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.     

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.     

Reconnaissance Report on Geotechnical Engineering Aspect of the 2015 Gorkha,Nepal, Earthquake

An earthquake of moment magnitude M_w 7.8 struck Nepal at 06:11 UTC on April 25, 2015. Field reconnaissance focused on the geotechnical engineering aspect of the earthquake was carried out in the Kathmandu Valley and regions near the epicenter. This paper presents briefly the geology of Nepal, the accelerogram, and results of standard penetration tests at selected sites in the valley. The study shows the failure case histories including landslides, road embankment settlement, bridge foundations and abutment damage, and liquefaction. The paper also highlights the impact of local soil properties and basin and ridge effect on the severity of damage.     

The Voyage of the Shilka: The Bolshevik Revolution Comes To Seattle, 1917

This article explores the questions and intrigue arising from the appearance of the Russian ship Shilka at the port of Seattle in December 1917. The first Russian vessel to reach American shores since the Bolshevik seizure of power, the Shilka raised both local and national fears of collusion between Soviet agitators and domestic radicals, especially the militant Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The article challenges the conclusions of an earlier article which argued against any substantive contact or understanding between the Russian seamen and locals. Relying on the memoirs of a Bolshevik crew member, the recollections of Seattle radicals and the reports of US Bureau of Investigation and Naval Intelligence agents, this article instead demonstrates the genuine presence of Bolshevik agitators and propaganda aboard the Shilka and their secret interaction with IWW activists. It also reveals a leak on the Russian end, a leak that both stimulated and perplexed American investigators.     

泉州湾宋代海船保存现状的调查研究

作为国内乃至亚洲大型海洋出水木质文物保护的先例,泉州湾宋代海船自出土至今已保存近40年,经过多年来综合性地保护修复,其保存现状值得关注。本文通过对古船保存环境、船体构件保存状况、船体病害、材质状况的调查分析,综合评估船体保存现状,分析影响古船稳定保存的主要因素,从而为后续的保护工作奠定基础。     

图绘中的雁意象与诗人对画图的解读——以宋代题画诗为例

雁意象受传统文化影响而形成的符号意义影响着观画者对画图的解读及感受,最容易牵扯出观者内心深处的羁旅和乡思之情愁。表现在题画诗中,雁意象多与羁旅和思乡之情相联系。     

试论中国海外移民的共同性与特殊性问题

论文从比较研究的角度 ,在注重学术积累的基础上 ,从分析李长傅《中国殖民史》中的相关论点入手 ,认真考察了中国海外移民过程与国际移民过程之间共同性与特殊性的若干问题 ,认为移民作为整个人类的一种生存本能 ,其共同性自然会远远地多于特殊性 ,而儒家文化在中国海外移民过程中所起的特殊作用 ,也被部分专家学者明显地夸大了。     

Canadiana Abroad: The Department of External Affairs' Book Presentation Programmes, 1949–1963

This article examines one aspect of Canada's early cultural diplomacy. During the late 1940s, the Department of External Affairs frequently received requests for Canadian books from foreign libraries. At the same time, many officials were eager to promote Canadian culture abroad. The Annual Book Presentation Programme was inaugurated with the intention of creating “repositories of Canadiana” which might stimulate interest in Canada among foreign readers. Although the budget for the program was always modest, over the years the department's book gifts did fulfill their aim, creating a basis for the later growth of Canadian studies in universities abroad.     

西汉早期柿园墓四神云气图壁画保护研究（一）——历史与现状调查

壁画保护研究,多集中在正面的保护以及揭取方法和材料的选用。对壁画揭取选用材料性能的系统研究甚少。而对已揭取壁画的破坏与保护的研究更少。已揭取壁画的破坏包含壁画原有的破坏和揭取所用材料蜕变引发的破坏。已揭取壁画具有结构体系的复杂性和破坏类型的多样性,其破坏类型往往是交织在一起的。对此类壁画的保护修复应建立在全面调查、系统研究的理论框架上。其研究内容涉及多学科以及多类型材料和方法的综合运用,其调查内容,也须从壁画制作工艺、材料、环境、破坏类型、原有保护材料以及材料相互作用等方面界定。本工作对西汉早期柿园墓四神云气图壁画的历史状况和现状进行了全面调查。调查结果无疑对后续的研究、对认识壁画的破坏形式和性质具有重要的作用,更有助于实施对古代壁画的科学保护和修复。