Open Access Books

What exactly do—and should—the terms “interdisciplinarity” and its cognate “transdisciplinarity” mean? This chapter exposes different understandings of inter- and transdisciplinarity and sets out a foundation for a critique of innumerable usages of these hype terms. It starts by presenting a plurality of motives behind these notions, followed by criteria characterizing the semantic core of the notions, namely (i) the existence of (disciplinary or academic) boundaries and (ii) the transgression or overcoming of those boundaries. Based on the dialectic consideration of boundaries and with reference to well-established distinctions in the philosophy of science, a plurality of four types is shown: interdisciplinarity with regard to (a) objects, (b) knowledge/theories concepts, (c) methods/practices, and further, (d) problems/issues. Different philosophical thought traditions can be related to the four types. All four types can be illustrated by research programs that are labeled “interdisciplinary”: nanoresearch, complex systems theory/chaos theory, biomimicry/bionics, and technology assessment/sustainability research. In this chapter special emphasis is given to the complex relation between interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Arguments favoring a critical-reflexive concept of problem-oriented interdisciplinarity going beyond what is typically associated with transdisciplinarity are presented. This terminological clarification constitutes the very basis for the Philosophy of Interdisciplinarity set forth in this book.

The here collected contributions relating to the 46th International Conference of the Representation Disciplines Teachers, organized jointly by Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre University, and San Raffaele Roma University, aim to offer the scientific community a reflection on the theoretical and methodological aspects related to the concept of èkphrasis, a term that, in the field of representation, concerns descriptive, analogical, and digital activities that generate new knowledge in several areas of application. The Conference aims to place at the center of the discussion an interpretation of the concept of research that, without neglecting an idea of study, protection, and enhancement of environmental and cultural heritage, focuses on the needs of contemporary society and its possible developments, making use of innovative theoretical, methodological, and operational activities, including those characterized by an interdisciplinary approach. According to this interpretation, research can also be seen as a foreshadowing of the definition and testing of experimental proposals aimed at exploring new areas of investigation: this opens up imaginative and utopian perspectives in the relationship between the sciences, the arts, and the disciplines that contribute to common goals, through the experimentation of methods, techniques, and languages for conceiving, prefiguring, designing, and representing.

Clarice Lispector: From Brazil to the World explains why the Brazilian master was so transformative of modern Brazilian literature and why she has become such a celebrity in the world literature arena. This book also shows why Lispector is not one writer, as many think, but many writers. By offering close readings of her novels, stories, and nonfiction pieces, Earl E. Fitz shows the diverse sides of her literary world. Chapters cover Lispector’s devotion to language and its connection to identity; her political engagement; and her humor, eroticism, and struggle with the concept of God. The last chapter seeks to explain why this most singular of modern Brazilian writers commands such a passionate global following.

This volume offers an innovative contribution to the field of Cultural Studies. It addresses the intersection between disability and scenic, literary and audiovisual creation and examines the role that 'functional diversity' – understood as an unavoidable, transversal and multiform human reality – plays, or may come to play, in the fields of artistic theory and practice in the contemporary Spanish context.

Migrations et immigration au musée. Le mouvement est international. Car ce nouveau sujet d’exposition recouvre de nouveaux questionnements autour de l’identité collec­tive des sociétés contemporaines. Aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, en Australie ou en France, comment des institutions spécifiques abordent-elles l’histoire de l’immigration ? Comment la rattachent-elles au fait national ? Quel dis­cours d’inclusion tissent-elles ? Quel imaginaire social les traverse ? Rencontrant les mémoires de migrants, la muséographie devient moyen de reconnaissance, vecteur de visibilité. Musée réceptacle d’une communauté ethni­que. Musée virtuel documentant en ligne le passé d’une ville d’immigrants. Politique d’exposition sur la diversité des mémoires à l’échelle d’un espace régional... Autant d’expé­riences mises ici en perspective par des universitaires et des conservateurs français et étrangers. Mais ces thèmes n’émergent pas sans débat ni dissensus. Et ce qui se joue à cette occasion gagne à être évoqué au regard d’autres héritages conflictuels. D’où les analyses sur les limites de la prise en charge patrimoniale de l’esclavage aux Antilles, le point de vue indigène dans les « sociétés de colons », ou les affrontements mémoriels à propos du passé colonial français. Enfin, c’est hors des murs du musée qu’il faut regarder. Car c’est aussi par l’action cultu­relle au sens large que passent de tels enjeux. Du travail d’associa­tions de terrain pour promouvoir les mémoires de « l’autre » ou des « Suds » auprès du grand public, jusqu’aux projets en gestation à l’échelle européenne autour du patrimoine des migrations.

