). Instead, my primary experience with fairy tales was that of most children\u27s who grew up in the nineties: I watched the animated fairy tales of Walt Disney (1901-66). I can confidently inform you that the first Disney film in my possession was The Fox and the Hound (1981), and I watched it on our home\u27s static-prone, fickle operating videocassette recorder with a friend, by myself, or with my cabbage patch dolls, each time in wonder and awe. Admittedly, Disney\u27s films had a tyrannous hold on my adolescent imagination. They became, and still are, a part of our formative American culture.... It makes sense, then, that fairy tales might also influence the formative culture of international societies, even those outside of the western hemisphere. Particularly, how might a Russian child be influenced by her country\u27s familiar fairy tales? This question charged my research. I was convinced that delving into a comparative literary study on three different variants of a fairy tale would improve my understanding of Russian culture

Gendering the Republic and the Nation: Political Poster Art of the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

The Spanish Civil War is typically presented as a military narrative of the ideological battle between socialism and fascism, foreshadowing World War II. Yet the Spanish war continued trends begun during World War I, notably the use of propaganda posters and the movement of women into visible roles within the public sphere. Employing cultural studies methods to read propaganda poster art from the Spanish war as texts, this thesis analyzes the ways in which this persuasive medium represented extremes of gender discourse within the context of letters, memoirs, and other experiential accounts. This thesis analyzes symbols present in propaganda art and considers how their meanings interacted with the changing gendered identities of Republic and nation. Even within the relatively egalitarian Republic, political factions constructed conflicting representations of femininity in propaganda art, and women’s accounts indicate that despite ideological differences, both sides still shared a patriarchal worldview

Mindfulness Research Update: 2008.

OBJECTIVE: To briefly review the effects of mindfulness on the mind, the brain, the body, and behavior. METHODS: Selective review of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases (2003-2008) using the terms mindfulness , meditation , mental health , physical health , quality of life , and stress reduction. A total of 52 exemplars of empirical and theoretical work were selected for review. RESULTS: Both basic and clinical research indicate that cultivating a more mindful way of being is associated with less emotional distress, more positive states of mind, and better quality of life. In addition, mindfulness practice can influence the brain, the autonomic nervous system, stress hormones, the immune system, and health behaviors, including eating, sleeping and substance use, in salutary ways. CONCLUSION: The application of cutting-edge technology toward understanding mindfulness - an inner technology - is elucidating new ways in which attention, awareness, acceptance, and compassion may promote optimal health - in mind, body, relationships, and spirit

Hobbes, Locke, and the State of Nature Theories: A Reassessment

The classic story told about modern political philosophy paints Hobbes and Locke as contrasting figures who have differing opinions about human psychology. The author of this article rejects such a picture and instead argues that Locke’s state of nature contains features that are strikingly similar to Hobbes’. The author reassesses the supposedly “egoist” Hobbes and the “civil” Locke. It becomes clear that Hobbes’ mechanism and rhetorical bent influence his description of the state of nature—the world without social arrangement. Locke, who is more direct and practical, depicts a state of nature that is actually pre-political and normative. Such differences mask the fact that each philosopher provides a compelling argument for the use of reason in politics—for the practical construction of political bodies. They both advocate a government designed to influence our natural passions and avoid the danger of war

Burnout Among Master\u27s Level Mental Health Practitioners

Seventy-eight master\u27s level mental health practitioners completed survey materials including the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Psychologist\u27s Burnout Inventory (PBI), and a demographic and job satisfaction questionnaire modified for this study from a 1994 study of school psychologists (Niebrugge, 1994). The random sample of community mental health centers selected to receive survey materials came from a list obtained from the Illinois Department of Mental Health (DMH). Results suggested that symptoms of burnout frequently occur among this group of clinicians, regardless of their disciplinary training. A relationship between burnout and job-related stressors (e.g., feeling a lack of control in the work place, overinvolvement with clients) was found, however the best predictors of burnout were personal and satisfaction variables (e.g., overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with supervision, case discrepancy index) . Results support Niebrugge\u27s (1994) findings suggesting that supervising psychologists may play a key role in resistance to burnout

A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction.

This paper reviews the philosophical origins, current scientific evidence, and clinical promise of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. Historically, there are eight elements of yoga that, together, comprise ethical principles and practices for living a meaningful, purposeful, moral and self-disciplined life. Traditional yoga practices, including postures and meditation, direct attention toward one\u27s health, while acknowledging the spiritual aspects of one\u27s nature. Mindfulness derives from ancient Buddhist philosophy, and mindfulness meditation practices, such as gentle Hatha yoga and mindful breathing, are increasingly integrated into secular health care settings. Current theoretical models suggest that the skills, insights, and self-awareness learned through yoga and mindfulness practice can target multiple psychological, neural, physiological, and behavioral processes implicated in addiction and relapse. A small but growing number of well-designed clinical trials and experimental laboratory studies on smoking, alcohol dependence, and illicit substance use support the clinical effectiveness and hypothesized mechanisms of action underlying mindfulness-based interventions for treating addiction. Because very few studies have been conducted on the specific role of yoga in treating or preventing addiction, we propose a conceptual model to inform future studies on outcomes and possible mechanisms. Additional research is also needed to better understand what types of yoga and mindfulness-based interventions work best for what types of addiction, what types of patients, and under what conditions. Overall, current findings increasingly support yoga and mindfulness as promising complementary therapies for treating and preventing addictive behaviors