bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why Santa Claus is Not a God
Authors: Barrett Justin 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThrough the lenses of cognitive science of religion, successful god concepts must possess a number of features. God concepts must be (1) counterintuitive, (2) an intentional agent, (3) possessing strategic information, (4) able to act in the human world in detectable ways and (5) capable of motivating behaviors that reinforce belief. That Santa Claus appears to be only inconsistently represented as having all five requisite features Santa has failed to develop a community of true believers and cult. Nevertheless, Santa concepts approximate a successful god concept more closely than other widespread cultural characters such as Mickey Mouse and the Tooth Fairy, in part explaining Santa's relative cultural prominence.
Transferred Shame in the Cultures of Interdependent-Self and Independent Self
Authors: Tang Mei , Wang Zhiyan , Qian Mingyi , Gao Jun , Zhang Lili 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
The construal of the self is related to individuals' cognition, emotion and behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate shame in the context of interdependent-self and independent-self culture. 163 Chinese and 196 American college undergraduates completed a questionnaire about their reaction to 3 different scenarios about shameful events involving 5 different persons including self, mother, boy/girl friend, best friend and classmate. The participants reported the intensity of shame they felt in each of the situation and how close they were related to other people in the scenarios. The results demonstrated that there is a significant difference between Chinese and American participants on the levels of shame across all the scenarios, as well as for the persons involved in the scenario. It was also found that the intensity of shame was reduced as the relationship between the participants and the persons involved in the shameful events becomes remote in social distance. A significant correlation was found between closeness of relationship and intensity of shame felt. Implications for understanding cultural differences to emotions and future studies are discussed.
Blaming Badly
Authors: Alicke Mark 
Published: April 2008

AbstractKnobe and Burra show that people will ascribe internationality to outcomes that an actor had no intention to effect. I describe this ostensibly contradictory effect in terms of outcome bias – the tendency for people to blame actors for the outcomes of their actions, independent of their casual and intentional role in the event. Whereas intention refers to an actor's pre-behavioral desires, intentionality characterizes an event that includes both behavior and outcome. Thus, while people recognize that the actor did not desire for the outcome to occur, they ascribe intentionality as a means of registering diaspproval for what ultimately did occur. I describe these findings in terms of my culpable control (Alicke, 2000) model of blame.
Royal Executions: Evidence bearing on the Subject of Sanctioned Killing in the Middle Kingdom
Authors: Muhlestein Kerry 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSanctioned killing in Ancient Egypt has been a much debated theme. So far, however, the perspective on this subject matter has been too broad, static, and limited in scope. Supported by a large body of inscriptional evidence dating to the Middle Kingdom, this paper argues that during this period the grounds for sanctioned killing and its practices were more wide-ranging than has often been supposed. Le thème de l'homicide sanctionné dans l'Égypte ancienne a fait l'objet de nombreux débats. Toutefois, jusqu'à présent l'approche a été trop générale, statique et limitée. Fondée sur l'étude de nombreuses inscriptions datant du Moyen Empire, cette contribution suggère que durant cette période les principes subordonnés aux pratiques de l'homicide sanctionné étaient plus variés qu'on ne l'avait cru auparavant.
The Rise and Fall of a Man-Made Lake: Training Lake in Jiangnan, China, 300-2000 A.D.
Authors: Vermeer Eduard 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe shallow Training Lake in Jiangnan has received much attention in historical records because of the direct involvement of successive dynastic governments in the protection of its seasonal water supply to the Grand Canal. Historians have all praised the periodical efforts to restore the lake's water supply and irrigation functions. However, in view of the high operating costs of the lake and its limited benefits, the various attempts to reclaim land and water for agriculture may have been more rational in terms of economic profit. Visitors' descriptions provide many details on the long-term environmental changes in the lake area. In the 1960s, it was drained and turned into a state farm. Le Lac d'Entraînement peu profond de Jiangnan a retenu l'attention dans les textes historiques parce que les gouvernements dynastiques successifs se sont investis pour assurer alimentation saisonnier du Grand Canal par ses eaux. Tous les historiens ont loué les efforts périodiques visant à lui conserver sa fonction d'alimentation et d'irrigation. Parce que les frais d'entretien du lac étaient élevés et les profits limités, il se peut néanmoins que les travaux entrepris pour convertir le lac en terres agricoles étaient plus rentables. Les descriptions des visiteurs nous fournissent d'abondants détails sur les changements environnementaux à long terme que subit la région du Lac. Dans les années 1960, il fut drainé pour y installer une exploitation agricole d'état.
