Streets of memory: the Kuzguncuk mahalle in cultural practice and imagination

textThe mahalle (neighborhood) was the historic space of urban culture in the Middle East. Cities in the region possessed a rich religious and linguistic diversity. The daily life of a religious community was centered in its mahalle. This cosmopolitanism was fractured with the birth of nationalism and its ethnic and linguistic claims to territory, and minorities migrated to new nations. Researchers have explored migration histories of various groups in the region, but this dissertation is the first to examine the consequences of this migration for the spaces of urban life. In this ethnography of Kuzguncuk, Istanbul, I relate narratives of place that challenge both popular discourse surrounding Istanbul’s recent history as well as nostalgic images of past cosmopolitan mahalle life. The contemporary mahalle is a Turkish, urban cultural space created by social practices of neighboring. These social practices are eroding, however, in contemporary Istanbul. The mahalle has moved into the realm of collective memory, and has come to embody familiarity in place. Historic landscapes in Istanbul signify the collective memory even as they manifest the rips of recent cultural change in the city. My work lies in the interstices of three spheres of contemporary theory in geography: the production of space; the co-constitutive nature of landscape morphology and representation; and the relationship between landscape and collective memory.Geography and the Environmen

Boundaries of the nation in the space of the urban: landscape and social memory in Istanbul

Kuzguncuk, Istanbul, is known for its small-scale neighbourhood landscape and its close social ties, as well as its multiethnic history. The Armenian church and the mosque in Kuzguncuk have become symbolic ‘evidence’, in popular culture, of past multiethnic harmony. A Muslim elite is restoring Kuzguncuk's historic houses and its neighbourhood culture. The production of Kuzguncuk's landscape is sustained by two interrelated nostalgic narratives: a narrative of multicultural tolerance; and the narrative of the neighbourhood, the mahalle, as the urban space of belonging and familiarity. However, the ‘lie of the land’ is that this landscape obscures a contentious and traumatic minority history, and gentrification is creating new social divides. Kuzguncuk's minorities are gone. The traumas they experienced during mid-century Turkification, as well as the current divisions of class and origin in Kuzguncuk, are denied in the popular narrative. This denial attempts to hide tension embedded in the national narrative of belonging. This study of the power dynamics shaping Kuzguncuk's landscape examines the terms of belonging, of being a ‘Turk’, in Turkey, a debate which both redraws and contests the boundaries of the nation in the space of the urban

Acute changes in clinical breast measurements following bra removal:implications for surgical practice

AbstractBackgroundStable measurement of breast position is crucial for objective pre-operative planning and post-operative evaluation. In clinical practice, breast measures are often taken immediately following bra removal. However, research shows that restrictive clothing (such as a bra) can cause acute anatomical changes, leading to the hypothesis that clinical breast measures may change over time following bra removal. This cross-sectional observational study aimed to provide simple clinical guidelines for the measurement of breast position which account for any acute changes in breast position following bra removal.MethodsThirteen participants of varying breast sizes had markers attached to their thorax and nipples to determine clinical measures of sternal notch to nipple distance, internipple distance, breast projection, and vertical nipple position. The positions of these landmarks were recorded using a motion capture system during 10 min of controlled sitting following bra removal.ResultsInternipple distance and breast projection remained unchanged over 10 min, while the resultant sternal notch to nipple distance extended by 2.8 mm in 299 s (right) and 3.7 mm in 348 s (left). The greatest change occurred in the vertical nipple position, which migrated an average of 4.1 mm in 365 s (right) and 6.6 mm in 272 s (left), however, for one participant vertical migration was up to 20 mm.ConclusionsInternipple distance and breast projection can be measured first following bra removal, followed by sternal notch to nipple distance, any measures associated with the vertical nipple position should be made more than 6 min after bra removal. These guidelines have implications for breast surgery, particularly for unilateral reconstruction based on the residual breast position

Introduction : Digital diversity, ideology, and the politics of a writing revolution

This chapter outlines some key theoretical directions important for studying writing and literacies in digital cultures. Digital Futures articulates new perspectives concerning the ethical, sensorial, and critical elements of writing and literacies, and contemporary debates at the nexus of literacies and digital rhetoric that have direct relevance to the social construction of authorial identities for youth and other writers in education contexts. Digital Diversity brings together the work of scholars from around the world to address issues of inclusion in contemporary writing and literacies research, from race to gender, and to the geographical displacement of refugees. Digital Spaces shifts the focus to social spaces that discursively shape, and which are shaped by, writing and literacies practices. Digital Ethics debates current ethical concerns associated with the social and ethical risks of children and young people's access to information on the Internet

Chapter Introduction

At the forefront of current digital literacy studies in education, this Handbook uniquely systematizes emerging interdisciplinary themes, new knowledge, and insightful theoretical contributions to the field. The chapter topics identified through academic conference networks, rigorous analysis, and database searches of trending themes are organized in five thematic sections: Digital Futures; Digital Diversity; Digital Lives; Digital Spaces; Digital Ethics. This essential guide to digital writing and literacies research, with transformational ideas for educational and professional practice, will enable researchers to position their studies in the field and to generate new themes of inquiry

Beauty, Body Image, and the Media

This chapter analyses the role of the mass media in people’s perceptions of beauty. We summarize the research literature on the mass media, both traditional media and online social media, and how they appear to interact with psychological factors to impact appearance concerns and body image disturbances. There is a strong support for the idea that traditional forms of media (e.g. magazines and music videos) affect perceptions of beauty and appearance concerns by leading women to internalize a very slender body type as ideal or beautiful. Rather than simply being passive recipients of unrealistic beauty ideals communicated to them via the media, a great number of individuals actually seek out idealized images in the media. Finally, we review what is known about the role of social media in impacting society’s perception of beauty and notions of idealized physical forms. Social media are more interactive than traditional media and the effects of self‐presentation strategies on perceptions of beauty have just begun to be studied. This is an emerging area of research that is of high relevance to researchers and clinicians interested in body image and appearance concerns

Patient experience and challenges in group concept mapping for clinical research.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Group concept mapping (GCM) is a research method that engages stakeholders in generating, structuring and representing ideas around a specific topic or question. GCM has been used with patients to answer questions related to health and disease but little is known about the patient experience as a participant in the process. This paper explores the patient experience participating in GCM as assessed with direct observation and surveys of participants. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis performed within a larger study in which 3 GCM iterations were performed to engage patients in identifying patient-important outcomes for diabetes care. Researchers tracked the frequency and type of assistance required by each participant to complete the sorting and rating steps of GCM. In addition, a 17-question patient experience survey was administered over the telephone to the participants after they had completed the GCM process. Survey questions asked about the personal impact of participating in GCM and the ease of various steps of the GCM process. RESULTS: Researchers helped patients 92 times during the 3 GCM iterations, most commonly to address software and computer literacy issues, but also with the sorting phase itself. Of the 52 GCM participants, 40 completed the post-GCM survey. Respondents averaged 56 years of age, were 50% female and had an average hemoglobin A1c of 9.1%. Ninety-two percent (n = 37) of respondents felt that they had contributed something important to this research project and 90% (n = 36) agreed or strongly agreed that their efforts would help others with diabetes. Respondents reported that the brainstorming session was less difficult when compared with sorting and rating of statements. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that patients find value in participating in GCM. Patients reported less comfort with the sorting step of GCM when compared with brainstorming, an observation that correlates with our observations from the GCM sessions. Researchers should consider using paper sorting methods and objective measures of sorting quality when using GCM in patient-engaged research to improve the patient experience and concept map quality