Negotiating Indigenous Metaphysics as Educational Philosophy in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, the history of the use of modern philosophical categories in education is short. This is because the country’s modern education itself is barely 100 years old. What is not so short, however, is the history of the use of indigenous metaphysics in temehert (traditional education), which goes back as far as the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia—to the fourth century A.D. Since its inception, education has had a close, if ambivalent, relationship with different philosophical tenets, with the advocates of each tenet trying to formulate educational philosophy around its own unique metaphysical narrative. While some narratives arose from indigenous legends, others were imported (and domesticated in some cases) from abroad. The recent tendency of educational philosophy in Ethiopia has a slightly ‘(post)modernist’ philosophical flavor to it, even though it might not be self-consciously postmodernist in nature. In this essay, I intend to show how a deliberate, or unwitting, de-link with indigenous metaphysics could affect the trajectory, and also the success, of the educational system in Ethiopia. After a brief paradigmatic characterization of two metaphysical categories and their underlying narratives, I critically unravel the ethno-federalist metaphysics of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). I focus on the ethno-federalist system because it is an incumbent philosophy. After discussing a nascent remedy proposed by Maimire Mennasemay, viz., the notion of ‘nostalgic memory,’ best known as tezeta, I argue for the primacy of the notion of ‘covenant thinking,’ also known as qal-kidan, as a better alternative.     

Attentional disengagement deficit in nondemented elderly over 75 years of age

Healthy older adults in the age range of 60-75 years are moderately deficient in visuospatial attention when central location cues are used to shift attention, but not when peripheral cues are used. In contrast, older adults with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) exhibit an attention shifting (disengagement) deficit for both central and peripheral cues. If the effects of dementia and normal aging on visuospatial attention differ qualitatively, then peripherally cued shifts of attention should be unaffected even in very old nondemented persons. to examine this possibility, subjects in six age groups (17-24, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, and 75-85 years) were tested on a visuospatial attention task. Valid, invalid and neutral location cues preceded a letter target requiring, in separate conditions, either speeded detection or discrimination. Combined costs and benefits of cue validity on reaction time (RT) increased with age in the discrimination but not in the detection task. the oldest group (75-85) showed significantly larger RT costs and benefits than the next oldest group (65-74), for both central and peripheral cues. the 75-85 year-olds were significantly slower than the 65-75 year-olds on invalid trials (costs) but not on valid trials (benefits), pointing to a disengagement deficit, as reported previously for patients with either parietal lobe damage or DAT. the results suggest that in healthy nondemented subjects of advanced age (over 75 years), visuospatial attention is affected similarly to younger patients in the early, mild stages of Alzheimer's disease.     

A little bit transparent with one another: Constructing vulnerability in the evangelical discourse of women preachers

Using four categories of Brown’s shame resilience theory (SRT), this paper analyses two similar online videos by prominent American evangelical female preachers: Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore. As each unpacks her survivor’s story of childhood sexual abuse, SRT (and its components of vulnerability, critical awareness, reaching out and speaking shame) can provide a matrix for interpreting the narrative in which each preacher frames her self-disclosure.     

The clocks that time us are not the same: A theory of temporal diversity,task characteristics,and performance in teams

Temporal individual differences are an under-explored, but research-worthy form of diversity in teams. Although persistent differences in how members think about and value time can profoundly influence team performance, the compositional impact of time-based individual differences is regularly overlooked. Optimal or suboptimal team performance can result because the composition of time-based individual differences is matched or unmatched (respectively) to task demands. Therefore, we offer a detailed presentation of how the configuration of four time-based individual differences (time urgency, time perspective, polychronicity, and pacing style) interact with two task typologies (task type and task complexity) to specify when elevation (mean) and diversity (dispersion) of temporal differences is helpful or harmful to team performance.     

Beliefs about factors affecting the Reliability of eyewitness testimony: A Comparison of judges,jurors and the general public

We surveyed 164 members of the juror pool of the Court of Appeal and a representative sample of 1000 adult Norwegians without juror experience, about their knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony, and compared their answers to a prior survey of Norwegian judges. Although the judges were somewhat more knowledgeable than jurors and the general public, all groups had limited knowledge of eyewitness testimony. Juror experience, in terms of number of times serving as juror, did not correlate with eyewitness knowledge. Consistent with this finding, the knowledge scores of the jurors were similar to the scores of the general public, tested with an abridged seven‐item version of the questionnaire. Comparisons with the results of surveys conducted in the US, indicate similar levels of knowledge among law professionals and jurors in the two countries. Increasing the knowledge of eyewitness testimony among the principal participants in the judiciary system may be an important component of the solution to eyewitness error. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Safety in Online Research With Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: What About the Children?

The significant co-occurrence between men’s violence against female partners and child abuse and neglect is well documented. It is less clear how child safety should be managed in family violence research with their mothers. This issue is salient to isafe, a New Zealand–based Internet intervention study testing improvement in safety decisions and mental health outcomes for women experiencing intimate partner violence. This article discusses the legislative, professional, and ethical considerations that contribute to the development of the child safety protocols and discusses the development of the isafe protocol. Hypothetical scenarios of the application of the isafe protocol are used to illuminate the issues and provide a basis for future discussion.     

Egg and embryo implantation: a comparative study of shi&art12;ite teachings and Kantian ethics

In this article the issues of egg and embryo implantation are examined in the light of i&art1;ālat al-ibā&art2;a wa-al-&art2;īliyya in Shi&art12;ite teachings and the Kantian principle of autonomy. Textual justification is given for the ibā&art2;a doctrine that what is not explicitly prohibited is permissible. When applied to the issues of egg and embryo implantation this leads to the conclusion that people may freely decide whether or not to engage in these medical processes, taking into account other relevant norms and possible consequences. A similar conclusion is reached through discussion of three particular cases of egg and embryo implantation in the light of an interpretation of Kantian autonomy in which people freely use reason to make right decisions in accordance with universal moral law. Despite the major differences between the two systems several similarities are noted and it is suggested that constructive development could result from interaction between them.     

Forms of gnosis in Sulamī's Sufi exegesis of the Fāti&art1;a

This paper will look at the Sufi interpretations of Sūrat al-fāti&art1;a found in the early mystical Qur'an commentary known as the &art2;aqā'iq al-tafsīr by the well known Sufi, Abū ^c Abd al-Ra&art1;mān al-Sulamī (d. 1021). The Sufi tafsīr of this sūra will be read not only as a compilation of early mystical interpretations of the Qur'an, but also as a unique work by Sulamī himself. A close reading of the various Sufi authors' interpretations set out by Sulamī will show how his own positions concerning the fundamental Sufi concept of ma^crifa come about.     

Running is the neurogenic and neurotrophic stimulus in environmental enrichment

Environmental enrichment (EE) increases dentate gyrus (DG) neurogenesis and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. However, running is considered an element of EE. To dissociate effects of physical activity and enrichment on hippocampal neurogenesis and BDNF levels, young female C57Bl/6 mice were housed under control, running, enrichment, or enrichment plus running conditions, and injected with bromodeoxyuridine. Cell genesis was assessed after 12 d and differentiation was analyzed 1 mo later. In addition, locomotor activity in the open field and hippocampal mature BDNF peptide levels were measured. Open-field adaptation was improved in all groups, compared to controls, but more so with running. New cell proliferation, survival, neuron number, and neurotrophin levels were enhanced only when running was accessible. We conclude that exercise is the critical factor mediating increased BDNF levels and adult hippocampal neurogenesis.