El Online Picasso Project en el marco del proyecto Catálogos artísticos: gnoseología, epistemologías y redes de conocimiento

Conferencia impartida por Enrique Mallen, profesor titular de la Sam Houston State University, Texas (EE.UU.), el día 13 de enero de 2016, en el marco del grado de Historia del Arte de la Universidad de Málaga y del proyecto de I+D referido en el título. A lo largo de su exposición, el profesor Mallen desgranó las características y el funcionamiento del Online Picasso Project (OPP), el mayor archivo documental sobre la obra y figura de Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Especialmente, mostró las potencialidades de este recurso digital para optimizar la investigación en torno a Picasso, proponiendo líneas de trabajo inéditas solo posibles a partir de las combinatorias computacionales que el sistema del OPP ofrece. Asimismo, presentó la nueva línea de desarrollo, recientemente iniciada, relativa a la indexación de las exposiciones sobre Picasso y de sus catálogos, y las posibilidades que el registro de estos datos abre para profundizar en la recepción y difusión de la obra picassiana, así como de los discursos construidos en torno a ella.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Responsible research and innovation in science education: insights from evaluating the impact of using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values

The European Commission policy approach of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is gaining momentum in European research planning and development as a strategy to align scientific and technological progress with socially desirable and acceptable ends. One of the RRI agendas is science education, aiming to foster future generations' acquisition of skills and values needed to engage in society responsibly. To this end, it is argued that RRI-based science education can benefit from more interdisciplinary methods such as those based on arts and digital technologies. However, the evidence existing on the impact of science education activities using digital media and arts-based methods on RRI values remains underexplored. This article comparatively reviews previous evidence on the evaluation of these activities, from primary to higher education, to examine whether and how RRI-related learning outcomes are evaluated and how these activities impact on students' learning. Forty academic publications were selected and its content analysed according to five RRI values: creative and critical thinking, engagement, inclusiveness, gender equality and integration of ethical issues. When evaluating the impact of digital and arts-based methods in science education activities, creative and critical thinking, engagement and partly inclusiveness are the RRI values mainly addressed. In contrast, gender equality and ethics integration are neglected. Digital-based methods seem to be more focused on students' questioning and inquiry skills, whereas those using arts often examine imagination, curiosity and autonomy. Differences in the evaluation focus between studies on digital media and those on arts partly explain differences in their impact on RRI values, but also result in non-documented outcomes and undermine their potential. Further developments in interdisciplinary approaches to science education following the RRI policy agenda should reinforce the design of the activities as well as procedural aspects of the evaluation research

Fernande Olivier and Pablo Picasso’s advance towards cubism

Marina Picasso escribió con respecto a la relación de su abuelo con sus compañeras que «las embrujaba, las digiría, y las plasmaba en sus lienzos» (Picasso, 2001, p. 180). Lo que no tomó en cuenta es el hecho que aquellas mujeres jugaron un papel vital en el proceso creativo del artista, a menudo estimulando grandes cambios en su carrera. Aunque no aprobamos de ninguna manera su comportamiento hacia el sexo opuesto, este artículo se concentra en el impacto crucial que una de sus primeras compañeras, Fernande Olivier, tuvo en su obra mientras Picasso avanzaba hacia el Cubismo. El estilo del artistas fue cambiando al inicio de su convivencia con ella en el Bateau-Lavoir, consolidando el conocido Período Rosa. La influencia transformadora de Fernande continuará por algún tiempo, alcanzando puntos críticos durante dos viajes que hicieron juntos a España. Como se sabe, el joven Picasso regresaba a su país de origen cuando se disponía a hacer importantes cambios en su estilo. Éste fue el caso definitivamente durante estas dos visitas a Gósol en 1906 y Horta en 1909. La primera condujo al desarrollo del llamado Periodo Ibérico en el que se centró progresivamente en el uso de máscaras, aplicándolas en un principio al rostro de Fernande. Ella será igualmente un componente esencial durante la segunda estancia en España, cuando Picasso desarrolla en Cubismo Geométrico. Aquí de nuevo, el artista projectó los nuevos descubrimientos en se compañera, intentando integrar pintura y escultura en sus lienzos a través de los rasgos de ella.Marina Picasso wrote about her grandfather’s relationship with his female companions that he «bewitched them, ingested them, and crushed them onto his canvas» (Picasso, 2001, p. 180). What she did not take into account is the fact that those women played a vital role in his creative process, often bringing about major shifts in his career. While we in no way condone his behavior towards the opposite sex, this article concentrates on the crucial impact one of his early life partners, Fernande Olivier, had on his oeuvre as he advanced towards Cubism. Picasso’s style changed as he started living with her in the Bateau-Lavoir, leading to the well-known Rose Period. Fernande’s transformative influence would continue and reach high points during two trips they took together to Spain. As is well known, the young Picasso traveled back home whenever he prepared for a major change in his style. This was definitely the case for these two visits to Gósol in 1906 and Horta in 1909. The first one led to the development of the so-called Iberian period in which Picasso progressively focused on the use of masks, applying them first to Fernande’s features. She would be equally central during their second stay in Spain, when Picasso developed Geometrical Cubism. Again, he projected his discovery onto his companion, as he attempted to merge painting and sculpture when capturing her figure in his canvases

