Chronotopes of study abroad: the cultural Other,immersion, and compartmentalized space–time

Study abroad offers a specific configuration of encountering cultural Others: in a demarcated “abroad” space in a compartmentalized time period. Informed by Bakhtin's notion of chronotopes, this article investigates narratives of American college students who studied in Paris, France and Bilbao, Spain in June–July 2011 based on an ethnographic fieldwork of their stay. I identify two chronotopes held in tension in their narratives that reflect tenets of the discourse of immersion: of homogeneous space where every minute students spend in the host society is “local” time full of learning, which risks portraying the host society as frozen in the time of the students’ stay; and of heterogeneous space where local space–time and outsider (e.g. American students and tourists) space–time co-exist hierarchically, where students strive to show their engagement with the former. This article calls for encouraging students to examine the effects of these chronotopes on their experiences and for viewing study abroad not as an encounter of two cultures but as diverse students joining in the ongoing production of heterogeneous host society space with a compartmentalized yet expanding notion of time.     

Negotiating time and space on a study abroad program in South India

This paper investigates the context of student learning in study abroad programs, drawing on ethnographic research on a semester long study abroad program in South India. We show how students use multiple constructions of time and space as a framework for understanding cultural differences and for understanding what it means for them to “experience” India. We argue that students' conceptualization of space and time in the study abroad location also impacts what kinds of activities they consider to count as valuable forms of learning. Students' ideas about India shape their expectations of what the pace, workload, and activities of the study abroad program in India should entail. Their concepts of Indian time and space lead them to privilege “experience”-based learning over classroom-based or scholarship-based learning. In conclusion, we show how these insights have implications for study abroad pedagogy. Here, we suggest that student learning that is entirely based on “experience” outside the classroom is inherently limited and that students need to contextualize their field-based learning experiences with insights from critical, historical and social science research.     

魏晋南北朝经学的演变与更新

皮锡瑞在《经学历史》中认为：魏晋为经学中衰时代,南北朝是经学分立时代,并不能代表这个时期经学的全貌。东汉末年郑学的出现,标志着经学兼容古今而演变的方向。三国时期经学在南方传播,出现了南北互动的新气象。魏晋经学在北方继续传承,并在演变中得到发展。十六国北朝各少数民族统治者“变夷从夏”,缩小了胡汉民族文化的差异,中原儒学虽历经丧乱而得以存续,更值得注意的是妇女也参加了经学教学与学术传承。北朝经学继承两汉以来的传统,比较重视考证,而不善于创新。东晋南朝儒学受玄学的影响,清谈之风推动了儒释道的交流,教育格局多样化促进了儒学的玄化。所谓“南人约简,得其英华;北学深芜,穷其枝叶”,出现了南北学风的不同趋势。陆德明撰《经典释文》,由陈入隋入唐,将南学传入北方。颜师古、孔颖达定《五经正义》,亦多从南学。南学终于成为唐朝经学的主流,并成为中国传统文化的主流。     

Geography by Rail®: a new twist on a romantic concept

Based on William Morris Davis’ great Transcontinental Excursion of 1912, this article assesses and reviews the Geography by Rail® program (GbR) – a unique, short-term, field-based study abroad experience that takes an uncommon-in-the-US approach to international exploration and fieldwork, incorporating on-the-ground, regional geography-based learning experiences. Though it could be used as such, this is not intended as a “how-to” article, but instead, an examination of how the program’s alternative approach to short-term, field-based learning increases student engagement, enlivens the discipline of geography by championing the regional geography approach, and bridges the physical-human divide in geography. Examples are given of assessment techniques, relevant skills gained by student participants, student feedback received, and potential limitations of such a program. Our main goal rests in demonstrating that by being in the landscape, practicing in it, students often gain a perspective not achievable in the traditional classroom setting. In the regional and romantic geography sense, favoring breadth of learning over depth, we further argue that GbR represents a novel way to accomplish this important-yet-not-often-fostered and, oddly and unfortunately, difficult-to-find-in-geography concept.     

中国古代漆器的锥画艺术和鎗艺术

考古发现的汉代漆器"锥画",是用作画工具"锥"来命名的艺术形式,称为"针刻"欠妥。锥画发明于战国时期,但尚未见到实物。汉代漆器锥画高度繁荣,大量汉代锥画漆器陆续出土。三国至唐时期,锥画鎗金艺术得到了继承和发展;及至宋元,漆器锥画鎗金以全新的面貌出现;发展到明清,锥画鎗金多与其他漆器艺术形式相结合,呈现出千文万华的漆艺局面。     

Influence of Taoism on the invention of the purple pigment used on the Qin terracotta warriors

Until the 19th century, most pigments were based on naturally occurring colored minerals and dyes, with three significant exceptions: Egyptian Blue, Chinese Blue/Purple and Maya Blue. The former two are alkaline-earth copper silicates, and because of this similarity it has been proposed that the Chinese pigments were derived from Egyptian Blue. Herein, we analyzed clumps of pigment from the Qin warriors and discovered that in spite of the structural similarity to Egyptian Blue, the micro-structural morphology of Chinese Purple is very different. Therefore, we believe that the synthesis technology for the Chinese pigments was a by-product of high-refractive index glasses (artificial jades) produced by Taoist monks. Further, the disappearance of these pigments from Chinese art and monuments concurrently with the decline of Taoism not only substantiates the link between the two, but also gives a striking example of how cultural changes in the society affected the scientific developments in ancient China.     

先秦中国和古代希腊文明起源的地理环境之比较

文明起源的地理环境可以分为整体地理环境和中心地理环境。前者指文明整体能力所及的极限地理范围,后者指文明主体的主要活动区域。从这两个角度分别进行比较,将有助于解释希腊和中国文明侧重于陆地或是海洋发展的原因。     

在中外历史文化长河中徜徉——访刘家和教授

刘家和先生是学贯中西的著名学者,在世界古代史和中国古代历史文化的研究上都有卓著的成就。长期以来,他善于进行历史比较的理论思考和实证性研究,对希腊、印度、中国的历史文化进行过个案的研究;并致力于把中国古代历史纳入世界史的体系之中,同时在世界史的背景下对中国古代历史文化进行深入的探索。此外,对历史比较研究的方法论问题也有独到的见解。     

穿行在传统与现代之间的贵州新学——《新学入黔：贵州近代教育的源流与发展》序

近代"新学"的传播一方面与"西学"的挑激与引进有关,一方面也与儒家传统内部变革思想的高涨紧密相联.就"新学"入黔并逐渐本土化的具体过程而言,无论国家权力系统或地方知识精英,都发挥了主导性的范约作用,并构成了错综复杂的知识格局.严修、李端菜、张之洞、粱启超四人,虽然他们最终的价值选择不尽相同,但均一度徘徊或游离于传统与现代之间,直接间接地影响了黔地"新学"的传播,值得以个案的方式认真加以研究.地方精英华之鸿创办文通书局,在"新学"的传播史上可说是厥功甚伟.抗日战争时期大批外省高校内迁贵州从事讲学科研活动,则标志着地方文化的现代性转型进入了"质"的飞跃发展阶段.