Tombstones, Texts, and Typologies: Seeing Sources for the Early History of Islam in Southeast Asia
Authors: Lambourn Elizabeth 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article is a case study of an iconic symbol of Indonesian Islamization: the tombstones of al-Malik al-Sālih (d.696/1297 AD), believed to be the first Muslim Sultan of the polity of Samudra in Sumatra. The author questions the dominance of textualist approaches in Southeast Asian historical inquiry by applying the concept of the "integral cultural product"—in which text, visual content and material are equally important and interdependent. This fresh analysis suggests that al-Sālih's tombstones are actually later replacements for an older grave, so raising new questions about the construction of legitimacy and ancestry in early Islamic Southeast Asia. Cette contribution étudie un symbole de l'islamisation indonésienne: les pierres tombales d'al-Malik al-Sālih (décédé en l'an 696/1297 ap. J.-C.) réputé être le premier sultan musulman du royaume de Samudra à Sumatra. L'auteur conteste la dominance de la méthode textualiste dans les recherches historiques sur l'Asie du Sud-est en utilisant le concept de "produit culturel intégral": le texte, l'aspect extérieur et la matière, interdépendants, doivent être analysés globalement. Cette approche nouvelle suggère que les pierres tombales d'al-Malik al-Sālih seraient effectivement des substituts tardifs d'un tombeau plus ancien, ce qui soulève des interrogations sur la construction de la légitimité et de l'ascendance à l'aube de l'ère islamique en Asie du Sud-est.
Waqfs of Awlād al-Nās in Aleppo in the Late Mamlūk Period as Reflected in a Family Archive
Authors: Layish Aharon 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA family archive from Aleppo of the late Mamlūk period sheds light on a society in transition from military to civil elite. It provides us with insights on the religious, social, and economic role of the waqf and on its function as a means for circumventing the Islamic inheritance law and preserving the integrity of the patrimony. Vital information is provided on the possibilities for women and manumitted slaves to own and dispose of property. The study is also concerned with the impact of the legal pluralism created by the introduction of sharīi' a courts belonging to the four Sunnī schools on the ability of the waqf to accommodate itself to social and economic pressures. Les archives d'une famille d'Alep datant de la fin de la période mamelouke apportent un éclairage sur une société en transition, passant du statut militaire à celui de dignitaires civils. L'examen du manuscrit dévoile le rôle du waqf dans les domaine religieux, social et économique, et la manière dont sont contournées les lois de succession islamiques pour conserver l'intégralité d'un patrimoine. Le document fournit également des éléments sur la possibilité pour des femmes et des esclaves affranchis de détenir et de disposer de biens propres. Cette contribution explore également l'effet du pluralisme légal, issu de la création de tribunaux religieux des quatre écoles juridiques sunnites, sur la capacité d'adaptation de cette institution à la pression sociale et économique.
RS based RE in Public Schools: A Must for a Secular State
Authors: Jensen Tim 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article is a reasoned, normative argument for making religion education (RE) a separate, compulsory, time-tabled and totally normal school subject at all levels in public schools. With reference to Religion (RE) in Danish upper-secondary school as well as to the way Danish departments for the study of religions (RS) educate Religion teachers, key contents and principles of an RS based RE are outlined. It is stressed that only the historical and comparative study of religions can provide the scientific basis for RE, and that it must be the RS departments that educate RE teachers. It is, furthermore, suggested that normalisation of RE in public schools be added to defining characteristics of a secular state, and that scholars of religion engage not only in studies of RE but also in establishing RS based RE.
Teaching about Religions in the Public Sphere: European Policy Initiatives and the Interpretive Approach
Authors: Jackson Robert 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper charts a policy shift within international and European inter-governmental institutions towards advocating the study of religions (or the study of religions and beliefs) in European publicly funded schools. The events of September 11, 2001 in the USA acted as a "wake up call" in relation to recognising the legitimacy and importance of the study of religions in public education. For example, policy recommendations from the Council of Europe and guiding principles for the study of religions and beliefs from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe have been developed and are under consideration by member or participating states of both bodies. In translating policy into practice, appropriate pedagogies need to be adopted or developed. The paper uses the example of the interpretive approach to indicate how issues of representation, interpretation and reflexivity might be addressed in studying religious diversity within contemporary societies in ways which both avoid stereotyping and engage students' interest.
