Protection of Humanity’s Cultural and Historic Heritage in Space

While the international community has acted forcefully since World War II to protect sites and objects of cultural or historic significance on Earth, little attention has been paid to the same kinds of sites and objects in space. There are important ethical and scholarly reasons for wanting to preserve sites and in situ objects in off-Earth contexts from destruction or commercial exploitation. Innovative space research equipment, such as spacecraft, satellites, and space stations, and the locations of historic missions, such as Tranquility Base, therefore deserve formal international recognition and protection. Appropriate models for developing a comprehensive protective scheme can be found in existing international protocols, especially the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (and later additions), the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property, the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention, and the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Underwater Cultural Heritage. In addition, space agencies and professional organizations can mandate adequate and ethical planning for the post-operational phases of space missions to include arrangements for heritage protection

A Silver Service and a Gold Coin

The published history of a set of silver and gold objects acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1975 contains an unusual reference to a gold coin, supposedly found with the set but not purchased by the museum. The coin, which is both rare and well dated, ostensibly offers a date and location for the ancient deposition of the silver service. Almost five years of research into the stories of the Getty objects and the coin has revealed important information about these particular items, but it also offers a cautionary example for scholars who might hope to reconstruct the find-spot of antiquities that are likely to have been looted

Severan Marble Plan of Rome data files

In its original state, the Severan Marble Plan of Rome, placed on the wall of the Temple of Peace between 203 and 211 CE, showed viewers the locations of buildings throughout Rome, and even the groundplan of each of those buildings. It is today an extraordinary piece of evidence for understanding the city in that time period, despite its ruinous state. It survives in over 1,100 fragments, representing only about 10% of its original surface area. To date, scholars have successfully placed only about 100 of those fragments with respect to the buildings they depict. Using GIS and CAD software, I have digitized those fragments whose locations are known and placed them in their appropriate positions over a topographical map and satellite image of the modern city. The file is geo-referenced using the UTM coordinate system, so that the photos and drawings correspond to real-world coordinates. I correlated the placement of individual buildings with excavated remains. Scholars have long known that there are surveying errors on the Plan, though there is disagreement about the number and extent of those errors. One advantage of digitization is its flexibility; one can not only adjust the placement of any individual fragment for greater accuracy, but can also change the spacing and orientation of different buildings on a single fragment. This project gives the most precise understanding yet of the surveying and cartographic methods employed on the Plan, and it allows for the ready integration of future information from newly excavated remains. The included documents consist of .TIF raster files showing the fragments from La pianta marmorea di Roma antica, by Carettoni, Colini, Cozza, and Gatti (1960); a rectified 1980’s-era Soviet satellite image of the city; a scan of a 1:25,000 military map made by the Italian Istituto Geografico Militare published in 1949; the .DWG file with all of the above placed in it, along with vector layers showing the edges of map fragments and the carvings on the maps. There is also a PDF export of the .DWG file with layers, and a PDF document explaining the project.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/art_data/1001/thumbnail.jp

Traditional Healing Practices in an Urban Indigenous Setting: An Autoethnography

A growing number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous social workers are actively working towards the decolonization of their practice. However, incorporating traditional healing practices within an urban Indigenous setting requires commitment and dedication to understanding these practices.  Relationships with Elders and access to traditional healing practices have been advanced as critical in this process.Frameworks on how to do this work have been proposed, yet few have included stories of how these approaches are interwoven into daily practice in an urban Indigenous context. The goal of this autoethnography is to share experiences and reflections of frontline work and to further the dialogue to improve services for urban Indigenous peoples accessing social services. It is through the process of decolonization that social workers, not only fulfill their ethical professional obligations, but also contribute to reconciliation and the healing journey of Indigenous peoples

Reclaiming my Indigenous Identity and the Emerging Warrior: An Autoethnography

This autoethnography describes the Natalie St-Denis’ four-year journey in Indigenous social work, characterized as: awakening, exploring, indigenizing, reclaiming, belonging, and emerging Warrior. Awakening began with seeing herself as an ‘Indigenous woman’ and is retold through remembrances, reflections and conversations.  In the second phase, guided by Elders, she embraces ceremony to explore her emerging identity. Adopting Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing serves to indigenize -- the third phase of the journey. Reclaiming, the fourth phase, is the actor’s reconciliation of both indigenous and Western worldviews, and in belonging, she describes the reconstruction of an Indigenous community.  The final phase, emerging Warrior, concerns the integration of her personal and professional social work practitioner identity. St-Denis’ journey is revealed within the complicity of the social work profession in historical and ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples in Canada.  The Warrior is offered as a pathway to decolonize social work praxis

A Method for Space Archaeology Research: the International Space Station Archaeological Project

How does a ‘space culture’ emerge and evolve, and how can archaeologists study such a phenomenon? The International Space Station Archaeological Project seeks to analyse the social and cultural context of an assemblage relating to the human presence in space. Drawing on concepts from contemporary archaeology, the project pursues a unique perspective beyond sociological or ethnographical approaches. Semiotic analysis of material culture and proxemic analysis of embodied space can be achieved using NASA\u27s archives of documentation, images, video and audio media. Here, the authors set out a method for the study of this evidence. Understanding how individuals and groups use material culture in space stations, from discrete objects to contextual relationships, promises to reveal intersections of identity, nationality and community

