Educationand Research Research Articles

Fetishizing Dialogue and Commodifying Peacemaking

This paper assesses the ongoing dialogue and student exchangebetween the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and one ofthe most violent institutions in Iran, the Imam Khomeini Educationand Research Institute (IKERI). I will use this relationshipbetween theMCC and IKERI to examine the broader question ofinterreligious transnational dialogue and peacemaking.After a brief background of this somewhat “secretive” dialogue/student exchange, I will evaluate its effects. Of particular interestwill be the following questions: How do we responsibly shapeMuslim–non-Muslim dialogue for peace and understanding in aglobal context that is inevitably shaped by an imbalance of powerand representation? How are the acts of resistance undertaken bythe disenfranchised local/diasporic Iranian communities and thesustained systematic violence against them impacted by a peacefulfaith community such as the Mennonites? How does the absolutizationof “dialogue” coupled with self-proclaimed theologicalmandates effectively strip away the archives of violence from livingmemories and histories?What can examining the decade-longdialogue between the MCC and IKERI reveal about the mechanismsof perpetuation and dissimulation of imperial dominationand control? How can transnational interreligious interventions bethe nexus for infusing sensitivity and expecting accountability?I argue that a fetishization of dialogue and a commodification ofpeacemaking took place between the MCC and IKERI, resultingin the patronage of the sign systems of existing normative ideologiesof violence ...

Australian Health Review call for papers

The Editor of Australian Health Review invites contributions for an upcoming issue on health professional education. Submission deadline: 6 February 2007 It is expected that tertiary education and research for health professionals will be the focus of substantial change over the next couple of years. The health professional workforce has been the subject of recent studies in Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand Health Workforce Advisory Committee has focused on ensuring an effective strategic framework and outlined seven principles comprising equity and appropriateness, strategic and sustainable supply, healthy workplaces, collaborative practice, effective education, stakeholder involvement and information and monitoring.1 In Australia, the Productivity Commission made strong recommendations directed at improving health professional education to enhance coordination, reduce practice barriers and address shortages of health professionals. 2 To help inform policy and practice, Australian Health Review is looking to publish feature articles, research papers, case studies and commentaries related to health professional education. Potential topic areas include: � Addressing health workforce challenges � Multidisciplinary professional practice and interdisciplinary education � Management education and clinician managers � Evidence-based education � Sector-based approaches to education and training � Partnerships and social change � Impact of national education and research policy on health professional education. Submissions related to international programs with lessons for Australia and New Zealand will also be welcomed. Submissions can be short commentaries of 1000 to 2000 words, or more comprehensive reviews of 2000 to 4000 words. Please consult the AHR Guidelines for Authors for information on formatting and submission.

Dynamic annealing in ion implanted SiC: Flux versus temperature dependence

A strong influence of ion implantation flux on the accumulation of radiation damage, the so-called dose rate effect, is observed and systematically studied in SiC. 100 keV Si+ ions were implanted into bulk 4H-SiC wafers using different ion fluxes (1.9×1010–4.9×1013 ions/cm2 s) and keeping the implantation dose constant at 5×1014 Si+/cm2. The implants were performed both at room and elevated temperatures, up to 220 °C. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in the channelling mode using 2 MeV He+ ions was employed to measure ion implantation damage profiles in the samples. For the flux interval used the most, pronounced dynamic annealing effect was detected at 80–160 °C, having an activation energy of 1.3 eV. For example, at 100 °C the amount of disordered Si atoms at the projected ion range is reduced by a factor of 4 by decreasing the ion flux from 4.9×1013 to 1.9×1010 ions/cm2 s. The results are discussed in terms of migration and annihilation of intrinsic type defects for both the Si- and C-sublattices. In addition, two regions for the damage accumulation – at the surface and at the damage peak for 100 keV Si+ ions – are observed.

Vireal Lab – From Instruction to Construction

Living in a century in which the turnover of new insights in biomedical sciences is accelerating rapidly, educational institutions have to face the problem of the sustainability of its teaching strategies. There is no doubt that the task of every university is to keep the quality of its education on a high standard. This goal can only be achieved if the increasing information of high complexity can be adequately integrated into teaching scenarios and constantly be available with reasonable accessibility. Conventional types of teaching media are no longer qualified for this purpose. New teaching technologies, carefully integrated into the curriculum are believed to be an essential media to guarantee the constant high standard of education. In addition, nearly all modern research in life sciences nowadays has switched to teamwork to be able to create real breakthroughs in basic and medicinal sciences, e.g. the Human Genome Project. This fact demands appropriate team teaching and working concepts as well as a well-equipped environment to support collaboration. In this article a completely new scientific environment for teamwork in education and research in life sciences is presented: Vireal Lab, a physical learning environment, equipped with interactive tables and white boards with built-in electronic devices and touch-sensitive surfaces. It supports all modes of face-to face or virtual collaborative learning and working. Since collaborative learning is believed to be one of the most successful learning methods it is, for the first time, supported by appropriate new technologies. Vireal Lab is an innovative approach to meet the high demands of today's teaching and research in life sciences