Assessing Methods for Determining Reference Conditions for Riparian Restoration in Santa Clara County

Valley Water is the primary water wholesaler and flood control agency in Santa Clara County, providing services to 1.9 million residents. The operation and maintenance of infrastructure for water supply and flood control often require work within legally protected natural resources such as riparian ecosystems. Riparian ecosystems are dynamic and diverse ecosystems that provide our society with valuable services such as wildlife habitat, water quality, and recreation. However, the threat of human development on native ecosystems has led to the degradation and loss of 85-98% of riparian ecosystems nationwide. Today, federal, state, and regional laws mitigate further impacts to riparian ecosystems and require compensatory mitigation when impacts to jurisdictional areas cannot be avoided. Reference sites can improve the outcomes of mitigation and restoration projects by providing regionally appropriate models of near-pristine ecosystems that allow for the development of ecologically based standards for evaluating the success of projects. This study provides a methodology for reference site selection and field assessment to determine regionally appropriate reference conditions for riparian ecosystems. The methodology of this study includes a literature review and a comparative analysis of existing riparian condition assessment methods. To determine suitability of a riparian ecosystem to serve as a high quality- reference site, this study evaluated criteria such as land use, invasive species cover, distance to roads, and history of past fire. Results confirm that reference sites should not be chosen from areas classified as urban or agriculture land use, because of the negative impacts those land uses have on hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation. Riparian areas classified as rangeland maybe be used if they have not been overgrazed, and riparian areas classified as protected land use may serve as the highest quality reference ecosystems. Reference ecosystems should also have less than 15% invasive tree and shrub cover; less than 30% invasive herb cover; be further than 50 meters than a road; and to ensure the ecosystem has not been disturbed, not burned in a fire for four years. A combination of two assessment methods, the California Native Plant Society’s Vegetation Rapid Assessment and the California Rapid Assessment Method for wetland and riparian areas, provide the best method to measure parameters important for determining reference conditions and compensatory mitigation permit conditions such as vegetation, water quality, and habitat quality. By using this methodology for selecting reference sites and using field-assessment methods to define physical reference conditions, managers at Valley Water and agencies and nonprofits throughout California can gain a well-rounded understanding of reference conditions in their region. These regionally specific reference conditions will benefit restoration and mitigation project success, and help regulatory agencies apply regionally appropriate success criteria

Rethinking pedagogy for the times: a change infusion pedagogy

This doctoral dissertation research reports on the exploration of higher education academics' pedagogical responses to complex societal postindustrial change. The topic arises from a deep personal interest in processes of societal change and the need for such processes to be in the professional practices of academics. The research problem that guides the study is: In what way(s) and to what extent can University instructors be assisted to incorporate change-based concepts in their pedagogical practices through application of a conceptual framework for change infusion? In response to the problem, a change infusion model (CIM) arises from an analysis of authoritative literature on change. Change infusion is an educational process that utilises key concepts from theories of change to provide a meaningful context for pedagogical practice in times where pervasive societal transformation is the norm. Gay's (1995) multiple stages of infusion are of particular importance in the CIM. The generation of the theoretical definition of infusion in the CIM provides practising academics with an explanatory system that enables them to infuse significant elements of change into pedagogical practices. In essence, the CIM purports to guide instructors to move beyond teaching about change to teaching for change. The research design includes the cognitive-constructivist theoretical foundations, with particular reference to Dewey (1933), Piaget (1951), Lewin (1951), Schon (1983, 1987), Calderhead (1988), and Patton (2002). Of particular importance is the analysis of opinions concerning pedagogical practice of a small number of University practitioners after engaging with the CIM during each of the three stages of trials. The trials utilize the cognitive constructivist quality of reflection as a means to link theory to practice. The conclusions from the research support a conceptual model, such as the CIM, for use to teach for change. As a result of the Stage 3 trial research in particular, the conceptual model from the beginning point of the study is refined, thereby hopefully providing a useful tool for academics in a wide range of contexts and disciplines to respond in meaningful ways to the process of major change that impinge upon them and their work

Eye shape and retinal shape, and their relation to peripheral refraction

Purpose: We provide an account of the relationships between eye shape, retinal shape and peripheral refraction. Recent findings: We discuss how eye and retinal shapes may be described as conicoids, and we describe an axis and section reference system for determining shapes. Explanations are given of how patterns of retinal expansion during the development of myopia may contribute to changing patterns of peripheral refraction, and how pre-existing retinal shape might contribute to the development of myopia. Direct and indirect techniques for determining eye and retinal shape are described, and results are discussed. There is reasonable consistency in the literature of eye length increasing at a greater rate than height and width as the degree of myopia increases, so that eyes may be described as changing from oblate/spherical shapes to prolate shapes. However, one study indicates that the retina itself, while showing the same trend, remains oblate in shape for most eyes (discounting high myopia). Eye shape and retinal shape are not the same and merely describing an eye shape as being prolate or oblate is insufficient without some understanding of the parameters contributing to this; in myopia a prolate eye shape is likely to involve both a steepening retina near the posterior pole combined with a flattening (or a reduction in steepening compared with an emmetrope) away from the pole