Dreaming al-Andalus : nineteenth-century representations of Spain's Muslim and Jewish past

Al-Andalus is the name given to the period of Muslim rule in Spain, which began in 711 and definitively came to an end with the Christian re-conquest of Granada in 1492. But in a broader sense, al-Andalus describes the whole history of contact and coexistence among Christians, Muslim and Jews in the Iberian Peninsula. This history has left a legacy in Spanish culture, the implications of which are still under debate. This thesis seeks to examine this legacy in nineteenth-century literature, by tracing representations of al-Andalus in historical novels, short stories and theatrical works of the period. It argues that writers of the period turned to al-Andalus, as an important historical myth, in order to express a number of contemporary concerns. The nineteenth century in Spain was a turbulent one, as the country navigated a series of political crises: Napoleon’s invasion in 1808, attempts to establish a liberal and constitutional regime, the return of absolutism and the loss of empire in America. These events, along with the tenets of Romanticism, led Spanish intellectuals to question the national past and raise questions about Spanish identity. Through the critical analysis of portrayals of Jewish and Muslim characters in texts of the period, this thesis demonstrates how the metaphorical use of al-Andalus allowed writers to grapple with the events described above. It also shows how the memory of the Jewish and Muslim past played an important role in shaping discourses of nationalism. The thesis reveals that representations of al-Andalus were not monolithic: Spanish writers did not simply accept or reject the Muslim and Jewish past. Rather, responses to the Muslim and Jewish past reflect the wide range of political projects or aesthetic interests of authors of the nineteenth century. It also suggests that nineteenth-century writers relied heavily on archetypes from earlier periods, such as the Spanish Golden Age. Yet it shows, too, that foreign representations of the Other, particularly those promoted by Orientalism, informed Spanish depictions of its own past. This thesis seeks to fill a lacuna in existing scholarship on al-Andalus and to contribute, more generally, to a better understanding of the literature of nineteenth-century Spain. Although some studies on the representation of al-Andalus in the period do exist, their focus tends to be of a historical or anthropological nature. Moreover, where critics have looked more closely at literary manifestations, they have tended to concentrate on a limited number of well-known texts by the period’s more famous authors. Yet little attention has been paid to the vast wealth of material by lesser-known writers, in which al-Andalus is an important theme. This study, with its large and varied corpus, aims to correct this oversight

PENGEMBANGAN PROGRAM BIMBINGAN BELAJAR UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KESIAPAN BELAJAR PESERTA DIDIK

