Palaeolithic dogs and the early domestication of the wolf: a reply to the comments of

This is a response to the comments of Crockford and Kuzmin (2012) on our identification of Palaeolithic dogs from different European Palaeolithic sites. In their comments Crockford and Kuzmin (2012) present some errors, misunderstandings and misrepresentations that we remedy here. In our opinion, the early wolf domestication must be regarded as an intimate relationship between humans and canids including the breeding of the latter by prehistoric people, resulting in the European Palaeolithic dogs.     

Mediterranean Movements and Constituent Political Spaces: An Interview with Sandro Mezzadra and Toni Negri

These conversations between Toni Negri and Sandro Mezzadra (November 2014–October 2015) focus on the politics of Mediterranean boundaries and situate migratory movements across the Mediterranean in the geopolitical context of the Eastern and Southern shore. Looking at the proliferation of wars around the Mediterranean region and reflecting on the legacy of the Arab Uprisings, Mezzadra and Negri revisit the concept of the “autonomy of migration” and critically interrogate its possible contribution to the field of migration and in terms of the current refugee crisis.     

Early Islamic pigments at Nishapur,north-eastern Iran: studies on the painted fragments preserved at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pigments appearing on ninth–twelfth-century AD-carved stucco, wall painting, and terracotta friezes excavated at Nishapur in north-eastern Iran were investigated by optical reflectance spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (μ-XRF), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Many of the pigments identified including vermilion, red lead, hematite, limonite, carbon black, atacamite, calcite, and gypsum have been identified in previous studies of pigments used in later Islamic periods. However, a series of unusual pigments such as wulfenite, pyromorphite, phoenicochroite, and jarosite were also found in the present study. The association of kaolinite and alunite with limonite and other Fe-bearing yellow pigments points to a local provenance for these pigments. In addition, the presence of orpiment in the vermilion may be indicative that the vermilion was artificially manufactured. These findings suggest that pigment use and manufacturing during the ninth to eleventh centuries in Nishapur was still in a trial-and-error stage and the palette known from the twelfth century onwards had not yet been systematized.     

Look and tell: using photo-elicitation methods with teenagers

This article reflects on the usefulness of photo elicitation in research with young people. As part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project exploring conflict and divisions in contested cities, teenagers living or attending schools in segregated areas of Belfast were presented with 11 photographs depicting the city's traditional ethno religious divisions, the new ‘post conflict’ consumerist city and youth subcultures. In response to each photo, the young people produced individual written comments and their opinions were fleshed out during follow-up focus group interviews. Drawing on these responses, the strengths and weaknesses of using photo elicitation in research with young people and its capacity to generate new insights into teenagers' spatial perceptions and experiences are outlined.     

Development on the ground: clusters, networks and regions in emerging economies * Allen J. Scott and Gioacchino Garofoli (Eds)

Conference proceedings like this one, the outcome of a workshopheld in 2005, typically run dangers of suffering from variouspitfalls in that they compile a set of heterogeneous contributionsthat widely vary with respect to thematic focus and researchheuristics, and essential insights have often been publishedelsewhere before. This volume addresses an important and intenselydebated issue, comprises many enlightening chapters, and isedited by a team of renowned researchers; but its value is impairedby the typical imperfections. Ambitious expectations raisedin the editors’ preface, promising far-reaching consequencesof the book for theoretical and empirical work as well as forpractical policies supporting less developed countries are hardlyrealistic. Yet, how should a collection of 14 essays, albeitbeing written mostly by acknowledged academic experts, actuallymanage to produce breakthrough insights concerning the intricatetask of effectively promoting     

A space for feminist mentoring: the role of Geographic Perspectives on Women (GPOW) specialty group in higher education

Abstract

Higher education and organizations within academic disciplines are important spaces for mentoring and other forms of networking. These spaces, however, are often situated in environments that limit equitable and inclusive opportunities for early career and underrepresented scholars to effectively engage in mentoring. This paper contributes to critical feminist scholarship that examines how organizations in higher education can offer supportive mentoring spaces for women, early career faculty, and scholars from diverse backgrounds. The analysis focuses on the Geographic Perspectives on Women (GPOW) Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) as a space for faculty, students and other geographers to enhance their professional and personal success. Our analysis draws from the results of an international survey, a focus group discussion, and reflexive participation of feminist geographers aligned with this specialty group. We examine the ways in which this academic organization, and the informal and formal networks it cultivates, attempts to foster an anti-oppressive mentoring community of feminist geographers. We also analyze how these networks are shaped by and embedded in neoliberal institutions in the discipline of geography and higher education as a whole. This discussion offers important insights to growing research and initiatives that support mentoring for women, feminists, and others concerned with building more inclusive and socially just spaces in academia.