819 research outputs found
“Truth is Subjectivity” in Johannes Climacus’ Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments: Developing an Understanding of Kierkegaard on Truth
This thesis investigates what the statement “truth is subjectivity” means within the context of Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, the last work written under the Søren Kierkegaard’s pseudonym, Johannes Climacus. Such a statement looks prima facie like a declarative claim that all truth is relative to individual interpretation. However, read in context and under the layers of indirect communication, “truth is subjectivity” instead means to remind the individual that 1) truth is only understood through the mind of a finite person, 2) truth matters because of what subjects do with it, and 3) truth is best understood as being grounded in faith. “Truth is subjectivity” as a statement also summarizes in three words Climacus’ perspective on how an individual is to successfully pursue ethical and religious truth
The Development of Intercultural Maturity in Second Year College Students
Globalization and the development of cultural competence have become increasingly important in our pluralistic society. The ability to effectively interact with, understand, and make meaning of our experiences in a global setting is a critical learning outcome in order to address the complex issues of society. Higher education associations have deemed intercultural competence as an important outcome for graduates and international education is often a key strategy to realizing this goal. Increasingly over the past ten years, the second-year of college stands out as being developmentally significant by higher education scholars and practitioners. As second-year students experience and question the complexity of the self and the world as they progress into adulthood, institutions of higher education have a responsibility to support and facilitate this process.
The purpose of this mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study was to investigate the development of intercultural maturity in second year college students -- both those who complete a short-term study abroad experience and those who remain on campus. Pre-test, post-test, and three-month follow-up post-test data were collected using the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI). Using descriptive and inferential statistics, this study compared the changes in cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal development of the participants.
The results demonstrated a statistically significant growth in intercultural maturity directly after the three-week study abroad program for the study abroad students. However, the three-month follow-up survey showed that students who studied abroad had the same mean score for intercultural maturity as the control group by the end of their second year in college. This research also examined which social identities, campus involvement, and behaviors in college may be correlated to the development of intercultural maturity. Ethnicity, socio-economic status, parental education, and faculty-related engagement showed some level of significance, however, these factors were independent from the short-term study abroad program for second-year college students. The results of this study contribute to the existing literature surrounding the development of cultural competence, the growing knowledge of second-year college student development, and short-term study abroad programs. This research also provides universities with an improved understanding of curricular and co-curricular efforts that aid in the development of intercultural maturity
Intensity-Resolved Above Threshold Ionization of Xenon with Short Laser Pulses
We present intensity-resolved above threshold ionization (ATI) spectra of
xenon using an intensity scanning and deconvolution technique. Experimental
data were obtained with laser pulses of 58 fs and central wavelength of 800 nm
from a chirped-pulse amplifier. Applying a deconvolution algorithm, we obtained
spectra that have higher contrast and are in excellent agreement with
characteristic 2 and 10 cutoff energies contrary to that found for
raw data. The retrieved electron ionization probability is consistent with the
presence of a second electron from double ionization. This recovered ionization
probability is confirmed with a calculation based on the PPT tunneling
ionization model [Perelomov, Popov, and Terent'ev, Sov. Phys. JETP 23, 924
(1966)]. Thus, the measurements of photoelectron yields and the proposed
deconvolution technique allowed retrieval of more accurate spectroscopic
information from the ATI spectra and ionization probability features that are
usually concealed by volume averaging.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
High-power mid-infrared frequency comb source based on a femtosecond Er:fiber oscillator
We report on a high-power mid-infrared frequency comb source based on a
femtosecond Er:fiber oscillator with a stabilized repetition rate at 250 MHz.
The mid-infrared frequency comb is produced through difference frequency
generation in a periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate crystal. The
output power is about 120 mW with a pulse duration of about 80 fs, and spectrum
coverage from 2.9 to 3.6 um. The coherence properties of the produced
high-power broadband mid-infrared frequency comb are maintained, which was
verified by heterodyne measurements. As the first application, the spectrum of
a ~200 ppm methane-air mixture in a short 20 cm glass cell at ambient
atmospheric pressure and temperature was measured.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figure
Frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near infrared
We perform femtosecond frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near
infrared with a femtosecond Er doped fiber laser, a scanning high-finesse
cavity and an InGaAs camera. By utilizing the properties of a frequency comb
and a scanning high-finesse cavity such spectroscopy provides broad spectral
bandwidth, high spectral resolution, and high detection sensitivity on a short
time scale. We achieved an absorption sensitivity of ~8E-8 cm-1Hz-1/2
corresponding to a detection limit of ~70 ppbv for acetylene, with a resolution
of ~1.1 GHz in single images taken in 0.5 seconds and covering a frequency
range of ~5 THz. These measurements have broad applications for sensing other
greenhouse gases in this fingerprint near IR region with a simple apparatus.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
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