Giuseppe Levi: mentor of three Nobel laureates

Giuseppe Levi (1872-1965), Professor of Anatomy at the University of Turin, had broad research interests and was a pioneer of in vitro studies on cultured cells. He provided a number of contributions on the nervous system, especially on the plasticity of sensory ganglion cells. An influential and magnetic teacher and mentor, he gathered around him a large group of brilliant students. He has the peculiar primate to count among his students three Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine: Salvador Luria, Renato Dulbecco, and Rita Levi-Montalcini. For all three of them, the internship in Levi's laboratory provided an exceptional initial stimulus. They remained in close contact with each other and with Levi even after the 1940s when they migrated to the United States for political and racial reasons, engaging in different fields of research. Rita Levi-Montalcini, who was awarded the Nobel Prize (1986) for the discovery of Nerve Growth Factor, was stimulated and assisted in her work by Giuseppe Levi during the difficult years of World War II. With Giuseppe Levi, she pursued early studies on the relationships between neural centers and their peripheral target of innervation, and she has witnessed in her writings the enthusiasm of her mentor.     

论欧洲认同和欧洲一体化中的认同问题

欧洲在历史上曾经有过以基督教为基础的文化上的同一性,但并非完全意义上的"欧洲认同".近代以来,民族国家的认同成为欧洲人们的主要和基本的认同.当代欧洲一体化中始终存在是否坚持民族特性/认同的斗争,一体化进程没有取消民族国家认同,也没有形成真正超越民族国家的欧洲认同.但是,欧洲民族国家的认同发生了变化,变得具有开放和兼容性.这对于当今时代人们对待"认同"问题,具有启示意义.     

Shame, Guilt, and Anguish in Holocaust Survivor Testimony

This article examines how Holocaust survivors interpret themeaning of specific "iconic," all-absorbing memories that seldomfind their way into the survivors' public account of their Holocaustexperience. Utilizing the idea of public and private space, and personaland corporate pain as heuristic tools, I examine how survivorsorganize experience. In the final section, I argue that survivorslive with countervailing pressures: the struggle to forget andremain silent and the need to tell and to memorialize. Oraltestimony's communal, didactic, and therapeutic nature makeit a unique platform for these conflicting forces to work themselvesout by transforming narratives of suffering into narrativesof witnessing.     

Cardinal Markers of Finland's Identity Politics and National Identity

This paper analyzes geopolitical themes prevailing in dominant sectors of the Finnish government and society that have shaped Finland's national identity from the early 19th century to the present. The focus is on the ways cardinal markers (compass directions) have become geopolitical and identity markers. Notions of "West," "Between East and West," "Neither West nor East," and "North" have been used both to position Finland on the world political map and to forge a Finnish national identity. The influence of Russia and Karelians are examined at some length as part of the eastern dimension of Finnish identity. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O52, Z13. 1 figure, 1 table, 94 references.     

华夏民族与国家认同意识的演变

华夏民族与国家的演进和互动走着一条与西方不同的发展道路,由此形成古代中国民族认同与国家认同的同一性传统及民族意识中的民族与国家认同相一致的深层价值结构,同时也导致古代中国独特的政治地缘与民族地缘的特征。它使中国在国家与民族认同上呈现重要特点:即族别上的兼容性、民族统一与国家安全的一致性、文化的开放性。近代以降,传统家天下的国家与民族意识受到严峻挑战,其认同观念面临断裂和重新阐释、再塑的问题。以孙中山为代表的近代仁人志士积极探索民族国家的重建途径,创造性地提出政治革命与民族革命相统一的思想,并以此为核心构建近代中华民族国家中民族认同与国家认同新的一致性。     

Identity and change

Mark A. Tessler, William M. O'Barr, and David H. Spain. Tradition and Identity in Changing Africa. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. xvii + 363 pp. Tables, figures, bibliography, and index. $4.95 (paper).     

On the Constitution and Transformation of Philistine Identity

Recent discussion of the formation and alteration of Philistine identity in the Levantine Iron Age continues to reference primarily pottery styles and dietary practices. Such traditional narratives propose that the Philistines comprised one group of the ‘Sea Peoples’ and that the cultural boundary markers that distinguished their society in the Iron Age I (twelfth–eleventh century BC) diminished in importance and disappeared suddenly in the early Iron Age IIA (tenth century BC), with the ascendancy of the Judahite kingdom. Based on data from the Levant (especially Philistia), the Aegean and Cyprus, we argue for a more complex understanding of the Philistines who came to the region with an identity that drew on, and continued to engage with, a broad range of foreign artefact styles and cultural practices with non‐Levantine connections. Concurrently they incorporated local cultural attributes, at least until the late ninth century BC, a feature that we argue was unrelated to the supposed tenth century expansion of the Judahite kingdom.     

Religious Identity and the Future of Northern Ireland

Religion matters in Northern Ireland because it shapes social and personal identity and influences the very different worldviews of people within the two cultures of the province (Protestant and Catholic). Because religion matters so profoundly, no long-term solution to the political problems of the province will be possible without acknowledging its impact on values and thinking. The significance of the expressions "the Catholic community" and "the Protestant people" is explored as is the impact of religious ideas on current policy issues. A comparison of Northern Ireland and the United States is offered as a way of suggesting the effect social and economic mobility will have on attempts to resolve the province's political troubles.     

Identity, caste and the participant academic

'Text, belief & personal identity – creating a dialogue': Valmiki Studies Workshop, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 21 February 2004     

Place Identity of the Israeli Kibbutz

Place identity of the kibbutz in Israel is shaped by its collective identity which is reflected in the landscape. The individuality of a kibbutz member is expressed in a single landscape element: private gardens in front of the family residences. The kibbutz center is regarded as sacred space; concentrated in it are all the communal institutions including the most important and conspicuous structure, the dining hall. Behavior circuits strengthen the ties between man and the public center. Everyday interaction and identification with the kibbutz is reinforced by the symbolic importance inherent in the center and in peripheral symbols which act as the loci of the kibbutz ideals of socialism and zionism. The landscape of the kibbutz reflects elements of ideals such as conquering the land through hard labor, farming as a way of life and defense.