Les enjeux de la réorganisation de l'enseignement supérieur du Ministère chargé de l'Agriculture

Le Ministre Hervé Gaymard a chargé la DGER de reprendre le dossier de «réorganisation» de l’enseignement supérieur de son Ministère dans un triple objectif : de qualité de haut niveau, de lisibilité et de compétitivité aux niveaux national et international. La réflexion est en cours. Les axes stratégiques de cette réorganisation, tels qu’ils apparaissent à ce stade reposeront sur la notion de «pôles de compétences» structurés sur une base géographique régionale. De tels pôles seraient constitués d’un «noyau dur» rassemblant de façon étroite les établissements d’enseignement supérieur, de recherche et de transfert de technologie d’une région donnée. Ils incluront naturellement et parmi d’autres, les écoles nationales vétérinaires. Ils devront être en outre étroitement associés à d’autres ensembles de formation supérieure capables d’assurer la multidisciplinarité indispensable pour atteindre les objectifs fixés. Enfin, un des dossiers «réflexion action» de la DGER s’efforcera de préciser les conditions nécessaires pour que certains de ces pôles puissent être qualifiés de «pôles d’excellence» . La réflexion en cours doit être à ce stade partagée par la communauté éducative du Ministère. Des forums et des instances de discussions permettront de dégager les lignes directrices de ce chantier dont la conclusion pourrait s’inscrire dans le courant du premier semestre 2004.

Hundred years of history and the future of the Foundation 'Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathological Laboratory'

The past More than a century ago, on December 18th, 1894, the Foundation 'Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathological Laboratory', in short 'WCS-Foundation' (WCS) , was established in Amsterdam. It was one of the first institutes in the world dedicated to scientific research and higher education in plant pathology. The finances were by courtesy of Mr C.W.R. Scholten and Mrs H.H. Scholten nee Commelin, in commemoration of their late son Willie, who had shown himself highly interested in plant pathology when studying botany under the supervision of Prof. Dr Hugo de Vries, one of the founders of the WCS. The families Scholten and Commelin both were wellknown in the Amsterdam community for many centuries. Johannes Commelin, a botanist who lived from 1629 to 1692, was Director of the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens. In 1920, the WCS-laboratory moved to the town of Baarn where it could use the field facilities of the Botanical Gardens of the UtrechtUniversity. In the course of time, the responsibilities for education and research in plant pathology in Baarn were assigned to the University of Utrecht, the University of Amsterdam and the Free University at Amsterdam (Kerling, 1966; 1969). As part of the general cut-backs in higher education, the Free University withdrew in 1987 and the boards of the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht decided in 1988 to transfer their Department of plant pathology from Baarn. As a result, the Department was split and moved to the Faculties of Biology at the University campuses at Amsterdam and Utrecht, respectively. In June 1991, the facilities of the Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathological Laboratory at Baarn were closed. TheWCS-Foundation carrying the same name, however, set a new course to continue her objectives of promoting research and education in plant pathology, as will be discussed later. For more than 100 years, the WCS-Foundation greatly influenced the development of plant pathology and mycology in the Netherlands. On the initiative of the first director, Prof. Dr J. Ritzema Bos, the Plant Protection Service was founded in 1899, and under his directorship located in the Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathological Laboratory in Amsterdam. His research was application-oriented and finally resulted in his nomination as Director of the newly founded 'Institute of Phytopathology' at Wageningen. Ritzema Bos took his 'Plant Protection Service', the Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology and his 'Tijdschrift over Plantenziekten' with him to Wageningen. This journal later became The Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology and since 1994 is being continued as the European Journal of Plant Pathology, published in co-operation with the European Foundation for Plant Pathology. Ritzema Bos was succeeded by Johanna Westerdijk as the new director of the WCS-Laboratory in 1906.

System waste in education and research: A Delphi study in India

A concept of system waste has been developed, and reported in the literature, to focus explicitly on waste and its reduction. In this study, which is a part of the authors' ongoing research on system waste, an attempt has been made to estimate current and future system waste in education and research (EDR) in India. The concept of system waste, which is defined as “any unnecessary input to and/or any undesirable output from any system,” is complex, multifaceted, subjective and not generally clearly understood. Its study is a fit case for the use of qualitative group problem-solving techniques. Delphi is the technique which has been used here to learn about system waste. A two-round Delphi study was conducted in 1990 in EDR in which teachers, educational administrators, planners, and parents participated. The paper describes the study and its results.

MULTIDRUG RESISTANT SALMONELLA TYPHI

Departments of Paediatrics and Microbiology Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education-and Research Chandigarh-160012, India