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.     

近2O年来社会主义模式研究综述

笔者在查阅和分析大量文献资料的基础上,对近20年来国内关于“社会主义模式”提法的由来与认同,社会主义模式的内涵、类型与社会主义特征和本质的关系以及研究方法等一系列问题进行了归纳和整理。     

公信力的概念辨析

公信力研究是信任理论研究的重要内容之一。目前,在研究中存在的问题主要是对基本概念研究不足。从已有的概念来看,主要有“信用”观、“资源”观、“能力”观、“信任”观。这些观点分别从某一侧面揭示了公信力的内涵。综合这些研究,对公信力可以作出这样的定义:公信力是指公共权力领域与公民社会领域中以组织形态存在的行动者(公共机构)及具有“公共性”的抽象存在物(主要包括语言、制度、权力、货币、真理等)因赢得公民的普遍信任而拥有的权威性资源。     

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。     

同文馆与晚清留英教育

晚清留英教育在船政学生留英之前已经开始,同治五年(1866年),清政府就派遣了同文馆学生赴欧洲游学。之后,历届驻英公使都带有同文馆学生充任使馆随员或翻译学生,在处理外交及使馆事务之外,这些同文馆学生还负有学习的任务,可以入英国学校学习。19世纪90年代总理衙门还制订章程,派遣了两次同文馆留英生。20世纪初,京师同文馆归并京师大学堂改称译学馆后,再次派遣学生赴英留学。同文馆学生留英在整个晚清虽然不多,但也自成一系,是晚清留英教育中重要的一支。     

朱希祖史学略论

朱希祖是我国20世纪前期的一位重要史学家,在北京大学史学系、中央大学史学系担任系主任多年,为中国史学的近代化作出了贡献。他继承和发展了章太炎的史学思想,在许多史学领域均具有精深造诣。本文论述了他的史学成就,求真与致用相统一的史学思想以及他的治史特色、治史方法论。     

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.