»On the History of the ›Verein für Socialpolitik‹«: On the occasion of the founding of the Verein für Socialpolitik 150 years ago, this volume takes up topics of the Association's history. It deals with Gustav Schmoller, leading figure of the Historical School and founder of the Association, with its self-dissolution under National Socialism, and with the debate on Neoliberalism and Social Market Economy. Other topics are the participation of women, the demand for evidence-based economic policy and the changing role of economic history.

Afforestation/reforestation (or forestation) has been implemented worldwide as an effective measure towards sustainable ecosystem services and addresses global environmental problems such as climate change. The conversion of grasslands, croplands, shrublands, or bare lands to forests can dramatically alter forest water, energy, and carbon cycles and, thus, ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil erosion control, and water quality improvement). Large-scale afforestation/reforestation is typically driven by policies and, in turn, can also have substantial socioeconomic impacts. To enable success, forestation endeavors require novel approaches that involve a series of complex processes and interdisciplinary sciences. For example, exotic or fast-growing tree species are often used to improve soil conditions of degraded lands or maximize productivity, and it often takes a long time to understand and quantify the consequences of such practices at watershed or regional scales. Maintaining the sustainability of man-made forests is becoming increasingly challenging under a changing environment and disturbance regime changes such as wildland fires, urbanization, drought, air pollution, climate change, and socioeconomic change. Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on case studies of the drivers, dynamics, and impacts of afforestation/reforestation at regional, national, or global scales. These new studies provide an update on the scientific advances related to forestation. This information is urgently needed by land managers and policy makers to better manage forest resources in today’s rapidly changing environments.

Surréaliste de la première heure, ami de Bataille, Leiris, Masson et Dubuffet, conteur original et critique d'art prolifique, Georges Limbour, malgré l'admiration de ses pairs, reste méconnu. Son œuvre littéraire, pourtant, d'un style à la fois précieux et familier, déploie un imaginaire singulier dont la cohérence frappe au-delà de la dispersion des textes, due en partie à la négligence d'un homme qui a promené son dilettantisme de son port natal, Le Havre, à l'Égypte et la Pologne. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ce promeneur impénitent met son goût de la marche au service de son amour de l'art, et devient le visiteur assidu des galeries parisiennes : Limbour chroniqueur est un témoin précieux des querelles qui agitent les avant-gardes artistiques après-guerre. Témoin, mais témoin engagé, Limbour défend dans sa critique d'art l'idéal surréaliste d'un art exprimant la réalité profonde de l'homme et de la nature, et son discours accompagne avec autant d'humour que de sensibilité l'œuvre de ses amis peintres. Souvent plus proche d'un Baudelaire ou d'un Nerval que d'un Breton, Limbour nous laisse ainsi une œuvre élégante et gouailleuse, parfois nostalgique, qui porte jusqu'à l'orée des années soixante-dix les derniers feux du romantisme.

In the closing years of the seventeenth century, one of the most brilliant of modern European philosophers became actively involved in the search for intellectual and spiritual accord between Europe and China. In his search, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz entered the "Rites Controversy" on the side of the Jesuits, who had achieved positions of remarkable proximity to the Chinese throne. Yet less than forty years later, the optimism of their cause had dummed. Leibniz died in isolation in Hanover, the papacy ruled against the Jesuits at Rome, and in China there was a growing distrust of the Christian missionaries by the monarchy. In contrast to past neglect of this subject as an intriguing but peripheral area of Leibniz' philosophy, Leibniz and Confucianism: THe Search for Accord elevates Leibniz' interest in China to a more central concern of Leibnizian Ism. Leibniz was deeply committed to an ecumenism that included not only the reunion of Roman and Protestant Christendom, but an ecumenism with which the spiritual and intellectual beliefs and practices of non-Westerners, especially the Chinese, could be reconciled. As an investigation into how that commitment was pursued and into some of the reasons why it failed, this book seeks to present Leibniz' experience a both historical record and contemporary guide. Drawing upon unpublished material in the Leibniz archives in Hanover, Mungello traces the influences upon Leibniz through the Jesuit translators to the Chinese sources. In the process, we have the opportunity to observe the first historical instance of a major Western philosopher interpreting and reacting to Chinese (largely Neo-Confucian) philosophic notions and concepts. The author concludes by explaining how he believes Leibniz' search for accord can assist our own contemporary search for accord.

