Ethics and transparency in the field: lessons from the Arab Gulf

This viewpoint draws from feminist scholarship to critically examine an academic partnership between two universities based in the USA and in the Arab Gulf. In particular, feminist geography is used to inform cross-cultural projects such as this academic exchange among Arabs and Americans by focusing on ethics and transparency in the field. The complexity of cultural and institutional dynamics in this and related projects impacts our work with participants and in places where we conduct research. This analysis is based on collaboration between a public university in the USA and an all-women's university located in Bahrain, an Arab Gulf monarchy that has experienced violence stemming from socio-economic disparities and political tensions between the ruling Sunnis and the majority Shiite population. The project exemplifies a growing trend among Western universities to participate in academic partnerships that will generate financial resources while educating students in regions with limited access to higher education. The contradictions and dilemmas that arise in this academic engagement highlight the importance of ethics and transparency in cross-cultural university partnerships.     

Urban Regeneration/Heritage Tourism Endeavours: The Case of Salt,Jordan ‘Local Actors,International Donors,and the State’

The paper explores some of the key developments in maritime heritage in Britain in recent years and reflects upon the changes that have taken place, particularly in the ways in which maritime history has been defined. It examines some of the work of major heritage theorists and the relevance of their ideas for the expansion and ‘reinvention’ of maritime heritage. In particular, it seeks to evaluate the significance of perceived shifts towards a more accessible and nostalgic form of cultural representation. For maritime heritage, it is suggested that this approach may pose difficulties in that it can serve to promote a romanticised and sometimes uncritical perspective of British associations with the sea.     

Cultural capitals and cosmopolitanism in eighteenth-century Italy: the historiography and Italy on the Grand Tour

This article reviews the most recent body of literature in the English language that revisits cultural developments of eighteenth-century Italy in light of the internationalism of the peninsula in that period. In particular, it seeks to show how a consideration of the rhetorical strategy of the Grand Tour has both generated a discrete field of study as well as informed the work of a broad range of cultural historians seeking to identify and account for those innovations unique to Italy's eighteenth century.     

The Archaeology of Global Encounters Viewed from Banda, Ghana

West African societies have long been enmeshed in interregional, subcontinental, and intercontinental relations. Documents tell us little about how local life was shaped by its intersection with global processes, especially in coastal hinterlands. In this paper I report on archaeological investigations into the changing contours of local life in the Banda area of west central Ghana over the past seven centuries. Excavations at three temporally distinct occupations on two sites—Makala Kataa and Kuulo Kataa—document changes in settlement, craft production, subsistence, and exchange, providing insights into the dynamics of local life during a period of expanding global networks. A concluding section addresses why this type of research is important for our understanding of ancient African societies. Les sociétés Ouest Africaines sont depuis longtemps parties prenantes dans les relations inter-régionales, sous-continentales et inter-continentales. Les documents ne nous disent pas grand chose sur la manière dont la vie locale a été façonnée par cette interaction avec les processus mondiaux, particulièrement dans les arrières pays côtiers. Dans cet article, je rends compte des recherches archéologiques concernant les changements dans la vie locale intervenus dans la région de Banda au centre ouest du Ghana au cours des sept derniers siècles. Les fouilles dans trois occupations temporellement distincts sur deux sites—Makala Kataa et Kuulo Kataa—mettent en évidence les changements dans l'occupation, la production artisanale, les modes de subsistances et les échanges, donnant un aperçu des dynamiques de la vie locale durant une période d'expansion des réseaux mondiaux d'échange. La conclusion aborde les raisons pour lesquelles ce type de recherche est important pour notre compréhension des anciennes sociétés africaines.     

Compensatory bone remodelling in moose: a study of age,sex, and cross‐sectional cortical bone dimensions in moose at Isle Royale National Park

We studied interrelationships among age, sex, and cross‐sectional cortical bone dimensions using quantitative computed tomography (QCT) scans of metatarsal bones of 180 moose (Alces alces) that died in Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. As a large‐bodied quadruped with demanding ecological constraints on movement and behaviour, a moose experiences different weight‐bearing and mechanical stressors than humans, to whom most existing studies of mechanical adaptations of bone pertain. In moose, both sexes showed significant subperiosteal expansion and an increase in medullary area, with an overall increase in cortical bone area over time. Female moose did not exhibit cortical thinning or reduction in cross‐sectional area with age, rather they showed an increase in cortical bone area with periosteal apposition exceeding endosteal resorption, similar to the males. We also found that moose undergo changes in bone geometry through remodelling of bone similar to humans, suggesting a compensatory mechanism for increasing bone strength under conditions of decline in bone mineral density with age. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.