Penelitian dilatarbelakangi oleh rendahnya kesiapan belajar peserta didik yang ditunjukkan dengan malas mengerjakan tugas yang diberikan guru, malas mengulang pelajaran di rumah, mengantuk saat belajar di kelas, tidak memiliki catatan materi pelajaran, dan tidak mempunyai buku sumber bacaan. Kesiapan belajar merupakan suatu keadaan peserta didik yang sudah siap secara fisik, psikis, dan materiil, dalam melakukan aktivitas belajar dengan penuh kesadaran. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk memperoleh rumusan program bimbingan belajar untuk meningkatkan kesiapan belajar peserta didik kelas X SMA Negeri 19 Bandung Tahun Pelajaran 2016-2017 berdasarkan gambaran umum kesiapan belajar peserta didik. Pendekatan penelitian yang digunakan adalah kuantitatif dengan metode studi deskriptif. Alat pengungkap data yang digunakan adalah angket kesiapan belajar peserta didik. Populasi berjumlah 343 peserta didik, sedangkan sampel sebanyak 183 peserta didik yang diambil dengan menggunakan teknik simple random sampling. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: (1) Gambaran umum kesiapan belajar peserta didik berada pada kategori sedang dengan persentase sebesar 67,8%; (2) Gambaran kesiapan belajar peserta didik dijadikan dasar dalam penyusunan program bimbingan belajar untuk meningkatkan kesiapan belajar peserta didik kelas X SMA Negeri 19 Bandung dan merupakan upaya bantuan yang diberikan kepada peserta didik, dilakukan secara sistematis dan terprogram. Guru BK dapat menggunakan program yang telah dirancang untuk meningkatkan kesiapan belajar peserta didik. Untuk peneliti selanjutnya dapat membuat rancangan program bimbingan belajar yang lebih optimal sesuai dengan kebutuhan peserta didik.;--- The study was motivated by the low prepare of students indicated by the laziness to do the assignment from teachers, laziness to repeat the lesson at home, fall asleep while studying in the classroom, doesn’t have a record of the subject matter, and have no source of reading books. Readiness to learn is a condition of students who are ready as a physically, psychologically, and materially, in learning activities with full awareness. This research aimed to get a formulation of learning guidance program to improve the readiness of learners on X grade at SMA Negeri 19 Bandung on Academic Year 2016-2017 which is based on a general description of readiness to learn. The research approach was used is a quantitative with descriptive study method. Data revealer tool is questionnaire readiness to learn. The population is 343 students, while the sample is 183 students from X grade were taken using simple random sampling technique. The results showed: (1) Representation of the readiness to learn is in middle category with a percentage of 67.8%; (2) Description of the readiness of learners was being used as a basis for the preparation learning guidance program to improve the readiness of students X grade at SMA Negeri 19 Bandung and the relief efforts provided to students, conducted in a systematic and programmatic. Guidance and counseling teachers can use the programs which have been designed to improve the readiness of learning. To the next researchers can create a program design of learning guidance which is more optimally appropriate with the students needed

The role of State Capacities in the evolution of inequality in Chile between 1850 and 1891

Màster Oficial d'Història Econòmica, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2018-2019, Tutor: Marc Badia MiróChile has historically suffered from high levels of inequality. Many authors place the origins of this phenomenon in the period often termed the First Globalization (1850-1891). During this period, Chile experienced several commodity booms and engaged in two major armed conflicts. These events had a profound impact on the State’s capacity to extract revenue and to implement economic and social policy. This paper aims to evaluate the evolution of inequality in Chile during this period, highlighting the possible causes. It also examines the development of State Capacities during the same period and analyses the impact that this may have had on inequality

‘To more than I can be’: A phenomenological meta-ethnography of singing groups for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Anecdotal experience and qualitative accounts suggest that singing groups, classes or choirs specifically for people with COPD (henceforth referred to as COPD-SGs) are effective in improving health. However, this is not reflected in the quantitative evidence. This meta-ethnography deployed phenomenological methods to explore this discrepancy. Analysis identified the phenomena of being together, being uplifted and being involved as central benefits of COPD-SGs. When viewed through the phenomenological lens of body-social as distinct from body-subject and body-object, findings demonstrated that the qualitative effectiveness of COPD-SGs is greatest on a collective basis. Qualitative research into the effectiveness of COPD-SGs offers more favourable results because phenomenological approaches can identify collective benefits that quantitative methods cannot. COPD-SGs should seek to maximise these collective benefits by rediscovering their cultural and artistic heritage within the national and global Arts in Health (AiH) movement, which has long emphasised the radical creative and healing power of group activity

Tingkat Kepuasan Konsumen Terhadap Pelayanan Bongkar-muat Barang Pada Terminal Peti Kemas Semarang

This study aimed to analyze the level of consumer expectations and the performance of the service and the satisfaction level of stevedoring service users at the Container Terminal of Semarang. It also analyzes the factors that have to be maintained, the main priority, and low priority of customer satisfaction. The samples are 73 respondents (companies) with the data analysis performed using the Important Performance Analysis. Based on the Cartesian diagram analysis, it is known that factors considered essential are in accordance with the reality perceived by the customer so that the satisfaction level is relatively high for the clarity of service personnel, service personnel discipline, fairness of service, and comfort environment. While the factors that are considered less important by customers and in fact not very special are service procedures, service attendant responsibilities, service speed and courtesy and hospitality workers

