Mediatization of religion and Cultural Studies: a reading of Stuart Hall

Although the issue of religion does not occupy a prominent place in the works of Stuart Hall or even in Cultural Studies in general, some contemporary phenomena related to media and religion relations can be analyzed within this key of interpretation, mostly when we think on the intersection with identity. In this text, some theoretic and conceptual possibilities are outlined in order to understand the process of mediatization of religion from a perspective of articulation of identities, focusing, in particular, on questions related to body and culture.Embora a questão da religião não ocupe um lugar de destaque na obra de Stuart Hall ou mesmo no âmbito dos Estudos Culturais, alguns dos fenômenos contemporâneos direcionados para as relações entre Mídia e Religião podem ser analisados dentro desta chave de compreensão, sobretudo quando se pensa na intersecção com questões de identidade. Neste texto, são delineadas algumas possibilidades teórico-conceituais de compreensão dos processos de midiatização da religião a partir da perspectiva de articulações identitárias, focalizando, em particular, nas questões relacionadas a corpo e cultura

Combining CV and RP data: a note on the relationship between consistency and rationality

In this paper, we show that, when combining revealed (RP) and stated (SP) data, for marginal changes in quality of environmental goods, rationality implies consistency, as the consistency conditions coincide with a subset of the conditions for rationality.combined (RP and SP) individual data; rationality; data consistency

Protesting or Justifying? A Latent Class Model for Contingent Valuation with Attitudinal Data

This article develops a latent class model for estimating willingness-to-pay for public goods using simultaneously contingent valuation (CV) and attitudinal data capturing protest attitudes related to the lack of trust in public institutions providing those goods. A measure of the social cost associated with protest responses and the consequent loss in potential contributions for providing the public good is proposed. The presence of potential justification biases is further considered, that is, the possibility that for psychological reasons the response to the CV question affects the answers to the attitudinal questions. The results from our empirical application suggest that psychological factors should not be ignored in CV estimation for policy purposes, allowing for a correct identification of protest responses. JEL codes: C35, C85, Q51

Combining Averting Behavior and Contingent Valuation Data: An Application to Drinking Water Treatment

This paper is an empirical application that combines averting behavior with contingent valuation data. Consistency tests are performed incorporating alternative heteroscedastic structures in the bivariate probit models by taking advantage of the different information content that characterizes each data source. We look at three covariates not yet examined in the literature when combining stated and revealed preferred data to explain the variance in the models: income, the bid in the contingent valuation questionnaire, and the distance between the bid and the averting expenditures with drinking water. The models estimated include between and within data sources heteroscedasticity. The results obtained allow the combination of the two data sources under a common preference structure.averting behavior, combination of data sets, consistency tests, contingent valuation, revealed preferred data

Multiple-Modality Associative Memory: a framework for Learning

Drawing from memory the face of a friend you have not seen in years is a difficult task. However, if you happen to cross paths, you would easily recognize each other. The biological memory is equipped with an impressive compression algorithm that can store the essential, and then infer the details to match perception. Willshaw's model of Associative memory is a likely candidate for a computational model of this brain function, but its application on real-world data is hindered by the so-called Sparse Coding Problem. Due to a recently proposed sparse encoding prescription [31], which maps visual patterns into binary feature maps, we were able to analyze the behavior of the Willshaw Network (WN) on real-world data and gain key insights into the strengths of the model. To further enhance the capabilities of the WN, we propose the Multiple-Modality architecture. In this new setting, the memory stores several modalities (e.g., visual, or textual) simultaneously. After training, the model can be used to infer missing modalities when just a subset is perceived, thus serving as a flexible framework for learning tasks. We evaluated the model on the MNIST dataset. By storing both the images and labels as modalities, we were able to successfully perform pattern completion, classification, and generation with a single model.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure

Um roteiro às avessas: uma aproximação didática para a leitura de Lucrécia D’A. Ferrara