Religious Education in Switzerland as a Field of Work for the Study of Religions: Empirical Results and Theoretical Reflections
Authors: Frank Katharina , Bochinger Christoph 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe following article addresses the current state of religious education in Switzerland and the involvement of the study of religions in this field. Since the 1990s, the existence of different religions and world-views has become a politically and socially significant factor in Switzerland. Not only representatives of public schools and particularly teachers of religious education, but also scholars of the study of religions, are challenged by the consequences of this multireligious and multicultural situation. During the past few years, religious education therefore has become a scholarly issue for this discipline in the German-speaking area. The article demonstrates what the engagement of the study of religions in the practical field of religious education should be like and how this has already been worked out. The authors differentiate between basic research, applied research and application, referring to their own research and practical experience. Based on empirical data, two basic forms of religious education are generated: religiöser Unterricht, which treats objects of religious traditions in a religious manner, including a dogmatic and a life-world sub-type, and religionskundlicher Unterricht, which treats objects of religious traditions in the scholarly way of the cultural studies. In the last part of the article some cornerstones for the implementation of the school subject Religionskunde and for the development of an applied didactics in the perspective of the study of religions are presented.
Religious Education in England
Authors: Revell Lynn 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article argues that RE in England is shaped by a number of factors that promote a rigid definition of religiosity and which discourage engagement with new, unconventional or non-mainstream forms of religion. The article identifies the close relationship between RE and the national church and other faith communities as well as a reliance on local agreed syllabi as key characteristics in the inability of RE in England to fully engage with contemporary forms of religion. It ends by calling for a revaluation of the basis for RE and a greater engagement with other disciplines involved in the study of religion.
Teaching Religion in Australian Schools
Authors: Goldburg Peta 
Published: April 2008

AbstractTraditionally the teaching of religion in schools in Australia was confined to Church-sponsored or independent schools because public education in Australia prided itself on being "free, secular and compulsory." For over one hundred years, the teaching of religion in church schools was grounded in a faith-forming approach but, in the 1980s, there was a shift to an educational approach to teaching of religion. The development of educational approaches enabled the introduction of Studies of Religion for senior secondary school students. After considering these shifts, suggestions will be made for some dynamic teaching approaches for students in Studies in Religion.
Unity in Diversity: Religion Education and Public Pedagogy in South Africa
Authors: Chidester David 
Published: April 2008

AbstractOn 12 September 2003, Minister of Education, Kader Asmal, presented to Parliament South Africa's new national policy on religion and education. Breaking with the confessional religious instruction of the past, the policy established a new educational agenda for teaching and learning about religion, religions, and religious diversity in South African schools. Although this policy was the focus of many years of educational debate and religious controversy, it was also part of broader post-apartheid efforts in nation building. The policy was based on an inclusive definition of citizenship; it enacted the state's commitment to constitutional values, respect for cultural diversity, and transformational promise of moving a divided society towards national unity. In this broader context, I want to link South Africa's national policy for religion and education with post-apartheid initiatives in cultural heritage. As public pedagogy, state-driven and market-driven heritage projects have created an expanding classroom for "celebrating diversity and building national unity." Heritage projects have been criticized for manufacturing uniformity and privileging the extraordinary. In working out a curriculum for religion education in schools, these criticisms also need to be addressed. This article proposes that fruitful exchanges in theory and pedagogical practice can emerge at the intersection of religion education, heritage studies, and the history of religions.
Didactics of the Study of Religions
Authors: Alberts Wanda 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn contrast to well-established didactics of theologies, the study of religions, even though its field is becoming more and more important in schools and elsewhere in society, has not yet developed a didactic branch. This article outlines and exemplifies three tasks for didactics of the study of religions: (1) analysis of models of education about religion/s, (2) development of concepts for education about religion/s, (3) engagement in practical issues related to education about religion/s, including participation in political and public debates about religion, religious plurality, education, and religious education. Tasks 1 and 2, which may be called "inner-academic," are exemplified with research results from my study about integrative religious education in Europe. Task 3, relating to the communication of academic insights beyond academia, is regarded as a necessary complement to "inner-academic" work. In conclusion, it is argued that in order to develop didactics of the study of religions it is necessary to combine the subject knowledge and methodologies of the study of religions with insights from education. Rather than leaving this educational task to educationalists with little knowledge of our subject, the study of religions needs to establish its own didactics with respect to various educational contexts.
