Search Results (25)

The Alevis of Anatolia and the Balkans and the Alawites of Syria and southeastern Turkey are two distinct ethnoreligious communities frequently conflated in both media and scholarly literature, despite their divergent historical origins, theological differences, and varying sociocultural formations. While their shared histories of marginalization and persecution, certain theological parallels, and cognate ethnonyms contribute to this conflation, it largely stems from a broader tendency within mainstream Islamic frameworks to homogenize so-called heterodox communities without sufficient attention to their doctrinal and cultural specificities. This paper, grounded in a synthetic analysis of current scholarship, maps the key historical, theological, and sociocultural intersections and divergences between Alawite and Alevi communities. Situated within the broader framework of intra-Islamic diversity, it seeks to move beyond essentialist and homogenizing paradigms by foregrounding the distinct genealogies of each tradition, rooted, respectively, in the early pro-Alid movements of Iraq and Syria and in Anatolian Sufism. In addition, the study examines the communities’ overlapping political trajectories in the modern era, particularly their alignments with leftist and secular–nationalist currents, as well as their evolving relationship—from mutual unawareness to a recent political rapprochement—prompted by the growing existential threats posed by the rise of Sunni-Salafi Islamist movements. Full article

Brazil and Portugal are undeniably united because they share the same language, ocean, and, to a considerable extent, history. There has also been a profound rapprochement between the two countries at the media level, particularly in telenovelas. Brazil developed the “telenovela” genre in the 1950s and inspired Portuguese serial television fiction the most. First, Portugal saw a commitment to plots of Brazilian origin (1977—“Gabriela, Cravo e Canela”), a reality still observed today, albeit somewhat. Portuguese producers then studied and recruited Brazilian professionals when the first Portuguese narratives were created to absorb their knowledge and expertise. This research aims to measure how many telenovelas have been written by women since their broadcasting in the Portuguese–Brazilian market. This question unfolds into other questions, such as the following: What is the ratio of telenovelas written by men to women from 1951 to March 2025 in Portugal and Brazil? Is there a trend towards equilibrium, an increase or decrease in telenovelas written by men or women in the market being analyzed? To answer these questions, data was collected manually through information repositories such as “Observatório de TV” and “SP Televisão” and by watching generic telenovelas available on YouTube or the broadcasters’ channels. Portuguese and Brazilian television channels with national coverage were considered for this research. The data shows that 926 telenovelas were broadcast in the Portuguese–Brazilian market, of which 27.7 per cent were written by women, 64.1 per cent by men, 7.4 per cent were written in partnership between men and women, and 0.8 per cent have no information available. This study reveals a better balance between the number of male and female authors in Portugal than in Brazil and a downward trend in the number of female telenovela authors in Brazil after the military dictatorship. Full article

This article aims to provide an account of the political thought of Archbishop John Carroll on the topic of religious liberty as a core principle of the American founding. It examines the relationship of Church and State through the lens of a developing self-understanding in the American and Roman Catholic identities. American Catholic colonists were accused of having a divided allegiance that made them dangerous to the social compact, divided between papal authority and the authority of the republic. Further, the place of the Catholic Church in a more pluralistic religious landscape following the Reformation demanded a reexamination of the traditional Catholic teaching on religious liberty. One man in particular stands out as a seminal figure in the development of a rapprochement between the American liberal understanding of religious liberty and that of the Catholic tradition. This man was Archbishop John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic Bishop in America. Carroll’s theoretical and practical approach to the highly contentious issue of religious liberty is a noteworthy example of simultaneous commitment to the Catholic faith and responsiveness to the exigencies of the moment and the perennial demands of political life. Carroll’s example is useful for Catholics and all others, as a model for Church–State separation. Full article

The city, like a piece of architecture, is a structure in space, but one of gigantic scale, something perceived only over a long period. A space is termed a place when it acquires an identity. The entirety of urban personality, urban communication, urban conduct, and urban design constitute the urban identity. This research delves into divided urban identities and examines how urban and architectural design influence the fragmentation of the cityscape. It explores the connection between urban environments’ physical attributes and the divide of social, cultural, and political identities within cities. This study uses a multidisciplinary method to acquire thorough knowledge by combining architectural studies, urban planning theories, and social-cultural perspectives. The case study of reference is the city of Matera, in southern Italy, which has a unique history of a slow shaping of its urban and productive landscape throughout centuries due to heavy environmental constraints and resource availability and which has suffered forced evacuation and major discontinuities in the past century. Here, the opposing traits of the historical Sassi district and the new town are examined, focusing on their resulting separated urban identities. The study also looks at how divided cities may be reconciled and integrated, emphasizing the relevance of a holistic urban approach for the framing of complex issues. The research proposes methods and best practices for developing inclusive urban settings that promote cohesion and shared identities through the analysis of successful cases of urban regeneration, adaptive reuse of spaces, and participatory design processes. The findings of this research contribute to both academic and practical knowledge by deepening the understanding of the relationship between urban design, architecture, and divided urban identities. It emphasizes the value of comprehensive approaches to urban planning that take into account the social, cultural, and historical settings of cities to foster inclusivity, rapprochement, and the development of common urban identities. Full article