¿Cómo leer la obra de Lucrécia D'Alessio Ferrara? Ciertamente hay más de una aproximación a un trabajo que se ramifica desde la Teoría de la Comunicación hasta el Urbanismo, desde el Diseño hasta la Semiótica. Este trabajo es una propuesta didáctica inicial para la lectura de su obra, nacida de las clases y lineamientos de investigación, presentando el desarrollo de algunos de los temas e ideas relacionadas con un concepto de comunicación que va surgiendo a lo largo del tiempo. Se propone un aporte cronológico de los temas principales: (1) una concepción ampliada del lenguaje, en diálogo con la semiótica; (2) estudios sobre la lectura comunicacional de la ciudad y las visualidades del espacio urbano y (3) un concepto de comunicación basado en la apertura del acto de comunicar. Estos puntos se presentan ubicando brevemente su producción en el contexto de los estudios de comunicación.Como ler o trabalho de Lucrécia D´'Alessio Ferrara? Certamente há mais de uma aproximação a uma obra que se ramifica da Teoria da Comunicação ao Urbanismo, do Design à Semiótica. Este trabalho é uma proposta didática inicial para a leitura de seu trabalho, nascida de aulas e orientações de pesquisa, apresentando o desenvolvimento de algumas dos temas e ideias relacionadas a um conceito de comunicação que emerge ao longo do tempo. Propõe-se um aporte cronológico das principais temáticas: (1) uma concepção expandida de linguagem, em diálogo com a semiótica; (2) estudos sobre a leitura comunicacional da cidade e das visualidades do espaço urbano e (3) um conceito de comunicação pautado na abertura do ato de comunicar. Esses pontos são apresentados situando-se brevemente sua produção no contexto dos estudos de comunicação.How to read Lucrecia Ferrara’s work? Certainly there is more than one way to deal with an intellectual production that deals with several subjects, from communication theory to urbanism, from design to semiotics and beyond. This paper intends to provide a draft for a reading of her work by presenting some of her main books, mainly in chronological order. It emerges from the classroom need for an initial presentation of Ferrara’s work, directed to undergraduate students or someone in the first steps of graduate studies. It does not intend to be a complete or critical discussion of her ideas, but only an aid for future readers. Grounded on bibliographical research, this paper briefly places her books in the context of communication studies

Lideranca Servidora: Um Estudo De Saude Organizacional, Dos Estilos E Praticas Da Lideranca E Da Satisfacao Do Trabalho Segundo A Percepcao Do Ministerio Pastoral Da Associacao Mineira Sul Da Igreja Adventista Do Setimo Dia

Problem Considering that Southern Minas Conference (AMS) growth rate is lower than other fields within the Brazilian Southeast Union (USEB) an investigation was conducted regarding the organizational health, the practices and styles of leadership, as well as the job satisfaction level among AMS pastors. Method The study was conducted among 46 pastors who represent three levels of leadership: Top Leadership, Management and Work Force as established by the research instrument Organizational Leadership Assessment (OLA) that analyses the perception of the participants regarding six key areas of leadership, six levels of organizational health, and job satisfaction level of the Work Force, which was also divided in two groups: ordained and aspiring pastors. Results The study revealed that the participants perceived the AMS organizational health as limited, the leadership style as paternalistic negative, whereas the whole Work Force considered as good the level of job satisfaction. It was also detected that the aspiring pastors perceived the organizational health as moderate and the leadership style as paternalistic positive, whereas the ordained pastors perceived the two aspects as limited and paternalistic positive respectively. Conclusion Through the present research it is possible to conclude that AMS has two main challenges to face: promote growth regarding organizational health towards moderate, excellent and optimal levels, and development regarding leadership style from paternalistic negative towards paternalistic positive and servant leadership. As for job satisfaction, though considered as good, there is also space for growth towards very good

A teoria vista do quadro-negro: tensões da epistemologia no discurso docente sobre Teoria(s) da Comunicação

Qual a visão de docentes de Teoria da Comunicação a respeito da constituição e dos limites epistemológicos dessa disciplina? Essa questão emerge da tensão entre a pluralidade de teorias em circulação na Área e as demandas disciplinares institucionais. A partir de questionários respondidos por quinze docentes de universidades públicas e privadas escolhidos após pesquisa exploratória prévia, foram delineadas três grupos de respostas: (1) as ambivalências epistemológicas da área manifestam-se na discordância a respeito do espectro coberto pela disciplina; (2) "significado histórico" e "relevância contemporânea" são levados em conta pelos docentes na escolha dos tópicos da disciplinas; (3) identifica-se a presença de demandas institucionais na definição dos conteúdos curriculares. Esses fatores são discutidos a partir de suas ramificações epistemológicas