Icon Dresden explores how memory and politics in Dresden after its 1945 bombing are deeply intertwined with the city’s urban history. It highlights the complex origins of Dresden’s reputation as an exclusively cultural center, focusing on urban planning, marketing, tourism, and the city’s visual archive since the 17th century. Based on this iconic status, a narrative of victimhood arose after its destruction that ignored responsibilities while highlighting the city’s innocence. Despite its origin in Nazi propaganda, this narrative influenced postwar political discourse in socialist and post-reunification Germany. Icon Dresden also provides insight into Dresden’s role under National Socialism and the GDR’s evasive response to this history. It reveals how the strong presence of far-right movements in the city today stems from multiple discourses formed over centuries and communicated from generation to generation. Drawing on urban, heritage, and tourism studies, visual and memory studies, and environmental psychology, Icon Dresden examines Dresden’s history, identity, visual representations, and rebuilding decisions. It exposes the narratives that define its place in German and international memory and how, paradoxically, they support both Dresden’s current image as a symbol of peace and reconciliation and its backing of nativist and far-right movements.

Clinical Correlation and Diagnosis highlights the improvements in methodological approaches for the purposes of disease diagnosis and health research. Chapters cover such topics as serum protein electrophoresis, urinary iodine measurement, blood collection tubes, semi-solid phase assay and advancement in analytical and bioanalytical techniques, and serological diagnostic tools for Zika virus, among other subjects. All these will not be possible without a proper laboratory management where this book also includes the Tissue Bank ATMP Production as a model. The chapters are expected to provide a new perspective in health science which may trigger a further exploration into the diagnostic and research field.

Even if the origins of regenerative medicine can be found in Greek mythology, as attested by the story of Prometheus, the Greek god whose immortal liver was feasted on day after day by Zeus' eagle; many challenges persist in order to successfully regenerate lost cells, tissues or organs and rebuild all connections and functions. In this book, we will cover a few aspects of regenerative medicine highlighting major advances and remaining challenges in cellular therapy and tissue/organ engineering.

This book focuses on advanced techniques to reduce the impact of the transport sector and, more specifically, of Spark-Ignition (SI) Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) on atmospheric air pollution and climate change. Hybrid vehicles represent the most suitable option for addressing these issues in the medium term, since hybridization allows us to overcome the major disadvantages of ICEs, electric units, and energy storage devices and merge their respective benefits. In this scenario, ICEs will remain the core component of automotive propulsion systems in the years to come. Of course, further efforts to improve the efficiency and reduce the pollutant and CO2 emissions of ICEs are necessary.

Zofia Rydet jest jedną z najbardziej znanych i cenionych postaci w historii polskiej fotografii, jednak prac poświęconych jej sztuce i życiu jest niewiele. Dominują oczywiście katalogi dotyczące jej twórczości, wydawane głównie z okazji odbywających się wystaw, natomiast brakuje solidnych opracowań naukowych. Książka ta może w jakiejś mierze wypełnić tę lukę i stać się inspirującą, ważną pozycją w badaniach nad polskim środowiskiem artystów fotografów i jedną z jego najważniejszych postaci. Zofia Rydet stała się wręcz legendą polskiej fotografii i autorzy Zapisu pamięci. Historii Zofii Rydet obawiają się, że jej osoba ulega mitologizacji, co nastąpiło szczególnie wyraźnie po śmierci artystki. Taka mitologizacja funkcjonuje często jak ideologia i uniemożliwia dojście do prawdy o poznawanej rzeczywistości. Stąd też Tomasz Ferenc, Karol Jóźwiak i Andrzej Różycki podjęli próbę demitologizacji Zofii Rydet, chcąc „przekroczyć wiedzę o Zofii Rydet, którą ona sama pozostawiła po sobie, i spróbować zrozumieć, kim była”. Właśnie owa próba zrozumienia artystki i jej twórczości poprzez zabieg demitologizacji stanowi o oryginalności tej publikacji i powoduje, że może stać się ona ważnym odniesieniem do dalszych badań nad fenomenem Zofii Rydet. Z recenzji prof. UAM dr. hab. Jerzego Kaczmarka Książka wydana w ramach grantu Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego pn. „Narodowy Program Rozwoju Humanistyki” Rozwój 2b

This volume examines commemorative cultures and sites, processes of authenticating industrial heritage, as well as the spatial dimensions of commemorative sites in a European and international comparison. It places a focus on former mining districts.