Heterogeneity in banker culture and its influence on dishonesty

The social sciences are going through what has been described as a ‘reproducibility crisis’1,2. Highly influential findings derived from accessible populations, such as laboratories and crowd-sourced worker platforms, are not always replicated. Less attention has been given to replicating findings that are derived from inaccessible populations, and recent high-profile replication attempts explicitly excluded such populations3. Pioneering experimental work4 offered a rare glimpse into banker culture and found that bankers, in contrast to other professionals, are more dishonest when they think about their job. Given the importance of the banking sector, and before academics or policy-makers rely on these findings as an accurate diagnosis of banking culture, an exploration of their generalizability is warranted. Here we conduct the same incentivized task with bankers and non-bankers from five different populations across three continents (n = 1,282 participants). In our banker studies in the Middle East and Asia Pacific (n = 148 and n = 620, respectively), we observe some dishonesty, although—in contrast to the original study4—this was not significantly increased among bankers primed to think about their work compared to bankers who were not primed. We also find that inducing non-banking professionals to think about their job does not have a significant effect on honesty. We explore sampling and methodological differences to explain the variation in findings in relation to bankers and identify two key points. First, the expectations of the general population regarding banker behaviour vary across jurisdictions, suggesting that banking culture in the jurisdiction of the original study4 may not be consistent worldwide. Second, having approached 27 financial institutions, many of which expressed concerns of adverse findings, we expect that only banks with a sound culture participated in our study. The latter introduces possible selection bias that may undermine the generalizability of any similar field study. More broadly, our study highlights the complexity of undertaking a high-fidelity replication of sensitive, highly publicized fieldwork with largely inaccessible populations resulting from institutional and geographical barriers. For policy-makers, this work suggests that caution should be exercised in generalizing the findings of the original study4 to other populations

Cooperate without looking: Why we care what people think and not just what they do

Evolutionary game theory typically focuses on actions but ignores motives. Here, we introduce a model that takes into account the motive behind the action. A crucial question is why do we trust people more who cooperate without calculating the costs? We propose a game theory model to explain this phenomenon. One player has the option to “look” at the costs of cooperation, and the other player chooses whether to continue the interaction. If it is occasionally very costly for player 1 to cooperate, but defection is harmful for player 2, then cooperation without looking is a subgame perfect equilibrium. This behavior also emerges in population-based processes of learning or evolution. Our theory illuminates a number of key phenomena of human interactions: authentic altruism, why people cooperate intuitively, one-shot cooperation, why friends do not keep track of favors, why we admire principled people, Kant’s second formulation of the Categorical Imperative, taboos, and love.Mathematic

A meta-ethnography of participatory health research and co-production in Nepal

As global health research seeks to decolonialise, democratise, and become more culturally engaging, researchers are increasingly employing participatory and co-productive methods. Working from post-structural perspectives, this meta-ethnographic review explores how such health research in Nepal engages with the epistemological, methodological, and ethical questions it encounters. Five databases including Nepalese NepJOL were searched for studies from inception to March 2021. The review included seven studies covering women's group co-production, interviews guided by photo-elicitation, observational methods to explore maternal and child health, mental health, and environmental determinants of health. This meta-ethnography identified that, against the background of a pluralist heritage of health practices, global collaborations involving Nepali researchers and practitioners used participatory research methodology to work with the local populations to improve health and co-production seek primarily to promote Western biomedical and psychosocial interventions. Both advantages and disadvantages were acknowledged. Empirical verification and global acceptance of Western biomedical and psychosocial knowledge were seen as beneficial. Moreover, Western biomedicine was perceived by some as more effective than some local practices in improving health; nevertheless, Nepal faces many challenges that neither can address. For participatory and co-productive approaches to become epistemologically enculturated within Nepali health research, researchers need to co-develop more local models and methods which are culturally sensitive and appropriate. Meaningful and effective participatory research can promote active involvement of people who deliver as well as people who use the community-based health care support. These are crucial to optimise sustainable change that global health research partnerships set out to achieve. This meta-ethnography recommends that researchers engage at a deeper level with the epistemological differences between themselves and the communities with whom they seek partnership. Cross-cultural research teams should discuss and address the power differentials which might affect them

