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Utopia as akairological rupture
No full textThis article argues for a reconceptualization of utopia as akairological rupture. Its central thesis disputes the conventional reading of utopia as a teleological goal to be realized by a social collective. Thus rather than viewing the potentiality of utopia as a prescribed ideal commonwealth whose inhabitants live in harmony, I argue
that it should be seen as an akairological rupture, manifested through a determinately negative, individual, approach. In this reading, utopia is primarily a social condition within culture, and perennially opposed to any ideal telos. This temporal and qualitative reconceptualization of utopia as disruptive is anathema to the positive reading that sees it as feasible through social reform and rational discourse. This reconceptualization argues for the importance of developing a reading of utopia that can transcend any reified, fixed conception that seeks to domesticate it in the service of a contingent political aspiration, however noble and humanitarian it may appear to be. Herein lies its critical potentiality under neoliberal conditions
The Association of Pain with Incident Falls in People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
No full textAbstract: People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a higher prevalence of
pain and a greater risk of falls than their healthy peers. As pain has been associated with an increased
risk of falls in older adults, this study investigated the association between pain and falls in people
with COPD compared to healthy controls. Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
were used to establish an association between pain and falls when modelled with a generalised
ordinal logistic regression and adjusted for sex, age, wealth, and education (complete case analysis
only; n = 806 COPD, n = 3898 healthy controls). The odds were then converted to the predicted
probabilities of falling. The predicted probability of falling for people with COPD was greater across
all pain categories than for healthy controls; for COPD with (predicted probability % [95%CI]), no
pain was 20% [17 to 25], with mild pain was 28% [18 to 38], with moderate pain was 28% [22 to 34]
with severe pain was 39% [30 to 47] and for healthy controls with no pain was 17% [16 to 18], mild
pain 22% [18 to 27], moderate pain 25% [20 to 29] and severe pain 27% [20 to 35]. The probability of
falling increased across pain categories in individuals with COPD, with the most severe pain category
at a nearly 40% probability of falling, indicating a potential interaction between COPD and pain
Anglican cathedrals as episcopal theological resource churches for nurturing growth and sustainability
No full textThis paper examines the case for conceptualising Anglican cathedrals as episcopal theological resource churches for nurturing growth and sustainability. The case is rooted in two sources of empirical evidence: statistical evidence published by the Church of England for the period 2009–2019 show cathedrals to be growing while the rest of the Church is declining; and a series of studies listening to those attending Sunday services and special events explores the motivation and experience of those attending cathedrals. The case is then advanced by exploring three questions that illuminate the distinctive religious and ecclesial identity of Anglican cathedrals within the contemporary spiritual landscape of England that is increasingly characterised by secularity: Why bother with Anglican identity? Why bother with theology? Why bother with bishops? Discussion of these three issues leads to a reasoned response to the fourth question: Why bother with cathedrals
Space, the universe and everything: listening to visitors to the Luxmuralis son et lumiere installation at Liverpool Cathedral in 2022
No full textHigh profile (and sometimes controversial) events and installations have drawn attention to innovation and public engagement within Anglican cathedrals. One strong category of such events and installations has promoted clear engagement with scientific themes. Taking the Luxmuralis son et lumiere installation, Space, the Universe and Everything, as an example of such engagement, the present study examined the demographic and religious profile of 283 visitors to this installation at Liverpool Cathedral and explored their views on the connection between science and religion. The data demonstrated that 94% of the participants agreed that a cathedral is an ideal place for this type of installation. Reflecting on their experience of the installation in Liverpool Cathedral, 73% agreed that we need both science and religion in our lives
‘This particular art [is] all about walls’: Nomadic Poetics of Identity in Ali Smith’s How to be both
No full textThis chapter examines Ali Smith’s How to be both (2014) to demonstrate how her experimental writing affirms the novel form’s potential to promote ways of understanding the complexities of being human moving beyond limiting and redundant binary oppositions. Influenced by Rosi Braidotti’s work on nomadic subjectivity and nomadic theory, it sustains that, through this novel, Smith explores the plasticity of a nomadic poetics of identity that is transitive and combinatory, conjunctive and transitional, grounded on difference as a generative stimulus for transition and meaning. In How to be both, Smith has embedded a divide that fragments the novel’s diegesis creating two narratives that are seemingly unconnected. Readers must discover the porosity of the wall between them to negotiate the permeable spaces in between. This chapter argues that, through the wall, Smith employs the border as an epistemological device. It is the wall that creates multiple alternative representations of borders, claiming its instability, porosity, and potential as a space of encounter, exchange, and dialogue. Readers need to go through a wall to navigate the liminal space in between and generate cartographies of traces, patterns, and repetitions through which they can negotiate ways of connecting and intersecting them, becoming nomadic readers
Writers-in-Residence: Women Teachers and the Formation of Character in Hardy’s Jude the Obscure
No full textIn this article I argue that ‘the formation of the character’ of the teacher, a phrase coined by the pioneer of elementary-school training, James Kay-Shuttleworth, was of as much concern to the novelist as it was to the educationalist. Focusing on what became a classic depiction of Victorian teacher training in Jude the Obscure (1895), I situate Hardy among those educationalists and men of letters held responsible for refashioning character to suit the liberal currents of late nineteenth-century culture. Hardy read about the issue of formation in sources as varied as the letters of his sister Kate, who trained to be a teacher at Salisbury (1877–1879), and the reports of his acquaintance and chief inspector of women’s training colleges (1885–1894) Joshua Fitch. At times his novel reflected the views of the inspectorate, but it also accommodated those who challenged the conception of the teacher that was otherwise imposed upon them. This article therefore contributes to recent interest in overlooked perspectives in the Victorian institution by addressing the ways in which women began shaping a profession in which they had become by far the largest constituent
