Culture, emotions and narratives in education for cultural diversity: A sociocultural approach

Developing a reflexive stance on personal emotions and experiences relating to otherness is one of the main goals of innovative pedagogical activities designed to combat racism. This novel socio-constructivist approach to cultural diversity in education seems an interesting alternative to essentialist approaches, as it involves the learner and uses reflexivity to foster change. However, little is yet known about the psychosocial effects of introducing emotions and personal experiences into the learning environment. In this paper, adopting a sociocultural theoretical framework, we describe two pedagogical settings in which students’ emotions and personal experiences were addressed in a multicultural context. The results of our first study showed that, in some teacher-student interactions, students’ verbalized emotions were articulated in a more generic discourse. Working with emotions can therefore lead to what we call a secondarization process, whereby personal experiences are related to collective and conceptualized knowledge. However, these pedagogical practices may also generate unexpected outcomes that hinder learning. The second study explored the structuring effect of (self-)narratives, viewed as psychological instruments. These findings are discussed with a view to informing the debate on the role of emotional aspects in education, and sociocultural research in psychology examining the complex interplay between individual and cultural dimensions in learning

Developmental toxic effects of ethylbenzene or toluene alone and in combination with butyl acetate in rats after inhalation exposure

First, the developmental toxic potential of n-butyl acetate (BA) was examined in Sprague-Dawley rats following whole body inhalation exposure, 6 h day-1, from day 6 to 20 of gestation, at concentrations of 0, 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000 ppm. Maternal toxicity was evidenced by significant decreases in body weight gain at 2000 and 3000 ppm, and by reduced food consumption at 1000 ppm and higher concentrations. The effects on prenatal development were limited to a significant decrease in fetal weight at 3000 ppm. Thus, inhaled BA was not a selective developmental toxicant. In the second part of this study, the developmental toxic effects of simultaneous exposures to ethylbenzene (EB) and BA, or to toluene (TOL) and BA were evaluated. Pregnant rats were administered EB (0, 250 or 1000 ppm) and BA (0, 500 or 1500 ppm), or TOL (0, 500 or 1500 ppm) and BA (0, 500, 1500 ppm), separately and in combinations, using a 2 × 2 factorial design. The maternal weight gain was reduced after exposure to 1000 ppm EB, to 1500 ppm BA, or to 1500 ppm TOL, either alone or in binary combinations. A significant reduction of fetal weight was associated with exposure to 1000 ppm EB alone, to either mixtures of EB with BA, or to 1500 ppm TOL alone or combined with BA at either concentration. No embryolethal or teratogenic effects were observed whatever the exposure. There was no evidence of interaction between EB and BA or between TOL and BA in causing maternal or developmental effects. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Self-narration and agency as interactive achievements: A sociocultural and interactionist analysis of migrant women's stories in a language learning setting

Migration is commonly seen as disrupting individuals’ sense of continuity and agency. In current research on adult identity development, (self-)narratives are regarded as a means of making sense of self. We combined an interactional methodology with a sociocultural and dialogical perspective to examine collective identity processes at work during self-narration by immigrant women in a learning language setting. Data were gathered throughout an intervention designed to encourage participants to put their personal experiences of migration into words. Verbal interactions were analysed to identify 1) narrative discursive units, 2) agentic relationships in and on the narratives, and 3) processes of narrative co-construction. Results showed that self-narratives arose from dynamic interactions in which participants displayed discursive skills in negotiating status and instructions, supported the cognitive and affective work of narrating in a foreign language, and constructed agency that challenged the poor immigrant woman image. We discuss the contributions of our study in terms of methodology and interventions

Lost Futurities: Science Fiction in Contemporary Art from the Middle East

Lost Futurities examines science fiction (sf) in contemporary artistic practices from the Middle East. Focusing predominantly on works produced in the second decade of this century (2006-2020), when artists from the region started engaging more explicitly with sf, the study is transnational (including Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria) and interdisciplinary, drawing on a variety of fields in the humanities (including sf studies, area studies, postcolonial studies, visual culture studies and the environmental humanities). It looks specifically at how sf signals loss while simultaneously operating as a recuperative device. Each chapter foregrounds a sf trope that facilitates this - imperfect - dynamic of loss and recuperation, creating a speculative and interpretative method that redresses issues of historicity, dispossession, violence, identity, belonging, and the nation state. The first chapter, ‘Lunar Dreams’, focuses on the sf trope of space travel and pairs it with a discussion of nostalgia, modernity and lost dreams in relation to the nation state. In my second chapter, ‘Apocalypse Now’, I interrogate how trauma, memory and forgetfulness are played out in the wake of historical and ecological catastrophe. The third chapter discusses sf’s significant Others – aliens, robots and superheroes – and explores how tactics of masquerade reframe and complicate identity and belonging, as well as individual and collective history. In the fourth chapter I propose ruin as a sf motif that can unlock the future, rather than being a manifestation of decay moored in the past. I focus on ruinous landscapes as a way to identify horizons of hope, renewal and social dreaming. In my final chapter, ‘Liquid Monstrosities’, I turn to the sf trope of the monster as a complex figure of futurity and show how artists sound alarm bells over the extractivist practices of the Anthropocene through the lens of petro- and hydro-imaginaries. Together these chapters aim to critically think with and through sf as an artistic and political project of speculative conjuring, imaging loss, opening possibility and worldbuilding. Lost Futurities wants to broaden the conversation on contemporary art and politics from the Middle East, extend the lexicon of sf tropes, and propose sf as a critical and speculative method of analysis for the humanities by studying the arts and politics of futurity

HCN and HCO+ emission in the disk of M31

We report observations made with the IRAM 30m radiotelescope in the HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) lines towards a sample of molecular complexes (GMCs) in the disk of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). The targets were identified bright CO GMCs selected from the IRAM 30m CO survey with various morphologies and environments. The clouds vary in galactocentric distances from 2.4 to 15.5kpc. The HCN and HCO+ emission is easily detected in almost all observed positions, with line widths generally similar to the CO ones and there is a good correlation between the two dense gas tracers. The HCO+ emission is slightly stronger than the HCN, in particular towards GMCs with a strong star formation activity. However the HCO+ emission is weaker than the HCN towards a quiescent cloud in the inner part of M31, which could be due to a lower abundance of HCO+. We derive I_HCN/I_CO ratios between 0.008 and 0.03 and I_HCO+/I_CO ratios between less than 0.003 and 0.04. We study the radial distribution of the dense gas in the disk of M31. Unlike our Galaxy the HCO+/CO ratio is lower in the center of M31 than in the arms, which can be explained by both a lower abundance of HCO+ and different conditions of excitation. Furthermore the HCN/CO and HCO+/CO ratios appear to be higher in the inner spiral arm and weaker in the outer arm.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&