Postorbital Discard and Chain of Custody: The Processing of Artifacts Returning to Earth from the International Space Station

Few items that comprise the material culture of the International Space Station ever return to Earth. Most are left on the station or placed on cargo resupply ships that burn up on atmospheric re-entry. This fact presents a challenge for archaeologists who use material culture as their primary evidence. Together with a sociologist, we observed the processes that have been developed by NASA contractors to handle and return items that come back to Earth on the Cargo Dragon vehicle. We observed two missions, CRS-13 and CRS-14, in January and May 2018, respectively, traveling to the locations of work and interviewing the contractors and associated staff. These observations are described here, using the lenses of archaeological understandings of discard practices, the anthropological concept of the chaîne opératoire, and the forensic idea of “chain of custody” to interpret the meanings and associations of the various kinds of objects returned from space

Visual Displays in Space Station Culture: An Archaeological Analysis

We offer an archaeological analysis of the visual display of “space heroes” and Orthodox icons in the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS). This study is the first systematic investigation of material culture at a site in space. The ISS has now been continuously inhabited for 20 years. Here, focusing on the period 2000–2014, we use historic imagery from NASA archives to track the changing presence of 78 different items in a single zone. We also explore how ideas about which items are appropriate for display and where to display them originated in earlier Soviet and Russian space stations starting as early as the 1970s. In this way, we identify the emergence and evolution of a particular kind of space station culture with implications for future habitat design

The Relationship of a Systemic Student Support Intervention to Academic Achievement in Urban Catholic Schools

Much of the achievement gap between rich and poor students can be attributed to out-of-school factors, yet few schools have a comprehensive, coordinated system for addressing students’ nonacademic needs. Within a group of Catholic schools located in one city, this study examines academic achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test battery in mathematics, reading, and language among 2nd through 8th grade students participating in such an intervention, and compares the results with those of similar nonparticipating students in nearby cities. Using hierarchical longitudinal growth modeling and adjusting for demographic characteristics, this study found that students in intervention schools outperformed the comparison group on average in 6th grade mathematics. Intervention students also experienced significantly higher rates of growth in achievement than the comparison group in all three subjects. The results suggest that systemic service provision models have the potential to help urban Catholic schools meet their mission of educating the whole child and serving the poorest families. Keywords Catholic education, longitudinal growth analysis, achievement gap Le lien entre une intervention systémique de soutien aux élèves et la réussite scolaire dans les écoles catholiques en milieu urbain. Une bonne partie de l\u27écart entre les résultats obtenus par les élèves riches et les pauvres peut être attribuée à des facteurs extérieurs à l\u27école, pourtant peu d\u27écoles disposent d\u27un système complet et coordonné pour résoudre les besoins extrascolaires des élèves. Cette étude, qui porte sur un groupe d\u27écoles catholiques situées dans une seule ville, examine la réussite scolaire sut la batterie de tests de réussite de Stanford en mathématiques, lecture et langage parmi des élèves de la 11eà la 3eparticipant à cette intervention et compare les résultats avec ceux d\u27élèves similaires, dans des villes voisines qui n\u27y participaient pas. À l\u27aide d\u27une modélisation longitudinale de croissance, avec un ajustement pour les caractéristiques démographiques, cette étude a trouvé que les élèves des écoles où avait lieu l\u27intervention avaient de meilleurs résultats en moyenne que le groupe de comparaison en mathématiques de classe de 6e. Les élèves bénéficiant de l\u27intervention ont aussi eu des taux de croissance plus élevés que le groupe de comparaison dans les trois matières. Ce résultat indique que des modèles de service systémique fourni aux élèves peuvent potentiellement aider les écoles catholiques urbaines à remplir leur mission d\u27éducation intégrale de l\u27enfant et rendre service aux familles pauvres. Mots-clés : éducation catholique, analyse longitudinale de croissance, écart de réussite Relación entre una intervención sistémica de apoyo al estudiante y los logros académicos en escuelas católicas urbanas La mayor parte de la brecha en los logros entre estudiantes ricos y pobres puede atribuirse a factores extraescolares, sin embargo, pocas escuelas disponen de un sistema comprensivo coordinado que aborde las necesidades no académicas de los estudiantes. Tomando un grupo de escuelas católicas ubicadas en una misma ciudad, este estudio examina los logros académicos en las pruebas de aptitud de Stanford (SAT) en matemáticas, lectura y lengua de estudiantes entre segundo y octavo curso que participan en tales intervenciones; y compara los resultados a los de estudiantes no participantes, con perfiles similares, en ciudades cercanas. Al emplear modelos de crecimiento longitudinal jerárquico y al ajustarlos a las características demográficas, el presente estudio encontró que los estudiantes de escuelas con intervención superaron la media de los resultados del grupo de comparación en 6º curso de matemáticas. Los estudiantes con intervención también experimentaron significativamente mayores tasas de crecimiento que los del grupo de comparación en las tres materias. Los resultados sugieren que los modelos que proveen servicios sistémicos disponen del potencial para ayudar a que las escuelas católicas urbanas cumplan su misión de educar al niño en su totalidad y de servir a las familias pobres. Palabras clave educación católica, análisis de crecimiento longitudinal, brecha de logro

An update on emerging drugs for asthma

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