Primary health professionals’ beliefs, experiences, and willingness to treat minor attracted persons
No full textThere is a desire and need among minor attracted persons (MAPs) to access support within the community, and this often begins with an approach to healthcare providers working in general medical/mental health settings. However, little is known about the experiences of these non-specialist professionals in relation to their beliefs, knowledge, and decision-making processes when working with patients who disclose sexual attractions to children. Using an online survey, this study explored the knowledge, comfort, competence, and treatment willingness of 220 non-specialist healthcare providers when faced with patients who disclose sexual attractions to children. We investigated how often such disclosures were made, clinician stigma, treatment priorities, and professionals’ willingness to report MAPs to external agencies because of their sexual attractions. Some key differences were found when comparing primary medical vs mental health professionals, including increased likelihood to view MAPs as dangerous, unable to control behaviors and that sexual attractions are an avoidable choice, in the former group. Both groups prioritized mental health treatment targets above controlling attractions and living with stigmatized attractions, although controlling or changing attractions were still relatively high priorities. Results indicated a need for further training, focusing on increasing comfort around working with MAPs, as this was associated with a greater willingness to work with this group. We identify current gaps in service provision for MAPs seeking professional support and discuss recommendations for professional training
The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on immunity-related biomarkers: a comprehensive meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
No full textOne proposed pathway that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may offer a salutogenic effect on somatic disorders is by enhancing immune function. As such, we conducted a
meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials examining the effect of MBIs at post-intervention and follow-up for six immune-related biomarkers, including CD4+ cells, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, nuclear factor-κB, telomere length, and telomerase activity. Potential studies were identified by searching ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, AMED, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, and PsycINFO. Searches returned 1959 studies, of which 48 (70 effects) were included (N = 4683). Pooled effect sizes indicated a reduction in C-reactive protein (SMCD = -.14, 95% CI [-.26 – -.01]) and interleukin-6 (SMCD = -.35, 95% CI -.67 – -.03]), and an increase in CD4+ (SMCD = .09, 95% CI [-.05 – .22]), telomere length (SMCD = .12, 95% CI [.00 – .24]) and
telomerase activity (SMCD = .81, 95% CI [.17 – 1.46]) at post-intervention. At follow-up, results showed a reduction in interleukin-6 (SMCD = -.13, 95% CI [-.29 – .03]) and C-reactive protein (SMCD = -.39, 95% CI [-.68 – -.10]) and increase in CD4+ (SMCD = .22, 95% CI [-.08 – .52]). Meta-regression results showed that some heterogeneity in effect size could be accounted for by intervention dosage, study population, and study design. Our findings quantify MBIs’
potential for improving immune function and thus impacting somatic disorders
“Blake was a phenomenon”: Artistic, Domestic, and Blakean Visions in Joseph Paul Hodin’s Writing on Else and Ludwig Meidner
No full textWHEN Ludwig Meidner (1884–1966), the German- Jewish expressionist painter, printmaker, and writer, returned to Germany in 1953, he took what he could carry: personal belongings, books, and images, his prints, drawings, paintings, and watercolors.1 Refugees face difficult
choices; they can take only what is absolutely necessary.
Meidner never adjusted during the fourteen years of
exile and there is a sense that he wanted to eradicate all that. Meidner arrived in London with three portfolios of prints, 2500 drawings, and eighty paintings (Sander 228). In a letter of 18 June 1953, he says that he created “a few hundred interesting watercolors” (“ein paar hundert interessanter Wasserfarbenbilder”) while there (Breuer and Wagemann 2: 486). reminded him of London—except for Blake. Thomas Grochowiak, who first noted the significance of Meidner’s encounter with “the painter, poet, mystic William Blake” (“Maler-Dichter-Mystikers William Blake”), suggests that he identified with Blake’s adverse living conditions and artistic neglect, and argues that the occult aspects and especially the Visionary Heads interested him: “For him the
preoccupation with Old Testament figures and prophets,
with mystical philosophers or religious ecstatics, was just
as natural as the everyday, familiar dealings with ghosts.”2
Meidner took not only John Piper’s British Romantic Artists
(1942) and Ruthven Todd’s edition of Alexander Gilchrist’s
Life of Blake(1942), but also reproductions of William Blake
by Thomas Phillips, the large color print God Judging Adam
(then known as Elijah About to Ascend in the Chariot of
Fire), and James Deville’s life mask. These images were part
of a selection that were to adorn his studio in Marxheim
(1955–63),3 where he shared his art with a small number of
visitors who came to pay tribute to the old master of German
expressionism
More capable others? Education Studies undergraduates as near-peer mentors for year 12 students
No full textThis research focused on the benefits and challenges for second year Education Studies undergraduate students acting as near-peer mentors for year12 students(aged 16-17). Near-peer mentoring often involves postgraduate students working with new undergraduates and is more common during Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) programmes. There is little research available, outside of STEM, about how near-peer mentors might influence the aspirations of students to access HE, or of the impact on undergraduate mentors themselves. The student near-peer mentors were part of the Research Higher project in an area of England with unexplained low participation rates in HE. The project involved circa 200 students from local schools in a programme of weekly events where they designed and conducted their own research. Second year Education Studies undergraduate students supported twocohorts of year12 students during their on-campus seminar activities. The findings draw on thematic analysis of undergraduate student interviews at the end of the project. They indicate that near-peer mentoring has unexpected benefits for undergraduate Education Studies students including meta-cognition about their own learning and confidence in working with older students. Recommendations for future near-peer mentoring programmes are proposed based on student feedback.
Key Words Mentoring; near-peer; higher education; widening participation; research; undergraduat