This article presents the first English translation of Heinrich Bullinger’s preface to Huldrych Zwingli’s Opus articulorum of 1535. This source, which has received little attention in previous scholarship; is placed in the context of efforts to bring Luther and the Swiss Reformed closer together after the death of the Zurich Reformed on the question of the Lord’s Supper. Bullinger’s preface is an apologetic manifesto in favor of Zwingli’s orthodoxy and continuity with the Church Fathers. It is argued that Bullinger’s strong commitment should be interpreted as a signal sent to Wittenberg that a rapprochement with Luther was not to be achieved at the expense of Zwingli’s theological legacy. Full article

Does philosophy of religion, specifically, have anything to contribute to the cultural debate about the modern crisis of meaning, and particularly to attempts at retrieving a sense of enchantment beyond human construction? Suggesting a methodological rapprochement between philosophy of religion and phenomenology, I explore a recent popular attempt to reenchant the world through a retrieval of the sacred: All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age (2011) by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly. Using their work as a foil, I discuss the relation between phenomenology and metaphysics in the experience of the sacred, specifically the possibility of a pluralism that is nonetheless realist; the necessity of social embeddedness and pedagogy in the constitution of sacred meaning; and finally, the problem of moral discrimination within this sphere. Through this critical discussion a constructive argument emerges: philosophy of religion done in a phenomenological mode has resources to address these difficult issues, and thus to explore experiences of the sacred in ways that are metaphysically sophisticated, attentive to historical tradition and pedagogy in the constitution of meaning, as well as to the need of communal moral deliberation in the sphere of the sacred. Full article

An important action-planning problem is considered for participants of the pursuit–evasion game with multiple pursuers and a high-speed evader. The objects of study are mobile robotic systems and specifically small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The problem is complicated by the presence of significant wind loads that affect the trajectory and motion strategies of the players. It is assumed that UAVs have limited computing resources, which involves the use of computationally fast and real-time heuristic approaches. A novel and rapidly developing intelligent–geometric theory is applied to address the discussed problem. To accurately calculate the points of the participant’s rapprochement, we use a geometric approach based on the construction of circles or spheres of Apollonius. Intelligent control methods are applied to synthesize complex motion strategies of participants. A method for quickly predicting the evader’s trajectory is proposed based on a two-layer neural network containing a new activation function of the “s-parabola” type. We consider a special backpropagation training scheme for the model under study. A simulation scheme has been developed and tested, which includes mathematical models of dynamic objects and wind loads. The conducted simulations on pursuit–evasion games in close to real conditions showed the prospects and expediency of the presented approach. Full article

For Reformed theologians, the “synodal process” in the Roman Catholic Church is an important ecumenical rapprochement since it is based on the conviction that all believers, and all humans of good will, should have a voice in the Church’s future. While “synod” sounds in Reformed ears as a movement toward formal authority, the opposite is the case: the synodal process aims at communion, participation and mission. This article highlights aspects of the synodal process that dovetail with Reformed emphases and, thus, open ecumenical avenues, particularly journeying together and listening. Full article

This article provides an overview of the recent flourishing of research and pedagogy in higher education that seeks a greater rapprochement between criticism and creativity, bringing together diverse media, disciplines, and modes of knowledge production and expression. It focuses on transformations in film and screen studies and on the ethical and aesthetic possibilities of conducting creative, intermedial research through filmmaking, drawing on the author’s recent, first-hand experiences of conducting such research through her making of two films about the African women filmmakers Judy Kibinge (from Kenya) and Bongiwe Selane (from South Africa). The author gives specific examples from her filmmaking process to show how she has attempted to unsettle the generic space between documentary filmmaking, curatorial practice, and video-essay making to engage in a collaborative research practice with Kibinge, Selane, and their communities, as well as her research teams. Grounding itself in a decolonial feminist framework, this article draws on the perspectives of a wide range of thinkers and filmmaker scholars to explore ways in which the colonial, patriarchal values that have haunted many academic institutions can be reformed to allow for the envisioning of new futures that will lead to a more self-reflexive, socially just higher education environment. Full article

Natural language processing (NLP) is the art of investigating others’ positive and cooperative communication and rapprochement with others as well as the art of communicating and speaking with others. Furthermore, NLP techniques may substantially enhance most phases of the information-system lifecycle, facilitate access to information for users, and allow for new paradigms in the usage of information-system services. NLP also has an important role in designing the study, presenting two fields converging on one side and overlapping on the other, namely the field of the NAO-robot world and the field of education, technology, and progress. The selected articles classified the study into four categories: special needs, kindergartens, schools, and universities. Our study looked at accurate keyword research. They are artificial intelligence, learning and teaching, education, NAO robot, undergraduate students, and university. In two fields of twelve journals and citations on reliable/high-reputation scientific sites, 82 scientific articles were extracted. From the Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR) website, the study samples included twelve reliable/high-reputation scientific journals for the period from 2014 to 2023 from well-known scientific journals with a high impact factor. This study evaluated the effect of a systematic literature review of NAO educational robots on language programming. It aimed to be a platform and guide for researchers, interested persons, trainees, supervisors, students, and those interested in the fields of NAO robots and education. All studies recognized the superiority and progress of NAO robots in the educational field. They concluded by urging students to publish in highly influential journals with a high scientific impact within the two fields of study by focusing on the study-sample journals. Full article