Strategi pendidikan anak Sekolah Dasar di wilayah Ekslokalisasi Surabaya: studi multi kasus di MI Unggulan Assa’adah Sememi-Benowo dan SD Baitu Ilmin Girilaya-Sawahan

Tujuan penelitian ini (1) Mendeskripsikan strategi pendidikan anak yang digunakan guru dalam mendidik anak di wilayah ekslokalisasi MI Unggulan Assa’adah Sememi-Benowo dan SD Baitu Ilmin Girilaya-Sawahan Surabaya; (2) Mendeskripsikan hambatan dan solusi yang diberikan guru dalam mendidik anak di kedua sekolah tersebut; (3) Mendeskripsikan perbedaan dan persamaan strategi pendidikan anak di kedua sekolah tersebut. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan studi kasus berorientasi pada pendekatan kualitatif. Teknik analisis data menggunakan jenis deskriptif melalui tiga alur: (1) mereduksi data, (2) penyajian data, dan (3) penarikan simpulan. Temuannya (1) strategi pendidikan anak di MI Unggulan Assa’adah: Memberikan keteladanan; Membiasakan untuk berbuat baik; Memberikan nasihat yang baik; Menumbuhkan motivasi anak dalam belajar; Memberikan pujian dan hukuman; Bersikap dinamis dalam pelaksanaan berbagai macam program pendidikan; Menciptakan komunikasi yang efektif dengan orang tua wali murid; dan Memberikan pembinaan keagamaan terhadap wali murid. Sedangkan di SD Baitu Ilmin: Memberikan keteladanan; Membiasakan anak didik untuk berbuat baik; Memberikan nasihat yang baik; Menciptakan komunikasi yang efektif dengan wali murid; Memberikan sentuhan kasih sayang kepada anak didik; Mengadakan kunjungan ke rumah anak didik; dan Menjalin kerjasama dengan dinas sosial Kota Surabaya. (2) Hambatan dan solusinya jika di MI Unggulan Assa’adah: Adanya siswa yang kurang perhatian dari orang tua mereka khususnya anak mantan WTS dengan solusi memberikan kasih sayang dan menumbuhkan sikap optimisme; Adanya siswa yang memiliki akhlak tercela dengan solusi memberikan nasihat dan hukuman yang mendidik; Terbatasnya pendidik yang profesional dengan solusi menganjurkan para guru untuk sekolah lagi sesuai jurusannya. Sedangkan hambatan dan solusinya jika di SD Baitu Ilmin: Adanya siswa yang memiliki akhlak tercela dengan solusi memberikan nasihat dan hukuman atau diserahkan ke Dinas Sosial Kota Surabaya; Adanya keterbatasan dana dengan solusi menghemat dana; Adanya sarana dan prasarana yang kurang memadai dengan solusi memanfatkan kondisi seadanya. (3) Perbedaannya jika di MI Unggulan Assa’adah: Menumbuhkan motivasi anak dalam belajar; Memberikan pujian dan hukuman; Bersikap dinamis dalam pelaksanaan berbagai macam program pendidikan; Menciptakan komunikasi yang efektif dengan wali murid; Memberikan pembinaan keagamaan terhadap wali murid. Sedangkan jika di SD Baitu Ilmin: Menciptakan komunikasi yang efektif dengan orang tua wali murid; Memberikan sentuhan kasih sayang kepada anak didik; Mengadakan kunjungan ke rumah anak didik; Menjalin kerjasama dengan Dinas Sosial Kota Surabaya. Adapun persamaannya: Memberikan keteladanan; Membiasakan murid untuk berbuat baik; Memberikan nasihat yang baik