Sensibility and Democratic Space
Authors: Scott Charles 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPeople have shared funds of sense that operate in every aspect of their lives. These complex sensibilities constitute a range of often contradictory dispositions and attunements that we can describe as sensible disorders. Further, sensibilities are available for multiple differential determinations from which the ability for self-reflection and intervention derives. 'Democratic space' is an appropriate name for the region of sensibilities. Rather than naming a grounding identity, 'democratic space' names a region without imperative, voice, or intention. Nothing that happens defines the region of determination. The paper describes a sense of democratic space that is distinguishable from other senses and points to dispositional and political aspects of that sense.
Antagonism and Democratic Citizenship (Schmitt, Mouffe, Derrida)
Authors: Fritsch Matthias 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn the context of the recent proliferation of nationalisms and enemy figures, this paper agrees with the desirability of retaining some of the explanatory and motivational potential of an agonistic account of politics, but gives reasons not to accept too much of Carl Schmitt's account of citizenship. The claim as to the necessarily antagonistic exclusion of concrete others can be supported neither on its own terms nor on Derridian grounds, as Chantal Mouffe, in particular, attempts to do. I then indicate that différance may nonetheless account for strong (but not necessary) tendencies toward exclusion as well as for the intrinsic contradictions of liberal universalism.
Michael Purcell, Levinas and Theology
Authors: Plant Bob 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMichael Purcell's Levinas and Theology is an original and stimulating exposition of one of the most difficult French philosophers of recent years. Drawing predominantly on Levinas' phenomenological roots, Purcell analyses a number of theological concepts (notably liturgy, incarnation and grace) through a broadly Levinasian lense. While Purcell's book deserves serious attention, especially by those working in 'continental' theology, there are three areas which would have benefited from further analysis: whether Levinas reduces 'religion' to ethics; how the (alleged) radical 'otherness' of the other is supposed to be ethically motivating; whether Levinas' work can truly accommodate the concept of salvation. These are the areas I will pursue here.
Bayesian Design and Analysis for Superensemble-Based Climate Forecasting
Authors: Berliner L. Mark , Kim Yongku 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
The authors develop statistical data models to combine ensembles from multiple climate models in a fashion that accounts for uncertainty. This formulation enables treatment of model specific means, biases, and covariance matrices of the ensembles. In addition, the authors model the uncertainty in using computer model results to estimate true states of nature. Based on these models and principles of decision making in the presence of uncertainty, this paper poses the problem of superensemble experimental design in a quantitative fashion. Simple examples of the resulting optimal designs are presented. The authors also provide a Bayesian climate modeling and forecasting analysis. The climate variables of interest are Northern and Southern Hemispheric monthly averaged surface temperatures. A Bayesian hierarchical model for these quantities is constructed, including time-varying parameters that are modeled as random variables with distributions depending in part on atmospheric CO2 levels. This allows the authors to do Bayesian forecasting of temperatures under different Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). These forecasts are based on Bayesian posterior distributions of the unknowns conditional on observational data for 1882–2001 and climate system model output for 2002–97. The latter dataset is a small superensemble from the Parallel Climate Model (PCM) and the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). After summarizing the results, the paper concludes with discussion of potential generalizations of the authors’ strategies.
Measuring the Wind Vector Using the Autonomous Mini Aerial Vehicle M2AV
Authors: van den Kroonenberg Aline , Martin Tim , Buschmann Marco , Bange Jens , Vörsmann Peter 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
The meteorological mini unmanned aerial vehicle (M2AV) was used for measuring the meteorological wind. The wind is the vector difference between the aircraft speed relative to the earth (inertial velocity) and relative to the airflow (true airspeed). The latter was computed from five-hole-probe pressure measurements in combination with calibration–coefficient polynomials obtained during wind tunnel calibration. The aircraft inertial velocity, position, and attitude were calculated using a Kalman filter that combined data from a global positioning system (GPS) and an inertial navigation system (INS). The temporal (and spatial) resolution of the M2AV wind measurement is remarkably fine. An inertial subrange of locally isotropic turbulence can be measured up to 40 Hz (or 0.55 m at 22 m s−1 airspeed).
The first M2AV wind estimation showed some systematic deviations compared to the expected values (like a constant mean wind in every flight direction). Therefore, an in-flight wind calibration technique was developed that corrects for the inaccuracy of the true heading, the constant offset of the pitch angle, and the underestimation of the true airspeed. The final adjusted wind measurements were verified during a field experiment at the measurement field of the German Meteorological Service, southeast of Berlin. The mean horizontal and vertical wind measured by the M2AV agreed well with simultaneous sodar and tower measurements.