The Philippines is facing increased assertiveness by China in the South China Sea. By constantly deploying maritime constabulary forces, China continues to showcase its effective occupancy over disputed waters at sea. Surprisingly, unlike the Philippines’ previous president, Duterte, who tilted to China and lacked a clear South China Sea policy, Marcos seems strong-willed to adopt a decisive stance against China in areas that overlap with the Philippines’ waters through the utilization of coast guards (white hulls). This article questions why the Marcos administration decided to empower the Philippines coast guard and investigates how it is strategically utilized in disputed waters. The study is an empirical explanatory research utilizing secondary data attained from the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative between 2021 and 2023, with the following findings: (1) the Philippines empowered white hulls to function as ‘mini-navies’ and (2) rapprochement to the US and Japan as precautionary measures to possible future conflicts. The strategic advantage of using coast guards as an alternative to navies is twofold: (1) the capacity to generate limited coercive effects yet maintain a decisive stance, and (2) tactical flexibility that allows it to produce non-escalatory outcomes. Full article

I explore the view that the imago Dei is essential to us as humans but accidental to us as persons. To image God is to resemble God, and resemblance comes in degrees. This has the straightforward—and perhaps disturbing—implication that we can be more or less human, and possibly cease to be human entirely. Hence, I call it the spectrum view. I argue that the spectrum view is complementary to the Biblical data, helps explain the empirical reality of horrendous evil, and offers an elegant rapprochement between the traditional view of hell and its rivals. Full article

Despite the fact that the member countries of the European Union initiated a reform of university education two decades ago to promote employability, giving importance to soft skills beyond the purely technical ones of each degree, there is still an important contrast between the demand for this type of skills on the part of the labor market and the educational offerings of universities. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the impact that the concept of employability and soft skills really has on the scientific community and the patterns of collaboration between the European Union, the UK and Switzerland, among researchers in these matters, through a bibliometric study of the scientific publications in the area, collected in the databases Web of Science and Scopus during the period from 1996–2022, presenting the most significant bibliometric data through a descriptive and quantitative methodology. The main results allow us to detect, among other conclusions, an increase in scientific production from 2010 but minimal scientific collaboration, since 90% of the total number of works were signed by a single author. Two countries, the UK and Australia, have 80% more scientific production on these topics than Spain. This bibliometric study offers a descriptive and analytical panorama, from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, of the main bibliometric variables in two of the databases with the greatest impact among the scientific community (WOS and Scopus), allowing researchers and institutions to visualize the most developed study trends and the strongest emerging lines of research. The necessary rapprochement between the university and the company, in this way, will help the university to know its present situation but also to discover what learning strategy it should consider reducing the training gap in competences. Full article

So far, Croatian migrant families have been predominantly studied within the scope of theoretical questions oriented toward ethnicity and their role as the guardians of ethnic/national identity. Going beyond the ethnic lens of those studies, the article focuses on an exploration of family structures and the social functioning of wider kinship networks in the migration context as well as an understanding of how migrants conceive of ethnic/national identity. By highlighting the complex entanglements of traditional family patterns (patrilocality, seniority, and gender roles), transnational kinship networks and “a little tradition of ethnic/national identity” held by migrants, this article seeks to establish autonomous research into family processes among Croatian migrants and to make a rapprochement between classical anthropological research of family and kinship and migration studies. Full article

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the population depends on their ability to anchor the ACE2 receptor in the host cells. Differences in the electrostatic potentials of the spike protein RBD (electropositive/basic) and ACE2 receptor (electronegative/acidic) play a key role in both the rapprochement and the recognition of the coronavirus by the cell receptors. Accordingly, point mutations that result in an increase in electropositively charged residues, e.g., arginine and lysine, especially in the RBD of spike proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 variants, could contribute to their spreading capacity by favoring their recognition by the electronegatively charged ACE2 receptors. All SARS-CoV-2 variants that have been recognized as being highly transmissible, such as the kappa (κ), delta (δ) and omicron (o) variants, which display an enhanced electropositive character in their RBDs associated with a higher number of lysine- or arginine-generating point mutations. Lysine and arginine residues also participate in the enhanced RBD–ACE2 binding affinity of the omicron variant, by creating additional salt bridges with aspartic and glutamic acid residues from ACE2. However, the effects of lysine- and arginine-generating point mutations on infectivity is more contrasted, since the overall binding affinity of omicron RBD for ACE2 apparently results from some epistasis among the whole set of point mutations. Full article